By the grace of God, I am honored to be in full time ministry. I also have three children and a wonderful wife. If I allow it, my time could be exhausted by this blog. That would be detrimental to all that God has given me. I will post, Lord willing, every Sunday and spend the next week preparing the next post and responding to the previous one. Feel free to drop a line, but please understand if it takes a day or two to respond. Something I will not do is continue to carry on a post forever.
By the grace of God, I am honored to be in full time ministry. I also have three children and a wonderful wife. If I allow it, my time could be exhausted by this blog. That would be detrimental to all that God has given me. I will post, Lord willing, every Sunday and spend the next week preparing the next post and responding to the previous one. Feel free to drop a line, but please understand if it takes a day or two to respond. Something I will not do is continue to carry on a post forever.
16 comments:
"Is it God’s wish that all mankind be saved?"
Probably. If I was forced to answer one way or the other it's almost certain I'd say yes.
Ryan- do you think that in God desiring the salvation of all, He has providing that salvation for all mankind? If not, then why?
Does God do everything in His power to save everyone?
If so, He has failed.
If not, than can you still argue that He wishes for everyone's salvation?
Wishing and doing everything in His power are clearly two different things.
Just because God did not force Israel to obey the Law does not mean He didn't desired them to.
Does God wish for His children to give thanks in everything. Clearly yes. Does He make them? Clearly no. Man has a choice to follow God or reject God. Anything else means God uses us all as puppets.
I know...and every man's choice is to reject God.
That's why God gives some men a new heart, thus giving them the new desire to love Him.
Original sin was the puppet maker. Because of it, none seek God. None do good. There are none righteous. None go to Christ apart from God's intervention.
Were God not to intervene, we would all go to Hell.
Richard- there is nothing here I disagree with. WOW. We do agree on something. Your second statement could maybe be taken the wrong way, but a close look reveals you did not choose to say God gives man the heart first, then the desire to choose Him. Nice.
Nothing you disagree with?
This is nothing more than the doctrines of radical depravity, unconditional election, and regeneration.
Well...it is until you add to it, lol.
1. Men are inherently evil and will never come to God apart from His drawing.
2. Because we're evil, God must choose to act first.
3. Because we're evil, God sees nothing in us that prompts His decision to save anyone.
4. Thankfully, He doesn't elect us upon any foreseen conditions to be met, apart from our sin condition.
5. He then gives a new heart to said individuals. The first new heartbeat is the reflex of faith and repentance.
6. God places the sins of those elect upon the shoulders of His son.
7. Those whom He saves are preserved forever, on the basis of His promise; not upon their efforts to stay saved.
This is a horribly paraphrased reformed soteriology, but you get the idea. Everything is of God, by God, and for God.
The opposite is this:
1. Man is somewhat evil but can still make good choices.
2. God kills Jesus on behalf of every sin in hopes that someone will "accept" Him.
3. God draws all men, though horribly unsuccessfully. Only a few aren't stronger than He. They accept the Gospel.
4. God foresees this and elects those who choose Jesus.
5. Everyone else pays for the sins that Jesus already paid for once.
It's all about man, man, man, and man.
Anyways, I ramble.
Thanks for the illustration on Calvinists trying to make things say what they do not.
Richard wrote- "Nothing you disagree with?
This is nothing more than the doctrines of radical depravity, unconditional election, and regeneration. "
It appears, Brother Boyce, that you have added to the statements, a common Calvinistic tactic.
You wrote- "every man's choice is to reject God." Where would radical depravity be which states that man is so dead in sin that he cannot of his own will turn to God and that God must first give him a new birth before he can turn to God? Where would unconditional election be found that states before the world was, God choose some for heaven based on no foreknowledge or any choice man would make in the future? Where would regeneration be found that states God saves a person before they can believe the gospel and be-uh, umm saved?
You wrote- "That's why God gives some men a new heart, thus giving them the new desire to love Him." Where would radical depravity be which states that man is so dead in sin that he cannot of his own will turn to God and that God must first give him a new birth before he can turn to God? Where would unconditional election be found that states before the world was, God choose some for heaven based on no foreknowledge or any choice man would make in the future? Where would regeneration be found that states God saves a person before they can believe the gospel and be-uh, umm saved?
You wrote- "Because of it, none seek God. None do good. There are none righteous. None go to Christ apart from God's intervention."
Where would radical depravity be which states that man is so dead in sin that he cannot of his own will turn to God and that God must first give him a new birth before he can turn to God? Where would unconditional election be found that states before the world was, God choose some for heaven based on no foreknowledge or any choice man would make in the future? Where would regeneration be found that states God saves a person before they can believe the gospel and be-uh, umm saved?
Like I said, I agree with what you said. But Sir, they are only the doctrines of grace if you read them into it.
I thought I had sent a reply to this already, but maybe it didn't go through. I'll try again:
"Ryan- do you think that in God desiring the salvation of all, He has providing that salvation for all mankind? If not, then why?"
Salvation is available to all who desire it. Because some don't desire to be saved, I suppose it's not available to all without exception, at least not unless God regenerates them all to want to desire Him. Since He doesn't, however, for reasons I mentioned a while back - i.e. the "two wills" of God - no, salvation is not practically speaking available to all.
Of the "two wills" Calvinists keep bringing up, which is the one we should pray for? God's will, or God's will?
Either way, nothing will happen that God doesn't allow to happen.
Thus, His will will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.
Yes, but which will? The will of desire, or will of decree?
Yes, but which will? The will of desire, or will of decree?
"Of the "two wills" Calvinists keep bringing up, which is the one we should pray for? God's will, or God's will?"
We don't fully know God's sovereign will. I would think both, as in:
"Lord, if it be your will, please keep my mom safe as she travels to Russia."
You're reading too much into it. It's not hard to ask God to be benevolent, and at the same time acknowledge His sovereign will will be done, and that we should respect that and love Him for it.
Ryan- If you had to guess, which of the two will's is God's sovereign will?
"But election and evangelism go together. The person who says, 'God will save those He wants to save and He doesn’t need my help!' understands neither election nor evangelism. In the Bible, election always involves responsibility. God chose Israel and made them an elect nation so that they might witness to the Gentiles.
"In the same way, God has chosen the church that we might be witnesses today. The fact that we are God’s elect people does not excuse us from the task of evangelism. On the contrary, the doctrine of election is one of the greatest encouragements to evangelism."
Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, "An Exposition of the New Testament Comprising the Entire 'BE' Series"--Jkt. (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1996, c1989), 1 Th 1:8.
-JM
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