Monergism vs Synergism

I didn't say that and nothing I have said should lead anyone to believe I said that. If something must occur after the cross regardless of who does it then it must be the cross+whatever that is. In your case it is the cross+regeneration. It may be the application of what happened on the cross but it still is separate and apart from happening on the cross.

You have to stop telling people what they are thinking. You just don't know that. I do not know I am wrong in fact I am right about your "untenable" standard in which you are trying to hold to someone else but refuse to hold yourself to it. Trying to tell someone that because they choose (application of the cross) is any different than God regenerates in that it occurs as a separate instance from the cross is just wrong and inconsistent.

 

Please quote me verbatim or apologize for your false accusation.

 

What in the world is wrong with you? That's not what I was talking about. You accused me of saying regeneration is not how Christ applies the work of the cross. Why does that have to be explained?

I never said regeneration is not how Christ applies the work of the cross, so your accusation is false and intentionally so.

I did catch you in a severe inconsistency since you yourself believe the cross+regeneration is necessary for salvation. In other words to you the cross is not enough.

 

So, you are saying that God commands that we do something, that He know we are not capable of? Where do you guys get your "theology" from?

 

I fear that because of a "theological block", there are some who cannot grasp what the Bible actually teaches. The sinner is indeed spiritually "dead", but this is in their relation to God, this has been broken because of sin. It is not speaking of being "dead" so that they are incapable of responding to the "convicting" power of the Holy Spirit, Who is said to "convict the WORLD of sin" (John 16:8). You have thus far ignored a response to what I showed from Jesus' own words in John 5:25, which is very clear to those who want to see, that the lost spiritual "dead" and and do hear the Gospel for their salvation. Please deal with this.

 

That is because it is easier for the blind to follow the blind!

 

Your reply completely misses what the text in Acts actually says! God rightly commands that every human being, who are all lost in their sins, repent of these sins and fully trust in Jesus Christ for their salvation. God commands this, because it is a requirement for ALL sinners to get their sins forgiven. the fact that God "commands all men everywhere" to do this, shows beyond any doubt, that the entire human race CAN indeed repent, which is what God the Holy Spirit ensures by His conviction of sin (John 16). Yes, not everyone will repent, because not everyone is interested in what God has said. But this does not mean that they CANNOT, but that they WILL NOT! As Jesus says in John chapter 5, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life" (ver.39-40). Not as some would have us believe, "you cannot will to come", as though their "free will" has been restrained by God, but, "you are not willing", which clearly shows that they COULD will to, but CHOOSE not to!

 

Revelation 22:17

"And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely"

Acts 2:21

"Everyone, whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved" (so the force of the Greek text)

An open invitation to ALL by God Almighty! AMEN!

By the way, why do the Calvinists and Reformed have this opposition to ALL sinners being saved? God Himself says in Ezekiel that He does not take any pleasure (desire) that the wicked should perish, and that they repent and be saved, rather than lost in hell. This is the theme of the whole Bible. And yet there are some who actually oppose God on this very issue. I believe that the Prophet Jonah was the first "Calvinist", as he also strongly opposed what God wanted to do, and did in saving 1000's of lost souls, who are not even part of the Jewish "elect"!

 

Every person that ever gets saved, must first be under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, that they are lost sinners and hell-bound, and that they need to get their souls saved, and this salvation is only to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. No person can ever get converted on their own. No one is capable of being saved without the Holy Spirit first "drawing" them to the Lord Jesus Christ. However, it is plain in Scripture that the Gospel Message has the "power of God that leads to salvation" (Romans 1:16), and they that "repent" of their sins will indeed be saved (Luke 13:1-5)

I have a book by a Loraine Boettner, Studies in Theology, where he also has been confused by what he says. He says in one place, "The Gospel is, nevertheless, to be offered to all men, with the assurance that it is exactly adapted to the needs of all men, and that God has decreed that all who place their faith in Christ shall be saved by Him. No man is lost because of any deficiency in the objective atonement, or because God has placed any barrier in His way, but only because of subjective difficulties, specifically, because because of his own evil disposition and his freely exercised wicked will will prevent his believing and accepting that atonement" (pages 323-324). Now, has God decreed the "ALL" who place their faith in Jesus, as "elect", or "all without exception"? If the former, then Dr Boettner's argument is faulty. Then he goes on to say, that "no man is lost", because of God "placing any barrier in his way", which again can only refer to the "non-elect", but, this reasoning is faulty, as the "barrier" that God has placed, according to Calvinism, is LIMITED ATONEMENT. IF, as this teaches, that Jesus Christ ONLY died for SOME, then this DOES become a "barrier" to those for whom He did not die. Dr Boettner, then accuses the person who does not accept Jesus, of having a "evil disposition" and "freely exercised wicked will", which again contradicts "Calvinism", which teaches that man does NOT have a "free will", to accept or reject the Gospel of Salvation, as their "fate" has already been predetermined.

 

can you firstly explain, how can God command that we do something, knowing full well that it is something that we cannot do? It is a completely different matter, if God commanded that we did something, but Himself did not know whether it were possible or not, that we do it? God commands it, because this is the only way a sinner can get saved, and avoid going eternally to hell. God commands it, because He has made sure that the entire human race is indeed capable of repenting and believing, because this is how He has made human beings. Your reasoning makes God out to be someone who really does not know what He is doing, by making demands of fallen sinners, whom He knows cannot comply! This surely makes God unjust!

 

You called TCassidy arrogant and then you type this sentence. This statement of your is classic arrogance. You have 37 total posts (at last count) and you elevate yourself as an authority? By your prose and the substance of your theological argument you prove that you have a lot to learn.

Of course, it has been broken because of sin. It's not because of his righteousness.

Really? I made my exegetical case. Are you capable of doing that? The convicting power of the Holy Spirit is John 16 has nothing to do with the spiritual condition of man. Matthew Henry writes:

The Spirit, by the word and conscience, is a reprover; ministers are reprovers by office, and by them the Spirit reproves.

Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 2023). Peabody: Hendrickson.

One role of the Holy Spirit was to work through the Apostles in bringing a legal indictment against sin and those who are in their sins (note that Jesus was talking to the Apostles about what was to follow after His ascension). The Apostles would possess the legal right to act as Christ's representatives on earth and the Holy Spirit would be their bona fide.

Ignored it? Please. I was waiting for your response to the exegesis I provided. How are the spiritually dead in John 5:25 able to know the convicting work of the Holy Spirit while they are spiritually dead? Because it is the Holy Spirit doing the convicting. I point you back to my previous posts, which I know you have exhaustively dissected. I am not going to type of them again because I'm convinced I'm talking to a brick.

Tom, have fun with this guy.