Did Jesus Die on The Cross for The Just/Elect/Saved Whose Names Are Written in The Book of Life OR

Your example does not hold water. It is based on man's understanding of responsibility and blame.
However, with God we are just as responsible for the eating of that apple as was Adam!
Rom
5:18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

You are only saying that because you need to assert this anomaly to be real to keep your theological ideology afloat. Many others believe the Bible without any need to affirm that same anomaly.: that one can be blameworthy for someone else's sin; and blameworthy for behaviour beyond one's ability to do otherwise.

What does "led to" mean.

Svipture makes no distinctionbetween God's decretive will and His permissive will. Those are invented categories to post hoc fix logical flaws in Calvinist reasoning.

Acts 17:24-31
24 "He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can't serve his needs — for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need there is. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

27 "His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him — though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As one of your own poets says, 'We are his offspring.' 29 And since this is true, we shouldn't think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone. 30 God overlooked people's former ignorance about these things, but now he commands everyone everywhere to turn away from idols and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead."
NLT

I don't have time for an in-depth exposition of this passage but would like to do a brief walk-through of it by focusing on its highlights. And the goal of this little exposition is to learn why Paul said in v. 27 that God's "purpose in all this" (things previously stated in vv.24-26) is that the sons of men might seek him and perhaps find him. In other words, we want to try to answer the question: Why did God have this particular expectation from the nations that he created? So, let's get down to it without further adieu.

A. Paul's Audience

Greeks who were given over to all manner of pagan superstitions (vv.16, 18.)

B. Paul's Golden Opportunity to Preach the Gospel

Paul cleverly capitalized on their religious superstitions via their altar "To An Unknown God" to by revealing to them the one true God who was unknown by them (v. 23)!

C. Paul Sets The Record Straight on The God He Proclaimed to the Greeks

There is only one God and he made the world and everything in it, and He is the Lord of Heaven and Earth, and He does not live in man-made temples and is not served by human hands as though he needed anything! Paul basically told the Greeks they have everything backwards about who they believe God is! Man can do absolutely nothing for God because God is totally self-sufficient; instead this God who is unknown by them does everything for them to serve their many needs (vv. 24-25).

D. Paul's One True God is Theistic, Powerful and Sovereign

Doubtlessly, the pagans of the world concocted numerous creation traditions that ranged anywhere from the absurd to the more reasonable and even to the sublime -- likely some truth in virtually all of them. Apparently, some Greek poets seemed to think that the Greeks were offspring of one or more of their gods. And so again, Paul capitalizes on something one or more of their poets got right and runs with it. He affirms that all mankind is God's offspring because all mankind descended from one man whom God created directly, which of course is Adam. From Adam he alludes to the Tower of Babel incident, bypassing the Flood Epic, because it was at Babel that God created the nations, reminding the Greeks that it was always God intention and indeed his stated mandate that the sons of men fill the entire earth. Adam failed to do that. The antediluvians failed to do it and the Postdiluvians, as well, failed. Finally, God basically said, "enough is enough"; "I'm going to impose myself upon the sons of men!: At Babel, He literally "forced his will" upon rebellious mankind by confusing their tongues, dividing them and scattering them across the face of the earth to fulfill his creation mandate.

E. AT Babel Why Did Paul Write of God's "Expectation" of a Change of Heart From the Postdiluvians?

This question gets to the heart of God's "design" or "purpose" in v.27 behind he creation of nations. "God did this so that men would seek him and PERHAPS reach out for him and find him". Why would Paul assign this kind of expectation to God given who God was dealing with? He was dealing with idolaters, who were interested in making a name for themselves and who were in open rebellion with him over his creation mandate to disperse themselves over the earth (Gen 11:3-4).

First of all, Paul meticulously avoids God's judgment/punishment upon the Postdiluvians up to this point. (Such language would have only distracted from Paul's intention of sharing the Gospel in a straightforward manner.) But by Paul alluding to the Tower of Babel incident, it is perfectly reasonable for us to logically infer that this was one of God's greatest judgments upon all mankind being third to only to the Fall and the Noahic Flood, respectively. The Fall first because ALL men died spiritually in Adam, without exception; whereas in the Flood God spared only eight people from physical death. And it is this judgment at Babel that we find our answer.

