Resistance Is Futile:

All My Messages Regarding Calvinism And Replacement Theology Will Eventually End Up At:

http://cuf5.tripod.com

AND

https://cuf5.tripod.com/id165.html

AND

https://cuf5.tripod.com/id169.html

I'm Presently Discussing This Subject With A Calvinist Tag Team.

So More Additions To This Message Will Come Later.

I Call The Tag Team The Borg Of Bob.

I Would Prefer That They Identify Themselves As 'One Of Three', Two Of Three' Or 'Three Of Three' Like The Borgians Of Star Trek Next Generation But Probably Won't Get That To Happen.

Some Calvinists Remind Me Of The Borgians Who Go Around Zapping People While Saying, 'Resistance If Futile'.

The Borgians Of Star Trek Didn't Know What Individual Personhood Was But Identified Themselves In Relation To The Whole.

"We Are Hugh, 3 Of 9"

Of Course They Claim This Is How God Deals With People...i.e. Gods Irresistable Grace or Damnation.

Of Course I'm Using Humor In Case Some Didn't Catch That.

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:44)

Draw: Draw, Drag

"If I Be Lifted Up From The Earth I Will Draw ALL Men Unto Me." (John 12:32)

Some Calvinists Alternate Between Whether This Word Means Draw Or Drag To Fit Their Theology.

Now If This Drawing Was A Dragging Then All Would Be Saved.

We Know That Won't Happen. (Matthew 25:40ff)

However, The Calvinists Have To Say That Those That 'Come Unto The Father' Have Been Dragged.

It Must Mean Drag When Man Comes To The Father, It Must Mean Draw When He Draws All Men, Or All Doesn't Mean All, Says The Calvinist.

If The Drawing Leaves Man Unable To Choose, There Wouldn't Be Any Reason To Draw All Men In the First Place.

However, There Are Some Examples Of Some People Being Dragged.

The Apostle Paul: (Acts 9:3ff)

Israel In The End: (Zechariah 12-14; Ezekiel 36; Romans 11:26ff)

Calvinists Use Verses Concerning Predestination As A License To Promote A Being That Irresistably Saves Some And Irresistably Damns Others.

Because Resistance If Futile.

This Is Elitism.

Nowhere Does The Writings Of Paul Teach This.

God Has Concluded All In Unbelief So That He May Have Mercy On All. (Romans 11:32)

If All Are Sinners And Concluded In Unbelief Here, Then All Will Have Mercy, Not Hate Shown To Them.

I Don't Need To Prove That All Means All, That Is The Plain Sense And Context Confirms That.

Plain Sense Means Just That.

Predestination Is Really About Gods Mercy On All By Drawing All Men, Which Enables Them To Choose One Way Or The Other.

Gods Drawing Is Connected With Men Coming To Christ. But Nothing Here About Irresistably Dragging Some And Leaving All The Rest At The Front Door.

God May Drag Some, Draw All But Doesn't Irresistably Damn Any.

The Whole Argument Of Paul In Romans Is That It Is God's Prerogative To Include Gentiles.

God's Choosing Man Doesn't Always Result In Man Choosing God.

Example: Israel Today And Judas.

God Can Draw Some Thereby Enabling Them To Choose Though They Be Not Regenerate.

The Calvinist Believes God Cannot Do This.

He Is Obligated To Show God Cannot Do This.

Favorite Verses I Have Heard More Than Once Are:

"26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me." (John 10)

Since, It Does Not Make Sense to Believe We Are Literal Sheep We Must Conclude That This Is A Figurative Expression.

If The Plain Sense, Makes Sense, Seek No Other Sense To Replace It, Lest You End Up With Nonsense.

Here They Say This Group Are Sheep Before They Believe, Regenerate Before Faith.

This May Only Be Speaking Of God's Foreknowledge But Could Also Mean Gods Irresistable Grace Toward This Group.

But God's Irresistable Grace To Some (Jews-Past And Future) Doesn't Equal His Irresistable Indifference To All The Rest Presently.

