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�Critical Perspectives
from the Word of God
The apostles
taught that entering the New Covenant, and thereby
becoming part of the Church, was not a matter of absolute free
choice, but that each individual had to encounter God in his or her own order. To be
converted one had to receive an invitation in the form of an irrevocable personal calling
(Romans 11:29) directly from God the
Father (John 6:44,
6:65). It was a heavenly calling (Hebrews 3:1) of setting apart (I Thessalonians 4:7) for a holy
purpose (II Timothy 1:9). Once an
individual receives such a calling, that person becomes capable of real repentance and
fully accountable for furthering his or her own relationship with God. That
person can exercise free will, a gift unique to human kind, to accept God's
calling or to reject it.
In early Christian understanding God’s calling included an
enabling of each individual to understand God’s plan and truth. Only those with their
minds supernaturally opened by God the Father through this calling could understand
God’s truth, plan of salvation, and way of life. Those not so enabled could not
understand these matters. This was certain no matter how sincere nor how hard they tried,
nor how vehemently they desired to understand. This was due to no real error of their own
because Satan, the adversary, had blinded all humanity from perceiving, and thereby
comprehending, God’s truth (II
Corinthians 4:3-4;
3:14-15).
This meant that arguing nonbelievers into Christianity was of limited value. Absent a
personal "calling," conversion was impossible.
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edited:
12/31/05 08:12 AM |
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