We believe that  God is the initiator and man is the responder.  God initiates His love  and work of salvation to man , and man responds either by accepting or rejecting it. (Jn.1:11-12;12:47-48; Matt.23:37; I Jn.4:19; Jer.13:11; 11:7-8).  Just like man  is called "the initiator"  and the woman, "the responder" such does not mean  that the woman cannot reject the man.

The Bible teaches  that a spiritually dead can respond intellectually and emotionally, and willingly to receive salvation by repentance and faith.  II Cor.7:10 tells us that a spiritually dead can have sorrow  which leads him to repentance and repentance leads him to salvation.  Such verse does not say that  salvation  leads to repentance.  The jailor in Acts 16:30-31 was spiritually dead when he sorrowed  for his sins, and by conviction of the Spirit felt the need of salvation.  If he was already saved at  the time he asked  "What must I do to be saved?", then Paul should have replied, "Believe , because you are already saved", but his reply was believe on the Lord  Jesus  Christ and thou shalt be saved...."

There is no Scripture that says "God elected men  unconditionally".  Such is not a clear Bible teaching.  However it is clear that election is according  to God's foreknowledge (I Peter 1:2).  and it is clear that God  has "chosen the ...rich in faith" (James 2:5).  II Thessalonians 2:13 also tells us that "God  hath from the beginning  chosen you to salvation through...belief of the truth", but no Scripture teaches that God has chosen you apart from belief of the truth.  So it is clear, election is conditional.

Foreknowledge means knowledge before the event or thing occured.  Faith of a person does not occur yet until he humbly hear God's word (Romans 10:17), but because God is omniscient, he knows who will exercise faith at the time they hear God's word. The  Scripture that says "I know whom I have chosen " (Jn.13:18) shows that Foreknowledge exists before  Decrees.  But the Calvinists believe that God decreed first before He foreknew.  However, the truth declares that God created all things by means of His wisdom (Prov.8:22). Therefore  foreknowledge  exists before decrees.

It is true that man since birth is a sinner, lost and has no faith, Psalm 14:2-3.  But man, under the influence of the Spirit and the Gospel, can have the ability to believe.  So all men are unbelieving until such time that some heard the preaching of the Gospel and those who humbled  and believed  upon hearing the Gospel were saved.  It is clear in the Scriptures that hearing the Gospel,  repentance and faith precede salvation  (Eph.1:13; Acts 10:43-44; 16:30-31; Jn.5:24; Rom.10:9-10, 13-17).  God in eternity elected to eternal salvation  according to His foreknowledge and grace, people  who humble under the Spirit's and the Gospel's call , and believe.    God did not elect the proud and unbelieving to eternal salvation (Jam.4:6;2:5; I Cor.1:27).

RESPONSE TO SOME STATEMENTS OF A PRIMITIVE BAPTIST:

1.  "Election is unconditional because no sinner ever does believe  until God gives him faith"
Reply:  God gives faith to those who humbly listens to God's word or the Gospel and are willing to receive and exercise it.

2.  "No man sees until God gives him sight".
Reply:  God gives sight to those who desire it just like Bartimeus.
3.  " Faith and good works do not exist when God made the election".
Reply:  The object of election according to God's foreknowledge are persons who humble and believe under Divine grace (James 4:6; I Cor.1:27; James 2:5).

EXPLANATION OF DISPUTED PASSAGES:

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us that there is no  ground for boasting if a person was saved by grace through faith.  It does not say that there is no ground for boasting if a person was saved  by grace without their faith.

Acts 18:27 does not contradict our belief for we believe that a sinner has the ability to believe under divine grace.  Man cannot boast of his faith because he was able to believe by hearing the Gospel of grace  and  under the  Spirit's conviction and influence.    But the Calvinist teaching shows that man can boast of his greatness and importance  in the sense that God  saved him despite his pride, stubborness, and rebellion.  The Calvinists teach that man without surrendering himself to God in repentance and without trusting in the blood of Jesus, will be saved by God because he is an elect.  They do not believe that an unsaved person can humble under divine influence since they teach that only the regenerated can humble and repent.

