Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
The keyword here is, “BELIEVES”. Do you think God will reject those people who would believe in His only begotten Son? NO!
Of course not. And all of us have the ability to believe. We are all made in the image and likeness of God, which means that we are all able to choose to believe.
These verses are very clear that God did not choose “arbitrarily” those will be saved and those who will be condemned.
Jn 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Jn 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
To save
the world. Not just some people.
Everyone. It is God's will that
all be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). Whether we are all saved or not is up to us.
I know a guy who is a bus driver and at the same time a preacher.
Yes, but I'm willing to bet this guy didn't completely make up an entire system of theology revolving around bus driving while ignoring everything else that had ever been said about God. John Calvin threw out 1500 years of theology in favor of describing God as a cold, heartless courtroom judge who created some of us for destruction just because He can. John Calvin stripped God of all love and compassion.
No one deserves to be saved at all. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. God could have wiped off the entire humanity if HE wants to, but for the sake of the elect, He did not. Read The Potter and the Clay in Jeremiah 18.
Yes, this pertains to how God responds to us, shaping our destiny according to what we do.
4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’
People like to quote Romans 9:21 in support of Calvin's strange doctrine: "Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?" This makes it seem as if God does in fact predestine us to either damnation or salvation. However, this is not the case--we see the same idea of honorable and dishonorable vessels in II Timothy, chapter 2:
20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
God fashions us all as vessels, yes, but it is not God who makes us dishonorable--we make ourselves honorable or dishonorable based on our own free choices and actions. If we choose to do God's will, then we will become vessels of honor. If, however, we decide to follow sinful passions and become ensnared by the devil, we will become vessels of dishonor. The potter makes the pots--it is up to those who buy the pots whether the pots are used for honorable or dishonorable things.
You need to understand these verses to understand Calvinism.
EPH 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
EPH 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
RO 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
RO 8:30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Predestination is in the bible.
Predestination is in the Bible, yes. But God predestines all of us to salvation, and His grace of salvation is available to all (Titus 2:11). Many (i.e. all) are called, but few are chosen, because few choose to answer the call.
