The offer of Salvation is universal, but the application is only : "by Faith".

Your verse says.."the work of GOD".

The way to understand this is to think of it like this. "What God requires"... is "the work of God" that you are to do.
See, with God, all things are by faith.
For example..."without Faith, it is impossible to Please God".

That is Hyper Calvinism that you are ranting there.
Its Theological dung.

See, when you reduce the Offer of John 3:16, to only a few.......you are teaching the Devil's theology that Jesus's Blood was not shed for the sin of the world, and in fact, it was..
The Cross is for EVERYONE.
Its a UNIVERSAL offer of Salvation.

Yes, you are to believe.

"faith COMES..........by hearing". = The Gospel.

See, if God gave Faith, He would not need Preachers to preach so that you can BELIEVE.

Jesus said...."Go to all the elect"?......
No that is John Calvin nonsense.
Never confuse that heretic with Christ or Truth.

"Jesus said go into all the WORLD""...... and that is the = world of people.
This is John 3:16...>"for God so loved the WORLD"........not just the elect.
See it?
John Calvin could never see it, because he was too busy being occupied with His Pride.

God does not give you what He requires you to do.
For example when the apostles were about to pass out from FEAR, because their BOAT was being shaken in the Storm, ... THey woke Jesus up, and He said.....>"where is your FAITH">
He didnt say...>"ok, let me give you some faith".

Do you understand this, Bluesproverb? As John Calvin, never did, and died completely ignorant of simple faith in Christ.

You are required to BELIEVE.....and God does not cause that.....>>He REQUIRES that Faith.
Faith is your part, as God has already provided His part......and His part is Jesus on the Cross.

You'll have to ask that of a Calvinist.
I'm not one.

Your case would be a bit more palatable if it wasn't seasoned with ad hominems.

What is the fixation on charging Calvinism,Calvinist, here?

Did I miss the paragraph in the statement of faith informing ''Calvinist/Calvinism paranoia within,proceed with caution?'' 🤔

Precisely. God requires work of us because even God Himself works. Didn’t God create the universe?

Why didn’t God just wave His hand and give forgiveness to everyone rather than send Jesus to experience an extremely painful death?

This should reveal something about the way God operates. From my perspective God is transactional. God required a payment for our sins and Jesus with His glorious sacrifice obliged with His work. Bless His name. Now we, too, must do something. We must believe and believing anything is a choice.

1 Corinthians 6:20
20you were bought at a price…

She’s not a Calvinist. She’s a Bible-ist

Isn’t that clever? I think people try to distance themselves from labels that aren’t helpful. I’ve met Calvinists who won’t accept being called a Calvinist. Normally they’ll say they’re Christian or Reformed. A bit like how the Latter Day Saints don’t generally accept being called Mormons anymore.

Also, worth noting, some people espouse Calvinistic doctrines and don’t realize it; they think they’re just representing what the Bible says. I’ve seen it before on this message board more than once.

Faith being a gift from God is an example of a Calvinist doctrine that falls into the unconditional election and limited atonement category of the acrostic TULIP.

Calvinists maintain that not everyone gets the gift of faith which leads to the conclusion that not everyone in the world is capable of accessing the sin sacrifice of Jesus by faith. I’m just scratching the surface. As you can see Calvinism is heresy.

We have a solemn duty to examine ourselves to make sure what we believe is Biblically accurate. The apostles did not take scripture mangling as a small thing.

2 Peter 3:16
16as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.

exactly.

Not exact.
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:13–17, ESVUK)


I'm not a Calvanist. However, Calvinism was pre-existed by other teachers of the word before him. The ''Calvinist'' contempt is ignorance of this fact.

Lutheran's here should hope they're not targeted. Martin Luther taught the same thing. Predestination. Even double predestination.
ST.Augustine, Jansenists, and last but not the only one, Apostle Paul.

For those whom he [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified .
Romans 8:29–30.

And Jesus.

The bias against Calvinism is obviously personal and myopic. Because someone doesn't have to claim Calvin's teachings to know where he gleaned his doctrine from. All someone has to do is read the Bible.

Jesus taught in parables.

So that not all would understand and come into salvation.

