Understanding God’s election

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Jul 3, 2015
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As I told you once before, I have only read a very limited amount of the posts on this thread, so I am not familiar with what/who you are talking about. If anything, then I called out Cameron for that very thing in my final response to him. At my end, here, as with elsewhere, I have tried to civilly and courteously dialogue with others. Unfortunately, I have had to put certain people on "ignore" in my short time on this site, and with certain others I have recognized the futility of even trying to dialogue with them further. Anyhow, I hope and trust that I am not one of those people you are talking about.

Have a blessed day.
Yes, that is why to really get a grasp of what is going on and what people are really like and actually believe, spending more time and/or being exposed to more than a few posts becomes necessary, because certain people misrepresent themselves as well, like telling us they are not invested when they are here every day, day after day, month after month, and then other people come along and believe the lies they tell. Lies like being told they do not misrepresent us, when I just showed you a very good example of how they do. Quite a few made this claim but it is contrary to the truth of the matter. I have also more than once explained what certain terms mean, quite patiently I might add, but people are too attached to their knee jerk reactions to actually consider the truth of the matter and they are certainly not going to admit they are wrong. Oh, and I gave you other examples yesterday of how others misrepresent. Take that with you.
 
Sep 2, 2020
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As I told you once before, I have only read a very limited amount of the posts on this thread, so I am not familiar with what/who you are talking about. If anything, then I called out Cameron for that very thing in my final response to him. At my end, here, as with elsewhere, I have tried to civilly and courteously dialogue with others. Unfortunately, I have had to put certain people on "ignore" in my short time on this site, and with certain others I have recognized the futility of even trying to dialogue with them further. Anyhow, I hope and trust that I am not one of those people you are talking about.

Have a blessed day.
Yes in the spirit of keeping things real we aren’t a good example in the bdf of how mature Christians are meant to act when discussing scripture .

You aren’t the first person to come here and be exhausted relatively quickly . It’s pretty much a war zone at times here not always but if you hang in there you’ll find some that you can discuss peacefully with . And will find some edification and also offer some to them in tbe exchanges


sometimes with the same people you may disagree later but certain folks have the right spirit to discuss with and won’t totally drain your strength and will lol

God bless just trying to encourage you not to leave
 
Jul 3, 2015
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Me? You consider me to be reasonable?

Lol.
Good morning, Mem! Have we discussed the matter of coming to believe? Ayways, I do believe you are someone who would listen and not immediately jump to just making erroneous assumptions and false accusations based on preconceived ideas. I think you would truly attempt to understand. Your thinking is already out of the box, as it were. You are more comfortable there already than a lot here.

OH I thought you were Mem LOL

 

HeIsHere

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May 21, 2022
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It takes a work of God to pry false doctrine, but unsaved people can change their minds apart from such revelation? That's incredible.
When I stated "personal revelation" it was the inner, not outer workings of the Spirit of God, you know like regeneration, changing a

person's heart so they can believe (in the Greek sense of the word) etc., etc., these are things done by God after a person exercises personal faith.
 
Sep 2, 2020
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Dear @Pilgrimshope ....

The Greek in Ephesians 2:8 and I have spoken to Pastors who know Greek well and I have researched and researched because that is my livelihood, faith in that sentence is not attached to THE GIFT, the GIFT IS salvation according to the grammer, structure of the sentence.

A person must believe/faith (noun and verb in Greek) in the person of Christ Jesus and His gift offering. He is the object one's faith!!

When one does this one receives the gift of salvation.

People are able of their own volition by the power and truth of the Gospel, conscience and external movement of God's spirit to respond POSITIVELY. The hearts are not changed until after they exercise faith.

God does not give "belief" or change a heart so a person can believe, that makes God elitist with regards to salvation.

God does strengthen of give more faith in scripture to those have already become believers.

YOU know it really is rocket science and to call this "Calvinism" is fully warranted because it is based on a lot of his writings!

