Was Lazarus saved before he went into the grave or after?(Jn.11:24)
Just as no one can raise themselves from death, no one can resist His call.
Please, do not start the TULIP system in the middle! You have to assume that not all are being called (Jn.12:32). You have to assume that God is not concerned about who would freely accept His free gift. After all, what this post (that I alluded to) was that God made it easy to be saved (Acts.16:31)
We are His and He will get all His sheep. He will leave the ninty and nine to go after the one. To say you have anything to do with salvation is blasphemy to His power and glory.
Please read Rom.4:4-5 and tell me where faith has anything to do with a work?
You are as dead as an armadillio in the interstate until he raises you to new life.
So, 'regeneration' preceeds faith. Funny, I thought we were saved by faith (Rom.3:22) or through faith,(Eph.2:8), never before faith!
Moreover,if we are as 'dead' as you say we are, why does God give man the ability to seek him (Acts. 17:27)
If He can raise stones to worship Him, can He not raise a wad of dirt as ourselves to glorify Him? We are the created, He is the Creator.
So far you given me a lot of nice pious language. Now, why are some saved and not all
The call is universal
So God is really kidding us then? He sends out a message that all can be saved but really only those who He has already decided on! Those that respond
Respond? you mean of their own free will? You mean without irresistable 'grace'? Come on, are you an Arminian? Oh, I forgot, you did say that the call was 'irresistable' so we 'respond' like 'robots'
are His, those that don't are the spawn of Satan and he is their father. His sheep know His voice and respond.
Maybe, those who respond to His voice want to!
If you don't respond, you are not His.
Why do you say 'don't' when the word should be 'can't'. Oh, thats right, Calvinists want to pretend those going to hell (forordained to do so) still are responsible, and not God who sent them there!
Seems simple enough to me.
Well, I am glad it is so simple for you. Now, the question that might bother some people is why would a loving God send most of His creation to the Lake of Fire, when He could have saved them? Just a small problem that tends to seem to go against the quality of Love (1Jn.4:8)
What non-Calvinist's can't seem to understand is that some people are created to go to hell.
They are! Well, throw out all the Scriptures where God says He gets no pleasure in the death of the Wicked, that He weeps over Jerusalem, that He wanted Ninevah saved because He created them.
They were fashioned in dishonour. They are NOT His. Judas was born to hell.
He was was he? The why did He state
Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs that offences come, but woe to that man by whom the offience cometh (Mat.18:7)It sounds that one has a choice in doing wickedness.
He was not of the called out. Yet Judas brought glory to the Father by fullfiling his purpose since the foundation of the world. God will recieve His glory, even if it means sending millions to hell. He recieves glory either way.
Well, that does sum up Calvinism! Now, the fact that many are going to Hell despite what God has done is what glorifies Him, because He has shown Himself a perfect, loving Creator, who did everything He could to save His creatures. But, having given them free will, to choose for or against Him, He allows that decision to stand, despite what He would prefer!
What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?(Is.5:4)
Does the wrath of man praise God, yes it does (Ps.76:10) Why? (this is the question that Calvinists never seem to get around to asking) Because through His patience and mercy He endured the wicked until they had hardened their will against Him where His mercy and love could not reach them,
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known (so far all the Calvinists are nodding their collective heads-yea,yea!)endured with much longsuffering the vassels of wrath fitted to destruction(Rom.9:22)
How were they vessels prepared for destruction? God always knew what their decisions would be (Rom.8:29).
Yet, knowing what those decisions would be God still sought them, hardening them, not with a 'sovereign decree' but with His mercy and kindness (Rom.1:20-21) 'neither were they thankful'.