The problem with every noncalvinist is this: He has man as the measure of all things rather than God. What is good for man is the definition of good and what is bad for man is the definition of bad.
God HAS to offer salvation to every single man of the fallen human race because that is what is good for man... and what is good for man is the essence of good. If God does not do what is good for man, then God is not good.
Noncalvinists see man as God. They really do. They don't mean to. But they think God can only be good if he has man's welfare as a high priority. But where are the tears for the fallen angels? Noncals have no tears for them. They do not care about them. They do not think Jesus has to die for Satan and his ilk. Why? Because noncals are not angels- they are people. And to noncals only PEOPLE really matter because that is what they themselves are. God does not have to do ANYTHING for Satan. "Let him go to HELL!!! You don't have to die for him!! But you DO HAVE TO DIE FOR ME!!! Why? Because I AM THE MEASURE OF GOOD AND EVIL. Do what is good for me and mine or you are evil and I will not worship you!"
But the fact is that the welfare of neither angels NOR men is the measure of good and evil. God is the measure. What is good is that which pleases him. What is evil is that which displeases him. And if you don't like him because he does not die to save you and everybody like you... well... maybe you are evil. Maybe, in fact, that is the very DEFINITION of evil.
The reason I say "every" is not to be "brutal" (which is itself a tremendous overstatement) but because it is so.
I was a Free Will Baptist minister for more than a decade.
I was educated in a free will baptist institution.
I loved God and served him faithfully during those years.
But that does not change the fact that in my thinking I had man as the measure of good and evil and I thought God's goodness was defined by how God treated man.
Whether I meant to or not, in my thinking I had man as God.
Now, I was going to heaven all the while.
I hadGod's hand on my ministry the whole time.
But I still had as my fundamental thinking MAN as the measure of good and evil.
The reason I could not accept Calvinism is because I could not accept the idea that God would not do this and that for man.
I could not FATHOM a God who would not bend over backwards to do whatever he could to save man.
I did not know it, but I was inadvertently putting man in God's place and God in man's.
had switched the roles.
That is what noncalvinists do.
Most of them, fine folks, do it inadvertantly, but they do it nonetheless.
Although this does sound like a Cal in the blissfulness of ignorance, I will give him the benefit of the doubt and ask for some quotes from the non cals he has debated to see if this pov has any merit. As far as the angels goes, they had their choice, and they made it, and God sealed it. As He does with people throughout time and will ultimately do at the end of the age.
One question for you brother, are you declaring to God that He, in His Sovereignty, is NOT permitted to design a salvation plan which gives His creation a freewill choice between life and death?
I was educated in the bastion of Free Will education at a United Methodist seminary and served within the denomination for 14 years. I believe I am qualified to make this one comment. Your rant is unmitigated balderdash.
This is so odd and contrary to the Word of God I do not know how anyone whether Cal or non Cal could have such a thought.........and just because you made such a scriptural error does not mean "every" one has made the same mistake as you did.....
Totally untrue. We see God as loving us enough to allow us to make choices. We see God as a loving, caring God who will do away with sin, suffering and pain in his own good time. We do not see him as a monster, as Calvinists do, responsible for every evil act that occurs.
God saves whosoever He wills for His good pleasure. Eph. 1:1-23. Carefully ponder: vss. 4,5,6,9,10,11, He facilitates salvation every step of the way, including faith to believe, starting from The Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world--also before Lord Calvin.
See: Eph. 2:8-10.
The names are already in The Book--from the beginning.
I know of at least one out there who is non-cal and non-arm, aka: a Sovereign Grace.
There are probably more. The remnant does seem to be shrinking. Jesus has not lost one--He is faithful even when we are not.
The op is a childish rant that has no foundation in scripture, it is the ravings of a sophomoric intellect, and only works to inflame those whose view is not of his own and is not deserving of any actual intelleigent response.
Now! That is an ad hominem. You need to study up on your fallacies.