Featured Reconciliation

Jesus said He knows His sheep and calls them by name (a specific call to individuals, not a general call)

Jesus said His sheep hear His voice and will follow Him. (irresistible grace) He lays down His life for His sheep (limited atonement) He will not lose even one and will raise all of them up on the final day (perseverance of the saints)

Jesus tells certain religious men they do not believe because they are not His sheep. He doesn’t say they are not His sheep because they do not believe, He says they don’t believe because they are not His sheep. (Total depravity)

peace to you

 

Particular Reconciliation:

Romans 8:29-30 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Ephesians 1:3-14 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Matthew 20:28Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

John 17:9I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.

John 6:37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

John 6:44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

...and many more...

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Hebrews 12:2 Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

General Reconciliation:

A very convoluted comment from Van. Ultimately, however, it's still a limited selection by God of individuals.

Another convoluted way of expressing a limited atonement. (Note: Only a true universalist ever promotes an unlimited atonement.)

A works/merit based theology not supported in the Bible that eliminates grace (Salvation by no merited work of man, but only by God's gracious favor.).
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I think I fall somewhere in the middle of these two, and subsequently draw fire from both sides...

(1) God selected Christ to redeem mankind before creation.
(1.5) God knew that mankind would universally reject Christ, so He chose the lowest and weakest of the bunch to save, unconditionally, as both a display of His mercy and an act of judgement on those who should have been the first to acknowledge Him as God.
(2) Christ came and died for mankind in general (no one has an excuse), but specifically for the individuals that God gave Him.
(3) God places those who He has chosen in Christ. He gives them the gift of faith, convicts them of their sin, and "calls" them to holiness.

 

All who are elected to be In Christ were elected before the world was
The foolish idea that anyone gets"placed" there during their lifetime is foreign to scripture.
Man does not have saving faith to be credited .....only in a gospel of another kind.

 

Anyone with any discernment will recognize this as a merit-based means of salvation that is essentially graceless.

 

"Every one" rejects Christ. This is the condemnation of fallen humanity.

John 3:19-20
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Romans 3:12
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

The only one's who come to Christ, are those who have already been born again.

John 3:21
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

1 John 2:29
If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

 

Except that James 2:5 says that God chose the poor rich in faith, not that he chose the poor and rich in faith:

James 2:5
Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

And there's also this:

1 Corinthians 1:26-31
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

 

Jesus said He knows His sheep, He calls them by name and then they follow Him. He said there were others, not of this fold (Jews) and He will call them as well.

He did not say once they follow Him, He gets to know their names and then He calls them.

Jesus told the religious men they did not believe because…… this is a clear cause and effect. They don’t believe because……. they are not of His sheep.

It doesn’t matter how you want to define “of” in this verse, it will not change the cause and effect described by Jesus.

peace to you

 

Acts also shows that individuals were "called" before they responded in faith:

Acts 2:37-39
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

This agrees with the order found in Romans:

Romans 8:30
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

And in 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 1:22-24
For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

 

Every person, of their own will, ignores, or outright denies God's offer of life through belief.

This is true of all of us, until God "calls" us. And not every one is called.

I mean they were convicted by God. "Pricked in their heart". It's more than just an invitation, more like a summons. It's described as a call to be holy, a call to be saints. Essentially, a call to sanctification.

 

"Total spiritual inability"?
Total unwillingness would be more accurate:

John 5:40
And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

2 Peter 3:5
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of Hithe water and in the water:

John 3:19
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

No one is willing to "enter the kingdom", until after they have been "called" unto the kingdom.

1 Thessalonians 2:12
That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.

Also, God's call is resistable. But, just like a good Father calling his child, there is chastisement for disobedience. If an imperfect earthly Father can achieve obedience from his children, do you not think that God can, even more so?