Basically, I am a Calvinist. But while I believe that God has foreknowledge of our eternal fate, I cannot accept predestination. God gave us freewill, but he knows how we will use it.
It is a contradiction that I cannot readily resolve, so I just accept it. One day I will ask God Himself about it.
The second revelation came with the understanding that if I chose God, I ALSO HAVE THE POWER TO UNCHOSE GOD. The is no security of salvation if I do the choosing, I am fickle. But if God choses, His word is good.
So how do you know God chose you? You are hungry for His word. Your life begins to change in many small ways and some big ways.
If you life hasn’t changed, you did the choosing...............
Ever consider, though: Our personal theories about the nature of choosing, at the scale of objects of worship, could themselves be cockamamie (advanced theological word for invalid — grin).
We already know on a small scale how hard it is to part from what we call a habit, something that has been embraced to an extent that it becomes part of you. Only a superior habit can take its place; it cannot be shed in a vacuum. But once the superior habit begins to take hold, it will progress without anything that can stop it without anything even more superior being able to come into the picture.
Well, I do believe in the security of salvation.
Good points!
I would suggest that the reason you cannot understand the "contradiction" is simply because you do not understand predestination. God chooses those whom He wills to draw near to Him. That is a fact repeated over and over in scripture. Why He chooses select individuals is not clear. The only thing we do know is to carry out His will.