Internet Theologian
Well-Known Member
This I believe is error. It is the Reformed or Calvinistic view. As I said before it makes God out to be schizophrenic, or at the very least it makes the Calvinistic to blatantly contradict the Scriptures having God contradict himself.
Please validate your above implications of the brothers my friend.
First, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is well defined in John 16:8-11.
Amen! It actually extends beyond verse 11 though.
Second, there is no scripture backing up this concept that faith and repentance are gifts from God to the unsaved.
There actually are. It is not according to man's ability nor are these innate, but are instead granted by God.
Third, God commands all men every where to repent. He commands men to repent. He doesn't change his mind and then say: "Never mind I will do the repenting for you." Absurd.
Straw man. By the way that is in Acts and you say that it isn't in the NT epistles so you do away with this necessary command by your improper hermeneutic.
Fourth, the same is true with faith. Well over a hundred times we are commanded to have faith or believe. Why would Christ command us to believe or have faith, and then turn around and say: "never mind, I will do it for you. I will give you the faith to believe."
He doesn't do it for us, he grants us the ability. More straw man arguments from you bro.
God is not a schizophrenic. He commands us to repent.
That's in Acts and you preach it is invalid because it is not in the NT epistles and argue for it only being a transitional thing. Funny how God according to you changed His methods of calling His elect after the ministries in the book of Acts ended.
Maybe God changes things for the better or improves on His old methods, trial and error. Maybe that is what you are getting at.
He commands us to believe. He never says he will do it for us, or give us repentance and faith. This is contrary to all teaching in the Bible and contrary to the very nature of God.
Furthermore faith in the Bible in spoken of in two ways: as a spiritual gift in 1Cor.12 and as a fruit of the Spirit in Gal.6. God would never give one of his gifts of the Spirit neither Spiritual fruit to the unregenerate.
You teach people already have this faith inside them before salvation. Then you argue that it would be absurd for God to give faith to persons before salvation. Hmmm. Your argument is seen for what it is here my friend, it's senseless.
This is totally absurd.
Agreed, your argument is just that.
He commands all men to repent. He commands all men to believe. I still have never received an answer to the question "Whatever happened to sola fide?" Have they just all tossed it out the window. It is no longer believed. How many other "solas" do todays reformers no longer believe?
Straw man argument.
Last edited: