James 4:2
James 4:2
You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
If that is literally true, then not everything is set in stone, which works against Calvinistic Determinism.
Matthew 7:7: “‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.’”
Matthew 21:22: “‘And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.’”
Mark 11:24: “‘Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.’”
Notice how God puts it back on man, while Calvinists seek to put everything on God, including all sin and wickedness. God is saying that certain things would happen, if we did something, but if everything was already set in stone, then what is the point of saying what things could and would otherwise be like? Now having said that, I do not underestimate a Calvinist’s ability to rationalize anything, in order to harmonize Calvinism. We have “secret-wills” and “of the elect” arguments and “the means” type explanations, all of which testify of Calvinistic ingenuity. However, despite Calvinistic ingenuity, what is the heart of the passage telling us? Is it implying that everything is set in stone?
