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The scripture explains how God chose and predestined people; nothing mysterious about it. We are the ones to accept His grace or reject it. God being outside our time dimension, foresaw our saying yes all the way back to before creation. And the "for His pleasure" is not that we'll be providing amusement or entertainment to Him. It is His pleasure in creating humans, and the resulting meaningful relationship, which was the main purpose of His creation in the first place.
Romans 11:2
God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.
Romans 8:29
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son
Notes: Self explanatory; needs no explanation, right?. All you had to do was find these verses, then you would have left the Calvinist church long ago. But who's reading the Bible? Answer is here.
But wait, if you give these verses to a Calvinist, he'll say: "'Foreknew them' does not mean they chose God". So a debate with a Calvinist is always futile. They'll tell you you have eyes that can't see and ears that can't hear, when in reality they themselves are the ones who are exactly that.
More clear explanations from the Bible:
John 15:1
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit
Luke 13:6-9
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
Notes: God gives people a chance to truly seek Him, or be cut down, as in become spiritually dead, which leads to becoming unsaved and sent to hell after death. "Fruit" here means spiritual growth. So similar to the "talents" parable below; bear fruits or risk becoming rejected by God. It is clear from this parable that God is waiting on our action or else cut the fig tree. This parable says the ball is in our court now; so it's our action, our decision, our free-will, to produce fruit by seeking God and grow spiritually, or else. Note there is no works of the flesh here!
Now what would the Calvinist say to this? He may say "that's not what it means; you're doing your own explanation." Which puts the Calvinist at the edge of their doctrine and about to fall off a cliff. Keep reading below.
Matthew 25:14-30
“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one’s ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. In the same way the man with two earned two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I’ve earned five more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’ “The man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I’ve earned two more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’ “The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ “His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned. “‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Notes: This is an example of how God foreknew the people He wanted, and Elected and Predestined them. "Talent" here is spiritual growth. They all started on relatively equal ground. The servant who did not multiply his talent in the parable, was called "evil & lazy", and was cast out - "became unsaved". And here's the biggest key part:
"For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
More good related reading here and here. Guaranteed shocking harsh realities in every link on this page. No donations or ads there.
He is a loving God. He loves us in ways we don't even understand. He did not leave us in the dark on this! He gave us the explanation; it's in the Bible. All you have to do is seek God by reading the Scripture. And you will "multiply your talent" and "grow and ripen your fruits". It's not an overnight accomplishment; it's a life long growing relationship with God:
James 4:8
Come near to God and he will come near to you.
The scripture explains how God chose and predestined people; nothing mysterious about it. We are the ones to accept His grace or reject it. God being outside our time dimension, foresaw our saying yes all the way back to before creation. And the "for His pleasure" is not that we'll be providing amusement or entertainment to Him. It is His pleasure in creating humans, and the resulting meaningful relationship, which was the main purpose of His creation in the first place.
Romans 11:2
God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew.
Romans 8:29
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son
Notes: Self explanatory; needs no explanation, right?. All you had to do was find these verses, then you would have left the Calvinist church long ago. But who's reading the Bible? Answer is here.
But wait, if you give these verses to a Calvinist, he'll say: "'Foreknew them' does not mean they chose God". So a debate with a Calvinist is always futile. They'll tell you you have eyes that can't see and ears that can't hear, when in reality they themselves are the ones who are exactly that.
More clear explanations from the Bible:
John 15:1
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit
Luke 13:6-9
Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
Notes: God gives people a chance to truly seek Him, or be cut down, as in become spiritually dead, which leads to becoming unsaved and sent to hell after death. "Fruit" here means spiritual growth. So similar to the "talents" parable below; bear fruits or risk becoming rejected by God. It is clear from this parable that God is waiting on our action or else cut the fig tree. This parable says the ball is in our court now; so it's our action, our decision, our free-will, to produce fruit by seeking God and grow spiritually, or else. Note there is no works of the flesh here!
Now what would the Calvinist say to this? He may say "that's not what it means; you're doing your own explanation." Which puts the Calvinist at the edge of their doctrine and about to fall off a cliff. Keep reading below.
Matthew 25:14-30
“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one’s ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. In the same way the man with two earned two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I’ve earned five more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’ “The man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I’ve earned two more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’ “The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ “His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned. “‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Notes: This is an example of how God foreknew the people He wanted, and Elected and Predestined them. "Talent" here is spiritual growth. They all started on relatively equal ground. The servant who did not multiply his talent in the parable, was called "evil & lazy", and was cast out - "became unsaved". And here's the biggest key part:
"For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
- This part: "For to everyone who has, more will be given" means as we seek God and grow spiritually, God reveals more of Himself to us, exactly the same as in James 4:8 below.
- This part: "But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." is equivalent to: "God then gave them eyes that can't see and ears that can't hear"; He starves them out of all scripture. These are the type of people God foresaw before creation, and rejected them. That is, as a result of their free-will action as clear in this parable. God decided to take away the little they knew about God, and replaced it with eyes that can't see and ears that can't hear. In other words, He knew they were hopeless, and knowing the ending He did not let it drag on to the end, He ended it early. And did all this before creation.
- And this part: "And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." explains how God rejected those that He does not Elect or Predestine, He does not grant salvation to, and instead cast them to Hell. And it was based on their action! God did not make the servant with one talent mess-up! The servant made his own wrong decisions and failed.
More good related reading here and here. Guaranteed shocking harsh realities in every link on this page. No donations or ads there.
He is a loving God. He loves us in ways we don't even understand. He did not leave us in the dark on this! He gave us the explanation; it's in the Bible. All you have to do is seek God by reading the Scripture. And you will "multiply your talent" and "grow and ripen your fruits". It's not an overnight accomplishment; it's a life long growing relationship with God:
James 4:8
Come near to God and he will come near to you.
