Replies

Thank you so much for sharing your views in such depth!

I think that man makes his decision about accepting God based on his judgment of whether God is worthy, and (no surprise) he uses his capacity to discern good and evil to decide that accepting God is the proper thing to do -- just as we use our same power of discernment to reject Satan.

To the contrary, the Word tells me that not everyone has ears to hear, but for those who do, the only choice is whether to reject Christ:

And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. – John 6:65

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. – Romans 8:30

But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: - John 10:26-27

I have to say that I find the doctrine of predestination deeply offensive. I agree that some people are born with deficient moral equipment, but it isn't like God has a backlog of repair parts.

When people say the truth of the Bible is self documenting -- that if you listen with your heart you will hear it -- I find myself hearing, in these passages, the voices of mean spirited church elders trying to scare their members into submission.