Look At The Same Chapter Which Says:

"16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." (John 10)

So The First Group May Have Been Dragged, The Other Sheep (Gentiles) Given The Opportunity.

The Reason I Say This Is Because This Is A Picture Of What Happened Throughout The Gospels and The Book Of Acts.

Some Among The Jews Believed, Many Did Not, This Opened The Way For Gentiles.

"46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: "'I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth." (Acts 13)

'Until The Fulness Of The Gentiles Are Come In', Is Not An Irresistable Call, Else All Gentiles Will Be Saved.

He Is Making Reference To Gentiles Being Given An Opportunity.

The Individual Must Still Respond.

The Calvinist Confuses A Shift From Group Think i.e., 'Jew First', 'Jew Only', In the Gospels And Acts, To All, With God Irresistably Saving Some Damning Others. (Matthew 10:5ff; Galatians 2:8,9; Romans 3; Acts 13:46ff)

Nothing Could Be Further From The Truth As Calvinism Is.

"The term "whosoever" in John 3:16 can literally be translated "everyone who believes" or "all who believe." "Whosoever" is also an accurate rendering of the term. Imagine a generous candy man standing on the street corner passing out free candy and saying, "Boys and girls, Come! Everyone who receives a piece of candy will also receive a free balloon." Regardless of the response of the children, would not this be a universal offer to all the boys and girls? No one hearing this invitation would be excluded. He could have said, "Whosoever receives a piece of candy will also receive a free balloon" and the meaning would have been the same."

http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/doctrine/4whom03.htm

In Fact The Boasting That Came From The Jews Because They Were The Chosen Ones. (John 8:41ff), Is What Is Happening Among Some Of Those That Think That They Are Those That Have Been Irresistably Saved Today.

This Isn't An Attack On Their Person, this Is The Result Of The Errant Theology.

I've Met A Few Good Calvinists, bob Included, But their Calvinist Theology Doth Take Away From The Good Stuff.

God Didn't Go From Preferring One Group To Preferring Another, He Went From Preferring One Group (The Jews-Isaiah 43:10), To All.

Drawing Is Typically An Invitation, Not A Compulsion.

It Is Completely Nonsensical To Believe That God Draws, Calls And Commands Every Man Everywhere To Repent, (Acts 17:46) But When They Get To The Front Door God Refuses To Answer The Door.

"How can we sincerely offer to men what has not been provided for them? How can we offer them a free gift if the gift has not been purchased for them? How can we urge them to drink from the fountain of life if no water has been provided for them? How can we tell them to be saved if He provided not for their salvation? How can we say to a person, "Take the medicine and be cured!" if there is no medicine to take and no cure provided? W. Lindsay Alexander says it this way:

http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/doctrine/4whom18.htm

Divine Predestination Leading To Destruction Is Completely Contrary To The God Of Scripture.

In Fact Scripture Commands Christians Not To Be Ignorant Of The Mystery. Ignorance Here Leads To Conceit:

1) Partial Blindness Has Happened To Israel

2) Until The Fulness Of The Gentiles Are Come In. (Universal Drawing)

3) All Israel Shall Be Saved. (Dragging) (Romans 11:24-32)

4) God Concluded All In Unbelief So That He May Have Mercy On All. (Universal Drawing)

Even The Delay Is In Order That More Can Be Saved. Read 2 Peter 3

This Is Not The God Of Calvinism.

Drawing Is The Gestation Prior To Birth.

Gestation Is Not A Guarantee Of Birth, But Is The Necessary First Step Initiated By The Father.

When The Babe Is Born The Father Gets The Credit For Starting The Process.

Drawing Removes Any Hindrance To Making The Choice To Follow Or Reject Christ, Else There Would Be No Reason To Draw.

Drawing Is Not Regeneration And Nowhere In Scripture Does It Say It Is.

An Example Of God Making Plain, His 'Eternal Power And Godhead' Is In Romans.

