Theo1689
Well-known member
As a Calvinist you have already decided that God chose you to be saved, so you see that in every verse.
Seth makes somewhat of a good point here, but in my experience, it is non-Calvinists who do it far more than Calvinists.
As I said in a different post today, many people/pastors/apologists will "prime" your mind by putting a theology into your head, and once that's happened, direct you to a particular verse, where you are expected to find that precise doctrine in the text. That is the "power of suggestion". And it's also called "eisegesis", projecting a doctrine INTO the text, before you even read it, and before you allow the CONTEXT to create the meaning for you.
Non-Calvinists do this all the time, either by explicitly mentioning a doctrine (such as limited atonement), or by their church or group being so obsessed with "TULIP" that they've been trained to read every verse according to a checklist of "does this go against any of the petals of TULIP?"
A perfect example of this is 2 Pet. 3:8-9.
I firmly believe that NO ONE would ever interpret 2 Pet. 3:9 as teaching "unlimited atonement", unless that a doctrine were already SUGGESTED or IMPLIED to be in the text, by some external "teacher".
It is quite clear to me, that taking it into CONTEXT, it actually teaches "perseverance of the saints", God WILL ensure that ALL His people will be saved, and is NOT WILLING that ANY of them perish. But in their fight against "Calvinism", critics of Calvinism have DESTROYED a wonderful verse teaching God's faithfulness, and instead replaced it with a teaching of false hope.
2Pet. 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
This is about a PARTICULAR group, "us-ward", who are the "beloved" of God, and who we see from 1 Peter are "the elect", God's chosen people.
This verse is NOT about "everyone in the world", but only the "beloved". It excludes people such as the "scoffers" of 2 Pet. 3:3, for instance, who are contrasted with "the beloved".
Notice that "not willing that any should perish" follows IMMEDIATELY after "us-ward".
It is the "us-ward" whom God is not willing for any to perish.
It is the "us-ward" whom God will ensure all come to repentance.
So not only do they destroy a wonderful teaching of God's faithfulness and the success of the Saviour to save ALL of God's people, their theology runs into another problem. It says that God is "not willing that ANY should perish". But if "ANY" means "everyone in the world", and not merely "the beloved", then God FAILED. God's will can be thwarted by the will of a sinner. What a DREADFUL (and blasphemous) thing to believe!