Featured A Dispensationalist View of Calvinism

That's right, Van.
The scripture says in Romans 4 that Abraham 's justification was by faith <now get this> THAT IT MIGHT BE BY GRACE!

Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace.

He had said;

13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith

And you are right again when you say the Reformed does not see a condition in passages that have conditions all over the place. Just look at this in this same chapter and in the time frame you and I live in. Look!

21 And (Abraham) being fully persuaded that, what he (God the Father) had promised, he was able also to perform.
22 And therefore it (his believing) was imputed to him for righteousness.
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it (righteousness) was imputed to him;
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, <now get this> if we believe on him <God the Father> that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead <see Ga 1:1>;
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

IOW, it is obvious that we did not believe the same thing Abraham believed because he did not even know the name of the Son of God like we do, but he believed the same God who promised him.

THE POINT IS THAT ALL MEN EVERYWHERE AND IN EVERY TIME ARE JUSTIFIED BY BELIEVING WHAT GOD SAYS TO THEM! It is God who justifies, but it is Jesus that saves the soul. It is the Spirit who is life and when he is in the body of the justified believer, he is the life of God and is the life of the believer. We are told that unequivocally in Romans 8 this great truth. Look;

Rom 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.


Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

There is not a Reformed believer alive today who will believe what I just quoted from the scriptures.

A sinner can be justified by God without being saved by Jesus Christ, and all who are saved have been so justified, BUT, No one can be saved by Jesus Christ without being justified, because the Spirit of God is given as the gift of God when a sinner believes in Jesus Christ for his salvation. If you who are reading this does not believe it, then you do not believe this quote below concerning the Spirit of God, who gives eternal life to the one he indwells because he is life and he will never leave us nor forsake us.

Ga 1:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Abraham was justified by faith before he had the Spirit. He simply believed God. No one ever had the gift of the Spirit to indwell them eternally until Jesus died and rose again.

14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Now, look at this Van. Grace of God the Father is accessed <now get this> by faith. Look.

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

There are PhD,s, many of them, who are Reformed. They are all wrong about God, every one of them.This proves that truth is not taught by men who have not been taught by God.

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

 

There may be much wrong compared to Calvinism but no one can say I am misquoting the scriptures. I am quoting what they say.

 

Let's engage in a little exercise. Abraham lived 2000 years before Jesus Christ came into the world. I have already quoted the scriptures saying Abraham was justified by faith. What did Abraham believe? Well, we are taken back to Genesis15 because this is when the text says Abraham was justified by his believing what God said to him. It is stated clearly in Romans 4. Look.

3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it (= his believing) was counted unto him for righteousness.

I do not know how it could be said with more clarity, but if you can believe it, it is. Look here.

5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

What member of the trinity is Abraham believing. Answer. It is God. We know him today as "God the Father."

God the Father has imputed Abraham's believing what he said to him for righteousness. When that happened, the ungodly Abraham is no longer guilty because Abraham has committed the act of believing what God said to him. Now, Abraham has the righteousness that God requires of him and he is not guilty in God's eyes. What changed in Abraham that God declared him righteous, according to the text? Answer; He believed what God said to him.

So, there were two actions that took place and one followed the other. First, while in the state of being ungodly, Abraham heard what God said to him and his action was to believe what he heard. Next, God saw that Abraham believed what he said to him and imputed his believing for righteousness and declared him not guilty. A righteous man is not guilty. A man who is declared "justified" is not guilty.

It is important to know right here that this justification did not take Abraham's sins away. The scriptures clearly says that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. It will be two thousand years before the blood of the perfect Lamb of God will die to take away sin. Here is what happened when he came.

Re 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

So, what have we learned. We have learned that God has the power to justify a sinner by the divine act of imputing something that comes from the sinner for righteousness and the sinner can be declared "just." What is it that can be imputed to his account? It is faith. That is what the text tells us.What kind of faith? Believing from the heart. Look here.

