Don't be swayed by the so-called Christians on this site. Be swayed by the scripture presented and make your own decision.
Rom 9: 11 ( For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth)
This verse shows that God has a purpose in the history of mankind and is aware of past, present, and future. Those elected are not elected because of anything that they do but simply because God has chosen them by calling them.
Rom 9: 14-16 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then, it is NOT of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
God is sovereign, all powerful, all knowing, just, and merciful. All creation is His and He can do whatever He wants with it. When living creatures ( animals, plants, fish, insects, etc.) were first created, they were created as adults with the ability to procreate like kind ( with the same characteristics as the parent). Living beings with a free will can either please God by obedience or displease Him by disobedience. Adam and Eve chose ( with the influence of the serpent) to disobey God and follow their own heart. It seems that since Adam and Eve were the ones that sinned, they only should be punished. Where there is no law there is no transgression. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they developed a conscience and were under the law of Consciencesness. That is why we are all born under the law and why the law is a curse because we are now responsible for all our thoughts and actions. The problem with mankind is puting self above all else. Self is his motivation for every thought and action. When a person recognizes that he is a sinner and is granted repentance by the Father, he turns to the Father for forgiveness who in turn provides the gospel for the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ through preaching. The person who trusts in Jesus has his sins washed away, but still has a sinful nature because his motivation is still self and the pleasures of the world and the flesh. That is where the Holy Spirit comes into action. The Holy Spirit of the Father and Son dwells in the person and the person becomes a new creature filled with divine love for God and man. With this new motivation of love for every thought and action, we are then obeying the Spirit of the Law and walking in the Spirit. Salvation is not just a mental thing, it is a state of being.
Romans 4: 15 "Because the law worketh wrath; for where no law is, there is no transgression.
What were the consequences of Adam and Eve eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? God had warned them that if they did, they would surely die. This knowledge is our conscience and we are all born with it. This conscience that we are born with lets us know right from wrong and we are all under the law. The tendency of mankind is to put what benefits them first even at the expense of someone else, so we are all sinners ( even before the commandments given to Moses) and we all are condemned to death as soon as we are born. The choices for God are: 1. Let justice prevail and all humans go to hell, or 2. Save all humans, or 3. Save a few.
If God condemned all humans, He would not be merciful. If God saved all humans, there would be lawlessness on earth and in heaven. God's only choice to preserve His justice and His mercy is to save a few. The few are not chosen because of anything they do but because of God's will. God's plan for the chosen is to provide forgiveness of sins through belief in Jesus Christ and sanctification of the heart through His Holy Spirit.
Rom 9: 19-21 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth He yet find fault? For who hath resisted His will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?
The answer to the question is: Man was created with a free will and through Adam and Eve's sin, is born with the knowledge of good and evil and are therefore under law. Our actions are motivated by our hearts. It is our heart that is judged not our actions. 1 Cor 13: 1-13 explains that anything done without love in your heart is meaningless. Of course a perfect heart will produce good fruit. It is the Holy Spirit of God that perfects us by filling our hearts with agape love ( the same type of love shared by the Father and Son). When we are motivated by this love, we are obeying the Spirit of the Law and the fruit is: accomplishing the Father's will.
Rom 9: 22-24 What if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction; And that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory. Even ( that is ) us , whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.
God puts up with mankind in order to display His justice on the vessels of wrath and His mercy on the vessels of mercy which He predestined.
God is not willing that any of these predestined vessels throughout human history perish so He is longsuffering.
Rom 11: 5-6 Even so, then, at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace;
In every generation God chooses whom to bestow His grace and use for His purpose. We cannot work to achieve this grace because grace is unmerited favor and if by works, then it would be merited. When you are baptized in the name of the Father, you are chosen to receive His grace. The Father chooses, the Son erases, and the Holy Spirit perfects.
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