Question: I'm curious.. if you don't believe
everyone has a chance to be saved.. what makes you believe you yourself
might be one of god's "chosen" and those not chosen to get into god's
nightclub.. do they just get to go to hell?
Response: We can know if we are chosen if we believe
the gospel. That is a clear sign that God has done a work of grace in
our heart. Salvation is all of Christ and you must obey the command to
believe. But you do cannot attribute your repenting and believing to
your own wisdom, prudence, sound judgment, or good sense. Give glory to
God for all that you have, including those things...
Further, we must remember that all of us without exception are justly
deserving of hell. So God is not obligated to save anyone. It would be
just if he passed us all over. But he has mercy on many and it does not
depend on man's will but on God's mercy (Rom 9:16). If God were
obligated to save everyone it would no longer be mercy. Salvation is by
Christ alone, who does everything we need for salvation including giving
us a new heart to believe. God's love is unconditional for his people.
It is not conditioned upon something he sees us do, or it would no
longer be grace.
Consider this: If two parents were standing outside and their
disobedient toddlers ran out into oncoming traffic, which one shows love
to his child? 1) the parent who stands at the curb and calls out to the
child to use his will to get out of traffic or 2) the parent to, at the
risk of his life, runs out into the street, scoops up the child to make
certain he was safe regardless of the toddlers will at the moment. We
all know #2 represent parental love. If this is the case here then how
much more with God. He is not concerned first about our will, because he
knows better than us. Like these children he saves us in spite of
ourselves. Praise God for his great love to us in Christ. - John H
Reformation Theology
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