Understanding Christianity

Why do some people find the message of the gospel offensive and others accept it as truthful? Why do some people come to faith in Christ and others do not? The Reformed answer is that God has a sovereign decree whereby He predestined a fixed number of people before the creation of the world to be saved. In time, those people are effectually called and regenerated by the Holy Spirit who overcomes their deadness in sin and moral inability. Once they’ve been made willing by grace, these exercise faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. So our answer is the golden chain from Romans 8:30: And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. How do our Provisionist non-Calvinist friends answer this same question: Why do some people find the cross offensive and others do not? Their answer: They freely chose to accept the wisdom of the world versus choosing to accept the wisdom of God. From Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 1 and 2,