Featured A Tale of Two Faiths

Protestant wrote:

Can the unbiased reader discern the many implications of his answer?

1. It was what he did that made the difference.

We, on the other hand, understand that we believe only because of what God did.

We praise God for giving us faithless sinners the undeserved gift of faith; while DHK believes he was born a sinner with latent faith who needed no faith gift from God.

He merely needed to somehow, by his own power and ingenuity, cause his innate faith to flow forth like a waterfall from a rock.

Would that he could share with the world how he accomplished such a godly miracle.

Perhaps more latent faith-filled sinners would be saved by such knowledge.

2. DHK discounts as irrelevant the innumerable Scriptures depicting the helpless and hopeless condition of the unregenerate.

Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

But DHK had hope. His innate faith was his hope.

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (NASB)

But DHK was not helpless. His innate faith was his help.

3. Though Jesus and the Apostles compare our spiritually dead condition to that of the bodily dead, DHK knows better.

It simply means ‘separation.’ Not a great separation, for the faith he was born with was sufficient to bridge the gap.

In his theological system the separation between filthy sinner and holy God is easily bridged by the sinner’s natural born faith.

He is living proof.

4. Though Jesus and the Apostles compare the sinner’s helpless and hopeless condition to that of a man born blind, unable to see the Sun of Righteousness, DHK’s infirmity was as debilitating as one wearing sunglasses at night.

The list of impenetrable impediments which work against sinners coming to saving faith in Christ is almost inexhaustible.

Needless to say, Pelagian, Arminian, non-Cal, and Synergist faith is quite different from ours.

Despite the sincere claims by DHK that 'all men have faith', the Bible tells us ‘not all have faith.’ (2 Thess. 2:3)

We prefer being gifted with ‘the faith of the Elect.’ (Titus 1:1)

For that is the faith that saves.

 

God loves all men?

God loves the Antichrist, false prophets and those who take the Mark of the Beast?

God loves those who have never heard the name of Christ and will die in their sins?

He has a strange way of showing His love when He throws them into the Lake of Fire.

You never answered the question: Does God love those who are currently being tormented in Hell?

God sends no one to hell?

Sure He does: Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels

In fact, Jesus holds the keys to Hell.

I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

No one goes to Hell without His say-so.

“Those who end up in hell go there because they reject Christ.”

Actually it goes much deeper than that.

There will be many who profess Jesus as Lord and Savior who will go to Hell. Their faith did not save them. They had carnal faith.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Have you never wondered why it is Christ says, ‘I never knew you.’

Why will He not say, ‘You never knew me.’

I await your response.

 

Alas, when placed in context with other Scriptures (comparing Scripture with Scripture) the discerning Bible student comes to a radically different conclusion.

To prove my point I will use the following Scripture:

"I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
7 Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine………
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world."

Here is your dilemma: God so loves the world, yet Jesus does not pray for the world.

Jesus is our Mediator, our High Priest. He is praying for only those given Him by the Father. He is praying for their salvation….that they would be with Him in Heaven.

His next prayer is upon the cross asking the Father to forgive those same ones for whom He is offering Himself as a propitiation for their Hell-deserving sins.

The prayers of Jesus are effectual. His Father always hears and answers His prayers. He says and prays nothing but what is the will of the Father. (I can give scriptural citations, if you wish.)

No one comes to the Father but through Christ the Mediator, the Door.

I now ask, What love is this that God the Son does not pray for every person ever born since, according to your theology, God loves everyone?

Do you not realize that without Christ’s prayers the sinner has no possibility of salvation?

Christ is our Advocate, the only One with whom the Father is well pleased.

What advocate has the sinner if Christ does not pray for him?

The answer: none.

Conclusion: It is neither possible nor scriptural that God loves all men.

For your definition of love strips it of its very essence: the salvation of the hopeless and helpless due to the undeserving grace of God given to those of His free choosing.

 

To God be the glory that you have been blessed to ‘see behind the scenes.'

For that is what the mystery of our Election is all about: a 'behind the scenes' look at how we were saved.

My background is the Hollywood Entertainment Industry (TV and music). I'm now retired.

As such I thoroughly enjoy viewing documentaries which give a ‘behind the scenes' look at how a feature film was made.

The Making of Jaws was great fun to see how, exactly, they put that masterpiece together. Netflix has a multi-document series on the Beatles with much footage of them in the recording studio. I love watching the creative process. It’s the next best thing for me, if I can’t be the one creating.

Our non-Cal friends find it hard to distinguish between the preaching of the Gospel and the ‘behind the scenes' look at salvation concerning which our Lord desires we Christians rightly understand.

But to rightly understand the 'behind the scenes' view of Election one must begin from God's perspective.

To do that one must rightly understand God.

Our duty is to preach Christ crucified. We know that if any are saved, it is not due to our oratory skills (as was exemplified by Paul’s honest admission), but rather due to God’s Spirit working faith in the newly regenerated heart of the sinner.

It is those whom God has loved with an everlasting love.

It is those for whom Christ prays.

It is those whom the Lord will not lose, not one.

The truths held by the doctrines of grace run counter to the natural mind.

But with diligent study and the grace of God in the Holy Spirit all Christians should at least be able to grasp the fact that their reconciliation with our holy and righteous God, whereby they are accepted in the Beloved, is an incomprehensible miracle of grace…..considering we had nothing whatsoever to offer God or deserve His favor.

Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words.

I am a nobody who loves the Lord and His Word.

He set me free. I owe Him everything.

It is hard for me to ‘stand still’ in silence when both the honor, grace and truth of our Lord is stained.

I also understand that our non-Cal friends are very sincere and quite zealous.

I pray that they would continue to seek the Lord to discover what is so great a salvation they really have.

Blessings in Christ, my friend.

PS I also pray God's infinite grace for Tom Butler and family.