Jesus said that.

Jesus said no one can come to him unless the father leads them.

Universalism is called a heresy. It appears when it is reworked yo counter the dread ''Calvinists'' presumed to be on board it's construed as gospel.

It's not. And the Lambs Book of Life written before God created the world proves it.

As does God, repeatedly when he tells us he has predestined all.

Works advocates insist that's not so. God didn't actually mean what he said. Or did.

Man has the power to choose and overcome his plans.
Everyone is able to be saved.

That's not what Jesus taught.

Everyone else sknows prophecy is God's predestination of the future.
Prophecy, inspired utterance; the prediction of future events.

Even as Jesus was predestined to come and as old testament prophecy tells us. And why.

“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.” John 6:39


“This Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.” Acts 2:23


“Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:11-12



“Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness.” Titus 1:1

“The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.” Proverbs 16:4

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.” Ephesians 1:3

“But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” 2 Thessalonians 2:13

“But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” 2 Thessalonians 2:13

God is sovereign.

The heresy is actually that which contravenes God's message.

“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:44

“We make our own plans, but the LORD decides where we will go,” Proverbs 16:9 CEV

May I ask, what is your interpretation of "neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" in 1 Cor 2:14?

It is not a good thing, when you quit defending your beliefs with scriptures, and begin injecting your own thoughts out of frustration.

What are you going to do to me, if I do not stop teaching with scriptures that uphold Christ's limited atonement? Seeing that you have warned me. The scriptures also describes false doctrine teachers in Jesus's days on earth, giving him the same warning. Can you see yourself in this pitcher?

Christ died to remit the sins of all of those that the Father gave to him, and says that he will not lose any of them, but raise them all up at the last day (John 6:37-40).

John 17:2 - As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

The only faith that the un-regenerant man has, is faith in himself, and what he can accomplish (1 Cor 2:14). Spiritual faith is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22) Which was given by God to dwell within those un-regenerated people when he quickened them to a new spiritual life, while they were, yet, spiritually dead, and could not respond to spiritual things (Eph 2:1-5). The only people that can believe in spiritual things are those that have been born again.

You've been warned?

Maybe you should ignore false teachers who feel compelled to threaten people who don't concur with their false teachings.
There's something wrong with someone who threatens you in these forums.


I unignored them for a moment to see who it was.

What you do not realise is that spiritual faith is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, (Gal 5:22) and is given by God to dwell within you in the new birth. The un-regenerant person only has faith in himself, and what he can accomplish. He does not have spiritual faith, and cannot discern it. He thinks it to be foolishness (1 Cor 2:14). Before a person can believe in spiritual things, they have to be born again.

Spiritual faith pleases God, man's faith can never please God.

Spiritual faith is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22) and becomes available with the new birth with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:1-5)

The un-regenerant person only has faith in himself, and his accomplishments. He thinks spiritual faith is foolishness, and cannot discern it.(1 Cor 2:14).

This is why I believe we cannot become upset with the natural man and woman who insist their doctrine supersedes the spiritual one from God.

When they resort to name calling, not that of making the charge of heresy or blasphemy because those are right judgement against wrong teaching but, actual name calling and especially make threats, it only serves to reiterate that is fallen behavior of the natural mind.

Which I think makes for a relevant question in light of that and is, why debate them?

We aren't going to change the unregenerate mind. That's God's job.

When we read one another as we make that effort we're preaching to the choir.

What then is our point?
We're going to rebuff blatant falsity of course . However, if we think about it, are our efforts going to lead anyone to Christ? When God tells us no one comes to Jesus but God leads them.
What we post may resonate and lead his elect to him? But that would credit us, when God says he does that.

Curious to your thoughts. 😊✝️💕

What you do not recognise, is that Man's faith is faith in himself and his accomplishments. He cannot discern spiritual faith which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22) which is only accessible through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which God gives a person when God quickens them to the new spiritual life. (Eph 2:1-5).

I believe the scriptures do not contradict one another and by considering all of them, they will prove each other by the revelation of the Holy Spirit.

Are you going to just ignore those scriptures that do not uphold your belief that eternal deliverance is available by good works (your choice and not God's)?