No pushing.

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,  and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.   2 Thessalonians 2:8-10 KJV

Those that perish do so because they do not receive the love of the truth.  Notice that there is no mention of being pre-programmed for damnation.  Joining themselves to satan and accepting the language of lies as their mother tongue, those who perish are destroyed by Jesus in His coming.  Again, their reprobation is not described as being attached to them before the foundation of the world.  The calvinist nonsense that teaches pre-destined damnation is shown to be a lie in these verses.

Reprobates choose.  They continue to choose.  The language of lies gets good to them and, eventually, they can only lie and despise the truth.  Reprobates are not pre-programmed - they sink into the miasma of darkness because the truth requires work to which they will not apply themselves.  It becomes easier to believe the spicy hatred and malice of the false witness than the ordinary truth of a brother.  It is more entertaining to juggle lies than to plod through the sweaty work of dying to self (Genesis 3:19).

Fast forward to verse 14.  In the calvinist imagination of glory that is all about brightness and beauty and congratulating each other for being pre-selected, they fail to factor in where the Holy Spirit is pointing.  The glory of God for us as humans is nothing other than the cross of Calvary.  Whatever glory there may be in eternity, the cross cannot be abandoned for imaginary vistas of calvinist humanism.  Humans must receive the gift of the cross or lose themselves in forsaking the love of the truth.

Meanwhile, the love of God in the free gift of Jesus is able to win the hearts of those who reject the lies (exercise the imbedded faculty of knowledge of good and evil) and yearn for the truth.  The Holy Spirit will lead but He won't push.  The free gift must be received not imposed (Romans 6:23).

Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

Appointment with salvation

For God hath not appointed us to wrath,

but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 

Who died for us, that,

whether we wake or sleep,

we should live together with him.   1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 KJV

God does not offer us some kind of life that is similar to or can intersect with the life of Jesus.  Jesus is God and is the author of eternal life to all those who trust in Him.  The life that He offers is that which He lived and lives among His people.  The life that He offers is that of a servant (John 12:26). 

When the New Testament writers used the word “elect,” their definition for that word was “servant.”  The word was redefined by bad theologians throughout the centuries.  In the imagination of Calvin, the “elect” are those that are the equals of Jesus.  Here is how the faulty logic of calvinists gets them into trouble:

God knows everything

God constantly knows everything  FLAG

God dwells in an eternal NOW  FLAG

God decided to make humans

God knows that humans will sin  FLAG

God knows which humans He will save (true…He knows He will save all that are in JESUS)

God automatically makes the rest of humanity so that they inevitably go to hell  FLAG

   Where there is a red flag, there is a biblical issue with the calvinist’s position.

Apart from the revelation of Jesus in time and as one of us, we have no capacity to understand the consciousness of God, nor what He knows or doesn’t know.  Jesus obviously did not know everything (Matthew 24:36) but He is still God.

The concept of an eternal NOW is derived from Greek philosophy and has no biblical support. 

God’s knowledge of the first sin may easily be challenged biblically.  God asked Adam whether the man had eaten of the fruit (Genesis 3:11).  If God asked the question, the safest assumption is that He did not already know the answer.  (There is a condition where even the most foolish calvinist desires that God have no knowledge…(Isaiah 43:29, Hebrew 8:12.  If God can forget, then why can’t He choose not to know?).

There is no biblical evidence that points to God making reprobate humans in advance.  The Bible teaches that reprobation comes after obtaining a knowledge of God (Romans 1:28).

If God has absolute and constant knowledge as the calvinists like to describe, then the “saved” humans (elect) have a special condition that makes them the equals of Jesus (Jehovah’s Witness doctrine).  God HAD to know them for all eternity (gnosticism) and they are injected into the time stream in some special way that is not described in the Bible.  The doctrine of the calvinist obviously props up the lies of the cults.  The calvinists are confused about how long they have existed.

