Oh, I understand well...and I think this is adequate proof of the way "some" Calvinists approach the whole issue...contentious, arrogant, narrow-spirited, etc., it was going on then and has been for years. Proof to the contrary would be in seeing it is stopped. My grandmother, a Baptist preachers daughter, said, "Proof of the pudding is in the eating." (Not proof-texting) LOL
Oh, I understand well...and I think this is adequate proof of the way "some" Calvinists approach the whole issue...contentious, arrogant, narrow-spirited, etc., it was going on then and has been for years. Proof to the contrary would be in seeing it is stopped. My grandmother, a Baptist preachers daughter, said, "Proof of the pudding is in the eating." (Not proof-texting) LOL
The "proof of the pudding" is that we are still here discussing it with you. If we were as you stay we are, then we would have invoked the Freerepublic abuse policy long ago. After all, does not the Scripture say to "be at peace with all men"?
As for the question of Salvation for Mormons, retarded folks (of whom one is my best freind) and infants etc. I refer you to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:44.
Jesus is saying that absolutely no one can come to Him unless the Father (God) draws him. So the answer is that God is able to draw Mormons, retarded folks, infants, whomever the Father wishes to Jesus.
God drew Nicodemus, the woman at the well, all the disciples before they even knew him. And since this is an absolute statement from our Lord, I include Moses, David and the old testament saints.
The scriptures also indicate that God draw everyone from a dead state: "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" Romans 5:5-8
So you see, we come to you in the same spirit as Romans 5:5 in the Spirit of Love because we believe God is drawing you.
You need also to look at Judas, God drew him to Jesus didn't he? He was one of the 12 disciples wasn't he? Yet Jesus said of him "but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."
So you see that God can choose where men will ultimately go.
Therefore, the point is that God chooses and I suspect your issue is whether it is fair or not. If you are having an issue with these scriptures or whether Jesus said them, please take these scriptures and ask God to reveal what they mean to you.
You see, our reformed doctrine is based on what Jesus said. This is why we say "Unconditional Election". If you wish to show us that we are wrong, you will have to show us that the scriptures do not mean what we think they do. And to prove the point, we are willing, out of the Love of Christ to listen to you. We ask that you do so in the same manner with us.
Sincerely, SR