CALVINISTS, please answer this question.

The doctrines of Grace:

were established in Scripture many centuries before John Calvin was born.

These doctrines are either supported by scripture or not. Whether or not they are supported by the theologies of men is irrelevant.

Observation: Unless one understands the "Total Depravity of mankind", one cannot fully understand the Grace of God towards His Elect.

Selah,

Bro. James

 

Pleading of the Holy Spirit is not equal to a preachers altar call! Instead of pleading, I could have used "nudging", or "persuading", or "urging", or "prodding", or "tugging" or "Pulling"
all of which describe what the spirit of man "feels" when the Holy Spirit is at work on the spirit of man. The Holy Spirit does not sit and read the word of God to you, You have already heard enough when the Holy Spirit prompts you to believe. And You already believe enough when you act on your belief.

 

At what point in recorded history did man become "totally depraved"? God looked at his creation and declared it was Good, very good!

 

Brother James,

Did you see a blinding light when you were Effectually Drawn? Were you blind for a few days or hours? Maybe you are not saved if you did not experience what God brought to Saul of Tarsus.

God ministers if unique ways for each lost person who is drawn to Him by the Spirit of God.

Brother Ray

 

The Blinding Light--

Sorry, I should have explained my point better.

This is not about the specifics of what it takes to get the attention of a sinner.

The point is: The Holy Spirit is the enabling force as well as the driving force in conversion.
"It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" says a lot. Saul of Tarsus believed he was doing God a service. He was sincerely wrong.

All of this supports the argument: Faith is a gift of God--man has not faith of himself. God takes care of everything--the propitiation for a man's sins as well as the faith to believe.

Thank the Lord for His marvelous Grace.

Selah,

Bro. James

 

In all the attributes that man can identify in and of God, I do not find FAITH listed. Perhaps you would be so kind as to provide the scriptural reference(s) that clearly states that God has, or is, FAITH.

Be careful though, because FAITHFUL is not FAITH! One need not have faith to be faithful. Faithful is ones estimation of another. It can be a self evaluation too....But it is not faith!

 

Eph. 2:8-10

If God gives faith, it seems reasonable to believe faith is His to give. We seem to be chasing a "semantic strawman".

Salvation is of the Lord. He brings us to the bar of divine judgement; shows us our lost condition; shows us the consequences of our sin; causes us to repent of our condition; and gives us the faith to believe that Jesus died for our sins instead of us. If there were anything we could provide to make salvation complete, it would be a salvation by works. That is contrary to scripture--see above--Eph. 2:8-10.

Selah,

Bro. James

 

For while God is being gracious toward mankind, we are saved through faith, and not of ourselves, being saved is the gift of God, not of works lest anyman should boast!

Paul is telling the Ephesians that we are saved through faith WHILE God is looking favorably upon mankind! It is not of being God's "elect" or any other thing of ourselves, It, "being saved", is a gift to us from God. No, it is not a reward for our works that we do, because we can, and will boast of our being saved if it is because of what we did!

GOD'S GIFT TO MAN IS SALVATION! GOD'S REQUIREMENT OF MAN IS FAITH IN HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, JESUS!


GOD HAS NO FAITH TO GIVE TO MAN!

 

If God was the Author of faith Hebrews 11:6 would be redundant. But contrary to Him autocratically giving faith to certain persons, He says, ‘ . . . without faith it is impossible to please Almighty God. Plus, He goes on to say that ‘He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. If the sinner is so dead as Calvinists have made themselves believe, the Lord would never have said that a lost person should seek Him.

Part of the seeking God is in realizing that one is a sinner and that he or she must turn away from sins which is what repentance means. The Spirit of God through conviction leads a person to this conclusion.

 

Calvinists may claim to know all the truth but everyone else knows they do not. For if they think they do, then they claim they really don't believe God's word.

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."

 

Skandelion,

you said...
I thought this verse might help in this discussion:

John 12:47 And if anyone hears My words and does not *believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

The man doesn't seem to be judged by the law for sins previously committed as much as he is judged by Christ's word's of reconcilation for their rejection of those words.

me...
You misunderstood His words. He said that He does not come to judge but that they will be judged by the words He has spoken. You assume that these words are the words He spoke while on earth. But He is the Word of God and all the words of God are in Him and by Him.

consider from John 3...
17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Those who do not believe are already condemned. In a word they have already been judged and if they do not believe die in their sins and will face final judgment.

Arminianists who trust Jesus as savior and Lord will be saved. Doctrinal purity is not a requirement for expitiation of sin.

mikew

 

Hi gb93433;
Calvinist also fail to see the wisdom of this passage.
1Co 10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
May Christ Shine His Light On Us All;
Mike

 

Some people have a shroud over their faith when they say, inadvertently, that God is the Author of all sin and that He picks men and women for Heaven and Hell.

What will be the penalty for such misuse of Scripture when these people stand before His Divine justice?

If some of the 'some' are not saved, they, of course, will be expedited off to Hell; if the rest are saved, they will be saved by the 'skin of the teeth.' [I Cor. 3:15]

Accusing God of sin is nearly of the scope.

 

Is it propitiation or expiation or both?

 

Correction. 'off the scope.'

 

Please provide evidence of any Calvinist who ever claimed to know all of the truth. If you cannot do so (and you cannot) then you should apologize.

 

God hath decreed in himself, from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things, whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby is God neither the author of sin nor hath fellowship with any therein; nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established; in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things, and power and faithfulness in accomplishing his decree. - from the 1689 LBCF

Deal in facts, please.

 

Was it Rev. Dr. Epp or Dr. Dehaan who had a Christian radio program called, Back to the Bible?

Christians should care less about what Councils, Catechisms and/or what the Westminster Confession of Faith has to say.

It is not wrong to use these as a guide but they have to be evaluated in the light of what the Light has to say to us. Our motto should be lets get 'Back to the Bible.'

 

Sure, but when we get 'Back to the Bible' with people we shouldn't accuse them of saying things concerning God that they explicitly deny saying. That's just not being honest, and the Bible doesn't approve of that.

 

Do you call that FACT?

Who created the serpent in the Garden that beguiled Eve into eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil?

Who created the Angel Lucifer, who became haughty and determined to usurp the throne of God, but who is now known to us as Satan?

How did sin enter into Lucifer in the place where NO sin exists?

Did Heaven exist before God is?

Did the Angels exist before God is?

Didn't someone have to create "ALL THAT IS"?

To say what you quoted shows the author did not have the facts at all! The author is in truth expressing his/her own personal belief (opinion) and not FACT!