Featured Faith

The jailer where Paul was being held asked how he could be saved.
Act 16:29 Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
Act 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Act 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Act 16:32 And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
Act 16:33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
MB

 

I do not think we become believers from something that comes from within ourselves but that we are called unto belief by being given the Spirit of Truth for the purpose of God.

We are called out of unbelief unto belief therefore becoming believers.

I think, to think, anything else would be to think we have to save ourselves in order to be saved.

 

Gill

because God hath from, the beginning chosen you to salvation; which is to be understood, not of an election of them, as a nation, for they were not a nation, only a part of one; nor of them as a church, for they were not so from the beginning; nor to the outward means of grace, the ministry of the word and ordinances, for the choice is unto salvation; nor to any office, for they were not all officers in the church, only some; nor does it intend the effectual calling, for that is distinguished from it in the following verse; but an eternal appointment of persons to grace and glory: and this is an act of God the Father, in Christ, from eternity; and which arises from his sovereign good will and pleasure, and is an instance of his free grace and favour, for the glorifying of himself; and is irrespective of the faith, holiness, and good works of men; all which are the fruits and effects, and not the motives, conditions, or causes of electing grace. This act is the leading one to all other blessings of grace, as justification, adoption, calling, and glorification, and is certain and immutable in itself, and in its effects. The date of it is "from the beginning": not from the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel to them, and the sense be, that, as soon as the Gospel was preached, they believed, and God chose them; for what was there remarkable in them, that this should be peculiarly observed of them? The Bereans are said to be more noble than they were: nor from the beginning of their calling, for predestination or election precedes calling; see Romans 8:30 nor from the beginning of time, or of the creation of the world, but before the world began, even from eternity; and in such sense the phrase is used in Proverbs 8:23 and that it is the sense of it here, is manifest from Ephesians 1:4 where this choice is said to be before the foundation of the world. The end to which men, by this act, are chosen, is "salvation": not temporal, though the elect of God are appointed to many temporal salvations and deliverances, and which they enjoy both before and after conversion; yet salvation here designs the salvation of the soul, though not exclusive of the body, a spiritual and an eternal salvation, salvation by Jesus Christ, as is expressed in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and the same decree that appoints men to salvation, appoints Christ to be the Saviour of them


I will grant some commentaries agree with you.

 

The gospel is the faith we heard about, through which we were given and or received the promise of the Spirit.

O thoughtless Galatians, who did bewitch you, not to obey the truth -- before whose eyes Jesus Christ was described before among you, crucified (that is going away in death)? this only do I wish to learn from you -- by works of law the Spirit did ye receive, or by the hearing of faith?

Consider what Jesus said concerning the Spirit, the comforter, the Spirit of Truth.

John 16:7,13 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away (die): for if I go not away (die), the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart (die), I will send him unto you. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

Jesus, learning through sufferings, the obedience and becoming obedient unto death even the death of the cross, was the faith you heard about through which you can receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus dying is the obedience of faith.

Gal 3:14 YLT that to the nations the blessing of Abraham may come in Christ Jesus, that the promise of the Spirit we may receive through the faith. ----- for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you

I do not know how the Word of God could be ant clearer.

who in the days of his flesh both prayers and supplications unto Him who was able to save him from death -- with strong crying and tears -- having offered up, and having been heard in respect to that which he feared, through being a Son, did learn by the things which he suffered -- the obedience,

Yes even the Son of God learned the obedience. The obedience of what? Death even the death of the cross.

Phil 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

And what did God the Father do because of this obedience unto death?

V 9 Wherefore < Because of this obedience) God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
Acts 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.

If he had not been obedient unto death he would not have been exalted nor received the promise of the Holy Spirit in order to send forth.

 

One more thought on this. 14 English translations in Blue Letter Bible of Mark 11:22 and only one correct.

13 Have faith in God.
YLT Have faith of God.

I do not think there is anything in man that could be construed as faith other than If God be in him.

V 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Will that mountain move if you want it to or will it have to be according to the will of God?

for the soul of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. Lev 17:11 Darby
who in the days of his flesh both prayers and supplications unto Him who was able to save him from (out of) death -- with strong crying and tears -- having offered up, and having been heard in respect to that which he feared, through being a Son, did learn by the things which he suffered -- the obedience, Heb 5:7,8 YLT
and having cried with a loud voice, Jesus said, 'Father, to Thy hands I commit my spirit;' and these things having said, he breathed forth the spirit.

Was it an act of faith for Jesus (the Son of God) to breath forth his spirit into the hands of the Father?

