Featured Hebrews 11

The word of God is Spirit and life bread the came down from heaven we eat we have life we don't we have no life. Those before Christ heard the message of their salvation and believed was credited His righteous. Regeneration before faith is ridiculous.


The only way to receive faith is by hearing by the word of God.

If you were in a different city and you heard all God was doing and you believed God and you want to help the spies even if you are a prostitute that faith will be credited to you Christ righteousness.

If you want to ignore the point that faith comes by hearing I might as well be talking to the wall. Regeneration comes by eating not by ignoring that truth.

Jesus tells us His word is Spirit and life and if you don't eat you have no life in you.

When God leads you out of Egypt you eat and then say you have life.

We all know good and evil because we obtain that from eating of that tree. The law written on our hearts leads to death because we all sinned and praise God that Jesus came to save sinners repent turn to Him and live. We are not alive to repent we repent to live. There is nothing wrong with dying in our sin to turn to Christ to be alive in Him. To be born again to become the new creation in Him Chosen before the foundation of the world


Romans 6
New International Version (NIV)
Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,[Or be rendered powerless] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

 

What do you think Faith is?

My faith that came by hearing the word of God teaches me that I am a sinner and the Law written on my heart tells me the same. I am a sinner in need of a savior. All men are sinners. The wages of my sin is death. I can't pay that debt and be saved. Jesus paid my debt and I am to trust in Him and learn from Him and He paid my debt and He will lead me to life eternal and change my life. If I was good for now on and obeyed the Law for now on It wouldn't pay my debt. There is nothing I can do to pay my debt (death)and be saved, So I am saved by grace.

If it wasn't for the word of God that lead me to this faith that to trust and believe in Jesus to turn to Him that He did what I couldn't. I would not be saved. He changed by life drawn me by His loving kindness, no choice I was given a new will and I wanted nothing else. I believe we live because we eat and it is what comes in the body that changes me not what comes out of the body. It is the food we eat that changes us. I have nothing in of my self to change me. I want to eat every word of Christ and drink in the life He lived


"What is faith? It is made up of three things—knowledge, belief, and trust. Knowledge comes first. "How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" I want to be informed of a fact before I can possibly believe it. "Faith cometh by hearing"; we must first hear, in order that we may know what is to be believed. "They that know thy name shall put their trust in thee." A measure of knowledge is essential to faith; hence the importance of getting knowledge. "Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live." Such was the word of the ancient prophet, and it is the word of the gospel still. Search the Scriptures and learn what the Holy Spirit teacheth concerning Christ and His salvation. Seek to know God: "For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." May the Holy Spirit give you the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord! Know the gospel: know what the good news is, how it talks of free forgiveness, and of change of heart, of adoption into the family of God, and of countless other blessings. Know especially Christ Jesus the Son of God, the Saviour of men, united to us by His human nature, and yet one with God; and thus able to act as Mediator between God and man, able to lay His hand upon both, and to be the connecting link between the sinner and the Judge of all the earth. Endeavour to know more and more of Christ Jesus. Endeavour especially to know the doctrine of the sacrifice of Christ; for the point upon which saving faith mainly fixes itself is this— "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." Know that Jesus was "made a curse for us, as it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." Drink deep of the doctrine of the substitutionary work of Christ; for therein lies the sweetest possible comfort to the guilty sons of men, since the Lord "made him to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Faith begins with knowledge.
The mind goes on to believe that these things are true. The soul believes that God is, and that He hears the cries of sincere hearts; that the gospel is from God; that justification by faith is the grand truth which God hath revealed in these last days by His Spirit more clearly than before. Then the heart believes that Jesus is verily and in truth our God and Saviour, the Redeemer of men, the Prophet, Priest, and King of His people. All this is accepted as sure truth, not to be called in question. I pray that you may at once come to this. Get firmly to believe that "the blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanseth us from all sin"; that His sacrifice is complete and fully accepted of God on man's behalf, so that he that believeth on Jesus is not condemned. Believe these truths as you believe any other statements; for the difference between common faith and saving faith lies mainly in the subjects upon which it is exercised. Believe the witness of God just as you believe the testimony of your own father or friend. "If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater."
So far you have made an advance toward faith; only one more ingredient is needed to complete it, which is trust. Commit yourself to the merciful God; rest your hope on the gracious gospel; trust your soul on the dying and living Saviour; wash away your sins in the atoning blood; accept His perfect righteousness, and all is well. Trust is the lifeblood of faith; there is no saving faith without it. The Puritans were accustomed to explain faith by the word "recumbency." It meant leaning upon a thing. Lean with all your weight upon Christ. It would be a better illustration still if I said, fall at full length, and lie on the Rock of Ages. Cast yourself upon Jesus; rest in Him; commit yourself to Him. That done, you have exercised saving faith. Faith is not a blind thing; for faith begins with knowledge. It is not a speculative thing; for faith believes facts of which it is sure. It is not an unpractical, dreamy thing; for faith trusts, and stakes its destiny upon the truth of revelation. That is one way of describing what faith is.
Let me try again. Faith is believing that Christ is what He is said to be, and that He will do what He has promised to do, and then to expect this of Him. The Scriptures speak of Jesus Christ as being God, God is human flesh; as being perfect in His character; as being made of a sin-offering on our behalf; as bearing our sins in His own body on the tree. The Scripture speaks of Him as having finished transgression, made an end of sin, and brought in everlasting righteousness. The sacred records further tell us that He "rose again from the dead," that He "ever liveth to make intercession for us," that He has gone up into the glory, and has taken possession of Heaven on the behalf of His people, and that He will shortly come again "to judge the world in righteousness, and his people with equity." We are most firmly to believe that it is even so; for this is the testimony of God the Father when He said, "This is my beloved Son; hear ye him." This also is testified by God the Holy Spirit; for the Spirit has borne witness to Christ, both in the inspired Word and by divers miracles, and by His working in the hearts of men. We are to believe this testimony to be true.
Faith also believes that Christ will do what He has promised; that since He has promised to cast out none that come to Him, it is certain that He will not cast us out if we come to Him. Faith believes that since Jesus said, "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everasting life, it must be true; and if we get this living Water from Christ it will abide in us, and will well up within us in streams of holy life. Whatever Christ has promised to do He will do, and we must believe this, so as to look for pardon, justification, preservation, and eternal glory from His hands, according as He has promised them to believers in Him.
Then comes the next necessary step. Jesus is what He is said to be, Jesus will do what He says He will do; therefore we must each one trust Him, saying, "He will be to me what He says He is, and He will do to me what He has promised to do; I leave myself in the hands of Him who is appointed to save, that He may save me. I rest upon His promise that He will do even as He has said." This is a saving faith, and he that hath it hath everlasting life. Whatever his dangers and difficulties, whatever his darkness and depression, whatever his infirmities and sins, he that believeth thus on Christ Jesus is not condemned, and shall never come into condemnation.
May that explanation be of some service! I trust it may be used by the Spirit of God to direct my reader into immediate peace. "Be not afraid; only believe." Trust, and be at rest.
My fear is lest the reader should rest content with understanding what is to be done, and yet never do it. Better the poorest real faith actually at work, than the best ideal of it left in the region of speculation. The great matter is to believe on the Lord Jesus at once. Never mind distinctions and definitions. A hungry man eats though he does not understand the composition of his food, the anatomy of his mouth, or the process of digestion: he lives because he eats. Another far more clever person understands thoroughly the science of nutrition; but if he does not eat he will die, with all his knowledge. There are, no doubt, many at this hour in Hell who understood the doctrine of faith, but did not believe. On the other hand, not one who has trusted in the Lord Jesus has ever been cast out, though he may never have been able intelligently to define his faith. Oh dear reader, receive the Lord Jesus into your soul, and you shall live forever! "He that believeth in Him hath everlasting life."
Spurgeon

