this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2024
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I think we're in agreement here. God gives us chances to bear fruit, but throws out the branches that don't. Predestination, as Calvinism describes it, says that He decides in advance whether they're going to bear fruit, and those He wants to bear fruit do, and those He doesn't never get the chance. I do not see that lining up with the idea that God is all-loving.
That being said, the Bible does say that nobody can come to Christ without God's call, so I can see how that could be seen as predestination, but there have been those who felt the call and turned away, some of whom came around later. I think in some manner, it might be a warning that you can't just decide "I'll get saved when it's more convenient for me," because God doesn't call at your convenience.
From our perspective, we'll never know if we are predestined or not, so it's functionally the same thing as free will. On the other hand, to the extent that we may have that, we would need to bow to His will, not force forward our own, as in if He wants a mountain to move, then we can pray and it will, but if He did not, then no amount of asking would work.
Indeed. Though that's not to say asking is useless. He knows what we need, but often entrusts us to ask for it, so that we can see the answered prayers instead of taking Him for granted (plus some other reasons probably.)