R*o
发帖数: 3781 | 1 Is God Sincere?
If the doctrine of Total Depravity as defined in TULIP were true, then from
Genesis to Revelation we have a God who pleads for thousands of years with a
seemingly endless procession of billions of individuals to repent and turn
to Him, individuals who are so hopelessly depraved that they can do nothing
except persist in rebellion against Him unless He regenerates them. If He re
ally wants those with whom He pleads to repent and turn to Him, would God no
t give them the necessary grace to do so? He does that for the elect. Why no
t for all?
If man cannot respond without God's sovereign act of regeneration, then all
of God's pleas are obviously useless. There is no question that if Calvinism
were true, there would be no reason for God to urge men to repent - yet He
does. God's sovereign act of regeneration is alleged to require no faith or
participation of any kind on man's part. Thus the entire history of God's de
alings with man as recorded in the Bible loses credibility.
Calvinism drives us into an irrational dead end. It is both useless and sens
eless for God to plead with the elect. He has already predestined them to sa
lvation and will effect it sovereignly before any faith is exercised on thei
r part. Nor does it make any better sense for God to present the gospel to a
nd plead with the non-elect who cannot believe it until they have been sover
eignly regenerated - but that won't happen because they are damned by God's
eternal decree. Yet He continues to plead and blame them for not repenting e
ven while He withholds from them the essential grace which He gives only to
the elect! Such is the unbiblical and unreasonable misrepresentation of God
by Calvinism. |
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