Hello brother Jason, I will attempt to answer per request, hoping the answers I give line up with Scripture and historical Calvinism, that is in agreement with the many creeds and confessions of the Reformed faith and the majority of it's adherents, while recognizing the room for some variation of disagreement, and at the same time a consistency of agreement among adherents.
Thank you again. I know I said it before, but I really do appreciate you taking the time to answering my questions.
Jason0047 said:
1. Do you believe that God forces some to be not saved against their will?
You said:
No, I do not, neither is there any need for coercion, sinners by very nature sin, it comes rather naturally.
Yet, even unbelieving sinners are capable great acts of kindness. They can make free will decisions that are good for them. So I find it odd that they cannot choose to make a good decision towards God if they can do other good things. To me, that is not consistent with reality.
Also, when I say God forces some to be not saved, I am saying, that if God has the ability to easily save them and He doesn't it would be morally wrong. In essence He is forcing them to be unsaved or to remain in an unsaved state. For example: If I was far out at sea on a boat and I seen 2 people in the water and they needed help with me throwing them a lifebuoy or lifering, I could choose to either:
(a) Throw them the lifebuoy and bring them on my boat (or):
(b) Refuse to help them and drive away.
If I choose to not save them, then I am in essence enforcing that they remain lost at sea. I am forcing them to be not saved. It doesn't matter if they were already lost or not beforehand. My choice to not take action would be immoral. If I had the power to do good and yet I chose to not do good, then it would be sinful.
For Scripture says,
"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth
it not, to him it is sin." (James 4:17).
Also, we know that God is good, too (See Matthew 19:17);
And that God is love (1 John 4:8).
In addition, we see Jesus (Who is God) say,
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God's messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn't let me." (Matthew 23:37).
So I don't see Jesus enforcing salvation on Jerusalem here. In fact, Jesus yearns for them to be saved by saying that He desires for them to be gathered like a hen protects her chicks, but the people of Jerusalem would not let allow Him (Who is God) to do so. In other words, they were thwarting the will of God here. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were choosing to remain unsaved.
Jason0047 said:
2. Do you believe Jesus died for all people or just for the Elect or the saved?
You said:
I believe all Calvinists will agree that Jesus' substitutionary atonement applies exclusively to the elect in Christ. The logical conclusion for the non-elect, is the blood of Christ is not on those suffering the wrath of God's judgement. There are variations of answers to this question due to the magnitude of the atonement in accomplishing all that the Father intended. It can also be said that Christ died for all kinds of people, all types of people, meaning all races, ages, gender, throughout all of the history of mankind.
Actually one Calvinist who has categorized the various different forms of Calvinism says that there are Calvinists who affirm "common grace."
You can check out his classificiations of the different levels of Calvinism here:
Types of Calvinism – A Comprehensive List
Oh, and here is a definition for "common grace":
Common grace - Wikipedia
Anyways, I believe God died for the sins of the entire world (Besides those who worship the beast in the future - Revelation 13:8, Revelation 17:8).
But we know Jesus died for everyone else in the world, though. How so?
First, babies who die do not go to hell. They are automatically saved by Christ's sacrifice. We see David talk about the death of his unborn son and how he will see him again one day.
Second, names can be blotted out of the book of life. A name being blotted out of the book of life suggests that they were once saved. This does not make any sense in the Calvinistic universe. In Calvinism: One can only go from being not in the book of life to then being placed there. However, in Revelation 3, we see that Jesus will confess a person's name before the Father and not blot out their name out of the book of life if they overcome (See Revelation 3:5). For if you were to read Revelation 3:1-4, he is telling those at Sardis to repent for He did not find their works perfect before God and their garments were defiled. The Lord only found a few in Sardis whose garments were not defiled. This is leading the reader to think that if they are like Sardis, they need to repent and get their works perfect before God and overcome, or they are not going to be saved.
Three, we see Scripture saying that Jesus died for the whole world in various different ways.
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (Hebrews 2:9).
"He gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1 Timothy 2:6).
""And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2).
"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29).
So the words, "all", "every man" "whole world, "world" are used in reference to whom Christ died for. For...
God so loved the world.... that WHOSOEVER believes in Him shall have eternal life.
It's not God so loved the world.... that WHOSEVER He regenerates in Him shall have eternal life.
The Bible does not say that.
For God is not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth
all men every where to repent" (Acts of the Apostles 17:30).
Jason0047 said:
3. Did God directly create evil?
You said:
No, not directly, He did create the potential for it, all while knowing what the outcome would be and sovereignly allowing it. Some occurances we might consider “evil” such as a “natural disaster”, God is in control, has control over, is not beyond His ability to control.
While it is true that God does not directly create evil, I see your belief as causing a similar dilemma. For how do you explain the fact that God chooses not to save some (reprobate) when He could have saved them? Wouldn't that mean it is in God's will for people to remain unsaved and as a result God wanted them to do evil instead of good? For does He not have power to save them and make them good instead of making them to remain as the reprobate who are evil?
