>>> if God has already chosen who will be saved, it negates at least some of our personal responsibility in calling people to respond to the gospel.
Fact is that God does NOT choose who will be saved, but He DOES know who will be saved. It is entirely possible to know an outcome without influencing it directly.
If God does not know, then He is not God.
If we have free will, then that gift of free will came from God... and if God gives it, He must also accept the consequences of that choice. This is why he allows those whom He knows will perish to exist to begin with; because the first man (Adam) made the choice to rebel.
Just because He knows, doesn’t mean we don’t have a choice.
It simply means that God exists outside of our perception of time and space. He allows those whom He knows will perish to run their course for the benefit of those whom He knows will turn to Him.
God uses all things for good.
I don’t understand why I’m supposed to be offended because I understand this, and anti-Calvinists do not.
Excellent post.
Romans 9: 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
Amen.
Just as Jesus exists as 100% God AND 100% Man (The Hypo-Static Union), God’s Sovereignty and Free Will exist also in ‘Tension”. To reduce our Theology to a 5-letter acronym is a wee bit of oversimplification, in my humble opinion.
And, believe me, it IS a “humble” opinion.
My ministry brings the Gospel to a particularly “tough” crowd. Since I believe in the Sovereignty of God, it would be very easy to suggest that God will take care of his elect and pull them out of the fire all by Himself, and choose a “nicer’ crowd for me to preach to!
But I go where I’m sent. LOL.