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RE: 3 BIG FAT LIES THAT IS BELIEVED AND PREACHED BY MAINSTREAM CHURCHES
I don't agree with all you said, but then if two of us agree, one of us is unnecessary. LOL! I do agree with what you say in point #3, though. There is a strange dichotomy in the Bible that says we were predestined, but also that it is our free choice. Both are true in a manner that only God can understand. It's only certain Protestant Churches (those preaching reformed theology) that make a big deal out of predestination!
By the way, I volunteered for a few years with Muslim women at a Christian English Teaching Center, and in order to work with them I was required to take a course called Bridges by Fouad Masri of the Crescent Project. Have you heard of it? It was very interesting and well put together and made a big impression on me.
It's not really that complicated. There are many alternative ways of making sense of "predestination" without removing genuine freewill. My understanding which falls in line with what Dr. Leighton Flowers teaches, is that true believers are predestined AFTER they believe not BEFORE. God has predestined ALL who believe to be saved. Once you believe, you become part of God's election/predestination/plan. As with the other points that you disagree, I would like to advise you to study them in more details and you will see for yourself where I'm coming from. The truth is very simple and in plain sight and if you let it, it will reveal itself to you. Thanks for the comment :]
Well the Bible does say we were predestined before the creation of the world, but because God is outside of time, we can't grasp what that really means, and I don't think it's important that we understand it. Our minds are finite. I've been a Christian for 58 years now, and the one thing I have learned from the different denominations I have attended, is that no one has a handle on the whole truth. What's important is whether we believe that Jesus is who he says He is. Our focus should just be on Him and our personal relationship with Him.
The Bible never talks about individual predestination. It never says John or Mark or Jack or Eve were predestined to be saved and the rest were predestined to be damned. It always talks about corporate election based on faith. The only reason it seems difficult to grasp it is because of the massive amount of indoctrination from the Calvinist camp that exists among Protestants, otherwise it's pretty easy to grasp it. In fact, if no one brought the word predestination to your attention, you probably wouldn't even notice it as it's only used in a few verses here and there and often times it's quickly followed by the required condition which is faith. Take Ephesians 1 for example which is the passage you're referring to. If you continue reading, you will see in Ephesians 1:13 that Paul says to the believers that WHEN you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. He doesn't say before you believed. He says after which proves my point that regeneration comes after you believe not before. Calvinists teach the exact opposite...
I agree. :-)