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ESV Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-- by grace you have been saved-- 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ...

You interpret the above verse as follows: I was honestly intending to give a more careful reply to this tomorrow, but it appears the thread will be closed by then (following the normal and reasonable policy of closing threads after a time). So here is my quick reply: The word "dead" in...

After quoting Ephesians 1:3-5 and commenting on it (which I respond to in Comment #140), you write: I do hope to get to chapter 2 of Ephesians soon. It is here that most what probably feel you make the strongest points. I don't intend to skip those. But first, before moving on to Ephesians...

You quote Ephesians 1:3-5 Ephesians 1:3-5 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him...

Thanks for reminding us of this. I'm aware that Calvinist theology says Foreknowledge = Predetermination (election, predestination). I do not agree with that interpretation. Here are a couple of reasons: Firs, notice the logical chain of events given in Romans 8:29-30: ESV Romans 8:29 For...

I'm working through your "brief exposition of Ephesians" and hopefully will be ready to share some thoughts soon. Thanks again for the time you have put into this.

Are you saying you think that calling precedes foreknowledge and predestination in the order of salvation?

My brother, what we have in common (imo) is far more important than our differences. For example, we both believe in Sola Scriptura! I do intend to interact with your texts as well as your exegesis. There are many comments, and so I cannot promise to interact with everything in detail, but...

Yes, confessions of faith and statements of faith can serve, and often do serve, a useful function within the Body of Christ by guarding the church and its members against false teaching. But these statements of faith must always and ever be subordinate to the Bible (being Reformed, I'm...

Yes, this is part of the reason I was initially using the term "Calvinist" instead of "Reformed". "Reformed" tends to be a term used in different ways by different people and tends to be broader than "Calvinist". Still, among most evangelicals (at least most American evangelicals), the terms...

First, I sincerely appreciate the time you put into your comment. I also appreciate that you are giving Scriptural based reasons for your view. I don't expect every comment to be as long and detailed as yours, but I wish more people would follow your example in reasoning from Scripture instead...

Here are a few examples of Reformed Christians who hold to annihilationism. I honestly do not know how closely their Reformed views match your own, but they self identify as holding to Reformed theology: Chris Date Chris is a leader and founding member of the Rethinking Hell ministry. You may...

Thank you for clarifying your view on this. My understanding is that on this issue there is a difference of opinion among those with Reformed theology. I think you alluded to this yourself. I don't know if the others with Reformed theology on this thread agree with you on this point or not...

I don't see what practical difference it makes within a Reformed theology framework if one says "God actually chooses the non-elect to reprobation, or simple passes over them." Either way, in a Reformed framework, God could have saved them, but did not. Not only that, but God created a world...

If you go back to my OP you will see that I supported the view of Conditional Election by examining Bible verses. I've also offered Biblical evidence and Bible based reasoning in quite a few comments on this thread. So my view has a theological context (Conditional election) and a Biblical...

All the non-reformed evangelicals I know passionately and fully believe that God hates sin. Whether His hatred for sin is expressed in judgment followed by eternal punishment or judgment followed by annihilation is an important topic, but is probably best discussed on another thread. Here I...

The beliefs that God's attributes do not change and do not conflict and that God's love requires His holiness are not unique to Reformed theology. I certainly believe those things, and I suspect that most Christians do.

Here is a brief explanation of why I feel that Reformed theology is inconsistent with the truths that God is love and God is entirely good. Under Reformed theology there is nothing about any person which prevents God from saving them in the same way He saves some. This seems clear from the...

I do not intend the use of the phrase "Calvinism" to be pejorative. Although many (perhaps most) of the people active on this forum, and certainly on this thread, understand that "Reformed theology" basically means "Calvinism" in many contexts, I try to keep in mind the many guests to the...

Thanks for your careful, thoughtful post. I want to discuss it, but I want to let you know it may be a few hours before I can get to it. In the meantime, God Bless You!