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@marks, I mean that it's inside of people who want to hold onto the credit for their decisions in following Christ rather than giving God all the credit for their salvation and sanctification. That's not at all how I feel. God saved me from being a Pharisee as a child and teenager to his willing...

God saved me through a mainly-intellectual pursuit of the Bible's truth and the historical fact of Jesus' resurrection, which he used to convince me of the Bible's inspiration. Then, when I decided to "run away" from his call to be a pastor, he made me an English teacher and then a sales...

Yeah, @Carl Emerson, there seems to be inside of people the desire to be proud of our coming to believe in Jesus, whereas the Bible takes 100% of that pride away.

@Behold, you say that we were born with faith and free will. So, do you believe that every baby would trust in Jesus as the way to the Father regardless of the child's environment?? It may be faith in parents and other adults to take care of them, but we are really born with self-centeredness...

What is "OUR FAITH," @Behold? Is it not God's gift to us, since we were dead to him before he gave it to us? You say, "Any teaching that does not agree with Paul's Gospel, that is "justification by faith" to all who : BELIEVE.........and changes this to....."God predestines all this".. "God...

Why do you characterize John Calvin's interpretations of the Bible as "Satanic," "core rot," "bewitching," "deception," and "demonic power"? Why do you use such loaded, emotional words to describe a different interpretation from yours? Tell me so that I can understand your extremely emotional...

Show me exactly in the Bible where the fact that "God created man in his image" reveals that man has "free will." Not one of the following verses makes that connection, @Big Boy Johnson. Rom_8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order...

Yes, the blood of Jesus washes away the GUILT of our sins in the eyes of our divine Judge, but the presence of sin remains to be slowly overcome through Jesus' death and resurrection. That's what justification means, that our heavenly Judge gives the verdict of "not-guilty" and right with him...

The advantage I have found in listening to preachers and teachers of the Word is that I'm still imperfect and need others to apply the Bible to my life. If you are perfect, as you seem to imply, have you considered the following texts to measure whether your claim is correct? 1Th 5:16 Rejoice...

@OreCove, I suggest that you move to West Michigan (Hudsonville) and start attending our church, Chapel-Pointe.org, for a church that is close to the Scriptures, not to traditions. I'm actually kidding about that move. :smiley: However, God has blessed our church abundantly because of its...

So, why are you on this forum if you want to shut off discussion of the topic at hand, @Big Boy Johnson? I will follow your lead and stop trying to discuss it. Why I care is that I'm always interested in finding out why people say what they do. If you don't want to discuss your unfounded...

You are an expert at deflecting someone's suggestions that you don't want to accept, @Big Boy Johnson. So, apparently, you prefer to make accusations without checking out the original sources of the information, except when you suggest that I check out the Bible. Let me tell you, I have read...

@Big Boy Johnson, what lies are you talking about, and how do we avoid them?

Please explain to me, @Ezra, what does that dead-end street look like and how I can avoid it.

Specifically, how does Calvinism lead to hell, @Big Boy Johnson?

"List level"? What is that? We are all sinners, but for true believers among us, we are not dominated by Satan and sins. We have over 5,000 members who attend weekly. What are you asking, and why do you ask it? I measure a church by how closely its teaching and preaching stick to the Bible, not...

@Ezra, what are you saying?

@OreCove, I would enjoy a discussion of the church, but which church would you like to discuss? Please don't generalize about all churches, since my large church doesn't fit your view at all. It's hard for me to deal with such a huge generalization which doesn't any church that I know. One...

I'm afraid that you lose me in your word-salad that uses your reasoning to explain away passages that Calvinists use to demonstrate their ideas. However, you fail to convince me and other Calvinists what is the truth. You just seem to enjoy put us down instead of having a real conversation which...

Why do you make such accusations against Calvinists, @Big Boy Johnson? What Calvinist has ever hurt you that you seem to be consigning them to hell? I suggest that you take one of the Calvinists' doctrines, as you understand it, and tell us why you disagree with it. Then, we can have a calm...