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Sovereignity of God part deux!!

zrs6v4

Member
First off, thanks for taking the time to post on this thread!! :thumbs:

No problem sir :)

I bolded the last sentence in this quote to address it. I agree with everything you posted here, but not the context into which you put it. You place the spiritual death from birth(meaning babies that die are doomed to hell because they can not make a "statement of faith", neither place their faith in God), whereas I place the spiritual death from the time God shows them that they are sinners in need of a saviour. That is the difference between you and I in this regards. Apostle Paul stated "he was alive once with the law.........."

I quoted Romans 5:12-17 where Paul reveals Adam as a type of Christ in the sense that he brought sin and death to all. People are born with an inclination to sin- the sin nature. They got that because by one sin God had punished all of mankind and creation.

As for babies, that would be a rabbit trail IMO, and you assumed my position. Yes they are born "in Adam" therefore they are of the curse of mankind. God nowhere gives us clear teaching on how He deals with them. If anything Christ's blood was shed for all babies and all are elect by the will of God. Since the Bible really doesn't go there, I think it is best to leave that aside letting God judge whats right in those cases as with young children.

Romans 7- Everyone is bound to sin. The Law apart from Christ only leads to death and through the Law sin gets worse, why? 7:14- we are sold into the bondage of sin. The Law by itself makes sin within us incredibly worse (7:5 sinful passions aroused by the Law) not because of the good Law but because of our sinful nature in Adam.

Your statement that Paul was alive without the Law would prove to be false if you think a little further. Were the Gentiles who did not have the Law of God guilty of sin in Romans 2? My point is that I believe that Paul is simply saying that the Law only leads to death for us, though it is good. Remember the reason Paul died through the Law was because his internal sin took the good Law and deceived him (7:8-11).



How are babies a different topic? They are human such as we are. If they die spiritually dead(which means seperated from God), then their fate is already laid out. To me, a baby is just like Adam and Eve in the Garden pre-fall. When they were little, they ran around naked every chance they got....sound familiar?? Later on, they realized that when they were naked, they dressed themselves before anyone else could see their nakedness.....sound familiar?? Its only when God shows them that they are "naked" before Him, that they/we are held accountable to Him for the sins which we committed.

That sounds good and all, but Biblically it doesn't line up very nicely. I do understand the general thinking of your view.

Romans 1, 2, and 3 purpose: All (Jews and Gentiles) are guilty of sin by nature or by the Law- None do good no not a single one, no one understands or seeks God. Through the Law comes the knowledge of internal sin- 3:10-20

Romans 4- justification by faith in Christ
Romans 5- YOUR KEY to understanding how everyone has a sin nature. It is because "In Adam death and condemnation came to all mankind" I already quoted 5:14, but look at v.18 "through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men..." 1 sin transgression of God's Law by one man, Adam, resulted in the condemnation and death to all mankind. This is why everyone is born lost, blind, and ready to increase in their sin when they get the chance. In Adam we are dead, in Christ we are alive.

We don't become lost and spiritually blind in the slavery of sin. We are born that way, we are born of the flesh.

You betcha!! :thumbs: I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto His hands, against that day!!

Most Baptists do, praise God! :) I asked this to clear up another misconception of DoG. Generally speaking, the same way God causes us to persevere and continue to see and repent is the same way He brings us to Himself before we are saved. This is why our salvation is a complete work of grace from start to finish justification to glorification (See Romans 8:28-39)

Aye, but here's what wrong with using this for an example. No one goes to jail before having a trial, unless they plead guilty(for a lesser charge, or maybe they felt remorseful afterwards and are willing to take their "comeuppance"). But the thing is, they were made an offer to accept something, eventhough they were guilty. The DoG'ers don't believe the ones that end up end hell will get that offer, they just walk around in their "guilty" state and go straight to the electric chair and "ZAP"...so I think that this was a bad analogy for your cause.

No, my analogy was to show that sinners go to hell to pay for their sin. It doesn't matter if they have an opportunity to be forgiven or not. The point I was making was to refute your view of sinners going to hell because they reject Christ. At best that is secondary to the primary reason for hell. The DoG'ers do believe many of the elect get the offer to turn to Christ for forgiveness. The offer is the same, but the heart by which the offer falls upon is the key. God prepares the hearts of His elect that they may obey the Gospel.

Those who God does not elect to salvation by Grace through faith are left in the slavery of their sin for the purpose of justice. There are many misconceptions that can be drawn, so be careful to dismiss the DoG. Many are called, but few are chosen. Many non-elect hear the call and reject it as we all would apart from God's internal workings of mercy.

