Good question. I will say up front that I am not going to provide the most satisfactory answer here for lack of sufficient time and space to dig in in a way that does the question justice. And because a lot of this hinges on election, which is a conversation in itself.
The shorthand response is that those God has elected before the ages began, he calls, and they are compelled by his gracious call to respond in faith and repentance. Not all those who hear the call of Christ respond in faith. That is not an argument against iridistible grace but rather a confirmation that salvation is tied to election.
Judas showed by his fruit that he never truly believed, which means he was not elect. He *responded* to the call to follow Christ but we see even before his betrayal that he never truly turned from his sin. Peter, by contrast, does deny Jesus but his repentance is one among many evidences that, unlike Judas, he is among the elect. You shall know them by their fruit.
The sewer and the seeds parable is one instructive place in the Scriptures to help illustrate these points.
The Canons of Dort are instructive as well, particularly Article 8 and onward.
Having the image of God is what makes us unique among all of Christ's creatures. Complexity of body and personhood is by design. Moral complexity is a post-fall reality.
I'll chime in briefly here to say that this is where the doctrine of irisistable grace comes in. The grace compels us to repent, yes.
Lazarus having the option to stay in the tomb seems like conjecture. Plausible conjecture, maybe, but the way the narrative reads, Christ calls and Lazarus obeys. He is compelled to come forth from the tomb at the command of Christ.
The G in Greg stands for *gasslight*
There's a joke about changing our profile pics here somewhere but I can't find it
"Such small critics [of great men] do what they can to promote unbelief and universal spiritual paralysis"
Carlyle
#grownostr #nostr #quotestr #plebchain
Are you saying Austen is a gateway to lesser romantic schlock works of fiction or that the women who read her work themselves become hopelessly romantic?
The woman is the glory of man
Second the Hobbit and Narnia.
Pilgrims Progress
Little House series
Just about any Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice and Emma are top tier)
'No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.'
Thomas Carlyle
But an increase in quality of GM
You would appreciate these videos too, nostr:npub1jlrs53pkdfjnts29kveljul2sm0actt6n8dxrrzqcersttvcuv3qdjynqn
Not a podcast, but I attended a conference with Dr. Warren Gage recently (who does actually have a podcast. I'm sure it is good but haven't listened yet) and he has a team slowly churning out these really great short animated videos that show you how the death and resurrection (suffering and glory) of Christ is "hidden" in every biblical story. Every story actually happened historically AND every story is a retelling of the one, primary story. Pretty mind blowing.
Nice work.
My favorite watercolor professor in college has a similar approach to architectural painting—preferring free hand *wobbly* lines over precision. You might appreciate his work: