God's fault? My Bible says that man has no excuse. How about yours?
Can We Really Exercise Free Will?
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Lots of people claim that God decides who gets born again and then He prevents all others from getting born again.
If that were true, then that would mean it's God's fault that anybody would end up in hell.
This is what the calvinists teach.
The Bible teaches that man is without excuse.
But we do have quite a few here with CDS.
ALL things are possible with God, except for lying (according to what He says in His Word)
Jesus tells us children are innocent:
“And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’” – Matthew 18:3
“When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’” – Mark 10:14
“Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” – Luke 18:17
“Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’” – Matthew 19:14
“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” – 1 Peter 2:2
Children are born without a knowledge of evil
DEUTERONOMY 1:39
39 Moreover your little ones, who you said should be a prey, and your children, who in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in there, and to them will I give it, and they shall possess it.
ISAIAH 7:15-16
15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that you abhor shall be forsaken of both her kings.
ISAIAH 8:4
4 For before the child shall know to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria.
ISAIAH 47:10
10 For you have trusted in your wickedness: you have said, No one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you; and you have said in your heart, I am, and no one else beside me.
JEREMIAH 4:22
22 For my people are foolish, they have not known me; they are silly children, and they have no understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Note: The thing that makes us do evil is the knowledge of evil that we learn from the time we are born. The statement, "they are wise to do evil" (Jeremiah 4:22) proves this. When we get the wrong wisdom it perverts us (Isaiah 47:10) and our wisdom is then "foolishness with God" (1 Corinthians 3:19). However, we are not born with any wisdom, good or bad. Isaiah indicated that there was a time when even Jesus did not know enough to refuse evil and choose good (Isaiah 7:15-16).
As Jesus grew up he "increased in wisdom" (Luke 2:52). He had to learn the scriptures in order to do that. "Butter and honey" (Isaiah 7:15) are figurative of the word of God. Spiritual butter comes from "the sincere milk of the word" (1 Peter 2:2), being churned over and over:
(Proverbs 30:33) "Surely the churning of milk brings forth butter."
It is equivalent to meditating on the word of God, or hearing and seeing the same scripture over and over again. All this proves that we are not born with evil knowledge, and therefore have no ability to do evil when we are born.
Children are our example for us to be like in order to enter the kingdom of heaven/God
MATTHEW 18:2-3 (Jesus)
2 And Jesus called a little child to him, and set him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Amen I say to you, Except you are converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
MATTHEW 19:13-14
13 Then there were brought to him little children that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and his disciples rebuked them.
14 But Jesus said, Allow little children, and do not forbid them, to come to me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
MARK 10:13-15
13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said, Allow the little children to come to me, and do not forbid them: for of such is the kingdom of God.
15 Amen I say to you, Whoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter into it.
LUKE 18:15-17
15 And they brought to him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
16 But Jesus called them to him, and said, Allow little children to come to me, and do not forbid them: for of such is the kingdom of God.
17 Amen I say to you, Whoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no way enter into it.
Note: Why is it that God requires us to become like little children in order to enter the Kingdom of God if children are born with a corrupt sin nature? The obvious answer is that children are not born corrupt with a sin nature, but rather are born pure and innocent without any knowledge of good and evil. Young children have very little SELF confidence, but have a very trusting heart, especially in their parents. This is how we should be also: pure from the knowledge of evil, and with a steadfast faith in our spiritual father, God. If children are our model then in order to enter the kingdom of God, it proves they are not born with a sin nature.
Since scripture tells us children were not born evil and Jesus tells us we must be like a child in order to get in to Heaven - WHY are you teaching the opposite claiming Jesus is telling us to become evil in order to get in to Heaven???
Somebody needs to STOP listening to the devil!
Be sure and share that with the calvinists
And they will promptly give you the left foot of fellowship
Again, a choice only exists when you have two or more options to choose from, like choosing between option A and option B. On the strange planet of Calvinism, when believing the gospel becomes the inevitable conclusion after being made spiritually alive with no real alternative available, it is no longer a choice but a forced outcome. Let me help illustrate this in a real world example so you can see what I mean.