This one is easy, "The steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord"!

So does God make the righteous love Him or force them against their will so they will persevere? Or does He continue to do a beautiful work in their hearts that brings about continual repentance and faith in Christ to the end?


I agree with this wholeheartedly. I just believe that grace will be offered to all, and not some, You believe that grace is offered to the elect only, and not all. I don't know what you mean by "being saved daily"?? I am saved(past tense), and will remained saved forever, solely by His grace. Please elaborate some on this "being saved daily", please?

I don't believe God equally and effectually works in every human being who has ever lived. What I do believe is that God effectually saves some. I also believe the offer of the Gospel is extended to all the people that hear the truth. When I said grace brings us to God I meant the effectual work of God brings us to Him, and that same effectual work brings us home in accordance with Romans 8:28-39.

By saved daily I meant that God continually works within us effectually throughout our entire lives. Yes we are justified and forgiven of our sins once, but our sin nature is still hard at work and ready to lead us astray every day. Therefore, the power and grace of God keeps us in Christ, and this is the same power that brought us to Him to begin with. Salvation rests solely on the power of God before we are justified and until we are glorified. This is why Peter says to make our election sure, so our confidence is in the power of God rather than what we did in coming to Him.
 
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zrs6v4

Member
What has puzzled me about this is, if the aging process is due to sin, why did Jesus age? I know he is the sinless Son of God. Can you shed some light on this?

Romans 8:1-4, "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
 
I'm sorry to break in on another conversation you are having, but I did want to observe two things in your statements (The sentences I have boldened)

There is no problem with you doing this, Brother!! You are welcome to jump in on anything I posted anytime you want to!! :thumbs:

This is not the case, scripturally speaking. Before God sought out Adam and Eve, they knew they were naked. God did not need to show them. Their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked before God came to inquire of them.

I am sorry about my misquote, oops! I realized this after I had posted it, and was kinda busy and didin't get a chance to correct my faux pas. Thanks for the correction. The point I was trying to make is that until the point they fell in the garden, they didn't know it was wrong to be naked, and it states this in Genesis.

Gen. 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

The "shameness" came after they realized they were naked, (eyes opened to sin), and they dressed themselves with fig leaves. When God came calling them, they hid from Him because they knew they had done the very thing God told them not to do. They knew it, and did it anyways.

Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Looks like Eve knew it was wrong and listened to Satan anyways.

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

I believe that a new born baby is just like Adam and Eve prior to the fall. A baby will run around naked every chance they get, and they don't realize it's a sin to them.

This is not true. We (as DoGs) believe that God gives a bona fide offer to anyone. He is not required to do so, but He often does give the offer to those who are not elect. Is it a genuine offer? Absolutely. There is no difference in the offer to a non-elect person and an elect person. The difference is this: with the elect person, God makes the unwilling person willing.

Sorry if I misrepresented your stance on the "offer". In limited atonement, doesn't the DoG state that the atonement is limited to the elect only? If so, then how could the "offer" be extended to anyone who is considered non-elect by your doctrine?? John 1:29, John the Baptist states, "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the whole world!!" Romans 5:6 states that "Christ died for the ungodly" and we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and that alone make all ungodly. So I see this as Christ dying for all, the "offer" being extended to all, but only those who accept the "offer" will receive it. I love you Brother!! Thanks again for the civil debate!!

i am I am's!!

Willis
 

The Archangel

Well-Known Member
Jesus aged because He was also man. Jesus had a sin-nature (though He never sinned). Jesus was everything we are as humans. His humanity is not (and cannot be) diminished. The difference with Jesus is that He is the God-Man--fully God and fully man at the same time.

Jesus needed to be fully human (including our inherent sin nature) so that we could be fully redeemed. As Athanasius said (paraphrase): that which is not taken up is not redeemed. Meaning that had Christ not had our sin nature, we could not be redeemed in totality.

So, to enter a ridiculous hypothetical, we may pose the question: Had Christ lived to be 75 before the cross, would He have had gray hair and wrinkles? To some extent, I think the answer has to be yes. But there is no way to know and an exploration of this particular hypothetical exercise would literally be fruitless.

The Archangel

For a needed clarification, see here: http://www.baptistboard.com/showpost.php?p=1631174&postcount=54
 

The Archangel

Well-Known Member
???? Did you "cut and paste" this here by mistake???

No....I couldn't figure out how to edit the original post and I thought the clarification was necessary for anyone who wasn't following Robert's new thread.

If any moderator or administrator type would like to edit the post (the one quoted) and insert the clarification link....that'd be fine with me.

The Archangel
 
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