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Hmmm... We persevere to the end, to the day of Christ, because it is God's power at work in us that enables us and preserves us rather than our own. This is the Holy Spirit's ~ God's ~ continuing work in us. Having "heard the word of truth, the gospel of (our) salvation, and (having) believed...

Ah, well either you fooled me or you're fooling yourself, it seems. <chuckles> We think the very same of each other, GodsGrace. I mean, I know very well you would scoff at such a notion, but you make God's Word out to be really what man has done for God ~ and in effect man-centered ~ rather...

Well, good question... In Romans 9:13, Paul clearly says, "As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” He's quoting the prophet Malachi, there, who quotes God as saying that very thing... "I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated" (Malachi 1:2-3). You kind of have to do something...

From above... Between Jew and Gentile, yes, which is to say, then, that God's Israel will consist of all ethnicities, an innumerable multitude of folks from every tongue, tribe, and nation. Which... <smile> That's probably a really good idea. <smile> No, GodsGrace, I'm not. If you...

LOL! You mean as if I haven't? Goodness gracious. <smile> Well, we know that God loves all of His creation, but yet says, "Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated." So there is, quite obviously, not a lack of love for unbelievers, but quite a different manifestation of His love to...

No, He foreknows only those whom he has chosen ~ His elect. From before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1). LOL! He has chosen some from before the foundation of the world ~ these are vessels of mercy ~ and the others He has not ~ these are vessels of wrath. This is His purpose of...

Good. Interesting post... I'm all about spiritual things, Scott ~ the work of the Spirit and our new, spiritual life in Christ ~ but I would shy away from over-spiritualizing things. To all this I would just point out what James says, that we Christians should be doers of the Word and not...

I... don't really know what you mean by that, Scott. What I said was that what we read in Genesis 2 about God's creation of man is not a "second creation account" in the sense that God executed two different creation acts... that Genesis 2, specifically verses 4 through 22 ~ is a "zoomed in"...

Well, yeah, fair enough... Acknowledged... :) But... Grace and peace to you, JBO.

Of course not. But I'm saying, JBO, that if anyone wants to believe in God, then really, they already do ~ they already have this God-given faith ~ and they just may not fully realize it yet. And further, I would say that the very reason they want to believe in God is because the Spirit is at...

Okay, understood. I don't think it's very difficult to understand, but okay. I do understand that it's quite hard sometimes to... well, I'll stop there. But it's about God's foreknowledge (in Paul's context of Romans 8)... and more specifically whether His electing and saving of folks is...

Absolutely. However, God's omniscience is not what's in view in Paul's context in Romans 8:29, which I have been very clear in saying, and is very clear in what Paul is saying. God's omniscience applies to all people and all things, but Paul, in saying "Those whom He foreknew" is unmistakably...

Hmmm, so this is quite obviously a presupposition... Which can then turn into what we often call a self-fulfilling prophecy... So often in these kinds of comments I hear strains of the great Simon and Garfunkel... "still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest..." (The Boxer...

Yes. :) Yes. :) Right. I know exactly where you're going, and I'll speak to it (it will not be the first time...) when you get there. But to your statement here, I do believe ~ and God's Word is very clear about this ~ that God's love is and will be made manifest in different way regarding...

Exactly right. But again, John did not say, "God loves (us) because we first loved Him," but the very opposite. After having said in verse 7, "love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God" ~ and here again is this knowing in the same context as Paul's in Romans 8:29...

Ah. Yes. :) I mean, this thing is... these things are, actually... very straight already, God's Grace. But okay... Absolutely. In a certain sense, yes. But in Paul's context regarding God's foreknowledge of those who are in Christ in Romans 8 ~ which is further defined as His elect in...

God never... randomly... does anything; everything He does is for His own glory. Which fits ~ as if that's surprising... ~ with what Paul says in Romans 9:21-23 regarding the elect... Yes. Agreed. Right, the Calvinist says, very emphatically, "No. Not random at all." :) That's a...

You mean the Jesus Who Himself is God? Hmmm.... But, yes, I'm sure He knew who they all were... :) No, they were not known, in the very same context as Paul in Romans 8:29. The fact is you're.... well, not "changing," really, but mischaracterizing the context of both Jesus in Matthew 25 and...

Yes, but not what you say I did... :) I mean, not to compare myself to Jesus at all, but He tells quite a few parables, many of which are what we call Kingdom parables, saying, "The Kingdom of God is like..."... and then following that with some earthly metaphor. Right? Well, we can do that...

You mean as if I haven't? :) And... yet again... there is no Scripture saying that He "chooses who will be lost." AH! Exactly what I have said... Each one directly follows from the one(s) previous. And again, they are in that order only because Arminius's objections were in that order...