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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]. |
Bible Question:
I have a couple questions with what you stated. 1: Where does it say that Jesus is omnipotent? Jesus says in Mat 24:36 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father." If Jesus were omnipotent as you say, He would have known the day and hour. 2: God has predetermined that his plan of salvation will be carried out. This does not mean that he has predetermined who will and will not be saved. God wants everyone to be saved (If you need several versus to back this up, let me know). He provided the means for that to happen through the death and ressurection of Jesus. It is our choice whether to accept his Gift or not. From the very beginning, Adam and Eve made the choice to eat from the tree of knowledge even after God told them not to. In Josh 24:15, "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... In 1 Kings 18:21, the worshippers at Mt. Carmel were invited to choose that day whom they would serve, either Baal or God. In Isaiah 5:20, the people were certainly capable of choosing between good and evil. Why are we given the warning in Matt 7:15 ("Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.") if we were predestined to be saved or not? Matt 7:21 says that only the people that choose to do the will of God will enter Heaven. Luke 13:3 tells us that unless we repent (our choice), we will perish. Matt 19:23-24 says that it is harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. If we were predetermined, then wouldn't it be just as easy (or hard)? John 3:16 ...whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. In John 7: 17-18, If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself... In Romans 1:17-32 is clear that man has chosen evil and is not predetermined to do so. Heb 9:27-28 tells us that we are to face judgment when we die. What would be the need of a judgment if we were predetermined. There are many more versus that talk about our choice which I will post if needed. 3: To renounce your salvation would be to turn your back on God, to no longer believe or accept his Gift. To no longer follow the teachings of Christ. Granted, you could always say that person wasn't really saved then. But then what would you say would have happened to that person if they died prior to that drastic change? And if you say that the person must not have been chosen by God to be saved and was only fooling themselves when they truely believed in Christ and thought they were saved then can you say for sure that anyone is saved? Did Jesus die for everyone or just for a select few? I can show you several versus that show that He died for all, can you show one that says otherwise? Then if Jesus did die for all, how could there be some that God predetermined not to be save? |
Bible Answer: You wrote: '2: God has predetermined that his plan of salvation will be carried out. This does not mean that he has predetermined who will and will not be saved.' My reply: That simply does not make any sense. How can the predetermined will of an all-powerful God NOT come to pass? You wrote: 'God wants everyone to be saved (If you need several versus to back this up, let me know). He provided the means for that to happen through the death and ressurection of Jesus. It is our choice whether to accept his Gift or not.' My reply: Eph. 2:1-2 "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins" How do the spiritually dead choose anything? When's the last time you have seen a corpse make a choice o do anything else for that matter? John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him." This is pretty explicit. Sure God desires that all be saved, but He did not PROVIDE so that all will be saved. Since all will not be saved, then if you say that God PROVIDED atonement for all, then you are saying that the atonement which God has provided has FAILED. But a failing God is NOT the God of the Bible! It makes more sense to understand that, while God desires all will be saved, He only PROVIDED atonement FOR HIS PEOPLE whom He has elected from eternity past. As for the numerous verses you quoted: it is not proper to pick and choose numerous verses which support your view while ignoring all the verses which do not support your view. You seem to be ignoring all the verses which speak of election and God's will from before eternity and the fact that God is the ONLY acting party in the regeneration of the soul. What about the verses I have quoted? You simply say things like, "but that doesn't necessarily mean thus and such".... but your responses are really no answer; you are begging the question. My answer to all your verses is that we certainly do choose God: AFTER He has regenerated us and given us the gift of salvation. But as the Bible explicitly and clearly says, we are DEAD in our trespasses and sins and NO ONE comes to Jesus UNLESS the Father draws him. |