Thanks for the Sunday School Lesson.IOW, you lack both-and logic.
Jesus saves BOTH sinners AND me.
Be careful to remember that.
Is it so hard to understand the difference between a general biblical truth and a specific application of it?
Thanks for the Sunday School Lesson.IOW, you lack both-and logic.
Jesus saves BOTH sinners AND me.
Be careful to remember that.
This makes me so angry I have to spit. First of all, these are my thoughts. Were they generated artificially? Yes, they were. But not in the way you think. What I published are my thoughts, rewritten by a computer. For me, it is like having a professional writer at my side. Contrary to the picture you paint, I spend time with the text. I edit the text, I disagree with the text. I only publish what I think is true. I don't simply copy and paste what I read.I can understand people's reticence regarding holding trust in reading replies in theological discussions here. Due to the concern it isn't a posters genuine knowledge that's being posted but instead is something generated artificially.
This accusation makes me so angry I have to spit. These are my thoughts. Were they generated with the help of a computer? Yes—but not in the way you’re suggesting. What I publish begins as my own reasoning, my own convictions, my own arguments. The computer helps me rewrite them with clarity and polish, the way a professional editor might refine an author’s draft. Contrary to the picture you paint, I don’t mindlessly copy and paste anything. I interact with the text, revise it, disagree with it, and reshape it until it expresses what I actually believe. I only publish what I judge to be true. The machine is a tool; the thoughts are mine.
Thanks for the Sunday School Lesson.
Is it so hard to understand the difference between a general biblical truth and a specific application of it?
This makes me so angry I have to spit. First of all, these are my thoughts. Were they generated artificially? Yes, they were. But not in the way you think. What I published are my thoughts, rewritten by a computer. For me, it is like having a professional writer at my side. Contrary to the picture you paint, I spend time with the text. I edit the text, I disagree with the text. I only publish what I think is true. I don't simply copy and paste what I read.
I'll give you an example. I will ask my AI buddy to reword the paragraph above. I will simply ask it to add clarity.
You’re free to weigh what I’ve said and decide whether it rings true. If it does, then receive it. If it doesn’t, you’re under no obligation to accept it. My only aim is to offer something helpful, and you can take from it whatever is genuinely beneficial.
I'm having a similar experience with my YouTube channel. Because of AI, people are looking for clues to AI use, assuming that AI use lacks authenticity. I love making high-quality videos. But now my latest two videos are just my face and a bit of background music. People who watch YouTube want authenticity.I have a similar issue regarding my songs:
Yes, after praying for 50 years for a garage band to put my lyrics to better music than my simple guitar strumming,
Suno answered those prayers.
However, because the word were mine and the instructions for the instrumentals were mine,
I see no reason to feel guilty for using invisible AI in lieu of the garage band that never materialized.
I agree with you generally. But sometimes in threads like this we forget to land the plane. I note that behavior is not listed among the chain of salvation. And as a description of salvation, I fully appreciate the chain that you described. However, in a thread that claims Calvinism is the Gospel, it falls short of the Gospel in a profound and significant way.Whilst we all have our unique personal testimonies, every single believer experiences the same logical chain applied by God: unconditional election, the inward call, regeneration, faith and repentance (conversion), justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification.
We all experience the same monergistic work of grace. God sovereignly chooses (elects) only some people to receive this saving grace, leaving others in their natural rebellion.
Old Testament believers looked to promises and sacrificial types, while New Testament believers look to the historical reality of Christ, but the spiritual mechanism—receiving God's righteousness as a gift apart from human works—remains identical.
In Romans 2, Paul seems to contradict those who say that we are not saved by our deeds. I agree, we are not saved by our deeds. But in Romans 2:5-8 Paul argues for a set of markers that characterize those who will recieve eternal life and those who will suffer God's wrath. I need a paragraph to make this point, and to emphasize that if these markers are not a reality in the life who claims to be a member of the elect, then they should reconsider.
I agree with you generally. But sometimes in threads like this we forget to land the plane. I note that behavior is not listed among the chain of salvation. And as a description of salvation, I fully appreciate the chain that you described. However, in a thread that claims Calvinism is the Gospel, it falls short of the Gospel in a profound and significant way.
The chain you described, which is true for the most part, is static rather than dynamic. When we claim that our deeds are not meritorious, which is true, we must not at the same time claim that they are unnecessary. Let me give you an example from one of Paul's epistles. Romans 2:5-8
BTW here is my AI prompt. I give this for educational purposes. The following was my AI prompt.