 

Again, you're conflating two things--salvation and sanctification. They are different. Salvation and sanctification are spoken of in the "already-not-yet." Those of us who believe in Christ are already saved, and we are not yet saved--the fuller expression of salvation coming at the final judgment when we are declared not guilty based on Christ's life, death, and resurrection.

Sanctification also happens in the already-not-yet. We are sanctified, we are being sanctified (and sanctifying ourselves), though we won't be fully sanctified until we stand in His presence either at our deaths or His return.

That said, there is, I think, something you're missing even in your most recent question:

Abraham. When God called Abraham, Abraham was not a Yahweh worshiper; he was an idol worshiper. So, God calls Abraham and, essentially, ensures that Abraham will become who He has called him to be. God does a great, long, and pain-staking work in the life of Abraham. Indeed the faithless Abram who lies to Pharaoh and Abimelech is not the same Abraham that is willing to sacrifice Isaac. God's work has been done in the mean time and Abraham is forever changed.

Noah. One of the points often missed in the Noah account is the work of God to keep Noah faithful. All mankind is described as desiring "only evil continually" at the beginning of the Noah account and at the end. So, with those book-end statements, it's clear that nothing has fundamentally changed in the nature of man. Hence, Noah isn't some special person who has avoided the sin nature. No, God is portrayed, by implication, as the One who keeps Noah "righteous." It is further demonstrated by Noah's sin of drunkenness (and the sin of his son) that he is every bit the sinful human that others are.

Moses. Moses is an interesting study. He is a murderer. What is, perhaps, the more egregious thing, though, is that Moses thought himself to be the self-appointed deliver of Israel (which is why he killed the Egyptian slave master).

None of these men were "special" before God's calling on their lives. All of them were special--yet still very sinful--after God's calling on their lives.

When you consider the entire storyline of the Bible, it is clear that God has irrevocably and indelibly called these men. And, of course, as the Creator, He has every right to do so. And, none of these men made the first move. It's clear, at every turn, that they were responding to God, not causing Him to respond.

The Archangel

 

We need a lot of example's of those who God worked on and changed. That God can even change a person having Christians murdered.

The sad things God called a whole nation and worked on them, but many turned their back on God.