Take a robot that has been programmed to walk into a store and buy a particular item. It carries out its code step by step. It never pauses to weigh other options because it has never been given any programming to do anything different. There is zero possibility of choosing not to buy the product. When the task is finished, no one would honestly claim the robot made a real choice. It only performed the one action it was built to perform. A real choice requires the genuine ability to go in another direction.
Now imagine a robot programmed to kill a specific human being. It has no alternative instructions that would allow it to refuse, hesitate, or spare that person. It simply carries out the command it was built to fulfill. To then put that robot on trial for murder after it killed a human being while executing its programming would make no sense. The robot never had the ability to do anything other than what it was programmed to do. That is why the Calvinistic idea of God condemning people for actions they were incapable of resisting makes the entire system feel unreasonable. If there is no real capacity to choose otherwise, then holding someone morally responsible becomes as nonsensical as blaming a robot for its programming.
Sure, you can say we all sinned in Adam. I accept that to a degree myself. We enter this world in a fallen condition where every single one of us needs a Savior, Jesus Christ. Even so, Scripture also speaks very plainly that each person will answer for their own sins in this life unless they believe the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1 to 4, call upon the name of the Lord, and forsake their evil ways. The Bible does not treat us like puppets or programmed machines. God calls, He opens the heart so we can understand the truth, and then He rightly holds us responsible for whether we embrace or reject the grace He offers through His Son.
Scripture is very clear about this. God calls all people everywhere to repent and believe. Yet Calvinists tend to view God as deterministic, as if He is the only true actor and everyone else is simply carrying out what was unavoidable from the beginning. The Bible presents a God who genuinely invites, warns, and pleads with sinners. He desires all to come to repentance and live. He does not treat us like robots locked into a preset line of code. The repeated emphasis on believing, repenting, and turning to the Lord actually means something. It assumes a real response is possible.
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Wrong. You clearly cannot believe what Jesus said in Mk 10:18, can you? Jesus' statement is unqualified, but you contradict him by trying to qualify his words. What part of "NO ONE is good, except God alone", can't you understand? Therefore, since no one is inherently good, the only thing man could be is evil (which is the absence of good). Man, being an inherently moral being, as the Creator is, cannot come into this world in a "neutral" state, for that would clearly imply that man is neither good or evil -- that he's amoral by nature! And if man is inherently amoral, this implies that mankind is outside or above any moral order or code. Man is just like the animals!
And, again, since everyone comes into this world in a state of spiritual death, and "darkness" is another metaphor for death, then all are men are inherently darkness. No one "becomes" darkness. Man is darkness (Eph 5:8) in his mother's womb!
So you do favor calvinism then, or not?
You just said your bible teaches man is without excuse. Calvinists don't accept that.
Which way is it then? Is God's Word truth for you or do you believe calvinism?
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned
Let go of your obsession with Calvinism, it is making you talk nonsense.
I believe what the Bible says, that man is without excuse, where as you present it as being God's fault.
Sin passed UPON all men
God's Word never tells us that man was born a sinner.
That's something the reformers got from the devil.
They pick and choose which scriptures to twist and which ones to ignore.
Calvinism is in fact doctrines of demons
Nobody can get in to Heaven following calvinism or reformed theology
Yes, God works to draw all his covenant people to himself who are indeed scattered to the ends of the earth. (Acquaint yourself with the Abrahamic Covenant someday.) God has never made a redemptive covenant with the entire world.
Psalm 58 verse 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
Psalm 14 verse 3
All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Psalm 51 verse 5 Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
Psalm 52 verse 3 You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking truth. Selah
Psalm 53 verse 3
All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Isaiah 48 verse 8
You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not
been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.
Job 14 verse 4 Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!
Job 15 verse 14
What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Proverbs 22 verse 15
Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
John 3 verse 3 Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
Romans 3 verse 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 5 verse 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and
death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
Ecclesiastes 7 verse 20 Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
Romans 3 verse 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one."
Ephesians 2 verse 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh
and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
Jeremiah 17 verse 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
1 John 1 verse 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.
That's not what the Lord said in His Word:
2 Corinthians 5:19
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.