CALVINIST'S QUESTION ANSWERED AND CORRECTED.

J  Did God foresaw man's ability to believe by himself?  NO!
J  Did God foresaw man's ability to believe under Divine grace?
YES!

MY FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS

1.  Is it necessary to be regenerated in order to be humble?
2.  Does the Holy Spirit causes a person to humble first before saving him, or He saves that person first then makes him humble?
3.  Is a person already saved before he accepts Christ?
4.  What is the attitude of a person when Christ decided to come into his life,  proud or humble?  Did he humble only when Christ was already inside his life?
5.  Did God change the elect's heart without  intellectually knowing Jesus?  Is knowledge about Jesus necessary  for God to change his heart?
6.  When does God make a person willing to receive Christ, before regeneration  or after?
7.  Does God regenerate a proud elect so that he will become humble, or he must humble first so that God will regenerate him?

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS OF A PRIMITIVE BAPTIST

1.  Is election of believing (freewill) or of grace (free grace)?
Answer:   Election to salvation is by God's grace through faith according to God's foreknowledge.  It is by God's grace according to Rom.11:5, through faith according to Jam.2:5, II Thess.2:13, Rom.5:2, Eph.2:8-9, and according to God's foreknowledge, I Peter 1:2, Rom.8:29.

2.  Does faith exist before the grace of God begins to be bestowed?
Answer:  God's grace comes first, and when a depraved sinner humble under Divine grace and conviction of the Holy Spirit, he is given greater grace  so he could repent and believe and experience the saving grace of God (Titus 2:11; Jam.4:6; Eph.2:8-9; Rom.5:2).  You see, God's grace increases in degree as one humbles under the Spirit of grace.  This is true even in our Chrisitan experience.  If you humble and listen to God's word, the influence of the Spirit in your life is increasing.  If you  become  proud  and neglect God's word, you have less guidance of the Spirit in your daily decision  (Psa. 119:11,105).

3.  Is man's will free from the bondage of his evil nature in the spiritual realm?
Answer:  Man lost his freedom and became a slave of Satan.  He is lost and is not willing to come to Christ.  His intellect, emotion, and will has been influenced by sin and the Devil.  But this does not mean that the Holy Spirit cannot influence  the intellect, emotion and will of a depraved sinner.  It does not mean that the word of God or the Gospel is powerless in influencing the minds and emotions of those who heard it.  The depraved sinner under the influence of the Holy Spirit  and the Gospel has the freedom of decision   either to accept God's offer of salvation or reject it.  For example a prisoner of war  has been accustomed to his situation  doing the work of a prisoner.  But one day, a rescue team was sent to him and secretly convinced him to get out of the prison camp of the enemy and go with the team back to their country.  All he need is to trust the team to get him out of the prison camp safe.  The prisoner in his state can make a decision either to remain a slave or to be free from bondage.  In the same way, a slave of sin and Satan, under the Spirit and Gospel call  has the freedom to decide  either to reject Christ's offer of salvation and remain a slave or accept God's salvation by trusting in the work of Christ.    The Calvinist's position is that the Holy Spirit  and the Gospel message  is powerless to influence the mind and emotion of a depraved sinner unless he is regenerated.  They do not believe Romans 1:16 which says, " The Gospel...is the power of God unto salvation...."   My question to them is, When God regenerates the soul, were the 3 aspects of the soul which are: the intellect,  emotion, and will, regenerated at the same time?  Is it possible for a person to be willing to trust Christ without understanding the Gospel message?

4.  Can man see if God will not give him sight?
Answer:  NO!  God gives sight to a person who is willing just like Bartimaeus, Mark 10: 46-52.  A blind can know the way if he has a guide.  Bartimaeus had not known about Jesus until he heard some people talking about Jesus.  We need to talk about Jesus to the blinds so that they will call on Jesus and He will make them see.  The Eunuch  cannot understand  until Philip showed him the way of the truth, the Gospel (Acts 8:30-37).  The jailor doe not know what to do  until Paul guided him on how to be saved (Acts 16:30-31).
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