Shirley H Supporter Wife, mother, veteran in the spiritual war we all face!

My personal belief is that God does not want to lose anyone. Before time as we know it began, a plan of salvation was set. God knew that we would sin. Therefore, this plan would secure that His people could share eternity with Him. He would maintain His Righteous Holy estate, and not lose anyone. His Grace and Love solved the problem before it occurred. God does not have "a favorite" (except Jesus, of course,) We are all His favorites!

There is only one stipulation! We have to have faith in His words.1 Corinthians 15:1-6: "I want to make quite clear to you, brothers what the message of the Gospel that I preached to you is: you accepted it and took your stand on it, and you are saved by it, if you keep the message I preached to you; otherwise your coming to believe was in vain. The tradition I handed to you in the first place, a tradition which I myself received, was that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas; and later to the Twelve; and next He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time...

There are only 2 absolutes in scripture...Faith, and blood!

Titus 2:11,"You see God's Grace has been revealed to the whole human race..."

Hebrews 1:1,2 "At many moments in the past and by many means, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets, but in our time he has spoken to us in the person of His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the ages."

Remember in Genesis, God made clothes for Adam and Eve from animal skins to cover their sin! The blood sacrifice!

Romans 1:18-20, "The retribution of God from heaven is being revealed against the godliness and injustice of human beings who in their injustice hold back the truth. For what can be known about God is perfectly plain to them, since God has made it plain to them ever since the creation of the world, the invisible existence of God and His everlasting power have been clearly seen by the mind's understanding of created things. And so these people have no excuse..."

We are all chosen, but the choice is ours, to receive or reject the gift!

July 18 2021 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jennifer Rothnie Supporter Housewife, Artist, Perpetually Curious

Fortunately, the Calvinistic theory that God pre-chooses a set of specific individuals to save, apart from faith or any other factor in the person, and apart from any judicial necessity (i.e. by God's own arbitrary choice) to save isn't backed by scripture. (And is contradicted by many texts.)

Under Calvinism's model of salvation, it would be true that an unelected person, a reprobate, cannot ever be saved and cannot ever come to repentance. They see every descendent of Adam as by-birth morally unable to repent and believe the gospel, even if they hear it. And because they believe God unconditionally chose to pass over all these reprobate, not-chosen individuals for salvation (or even to directly damn them in some varieties) they don't see that as ever possible to change. The Holy Spirit will never show them mercy and give them grace to be able to believe.

Now, many Calvinists will say that these people are responsible for their own condemnation even though they cannot be saved, are morally incapable of belief, and Jesus didn't even die for them. They argue that because the people sin willingly (as do we all) and because they willfully reject Christ (as they can do nothing else) they still deserve condemnation and this is not a mark (in their view) against God's justice.

Most non-Calvinists would object that it makes little sense to appeal to the person "willingly" rejecting Christ if the person is born, by God's design and Adam's fall by God's design, incapable of repenting and believing the gospel. That wouldn't absolve God of blame, just make him the mastermind in that scenario.

And Calvinism is a deterministic soteriology as well, so it isn't just the person's rejection of Christ that the model holds is predestined, but *everything* the person ever desires, thinks, or does. Even the sins of Christians are for-ordained before creation under Calvinism, allegedly for God's maximal glory.

Obviously, there are many scriptural problems and contradictions brought in with the insistence that people are sorted pre-time into an "elect" group and either a damned or passed over group who will definitely be damned.

But perhaps the root of the issue is the Calvinistic (and classic Arminian) position of "Total Inability" - that man is so corrupted by sin that he *cannot* repent and believe the gospel when he hears it or respond positively when God reaches out. And we do not see this anywhere in scripture! On the contrary, there are many places where we are asked to choose life or repent, not told repentance is impossible unless we are among the pre-chosen few.

"If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”" Gen 4:7 

"...I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live" Deut 30:17

"...We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them." Acts 14:15

"...That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, but the righteousness that is by faith; however, Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though they could by works..." Rom 9:30-32

Note the "Why" was not a by-birth inability to have faith, but that they were seeking righteousness by works and not faith. 

We also see in John 1:12-13 that God gave the right to become his children to those who "received" Christ. This word is the Greek lambano, which means to *willingly* receive; to eagerly take what is offered; to accept with initiative.

The only thing scripture lists as required to be able to believe the gospel is hearing it. (Rom 10:14)

See also: http://ebible.com/answers/48345?ori=167400

8 days ago • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Donna Williams Supporter

I believe that the first thing that needs to be established is, who are the elect? May I draw your attention to Romans chapter 9.

In Romans 9:6-13: it is evident that the elect are the children of the promised seed, which is Isaac the son of Abraham and Sarah. 

In verses 6-8 in the KJV, it reads as follows: 6"Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 

7 Neither; because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. 

8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed."

And, in verse 9 is the promise the Lord gave to Abraham. "For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son."

To sum it up, the elect are all those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

We have been chosen by the predetermined will of God, not according to our works, but by His grace. 

It is written that it is God, "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." 1Timothy 2:4

I hope that you will have a better understanding of who the elect are by the scriptures that I have shared. 

The doctrine that teaches that God accepts some and rejects others is false.

Jesus died for the world, however, not all will receive God's salvation. 

It is His will for all to be saved through repentance and the remission of sin.

7 days ago • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report