We have the best example the young rich ruler who thought what he had was more important then what God called him to do.

We do need the good examples of sinners even having difficulties never completely turning away from God.

David is one of the greatest examples for me, the man after God's own heart.

Romans 10:21
But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

 

No...it is not correct at all. men are fully responsible for their actions.

the reigning power of sin has been broken in the life of a christian....but sin and disobedience is still possible.That is why believers are commanded and instructed to believe, repent, mortify, speak truth,...it is commanded, but not automatic......God works in us,and yet we diligently work.

Those who misunderstand predestination portray it as man is no longer a free moral agent....but they are mistaken to do this.

 

No, an infant willing it's own birth is ridiculous.

If faith is a fruit of the Spirit, what must happen first?

 

Do you actually believe that Moses could have refused God at the burning bush? Or that Paul could reject Christ on the road to Damascus?

Remember Jonah, he refused, and ended up doing it anyway.

 

Two aspects derived from Heb 11:

1. A deep conviction of the intangible.

1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.
7 By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house...
10 for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly....
27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

All in the same vein as:

24 For in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth?
25 But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Ro 8

2. A deep conviction that God exists and that He honors those that please Him:

6 And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.

In the same vein as:

6 who will render to every man according to his works:
7 to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life: Ro 2

This is the same kind of conviction that drew Nicodemus to Christ that fateful night; or caused the rich young ruler to run to Christ, kneel before Him, and address Him with divine respect; or moved the Samaritan to help him who had fallen to the robbers while the priest and the Levite walked on by.

34 And Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
35 but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to him. Acts 10

 

You are trying to reconcile your new birth with the old birth. In order for you to be reborn you need to die to self be buried with Christ and raise again to live the new life. It is the new creation we become in Christ that is chosen before the foundation of the world. Many truly need milk they are not ready for solid food.

Jesus word is Spirit and life that has to come first where our faith comes from and those who believe in Him streams of living water will flow from within them.

 

Would you agree with me:

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

That was going to take place because of, learned, obedience of faith by the Christ being born of a woman and that, the Christ would be the seed, singular, of Abraham; That Abraham was called from unbelief unto belief for that purpose?

That the seed to come, singular, of Abraham was the faith of Abraham by which Abraham was imputed with righteousness?

 

No, man has no more part in the spiritual birth from above than he does his physical birth here below:

who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Jn 1:13

Regeneration, man totally passive.

 

Good passages percho, good thoughts.

 

Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, Romans 4:16

Does that mean to believe as Abraham believed? I do not believe so.

I believe it means as Abraham was called of God so also, must one, be called, given the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth unto belief, putting one in Christ therefore making that one the seed of Abraham and an heir with Abraham, joint heirs with of Christ.

You are of the faith of Abraham. Say death comes to you; You would be dead in Christ, dead in the bosom of father Abraham. Awaiting, the dead in Christ shall rise first, in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.

Regeneration??

 

As usual, this is good stuff, great insights. I always appreciate your input on these threads AA.

 

No, not at all.

You seem to be either unable or unwilling to understand what I'm trying to say: Salvation and sanctification are two different things. In your responses, you seem to want an either/or answer and, in doing so, you're looking for a false dichotomy.

Is there "effort" of man involved? In some way, yes. But, it is in response to God's initial working; it is not the cause of God's initial working.

So, there is an element of praise that is rightly directed to those in Hebrews 11 (though, the author of Hebrews is not intending us to praise them. He's merely holding them up as examples of running and finishing well). But, it isn't as if our eyes should stop at those in Hebrews 11. After all, Jesus Himself said "do good works so that God is glorified" (my paraphrase). As Ephesians 1 suggests, all that God has done for us is to the praise of His glory. So, there is an element of both/and. But, it can never be the case, biblically, that our working gives God the go-ahead to begin His working.

The Archangel

 

I must apologize... I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to say.

The Archangel

 

It doesn't matter how good you think you are. You are a free agency responsible for your sin. We are dead to sin just like the rest of the world. We are not more righteous than anyone else who is dead to sin.

That we go to Him just as we are dead to sin come to the cross to die with Him to be raised to walk the new life in Christ. It is like the wind I don't see the Holy Spirit working in my life through God Word through Christ but I am seeing the results. What good news we have to a dead world, to bad so many can't t share the Gospel.

That Jesus came to save sinners Dead men like me and I am the worst. Repent turn to Jesus and you will live.


John 6:40
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

I am saved only by the will of the Father

 

Hi Steaver, six pages and counting, yet no one seems able to grasp your question, let alone answer it. We get answers to questions never asked, and answers that present two mutually exclusive ideas as if coherent.

The best answer provided was they were not being praised for the faith by which they gained approval, but for the faithfulness they exhibited after they were given faith. This claims they were regenerated before Christ rose from the dead, and thus they did not follow Christ in the regeneration. Unbiblical but mainstream Calvinism.

Bottom line, according to Calvinism all the faithful actions were predestined (i.e. whatsoever comes to pass)and therefore so what! Why give a baby a bath, then praise the baby for taking the bath?