Dear Paul,<br><br>Concerning the verses you cited, I too believe that no one can stop God from doing what He is determined to do. But no scripture states that it is God's will to irresistably draw men to Himself. It is apparent from scripture that God does draw men, but He does not exercise His ability to bend the will in doing so. Consider the verse I quoted:<br><br>Acts 7:51, "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye." <br><br>You might argue that they could not permanently resist the Holy Ghost, but who was being spoken to? The High Priest and the rest of the Jewish council were very hard hearted men who resisted God, and like most of the Jewish leaders, died in their sin. Also note that their fathers died while resisting the Holy Ghost, if it were not so, the Pharisees/Saducees/ect... would not be their fathers' children.<br><br>Mat 23:30-31 "...And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets."<br><br>So we have some scriptural examples of men finally resisting the Holy Spirit. I personally believe from the context of these passages that God does want to draw us to His grace, but from what I can derive here, I also believe that He does not irresistably draw us. If you still believe that man has absolutely no autonomy in being saved, then I suggest you read my post on what it means to "save yourselves."<br><br>You wrote:<br>"Two last questions, Josh. Do you take comfort in your opinion that you can resist (sense Two=thwart) God's eternal purposes? How does that knowledge help you in your life with Christ?"<br><br>1Corinthians 10:12 "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."<br><br>I have seen this in effect too many times from my Baptist friends. I have made it a goal to disprove the concept of eternal security. Though it is not quite the same thing, unconditional election is closely related. I do not do this for my health, but to warn others of the dangers this doctrine poses.<br><br><br>In Christ,<br>Josh