Sounds like you have your mind made up. I'm not here to teach you systematic theology. I started this thread to answer objections. If you have any, be specific.
Why would it be necessary to teach anyone systematic theology? Could a child understand systematic theology? If one must be as a little child to receive the Kingdom of God, then why on earth, or in heaven, would we have need of it?Sounds like you have your mind made up. I'm not here to teach you systematic theology. I started this thread to answer objections. If you have any, be specific.
TD
It certainly is. Christ died once for all. Not all respond.Obviously not, since many will be cast into the lake of fire, and Paul says that unbelievers are blinded. Your idea sounds so great like humanism, but is not Biblical.
TD
No one is praising the human ego. If fact, we know that only by humbling themselves will anyone be saved.Grace and faith are together the gift of God. Faith comes by hearing the word of God - notice it says "comes." That means it's not conjured out of the wicked human heart, but it is put there by God through the working of His Spirit. The sealing of the Spirit is a different action than the gift of faith. So, I am praising God here, and not the human ego.
TD
No one needs understanding of theology to be saved. All we need is to know that Jesus died for our sins. Yet, Peter declared that some of Paul's writings were hard to understand. Why is this so? Can you see that Paul's soteriology is to help Christians come to grips with the nature of their relationship with God? In this way, Christians can experience the deep blessings of their redemption. Without this, they struggle at best. We grow in both grace and knowledge of Christ and our salvation as we study the word.
For the whole world potentially, not actually or effectively. Only believers are bought, as the apostles testify as well as Revelation. This gets back to who becomes believers, which is those whom God chose to be, that is, predestined, and given the gift of faith by means of the gospel preached.
By saying it is according to "free" will (implying that the human will is completely detached from God, thus "free", and implying that such a will could actually produce a righteous choice), you are exalting the human ego.
Okay, I accept you didn't originate that other statement you claim someone else made, but that you simply repeated it, the false idea it is. But there is also no scripture that states this claim of yours, "God had to predetermine our faith and choice to obey the gospel."How is a real choice not predetermined? I think you have a tremendous philosophical obstacle to overcome here, because of these Biblical statements:
1. men do not come to the light because they love darkness
2. the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they cannot see the light of the gospel
3. those who oppose gospel truth are held captive by the devil to do his will
4. no one is righteous (that is, before believing in Christ)
5. the fleshly mind cannot submit to God
6. the world is under the control of the evil one
And there are many others. Rom. 3:10-18 ought to give us enough evidence that no one in their natural state is able to make any righteous decision in regard to what God considers righteous. And since faith in Christ is considered righteous by God, no unrighteous person could do it. Therefore, my statement can't be a straw man, because it is based on what scripture clearly teaches. God has to supernaturally bring an individual to life while they are hearing the gospel. That is what Eph. 2:5 means "even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)." God "made us alive" by His supernatural working. Because of His love He predestined us (Eph. 1:5), which is described in 2:5 as to how He did it. Therefore, God had to predetermine our faith and choice to obey the gospel, otherwise we could not be saved, and likely wouldn't even want it, since we would still be lovers of darkness.
TD
In my humble understanding, soteriology as presented by reforming theologians isn't anything like Paul's soteriology when properly understood.No one needs understanding of theology to be saved. All we need is to know that Jesus died for our sins. Yet, Peter declared that some of Paul's writings were hard to understand. Why is this so? Can you see that Paul's soteriology is to help Christians come to grips with the nature of their relationship with God? In this way, Christians can experience the deep blessings of their redemption. Without this, they struggle at best. We grow in both grace and knowledge of Christ and our salvation as we study the word.
TD
You misapplied these scriptures in your dialogue with the other poster. John 1:11"He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God."By saying it is according to "free" will (implying that the human will is completely detached from God, thus "free", and implying that such a will could actually produce a righteous choice), you are exalting the human ego.
And don't forget v. 13: "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Note it says "not of fleshly will" - that is, not out of the feelings of the human heart, and "not of man's will" - that is, not out of human reasoning. And "of God" - that is, it's God's decision.
Just as God didn't ask our permission to create us, He just did it, so also He didn't ask our permission to make us a new creation, He just did it. Of course, we are grateful, of course we are glad, of course we love Him now because of it, of course we choose to continue believing, and of course we do what is necessary to secure our place in His kingdom, because we now have the wisdom for it.
TD
If you take off your calvinist glasses for an instant, you will realize how ridiculous that sounds. To say that Christ died for all, but at the same time, that a few are irresistibly chosen for salvation is bizarre and makes the verses that say "all" nonsense. If I tell you I am offering a gift to all the people along the road and yet I walk by 90 percent of them without even acknowledging their need, you certainly would think it was silly of me to say I offered my gift to all.
No one is saying God doesn't do a spiritual work in people before they are saved. We call it conviction or preveniant grace. God can open my heart to pay attention and I am quite capable of closing my heart to his conviction. I regrettably have done it plenty of times before and after salvation. That verse certainly doesn't prove irresistible grace.
You and Dave keep saying this as if it means something. It's just your theologies human reason and is opposed by literally hundreds of verses that claim God is just in punishing people because they resist him.
Unfortunately, quite a few people who denounce Calvinism misunderstand the T-U-L-I-P points, or some of them at least. That's happened here on this very thread with other people. The result is that the two sides are engaged, but they aren't speaking the same language.
Why do you think we can choose after salvation, but have no choices before? We can in fact, choose to cease believing. We can in fact, become apostates.
Yet scripture clearly states that "in love, He predestined us to adoption as sons."
According to Rom. 3:10-18 (and many others), no one made that determination, this is why God had to make it. Rom. 9:16 clearly states "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." I challenge you to carefully examine the context and see that it's talking about salvation.
God is not a mere prophet who sees the future from a time distance, and has no control of it. God knows the future because He is intimately involved with it. What you are trying to do is deny that Christians are predestined to be so.
Unfair and cruel is your judgment because of your bias. According to many verses of scripture like 2 Cor. 4:4 the world (that is, unbelieving individuals) are blind and can't understand the gospel because they are in Satan's control. It takes a supernatural act of God to free an individual from that bondage.
God had already chosen Cornelius and his household, and that's the reason for his righteous acts. All he needed was for Peter to preach the gospel, and he heard and believed. God had already prepared their hearts.
