Featured Non-cals have the same problem

Whether you see what im about to say or not---still truth !!!

its complete mockery on BOTH sides to even state a such thing and put the Son of Yah's sacrifice to an open shame---and refute what He has done !!!

 

You're a universalist. God is not.

 

I do not agree with you Luke, I believe God indeed INTENDS to save all sinners. But there is only one just way God can save sinners, by belief and trust in his Son Jesus Christ.

I do not believe there is another possible way to save man, even for God.

My view of God's foreknowledge is that God simply knows what men will choose, he does not determine what they will choose. If you choose Jesus, that is what God knew in his foreknowledge, if you reject Jesus, that is what God knew in his foreknowledge. God's foreknowledge does not determine your choice.

In another thread I posted Isaiah 5:4 that says God has done everything he possibly can to save men.

Isa 5:3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

God himself declares he has done everything he possibly could to save men, but if men reject Jesus Christ God cannot save them.

So, our views are not alike whatsoever. In the Calvinist/Reformed view, God passes over billions of men and makes no attempt whatsoever to save them.

This is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what scripture says.

I keep telling you and others that Calvinism teaches the exact opposite of what scripture really says, one of these days you are going to realize I am correct.

 

Winman,

No..what we realize is Winman teaches the exact opposite of what scripture really says, one of these days you are going to realize I am correct....lol there you go!

 

That is not true. God has every intention of saving all. That all does not get saved is not God's fault; it is man's. Don't blame God for the rebelliousness of man's heart. Man has the opportunity to choose Christ. He rebels. God knows about the hardness of man's heart before he chooses.
God is not willing that any should perish. His will is clearly stated.

God so loved the world--That does not express "no intention of saving." You are wrong.

The non-Cal believes in the omniscience of God. He knows ahead of time who will reject him and who will receive him. That has no bearing on God's intentions. You are attributing evil motives to God.

"All day long I have stretched forth my arms to you but you would not."
The Lord is longsuffering to all of us, including to those whom he knows will not repent. Some die without Christ having been raised in a Christian home and sat under sound preaching every week. God indeed was longsuffering with them.

Yes, he knows. He knows all things. However you, the Cal, deliberately attribute evil intentions to God, making him a monster, a sinful being. God has no sin. He is not the author of sin. He did not intend that any should go to Hell. They of their own will chose to reject him.

Apparently you don't know what the non-Cal believes and deliberately misrepresents his beliefs. The Bible states God's intentions clearly:
"He is not willing that any perish."

"He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
That is his intention. That it is not accomplished is the fault of man who continues to rebel against God, of his own will.

Because they refuse to accept the truth about God.
Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Why misquote the Bible, and deliberately so?

God allows the sun to shine upon those who believe and those who don't.
God allows the rain to fall upon those who believe and those who don't.
He extends his mercy and longsuffering to all. Proof of that is the fact that you are alive this day. Do you deserve to be?

He offers it to all. He intends all to be saved. It is man who rejects God, not the other way around.

God saves to the uttermost. It is man that must respond to God. This, the Calvinist has a problem with. Now, God calls all men everywhere to repent.

The non-Cal has no problem with the omniscience of God; why should the Calvinist. We don't mix and confuse omniscience with intention. One has to do with the attributes of God; the other has to do with motive. Attributing an evil motive to God is sinful.

 

The difference is that I post scripture (not man-made creeds) that supports my view while you do not.

God himself declares he was done everything possible he could do to save men.

Now, I quoted Albert Barnes before to show this is an accurate interpretation of Isaiah chapter 5;

I do not quote Albert Barnes for my sake, I always understood this scripture. I simply show YOU that real scholars came to the same interpretation.

You did not get this in the other thread, and I am sure you will not get it now.

 

We do not agree. God certainly intended to save those who do not believe and perish. Again, he has done everything he could possibly do to save them.

Isa 4:3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

Here God challenges Jerusalem and Judah to answer his question, "What could have been done MORE to my vineyard, that I have not DONE in it?"

God is clearly implying that he has exhausted every possible means that he has to save these persons, there is NOTHING MORE he could possibly do.

So, he certainly intended to save them, but they rejected the Redeemer provided for them and there are no possible remedies remaining.

