When God swears by himself, does this not mean that what is being predicted depends only on him? Yet some of these purposes, where God swears by himself, involve human decisions: Genesis 22:16-18 “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, […]
We are told in the Open View that God may lose some battles, but he will win the war. But what is winning the war, according to the Open View? Is it that God does the best he can, and accomplishes some of his purposes? Then nobody ever lost a chess game, if that is […]
Do we have a duty to believe? Is there some inherent merit in faith? We are commanded to believe, so this would also be a duty, that seems quite clear: Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” And faith is, in fact, […]
But what does it mean to choose a group, as in “I choose those who choose me, to be mine”? That’s practically a tautology! As if a politician should say “I choose those who vote for me to be my supporters.” Now if the reply is that God chooses people for service, or for glory, […]
Is the choice God makes in election, choosing who will be saved, really God choosing those he sees will have saving faith when he brings his grace? We have to ask what the basis for God’s choice is, for Israel, for Esau, for Pharaoh (who wasn’t a nation!), and for others. For the reason Paul […]
Does God only enable faith? Does grace stop there, and then we make a decision? John 1:7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. Certainly grace does enable belief, and Jesus came to provide grace, required grace, without which we could not believe. But […]
Salvation comes by faith, but does faith itself have a cause? Is faith the end of the chain? JAS 1:18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth… Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Faith has a cause! Hearing the word of Christ. Now […]
RO 9:19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” First we should notice what Paul doesn’t say, he doesn’t say that men freely choose to sin, and thus God is just in condemning them. This is a perfect opportunity to give this reply, and solve […]
“So it appears, first, that God loves all in some ways (everyone whom he creates, sinners though they are, receives many undeserved good gifts in daily providence), and second, that he loves some in all ways (that is, in addition to the gifts of daily providence he brings them to faith, to new life, and […]
Does regeneration precede faith? John 5:24 I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. “He who believes has (past tense) crossed over from death to life.” And in the verses that seem […]