Psalm 65:4 "Blessed is the man whom thou chooses and causes to approach unto thee" A Soveriegn grace preacher once said, "Knowing what you know now, and where you are (trusting in Christ) if you could go back and change one thing about your life, you wouldnt change one thing" this is because we know that all things are working together for good to them who love God and are the called according to his purpose. Rom.8:29
Someone asked earlier on this post "How can i know if i am in?, or if God chose me? My anwser to that would be to look at your life. If you came out of a destructive cult like the JW's, but have not given up on the bible, and trust Jesus as Gods only provision for salvation, and have a thirst for the truth in scripture, then i'd say there's a good chance your where you are because of Gods calling.
Remember the story of Joseph? When confronting his brothers years later, who had sold him into slavery, he told them that they had meant it for evil, but God had meant it for good. Gen. 45:5-8 He said it was not you who sent me here, but God. Then look at the whole picture, Joseph was put in a very high position, and was put in charge of all of the food in egypt, when the famine came, he was in the right place to take care of his family, and this caused Jacob and the family to move to egypt, setting up the start of the Isrealite nation and thier foretold bondage. Here we have God working all things after the counsil of his own will. His very name=Yaweh="he causes to be"
As far as election is concerned, to me it is a very comforting doctrine. If God be for you, who can be againts you? (Rom 8:31) As Swedish chef pointed out, NONE is righteous, NO NOT ONE. Then clearly NO ONE from Gods Holy standpoint deserves to be saved. We not only died physically from Adams fall, we died SPIRITUALLY that is why scripture uses the word DEAD over and over to describe our condition. A dead man has no life, no ability to come to God left to his or her self. Eph.2:1
In the Garden, God told Adam, "In THE DAY that you eat thereof, you shall DIE. So Adam not only died later physically, but died that very day spiritually.
All of those chosen by God were Redeemed by Christ on Cavalry, and eventually, one by one called by God by the means he ordained= the preaching of the Gospel. 1Cor. 1:21, 2Tim 1:9
As far as John 3:16 "For God so loved the world" Here is used the greek word kosmos. This denotes "Arrangement, beauty, world" The greek word for habitable earth is "tebel" or for Land, earth, "erets" The greek word "kosmos" wich is used in Jn.3:16 can also be used of ungodly people. John 15:18 "If the world hates you....." John 14:19 "A little while, and the world seeth me no more....." Another greek word used for world is "oikoumene" meaning habitable earth, land. Luke 2:1 "A decree went out that all the world should be taxed" and Acts 17:6 "These that have turned the world upside down..." Basically the word "world" denotes a whole lot of folks.
Jesus makes it plain that he loved the sheep, and came to save them. In John 17:9 he says "I pray for them: I PRAY NOT FOR THE WORLD, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." If Jesus came to die for all men everywhere, the entire world, why would he ever make a statement like that?
To sum it up, in my opinion, the five basic doctrines of calvinism harmonize with scripture unbelievably well, and together, fit like a glove, and compliment one another. But this does not dissolve man of his responsibility. God commands all men everywhere to repent. The invitation is open to all who will come and drink of lifes water. However, only the elect will come. A man once asked Charles Spurgeon, a famous nineteenth century sovereign grace preacher if he could tell if someone was elect. He commented that if God put a yellow streak down every elect persons back, it would be a simple matter of raising someones shirt tails to see, but in heaven on the outside of the door it will read "Anyone who is thirsty, come on in" and on the other side of the door it says "Elected from the foundation of the world"
Nuff said for now
