Replies

(predistination) that Luther provided for you...

How is it that you can get away with "We don't follow the pope, we only follow Christ" but that any Lutherans/Protestants are guilty of following Luther's lead, and not Christ?

Predestination is taught in Scripture. Read Romans 9:14-29. Clear as day.

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world...he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ..." (Eph. 1:4-5). So how long have you had this problem with the apostle Paul? (Why do you "blame" Luther for a clear teaching within Scripture?)

Even beyond the "choosing" from eternity--the power of God is operative within time & space re: folks coming to him: "No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3); "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent" (John 6:29); "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him..." (John 6:44).

Because Scripture teaches that God has predestined some to salvation and eternal life, John Calvin concluded that God must have also predestined some to damnation. Scripture does not make such a statement or support Calvin's conclusion. On the basis of Scripture Martin Luther also believed (and the Lutheran Confessions teach) that God has predestined some to salvation and eternal life. Luther did not, however, reach the conclusion that Calvin reached. He did not teach a "double predestination."

I should warn you about the lame attempts people have at explaining away the predestination passages. So, here is the list that he probably will pick from in response (I may have missed an option, but these three are what I remember from my discussions on this topic as being the top responses):

1. We are "all" predestined, but it is our "choice." LOL!!! This is probably my favorite. I wonder if these people actually believe this idiocy. They need to take a look at what predestination means before spouting this nonsense.

2. God "predestines" those he "foreknows" coming to salvation. While this seems Scripturally correct, as Scripture says predestination is based on foreknowledge, this is very simple analysis. A word study of what foreknowledge really is shows that it is essentially tied to God ordaining something to happen, therefore lending support to the Reformed view of predestination, that only a group of the elect is predestinatined to salvation from the foundation of the world accordingn to the purposes of God and due to nothing we did or ever could do, as we would never choose God if given the choice due to our black and sinful hearts.

3. It applies only to the Jews. This is one of the stupidest replies, as Romans 9 disproves this directly, with Paul stating that elect will come from both the Gentiles and Jews. Paul calls Christians elect, which means they are "chosen."