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Exactly. So they aren't saved before believing in the Gospel.

That guarantees their salvation, but that doesn’t take effect until they hear the Gospel and repent.

Yes, so it obviously makes sense that they once had to be children of wrath, as Paul says.

I think the ESV is the better translation overall, but the NKJV has more useful information in the footnotes. If I absolutely had to pick one, I’d say the ESV, especially after some of the changes made in this year’s revision.

That is true; however, the process of that occurring unfolds within the realm of time. It is similar to Christ being called the lamb slain before the foundation of the world, yet the actual event of the crucifixion had to take place for that reality to hold true.

@Brightfame52 Ephesians 2:3 (ESV) Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. How can someone be saved and be a child of wrath at the same time? That makes no...

That’s not biblical, and there’s a reason why we label that as hyper-Calvinism. The elect are guaranteed to be saved, but the process of that happening in time is absolutely necessary. 1 Corinthians 6:10-11 (ESV) Nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will...

A person is first elected, regenerated, hears the Gospel, then gets saved. You can't claim that someone is saved prior to these events occurring; otherwise, they wouldn't even be necessary.

Nobody is saved before they hear the Gospel.

No, that’s Hyper-Calvinism. The elect will experience salvation at the exact moment that God has appointed, but until that time comes, they are a child of wrath.

What is the sequence of events? Was her heart opened because she paid attention to what was said by Paul? Or was her heart opened so that she was able to pay attention to what was said by Paul? Acts 16:14 (ESV) One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of...

I think it is more accurate to say that being chosen will inevitably result in salvation, but a person is not actually saved until they hear the Gospel and have faith.

That doesn’t negate the fact that God must change a person’s heart before they can be regenerated. They are saved through faith at the appointed time that God has set. Every decision made by a person is their own individual choice. The only exception is that they cannot independently choose...

As Catholics, you’re required to interpret not only Scripture but also ancient creeds, ancient councils, magisterial documents, and so on. So if I may ask, as my Catholic friends on this board, whom I highly respect, how is it that you think you have a higher level of certainty than a person...

The natural person has the freedom to make choices that align with their own desires, and God has the authority to determine how He will utilize those choices to align with His own desires. Man can only choose for themselves to seek and believe in God after they have been given a desire to do...

@Silverhair You still seem to be missing the biblical concept of free will. Prior to regeneration, a person is only free to persist in rebelling against God. Once regeneration occurs, a person is free to choose to follow God. That’s biblical. You continue to insist that man possesses a...

God is omniscient and foreknew that unless He intervened, nobody ever would freely trust in Him by their own volition. That’s why it’s necessary that He choose to save some so as not to allow the entirety of humanity to perish.

Sadly, I’ve heard Jehovah’s Witnesses claim that the Granville Sharp Rule was invented to support Trinitarianism. Anyone can find a reason to reject modern Greek scholarship if they really want to.

Very quickly, I’d like to confess that I was in error in my initial responses to the OP. We’ve buried the hatchet and will move on. Returning to the main topic, I agree that although Luther, Calvin, and many of the early reformers committed some awful acts, they also contributed significant...

According to this Wikipedia article, the full Protestant Bible has been translated into 776 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,798 languages, and smaller portions have been translated into 1,433 other languages. Thus, at least some portions of the Bible have...