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Sinners BECOME sons of God when they are reconciled to God by grace through faith in Christ alone. Otherwise, all are born "children of wrath".

Let me take just this statement alone. I agree that in order to enter the kingdom, one must become a child of the Father, and that is through the adoption of grace. Our natural state is indeed separation from God, which is called "death" in the scriptures.

But is this limited to just the "elect", or do all get a chance to apply for sonship? I would favor the latter because of the express nature of God as shown in the scriptures -- i.e., that He is love, that He has abundant mercy for sinners, that He desires none to be lost, etc. The Calvinist paradigm seems to hold out that God is just the opposite of this, that rather than having mercy upon the whole world, that He has mercy upon a select few and damns, without reason, all the rest. That does not strike me as particularly just nor loving.

In closing, let me ask you this: is it possible that someone in China, 500 years before Christ was even born, could be saved by God's grace without even knowing of Who Jesus is or how the plan of salvation works? (I have a spedific person in mind and a specific verse of scripture to discuss regarding this question).

Thank you for your answer to my question.

Cordially in Christ,


Brother Ed