Cheryl Schatz

Mark, you said:

I find it interesting that you accept the BDAG use of ‘world’ but have formerly criticised me for saying that God has a ‘special’ or ‘saving’ love for some and not others. Inconsistency?

Mark, there is a huge difference between the definition of a Greek word and a doctrine that restricts the atonement.

“But people are blind for several reasons.”

I agree, and one of those reasons is because they are spiritually ‘dead’ (Eph 2:1) Dead people cannot see, they are blind!

“Drawing is not the same thing as coming.”

I agree, that is why I found it odd that you said about Jn 6 that people had to believe before they could come to Jesus.

I didn’t say that. I said that only believers in God were given to Jesus. I said that the ones who belonged to the father had to be ones who listened to the father and learned from Him. Is this not what the Scripture says? Didn’t Jesus say that those who listened to the Father and learned from Him came to Jesus?

“Romans 8:29 does not say “inward call” and the washing by the baptism into Jesus’ death is our justification.”

That is the only way to understand Rom 8:29 since those God calls, he also justifies.

It is the only way that you have seen, but it would be overstating your case to say that it is the only way to understand it since we have not yet hit Romans.

God does not call all in the sense of Rom 8 because simply not all are justified. And no, having faith in Christ is what justifies us. It is a declaring of righteousness.

We shall have a good discussion in Romans when we get there.

More to come…