Ro 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
Ro 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him (in thine heart) shall not be ashamed.

What exactly did Abraham believe? Are we told? The answer is yes, we are told.

20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

What was the promise? It was that he and Sarah would have a child. This was made long after Sarah was past childbearing at 90 years old and Abraham was 100 years old. The evidence of Abraham's faith is that Sarah became pregnant and birthed a miraculous son.

17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations) before him whom he believed, [even] God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

This is what Abraham believed and the response of God was to impute his faith in what he promised for righteousness.

Now, After Jesus came, we today will not be believing the same thing Abraham believed. We have much more information and we must believe what God says to us. What does he say to us? Here it is. this is what he says to us.

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it (faith/righteousness) was imputed to him;
24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Things are different now. If we believe God, who says he will save us by believing in his Son, Jesus Christ, whom he has raised from the dead, by giving us his actual righteousness to dwell in our bodies, in the person of his Spirit, who is given to us as the gift of God when we believe in him..
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

1Co 1:30 But of him (God the Father) are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

I can show you when Abraham's sin were washed away, because they had to be washed away before he could be in the presence of God. I will do that next as well as showing that grace of declaring a guilty man righteous comes from God after the guilty man believed him. Therefore, it is of faith that it might be by grace.

Logic and reasoning and common sense will correct many errors and bad theology such as the Reformed practices. May the Lord Jesus Christ be high and lifted up and exalted in this conversation.

 

There is a gift of God. We are told plainly what it is.

Ac 8:20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. (the gift of God in this context is the Holy Ghost)
Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (eternal life is the indwelling Holy Ghost)
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: (I proved in Rom 4 that God justifies the sinner who believes and gives him righteousness, which in this context is salvation. the context demands it)
2Ti 1:6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. (the Spirit of God was in Timothy when Paul put his apostles hands on him).

Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, did nothing by faith, and he did not have faith, so he did not give faith. Anyone can check me out on this to see if it is true.

The Holy Ghost, God the Spirit, gave gifts to men for ministry in the body of Christ, after he had immersed the believer in the body. They are called spiritual gifts, and among the 12 or so gifts that are mentioned in 1 Cor 12, one of them is called the gift of faith. Notice the context in which this is related;

3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and [that] no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ.
13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether [we be] Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.

What one should see here is faith is not a spiritual gift that is given to all the members of the body but to those to whom the Spirit chose to ministered it.

Let's try another place where the Reformed attempts to con the believers;

ROM 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
5 So we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, [let us prophesy] according to the proportion of faith;
7 Or ministry, [let us wait] on [our] ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, [let him do it] with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

The point is that in the body, where all the members are equal and are one, there are ministries that require more influence from God to function. For instance, the ministry of the eye is much more complicated than the pinky, and just because both are in the same body does not mean one can do the ministry of the other.

So the gift of God is salvation, the gift of righteousness, eternal life, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit, Life, Remission of Sins, all synonymns. The one thing that is not the gift of God is faith.

The gifts of the Spirit are many and varied and include faith, but not to all members of the body and certainly not for salvation.

You greatly err, AustinC, along with your Reformed buds, and you refuse to be corrected.

 

What I have stated in this thread about the Reformed is correct. Now, here you are again ignoring everything I have said and running to another text where there are key words that you can use out of context and without even being curious as to how and to whom they apply. This is further proof that you do not have a word based faith in God but you are following and promoting a system of religion that most often reverses what God's words actually say. When you say the quote below;

There is nowhere in all of scripture that says that God gives Christians faith. You made it up but your religion says it and you are promoting your religion. God gives the sinner salvation when he believes. I have shown this and it cannot be misinterpreted by an honest person.

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ro 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.



Ac 11:17 Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

What gift did God give these gentiles Peter?

45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

There is no teaching like yours in the scriptures, AustinC. It is time to face the facts and make a move.