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Omniscient -- all knowing. In God's case, he knows everything about everything and holds on to all of it always. (Unlike us, who have something like a mental filing cabinet, where we pull out information we do know, when we need it, but it's not there at any given moment. It gets put back for further use when done. Or, in my case, sometimes flies out of the brain all together. lol) Fits perfectly with foreseen because he sees and knows everything always.
Sovereign -- the supreme ruler. Nothing happens -- ever -- without his say-so, and what he wants to happen happens every single time. Actually, that's technically not it, because he's outside of time, so it happens as he wants always.
During creation God created fish. Out of those fish came more and more fish. And the fish lived their fishy lives. If fish had a collective memory, they would probably remember the year when the whole earth was underwater. Then again, I don't think they have collective memories. But that was a weird year for fish. Mostly they go where they go to eat or mate, and marine biologists have determined sometimes that's thousands of miles for a particular meal.
But one day, one huge fish was under a ship when sailors threw a man over during a storm, and that fish swallowed that man. Then the fish went about its fishy business for three days, found something interesting near land, got a belly ache, and vomited out that man. Jonah landed on shore right in front of Nineveh, right at that moment when he decided he'd do what God wanted him to do.
Tell me you don't think God predestined that.
THAT is the full sovereignty of God!
There is no either/or. There is God. He is both plus so much more!
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I've never thought of it in those terms even.
I just keep begging God for his mercy on my family.
(A little dense, ain't I?)
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I dare you to try and say that out loud ten times fast. lolfunny thing,
God can predestine you to have free will, and even predestine your free will, having created it -- but you can't freely choose to be chosen, to post-destine that God pre-destined you.
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Kind of like taking a spouse for granted when you're really still happy the spouse married you. Yes, we do that, but we also are so happy with God we remember that and want to do for him out of love.just because at some level i know that technically i can skip directly to thanking and praising Him all the day long, doesn't mean that i always do it.
but sometimes
so far, some times
i do
(Today is our 37th anniversary, so excuse sappiness.)
hmmm make sense If He predestine of course He know. But why the loving God predestine most people burn in hell forever?
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There is no such thing as someone being a Calvinist before they are saved!
That's like saying fans of the American professional football team of the Jakarta Volcanoes will not fill the Volcanoes stadium for a game.
Well of course they won't, but because there is no American football team playing out of Jakarta to have that stadium built in the first place!
Nonbelievers do not become Calvinists. Believers do. And, if you're a believer, you're already saved!
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So God might become inconsistent with his own words -- his own promises for the possibility of something? Not much of a god, huh?
(Predestined is in the Bible. It is what it sounds like it is. So, if you don't believe in it, it's more a matter of you picking and choosing what you want to believe over believing what God says.)
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I don't know, because he never told us.
I do know it's working for his people though. One not-predestined guy -- a Pharaoh long ago -- was used to show God's glorious release of his people. A few not-predestined guys -- Pontius Pilate, Herod, and the (most of the) Sanhedrin -- did everything needed for Jesus to fulfill his role as Savior.
I also see God fixing my path throughout my life. Had my mother, (who also probably wasn't predestined), not been dying, I wouldn't have called out to the Lord. Had I taken the acceptance into Penn State, I would have been at the wrong place to ever meet my husband. Had I not met him, I probably would have either starved to death, been living on the streets, or both, when I became disabled. Had I not been disabled, he would have had to endure chemotherapy by himself, so he probably would have starved to death, dehydrated to death, or died on the streets.
I love the saying, "Man plans, and God laughs." It fits our lives perfectly.
I really don't know why God doesn't save everyone. I expect he'll explain it when we see him. If he doesn't, we won't remember the question. (Because there will be no sorrow in heaven, and I have trouble with that one knowing it is highly unlikely my mother will be there.)
In your belief system, salvation is reduced to a possibility, not an actuality. That's sad, so sad to see.
Here's what I mean. Two ppl who are both lost, both spiritually dead, hear the gospel, one is saved and the other isn't. In your belief system, the one who was saved was because they did something, and the other one didn't. Forget the fact that both are in the same spiritual state. Both are dead as in a spiritual corpse, but in your view, both were able to do something, and the one who chooses to do that something is the one saved. The reason why the one remained lost is because they didn't do something.
So, in your belief system, the cross put all ppl on equal footing, meaning if they do something, they will be saved. So, in your belief system, it was the cross + what they did that garnered their salvation for them. That's a false gospel, another gospel.
The cross + anything is not the gospel, but another gospel.
"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Depleted again." Drat and double drat!!
1, Its quite unclear what the hell will be like and if it will be forever. its also unclear what will be the bodies of reprobates like and what will be their true pain.
2. God does everything what is the best. From some reasons it was the best that the Creation had some dark places, evil, sins and punisments in it. We cannot know more.
There's no 'if' to this Brother. Predestination is all over the bible. You're just kicking against the goads.
And here shows you know ZERO about Calvinism/Reformed theology. We d not believe predestined anyone for hell. Predestination has to do with how God saves His ppl from their sins. He predestined His elect to salvation, not damnation.
PLEASE read up on Reformed/Calvinistic doctrine before you said what you did in the above quoted post.
So, On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?[Romans 9:20]
This is you right now. Telling God what He needs to do and not what to do.
Ppl err greatly when they say God will not command ppl to do that which He knows we can't do. Srsly? God commanded Israel to keep the Law, and if they broke it, they would die. He knew they couldn't keep it, and yet, killed many when they failed to keep that which He commanded them to do.
We are commanded to be holy, even as He is holy. Can we be that holy? Of course not, but the command is still there, and still in full effect.
God has commanded all men everywhere to repent.[Acts 17:30] Yet, repentance itself is a gift of God.[See Romans 2:4 for instance] So, if God does not gift someone the gift of repentance, they can not and will not repent. Yet, this does not nullify the fact that God has commanded all men to repent.
This points to our deficiency and the Christ's sufficiency.
Seem to me If there 100 sinner, and 10 predestine to save, that mean automatically 90 predestine to hell.
If God had not sent the Christ, all of us would go to hell. He didn't have to do one thing for us to go there. However, He sent the Christ to redeem His ppl from their sins.[Matthew 1:21]