Calvinists are Evil

[briancook007]

You are accusing me falsely by your saying that I have accused Lydia falsely. She was baptized immediately thereafter (Acts 16:15), which shows that the previous verse indicates her salvation, just as the Philippian jailor was baptized immediately upon his faith (Acts 16:30-33). Rev. 22:17 c & d say, "And LET HIM that is athirst COME. And whosoever will, LET HIM TAKE the water of life freely." Again, in the Greek both of these statements are in the imperative mood, which means that they are commands, not invitations. The Word gives the first command to whoever is thirsty; unregenerate, totally depraved man is never thirsty for salvation, he is satisfied with his own sin, for the Scripture saith, "How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?" (Job 15:16). The second command is given to "whosoever WILL (Gr. "thelo")", whoever has a desire for it; the only way totally depraved, unregenerate man ever has a desire for salvation is if God allows that to him, for what saith the Scriptures?

Isa. 53:6: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way."

John 3:27: "A man can receive NOTHING, except it be GIVEN him from heaven."

John 6:44: "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him."

John 6:65: "No man can come unto me, except it were GIVEN unto him of my Father."

Rom. 3:11: "There is none that understandeth, there is NONE THAT SEEKETH AFTER GOD."

Rom. 11:7: "Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it...."

John 4:10: "Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest THE GIFT OF GOD, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; THOU WOULDEST HAVE ASKED OF HIM, and he would have given thee living water."

Eph. 2:8-9: "For by grace are ye saved through FAITH; and THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES: it is THE GIFT OF GOD: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

Psa. 9:17: "The wicked shall be turned into hell."

Psa. 58:3: "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies."

Eph. 2:1-3: "And you hath he quickened, who were DEAD in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and WERE BY NATURE THE CHILDREN OF WRATH, even as others."

You believe man provides saving faith in and of himself apart from God's grace? What saith the Scriptures (Mat. 16:16-17)?

"And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for FLESH AND BLOOD HATH NOT REVEALED IT UNTO THEE, BUT MY FATHER which is in heaven."

Anyone who reads Acts 9:1-6 & 15 objectively knows that God moved upon Paul irresistibly in salvation, for the Scriptures say:

"And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a CHOSEN VESSEL UNTO ME, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel."

No, God does not provide "sufficient grace to all to have the choice for the opportunity to be saved"; He COMMANDS man to repent and to believe. What saith the Scriptures?

Acts 17:30: "God...commandeth all men every where to repent."

Rom. 1:18-20: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse."

Regarding Pharaoh, you're thinking two-dimensionally; just because it says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, the point remains that before any mention is made of that, God had said already that He would harden his heart (Ex. 4:12). Again, a careful examination of the Hebrew shows that God hardened Pharaoh's heart by leaving it in its natural state, that of a totally depraved, wretched sinner. Paul uses Pharaoh as an example of a reprobate sinner, even raising the question of injustice, something that never appears in the Arminian system. Regarding any injustice that may be inferred by man, what saith the Scriptures (Rom. 9:14-22)?

"What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction."

Regarding man's sinful natural state and God's sovereign grace in regeneration, what saith the Scriptures?

I Sam. 10:9: "And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart."

Jn. 3:8: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

Acts 16:14: "Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul."

Acts 18:27: "...them...which had BELIEVED THROUGH GRACE..."

Tit. 3:5: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost."

Tit. 1:15-16: "Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
16: They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and UNTO EVERY GOOD WORK REPROBATE."

Isa. 59:2: "But your iniquities have SEPARATED between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that HE WILL NOT HEAR."

Jn. 9:31: "Now we know that God HEARETH NOT SINNERS."

Job 15:16: "How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?"

Isa. 1:5-6: "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment."

Isa. 64:6-7: "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is NONE THAT CALLETH UPON THY NAME, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: FOR THOU HAST HID THY FACE FROM US, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities."

Those verses do teach total depravity and irresistible grace, regardless of your attempts to explain them away.

Again, you don't know what you're talking about. Calvinism never says that one should assume he's been regenerated before he believes and repents; it says that man must do those things this very day. Yes, God does have a foreordinative will and a preceptive will; for what saith the Scriptures?

Gen. 50:20: "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive."

Jer. 25:9-12: "Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar THE KING OF BABYLON, my servant, and WILL BRING THEM AGAINST THIS LAND, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I WILL PUNISH THE KING OF BABYLON, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations."

Acts 2:23: "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."

Acts 4:27-28: "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done."

Acts 11:18 says, "Then hath God...GRANTED REPENTANCE unto life."; He didn't grant the possibility of repentance, He granted REPENTANCE. Acts 13:48 says, "and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." Regarding man's responsibility in faith and repentance and concerning God's two wills, you continue to try to understand Him completely; that's not possible, we're finite. I don't understand how He can be three Persons and one God simultaneously, but that doesn't negate the fact that the Bible teaches it.

No, sir, you are not permitted to judge another man's heart, to say that he's an unbeliever; you have accused me falsely in this, shame on YOU!

You have accused me falsely of demonic possession. Very interesting. The unregenerate Pharisees levelled the same accusation against Christ, for what saith the Scriptures?

Mk. 3:30: "Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit."

Jn. 8:48: "Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?"

You can refuse or can rebuke any blessing you please, but that won't stop me from giving it by God's grace, as He has commanded. I do have authority to use any Scripture rightly, as I am God's child, despite your false accusations to the contrary. If the Lord will, I will continue to do so. You have attacked me unjustly. I respectfully call upon the Lord Jesus Christ to defend me in this, as He is my only Defense (II Sam. 22:31c). You have accused me falsely, repeatedly of unbelief, of making a false accusation, of selfishness, of pride, of arrogance, and of demonic possession, all of which I now forgive in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ by His grace (Jn. 15:5c) per His command (Mk. 11:25-26). I also bless you in His Name by His grace per His command (Rom. 12:14).