Jason0047 said:
4. Does God force regenerate (i.e. to be born again) the Elect before they make a free will choice to accept Christ?
You said:
No, and the question is framed without taking into account the historical Reformed order of salvation. The fact is, we are all dead in sins and trespasses and cannot please a Holy God before regeneration. God does not force, He regenerates His chosen people that He chose before the foundation of the world according to His wondrous mercy and grace, His choice His divine prerogative. To say God "forces" suggest He converts against a person's will, but the will not in Christ is already spiritually dead and set against God. He brings to life, that which was formerly dead. If that is forcing, then so be it, I will accept it, and be thankful for it.
So on one hand you admit that this is not a forced regeneration and yet on the other hand you concede that God perhaps does force regenerate a person. Your belief here sounds contradictory, my friend.
Jason0047 said:
5. Does God choose the saved or unsaved based upon what He knew they were going to do?
You said:
Romans Chapter 9 provides the answer, Also see Ephesians Chapter 2.
Please give me specific words of a verse (Instead of general chapter numbers). Thank you.
You said:
The Biblical answer is no, God does not look through the corridors of time, hoping for volunteers. He say’s “follow me” and those that can hear, they do.
Because He force regenerates them or makes that which is dead alive; And He doesn't choose any good that they might do in the future as a part of His decision in regenerating them.
Okay. I got it.
But is this not immoral on the behalf of God to do this, though?
This means God is just randomly or mindless choosing to save some and yet allowing others to be damned (When He has the power to save them). Again, this would be like me or you not actively desiring to save somebody who was lost at sea. It would be immoral to ignore those who need help and are lost if you have the power to save them. Even if the people in the water deserved to be lost at sea, they are still humans who can seek forgiveness with the crimes that they have done and turn their life around.
Jason0047 said:
6. Once God saves somebody, is there no possible chance they can become unsaved?
You said:
No, God does not make mistakes, He does not provide salvation and leave it in the hands of sinners to foil His plans. On this note, it is entirely possible and more than possible, for people to partake in, have an exterior appearance of conversion but lack true inward conversion. Unfortunately most are self-deceived, indeed we need not look further than non-Christian religions to observe the widespread deception infecting the whole world.
There are several problems with this line of thinking here. First, if I told a person that there is no way they can be unsaved, they are going to think they have a license to sin unless I explain to them that they also have to live holy as a part of God's saving grace. Second, a believer could think he can do a little bit of sin every once a while and yet live generally holy. For after all, there are so many more worse people out there, right? We can just sort of live holy and not sell out to Christ because we got our guaranteed ticket to Heaven. Three, believers are not saved if they abide in unrepentant sin. The idea that we are saved even in our sins is turning God's grace into a license for immorality. Jesus said if you look upon a woman in lust, your whole body could be cast into hell fire (Matthew 5:28-30). Jesus said if you do not forgive you will not be forgiven (Matthew 6:15). Jesus said this to believers and not unbelievers because an unbeliever first needs to accept Christ in order to be saved. So this means that Jesus was teaching us that sin can separate us from God. So the idea that we are Once Saved Always Saved is simply not true. Four, in the story of the Prodigal Son, when the son returned home from living a prodigal life, his father said he was dead and is alive again two times. His father was of course speaking in spiritual terms. Meaning, he was dead spiritually and is alive again spiritually (Because his son was willing to repent and submit himself as a servant to his father). In addition, James 5 says,
19 "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;
20 Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20).
In other words, if a believer errs or backslides into sin and another believer converts him back to the faith, the one who brought him back should know that he helped to convert a sinner from the error of his ways and that he saved a soul from spiritual death (helping to hide a multitude of their sins). For if a faithful believer helps a backslidden believer (i.e. prodigal son) repent of his sinful ways to the Lord, then he He is forgiven. For if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Jason0047 said:
Are God's Elect saved even while they abide in unrepentant sin sometimes?
You said:
Rather than answer the question, I will throw one back. Let’s take Christian Joe for example. He’s been saved and lived a godly life for most of his life. He’s not perfect but has always been the aim, to be Holy like Christ. He’s always strived to repent for every time he’s fallen short of the glory of God. One fateful morning on the way to Church service, another driver pulls out in front of him and without hardly thinking in a moment of anger he lets out a word I cannot use here. In the process of the accident, Joe loses his life almost instantly without time to repent or get it right with God. Since Christian Joe did not repent of that sin will he be thrown in the fire with the rest? Other examples that might come to mind have to do with elderly people who experience diseases effecting their mental faculties. It is difficult to envision a loving parent throwing out the baby with the dirty bath water.
But God is the give and taker of life. Death is not outside of His control. So if somebody dies, it is because God has allowed for that to happen. There are not accidental deaths with God. If God wants to make sure somebody stays alive, He can very well make that happen very easily. So if they died in unrepentant sin, that means God's judgment is upon them in a not so good way. Ananais and Sapphira lied to the Holy Ghost and they were immediately killed for doing so. They were saved before, but after having lied to the Spirit, they were judged by God and were unsaved. For a great fear fell upon the church and all who heard about it. Now, if the church knew they were safely in the arms of Jesus, then they would not be afraid because no Christian is to fear physical death. For Jesus says fear not the one who can destroy the body, but fear the One who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna. Gehenna is the Lake of Fire. So the reason we are to fear God is because He has power to throw us into the Lake of Fire. Otherwise it makes no sense to fear God. In fact, Paul says work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Why all the trembling if it is not talking about fear? It makes no sense.