Except for you and the other calvies.
Equal privilege and equal opportunity for ALL.
John 3:16, acts 16:31. SO simple, yet confusing for the elites.
Calvinism is Gospel !
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Equal privilege and equal opportunity for ALL.
John 3:16, acts 16:31. SO simple, yet confusing for the elites.
T
The elites drive us away....
Matt 23:13~~“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Thank God it is simple for us morons.
The elites drive us away....
Matt 23:13~~“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
You are saying that the only free will would be omnipotent will.
This is not how people define free will in humans.
Free will means the ability to make choices, not the ability to fly.
It was not an option. Jesus didn't say to Nicodemus, "If you like, you can choose to be born again." Rather, He useds the word "must":
(Joh 3:3-NKJV) Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
(Joh 3:7-NKJV) Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
Free will is not the subject of what Jesus is talking about.
If you read the next few verses in Romans 10, it is clear that merely hearing the gospel does not cause a person to choose Christ:
(Rom 10:18-20 NKJV) But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed: "THEIR SOUND HAS GONE OUT TO ALL THE EARTH, AND THEIR WORDS TO THE ENDS OF THE WORLD." But I say, did Israel not know? First Moses says: "I WILL PROVOKE YOU TO JEALOUSY BY THOSE WHO ARE NOT A NATION, I WILL MOVE YOU TO ANGER BY A FOOLISH NATION." But Isaiah is very bold and says: "I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO DID NOT SEEK ME; I WAS MADE MANIFEST TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME."
Then your idea that God can predestine something, only for that thing to be thwarted by man makes nonsense of God's predestination. What does it accomplish, if in the end it is up to man?
I agree that Jesus came to save sinners. Surely we all believe that, whether we believe the Reformed "Doctrines of Grace" or Arminianism.
Precisely. No choice given. Not, "You can be born again if you like." No, "You must be born again."
Indeed. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome:
(Rom 1:6-7 NKJV) among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Rom 8:28-30 NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
And to the Corinthians:
(1Co 1:1-2 NKJV) Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
Indeed, Paul mentions God's calling in most of his epistles. So to refer to God's calling as an addition is just wrong.
Please don't just make the accusation again. Where has anybody called anybody else here a scumbag, let alone saying it over and over again?
"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."
The reason why Jesus is saying, "You must be born again" instead of "If you wish, you can be born again" because Jesus loves him just as he loves all of us. He does not want us to be destroyed. That is the reason why he says, "you must". Would you tell your child, "you should not play with fire" or say, "if you wish, you may not play with fire"?
You are proving my point. The reason why God made the gentiles avail his salvation is because the Jews rejected it which is a free-will. Acts 28:24 says, "some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe". Therefore, believing or not is definitely a free will exercised by an individual.
God calls everyone or is willing to call everyone but not everyone responds to the call. That's why Mat. 22:14 says, "many are called but few are chosen". That's because the rest have rejected his call which is a free-will.
Exactly. What parent presents a child with a choice about whether or not they play with fire?
I am not proving your point at all. Paul quotes God's words in Isaiah, "I was found by those who did not seek Me: I was made manifest to those who did not ask for Me." They were not seeking God, or asking for Him. They didn't think to themselves, "I know, I'll choose to believe God!" Paul himself knew of this. He was converted on the road on the way to Damascus, where he was going, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He wasn't seeking God. He thought he was serving Him by attacking/capturing Christians. That all changed when the risen Jesus Christ spoke to him, saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" No hint that Saul had a choice on whether to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
But in the context of the verses I quoted, Paul is applying the word "called" to the Christians he is writing to.
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