Featured Saved in a Calvinistic Baptist Church

The context of this passage is church discipline, not perseverance or not “quality Christian conference” (not really sure what that is)

peace to you

 

I'm sorry, but I cannot seem to find
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the Saints
in the the bible yet that you hold to them. WHY?

You have to read these into the text so they fit you soteriological view. Plus I have to ask where did you find "Regeneration unto faith" I looked and I guess I missed it.

 

Because the concepts are taught in the Bible, when one takes into account all the details.

Not at all.
In fact, it's the other way around, at least for me;

I read them out of the text, and have never approached the Bible using anyone's systematic theology.

Speaking for myself, I was raised in IB / IFB circles from the age of 12 in 1978 when I first heard the preaching of God's word, and have experienced many of the things that @rockytopva has described in this thread in years past.
Then in 2003 when I was 37, a good friend of mine ( a fellow believer ) showed me 3 verses from the Bible and my studies increased from there....and it was over the years that I realized that almost none of the things found in professing churches today were found in the churches back then...

To me, "revivals", "altar calls", "asking Jesus into our hearts", etc. are things that have been added in by men over the years, and were never found in the Lord's churches...especially at the beginning.

 

For many years I missed it as well.
Then one day as I was reading through Acts 16, I ran across this:

" And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.
14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us." ( Acts of the Apostles 16:13-15 ). <----------God had to first open Lydia's heart to His words.

Later on I saw Titus 3:4-7 and many others in their proper contexts.

Amazing, isn't it, that He would condescend to open someone's hardened heart ( Romans 1:18-32, Romans 3:10-18, John 3:19-20 ), and grant them the gifts of the new birth, faith, and repentance?
I'm reminded of Philippians 1:29:

" For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;" <---- God gives someone both the privilege to believe on His Son, and to suffer for His sake.


May God bless you in many ways, sir.

 

Interesting thread. Calvinists finding fault with those who see Calvinism as harmful to Christ's ministry.

 

Right, there are a great many saved Calvinists and Calvinism is not as much of a hindrance as SDA or Mormon.

 

Van,

First of all I am not a "Calvinist"...
I believe God's words as found in the Scriptures.
They are precious to me, and much of what He says I find to be very sobering.

Secondly,
I'm not finding fault with anyone;

I'm simply taking an objective look at the books of Acts, Romans, Ephesians, Galatians, and the others and stating that I find it odd that many of the things found in today's churches and have become traditional, are not found in the Bible.
For example, when did this practice of "altar calls" become tradition?

I know of no one who practiced this before Charles Finney popularized it in the early 1800's.

"Praying the sinner's prayer"?
Many popular preachers and teachers come to mind who practiced and taught this, yet I cannot find anywhere in the Bible where these things were encouraged or even practiced in the Lord's churches.


If they weren't present back then, should we be doing those things now?
I can find no reason for churches to add such things, nor to make it a habit of them.


May God bless you.

 

According the rules of this BB, you are a Calvinist.

 

None of that is needed, Salty, in order to carry out the Lord's commands for believers to meet with one another, glorify the Lord for His gift of eternal life and to edify one another.

We will have to agree to disagree, it seems.

Very true.
His word also says why people choose to believe, does it not?

John 6:37-47.
John 6:64-65.
John 8:43-47.
John 10:26-27.
Acts of the Apostles 13:48.
Psalms 65:4.
Romans 8:28-30.
Romans 9:14-24.
1 Corinthians 1:18.
Philippians 1:29.
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14.
Ephesians 1:3-14.
Ephesians 2:1-10.



May God bless you, sir.

 

Of course you can. That’s not the point.

Encourage people to come to Christ. If make a profession of faith, wonderful. Encourage them to join a local church and mature as a Christian.

We do not have the authority to declare someone to be “saved” because they repeated a prayer.

peace to you

 

I like how Joel Osteen does it. All you do is recite a prayer and you are saved, no need for altercalls or anything like that...

 

I like how God does it.

All you do is respond with faith to God Holy Spirit drawing you to God the Father, convicting you of sin and the truth concerning Jesus Christ and Him crucified and then Christ covering in His righteousness and forgiving your sins, and then Holy Spirit indwelling.

Yes, I like how God does it

peace to you

 

he first though would need to give forth the real Jesus and real Gospel!

 

Good Points! I whole heartedly agree!

 

Well like the term Trinity.