In other words, don't for a second think you aren't biased one way or another. We should all try to be open minded here. That goes for me too.
Could you respond to this:
...I have had a bit of discussion with you, but some of my posts earlier on was not tackled by you. For instance, I said that believing God has chosen us to be saved can also be a source of boasting because it can make some of us think we are "special" in God's sight simply because we are the "elect". This, you never addressed.
The truth has been spoken already: God is no respecter of persons. If God does not show partiality, then there is no reason that He can choose people to be saved or doomed apart from man's own free will choice. The only way God chooses is because man has already made the choice, and God brings things to pass because He foreknew their choices. Whom He foreknew He predestined: This means God foreknew the entire being, from his/her character to his/her choices in life. This foreknowledge of God is indeed the foreknowledge of every single one of us in totality, but knowing everything about us also means knowing our choices in life - whether we choose to believe in His Son or not. This is not inconsistent with what the Word says.
I do believe God chooses and brings things to pass, the matter of dispute is not whether God chooses or brings things to pass, but HOW and WHY He chooses and brings things to pass. The Calvinism viewpoint makes it seem that God chooses and brings EVERY SINGLE THING (be it good or evil) to pass solely based on His desires and will. But here is the problem:
God can never desire or will for something evil to happen. I repeat, God never desires or wills evil things to happen in His universe. Saying that He does is accusing Him of being responsible for the evil things in this world, because God is responsible for His willful actions and desires as well, since He is the Ruler of the Universe. If God has a will for evil things to come to pass (which Calvinism asserts), then surely God is at least partly responsible for the evil in this world and He wouldn't be a judge anymore since He Himself is responsible for things He judges. Delving into the logic behind Calvinism exposes easily the contradictions that it poses against the Nature of God and His Word. God's will is always to do good, and always to bring GOOD things to pass. He has no will or part in the evil in this world, He allows evil to happen, but that has nothing to do with Him wanting the evil to happen. This is the true and holy nature of God. Willing and allowing things to happen are two TOTALLY different things - Willing is deeply connected to an innate desire, but allowing does not mean desiring. I believe you are confusing the two here, Skala. If my will is to bring a stealing incident to pass, then I am already considered responsible for the stealing because my will approve of stealing. Are you now going to say God is responsible for all the evil in this world because it is His will to bring them to pass? Does God approve of the evil in this world through His will? God forbid!
That brings us back to the question on HOW and WHY God brings things to pass. Since God cannot approve of evil (so evil events are not His will), then God allows them to happen not because He approves of them, but because He either meant to turn the evil into good (as in the case of Joseph's slavery in Egypt), or simply because He has given those who do evil to a reprobate mind because they refuse to honor Him even though they knew His existence (Romans). But even in these events, where do we see that God approves of the evil that is allowed to happen? Nowhere, so these evil events can NEVER be even part of God's decreed will because willing something already means approving something.
Same thing with election of the saved and doom of the unsaved. God chooses men to be saved because He foreknew EVERYTHING about them, which includes their choices of salvation. God also allows people to be doomed, because He foreknew they would reject His Son, but does that mean God wants people to be doomed? No, because the Word clearly says:
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Perhaps you are going to say that the two "world" refers to different things, but how can that be? If God did not send His Son to condemn the world, then surely the world refers to every single sinner (even those who will reject Christ). Then immediately, the Lord said He was sent so that the world through Him might be saved. Again, it is clear that the world here refers also to every single sinner (even those who will reject Christ). God has made it clear that He has sent His Son to give the world (every single sinner) a chance to be saved, and the final outcome rests in the choices of man.
Now you may say that Christ does not fail, so how can He die for those who will be lost? But that is a faulty reasoning. Christ's work on the Cross is simply to take away the sins of the world and to destroy the works of the devil, His work is not to guarantee EVERYONE to be saved. His blood shed already accomplished the two primary goals, and anyone who accepts His atonement receives the full effect of His work without fail. Christ did not fail in His work because man are lost, no, man are lost because they did not choose to accept His successful work on the Cross. Even though Christ's work is to remove the sins of the world, there is a condition that man must meet before he can inherit this work of Christ: that is faith in Christ. This has again nothing to do with Christ's failure, but how God decreed it to be. God can indeed decree Christ to take away the sins of every sinner apart from their faith in His Son, but that is not what God wants. Applying a condition on man in no way makes Christ's work ineffective. God has made His gift of salvation 100% successful and effective, but He wants sinners to accept His gift with gratitude, not with an unwilling heart and forced will.
Putting all these things together already fully refutes what Calvinism teaches regarding how God chooses a few to be saved and others to be doomed. It also refutes the idea that God somehow approves of evil by willing them to come to pass. God chooses with His foreknowledge (of all His creation), not with His desires for only a few to be saved. God allows evil to come to pass, but He never approved of it in His will. He is just, and He will ultimately judge everyone according to their works. The will of evil men dooms them, but the will of the righteous are in line with God's will....