This is a Calvinist who hates prayer from the heart.
MB,
The "Calvinist", as you call them, acknowledges that any prayer, from the heart, comes from a
changed heart.
Scripture doesn't have incantations
I agree...
Yet so many, especially nowadays, seem to make the gift of eternal life into something that can be had by "simply believing"...
Sir, according to the Scriptures, there is no "simply" about it.
While it seems "simple" at first glance and even when one digs a little deeper into God's word, the reality of it is found here:
" But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
65
And he said,
Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father." ( John 6:64-65 ).
Once again and as in other threads, many people here seem to keep overlooking this one simple statement...
People do not believe on Christ.
Jesus Himself tells the reader
why they do not...
Because no man
can come to Him unless it was given to them by the Father to do so.
This is not my own private interpretation, sir, this is what the passage says, and those who believe it can take heart that even their desire to come to Christ was built on the solid foundation of a loving God who sent His Son to live and to die for them, and the whole thing is a work of God, start to finish.
This isn't "Calvinism" / "Augustinianism" / "Gottschalkism"...
It's the truth of Scripture whether we as men like it or not.
If you wish to fight against it, then to me, you are fighting God's right to give His gifts to whoever He wishes.
Our will has nothing to do with us being born again ( John 1:13, James 1:18, Ephesians 1:4-11 ).