Subject: Why does God love the world (us)? |
Bible Note: Hi Melanie, You wrote: OK, I think I see where you are coming from but let me personalize it. 1. God predestined the Fall 2. If I sin/fall, God has predestined for me to sin/fall 3. While I sin for evil reasons, God however predestined me to sin for His end purpose Points 1 and 2 I can agree with. but I think point 3 is a problem. It implies that man is not responsible and that God made him do it. God does not violate the will of man. Take Judas for instance. It was prophesied in the OT that he would betray Christ. Did God make him do it? No, he did it out of the evil in his own heart. To understand the calvinistic view of salvation, one must begin with an understanding of what it means to be "a son of Adam". The following is a brief synopsis of man's fallen nature. Total Depravity is probably the most misunderstood tenet of Calvinism. When Calvinists speak of humans as "totally depraved," they are making an extensive, rather than an intensive statement. The effect of the fall upon man is that sin has extended to every part of his personality -- his thinking, his emotions, and his will. Not necessarily that he is intensely sinful, but that sin has extended to his entire being. The unregenerate (unsaved) man is dead in his sins (Romans 5:12). Without the power of the Holy Spirit, the natural man is blind and deaf to the message of the gospel (Mark 4:11f). This is why Total Depravity has also been called "Total Inability." The man without a knowledge of God will never come to this knowledge without God's making him alive through Christ (Ephesians 2:1-5). God Bless, John |