Acts 13: 48 does not support Calvinism

Here is one of the clear fallacies of Calvinistic thinking: to say that "the sovereignty of God cancels out the free will of man."

To make such a statement is actually limiting God and saying he cannot make man with a completely free will and yet perfectly know the future.

It's not me that limits God; rather it is the limits of meaning and logic that limit God.

Being omnipotent does not mean He can do anything whatsoever. Omnipotence means, literally, "all power." God can do anything that can be done with power. But there are some things that cannot be done with ANY amount of power, such as creating a one-sided coin, or producing a married bachelor.

Likewise, it is logically inconsistent for man to have free will and for God to be omniscient in the same universe.

If God knows you are going to Chicago tomorrow, you cannot do otherwise. For you to be free to change your mind and go to New York instead, you would make a fool of God and destroy His omniscience. For you to NOT to be free to change your mind and go to New York instead argues against the literal meaning of free will.

So many Christians readily assert that "God is in control of everything!" and then turn right around in pride and add, "except ME!"

No, time and space are but two aspects of the same thing (spacetime); God structured every moment of time just as carefully as He crafted every millimeter of space in His creation. He knows the end from the beginning because existence is like a movie, playing out as it was intended to play out from beginning to end--but we are no more free to do other than that which God has created us to do than the characters in a movie are free to do something other than that which we know they will do (if we've seen the movie before, anyway). If we WERE free to do other than that which God knows we will do, then God could not be omniscient, because there would always be some uncertainty as to what we were going to do until we actually did it.

And it's no good saying that we made a free choice, but God was merely able to see into the future and know what choice we made. Nope, because once that knowledge is set, then we are STILL not free to do anything other than that which God knows we will do--and that is not a free choice. Choosing to stay in a locked room is not a free choice.

If you need further scriptural evidence against the concept of free will, see posts #7 and #8 in this thread.

I believe we have a free will to choose as we please about our lives here on earth, but I believe God knows from the beginning of time what we will choose.

It's not me that limits God; rather it is the limits of meaning and logic that limit God.

Being omnipotent does not mean He can do anything whatsoever. Omnipotence means, literally, "all power." God can do anything that can be done with power. But there are some things that cannot be done with ANY amount of power, such as creating a one-sided coin, or producing a married bachelor.

Likewise, it is logically inconsistent for man to have free will and for God to be omniscient in the same universe.
.

Exactly! God is sovereign and omnipotent. We are created in his image with free will.

You might read my last two posts before remarking EXACTLY.

Hah! I only said "exactly" to what I quoted from you - I read the rest of your posts but only quoted the part you got right!

Then give me scripture to prove me wrong.

The problem with your analogy is that you are using a human understanding of a divine idea (logic) to impose arbitrary limits on the Creator. To me that seems quite hilarious!

Have you never met a married bachelor?

I know quite a few bachelors who are part of the bride of Christ!

Now that would be a married bachelor, would it not?

In God's eyes I think it would be!

Many people have been misinformed about what god saw by his foreknowledge. Psalms 53:2-3: God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back; they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. That is why God choose an elect people before the foundation of the world and gave them to Christ to be a sacrifice to God for their sins. Eph 1. Jesus's death on the cross was a sacrifice to God for God's acceptance, and not to man for man's acceptance. God has given man a free will as to how man wants to live his life here on earth, but, man's eternal salvation is made by God's sovereign grace, and not man's choice.

I do not believe God chose a group of people and said "you, you, and you are going to heaven and the rest are going to hell." As you say in your quote from Psalm 53 God looked down from heaven and nobody sought God, everyone had turned away from Him. Their turning away was their free choice. The elect are those who choose Christ of their own free will. The disciple did not have to follow Jesus, they could have said no and carried on fishing. God gave us free will, we are not zombies as Psalm 53 so eloquently explains. You say it yourself and I have highlighted it for you.

Likewise, it is logically inconsistent for man to have free will and for God to be omniscient in the same universe.

Why would an omniscient God let stupid people pick who would be elect?

Can't God be God and do the choosing of who will be elect?

Not sure why that is so offensive to some people.

I do not believe God chose a group of people and said "you, you, and you are going to heaven and the rest are going to hell." As you say in your quote from Psalm 53 God looked down from heaven and nobody sought God, everyone had turned away from Him. Their turning away was their free choice. The elect are those who choose Christ of their own free will. The disciple did not have to follow Jesus, they could have said no and carried on fishing. God gave us free will, we are not zombies as Psalm 53 so eloquently explains. You say it yourself and I have highlighted it for you.

In rereading your posts again, I really think you have some good things to say, but this line (from post #37) really has me puzzling: "That is why God choose an elect people before the foundation of the world and gave them to Christ to be a sacrifice to God for their sins."
Here, let me explain:
(1) First you have "choose" when I think you meant "chose" but I don't know for sure.
(2) You say "elect people" but don't explain what you mean by that - Calvinism has a set meaning for "elect" but you say you are not Calvinistic - so I might think I know what you mean, but I am not sure.
(3) A straight forward reading seems to say that these "elect people" were given to Christ so that they could be a sacrifice (to God for their sins). Do you mean literally that these elect will be (have been? should be?) sacrificed literally (or figuratively?) Or is your sentence structure bad, and you meant to say something else?

Hey, I am not trying to be difficult; I am just explaining why I have no way to answer because I don't even know what you were trying to say in that post. I have no idea where to start to find Scripture to disprove what I don't even know you were saying.

God does do the choosing. God chooses those people who (a) believe in him and (b) follow Him.

God is not going to chose the unbelievers and the wicked for eternal life with him. They are rejected.

You state that the elect are those that choose Christ of their own free will. I said that I believe the scriptures to teach that God gave man a free will to choose how they want to live their lives, but I also said that man has no choice in his eternal salvation. Eph 2 explains that none of us will seek Christ until we are regenerated and given a new heart, Eze 36:26.

Why are the unbelievers the way they are? Satan has led them by appealing to their flesh and through self-justification made them habitual sinners. We are all evil by nature.

Psalms 14:2, 3 "The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

The answer for the Calvinist is that God has chosen His people from the foundation of the world. He then made provision to lead us out from under Satan's oppressive control. That said, we still have a choice in the matter. Predestination is very real but we should not let it define us. We cannot fully comprehend it, so let's just quit thinking about it. God knew we would choose right once enlightened. He also knows if we make bad choices and He will let that happen also.

Ezekiel 36 is about the restoration of Israel which is yet future. The remnant which returned after the seventy years and their posterity were continually under Gentile yoke. In A. D. 70 they were driven into dispersion, which still continues. (From the Summarised Bible.)

While we wait, what about all the generations from AD70 until now and beyond. Are they all destined for Hell?

Answer: God has provided a way of escape for all those who freely and willingly repent of their own sins and accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour. They, throughout all generations, past and present, having come to Christ, shall be given a new heart now, and will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.