Who brings about godly grief? Who brings about repentance? How does faith come? Who opens our ears to hear and our eyes to see? If you believe that you've manufacture your faith, then your right. But if you believe that your faith is a gift from God then your wrong. It's that simple. But we won't hash over where your faith comes from.
There are multiple incidences of the inward and outward calling of God. Would you say that Moses' calling was inward, outward or both? How about Saul, or Abraham, or Noah, or Cornelius? God saves us just as He has saved everyone in scripture. He reveals Himself to us.
Notice the call went to the individuals, who chose to reject it. The King didn’t send them faulty invitations, or leave them the wrong address. They were too busy to accept.
The question is why were they too busy to accept. Consider the following scripture:
If you believe in a deterministic God who...
This isn't about determinism. This is about the nature of man. Men hate the light and will not come to it. Adam hid because of his sin. Peter asked the Lord to leave because he was a sinful man. This is our nature. God seeks us out. We want to hide.
There is no hint that a man will ever, on his own, sit down and reason out God and decide to approach God thru his own desire. But God takes the initiative and reaches out to man, and man can either say yes or no.
It is presumptuous to think we can say "no" to God.
“Can you explain why Paul’s message had different responses?”
Because different people make different choices, just as we all do every day. You might as well ask why we don’t all drive Ford F-150s.
Jesus gave a reason in John 5: “44How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” Men who seek the approval of other men refuse to believe the Gospel.
And sometimes Satan is involved: “The ones along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.” Luke 8
“There are multiple incidences of the inward and outward calling of God. Would you say that Moses’ calling was inward, outward or both?”
Scripture records an outward call. Do you know of a passage that states Moses, or Noah, or Saul or Abraham receive an irresistible inward call? Of course not.
“It is presumptuous to think we can say “no” to God.”
It is simply scriptural, as in Acts 13:46 “Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”
Or John 1: “11He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”
Or Matt 22: “’Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.’ 5But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.”
What is presumptuous is to substitute our philosophy for the clear teaching of scripture.
Again, we do it every day. We have this choice every day.
They all heard Paul and the exact same message. Some mocked. Some ignored the message. And some believed. Can you explain why Paul's message had different responses?
Words are not magic, man is not programmed. We can read and hear the same thing and respond differently. Even the same person can respond differently to the same words at different times in his/her life.
Just as you described yourself doing earlier.