He could have; but He didn't. So in the great scheme of things, that man met his sad fate among the weeds and cinders. What will be (through the grace and mercy of God alone), will be.
What an absolutely wonderful Arminian post. I couldn't agree more. Of course, I see the opposite as well. If God, in his infinite grace and mercy, chooses to throw each and every one of us a lifesaver as we sink into the morass of our own sin, and we, through no goodness of our own, but through a simple obedience to the drawing of the Holy Spirit, choose to receive the gift of the lifesaver, who are we to say that it's outside His nature?
If I had tried to write a better example of the Arminian contradiction, I couldn't top this one.
"Through no goodness of our own," by definition, cannot include the positive attribute of "simple obedience."
"Obedience" is "goodness," regardless of how much you hope to feign humility.
But you're right about one thing. Salvation is through no goodness of our own, no matter what the definition of "is" is.
He must do CPR on your before you can grab that life preserver.
Eph 2:1 And you [hath he quickened], who were dead in trespasses and sins;