"For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification " (Amplified Romans 1; Ps. 19:1-4)

19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Ro. 1)

These Unregenerate Men Suppress The Truth Through Their Wickedness, But This Doesn't Stop God From Then 'Making Plain' To Them His Truth. This Removes Any Excuse They Might Make.

If It Wasn't 'Plain' Then As The Passage Alludes To, They Would Have A Legitimate Excuse.

The Only Ones That Want To Make The Plain Unplain Are The Replacement Types.

If God's Eternal Power And Godhead Are Made Plain To Unregenerate Man, Through The Creation Then He Has Made It Is Possible For Unregenerate Man To Understand The Spiritual Basics, Which Is How To Be Saved And By Whom.

Other Than That The Unregenerate Man Is In The Dark.

'Clearly Seen' Means Just That.

It Even Says What They Should Have Done After Clearly Seeing The Truth.

"21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."

Certainly God's Making It Clear Still Resulted In Them Rejecting Him, Though They Were Provided What Was Necessary To Make An Informed Decision.

It Is Dumbfounding That One Would Even Have To Explain God's Universal Call To Any Other Christians But Here We Are.

I Was Asked Recently About This Passage:

"Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you (drawn) had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, (drawn or dragged) they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you (drawn) had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you."

25 At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure. 27 "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 "Come to me, ALL you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matthew 11)

Certain Revelations May Only Have A drawing Influence On Some But A Dragging Influence On Others.

But Don't Mistake The Fact That All Have Been Drawn.

These Scriptures Don't Say Some Weren't Drawn But That the Drawing Influence Was More Enticing To Some Than Others.

As I Point Out In The Parentheses, Some Are Dragged, The Rest Drawn.

Drawing Is What Enables Unregenerate Man To Choose.

Nowhere In Scripture Does It Say That God Is Only Capable Of Drawing Those That Are Already Saved.

Calvinists Think That If They Find Scripture Having To Do With God's Sovereignty and Choosing, That This Proves That Man Is An Automaton.

The Scriptures Are Riddled With The God Man Equation, Which Is Called A Mystery, But Now Revealed.

And Whenever God And Man Meet, There is Mystery. (Bruce Demarest, JESUS CHRIST: THE GOD MAN)

Notice The God Man Connection In The Following Verses.

"12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Philippians 2:12,13)

God: 'for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.'

man: 'continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling'

It Is Not One Or The Other, It Is Both.

"21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use? 22 What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath--prepared for destruction? 23 What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory-- 24 even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?" (Romans 9)

The Whole Purpose Is To Show The Jews That God Has The Right To Include The Gentiles. Its About God's Love Not His Hate.

God: Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use

"In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." (2 Timothy 2)

man: If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

Note: If A man...

Not God Or man, It Is Both.

This 'Mystery Of Godliness' Is Because Of The Ultimate 'Mystery of Godliness', Which Is Christ Himself.

"16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." (1 Timothy 3)

He Is Not God Or Man, He Is Both.

Note: The Inclusion Of The Gentiles, Is Also Part Of the Mystery, And Which Calvinists Misinterpret To Mean Group Think.

Jacob Arminius, Was Originally A Calvinist But Came To His Senses And Opposed Many Of The Teachings Of Calvinism.

"After the death of Arminius, his followers penned a petition to the State General, called a "Remonstrance", which highlighted five aspects of their theology: (1) election was conditional on faith; (2) Christ's atonement was unlimited in extent; (3) total depravity; (4) prevenient and resistible grace; and (5) the possibility of apostasy."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Calvinist-Arminian_debate

Now I Don't Agree With The Possibility Of Apostasy (1 John 2) And Conform More To The Calvinist View, But Diverge From Limited Atonement, Unconditional Election And Irresistable Grace Of The Calvinist.

Calvinists Are Still In The OT Thinking That Says That God Is Still Choosing Particular Groups For Salvation, And Neglecting Others.

They Need To Get With The New Program.

Another Link Showing The Free Will Of Man In Light Of Gods Foreknowledge:

http://www.carm.org/open/God_know.htm

Bj Maxwell

04/07/2007

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