See, when you guys fling around cliches that say God could save everyone, you are in complete error. This is NOT what the scriptures teach. God intends to save everyone, God desires to save everyone, but men reject God and cannot be saved, even by God.

 

It has nothing to do with how powerful God is. God's greatest attribute is his Holiness, God cannot sin. God cannot violate man's free will. God will do everything he can to convince and persuade men to trust Jesus, but he will not force them.

That said, God can certainly influence men. When God caused a great storm to arise, that certainly influenced Jonah. The whale that swallowed Jonah also put real pressure on Jonah to repent. But in the end, Jonah had to walk into Nineveh on his own two feet, God did not pick him up and place him there.

As for Pharaoh, God already knew that his efforts would have the opposite effect on him. Instead of repenting as Jonah did, Pharaoh became even more stubborn and obstinate and hardened his heart.

What is funny, is that all you Calvinists will deny that God compels or forces someone to believe against their will. But when a non-Cal says that men perish because they resist God, you then argue that God could force them to believe if he wanted to.

You want your cake and to eat it too.

No, God will do everything possible to persuade men to receive Jesus and believe on him, but he will not force anyone. It has nothing to do with power, it has to do with being morally righteous and holy.

 

It is not a matter of "God's intentions;" but man's intentions.

Let's look at an example using the life of the believer.
God's will is that every believer should live to the praise of his glory (Eph.1:6,12).
But not every believer will. We "intentionally" sin. When we do sin it is God's will that we repent and then our fellowship is restored with God. We both agree on eternal security, so our salvation is never in question here.
But sin separates us from God spiritually. We can't live to the praise of His glory until we repent and restore that fellowship.
We, by our own sin, thwart God's intention for our own lives.
God does not intend for us to sin; but we do anyway.
It is never God's will for us to sin. And yet we do. The fault is ours; not God's. We cannot blame God for our sin.

The same is true for the unsaved. One cannot blame God for their sin.
God doesn't intend for them to go to hell or to remain unsaved.
He is not willing that they perish. He is will is that all men be saved.
That all men are not saved is not God's fault; it is man's.
He has provided the means.

A good example is when Christ came to the Jews in the first century.
John 1:11 "He came to his own but his own received him not."
He came offering the kingdom to the Jews, but they rejected him as their Messiah. "His own did not receive him."
Of their own will they rejected him, took him, and crucified him.
Though it was prophesied, they were not forced into those decisions. God knew it would happen. He didn't force them. Of their own will they chose to commit those ugly acts of sin and betrayal.

 

Then, man rules over God.

Ezekiel 36 tells us:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:25-27, ESV; emphasis mine)

The Archangel

 

How is rejecting Jesus and being cast into hell ruling over God?

Well, before Ezekiel 36 there was Ezekiel 18;

Eze 18:31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.

You see, the scriptures show synergy between man and God. Yes, God calls men and rebukes him, but the man must turn at God's rebuke. And if the man turns at God's rebuke God will pour out his Spirit to that man.

Pro 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

You have to read ALL the scripture pertaining to a subject, not just the ones that suit you and support your doctrine. You can cherry pick the scriptures and make them say anything.

 

Well if HE does intend to save ALL then He must be a very inept savior because He cannot do his job right. So that leaves the Non Cal with a very inept & impotent God. What a conundrum. :smilewinkgrin:

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Winman View Post
God cannot violate man's free will.

Archangel counters with "Then, man rules over God."

And BINGO was his name O....:laugh:

 

You all seem to forget that the non-Calvinist position, is not that God is subject to man by man's choosing, but we believe God in his sovereignty chose for men to be free. Your objections all appear to miss this most valuable information.

If I ask my 5 year old to sit down, but don't choose to use physical force to make him sit down, does that make me less strong than my child? Of course not. No rational person would come to that conclusion.

I believe Tozer explained this point well when he wrote:

"God sovereignly decreed that man should be free to exercise moral choice, and man from the beginning has fulfilled that decree by making his choice between good and evil. When he chooses to do evil, he does not thereby countervail the sovereign will of God but fulfills it, inasmuch as the eternal decree decided not which choice the man should make but that he should be free to make it. If in His absolute freedom God has willed to give man limited freedom, who is there to stay His hand or say, 'What doest thou?' Man’s will is free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so." - A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy: The Attributes of God