Total Depravity, Again

Please disclose how your statement fits the topic.

 

"And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole." (Matthew 9:20-21)

 

The lepers called out to Him Master have mercy
The blind man was eager to hear and was made to see.
The Lame that were brought because they couldn't under their own power.
The Centurians child was healed because of the Centurian's faith, the Centurian came to Jesus.

The young girl whom Jesus restored to life did not and could not come to Jesus, but persons who had faith in Jesus came in her behalf.

I'm sure there are many more who heard of the miraculous healing power of Jesus that came to him or that were brought to Him or who had others intercede on their behalf with Jesus.

 

ROFL!! I was wondering where you were going with this.

 

Amen, brother!

 

They did not, but instead those who loved them and had faith that Jesus would raise them came to Jesus on their behalf.

Again you are speaking of physical raising from the dead, restoring dead flesh to life by recalling the spirit into the flesh.

No, it does not prove your point that being dead in sins leaves man totally helpless, unable to make a decision to believe and therefore live. But it does show your ignorance of the scriptures!

 

God is not some kind of Divine tryrant or cosmic bully who bosses every aspect of our lives. Christians at times have sinned grieviously and hopefully have confessed and moved on in their Christian life.

I believe He is still saying from His throne, 'Come unto Me, all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.' The lost can bring to Him their broken hearts as sinners and they will find peace and comfort in their lives. We Christians can repeatedly bring our concerns to Him as the people of God and He will minister to our hearts. He bids us move toward Him in our thinking, in our hearts, and in our constant devotion. There is no condition of race, social standing or lack thereof, or wealth that will impress Him. His call as noted is offered to all people.

In our nation tonight with the threat of North Korea and Iraq, we all need a confident 'rest' that can only come by His presence in our hearts, via the precious Holy Spirit. Our prayer, as Americans, should be 'O Lamb of God I come, I come.'

I confess, I need Him every hour.

 

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

To whom is this vocation addressed?

Respecting the distress among the nations, God worketh all things after the counsel of His own will (Ephesians 1:11).

"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." (Proverbs 21:1)

I have peace because I know who is really in control.

"And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:" (Daniel 2:21)

God is just as active in our government as any other aspect of our lives. That gives me great peace.

 

Cfolsom,
What you say is good, but you are overlooking God's created man. A creation in God's own image with attributes like unto God himself.

Why would he create us to be so wondrously made, yet to be so useless as you indicate we are?

Cattle have no choice, Dogs have no choice, apes have no choice, if you get my drift. Man is made and given more than the animals yet you say that man is incapable of doing what man was created to be able to do. You imply that man was created with all this good stuff, designed for long life, etc., but because man sinned he somehow lost some of the good that God created into him?

The truth is, Man retains all that he was created to have including free will...it was through free will that man sinned in disobedience to God. It was because of man's free will that God expelled him from the garden so that he would not eat of the Tree of Life and live forever.

It is through free will that man is brought back to God by believing the truth. If Noah had not had and exercised his free will, He would not have believed and built the ARK. If Abraham had not had and exercised his free will, he would not have pleased God with faithful action, etc.

God wants us to want him. With no free will, we cannot demonstrate our desire to be redeemed and restored in the family of God.

You expect your children to exercise their free will, and to respect and trust you as their parent. You expect them to obey you of their own free will. When they get into trouble you expect them to seek of their own free will your "salvific powers" to redeem them from the trouble they are in. God, our father, expects us to behave in the same manner, using our own free will to call upon him for his salvific powers. That is one reason why we call Him 'Father', he works for our salvation the way we are expected to work for our children's salvation. But if we do not want to be saved, he does not force salvation upon us.

 

Your point is considered cfolsom.
You read too much into the quoted scripture.

The difference in Adam before sin and after sin would never be noticed by any of us today if we could go back and observe the events as they unfolded. We would see nothing different except behavior and clothing. The changes spawned by the knowledge of Good and evil. Otherwise Adam would still be Adam. He would still have every one of the attributes that God made him to have. So now the third son of Adam comes on the scene and you would have us believe that because Adam sinned, that which God created and called very good is no longer valid and was changed? That is what you are saying is it not?

Did Seth not have the attributes with which Adam was created? Did Seth not have love, mercy, grace, justice, free will, etc.? Can you identify the specific changes that you assume took place?

The scripture says that Seth was in the image of Adam. What about Cain? What about Abel? We know that Cain was a sinner, because he slew his brother Abel, but was Abel as sinner? Was his image not also that of Adam?

Upon what do you base your belief that Seth was born again? I assume you mean born again in the modern Christian sense. Was he Baptised and thus a Baptist, too? I suspect that Seth was raised to have Faith in his father's creator God and that His faith was counted to him as righteousness in the same manner as his descendent Abraham's faith was counted to him as righteousness.

So, Jonah had and used free will? Hmmm.

 

"And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power," (Ephesians 1:19)

According to what do we believe? According to our "free will?" No, according to the working of His mighty power, even the effectual power by which Paul was made a minister according to the will of God (Ephesians 3:7).

Jonah is a bad example to prove "free will." After all, despite his disobedience and not going to Ninevah, God prepared a fish to swallow him and spit him out on the shore!

 

My endorsement is not necessary here, but I would like to say Amen to my Primitive Baptist Brother.

God Bless.
Bro. Dallas

 

I second that Amen.