Thanks for your continued participation in these conversations. A lifetime of rejection of God’s love in Jesus has eternal consequences. Sure some will be sent to Gehenna at the final judgment, but we do reap the consequences of what we have sown. I did appreciate your comments but find it difficult to figure out God as hating people rather than just their sin. God’s supreme and final revelation is in Jesus and the NT is the definitive God-breathed testimony to the apostolic witness. I don’t think that I can reconcile all of the bible, so I would rather leave passages in tension rather than rationalise them in a consistent system. That is, I interpret the bible in the way a 4 point Calvinist would. However, I think that God is love and that he so loved the COSMOS that he gave his One and Only Son to die for our sins that whosever trusts in, adheres to and relies on him will have eternal life. I have been doing some more thinking and certainly think that the bible is inerrant in the original manuscripts. If the atonement is limited, does’t that mean that the non elect have no hope? If God hates them, then how can we say that God is love? I was hoping to work towards a compassionate Calvinism but I think this might be impossible. I cannot see how believing in an angy God whose justice is retributive rather than restorative is good for one’s mental and emotional health. ![]() Since, Calvinism is the logical outcome of an inerrant bible, perhaps I need to give this up also. If the bible teaches that God hates the non elect and is angry with them all day long, what kind of God is that portraying? If this is what Calvinism (or the “doctrines of grace”) teaches then perhaps I had better give up returning to Calvinism. ![]() “Indeed, God did not send his Son ito the world to condemn the world, but in order that (hina) the world might be saved through him.” so the NRSV translates verse 17 as follows. verse 16 uses “hoste” (translated “so that”), but verse 17 uses hina. ![]() What do you make of i John 2:1-2? Christ is a propitiation for our sins ( the elect’s sins) but not for ours only but the whole world?ĭid Calvin hold that Christ died for all (unlimited atonement) as A.H Strong maintained in his Systematic Theology or did Calvin believe that Christ died only for the elect? In other words, was Calvin a four pointer or a a five pointer? his elect) but how do you relate this to John 3:16-21? Does not the cosmos mean the world? Can the Greek preposition “hina” used in 3:16 translated “in order that” suggest purpose? Or, do you interpret it as “so that” suggesting consequence? if the first interpretation, would this not suggest an unlimited atonement? Or do you think that the cosmos means the world of the elect? I certainly believe that Christ gave his life for his church (i.e. Rejoice if your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and worship God because of His mercy on the redeemed and for His judgment on the wicked, as do the angels in Heaven. Do not lose heart because God is righteous and His judgment is sure – as are His promises to His chosen ones. ![]() What awaits all whose name is not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life is foreshadowed by the fire that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the flood that destroyed all life on the surface of the Earth, save eight persons and animals on the ark.īut for those who are loved and saved by the grace of God, we have this promise which cannot be broken: “There is, therefore, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1) Do not sweep away the lesson of God’s wrath on sinners (not their sin – their persons) because it is so difficult for our human souls to accept. The Scripture is very clear – the flood came upon the Earth (the whole planet) because the Lord (Creator, Judge, and sustainer of ALL things) judged mankind for his sin.įar from being a nice, fun story for children, the tale of Noah’s ark is a sober reminder of the consequences of sin – no less so than Sodom and Gomorrah. We’ve seen Veggie Tales versions of the great flood, talking about the love of God on Noah and his family, everyone having a fun time with the animals and the water.
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