Did Paul really have a choice to say to the risen Lord Jesus"Thanks, but no thanks?"Do you really want to make it a conditional statement by saying that you can overpower and prevent God from pushing you off the bridge and falling into the water?
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Did Paul really have a choice to say to the risen Lord Jesus"Thanks, but no thanks?"Do you really want to make it a conditional statement by saying that you can overpower and prevent God from pushing you off the bridge and falling into the water?
The divine act of regeneration is what shatters the barrier of depravity; only then can someone who hears the Gospel truly call out to God. What you're claiming is traditionalism that began in Rome and, unfortunately, has made its way into Evangelical circles.
The truth is that the Son must liberate those who are bound by sin. Only after this liberation can they have the inherent desire to seek God within their new nature.
Matthew 1:21 (ESV)
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
Jesus said that WILL save His people from their sins. Do you believe that what He promised is merely hypothetical and that His intentions can be obstructed by the will of the creature?
Do you really want to make it a conditional statement by saying that you can overpower and prevent God from pushing you off the bridge and falling into the water?
Did Paul really have a choice to say to the risen Lord Jesus"Thanks, but no thanks?"
You place God regenerating the person as the act that breaks that barrier, which means that person did not hear and believe the Gospel before they were regenerated. The cart is before the mule in this scenario.
This is Hyper-Calvinism and I had hoped you were not one of them.
Who said anything about overpowering God but it still comes down to a condition even then. "IF" God pushed someone of a bridge into the water then they would get wet. The condition is "IF".
Even your question of whether I could overpower God is a condition. "IF" I could have overpowered God then He could not have pushed me into the water.
We both agree that some form of divine intervention is necessary to "awaken" fallen humanity, so to speak. You may view the Gospel as the means for that. However, in what way does it serve as the power of God for salvation?
Perhaps you believe that it as a power that is equally potent for all, but individuals have the option to resist that force. I view it as a power available only for those who can respond positively to it. Those who can respond positively to it find themselves unable to resist, as they have lost the desire to do so.
Regarding Hyper-Calvinism, I don't identify as one of them. I firmly believe in the universal invitation to repentance, but in the end, it's not my role to determine who God has enabled to embrace it.