Jerry Shugart
Well-known member
You have no idea of what I'm saying do you?
You are just repeating the same old nonsense of the Calvinists which is easily proven to be false..
Your missing the point of your own argument... You post as if belief and faith come from the believer and not God... the chooser of men! ... Where does faith and belief come from?
You really do not know, do you?:
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Ro.10:17).
Belief is a GIFT - Phil 1:29 - "For you have been granted [the gift] to grant as a favor for Christ's sake not only to believe in (adhere to, rely on, and trust in) Him, but also to suffer in His behalf."
So the Lord only gives some men the so-called gift of faith and the rest of mankind who are not given that faith shall perish? But how do you explain what Paul says here?:
"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 Cor.4:3-4).
The gospel is hidden to those who are perishing and the god of this age, Satan, is responsible for the gospel being hidden from them. Satan blinded their minds to the gospel for one purpose, "so that they cannot see the light of the gospel."
The fact that the minds of those who are perishing can be "blinded" to the gospel proves that they have the ability to see it if their minds were not blinded to it. After all, one must be able to see before being blinded can happen.
This demonstrates that even those who are perishing have the ability to believe the gospel and as a result receive salvation. Therefore, it cannot be denied that the Lord's death and the blessings which flow from that death have the potential to be applied to even those who are perishing.
What... you think you came to believe all on your own?
Not on their own. The gospel comes in the power of the Holy Spirit and therefore it has the power to quicken men who are dead in sin. You seem to think that the Holy Spirit, when combined with the gospel, is impotent to quicken those who are dead in sin.
NASB Mat 22:14 "For many are called, but few are chosen."
Here we see exactly why some are chosen:
"But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" (2 Thess.2:13).
The gospel is absolutely true and it comes in the Holy Spirit and therefore all men should believe it. However, some resist the Holy Spirit and do not believe. Here is one of the reasons some do not believe, and it is not because they were not given the so-called gift of faith:
"He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God" (Jn.3:18-21).