God is a God of Reason: Why Calvinism Fails

Old Lady said:

God is the Supreme Ruler! You can't stop Him and no one else can. If you are forced to live when you desire death, do you still hate salvation?

Does God need your permission to make changes? Have you ever prayed for God to soften someone's heart?

Ezekiel 11:19
19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

Ezekiel 36:26
26 And I will give you a new heart, and ia new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.


Ezekiel 36
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: yIt is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, wwhich you have profaned among the nations to which you came. zAnd I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. aAnd the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. bI will take you cfrom the nations and gather you from all the countries and dbring you into your own land. eI will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from fall your uncleannesses, and gfrom all your idols hI will cleanse you. ia new heart, and ia new spirit I will put within you. iAnd I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. jAnd I will put my Spirit within you, iand cause you to walk in my statutes and kbe careful to obey my rules.1 lYou shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and myou shall be my people, and I will be your God. nI will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And oI will summon the grain and make it abundant and play no famine upon you. qI will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, othat you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. ryou will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. yIt is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

I don't understand why a person who claims to be a Christian complains that God makes His own decisions.

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BNR32FAN said:

But by their stubbornness and unrepentant heart they are storing up for themselves the righteous judgement and wrath of God on judgement day. If they are destined to repent then they cannot be building up God’s wrath on judgement day, can they?

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BNR32FAN said:

We don’t, we’re just showing evidence from the scriptures that He does determine who will believe and who won’t believe. That He doesn’t condemn people to the lake of fire with no way of receiving salvation.

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BNR32FAN said:

We don’t, we’re just showing evidence from the scriptures that He does determine who will believe and who won’t believe. That He doesn’t condemn people to the lake of fire with no way of receiving salvation.

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Hammster said:

It’s not of this world. He never said it wasn’t in this world.


And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
— Matthew 28:18-20

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Old Lady said:

Those are not Christians storing up wrath. Those who don't repent are doing it. You, a mere human, don't know who God will punish and who He will forgive. Or do you think God doesn't forgive sinners?

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Old Lady said:

Why can't God condemn a sinner who has no interest in receiving mercy? Who are you to blame or judge God?

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Old Lady said:

They don't want salvation. They are like Jonah was --- disobedient to God. God showed mercy to Jonah, but not because Jonah deserved mercy.

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BNR32FAN said:

Amen they are not Christians even despite God’s grace being bestowed upon them.

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He gave them a useless fake grace?

No!!!

BNR32FAN said:

Thats not always true. In the case of atheists yes but in the case of Jews and Muslims they do want salvation. Romans 2 is referring to the Jews who refused to believe in Christ and sought salvation by obedience to the law, so these people do want salvation they just refuse to turn to Christ to receive it.

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Old Lady said:

So God's grace applies to non-Christians? He doesn't really care about them?

He gave them a useless fake grace?

No!!!

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Old Lady said:

Do you think atheists are deceived by Satan into thinking there is no need for salvation and others who want salvation are deceived by Satan into thinking they are already going to have it? Where did you find that absurd idea?

John 8:44
44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Was Jesus speaking to Jews or atheists?

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BNR32FAN said:

Then what your saying is that God’s kindness and patience wasn’t really leading them to repentance. Even tho Paul said that He was. So that explanation doesn’t work without contradicting what Paul actually said.

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Humble_Disciple said:

Calvinists often dismiss criticisms of unconditional election, insisting that it must be true, despite being contrary to reason. The Bible, on the other hand, reveals that God is a God of reason:

Isaiah 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Isaiah 43:26
Put Me in remembrance, let us argue our case together;
State your cause, that you may be proved right.

If we are created in the image of God, then we should be able to use our God-given ability to reason and read the scriptures for ourselves to draw our own conclusions, rather than reading a Calvinist framework into them.

Acts 17:11
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

If it seems unreasonable that God would send the mass of humanity to eternal conscious torment in hell, without ever having the choice between rejecting or accepting the free offer of God's grace in the Gospel, then it's likely untrue.

Free Will is Taught in the Bible...

Jeremiah 18: Romans 9 De-Calvinized

John Calvin: Not a Calvinist

N. T. Wright on Predestination and Election

The main difference between Calvinists and non-Calvinists is not whether God's enabling grace is necessary to repent and believe the Gospel, but whether this enabling grace is given to all people equally or just a select few:

In the words of Calvinist apologist Cornelius Van Til, "Sin did not take away from man any of the natural powers that God had given him."
The Defense of the Faith

This would include our natural ability to choose between accepting or rejecting God's free offer of salvation in the Gospel.

If we were created in the image and likeness of God, that includes free will if God is a free being.

While Calvinists are indeed our brothers and sisters in Christ, Calvinism is not the only legitimate interpretation of scripture, and accepting or rejecting it has nothing to do with our salvation.

"In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity."

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Old Lady said:

If God is leading someone to repentance, that person will repent.

God is stronger than Satan! God can't fail!

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BNR32FAN said:

Nobody said that God does fail. The problem is that your theology contradicts God’s word since Paul specifically stated that He is leading them to repentance and they are still refusing to repent. Since God has determined that man must cooperate with Him in order to receive salvation then it is not God who has failed but man who fails by refusing to cooperate.

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Old Lady said:

If God's will is that they repent, they will. You're doubting God's power.

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BNR32FAN said:

It’s God’s will (desire) that all men be saved and come to the full knowledge of truth. 1 Timothy 2:3-4. I’m not doubting God’s power at all. Why do you think God wants to save us?

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