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AJC said:
If all these commands are dependent solely on God's work aren't they superfluous or are they merely directions for the elect and condemnation for the non-elect?
Why would they be superfluous? Man is totally responsible aside from any inability he might have to obey God. When God commands: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:48) or ". . . Be ye holy; for I am holy." (1Pet 1:16), our we therefore exempt from such things because it is impossible to succeed in doing so? It is imperative to remember that man's fallenness is no excuse for his fallenness. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Men are wholly responsible for the way they are and the condition of their dead souls. A man who drinks himself into a drunken stupor and then gets behind the wheel of a car is totally responsible for killing a pedestrian even though he is incapable of avoiding the accident.

Here is a marvelous quote from that article I referred you to earlier "The Old Gospel and the New" by J.I. Packer:

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To the question: what must I do to be saved? the old gospel replies: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. To the further question: what does it mean to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? its reply is: it means knowing oneself to be a sinner, and Christ to have died for sinners; abandoning all self-righteousness and self-confidence, and casting oneself wholly upon Him for pardon and peace; and exchanging one’s natural enmity and rebellion against God for a spirit of grateful submission to the will of Christ through the renewing of one’s heart by the Holy Ghost.

And to the further question still: how am I to go about believing on Christ and repenting, if I have no natural ability to do these things? it answers: look to Christ, speak to Christ, cry to Christ, just as you are; confess your sin, your impenitence, your unbelief, and cast yourself on His mercy; ask Him to give you a new heart, working in you true repentance and firm faith; ask Him to take away your evil heart of unbelief and to write His law within you, that you may never henceforth stray from Him. Turn to Him and trust Him as best you can, and pray for grace to turn and trust more thoroughly; use the means of grace expectantly, looking to Christ to draw near to you as you seek to draw near to Him; watch, pray, read and hear God’s Word, worship and commune with God’s people, and so continue till you know in yourself beyond doubt that you are indeed a changed being, a penitent believer, and the new heart which you desired has been put within you. The emphasis in this advice is on the need to call upon Christ directly, as the very first step.
We have an entire section on The Highway dedicated to articles and books on "Predestination" which you can find here: Predestination Index.

And among those many articles, there are two in particular you might find helpful:

1) Objections to God's Sovereignty Answered, by A.W. Pink

2) Objections Answered to the Doctrine of Predestination, by Loraine Boettner

In His grace,

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simul iustus et peccator

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