How do you reconcile "whosoever will may come" with being chosen before the foundation of the world?
Scripture presents both truths: Christ died for every man and God is not willing any perish, yet believers were chosen in Him before the world was created. The two cannot be fully explained; they stand together by faith, with the door of opportunity reading “Whosoever will may come” and its other side reading “Chosen in Him.”
Les teaches that the Scripture is full of the truth that Christ died for every man, tasted death for every man, and that God is not willing that any should perish. Yet the Scripture also says, “You were chosen before the foundation of the world.” He says he cannot explain those two facts of Scripture, but he lets them set in Scripture by faith and lets God settle the controversy. His illustration is the river of humanity flowing since Adam, with doors of opportunity along the banks. On the front of the door is “Whosoever will may come.” When a person goes through that door of opportunity and looks back, the other side says, “Chosen in Him” before the world was ever created. We must decide for ourselves, and yet the moment we decide, God says, “I chose you.”