God does not choose you or cause you to trust in Christ.
Did not say He causes us to trust, but we are all born spiritually blind. We cannot remove this blindness ourselves. He enables us to see spiritually.
You are A mind owned Calvinist telling a Christian that they have blurry vision?
I am not a Calvinist and if you knew me, you would know I argue against TULIP.
We can believe in predestination without adopting TULIP!
The
Doctrine of Election has caused confusion and division.
Simply,
God has predestined us to be saved.
Elect means chosen, determined beforehand, ordained before time.
Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity” 2 Timothy 1:9
>>
According to a His purpose and plan. He designed a perfect plan _ in the beginning. A plan like an architectural blueprint contains all the details before it is built and carried out.
It is not an open-ended, create as you go, plan.
That said, it appears that way to us; as we pridefully think our destiny is in our hands and we are the directors of our own reality and that life is what we make it. This spiritual destiny of all can't be subject to our sinful state, our countless errors; for He would have to fix
redraft, crumple up the blueprint, chuck it in the trash and start over. And since our lives intertwine, how when we look back, we see how events developed, were guided and led to that divine appoint, had to be perfect, fixed. One false move, a fork on the road, where we decided to go changes everything.
I love "It's A Wonderful Life" because George Baily sees an alternate reality of his town if he hadn't been born. He did 't realize that he was tied to so much good that just wouldn't happen if he wasn't born. God predestined George, though he wanted to leave many times, to stay with the Building and Loan, in that town, live out his life, bless all those people and thwart the forces of Satan's evil and greedy Mr. Potter.
God's sovereignty can't be subject to man's billions of errors, ignorance and spiritual state - which is lost.
Galatians 1:15-16
But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.
Isaiah 43:10 “But you are my witnesses, O Israel!” says the Lord. “You are my servant.
You have been chosen to know me, believe in me, and understand that I alone am God. There is no other God— there never has been, and there never will be.
However,
those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.
John 6:37
>>The Father had a specific number of sheep that He gave to Jesus - before they actually believed. Only His sheep heard His called. How? They were spiritually equipped, so when summoned, they turned to Him and came.
1 Peter 1:2
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
>> There it is _ that word _
foreknowledge. We wrestle with that. We can't conceive of knowing the details of the future, so it confounds us. But our pride kicks in and the magnificent power of our free will. "LIFE US WHATVWE MAKE IT"! Yeah, sure, whatever you say.
“So, as
those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” Colossians 3:12-13
“Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those
chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness.” Titus 1:1
“But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because
God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” 2 Thessalonians 2:13
“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your
God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” Deuteronomy 7:7
John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
>> It says it all right there. We can't choose to come to Him unless He first draws us. He, through His plan, that involves many people, events and lessons that prepare us, enables us and draws us to Himself and we answer the call.
Romans 8:28-30. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Ephesians 1:4-5. just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
>> God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. JOHN 15:16
The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.” Proverbs 16:4
Well, there it is. Wrestle with it all you want.
