Sorry if you found the rhetoric too much. But it is strange to me that you find this bothersome but don't mind continually referring to my view as "man centered", nor have you rebuked other Calvinists here for making all sorts of crazy claims that focus on supposed motives for holding to Arminianism rather than focusing on the Scriptural issues.
What you said seemed to say that all I had done was appeal to Scripture to make my argument, and as far as that goes, I was correct. That would indicate to me that your argument is more than a Scriptural argument, which is why I made the comment. Sorry if that was insulting or offensive.
What? We don't choose to receive a gift? We can't reject a gift? Are you serious? The giver causes us to receive the gift? Really? So if I buy a gift for someone and offer her the gift, it is not up to her whether or not she will receive it, but up to me as the giver? Come on. And this distinction between a gift and offer is contrived. You can't offer someone a gift if there is no gift to offer. What you are saying is that a gift is only a gift if it is received, and apparently, only of it is received irresistibly.
Says who? You? Let's say that an "offer" only becomes a "gift" when it is received (even though an "offering" is generally considered a synonym for a gift). That still does not mean it must be received irresistibly or it is not really a gift. And it doesn't mean there can be no condition for receiving the gift. Receiving is a condition. Unless you "receive" it, you don't "get" it. You said unless it is received, it is not even a gift, but only an offer. So even you acknowledge that one must meet the condition of "receiving" in order to get the gift. But how do we receive a gift? That depends on the nature of the gift. It has to do with how we take possession of the gift so that it becomes ours. Taking possession of a gift does not make it not a gift as you seem to claim. In fact, you claimed it is just an offer unless someone takes possession of it.
So on the one hand, you say it is not a gift, but only an offer unless you take possession of what is offered (which is what receiving means). On the other hand, you say that if one needs to take possession of the gift (which is indeed a condition) that means it is not a gift. Well, which is it?
What you are really wanting to say is that an offer cannot be received as a gift unless the offer is irresistible, or that a gift is not really a gift if it is not received irresistibly. But that is just a made up definition.
The free offer of salvation is "received" as a gift by simple trust in the giver. In trusting in Christ, we take possession of the gift. Trusting is a condition for receiving the gift, it is how we receive it.
Taking possession of a gift (however that might be done) does not contribute to the gift. It does not make it not a gift (in fact you said it can only be a gift if someone takes possession of it). It does not mean we gave the gift to ourselves. It does not mean we earned it. Taking possession of a gift (or responding to an offer) is not a meritorious act.
As for Scriptural support, here are just three simple examples from countless passages that make the same basic point:
Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. (Gen. 1:29)
So if we do not eat fruit and plant food, does that mean God did not give it to us for food?
And to Noah he said: "Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything." (Gen. 9:3)
So if we eat only vegetables, does that mean that God did not give us meat to eat? And God said he gave us "everything that lives and moves" for food. So does that mean that if I do not eat some of everything that moves, God didn't really give me everything that lives and moves for food? Do I nullify this gift as a real gift until I eat beetles and grubs?
"Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the desert that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, most beautiful of all lands— because they rejected my laws and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts were devoted to their idols. (Ezek. 20:15-16)
God "gave" them the Promised Land, yet they did not possess it because they failed to meet the required condition for taking possession of the gift. But you said a gift can only be a gift if it is received irresistibly and without conditions. Examples like these could be easily multiplied, but these are enough to demonstrate that your definitions and claims are not derived from Scripture or even in harmony with Scripture, but philosophically contrived.
Again, this is just an assertion on your part, and an assertion that has been debunked over and over again. There is no reason to conflate "meeting a condition" with "earning something." If someone writes me a check for a thousand dollars, I will not take "possession" of the money until I endorse and cash the check. Are you seriously saying that if I need to meet the condition of endorsing and cashing the check in order to take possession of the money, that means I "earned" the thousand dollars" and it was not really a gift at all?
"Hey Mike, where did you get all of that money? I thought you were out of work."
"Oh, I earned it."
"You got a job!"
"Nope, someone just wrote me a check for a thousand dollars."
"But I thought you said you earned it."
"That's because I did."
"How so?"
"Isn't it obvious? First I had to take the check out of his hand when he offered it to me. Then I had to sign the back of the check. Then I had to cash it to get the money. Clearly, after all of that I earned every penny."
"What???"
_____________
"What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." (Rom. 4:3-5)
- I will address the rest of your reply after lunch. God Bless.