The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Is man required to "choose" in order to be saved?

Mark,
I fear you have never come to a right understanding of what the Bible and thus what Calvinism teaches concerning how a man is saved. A man isn't saved because God waves some magic wand over his head and then he is instantly made a Christian. As the article by Reisinger points out, BOTH man and God have their respective roles in salvation. It is God who predestines, elects, atones for and regenerates a sinner, draws him infallibly to Christ and providentially preserves him unto the end. The result of God's work [regeneration] is that a man is radically changed from one who begins as a sworn enemy of God to one who loves God and irresistibly seeks out reconciliation through Christ alone. Thus, "Salvation is of the Lord" (Jonah 2:9)

A man must do something before he can be JUSTIFIED, which is but one aspect of "salvation". But he can do nothing to obtain salvation; that has been accomplished 100% by God alone. In regeneration, God frees the sinner from the bondage of his sin nature and gives both the desire and ability to repent and believe. And because this new nature is superior to the old, the person is "irresistibly" drawn to Christ according to God's eternal counsel.

Tell me, what writer(s) have so influenced you, if there has been any, concerning this matter?

Perhaps this article by John Murray may help clear up any errors and misconceptions you hold: Irresistable Grace, by John Murray.

In His Grace,