The Tower of Babel was no small judgment upon mankind. It was a huge life-altering judgment that not only confused the languages of the people but spun their entire life into mass chaos and confusion. Life upon earth would never be the same again. This God-ordained division of men not only uprooted mankind in order to fulfill God's creation mandate but it faciltated the establishment of different religions, philosophies, politics, cultures, races and ethncities in the world. God's judgment turned these wanna-be, pagan globalists' world order upside down! Instead of making a name for themselves, as they so greatly desired, God instead flexed his muscles and made a name for himself once again.

So, since Paul was alluding to the great universal judgment upon all mankind at Babel, did he mean in v.27 that the all-knowing God literally purposed to elicit a godly response from wicked mankind, or was Paul instead employing a literay device of anthropomorphic language whereby God is likened to a man to reveal God's heart? Can an omniscient God contemplae or expect a particular respone to occur that he knows will not? Or is it more likely that anthropomorphic language was employed to reveal something of God's heart? I can only go with the latter answer to both questions for two reasons: the "perhaps" in v.27 and the irrefutable fact of redemptive history as this is revealed in Holy Writ. If v.27 read, "His purpose in all this was that the nations should perhaps seek after God...", it would not change the sense of the verse. The "perhaps" or "maybe" or "possibly" most certainly does not speak to a divine decree. Also, this is not the first time in scripture that a term of "uncertainty" is ascribed to God. I would strongly encourge all readers to contemplate Jer 26:1-15; 36:3-26.

Therefore, Mr. Shiloh is desperately trying to make this Acts passage say far more than it is. Yes, God commands all [dead] men everywhere to repent (v.30) but that does not mean they have the inherent spiritual power to do so. The default, natural reponse to the Gospel by the spiritual dead, not acted upon by the Holy Spirit, is a resounding "NO thank you, I'm GOOD!" How else can the natural mind that is inherently hostile to God respond (Rom 8:7)? And this is precisely why "No one seeks after God" (Rom 3:11).

Shirely U. Jest. Prove your claim.

Prove a negative? You used the terms. It's your burden to prove they exist in the Bible. Where is decretive will. Where is permissive will? Where are they contrasted as different wills?

Isn't it your view that no one seeks after God. If so, it would not be true that God's purpose was that the nations should seek after God, because that would mean God's purpose was thwarted by men, and your systematic theology cannot allow God's purpose to be thwarted by men.

Personally, I think the alluded to text says "No one keeps on seeking after (present continuous tense) God." But you don't.

Although Paul is using Psalm 14 and or Psalm 53 to draw from and he certainly does seem to be making a universal statement, is his point that both Jews and Gentiles (universal) sin (3:9), or that no man ever (universal & timeless) seeks God?

If we look at Psalm 14 it's in the context of the fool. And David, a man of God, is writing and in 14:4 speaks of God's people. So, there is a distinction being made between the fool and God's people. The fool seems to be the one who does not seek God.

At times the Text speaks of the fools in Israel - NKJ 2 Sam. 13:13 "And I, where could I take my shame? And as for you, you would be like one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king; for he will not withhold me from you." - so fools can be universal. And there are verses like this that speak of seeking Him: NKJ Psalm 22:26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever!

This is why I brought up Rom1. Some [fools] reject God in general revelation. Some people don't. Once they acknowledge the general revelation they know of Him, do they seek Him?

None of God's DECREES can be thwarted. Did you read the two passages in Jer 26 & 36 that I cited yesterday? Do you understand what the figure of speech that is called an anthropomorphism means?

God decreed that Hezekiah would die, but Hezekiah repented before God and God changed His decree and gave Hezekiah 15 more years. God is not like the King of Babylon who was unable to change a decree previously made. God is sovereign. He can change His decrees if He sees a good, just and merciful reason to do so.

I agree totally. Like many universal or absolute terms, we should understand the Universal Indictment of mankind to to be limited to sinners (all those in Adam) as opposed to saints (all those in the Last Adam). All God's saints are eternally justified and will never come under God's indictment to begin with. Also, all unregenerate sinners are "fools". (Even Christians at times are foolish.)

As far as your last question, I do not see how any unregenerate sinner can seek after God given the grave condition of his heart (no pun intended). Jesus clearly taught that all those who come to Him were given to him by the Father. (Irresistible Grace at its finest!) So...all those who come to Christ must be seekers of God and his Son because they were irresistibly drawn to Him. (In other words we love God because He first loved us; likewise, the elect seek God because He first found them and drew them to Christ).

