Calvinism doesn’t teach that you don’t have a free will.
It teaches that men are totally depraved, and that left to their free will, they will choose evil every time. Unless God in His Mercy restrains you from evil. He gives you the gift of salvation. In your sin, you’d never take it. In His mercy, you do.
You’re either dead in your sins, or alive in Christ. There’s no such thing as half alive.
Anyway, as long as things don’t get contentious, don’t avoid the debates. We’re all suppose to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. God wrote about it in His Word so we can think about it and talk about it. Come, let us reason together according to the Scriptures.
“Anyway, as long as things don’t get contentious, don’t avoid the debates. We’re all suppose to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. God wrote about it in His Word so we can think about it and talk about it. Come, let us reason together according to the Scriptures.”
I would love to; but I don’t have ‘Spurgeon’s Lectures’ in my Bible, and that is ultimately, in my experience, what is presented as canon in these conversations.
Which goes against explicit Scriptural teaching.
I realize I'm coming into this discussion late, but I've read the posts to this point and haven't seen this brought up yet....
Paul makes the point twice in Romans (4:14 & 5:13) that apart from the law, there is no transgression. They were still subject to physical death, "even over those who did not sin by breaking a commandment (5:14)".
Paul says in Romans 7:9 that he was "once alive apart from the law.." the implication seeming to be that his knowledge of the law brought conviction which led to repentance.
The story of Josiah in 2 Kings 22 provides a similar example. The book of the law was found. Josiah became aware that they were violating the law and immediately initiated repentance.
The story doesn't mention any intervention of the Holy Spirit causing them to repent. In 22:19 God responds, "Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard..." It appears that God's grace and mercy was a response to their choosing. There is no indication in the scripture that God chose them to be responsive.
In Romans 5:18, Paul says, "Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men." If God chooses the elect, is Paul offering a false promise, or is he ignorant of God's intentions?