Calvinists have no problem with this verse whatsoever.The verse teaches that those who were murdering Stephen....always resisted as there reprobate fathers did...Always....that is why they are given tickets to hell, read psalm 78.....
Psalm 78:22
"Because they
believed not in God, and
trusted not in his salvation"
No...despite this profane thought toward God...what is more likely is those who wrote the confession of faith knew there would be men claiming to be teachers who would not know the truth of the teaching,and misunderstand Calvinism....so they wisely wrote this to show what the actual teaching is;
And yet none of these teachings were prevalent in the church until Augustine. Furthermore, why would they be interested in making sure that Calvinism wasn't misrepresented and at the same time, claim not to be an actual follower of John Calvin himself? A convenient built-in defense system that allows Calvinists to claim Calvin when the need arises to defend TULIP, and claim "I know him not" when his personal taste for sprinkling babies and murdering heretics is raised.
Effectual calling,and irresistible grace teach that for the elect....saving grace is not ULTIMATELY resisted.....they might resist for quite some time but when the Spirit gets a hold of them it is game over:thumbs:
read and learn ACH..because once again you show that you do not understand what you attempt to be critical of.
There is NO SUCH THING as a GENERAL CALL and EFFECTUAL CALL in the Bible. That is pure theological speculation and eisegesis. Just because a CREED cites a bunch of proof texts. The word "effectual" itself is used 6 times in the NT (1 Cor 16:9, 2 Cor 1:6, Eph 3:7, Eph 4:16, Philemon 6, James 5:16)
1 Cor 16:9 effectual is a reference to an opportunity being made to Paul to preach the gospel. Nothing to do with a CALL to salvation.
2 Cor 1:6 involves SUFFERING. Again, Nothing to do with a CALL to salvation
Eph 3:7 The effectual working of Gods power in giving Paul the gift of his ministry. Again, nothing about a CALL to salvation.
Eph 4:16, The effectual working of God's power in unifying the body of believers. Again, nothing about a CALL to salvation.
Philemon 6: That the subject Paul is speaking to (Philemon's "boss") can demonstrated the effectualness of his faith by acknowledging the good things in him from Jesus Christ. Again, nothing to do with any CALL to salvation
James 5:16, Reference to the effectual PRAYERS of a righteous man. Again NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY EFFECTUAL CALL TO SALVATION.
Not one time in the Bible, NOT ONCE, is there EVER a distinction between GENERAL CALL and EFFECTUAL CALL. Calvinism has made God out to have one weak Spirit over a stronger Spirit, one that CAN over come mans will, and one that CAN'T.
Chapter 10: Of Effectual Calling
1._____ Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed, and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.
( Romans 8:30; Romans 11:7; Ephesians 1:10, 11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14; Ephesians 2:1-6; Acts 26:18; Ephesians 1:17, 18; Ezekiel 36:26; Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 36:27; Ephesians 1:19; Psalm 110:3; Song of Solomon 1:4 )
Not only does this section contain BLATANT contradictions ("DETERMINING THEM..so as they come MOST FREELY", but quotes Song of Solomon 1:4 which actually REFUTES Calvinism.
"Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee."
The subject here is
ASKING TO BE DRAWN. That hardly fits with Calvinist theology which says that men can not seek God let alone ASK to seek God.
If you're going to quote a CREED because you're too lazy to read the scriptures and expound on them, you should at least know what verses these Creeds are using and whether or not they actually support the man-made private doctrines listed.
3._____ Elect infants dying in infancy are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit; who worketh when, and where, and how he pleases; so also are all elect persons, who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.
( John 3:3, 5, 6; John 3:8 )
John 3:3, 5, 6-8 have NOTHING to do with infants being regenerated by an effectual calling. A calling needs to be responded to, that's WHY IT'S CALLED a "CALL" in the first place and a baby CAN NOT RESPOND to ANY call and yet the Confession makes the 'effectual' call of God contingent up granting repentance. Babies are not "regenerated" when they die in infancy. Their sin was never IMPUTED to them because "sin is not imputed when there is no law" Romans 5:13.
Calvinists claim that they do not believe that their system causes regeneration to precede faith, and yet here is a perfect example that shows that they DO believe that.
This is also an absurd notion for if God could save an infant who is "incapable of being outwardly called", then why not save EVERYONE in their infancy? AH, that's why Calvin baptized babies! Yet the WC states in Chapter 3 that some are determined to eternal damnation, yet in this section, there is no distincition between infants who are ELECT TO HEAVEN and infants ELECT TO HELL. Another blatant inconsistency in the Confession
4._____ Others not elected, although they may be called by the ministry of the Word, and may have some common operations of the Spirit, yet not being effectually drawn by the Father, they neither will nor can truly come to Christ, and therefore cannot be saved: much less can men that receive not the Christian religion be saved; be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the light of nature and the law of that religion they do profess.
( Matthew 22:14; Matthew 13:20, 21; Hebrews 6:4, 5; John 6:44, 45, 65; 1 John 2:24, 25; Acts 4:12; John 4:22; John 17:3 )
Here is a blatant contradiction in the Confession. As just stated by you and Luke, God is "constantly calling" and sinners are "CONSTANTLY rejecting" the Holy Ghost which admits that EVEN AN ELECT PERSON DOES SO PRIOR TO SALVATION. However, notice that this section relies on Hebrews 6:4 which shows that those once enlightened CAN NOT BE RENEWED AGAIN UNTO REPENTANCE. You can not make a distinction between elect and non elect PRIOR TO SALVATION of whom BOTH RESIST the Holy Ghost, and then claim that Hebrews 6:4 only applies to one group. (How the Calvinist attempts to explain "RENEWED" is another discussion).
NONE of the verses offered support any of the statements proposed in the Confession that validate any "EFFECTUAL" call. It is a man-made invention contained in a man-made creed replete with self-defeating logic and blatant intrinsic contradictions.