“And he said, “This is why...”
Yep, no explanation there at all. “This is why...” was tossed in for no good reason. Right!
Here is verse 37 in context:
““Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty. 36 Now, I told you that you have seen me but will not believe. 37 Everyone whom my Father gives me will come to me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to me, 38 because I have come down from heaven to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And it is the will of him who sent me that I should not lose any of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them all to life on the last day. 40 For what my Father wants is that all who see the Son and believe in him should have eternal life. And I will raise them to life on the last day.”
It is about believing, not about being pre-selected before time, with no regard to your response to God’s initiative. The Father gives the Son those who believe. Why? Because that is what the paragraph is about: believing!
“These verses aren’t about Americans. They are about the whole human race.”
Golly! You mean Paul wasn’t specifically writing about 2014 America? No kidding!
“You are saying that Christ does not “draw” or “grant” it to all men, because He foreknows they would reject it anyway? This changes your view on John 6:37 and 64-65, as it agrees with my view entirely...”
It does NOT agree with Calvin, because Calvin rejected God’s knowledge of a man’s willingness to repent as a reason why some are saved and others are not. Do you now agree with Arminius, that those saved are saved because they responded to God’s initiative by believing, and believing, they were given life?
3. Do you believe that a person can resist the convicting power of God’s grace?
• If you answered yes, then again you affirm another one of the central tenets of Arminianism, as reflected in Jesus’ words, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I have longed to gather your children together…but you were not willing” (Matt 23:37)
• Calvinists argue that God has determined which individuals will believe; to make their faith possible, he calls them to salvation in such a way that their own wills are overpowered so that they cannot possibly resist the call to salvation
• Arminians believe that God truly wants every one to believe; but when God enables a person to believe, he does so in such a way that the individual still can resist the convicting power of the Spirit–faith is not a necessary outcome of God’s enabling grace
4. Do you believe that you are born again when you put your faith in Jesus?
• If you answered yes, then you hold to a major tenet of Arminianism and you probably are not a Calvinist
• Calvinists believe that God must first give a person new life to enable faith; without first being made to share the new life, they think that a person cannot believe
• Arminians argue that people are not given the gift of the new life until they believe
• Arminians hold that when a person believes, he is united with Christ and only then does he partake of the new life and is born again; a person does not share in the new life without first being united with Christ by faith, for “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)
5. Do you believe in election?
• If you answered yes, then you might be an Arminian
• Calvinists believe in an election independent of faith
• Arminians believe that election is “in Christ;” i.e., anyone who is “in Christ” is elect, but that faith is essential to become united with Christ. Therefore, election is conditioned upon faith
6. Do you believe in predestination?
• If you answered yes, then you might be an Arminian
• Arminians assert that believers are predestined to final salvation, not that people are predestined to believe
http://evangelicalarminians.org/survey-are-you-an-arminian-and-dont-even-know-it-2/
This is a diversion. You already know my position. I need you to answer my question please:
“Just to confirm: You are saying that Christ does not “draw” or “grant” it to all men, because He foreknows they would reject it anyway?"
Does God grant it or "draw" all men, yes or no? This is in response to your statement that He does not, but seems to do so selectively on individuals based on His knowledge of who would accept it if He did. I just want to make sure you're going to stick with this before we continue.
Golly! You mean Paul wasn’t specifically writing about 2014 America? No kidding!
Your folly is that you make light of original sin. You put a later sin as the cause of man's alienation from God, and not our sin nature which we are born with, and you still say nothing to the question of those who never knew Christ.