It can be simple with enough explanation. Ha.

I would have to add that Calvinists see God as the cause of: as in predestination whereas Arminians see Him intervening based on Foreknowledge. And that intervention results from the awareness of His people and their prayers or the lack thereof. But not just awareness. It requires our attention to hear and see Him. There is a passage near the end of Romans that implies His gifting of faith to all. But that faith is for our determined use.

Predestination is real in scripture. But so is the fact that God seeks men of a contrite heart. Don’t know if you’ve read any of my testimony on WordPress, but my big hang up with salvation was over predestination. I thought back then; when in my early 20’s – If God predestines then why am I the biggest sinner that I know? Why was I predestined for sin? In other words why have I not yet been saved from it? That was my concern.

I knew enough to understand that salvation yielded a changed life. Or that it had to have one fall in love with rather than just fear God. Fear set me on my search for truth, and true to God’s word; fear was the beginning of my wisdom. When I came to realize that I actually wanted all that God had for me, and started seeking God through His Scripture etc. then it was that I sought His person and met Him. But to get there I had to be able to understand that God really loved me, and I couldn’t do that when thinking that He may not have even chosen me before the foundation of the earth, in which case I was doomed. These were my thoughts in those early days of my seeking. So Scripture and His Holy Spirit had to bring me to the truth that He loved me. Why would He die for someone that He could never love? If He loved me in spite of my sin He loved everyone; His death expressed unconditional love; but only those who accept and return that love will ever see its benefit in their lives, and that is man’s only part in God’s gift of salvation to him.

Sure He knew what we would do with that gift, even before the foundation of the world. He is God after all, but He knew, is not the same as Him causing both our sin and our acceptance of His gift of salvation.

Jesus came to defeat our sin. He wants to do that in every life. As sinners if we love our sin more than we love and in some ways fear this Awesome God; then we will never come to know the reality of God’s love. Do you want to know Jesus? The journey is amazing. The flesh is weak; therefore walk ye in the Spirit.