Alright just one more post on that group of Christians I met the other night, then I will try not to write about them anymore.
They were under the impression that God determines who will be saved. This thought process is called predestination or Calvinism. People who believe this think it is not us who chose salvation, it is God who draws us near to Salvation. They were focusing on Romans 9 for their belief.
There are quite a few verses which support this line of thinking so it definitely has some value but so much more which refute it. I am thinking of Jeremiah 29:11-13, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you seek me with your whole heart.”
I think that God has given us free will for a reason. He wants us wanting Him. What good would it be if He was picking, choosing and manipulating us into submission? That isn’t a God whom I would love. I think that there is a sweetness and a purity to His allowing us free will.
We got into a heated debate. Finally I had to leave cause I had to work in the morning. Thanking God for that excuse right now. lol
It astounds me that I have had more civil discussions with Muslims about my beliefs than I had with these Christians. With a Muslim doctor I merely laid my beliefs out on the table and he did the same, then we agreed that we could respectfully disagree. I became friends with him and his family because of our mutual respect.
It saddens me that I could not have the same amount of understanding and compassion with these Christians as I have had with some Muslims.
The most unusual thought occurred to me as I was driving away. One of the people in this group goes to a nearby suburb and carries a cross through a shopping center so that he can witness to people. The thought occurred to me, “If he actually thinks that God is in control of choosing which person accepts Christ and who doesn’t, then why the heck is he wasting his precious time trying to witness to strangers?”
