I believe that if He sovereignly Wills none to perish none will.
How many times is "boulema" used in the NT? Where?
How many times is "thelema" used in the NT? Where?
Don't you see that when you say this you are saying that His death was not effective in the lives of some that He desired to be saved? Consider the magnitude of that. The death of God was not powerful enough to ensure that everyone would be saved. You are saying He died for people and, though the purpose of His death was to save all, the very purpose of His death was not accomplished.
This has the flavor of
opinion. Critical to sound doctrine and pure theology, is the concept of "exegesis"---the procedure of uncovering what the Scripture
really says. Exegesis is objective, eisegesis is subjective. To say, "God was not powerful enough to ensure that everyone would be saved", denies the possibility that God could have sovereignly chosen to not-force-salvation---thus it becomes each person's choice. Can that possibility be exposed in Scripture?
Don't you see that when you say this you are saying that His death was not effective in the lives of some that He desired to be saved? Consider the magnitude of that. The death of God was not powerful enough to ensure that everyone would be saved. You are saying He died for people and, though the purpose of His death was to save all, the very purpose of His death was not accomplished.
You ignore verses such as John3:19: "...the light has come into the world, and men oved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil." And John8:43-44, "You do not understand My words because you cannot hear Me; you are of your father the devil and you
want to do the desires of your father." You see, free will and choice has been present since creation. Deut30:15 presents it, clearly. "I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life." Ezekiel 11 has a passage oft used in support of "PREDESTINED-ELECTION": "I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people and I shall be their God."
THERE---see? PREDESTINATION!!!
...well, until we read the
next verse: "But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I shall bring their conduct down upon their heads" declares the Lord God.
Those who
turn to God, He changes their stone-hearts to flesh. But
those who DESIRE abominations and detestable things over God, HE CONDEMNS! No force, complete free will.
Does God desire ALL TO BE SAVED? Yes. Undeniable in 1Tim2:4. Will ALL be saved? No. Then is His sacrifice ineffective for some? YES! Why?
Because they love sin more than Him. Exegesis---Scripture's words, not mine.
boggles my mind is how non-adherants of this doctrine answer for the repetative use of the term "elect" and "before the foundation of the world" in the new testament.
That's because of what
else it says. "You did not choose Me but I chose you", Jn15:16 "I chose you before the foundation of the world", Eph1:4. And yet, "if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." Rm10:9-10 "For faith (unto salvation) comes from HEARING the Word of God" Rom10:17. The question that will answer this whole concept, is:
Does God CALL anyone who does NOT end up saved?
Scripturally,
every last person who ever lives is called! So, YES God calls those-who-WILL-not-be-saved. What do you possibly think Jesus meant with the parable in Matt22:2-14? Verse 14 plainly says, "For MANY are CALLED but FEW are CHOSEN."
He chose us before the foundation of the world. Actually,
that's not what it says! It REALLY says, "He chose us
in Him before the foundation of the world." Please consider this line of theology for a moment---suppose it is JESUS who is predestined from before the foundation of the world, and salvation is IN CHRIST---is it possible, just maybe, that "His choosing us, is equivalent to our RECIEVING HIM?" In 2Thess2:13 it says, "For God has
chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit, and through faith in the truth". Faith in the truth? Faith-unto-salvation-in-the-truth. Where does faith-unto-salvation come from?
Faith-unto-salvation comes from hearing.
Faith-unto-salvation
is NOT a unilateral gift bestowed by God!
Consider the entire passage of John15---in verse 16, "you did not choose Me but I chose you"---but in verse 6, "if anyone does NOT abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, dries up, and ...is cast into the fire." Verse 4: "Abide in Me, and I (will abide) in you".
2Timothy2:11-13: "For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him He also will deny us; if we are faithless He remains faithful for He cannot deny Himself." Verse after verse after verse presents salvation as
voluntary---and it CONTINUES to be voluntary WHILE WE LIVE. Salvation, is
"abiding in Christ" (1Jn4:15-16). "Anyone who does NOT abide ...is cast into the fire." "If we endure, we shall reign with Him; if we deny Him and DON'T endure, He will deny us and we will NOT reign with Him. If we are faithless we CANNOT reign with Him, for how can the faithless be saved? They cannot. Yet HE remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself."
"He Himself has said, 'I will NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU!' " Heb13:5
...but there is NOTHING in Scripture that says "we cannot leave and forsake Him", and many,
many verses that warn us against doing just that.
"How much severer do you think he will deserve, who has trampled underfoot the Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant
by which he WAS saved, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? Therefore, DO NOT throw away your confidence (which is JESUS---see verse 19!). For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise." Heb10 (several verses)
Romans 9 is
hypothetical---verse22, "WHAT IF"! Besides, the NAS Bible (
and Niv) translates "atimia", as "common". Thus, the "time' " (honor) and the "atimia" (dishonor, or common),
are both saved. I believe this understanding is the intent of the writer---even though the "atimia" seems to indicate an
unsaved vessel in a similar analogy in 2Tim2:20-21.
In Romans 9, it is generally accepted that "JACOB" and "ESAU", are archetypes---that is, each represents a PEOPLE. Nevertheless, the INDIVIDUAL Jacob was loved because of his obedience, while Esau was condemned because of his disobedience.
"It depends not on the man who will or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." This harmonizes perfectly with the idea of "salvation is
received, by
free will"; our salvation depens NOT on us NOR on our works, but we are saved when we receive Christ---and He does the work of salvation IN US! Salvation is Christ, all of Christ, and none of us. Yet He works not our salvation,
until we believe. No contradiction whatsoever.
"For He has mercy on whom He desires, and hardens whom He desires." Does this remove OUR culpability in receiving mercy or hardening? Please read Exodus 9:33-34: Pharaoh sinned and
hardened HIS OWN heart. Yet, in the VERY NEXT VERSE, 10:1, "GOD hardened Pharaoh's heart!" Was Pharaoh culpable? YES! Did God harden his heart unilaterally? NO! You can consider this as "under the Semitic view" (that all things are attributed to God, whether He does them or not), or that
God HONORED Pharaoh's self-hardened-heart!
Salvation is by belief. It is God's will (thelema-desire) that all men be saved. But only those who BELIEVE are saved, only THOSE become the "chosen from the beginning",
through their own faith. Those who love unrighteousness, and love detestible things and abominations, and want to do the desires of their
chosen father the devil, these will perish---because they have chosen it, not because they are not-chosen-by-God...
(Why do I feel like I have just written a college paper???)