RE: Is Acts 17:30 only the...

I apologize at the start as I missed the time when the original thread was open and did not get into dialog with the original poster: Ichthus.
Is Acts 17:30 only the elect or the entire human race?
As I read through the thread at the 11 pages of posts, no one really addressed the accusation of ALL men verses the ELECT. Now let it be known at the outset here that I claim neither to be Calvinist nor do I claim to be an Arminian.
What I have found in the past is most are unaware of the real meaning of these phrases: Calvinism/Arminianism.
Calvinism: Calvinism - Wikipedia
Arminianism: Arminianism - Wikipedia
Do you know the meaning of the Title you claim? You might be surprised.

As far as giving credence to Calvinism and the idea that the unsaved mortal man is incapable of salvation outside the hand of the Almighty, I give my testimony. I was raised Roman Catholic. I was pious, self righteous, good without God. Saturday confession and Sunday communion were the order of the day. I still lied, stole, hated, etc.... During my youth as a child I was told I needed Jesus as my personal Savior. My response was, "I was Catholic and was good enough as is." In my teens I remember going several Billy Graham revivals. All I could think of was the KFC baskets of money being collected going around and how badly I wanted to grab hands full of money. And it is not like I did not know the Bible, (Douay-Rheims Bible/Catholic). I could recite the 10 commandments and scripture as my mom made me read. I knew enough about the bible and Jesus that salvation was possible. I was told the plan of salvation many times. Many times I rejected because I was Catholic and that was good enough, mom said. You argue with my mom. Her mom/grand-mama had holy water at her front door and you did the signum crucis at the door going in or out or there was hell to pay. We did not always do this at risk of a scolding from grandma. It wasn't until I was 27 when I came to the saving knowledge of the truth. I was watching Herbert W. Armstrong on the Worldwide Church of God when I came to the realization that I was lacking/lost. At Bible Baptist Church on North Beale Road in Marysville, CA is where I learned of my true depravity and was brought to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. At this point in my life I no longer feared dying. So maybe I do lean a little towards Calvinism. John 6:44, 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

That being said, on to the discussion at hand. To correctly answer the claim by Ichthus, that Calvinism believes that man's mind is in bondage, Re-read my testimony.

To answer the claim that "Calvinists have a PROBLEM, in that THEY do NOT want to see EVERY LOST SINNER repent and come to Jesus Christ for salvation." we only need to look at Romans 9:21-23 and Matthew 7:21-23.

21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: (Unsaved)

23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, (Predestination).

This bit of scripture tells me that not ALL men will answer the call to repentance. Why?

Matthew 7:21-23 (How ironic - same verse #'s)

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The most amazing thing about the original thread is NO ONE mentioned theses scriptures which would had shut down the argument made by Ichthus about Calvinism. See Ichthus, it is not Calvinism that made it plain that not ALL MEN would be saved. It is the Bible that makes this plain and factual.
The sad part is in verse 22 of Matt 7, it says MANY! Not few, not some, it says MANY. And these were them that thought themselves worthy of salvation.

As my mentor, friend and beloved Pastor, Rev G Michael Gross would harp on me, "Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God." quoting Matthew 22 verse 29.

Kudos to TCassidy for mentioning 1 Corinthians 2:14 and the natural man which I once was.

Additional scripture showing God opens the understanding or draws the natural man:

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44).

And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. (John 6:65).

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48).

And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. (Acts 16:14).

As a courtesy to all that respond, I ask that when you post a response, add a supporting document, (link via web) or a scripture or scriptures. But most of all, stay on topic.

 

It was late at night and wiki was the first thing that came to mind even though college training mandated it be avoided more than the black plague.
So in the hopes of redemption, I give these 2 in place:

Calvinism Soteriology Topics

What is Arminianism, and is it biblical?

I do not really like either as the one source I used to use is not active anymore. I do not believe it was spurgeon.org as it is still on line. The one I really liked had a sub title of, "Theology from a bunch of dead men." or something like that. It included spurgeon as well as many others. A great loss in the vacuum of the web of misinformation. Also, years ago a desktop of mine suffered a hard drive failure and with it a loss of MUCH information. I still have the drive in the hopes that the information can be recovered.