(November 9, 2011 at 12:46 am)Faith No More Wrote: So Stat, god loves you enough to let you hear about Jesus and redeem you,
God does have a special love for His people; we see this in both the Old and New Testament. He does not love them because of what they are though, but rather inspire of what they are. The nation of Israel in the Old Testament made all kinds of mistakes and committed all sorts of sins but they were still His children.
Quote: but all of those other people weren't worthy of hearing the good word?
Nobody is “worthy” of hearing the good word, it’s amazing that God chose to save anyone at all.
Quote: If god created someone who was in a position to never be saved, he is damning them from the very beginning of their existence.
Well they are justly being damned though because salvation is not earned or deserved. It would be like if a criminal was denied the opportunity for a pardon, that would still be completely just because he does not deserve a pardon, it’s a form of grace.
Quote: Why would god punish people for eternity over something he preordained that they themselves have no control over?
If God allows someone to do what they want and sin then they are still responsible for their actions. If I had a pet dog that really wanted to cross an electric fence and I kept pulling it back from doing so, but I finally let it do what it wants and cross the fence and get zapped the dog is still responsible for crossing the fence because it did what it wanted. I just merely allowed it to happen. People still make choices, but they are only allowed to make choices that God passively pre-ordains.
Quote: What made you special enough to be put in a situation to be saved while others have no chance?
Nothing, absolutely nothing in me made me deserve such an opportunity. I used to debate with my students over this matter all the time, because they often would take an unbiblical approach and believe they were just smarter than other people and made the right decision or they did something to earn the grace.
