Quote from BCBSR on Eph 1:11 There is a sense of security being in Christ, knowing God's will and intention that all in Christ will be saved. And it seems that it is this sense of security which Paul is trying to communicate to the saints at Ephesus. In Christ we are chosen for this destiny. That is, as Christians we are chosen. The Biblical idea of predestination is not the same as fatalism, for we are involved in being chosen by putting our faith in Christ. For it was His will that we be involved in this process. However, having been chosen as such our destiny is secure. It's like stepping on an elevator that is predestined for a certain floor. Once you're on, you don't have to worry about whether you're going to get there or not. You just have to worry about whether you are in fact on the elevator. (And you're not going anywhere if you just stand in the doorway) So make sure you are "in Him".
I pulled this straight from your website.
It is one of the most bizarre comments that I have seen on this passage. Your lock hold on the Arminian heresy (condemned centuries ago I might add) has totally blinded you to truth that is beyond obvious in the bible. Don't fear, God can rescue you from the blindness like He did me in 1996 when I first preached through this section of scripture for the first time. I was a fighting, feuding Arminian against all Calvinists before this encounter. No doubt you may be seething in anger over this email right now. Keep reading and take a deep breath.
To say that God chose us because He knew we would choose him is logical and biblical absurdity. Why does God need to know or even care what we would choose. We were not even created yet when all this went down. Now the logical part: babies do not choose to be born, that decision comes from the will of the father (parents in the human case) John 3 is the total explanation of this concept.
I ask you, how are we involved in our own choosing? You have just made man more powerful than God if you honestly believe that. For the limiting factor in the Arminian view of salvation is man and not God.
You say, then what about free will and my choice? Did I choose Christ, did you? Absolutely we did. When the Bible says that Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith what do you think that means? He actually creates faith in us so that we can now have the capacity to believe in Him. Tell me please what dead men are capable of doing for themselves? How was Lazarus able to come out of the grave, obeying Jesus' command to 'come out!' A dead man that could obey? Impossible! And yet that is exactly what Arminians believe about dead spiritual men, dead but not really. Was he dead but yet alive enough to obey? Or maybe his body was dead for four days but his ears did not fully die and begin to rot! No my friend, with the commands in scripture such as "you must be born again." comes something amazing from God: rebirth. We are actually born again, given life FIRST and then we can repent, love, trust, believe, accept. It is totally God. He acts first, He plannned all this. It is his glory that is published! Look closely at John 3 again. Look at the silly questions that are asked in there. "How can I climb back into my mom's womb?" Impossible. You must be born again for the will of the heavenly father. Not our decision. Painful to hear for humans that want to believe that heaven is a democracy where evevyone gets a vote and a chance. All are perishing, in God's wrathful crosshairs and going to hell because of Adam's sins (Romans 5:12) God, in His goodness chooses to save some. All should and deserve to die in Hell forever, but He decided to save some! Wow, how humbling, how gracious and generous and how amazing. Ephesians 2:8-10 only make sense as a Calvinist. All of scripture opens up like never before is a person will just let go of their man centered theology and see God as who He really is: Sovereign and in complete control without need of man's help to see into the future or wait on us to make a good decision for Him.
This is such a brief email on the subject. For very helpful reading I encourage you and your folks to read: John Murray's, Redemption: accomplished and applied and also Curtis Thomas', Five points of Calvinism.
Mark
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