acceptingreality

Consider Calvinists as patients with a terminally ill disease. Diagnosing their symptoms and realize an amazing medical discovery they can be cured.

Calvinist will try to tell you that God saves whom He wants and sends whom He wants to Hell without the sufficient grace given to people to have the free choice almost as if we are like robots. One passage they cite frequently to this end is Romans 9.14: "Are we saying, then, that God was unfair? Of course not!" But they have misused this verse for their false teaching that God irresistibly imposes salvation. Why assume such?

God says, "I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose" (Rom. 9.15). See Ex. 33.19. What this verse is saying is whatever God does, it is His prerogative. It is not a defense of Calvinism. The following verse supports this point: "So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it" (v.16). When God gives mercy we can be confident it is the right amount always. Perhaps some people need less mercy and others need more to draw them to Christ, but His mercy is always sufficient. Never is His mercy insufficient. You can't cause God to bring down more mercy upon yourself or demand more mercy from God. What God does is perfect when He affords you the free choice to search Him out with all you heart and soul; surely, only then will you find Him and receive the gift of repentance and faith to be regenerated.

"In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy...." (v.22-23) His glory shines even brighter on those He has chosen because He gave every opportunity to others to accept Him. Those destined for destruction God supplied more than ample grace for them to accept the Lord, and His anger was intense, but they still refuse to accept Him as He is. Calvinists are going to Hell as they erect themselves up on a pedestal by their own strength and declare to the peons below God has passed over others (preterition) but not themselves. Whereas actual Christians have come to the cross as helpless sinners to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior to be regenerated with no prideful, pompous, self-righteous declaration they have been irresistibly selected. Praise the Lord! Amen.