Bible Truth #353 - Psalm 24:1

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

Not only does the earth belong to God and everything He created, but also “they that dwell therein” - every single person who ever lived or will live. This goes hand-in-hand with Romans 9:20-21, the Potter can do with the clay as he sees fit, He owns it. This fact perfectly reconciles with 2 Peter 2:1 in which Peter writes that there will be false teachers who are bound for destruction who will deny the sovereign Lord who bought them. Christ owns everyone but He chose NOT to redeem most.

Now, some may agree that God does “own” believers because they made a conscious decision to accept Christ and these are the same ones who believe in “once saved, always saved.” However, the problem for them is that this passage in Psalms does not differentiate between saved and lost. The psalmist tells us that every single human being on the planet, and by implication, anyone who was ever conceived or will be conceived, everybody belongs to God.

Since God has ownership, He can and does what He wants with His property. We become children of God NOT by human decision (John 1:13). It’s God’s decision and He made it before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). God works all things after the counsel of His own will, not some things, He works His will in ALL things (Ephesians 1:11). If it was God’s will that He wants everybody saved, they would be.

They - ALL they - each and every man that dwell on the earth, is the Lord’s.