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.
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.
"The glory of God for us as humans is nothing other than the cross of Calvary."
ReplyDeleteThat sounds too Calvinist to me. The glory of God is much more than that. But I see your whole blog is against Calvinism. How can you even stand staying in Christianity when its been so taken over by Calvinists? And knowing that the Pauline epistles gave rise to this heresy and always will, knowing that even if you destroy Calvinism, it will just be put back together from Romans, how can you stand it? Haven't you ever thought of conversion to Judaism? Being theologically trained I know you know that "When Israel was a child I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt" is about the Exodus where Moses says to Pharaoah "The Lord says Israel is my firstborn, let my firstborn go that he may serve me" and not really about Jesus as Matthew claims. I know you know that the New Testament is not as solidly based on the Old Testament as it claims. Being against Calvinism I know you know that Paul misused every Old Testament passage he references in Roman 9. I'm sure you probably know that what Paul says about the potter in Romans 9 comes from the Apocrypha in Wisdom 15 and not from Jeremiah 18. And I know you know that if Christianity is false, then Judaism by default must be true. So why stay in Christianity and deal with these stinking Calvinist any longer? I need a reason. Why should I?