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Why? Because God sovereignly decreed for us to believe what we believe for his own glory? Why would that sadden you? Be consistent. God's decrees, according to your own dogma, were made for His greatest glory, therefore it seems contradictory for you to be saddened by them. You should...

He never actually numbered them, because to number them means that at some point they weren't numbered, right? You meant to say, "In the eternal mind God their has always been the total number of his elect." He never actually chose them, they just were? Right? Even if scripture says that God...

I imagine both sides feel the same about the other, which is why comments like this aren't helpful. You have no idea what other's desires are on this forum, just as we don't know yours. And if you believe what you said, that it is just as much an act of grace to correct erroneous doctrine...

You do know that I, and most 'modern' baptist non-Calvinists do not hold to this approach, right?

Would you say the election is unconditional, but the salvation is conditional then?

Back to the topic. On what basis do Calvinists claim that God's choice to save them, rather than another, is unknown, but all the while claim that it is not conditioned upon anything? Doesn't the bible say that God chooses the weak? Isn't being weak a condition? Doesn't the bible say that...

If dead = "totally unable to respond to God's life-giving, powerful, truth," then yes you have a point, but to presume so would be question begging since that is the very point up for debate. The prodigal son who was SEPARATED and REBELLIOUS but who chose to return to seek forgiveness was...

Agreed. But it says nothing about their inability to respond to God's gracious appeal to be reconciled. Agreed. No one has or ever will attain righteousness through the works of the law, but that says nothing about man's inability to attain righteousness through faith in Christ, which is what...

I realize these texts are used to prove that you do not know why God chose you rather than someone else, but Calvinists readily admit that they don't know why God chose them over another. If you don't know why you were chosen then how do you know it wasn't based on a condition of some kind...

He elects to unconditionally send his appeal to all mankind, so in that since election is unconditional. The invitation to attend the wedding banquet is unconditionally sent to all. He chooses to save (allow entrance) to those dressed in the proper attire (righteousness through faith)...

When you ask a Calvinist why God might choose to save one over another, they will tell you that we don't know, yet somehow they know the choice was unconditional? How is that? Just because you don't know the condition doesn't necessitate that one doesn't exist, does it?

See, here marks the problem with your view of the gospel. You have reduced God's inspired truth to a mere 'external invitation.' It is GOD BREATHED and sharper than a two edged sword! It's not equal to a birthday invitation you get in the mail....the gospel IS THE POWER OF GOD unto Salvation...

I don't think you are following what I'm saying brother. Jesus specifically states, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables..." and "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these...

But if you consider that its through the MEANS of this "INVITATION" that people are enabled to respond (held responsible) and, even more significantly, that invitation is being withheld at the time John 6 happened and isn't even employed until Christ is raised up, at which time the SAME AUTHOR...

Got you. You were saying John 6 is not a parable...but you do know that is not what I was saying either, right? I was referencing the parable as a rebuttal to your point...which you failed to answer, btw. The argument you made about the objects of an invitation having to be 'active' was...

What do you call the story of the wedding banquet then? I thought you said it wasn't a parable? And what would you call the work of all the masters servants going into the highways and byways asking people to come to the wedding feast? And? Not seeing how that distinction matters to this...

Thus, by that definition, your interpretation is likewise a 'spin'...my spin however happens to be much more widely accepted among baptists historically than your spin...but that means nothing more than the top on which we both apparently spin things. Providing defense for a widely held and...

I could just as easily refer to your interpretation as a 'spin' but what would be the point? To belittle my brother? Agreed...no one can come to Christ who isn't invited to come to him...or 'drawn' if you will. Actually, as I've explained elsewhere, I believe the terminology employed uniquely...

Yes, but in the manner that Paul did in Romans 10 when he wrote, "And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?" (vs 14) The gospel is God's means to draw/appeal for men to come and that gospel hasn't even been fulfilled, much less sent to the world yet (in the context of...