Recent content by David Lamb

I (and Martin) have answered this so many times. Yes, God's election took place before the foundation of the world. Calvinists believe that. And yes, the means by which sinners are saved is by grace through faith, i.e. by belief on the Lord Jesus Christ. Calvinists believe that too. So I...

Yes, I agree with that, of course. In fact I have just looked the verse up in the KJV, and it includes both "thee" and "ye": KJV Jhn 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

No I haven't. Predestined, chosen and foreknown do not mean actually saved. Most of your reply seems to be based on the idea that those things are the same thing as actually being saved. Calvinists do not, repeat not, believe that they were actually saved before Creation. You keep telling us...

But the context tells us that Jesus was speaking to more than one person: NKJV Mat 5:2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: So when verse 18 says "you" it is clearly plural.

Whatever translation we use, we should never read the Bible without care. As for pronouns, I imagine you are thinking particularly of the 2nd person pronoun, which in current English is "you" in both singular and plural. We usually manage to understand each other, as well as books, newspapers...

I would just answer that by saying that I believe Christ to be eternal (as I am sure you do). I believe our great triune God was involved in the matter of election. As for how I (or anybody else) was elected, I know only what the Bible says. As far as I am aware, it doesn't go into details...

We seem to be misunderstanding one another or not understanding. I will leave the matter there because I am becoming repetitive which is unedifying for other BB members. Thanks for the discussion.

So you seem to be saying that they were in Christ before the foundation of the world. That's when Scripture says their choosing by God took place. As for saying it was only Christ Who was elect, we do have verses such as: NKJV Col 3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on...

How can anybody be chosen before the foundation of the world if they are not among the elect (which of course means the same as chosen) until they are actually saved? I disagree with what you wrote about Calvinists bypassing Christ in election; they don't.

Sorry, but I don't understand what you mean. Calvinists, too, believe that the "we" in Romans 8 are chosen in and through Christ.

If, as Romans 8 tells us, God foreknew, predestined, called, justified, and glorified sinners, then no, there is no possibility that once saved, they could be lost: NKJV Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to...

That is not so. Scripture tells us that to be saved a sinner must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. When a sinner does so, he or she shows that they were onwe of those chosen before the foundation of the world.

I would only say that I didn't pretend to quote the verse then leave part of it out. If I had been quoting the verse, I would have quoted the whole, including the words "in Him" I imagine most people who believe the doctrines of grace/Calvinism would say the same. The very fact that we are...

Isn't that rather a sweeping generalisation? I believe Calvinist doctrines, and although I sometimes disagree with other posters, I hope I never disparage them, or resemble a "howling hound" in my posts. If ever I do, please let me know, ands I will apologise.

Our Thursday service is a prayer meeting, starting with a short Bible study. On the first Thursday of each month we make it a missionary-focused prayer meeting (not that we don't pray for missionary work at other times too, but the first Thursday has that as its particular emphasis.)