Was it the spirit of Jesus that was in the blood that made the flesh of Jesus, living soul? Was Jesus then corruptible flesh, soul without life? Dead?

Was the very being of the Son in the hands of the Father?

 

We can't let slide that the reformed have predestinated at the wrong place. You could only be pr

The problem here is you inject ' irresistible grace ' into everything. Imagine its not true if it helps understand the other position ( of course it really isn't true ,but ..) The Gospel is truth and some people of course reject the truth so as to be saved . God has said what the prerequisite IS and that is faith . Without faith its impossible to please God . Now read 1cor 1.21 .
Notice in 2cor 4 that were not born blind . Why would Satan be putting blind folds on already blind people ? is he nuts ?
And notice he tries to block the light . The Gospel is the light .

 

Why have you answered from another man's thoughts?

 

////The gospel is the faith we heard about, through which we were given and or received the promise of the Spirit.///
I cannot work out what your saying here ? The Gospel is the faith?

 

Shall I just post back the commentator that agrees with my position ,and then we both reveal that we have given over our sense making to ' orthodoxy ' and other men ?

 

2This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Upon hearing the Gospel and responding by faith we then recieve the Holy Spirit .
Eph 1.13-14 .

13¶In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

So he is saying why are you trying to be made perfect in the flesh ( circumcision) when it was by faith you recieved salvation. Faith v works .

 

Isnt John 16 .7 talking about the disciples?
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away (die): for if I go not away (die), the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart (die), I will send him unto you. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
They the Holy Spirit will show THEM

 

Pistus

 

The disciples . Jesus told them the gospel many times .
31¶Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
32For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on:
33And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
34¶And they understood none of these things : and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

Luke 24 . Even after his death they do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Even seeing the empty tomb they don't understand..
6He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
7Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
8¶And they remembered his words,
9And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.
10 It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.
11And their words seemed to them as IDLE TALES , and they BELIEVED THEM NOT .

THE RESURRECTION, AN IDLE TALE ?

Can someone be saved today if they don't believe the above ?

 

2 Corinthians 4 says NOTHING about how men are born, so you are presenting an "argument from silence".

• Prove from 2 Corinthians 4 that Satan did not blind men from BIRTH!
  
• Prove from 2 Corinthians 4 that Satan did not blind ALL MEN FROM BIRTH!
  
• Prove from 2 Corinthians 4 that God did not open the eyes of some men.

2 Corinthians 4 does not deal with any of these questions, so it provides no answers to them. It merely affirms that some men ARE BLINDED TO THE GOSPEL.

What do you make of Romans 3:11 where "NNE SEEKS AFTER GOD" and John 3:20 where "everyone who does evil" (which is everyone) "hates the Light, and does not come to the Light" (the Light is Jesus) and 1 Corinthians 2:14 where "the natural man" (which is everyone pre-salvation) "does not accept the things of the Spirit of God" because "they are foolishness to him" and "he cannot understand them"?

How do men come to God unless God draws them Himself (John 6:44)?

 

Here is where I have "predestined" ...

• [Acts 4:28 NASB] 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.
• [Romans 8:29-30 NASB] 29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined [to become] conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
• [1 Corinthians 2:7 NASB] 7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden [wisdom] which God predestined before the ages to our glory;
• [Ephesians 1:5, 11 NASB] 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, ... 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,

So I have "predestined" after "foreknew" but before "the ages" and "called". I have "predestined" to "[God's] purpose" and "conformed to the image of His Son" and "hidden [wisdom]" and "us to adoption" and "His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will".

So where do YOU have "predestination"?

 

A human being cannot function with out the ability to trust. We trust a chair to hold us when we sit in it. We trust our Cars to take us to work and so on With this same trust we believe that Christ has saved or will save us. Trust = Faith. We are born with the ability to trust. A measure of faith is given to everyman when they are created.
Notice;
Eph_1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Trust comes first. You may not believe this yet scripture does not lie.

Belief is having faith, Paul told the Jailer to believe on Jesus and he did.
MB

 

2 Thessalonians 3:2.

 

Again its your burden of proof . I don't believe we are born blind due to gnostic soteriology. Thats your beliefs and worldview. So Satan determined everything before the foundation of the world ?

 

After God knows us as sons ( Foreknew)
The Adoption hasn't happened ( Rom 8.23 ) nor are we conformed yet . That is what we are predestined to after we believe . You have nothing to look forward to and its not guaranteed for you . Because you misread the scriptures thinking it says ' predestioned to be converted. Your predestination has already taken place ' conversion ' . What comfort is that? as a saved person already ? I'm guranteed by being predestinated after I believed to be glorified. I don't need the faulty P in TULIP either .