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NASB | Luke 14:16 But He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 14:16 But Jesus said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many guests; |
Bible Question:
From Luke 14:16-24 (a man invites people to a feast, they refuse, so he extends the invitation to others). Does this passage of scripture refer to election? I read it to say that the host (God) offers invitations and those invitations can be rejected. According to my Calvinist friends, the calling by God is irresitable and cannot be refused. My belief is that free will can be exercised by saying 'no' to God, and his sovereignty allows that. |
Bible Answer: You are right. The parable refers to God offering His kingdom and the gift of salvation to the Jewish people 2000 years ago. The Jewish people refused not believing that Christ was the true Messiah. This refussal is the gift of God called free will. In Genesis 2:15-16 it tells us that God gave Adam the responsibility of caring for the Garden of Eden and told him not to eat of the fruit rather than physically preventing him from doing so. In other words God gave Adam the choice of eating the fruit or not eating the fruit. Throughout the bible are countless stories when man went against God's wishes and chose to do what God commanded them not to do. The Luke parable is just another example of man not choosing God's way. God's call is irresistable. If it were not there would be no evil in the world. Man would not be able to refuse God if His call was indeed irresistable. (When the Jewish people refused the invitation God then extended that invitation to the Gentiles). |