Featured Salvation - Passive or Active?

I do not know if I understand your question, the voice of "are saved" in Ephesisns 2:8 is passive. . . . σεσωσμενοι . . . .

 

Is there is a middle ground?

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

 

These statements are confined to the gospels.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Acts 16: 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Acts 17:30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 

Bob, why did you believe?

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Bob, that is a wonderful testimony. Like you, I was raised in a Roman Catholic home. I was baptized, made my first communion, and was confirmed. However, the real reason for my question has to do with what caused you to believe. Let me try and explain myself better.

I do not want to assume anything, so I am going to ask you to correct me if I misunderstand your view. You wrote, "The Bible is clear that the Father must draw us to the Son. The Holy Spirit must work His convicting power in our hearts. We are saved in His time, not our own." What you did not write, although I am assuming you believe, is that the Father draws, the Holy Spirit convicts, but the determining factor in salvation is whether or not we believe. IOW God brings the horse to water but He does not make it drink. If He does make the horse drink, then they concept of free will is rendered null and void.

What are your thoughts on this?

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The heart of the issue, imo, is not whether we have an active role in salvation, which we certainly do. We respond to God's intervention in our lives with faith in Jesus.

The issue is whether someone chosen for salvation can resist the intervention of God. I don't think so.

There are many questions that come up in the issue. Since God knows everything, then He knows exactly how much influence each person needs to respond in faith. Since God is all powerful, He is able to exert whatever influence is necessary.

Thanks

 

God knows how much influence is needed. Agreed. But does he look down through the corridors of time and see what is needed and apply it? Or does he create the person with the predetermined amount?

 

Seems God had several magnets on that bus to draw little Bob on board and he decided to go with it.

 

Bob, and that is an important fact to determine because it affects how we answer the question of whether salvation is active or passive.

While I can appreciate that it may not be your motivation, the role of free will in your view cannot be underestimated. You already answered the question when you wrote, "I believe the gospel message can be rejected." Will it surprise you to know that all Monergists (Calvinists) believe that the gospel message can be rejected? We do. Of course, the devil is in the details (excuse the term). We believe that those who are not predestined to eternal life (Ephesians 1:5) will persist in their unbelief and reject the gospel if it is presented to them. They are acting consistently with their sin nature. So, when you quote passages like Mark 10 and Acts 28 to support your position, Monergists see them differently. Those who reject the gospel are those who are not appointed unto eternal life (Acts 13:48).

 

I don't believe God looks through corridors to gain information. What exactly are you asking concerning your 2nd question. The person is created with predetermined amount of....what?

 

Yes. Receive salvation as the gift it is, through faith alone, in Christ alone. God gives us repentance which precedes our faith.

 

Your post implies the sinner has full ability as if the fall into sin and death has had no effect on the sinner.
You suggest a neutral sinner.
Scripture indicates alienated sinners always oppose God,because of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
The accounts in scripture demonstrate God drawing the sinner by various means.

 

#4




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Rightly divide this and there is clarity:

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Jn 1

v12 - man active

v13 - man passive

 

A difficulty held in common with all theologies is where to draw the line, or make a clear distinction, between God's sovereignty and man’s responsibility. At what point does the realm of the eternal where man is totally passive end, and where does the realm of the temporal where man is active and held accountable begin?

The Primitive Baptists in general have given it their best shot to do this and rightly divide by making the distinction between eternal salvation (election, regeneration, etc.) and gospel salvation (obedience, belief, profession of Christ as LORD). A short easy read on this is another of Elder Mike Gowens' essays:

Born Again: The Doctrine of Effectual Calling