Featured Can You Come to Christ on Your Own

Kentucky, I think Dave is suggesting you don’t have to squeal like a pig!

 

It might help you to know what those in John 6 were called on to come to Jesus Christ as. Those in that crowd that day were not called on to believe that Jesus Christ was put to death, buried, and raised again from the dead.They were to believe that he was the bread of life that was proven on the mount the day before and that he was the Son of God who was sent down from heaven to give life to the world by a one time gift.

I can prove this by quoting the apostles who were in that crowd that day and to whom Jesus addressed.

Jn 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

That is all anyone during the ministry of Jesus were required to believe in order to come to him, that he was the Messiah of Israel and the Son of God. They would be justified by believing God who proclaimed it through his Son.

Here is a later quote from some of these same men.

Mr 9:9 And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. 10 And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.

Mr 9:30 And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it.
31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day. 32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

John said this as late as the resurrection day:
6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.

Justification in the OT and the NT is by believing what God reveals to you. God justified every Israelite who believed Jesus Christ was the Son of God. After the resurrection of Jesus Christ, one must believe the gospel, which is his death, burial, and resurrection.

 

Dave, may I suggest the book, The Doctrines of Grace by James Montgomery Boice. Approx 200 pages. It provided me a good understanding from both a biblical and a historical prospective. Just a suggestion.

 

So, quote me where I say John 3:36 is heresy. I would like to know, since you assertion "according to you" which means I have stated that John 3:36 is heresy.

Now, here is John 3:36.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

What would make you think I declare this word heresy?
DaveX, what does the Bible say about who it is that will believe? Here's a passage that helps us understand who will believe.

*John 10:25-29*
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me,is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

So, DaveX, what does the Bible say about who it is that will believe? Also, why is it that others do not believe?

DaveX, it is God's word that I have been reading. When I was young, my theology was a product of upbringing and secondary sources, telling me what to believe. As I got older, I immersed myself in reading God's word and what I read was in conflict with what my free will mentors had taught me. The question became, do I hold to what humans had taught me, or do I hold to what the Bible tells me. The Bible won out over secondary commentaries.

 

Here's what I said. See if you can discern the difference between what you said and what the Bible says in Ephesians 2.

David, there is no "higher knowledge" that I am claiming. I am pointing you to what God very objectively tells us all in the very text of the Bible.

Now, I don't accept you trying to play dumb since you are so well read. If anyone has claimed "higher knowledge" it is you who claims to have read so many authors of the past.
All I am doing is pointing at the text of scripture and showing how scripture interprets itself. You quoted one sentence in John 3. I added verses John 10 that help you understand John 3. This cannot be that difficult for you since you are so well read.

Below is my post. Re-read it and see that this is God's word, not some "higher knowledge." I take that accusation from you to be your attempt to avoid what scripture is telling you regarding how it is we came to believe.

 

"Reveal" means to make manifest. However it was all that Peter believed. Almost in the next breath he was rebuking our Lord because he mentioned that he was going to Jerusalem to die. He did not believe it then in Matt 16 and he did not believe it after Jesus rose again from the dead, even after it was told him by an eye witness.

You guys are thinking way too much. Just believe what you read and wait until God reveals something else to you through his word. The revelation of God to you is over the minute you refuse to believe him. Peter believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, as did every other justified believer in the gospel account. That is all any of them believed, except maybe Mary, the sister of Martha, and a few older saints who were waiting for the redemption of Israel.

The flesh and blood he is speaking of are natural things. Jesus Christ had worked many miracles in their presence and Peter and the Jews had been reading about the Messiah in their synagogues for all their lives. It was not rocket science for them to weigh the heavenly witness against the words of the OT prophesies to understand this was really God in the flesh and prophesy fulfilled.

First Corinthians 1:22 says clearly that the Jews require a sign and the ministry of Jesus was filled with miraculous signs. Put two and two together.

Matt 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed [it] unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
20 Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

 

I certainly am… BTW, I’m not the one who called us people from deliverance so own that one. Still, it’s worth the effort to at least attempt to understand Christian’s who follow systematic theology which as I’ve indicated before, comes from scripture.

Maybe also do a deep dive into the Baptist ( London) Confessions of Faith. Those confessions are Particular Baptist in nature … without any trace of fullerism influences

 

John 3:36 says this:

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

You declare that "salvation is by faith in Christ. Those who come to Christ by faith are saved."

Now, where does John 3:36 say what you asserted?

 

DavidX, what does scripture say?
Unless you can explain how Ephesians 2:1-9 is wrong, or how John 10 does not inform how to understand John 3, then you really have no argument. Instead, you're simply being incredulous because I am demanding more data from scripture than you can produce.
DaveX, you made an assertion that you cannot backup and John 3:36 does not actually support your assertion. So, unless you are going to debate from God's word, you have lost any credibility with your assertion.

So, show me how my observation of Ephesians 2:1-10, John 3:36 and John 10 are wrong regarding salvation by grace alone.

As to faith, God's word tells us that faith is the effect of God's gracious saving work in regenerating us from death to life. So, faith, for the believer is a sign of salvation. Faith is not the cause of salvation. But, you are teaching faith as the cause, which is not taught in the Bible. It's not in Acts 16, which may cause you to flip out, again, but it's not there.

Faith is an effect of salvation, not a cause of salvation. The Bible is clear on this matter.

 

Yes, that is a misconception hard to fathom. Where in the world one gets it I know not, but certainly not from scripture.

 

Titus 2:1
1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

"Dead"; Ephesians 2.

Ether God Gives the soul a Teachable Spirit to reconcile "dead" with their understanding of how God Saves a soul, or they will assume the O.P. and remain carnal in their "thinking", if not lost.

It is God Who "Quickens" to ETERNAL LIFE, from the dead.

Faith is the Gift of God.

There is One Way God Saves a soul, when He finds them lost and dead in their sins and it is not by a leopard "believing" it can change it's spots.

 

Jn 6:29

 

How many different ways of Duty Faith/ Easy "Believism"/ Decisionism do you have, altogether?

A dead soul just "gives their consent" to something, without acknowledgement of their sin, by CONVICTION of the Word of God, being Granted REPENTANCE from their sin debt against God, or Regenerated by the Holy Spirit?

How do you think you "came to be a Christian?" Can you share a testimony of salvation?