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And yet I've shared the scripture with you that showed the genesis of faith, how understanding is opened, and Who weilds the power of the gospel. You, on the other hand, have yet to share a scripture.

That's not the only point of disagreement. Others here do not concede the point I made. As to whether God desires men to be saved...He does. But it is also true that He doesn't bring salvation to all.

Your reference is an old covenant reference. For those under the old covenant, not choosing to follow God brought with it death. Incidentally, death was the sanction for disobedience under the covenant.

Because God chose not to exercise mercy.

Not at all. I simply understand the dreadful estate of man before God, and his inability to reconcile himself to God. Man's condition necessitates action on God's part.

Read the next to the last paragraph in the post I cited. It spoke of God circumcising the heart, opening eyes, unstopping ears,...this is exactly what God does in saving an individual.

I've been on the same track all along...it is God who saves. Mankind is helpless to save themselves.

Sure, if God does all those things for an individual, it is because He is saving them.

If the power rests with God, any change in the hearer is then ascribed to God.

The power is in the gospel, and not the hearer. The gospel is THE POWER OF GOD...

Luke 24:45...then He opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.

It's actually simply a correct understanding of Romans 10:17.

Hardly. Hearing is spiritual activity performed by the Holy Spirit. It is what Jesus did on the road to Emmaus when He opened the understanding of those 2 men. That is biblical hearing.

I hear you. I don't think you hear me. Where does faith come from? Faith comes by what? Hearing comes by what? While faith does originate in man, man is not the source of its origination. The source that creates faith is the Holy Spirit employing the word of God.

Where does faith come from according to scripture? It does originate in man, but its source is other than man. Faith comes by what? Hearing comes by what? The word...by...is a major clue.

But that's the rub...you do believe men hear truth, apply their God given minds to its understanding, then choose to believe or not. Biblically, this is not the substance of faith. Faith isn't produced by men. It involves the Spirit of God employing the word of God. It is a supernatural...

Faith comes by hearing...not by reasoning through what has been heard. God is active in an individual coming to understand the gospel. There is a supernatural intervention by God that births faith in an individual. The source of saving faith is God.

Sure, if someone believes they are saved. But no one believes apart from the Spirit of God employing the word of God to birth faith in an individual.

I'm not acting. Until God not only draws a person, but also converts and inhabits an individual, they aren't saved.

I don't keep up with what Calvinists do, but I do know that to be saved one must be born from above. So until God spiritually births a person they won't know Him.