Featured Perseverance of Saints is.....actually it is Eternal INsecurity

I am not in the "you can lose your salvation" camp but this argument, imho, is not correct. It is in error to suggest that man's cooperation with God in salvation must be completely removed in order for God to get all the credit and all the glory.

The truth is if it is God who set up the plan to have man respond or not respond then man still does not acquire any of the credit and is allowed no room to boast.

 

Departing from the Faith has been played out in churches since Christ returned to heaven. It is those who investigate the Faith, enjoy the fellowship for awhile, yet never come to the point of receiving the Holy Spirit promised. When they find out the real cost of discipleship they bail.

Study what being born-again is sometime. See if it speaks of you. Only you can know yourself. You could fool me all day long. Is the Spirit of Christ in you?????????

 

Or, rather than being a snotty, petulant little brat, you might ask them where in scripture they find their beliefs in the ability of Christ to keep their salvation.

 

No, Since God determined how we should be saved, why we should be saved, and the means by which salvation should come, then it is also true that regardless of the response He requires from us He has complete sovereignty over all men's salvation.

Since God is the creator who gave man the ability to reason and to decide then when He gives men the opportunity to decide to receive Him or to not receive Him He has been completely sovereign in the entire thing.

If it is His will that we should decide or not then it is still His will.

 

Of course.

On the basis of their sin.

No, son, a contradiction is when you state that two opposite things must be true. I said no such thing.

Because of your sin.

Then it's your word against God's, because the Bible is pretty clear that men go to Hell as the result of their sin.

 

If it is true that God refuses to offer them grace then your statement cannot be true as well.

 

This remains the biggest hang up I find with predestination. If God has predestined only a few to salvation, then why is it not likewise correct to say God has predestined the remainder to eternal damnation? At least, from what I can tell, John Piper owns up that "double predestination" is a requisite. After all, if God has not "elected" someone to eternal life, then how are they still to blame for their own damnation? They cannot change their fate, yet they are somehow responsible. God demands all men everywhere to repent, yet never provides them the opportunity to repent, and then God blames them for never doing what He never gave them the opportunity to do in the first place.

 

According to Revelation 7, there will be a vast crowd of redeemed people, so large that no man can number it standing before the throne of God. I'd appreciate the answer to two questions:

1. What are they crying out in a loud voice?
2. Would the crowd be any bigger under Arminianism than it is under Calvinism? What make you think so?

 

To be denied something implies that you either deserved it and were denied, or your earned it and were denied. NNE deserves Eternal Life, and NNE has earned Eternal Life so Eternal Life is not something that can be denied to anyone.

Everyone deserves Hell, that is the the plain and simple truth. We all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death. We both deserve hell, and have earned hell. Only hell can be denied to a sinner, and that is done by the Grace of God, through Faith Alone in the the death and resurrection of Jesus.

 

It is for those who have the wrong understanding of it.

This is a fair and honest question you pose here, mon ami. When Adam fell, he did so of his own accord, his own choice, his own volition. God never tempted him, never shoved him towards that tree, never twisted his arm and made him eat of it; Adam freely chose to eat. Now, when he fell, we fell, he being our representative. God would have been holy, just, good, but not merciful, if he chose to not save even one sinner. This is where predestination and election kicks in. God chose a # that no one can #, gave them to the Lamb slain from the creation of the world to die for, atone for, lay in the tomb 3 days and nights for, to arise for, to ascend for, and finally come back for. If God had chosen to save 'goose-egg', would He still be just, mon ami? Was God just to withhold grace from Satan and his angels when they sinned? Remember, Angels are created beings too, just not in God's image and likeness. Was God just to punish His Son on the cross, for sins He never committed?

Again, mon ami, Jesus told the woman who had been caught in adultery to 'go and sin no more.' Now, was that a command or a mere suggestion? Was she able to 'go and sin no more?' Were you able to 'go and sin no more' after God saved you? God does give commands we can not keep, and punishes people for not doing what He commanded. Look at the Jews after God commanded them to keep the Law. Look where it says to 'be holy as He is holy.' This is His way of showing us our need of Him and not our self-reliance, monsieur.