Does God select certain people to be saved and forgets about the rest? No, God gives salvation to all but it is up to us to respond and consent to His salvation. There is an argument widely associated with Calvinists that God predestined those He wants to save. This were the term predeterminism comes in. This term means that God selects only certain people to be saved beforehand. Because of words like predestined and elect in scripture led Calvinists to theorize that God saves only certain people.
Although God does predestine certain events as mentioned earlier, does not mean that He predestined certain people to be saved and others to not be saved. The Bible teaches that no one can choose to confess Jesus as Lord unless empowered by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3). And it teaches very clearly that humans wouldn’t will to be saved on their own, apart from the Holy Spirit. Left on our own, we are “dead” toward spiritual things (Eph 2:1, 5). So this is saying that those who are saved, are saved because God worked faith in their hearts to be saved- the Holy Spirit choose through them to be saved,, they did not choose on their own, and I do believe this, don’t get me wrong. However, scriptures like this led many to believe that God only save certain people. I have every right to believe this theory until I read the following verses which totally contradicted this theory.
• 2 Peter 3:9, KJV: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (Explanation: if God only saves certain people and not others, He would not say that He whish none of us shall perish. God’s heart is for everyone to be saved. Do not let anyone make you doubt your salvation and tell you that God only wants certain people saved. The Holy Spirit calls out to all of us to allow Jesus to save us, but is up to us to respond to that call.)
• 1 John 2:2, (KJV) “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (Explanation: the verse is very clear that salvation is given freely to the entire world, but it is up to the person to consent to the Holy Spirit to work faith in their hearts so they can allow Jesus to save them).
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