The Righterzpen
Jesus is my Shield in any Desert or Storm
- Feb 9, 2019
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What I want to ask about this is in regards to whether people who refuse Christ at first receive additional opportunities to accept the Gospel. Say that when a person first hears the Gospel, they reject it, and don't believe. Is that then to be taken as evidence that they are non-elect? Or is there a possibility they might at some later time in their life accept the Gospel and Christ?
I agree with what @com7fy8 says here and Paul being an obvious example of this truth.
Fact of the matter is that because we are all dead in trespass and sin to begin with; we all "reject Christ" as some point or another. And here is where those who say "rejecting the gospel is blaspheming the Spirit"; in this belief, they've negated their own alleged salvation. LOL
So no, not believing the first time you've heard it does not automatically mean someone is non-elect.
If I am understanding Reformed theology correctly, all people are said to be resistant to the Gospel, but with the elect God overcomes that resistance. Correct me if I am misunderstanding things. Only some (the elect) get an Effectual Call, that call is inward and spiritual. So the effectual call is like God's word in Creation, it creates out of nothing. The Effectual Call, creates new spiritual life that was not there before, and the person responds. Is this correct?
Yes, I would agree with your statement here.
He says many discussions flounder because people are using the terms 'election' and 'predestination' as though they are synonymous. Election he says is a truth that concerns sinners before they are saved, and predestination applies only to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ once they have been saved. Predestination he writes has nothing whatever to do with unregenerate souls:
Maybe this would need some clarification because it really doesn't make any sense. Although "election" and "predestination" may not mean exactly the same thing if your looking at a strict dictionary definition but theologically they are pretty much maybe two sides of the same coin.
Election - a nation chooses a leader
Predestine - does this mean that leader was predetermined before the election was held?
See this is where simple definitions break down in theological explanations; because those who were chosen by God (elected) were in deed predestine to that election before it was enacted upon in their earthy time.
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