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NASB | Luke 8:13 "Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 8:13 "Those on the rocky soil are the people who, when they hear, receive and welcome the word with joy; but these have no firmly grounded root. They believe for a while, and in time of trial and temptation they fall away [from Me and abandon their faith]. |
Subject: Predetermined or Free Will |
Bible Note: "I believe you're in category (b) because you choose to accept God's gift of salvation and not because God implanted in you the idea that that's the only choice you have." I know you do. "Why must you diminish God's free gift to all by spouting that His gift is only for the few Elect and that other people are destined to Hell and have no chance of salvation?" Not that I see it as diminishing anything, but I believe what I do because I am convinced it is what the Bible reveals. "Why can't you see that when they talk about the Elect in the Bible, they are referring to Belivers?" I see that perfectly. "Why can't you see that the predestination mentioned is that, thru Jesus, all people will have access to the Kingdom of God?" Because it isn't in the Bible that way. "Maybe my eyes are just closed for some reason but until God shows me where my interpretations are wrong, I have to stick with what He's shown me so far." And we will respectfully disagree. I don't think that your eyes have been closed, per se. James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries was once asked by a skeptic why there were so many denominations in Christianity. His answer makes a good amount of sense: denominations exist because we pick and choose what parts of the Bible we are going to believe. We are all guilty of that in one area or another, because our natural tendency is to try and make God into an idol that we are more comfortable with. When Christians sincerely disagree on an issue, the heart of that disagreement often stems from one or both refusing to let go of some preconceived notion about God and His attributes and the way He operates. I am undoubtedly guilty of that myself, but I am convinced otherwise in this case. "I wish we could actually get together sometime and sitdown for a day or 10 and pray and study the scripture together. I think we would both come out enlightened." Perhaps we would. My experience in most cases is that people just go away frustrated and angry. It would be nice to see less bitterness if we must differ. May God bless you! --Joe! |