Mark

Cheryl

“Yes. Permission is granted to anyone who is thirsty to come.”

You did not answer my question. Does God ‘grant’ everyone to ‘come/believe’, yes or no. Since none of your ‘proof texts’ show this it is easy to see that God does not allow everyone to come to Jesus. This is why Paul told Timothy to pray that God would ‘grant’ people to come to a knowledge of the truth.

2Ti 2:25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

Just because people are told to come to Jesus, does not mean they can or are able. Only God can make someone alive and new- he grants it.

I’m gald you admit that God ‘chose’ Israel over the other nations. Perhaps TL can now see that he/she does not understand God’s electing purposes for some and not for others.

“Please show me who are the ones that God wills to have mercy on and who are the ones that He chooses to harden? God gives His answer in the Scriptures. What do the Scriptures say?”

Now one example is God hardening Pharoah during the Exodus of Israel. The first mention to the hardening of Pharoah is from God in Ex 4:21- God will harden his heart. We see it again in Ex 7:3 that it will be God who hardens. Now this all BEFORE the plagues have even begun, so God is not secondary to hardening. Also we see God’s mercy on the Israelites over the Egyptians. God chose them over and above the Egyptians Ex 6:6-8. God will redeem them and THEN they will know that he is God. It is clear that God’s actions preceed the actions of the people. God’s mercy or hardening is not conditioned on what we do.
A good passage to see why God hardens Pharoah’s heart is in Ex 14:4.

Exo 14:4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.

It’s for God’s glory. Again this is repeated in Ex 14:17, 18.