[Dr. Eckleburg]

We are all human beings, sons of Adam, born in sin, worthy of hell.

From before the foundation of the world God chose among His creation the names of those who would sit with Him in heaven. The future is not a secret from God. He creates the future, as He wills. If your name has been written in the Book of Life, God put it there, not you.

There are only two kinds of people on this planet, Marlowe. The elect and the damned. Do you disagree with that?

The elect are not born free of sin; all men are born fallen and dead to God. The elect, however, chosen by God from all races from all parts of the earth before the foundation of the world, are known to God. And for His elect, He sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die as an atonement for our sins.

All this is God's plan. All this has been known and ordained by God from before the foundation of the world.

To assume anything less is to make God less than God and man more than man.

You, on the other hand, think some men are more holy than others, more devout, more intelligent, more worthy of being saved by virtue of their virtue.

Calvinists believe we are all the same. And our choices are all the same -- we all choose to sin and flee from the face of God.

But by the singular grace of God, and only by the grace of God, some are saved. Not through any good behavior or skin color or bank account or family pedigree or sacrament or smart decision. Only through the grace of God.

Salvation is of the Lord. All else is heresy.

[P-Marlowe]

Are the elect literally and actually being saved from hell? Or are they merely destined for heaven? If they are destined for heaven even before they are born, then they are not being saved from anything. In order to be saved from hell, there has to be a real possibility of you actually going there. There is absolutely no such possibility for the elect, is there?

Yes or no, and be honest.

[ksen]

Salvation is of the Lord.

Wonderful post Dr. E.