De-Calvinising Romans 8:28-30

Thanks. Very clear, concise yet thorough.

Excellent content, nicely produced.

Great presentation!

This is a very good video

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6, ESV)

Amazing video. Thank you!

Great instruction on Romans 8:28-30!

Calvinism is not sola scriptura. Calvinism is -- Confessions+Institute of Christian Religion+Augustine's philosophies+ scripture(if necessary). This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, TEACHING As DOCTRINES the PRECEPTS of men.

As a fairly young Christian, and trying to learn, I have a question. I do not believe the Calvinistic interpretation. Is it not reasonable to think that because God knows everything and every outcome that he foreknows those who will ultimately make the choice to put their faith in Christ?

The Bible speaks of both choice and destiny to everything. It's both. They are not opposed. What is opposed are people who cannot fully accept the teachings of the Bible and want to make their own churches and hate each other over things they have trouble understanding. The thief on the cross did not have perfect theology. He just knew he needed help from Christ and turned to him. The struggle in this conversation is accepting a God who made Satan with a purpose and One that entreats us to, "choose life." That struggle is being used to throw toxicity against each other and it's not from God. The Calvinist needs to accept that in His control, He can very much make people's choices matter and for them to be 100% responsible, that people need to respond to God and that that in no way takes from God being the One who saves people. The Arminianist needs to accept that God does not share their sense of what is perfect, good, or divine and that whatever decision He makes is right, even if that means knowingly creating the Devil. These insecurities are not a good enough reason to hate your brother and to schism the church. The inability to understand how both are right is also not a justified reason to ignore either one in scripture. Stop hating each other. It's wrong. Do not be like Cain.

Thanks for your thorough explanation which makes perfect sense to me. If the Calvinistic view was true, why would it be necessary to preach and spread the Gospel at all? To preach repentance would make no difference to what has already been predestined. Blessings from New Zealand.

Debate James White !

That's the problem. The doctrine of election is never meant to go any further than what it simply is. Taking it to its 'logical ends' is failing to understand that its nothing more than a peak into God's mind and modus operandi. It should in no way affect other commands of God to pray, evangelize and even persuade people to repent. This typically narrow interpretation through mental gymnastics is always unconvincing. If you want a clearly personal passage about election, look at Acts 13:48. To say that people have the ability to respond to the gospel apart from God first giving life represents a gross misunderstanding of sin. Of note, communities uninfluence by any outside theological teaching, such as churches behind the iron curtain, had no issues with accepting election.

Your interpretation of "foreknew" doesn't work for multiple reasons: 1. It changes the object of the verb to an action someone does instead of the person itself 2. "foreknew" is an active verb. It's something God does, not something he passively takes in 3. If it's an action that's foreknown it is not mentioned in the verse and it creates an incoherent sentence Why the Calvinist interpretation of "foreknew" is correct: 1. It remains an active verb as an action on God's part 2. It renders as a complete sentence because the object specified is persons and not an unknown action (See Jeremiah 1:5 as an example)

Unfortunately, the Calvinist can only view God's grace and human free will as "Either/Or". Salvation is either by grace or free will. However, the vast majority of the Church has seen it as "Both/And". God works out his purposes in cooperation with the people he has created capable of freely cooperating with him by faith. Why? Because in his sovereignty he chooses to. Any attempt to define this as works righteousness, or an assault on the sovereignty and glory of God, is absurd.

One could also say that it discourages unbelievers from coming to Christ.

I find that Calvinists are often careless in their living. And why not? Most of them drink alcohol to excess, excusing such a practice as a “blessing” from God, and generally conform to the patterns of the world.

"Calvinism interprets biblical texts about election, foreknowledge, and predestination in deterministic and individualistic ways. But a more thorough exegesis arrives at a reading that is more consistent with the Bible's presentation of a God who makes provision of salvation through Jesus available for every soul and that every soul is actually able to respond And THAT in black and white is the problem with Arminian theology. You literally begin with the premise: We KNOW God makes provision of salvation for EVERY soul AND every soul is able to respond, THEN you "interpret" scriptures. Why not just read the bible and accept what it ACTUALLY says? Can you answer these questions? (1) Did God give "every soul" "provision" for salvation in the Old Testament? If so, what does it mean that God; *Gave His word ONLY to Israel and not the gentiles (Psalm 147:19-20) *OVERLOOKED the ignorance of the gentiles (of who HE was) (Acts 17:30) *Allowed the Gentiles to "go their own way." (Acts 14:16) *Says that "At THAT time (gentiles) were WITHOUT Hope and WITHOUT God" (Ephesians 2) (2) Adam had ACTUAL free will because he had not fallen into sin yet. Yet Adam STILL disobeyed God! Israel (earthly/natural) had God's word. The Old Covenant was If a man DOES these things, he will live Yet, Israel did NOT OBEY! So we see that 1. God did NOT "make provision" for salvation to "every person" in the Old Testament 2. The ones who God DID "make provision for" did NOT obey! Man's "Free Will" is the PROBLEM that God had to solve. Read Hebrews 8:8 WHAT DOES GOD SAY WAS THE PROBLEM WITH THE OLD COVENANT (3) Read Jeremiah 32:40 and the rest of Hebrews 8 *HOW DOES GOD SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF MAN "TURNING AWAY" FROM HIM? (4) WHO Does the scripture say does all the work of salvation? WHAT does HE do?

GRACE is the ONLY Gospel in the bible. GOD is doing everything. THE ELECT will serve in the 1000 year Kingdom. The REST? Will be brought in Later. Every knee will BOW.

I really don't care what Calvin believed. I just happen to believe the points of "TULIP" because I believe everything in my NKJV Bible. Total Depravity - As a result of Adam’s fall, the entire human race is affected; all humanity is dead in trespasses and sins. Man is unable to save himself (Genesis 6:5; Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:10-18). Unconditional Election - Because man is dead in sin, he is unable to initiate a response to God; therefore, in eternity past God elected certain people to salvation. Election and predestination are unconditional; they are not based on man’s response (Romans 8:29-30;9:11; Ephesians 1:4-6, 11-12) because man is unable to respond, nor does he want to. Limited Atonement - Because God determined that certain ones should be saved as a result of God’s unconditional election, He determined that Christ should die for the elect alone. All whom God has elected and for whom Christ died will be saved (Matthew 1:21; John 10:11; 17:9; Acts 20:28; Romans 8:32; Ephesians 5:25). Irresistible Grace - Those whom God elected He draws to Himself through irresistible grace. God makes man willing to come to Him. When God calls, man responds (John 6:37, 44; 10:16). Perseverance of the Saints - The precise ones God has elected and drawn to Himself through the Holy Spirit will persevere in faith. None whom God has elected will be lost; they are eternally secure (John 10:27-29; Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:3-14).