Here is the result.
Paul’s argument in Romans 2 doesn’t teach salvation by works, but it does insist that certain observable markers inevitably accompany those who will receive eternal life. In Romans 2:5–8, Paul contrasts two kinds of people: those who “by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality,” and those who are “self‑seeking and do not obey the truth.” He is not saying that deeds cause salvation; he is saying that deeds reveal the kind of person one is. These markers—perseverance, a God‑ward orientation, obedience to truth—are the fruit of a life touched by the Spirit. And Paul’s warning is pastoral: if someone claims to be among the elect yet these markers are absent, ignored, or resisted, then they should soberly reconsider their condition. The gospel produces a transformed life, and Romans 2 insists that the absence of transformation is not a small theological glitch but a sign that something is deeply amiss.
My AI generated the paragraph above at my prompt. I hope this clarifies how I use the AI feature of my Bing browser -- Copilot.
Many believe that election is based on foreseen faith. This view argues that God looks ahead in time, sees who will exercise free will to believe, and then predestines them based on that future choice. This view is unbiblical, because it makes human choice the root cause of salvation.
In the context of Romans 8:29 "foreknew" (proginōskō) means "fore-loved" or intimately chosen in a relational, covenantal sense, meaning God’s active choice comes first. In Romans 8:30 Paul links foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification as an unbroken, guaranteed sequence where every person foreknown is ultimately glorified.
Human faith is not the trigger that causes God to choose; rather, God's prior choice and predestination result in the sinner being called and given the gift of faith.
You are forced to argue that a legal ransom can be paid, yet the captive is never released. That is a direct assault on the power and efficacy of the cross.
According to Calvinism, man has no accountability and no free will.
So the “non-elect” cannot choose. They did not choose to inherit the sin of Adam. They did not choose to continue to rebel against God, for they are dead in sins. They did not choose to go to hell. They were predestined.
Calvinism is a miserable philosophy.
God does not show favoritism.
Deuteronomy 10:17
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.
Romans 2:11
For God shows no partiality.
Acts 10:34
So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,
Ephesians 6:9
Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
2 Chronicles 19:7
Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, or partiality or taking bribes.
Yes, we are called. We know this as it's in the Bible and the Bible is true.
We then have to believe on the Lord, putting our faith in Him. We know this as it's in the Bible and the Bible is true.
Anyone who denies any part of the word of Bible calls God wrong. It's all true! youtube music vs sportify
The Called in Rom 8:30
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
This call is into regeneration and it gives birth to Faith ! Thats When the elect will be Justified by Faith, the Faith following regenerative call. Note: The justification mentioned in the sequence of Romans 8:30 represents temporal justification (justification in time, through historical faith), which is the experiential manifestation of the legal and eternal phases !
You claim your view isn't an assault on the power of the cross, but your own words completely betray your system. By stating that the cross "has to be received" by man's free will before it becomes effective, you are explicitly denying that the cross actually saves. You are turning the finished work of Jesus Christ into a powerless, hypothetical offer that is utterly dependent on the permission of a dead sinner to make it work.It is not an assault on the power and efficacy of the cross.
Because it has to be received.
God set it up that way.
Standard, I agree with you completely. Every single word of God is true, and we must absolutely mold our systems around the text rather than twisting it to fit our traditions.It's all true... Even the parts that tells us to believe and those that tells us to persevere... Word of God. We mold ourselves around God's word, not the other way around
Standard, I agree with you completely. Every single word of God is true, and we must absolutely mold our systems around the text rather than twisting it to fit our traditions.
Because we both agree that the commands to believe and persevere are vital, let’s look at how the inspired text of Romans 8:30 actually guarantees that those things will happen.
First, the text commands all men everywhere to repent and believe the Gospel. But as we have already established from Scripture, the carnal mind is enmity against God and cannot submit to Him (Romans 8:7). Therefore, for a sinner to obey the command to believe, God must first do a sovereign work inside them. Romans 8:30 names that work: the "Call." This is the effectual, life-giving call that transitions a dead soul into regeneration, granting them the very faith required to fulfill the command to believe. We don't ignore the command to believe; we praise God because His sovereign call is what enables His elect to obey it.