I think you see now how false the non-able-to-believe-inability doctrine really is by the defenders on this thread. There is a reason it is called the Non-Gospel.
Yes what I’m saying is some people only are ever told single sentences from the Bible then someone tells them what they think about it . and so they believe a true sentence from the Bible but they haven’t heard how it applies and fits into the rest of what’s taught as a whole in the Bible . Instead tbey hear a false idea about what that one sentance “really means “
 
Jul 3, 2015
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Honestly I’ve been trying to say I think this discussion is going in gigantic circles and isnt making anyone any smarter lol or more mature in Christ because for whatever reason we arent hearing the other people over the battle cries lol
Yes, I said it about a month ago, and three weeks later asked why were were persisting. I did hope
you could come to understand what I was saying, but even after all that time, you made a statement
that was 100% at odds with what I believe, thinking that is what I had been saying. But I know you did
not say it in malice like so many others here deliberately misrepresent. Why is that funny? It is sad.
 

Rufus

Well-known member
Feb 17, 2024
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https://www.openbible.info/topics/s..._a_supernatural_fashion_before_he_can_believe

What Does the Bible Say About Spirit Must Operate Upon A Person In A Supernatural Fashion Before He Can Believe?


John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

John 3:5-8

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”


1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

Philippians 1:29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

2 Corinthians 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Romans 8:7-9 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

John 1:12-13 to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
And you can add to the above:

2 Thess 2:13
13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.
NIV


And,

1 Peter 1:2
2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

NIV
 

Cameron143

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Mar 1, 2022
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When I stated "personal revelation" it was the inner, not outer workings of the Spirit of God, you know like regeneration, changing a

person's heart so they can believe (in the Greek sense of the word) etc., etc., these are things done by God after a person exercises personal faith.
What revelation isn't inward?
 

rogerg

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Jul 13, 2021
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If Paul was somehow IN HIM or IN CHRIST before the foundation of the world, then how in the world could Andronicus and Junia have been IN CHRIST BEFORE HIM? Paul, like everybody else who has ever been found to be IN HIM or IN CHRIST, got in by believing the gospel of salvation, and that did not occur before the foundation of the world.
You left out verse 5 which refutes everything you stated. Notice the "having predestinated us unto the adoption". They, of verse 1,
(including all of the elect), were those predestinated to spiritual adoption. That verse, of itself, negates your statement that:
" got in by believing the gospel of salvation, and that did not occur before the foundation of the world." Instead, they "got in"
because they were predestinated in.

[Eph 1:5 KJV] 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

You need to make a distinction between being "chosen" and being "placed" - being chosen "in Christ" versus actually being placed "in Christ" are two different things: those chosen in Him, were chosen (by God), before the foundation of the world - but that is not synonymous to placing (finding themselves) in Christ - that happens at different times during one's lifetime unto those chosen, but as to when, being dependent upon God's choice - the timing not necessarily the same from one to the another. That is why Paul could say that Andronicus and Junia were placed in Christ before him - but not chosen before him. We can see this in Romans 8:2, where Paul tells us that at a certain point in his life, he was made free of the law of sin and death, being placed under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, though chosen by God for it from before the foundation of the world, by which, those chosen, believe.

Given that in verse 4, we are told they were chosen "in him", and by being so chosen, their spiritual outcome was made sure.

[Rom 8:2 KJV] 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Re Eph 1:13, being sealed by the Holy Spirit is an event different than being indwelled with the Holy Spirit. Being indwelled happens from/by spiritual rebirth upon salvation; being sealed, on the other hand, occurs when we come to faith/belief in Christ as Savior, after, but as a result of rebirth.

Grace is an all-or-nothing proposition. If any part of it has to be achieved or acted on by its recipient to be received, then it isn't grace.
 
Jul 3, 2015
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What revelation isn't inward?
They do not understand personal revelation. That's why they say it is not necessary. And say God is unfair for doing it.

