Originally Posted By: andrewsvt
from what i was told being raised in the church, if God chooses who is saved that would be calvinism right?
and that would mean that we do not have free will(to chose to be saved), which would give rise to the question that if we dont have free will, then why were we given the choice between good or evil in the beginning?

as i understand it, God, being omniscient, knows already who will be saved and who will be lost, still, everyone is given as many possible chances to accept Christ into their life, but ULTMATELY IT IS THE PERSONS CHOICE, and while God already knows that choice, He still gives them every opportunity to accept Him until it is too late, but so that in the end, no one will be able to say, "You didn't try to save me" they wil have to agree that God did give them every possible chance, and they still chose to reject Him.



I think you understand this correctly, Andrew, "ultimately it is the persons choice" and that God does know the beginning from the end, EVERY detail of it....and no one will ever be able to say that God didn't do everything possible to save him.

Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own. {COL 69}