"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." —Ephesians 2:8-9 http://wp.me/p8G1it-E
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." —Ephesians 2:8-9 http://wp.me/p8G1it-E
This is "grace" defined: "YOU DID NOT CHOOSE ME, but I chose YOU. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit — fruit that will remain — so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.---John 15:16
John 15:19
"If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I HAVE CHOSEN YOU out of the world."
Ephesians 1:4
"For HE CHOSE US in Him BEFORE the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love 5 He PREDESTINED us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will,…"
Matthew 25:34
"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD."
"Grace" Means you did NOTHING to earn your PRE-DESTINED salvation. Nor can you. Nobody can do anything to earn salvation. Some are destined for salvation, most are destined for destruction. Aint a damn thing anyone can do about it.
"Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?"--- Romans 9:21
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and my Father are one.
---From John 10
That is Calvinism and it's false.
I don't proscribe to ANY man-made "denomination." You are trying to make God into YOUR image by saying that you disagree with what these verses plainly say, because you want God to fit inside the nice little box YOU would like him to be in. These are by no means the only verses that describe the pre-destination of the elect.
If you don't believe in Calvinism, then my comment wouldn't have triggered you. My disagreement is not with the Bible but with your understanding of the Bible. And how do I know that you're a Calvinist? Because of how you're cherry picking.
What "triggers" me, is people ignoring 95% of the Bible, in order to push an agenda. That being said, I used to be a Baptist, was raised in the church for about 32 years. Then, I actually read the WHOLE Bible for myself, instead of having some State "ordained" minister summarize it for me. Prayed and fasted. And found out a lot more then I was prepared for. Now I just follow the Scriptures, without any denominations or opinions from State educated pastors.
That being said, I'm interested in how you "understand" these verses to mean something other then they plainly say?
Ain't that what you're doing? Ignoring the context of each of the verses you're quoting to somehow prove that you're "chosen?" and it's not up to people to get saved? Take John 15:16 for example. How about you put it back into its context and then read it? Is it talking about you? Or is it Jesus talking to the disciples? :)
Are we who follow Him not as the disciples? Are we supposed to be following someone else?
You have yet to show how these verses are really "out of context". You are just saying they are. Do you have any scriptures that refute pre-destination?