Really it is such an odd position to take, to insist God is unfair for keeping His promises.

Methinks they have it backwards. Or they're just plain wrong. Take your pick?
 
Sep 2, 2020
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Yes, I said it about a month ago, and three weeks later asked why were were persisting. I did hope you could come to understand what I was saying, but even after all that time, you made a statement that was 100% at odds with what I believe, thinking that is what I had been saying.
Yes my first engagement with you in this thread sis was because you told me what I said wasn’t true about men becoming wicked over time and not because Adam ate the fruit . and you felt it was important to correct it .

and so we talked about that for awhile and got nowhere lol then now I’ve sort of lost what everyone said to you because I haven’t followed but your comments to me and mine to you.

i feel like you’ve been like I have been saying a lot to others and then when we answer each other some of what the other people have said is getting out on you and I when we’ve been discussing our own topic ( I thought )

In other words I feel old and lost right now lol and have no real train of thought left asto what we’re even discussing anymore .

everyone who thinks man didn’t choose still thinks it everyone who thinks we can choose Jesus when we hear the gospel still thinks it

i still think man becomes wicked over time through a covenant as they break it more and more and you probably to my knowledge of what you’ve said about that topic still feel as you did ect

this is what I’m saying . I think we have the wrong attitude beforehand and even maybe wrong intent for it to really benefit anyone

Yet …..everyone seems to believe that Jesus suffered and died for thier sins according to scripture and that he rose from the dead the third day after his burial by the power and glory of God formoir justification ( I think could be an assumption but ) maybe if we do t agree on every detail and not and bolt it’s ….gonna be alright still
 
Oct 19, 2024
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@keepingthingsreal here is an excellent example of someone not understanding at all and completely misrepresenting what those she disagrees with believe. Like just taking it to the most ridiculous conclusion possible. And this is called proper by them.

I see now you may have departed. Too bad. It is almost impossible to find someone in the
free will camp who is reasonable to any degree. Still, I was hoping you might be one of them.


And when I say free will, I do not mean freed will.
Re "It is almost impossible to find someone in the free will camp who is reasonable to any degree.": Here I am Lord, send me!
 

Rufus

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Feb 17, 2024
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Here's a thought.

Seeing how the Apostle Paul's words are often (mis-) quoted in defense of Calvinism, why don't we look at Paul's salvation experience and see if it correlates with the Calvinistic means of salvation. Here is the account from two different places in the book of Acts.

Act 9:1
And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
Act 9:2
And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
Act 9:3
And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
Act 9:4
And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
Act 9:5
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Act 9:6
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Act 9:7
And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
Act 9:8
And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
Act 9:9
And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.
Act 9:10
And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.
Act 9:11
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth,
Act 9:12
And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight.
Act 9:13
Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
Act 9:14
And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name.
Act 9:15
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Act 9:16
For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.
Act 9:17
And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Act 9:18
And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

Act 22:12
And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,
Act 22:13
Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
Act 22:14
And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
Act 22:15
For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
Act 22:16
And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Unless I am hallucinating, it seems to me that Paul got saved and filled with the Holy Ghost by calling on the name of the Lord and being water baptized to wash away his sins. In other words, he wasn't saved by his initial encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, nor did he receive a new heart and new spirit at that time. How then did regeneration allegedly precede belief? I mean, after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, Saul/Paul obviously believed in Jesus, but he was not regenerated until three days later. Am I missing something (other than the Kool-Aid)?
But could Paul have been saved without "his initial encounter with Jesus"? Why can't you see that that encounter involved Christ's effectual grace in calling Paul to himself?

And furthermore, it was always God's intention to save Paul! The salvation of the apostle was not a mere afterthought. Nor did God intervene in Paul's life in such a dramatic way based on any good he found in the apostle! Paul was on God's radar long before he was on that road to Damascus:

Gal 1:15-16a
15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles...
NIV