Me>>  God does not force anyone to be saved.  He 
Me>> enables us to be saved and 
 CR> draws us irresistibly to respond freely to His call.  
It's the same thing.
 CR> Jeremiah 3:19-20 is a prophecy spoken to the nation of 
 CR> Israel as a covenant 
 CR> community, not to individuals.  Also, do you really believe God did not 
 CR> know that Israel would go astray?
God said he didn't know.  Who am I to disagree with him?  Now, whether he 
can't know or chooses not to know, is another discussion entirely.
 CR> *Abraham* had no way of knowing this.  He was out of the loop.
But that's not what it says.  It says "now I know".  And this brings up my 
key problem with Calvinism.  Too many scriptures must be changed or ignored 
to allow it to be true.  Whereas, in Arminianism, by simply providing an 
alternate, though equally plausible, explanation to Calvin's favorite verses, 
the entire scripture is in harmony.  The Bible is filled with deep underlying 
meanings, but the surface meanings are unerring as well, and must take 
precedence in interpreting the scripture.
 CR> Exodus 32:9 refers to ALL of us, Robby.  We are a stiff-
 CR> necked people, even those of us who are saved.
That proves my point even more.  He was going to destroy all of us, but 
changed his mind.  Either way, he still changed his mind.
 CR> sense the choice gives us merit with God that we should be saved.
Let's say my child misbehaves all day.  But being a loving father, i decide 
to give him a cookie anyway.  When I offer, he takes it.
Now, let's say I offer the cookie, and my disobedient son continues his bad 
behavior by knocking it from my hand and storming away.  
In neither case has he done anything to merit the cookie.  But only in the 
first case does he have it.
Robby
--- Maximus 3.01
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