Second, you mention the commands to persevere. Monergism doesn't deny the necessity of perseverance; we emphasize it! But notice the unshakeable math at the end of Paul's chain: "and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
Notice that Paul uses the past tense for glorification to show its absolute certainty in the mind of God. He does not say, "whom He justified, some of them will persevere if they choose to, and hopefully they make it to glory." There are no dropouts in Romans 8:30. One hundred percent of those who are called and justified are sovereignly preserved by God all the way to final glorification.
So yes, the believer must persevere. But they persevere because they are kept by the power of God through faith (1 Peter 1:5). The command to persevere is the means God uses to move His people forward, and the Golden Chain is the guarantee that He will successfully do it.
Molding ourselves around God's Word means accepting the text exactly as it is written: salvation is an unbroken, sovereign work of God from eternity past to eternity future. God gets all the glory, and His people get absolute security.
Standard, you are attempting to lower the biblical definition of regeneration down to a mere "softening" of the heart so that man's free will can still claim the final credit for choosing God. But a softened heart is not what Romans 8 describes.We are called and God softens our hearts. We also know that we're protected by the Spirit while in Him. He will guide us to live Spirit filled lives with all its blessings. Acts 16:31 is an instruction to believe on the Lord, choosing our Lord and saviour.
Here's the issue.This makes me so angry I have to spit. First of all, these are my thoughts. Were they generated artificially? Yes, they were. But not in the way you think. What I published are my thoughts, rewritten by a computer. For me, it is like having a professional writer at my side. Contrary to the picture you paint, I spend time with the text. I edit the text, I disagree with the text. I only publish what I think is true. I don't simply copy and paste what I read.
I'll give you an example. I will ask my AI buddy to reword the paragraph above. I will simply ask it to add clarity.
You’re free to weigh what I’ve said and decide whether it rings true. If it does, then receive it. If it doesn’t, you’re under no obligation to accept it. My only aim is to offer something helpful, and you can take from it whatever is genuinely beneficial.
YouTube has started marking AI generated videos with a warning. "AI".I'm having a similar experience with my YouTube channel. Because of AI, people are looking for clues to AI use, assuming that AI use lacks authenticity. I love making high-quality videos. But now my latest two videos are just my face and a bit of background music. People who watch YouTube want authenticity.
Standard, you are attempting to lower the biblical definition of regeneration down to a mere "softening" of the heart so that man's free will can still claim the final credit for choosing God. But a softened heart is not what Romans 8 describes.
Let’s look at why your framework collapses when tested by the text:
First, if God merely "softens" everyone’s heart through a general call, but leaves the final decision up to man's choice, then you have a massive theological problem. If two people hear the exact same gospel and have their hearts equally "softened," but one believes and the other rejects it, what made the final difference? Under your system, it wasn’t God’s grace—it was the sinner's own superior wisdom, humility, or free will. You are forcing yourself to contradict 1 Corinthians 4:7, which asks, "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?" In the monergistic system, God's sovereign call is what makes the difference.
Second, you quote Acts 16:31: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Monergists enthusiastically shout this command to every sinner. But you are completely ignoring the spiritual condition of the Philippian jailer before Paul gave that instruction. The text says the jailer was trembling, fell down before Paul and Silas, and cried out, "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:29-30
A spiritually dead rebel who hates God (Romans 8:7) does not tremble in conviction and beg for salvation on his own. The jailer’s brokenness was the immediate, visible proof that the Holy Ghost had already sovereignly invaded his dead heart through the life-giving, effectual call. The command to "believe" did not give a dead man a choice; it directed a newly resurrected, living soul exactly where to look for comfort.
Third, you say we are protected "while in Him," implying that our security is dependent on our performance to stay inside the boundary. But Romans 8:30 leaves no room for dropouts. The chain is an absolute guarantee: "whom he justified, them he also glorified." God doesn't just protect us while we choose to stay; He actively protects us from our own fallen fleshly weaknesses to ensure we will stay. As 1 Peter 1:5 states, we are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation."
The call of God doesn't just offer guidance to a cooperative sinner; it powerfully transforms an enemy into a child, ensuring they will believe, obey, and endure to the very end.
Sorry, I don't see it as dishonest.Here's the issue.
Full disclosure.
If indeed those were your thoughts put into an AI so to publish it here, you should note that. As I and others do.
Because otherwise, the post, that includes AI intelligence filling the holes in your thoughts , without that full disclosure post to readers, is dishonest.