Jesus Christ is God and has always been God.  He created mankind and, then, when we were helpless because of the devastating effects of sin, He became one of us, took our sin upon Himself, and died on the cross (Romans 5:8).  Jesus made salvation from sin available to every human.  Jesus did the work of salvation that matters to us in time.  What God did or will do at some other time is of no importance until each person does business with Jesus today ( For He -Jesus- says, I have heard you in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored you: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.2 Corinthians 6:2). 

Sinner…there is no guarantee of tomorrow

Come to Jesus.

Come to the Cross.

There's dead...and then there's dead.

And you,
    being dead in your trespasses
    and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
He has made alive together with Him,
having forgiven you all trespasses,  Colossians 2:13 NKJV

Many calvinists enjoy making dramatic noises about "dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1)."  A lot of the noise is convincing.  "Dead is DEAD!  How can a corpse make any kind of decision or exercise its will power?"  Sounds convincing to me --- until I remember my Old Testament.  (At the heart of much calvinist foolishness is that the "high view" they have of the Bible is that it has to be moved in order to get to Calvin's commentaries or institutes.)

Immediately after the first encounter that man has with death, God has a practical conversation with the dead man and his wife without having to visit a morgue...He didn't even have to drop into hell at this point (Genesis3:8-13).  Anyone with common sense and the ability to read can recognize that the kind of "dead" that God had promised to Adam and Eve is not one that precludes their capabilities to think, act and anticipate consequences.  Furthermore, their death is directly related to their being endowed with a revised capability as humans = knowing good and evil.  God's conversation with these new "dead" people takes into account their capacity to discuss good and evil.  Again, they now know the good and evil inherent within the curses that follow.

Meanwhile, the plan of God from before creation is executed on the cross when Jesus enters death in order to join the ranks of sinners (Luke 22:37).  Having entered our realm and ranks, Jesus destroyed the power of death by providing forgiveness of sins to any and all humans.  This provision for forgiveness was not available before the cross.  No calvinists were pre-selected to get a special blessing.

If forgiveness is available no when else and nowhere else but at Calvary's Cross, then the eternal life of salvation is built into the resurrection of Jesus.  Sinners who are dead (but can communicate with God) in their sins must come to Jesus at the cross to receive the gift He promises; supernatural help to forgive and be forgiven.

Sinners.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.

His cross can be yours...take it.

That I may know Him,
   and the power of His resurrection,
   and the fellowship of His sufferings,
   being made conformable unto His death;
If by any means I might attain
   unto the resurrection of the dead.   Philippians 3:10-11 KJV

Ever wonder why the cross is the symbol of Christianity instead of the empty tomb?  In a certain style of thinking, the cross is a done deal that has put down the forces of evil.  The devil doesn't matter anymore because he is a defeated foe and cannot harm those who claim to be the pre-selected self proclaimed perfected.  The cross, according to the foolishness of this world, is a "negative" ideal and positive thinking people should be looking forward to the perfection of their souls in the resurrection; at home in infinite bliss ("infinite" is a mathematical fantasy and is not a worthy description of God).

Paul reminds us that the cross is the beginning point for salvation.  The picture established in these verses is of the old apostle continuing to work with his back firmly pressed against the cross of Jesus.  The resurrection is certainly in his sights as the goal and desire of his heart, but to abandon the cross is to abandon his hope in the power of the resurrection of Jesus.  In fact, Paul models the most important anti-calvinist ideal when he says, "forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14.  What lies behind?  Whatever happened in the eternal realm (that you cannot prove biblically) before God created the heavens and the earth.  Whatever circumstances brought you into this life and to the place where you now stand.  For the calvinist, as well as for all others, the emphasis should be, "Get over yourself and your vain imagination and get your back up against the cross of Jesus."  The view ahead is clear from there.

The devil may well be characterized as a defeated foe in relation to the eternal plan of God Himself but he is still a devastating force upon this earth (1 Peter 5:8).  His most important aim is to keep humans from learning the power of the cross of Jesus; the power of forgiveness from sins.  The best weapon in the arsenal of the devil is to make Christians into thorough going idiots that trust in legalism and politics and vain ideas about the perfecting of this world instead of evangelists with a passion for lost people.  Lost people = individuals.  One sinner at a time.

Sinner?
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.