You're fairly new to this thread (forum?), so you might not have read my New Birth Analogy. I have learned over the years to pay very close attention to the divinely inspired metaphors often found in scripture, as do many reformed theologians. The New Birth is one of these and I, along with other Reformed folks, believe that Regeneration is actually a process -- a process that in one sense terminates with "birth from above", yet in another sense never terminates; for once a soul lives unto God it can never die (Jn 11:25-26). If you have some time, read my 1665 and 1869 which I wrote a few months ago. If I'm right, then this would explain many things, such as Cornellius' and Lydia's conversions in Acts. And it would certainly explain how God draws his elect to his Son which results in them in return seeking Him!

So...God Omniscient changed his mind re Hezekiah after learning that the king repented? Is that your understanding?

Okay...so what is YOUR understanding of God's will? Does God directly decree all things that come to past, such as his decrees in the creation account in Genesis or his three-fold post-fall decree (Gen 3:15-19, 22-24)? If so, is this the only kind of decree in scripture?

Thanks for the elaboration. I will take a look at your referenced posts. I'm admittedly no longer an adherent to any system of Theology, so it's always a prove your case with Scripture and let's discuss those Scriptures slowly and in detail hopefully only bringing in proof-texts later or minimally at first.

I saw your response on another thread to @maxamir who posted to me a graphic re: the Law of Christ and New Covenant Theology, which graphic and comments it looks like we both appreciated.

Above clever pun aside, as I briefly noted, I don't readily see Rom3:11 saying clearly that no unbeliever ever seeks God. I do see God at times in history looking at men and saying there are fools everywhere who are not seeking Him. And I remain having questions about the process men go through per Romans 1.

I did see a few posts re: Lydia. I may have chimed in on one.

Thanks again.

I think we have to understand Rom 3:11 in the larger context of scripture, most especially those passages that deal with the dismal, dire spiritual state of fallen mankind. For example, when Paul said, "No one seeks after God", my mind immediately references such texts as Jn 1:5; 3:19-20. The first text says that "the darkness" (i.e. unregenerate sinners, cp. Eph 5:8) "has not understood it" (i.e. the light), which is very interesting since in Rom 3:11b, text that reads "there is no one who understands" [logically] precedes "no one who seeks God" (3:11c). And the reason they don't understand is because the hearts of men is darkness itself! So, what would possibly impel or motivate an unregenerate sinner to actively seek God?

And the problem is even worse when we consider the opening text of Rom 3:11a which says, "There is no one [inherently] righteous, not even one". And this logically precedes the other two. Why? Because if there is no one righteous, then this explains why no one comes to the light in Jn 3:19-20. The unrighteous, evil men love the darkness (which would necessarily include themselves and evil itself, according to Eph 5:8; 2Tim 3:2-3) because their deeds are evil, then it follows logically that no one [can] understand(s) spiritual truth (Rom 1:21; 3:11b; Eph 4:18); ), therefore, what possibly could impel or motivate the unregenerate to seek after the Author of Life and The Light of the World (Rom 3:11c)? Even earlier in chapter 1 of Romans Paul teaches us that even though men can understand and know some things about God through Natural Revelation, the Natural Man ruled by the Flesh doesn't want to retain that knowledge and so he suppresses it. And then later in chapter 2, Paul moves to Intuitive Revelation (which I consider to be a separate category from the External World around us), and even when men's consciences accuse them when they sin due to the works of the law written upon their hearts, they still don't seek God. It takes something outside themselves to actually convict them of sin. And that "something" is the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:8-11).

The only way I see any unregenerate sinner actually seeking God is by God taking the initiative to effectually draw that person to Christ. Maybe one day I'll write an argument in the form of a biblically-supported syllogism to prove all this.

P.S. One more thought. I do agree with you that some unregenerate men seek God because there are four kinds of hearts these kinds of men have, according to the Parable of the Four Soils in Luke. Of course, only one kind of soil (heart) will bear fruit.

The Bible NEVER SAYS God decrees all things that come to pass. I believe what the Bible says, not what some systematic theology claims the Bible teaches. I only believe God decrees those things the Biblw says He decreed. And I only beieve He decreeed those things at the time that the Bible says He decreed them. I don't assume He decreed everything from the foundation of the world, because the Bible does not say He did.

Yes. That's what the Bible says.

Do you understand the difference between theism and deism? If so, are you a deist, then? And if so, who is running this world? Anyone?

Feel free to explain what you think thr difference between theism and deism is, if you know, and why I am a deist. I believ God is running the world tht way He wants to. He is sovereign, and is not required to run the world as calvinists insist He should. Who are you, O man, to contradict God?