Thus you have an open invitation and offer of the gospel as an essential part of most Calvinist preaching. And it is genuine.
THERE IS NO "INVATATION" TO LOST SINNERS "who are laboring in the service of sin and Satan, are laden with Iniquity, and insensible of their Offensive sinful acts by birth, and choice, practice, and habits: because these are not weary of sin, nor burdened with their sins against God; nor do they want or desire any rest for their souls;
"Those who come to Christ aright, Come as sinners, to a Full, Suitable, Able, and Willing Savior; and venture their souls upon Him, and Trust in Him for Righteousness, Life, and Salvation,
WHEN THEIR LOST, BLIND, SPIRITUALLY DEAD SOULS ARE MADE ALIVE BY THE QUICKENING POWER OF GOD, IN THE DAY OF HIS ALL MIGHTY POWER, which they are encouraged to do, by this kind Invitation; which shows His Willingness to Save, and His Readiness to Give Relief to Distressed minds. The persons invited, are not
"all" the individuals of mankind, but with a
RESTRICTION:
"all ye that labor, and are heavy laden";
AND ARE THOSE SOULS WHO HAVE BEEN GRANTED REPENTENCE "who groan, being burdened with the guilt of sin upon their consciences, and are pressed down with the unsupportable yoke of the law",
WHICH HAS DRIVEN THEM LIKE A SCHOOLTEACHER TO JESUS AS THEIR SAVIOR ACCORDING TO WHEN THE FATHER DRAWS THEM THROUGH HIS WORD "and the load of human traditions; and have been laboring till they are weary, in order to obtain Peace of conscience, and Rest for their souls, by the observance of these things, but in vain.
ONLY these lost souls who have been convicted of their sin being against The Trice Holy Godhead are encouraged to Come to Him, lay down their burdens at His feet, look to, and lay hold by Faith on His Person, Blood, Righteousness, and Sacrifice;
ONCE THEY UNDERSTAND THAT IT WAS THEIR SINS, PERSONALLY, THAT NAILED THEIR SAVIOR TO THE CROSS AND THAT WHEN HE WAS ON THE CROSS THEY WERE ON HIS MIND, when they should enjoy that True Spiritual Consolation
OF SALVATION THROUGH GRACE BY FAITH, WHICH ARE ALL THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT AND GIFT OF GOD,
which could never be attained to by the works of the law,
OR BY MENTALLY BELIEVING OR CONSENTING CARNALLY IN THEIR FLESH ASENTING TO AN 'OFFER' OR 'INVATATION' ONLY AS AN EXPERIMENTAL OPPERATION OF GODLESS RELIGION, WITHOUT THE SAVING AID AND NEW BIRTH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, IN RESPONCE TO THE SAVING MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL THAT JESUS DIED, WAS BURIED, AND RAISED FROM THE DEAD TO SAVE THE SOULS OF ALL THOSE WHO THE FATHER GAVE THE SON.
God AND ALL FAITHFUL GOSPEL WITNESSES AND GOSPEL PREACHERS WHO PREACH THE GOSPEL AND now Command all men, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, to Repent and believe the Gospel, which is the Power of God unto Salvation.
AND WHILE GOD IS NOT OBLIGATED TO SAVE ANY SOUL WHOM HE HAS NOT CHOSEN FROM ETERNITY PAST AND YET "ALL MEN" ARE RESPONSIBLE TO GOD AND MUST GIVE AN ACCOUNT FOR THEIR SINS, PERSONALLY, ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, APART FROM THE SAVING WORK OF THE SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.
If
I John teaches us anything, it is that none of us has any right or authority from God or the Bible to just pull up certain words, such as
"the World", out of a verse and think we can assign a meaning to it, based solely on our first impulse in the flesh and assume we have a Spiritual Discernment of everything God has Revealed that He wants us to understand by whenever He employs the words
"the World", as we see proven in
I John 2:15 where
"the World" is used 3 times with a distinctively different way than at the beginning of that same Chapter in
I John 2:4.
"Love not the World, neither the things that are in the World.
If any man love the World, the love of the Father is not in him."
So, in I John 2:4, what is it God actually wants us to glean to be the meaning of "the World" there and what would cause anyone to ever justifiably think that their first knee-jerk reaction to reading it is going to AUTOMATICALLY BE THE DIVINE INSPIRED MIND OF CHRIST, AND GOD, AS REVEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, WITHOUT COMPARING SPIRITUAL THINGS WITH SPIRITUAL THINGS, FOR ONE SECOND?
WHAT DOES IT STAND FOR THERE, AGAIN?
ARE YOU SUUUUUUURRRRRE? :........Be Cautious, brother........
"God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."
”The famous, and well known text, in this controversy,
is
1 John 2:2 where Christ is said to be,
"the Propitiation for the sins of the Whole World".
“Now let it be observed, that these phrases,
"all the World", and
"the Whole World", are often in scripture to be taken in a limited sense; as in
Luke 2:1 "that all the World should be taxed"; it can mean no more than that part of the World the Roman Empire, which was under the dominion of Caesar Augustus:
“and in
Romans 1:8 it can only design the Christians throughout the World, not the Heathens;
“and when the Gospel is said to be
"in all the World, and bring forth fruit",
Colossians 1:6 it can only intend true believers in Christ, in all places, in whom only it brings forth fruit;
“and when it is said,
"all the World wondered after the beast",
Revelation 13:3 at that same time, there were saints he made war with, because they would not worship him:
“and so in other places; and in this epistle of John, the phrase is used in a restrained sense,
1 John 5:19 where those that belong to God, are distinguished from
"the Whole World", described by lying in wickedness, which believers do not. And as John was a Jew, he spake in the language of the Jews, who frequently, in their writings, use the phrase
“amle ylwk” "the Whole World", in a limited sense:
“sometimes
"the Whole W
orld" only signifies a large number of people
{1}; sometimes a majority of their Jewish doctors
{2}; sometimes a congregation
{3}; or a whole synagogue
{4}; and sometimes very few
{5}: and so here in the text under consideration, it cannot be understood of
“all men”;
Con't;
