And just where did God explain this? To whom did God explain this?................You said, 'I do understand predestination at least as far as it has been explained to us by God.' I then asked you where God explained predestination to us. You came up with zilch! The truth of the matter is that God explains predestination nowhere...absolutely nowhere!..........................So please Marvin, please provide us the proof that God has explained predestination. If you can't, then I can only assume you are making this stuff up.
You can assume whatever you want.
But, if I were you, I'd read and absorb the entire Word of God and look at this thing systematically.
You have a tendency to find and quote only the scriptures which "prove" your point. The proper way to approach the Word of God is to believe
ALL of it first. If you will do that you will arrive at a theology which contains both side of a controversial doctrine. This will be God's side.
You pick and choose what you like to believe and leave the other things out. Your position on salvation is a prime example.
I (and most of my kind) believe every scripture you have ever provided for us concerning the way that human works plays into salvation. We believe
all of the Word.
The problem with our conversations is that you will not reciprocate. If you did - we would agree on these things - both coming under the umbrella of the entire Word of God.
If you will not read and absorb every aspect of God's revelation into your theology - I will not provide page after page of counters to the page after page of cut and pastes which you provide. If we got into that - we'd have to reprint the entire Bible in a year's worth of posts.
I won't and can't provide a systematic theology of every aspect of the Word of God for you.
A knowledge of all things does not demand, nor require predestination. Things will happen according to His knowledge...period. God knows exactly and precisely, everything that will befall you tomorrow Marvin. And He doesn't have to to rely upon predestination for all of it to come to pass. You are making His knowledge lame, and predestination its crutch.
God knows
everything that will happen in the future. There is absolutely not one chance in a million that what He knows will happen will not happen. The destiny of all things is set in stone within the omniscient mind of God.
Since He knew it all from when there was nothing but Himself in existence (the proper understanding of the doctrine of omniscience as opposed to so called "process" theology and the like) - all that takes place in His creation is "predestined" to take place just as He knows that it will.
When you combine this knowledge with what has been revealed to us about the way that all created things work in relation to their creator (Who has been revealed to be omniscient, omnipresent, and providentially controlling) - you will understand predestination properly. If you just pick and choose certain scriptures (as you tend to do) you will continue to come down on the wrong side of the doctrine.
You and I have complete freedom to make choices as we see fit. We will answer for our choices. Those choices will play a part in the playing out of all that God has predestined to take place. The doctrines of predestination and free will are completely compatible one with the other.
Your problem is that you continue to present that doctrine in such a light that God becomes the author, and creator of every individual sin. The proper way to look at the doctrine is the way that I look at it. Men and angels are responsible for their own sin and will be judged accordingly.
You have been corrected on these things many times and you continue to misrepresent my beliefs and the beliefs of Calvinists concerning God's relationship to sin and resultant evil.
You don't get to make up things about what I believe. I will gladly tell you what I believe and why.