Christ The Calvinist

[Rippon]

This just goes to show that BW does not like to read the actual words of the OP . Take a gander at Boice's words in the first several posts .

 

[Bro. Williams]

I read the OP son, and didn't see once where Boice said what you titled the thread.

[Offensive comment removed]

 

[Rippon]

BB: You need to be chided . I asked you to look over the first several posts of this thread . You choose not to and therefore your silly stance . The very title of Boice's sermon was "Christ The Calvinist" . Neither Boice or myself have engaged in "man-worship" . All you needed to do was read .

 

[Bro. Williams]

It is BW for one.

For two, I did read over them. How many posts were there to begin with? Quite a few, it is possible to miss something, we all do it.

[Offensive comment removed]

 

[JustChristian]

Calvinists believe that a changed life and an abiding in Christ are a result of the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration that leads to salvation.

Joseph Botwinick

Therefore, one of the "elect" who did not experience being born again and lives like one of the damned is not a Christian, right?

 

[Rippon]

Mr. Puddy-cat , as a Ruckmanite you have no room to speak of others ( such as me , for instance ) the way you do . Could you turn down your blasphemy a notch or two ? Puddy-puddy please ?

 

[Bro. Williams]

1) What exactly makes one a Ruckmanite?

2) By chastising you I am a blasphemer? [Moderator warning: You are not allowed to call your fellow BB posters names or question thier salvation by referring to them as "manworshipping idolators" etc. Cool the rhetoric and debate the issues without making personal attacks against those holding the opposing view.]

 

[Rippon]

Well , for starters , one who takes after him as closely ... as say -- you do BW .

 

[Bro. Williams]

Just how closey do I take him there, sonny boy?

And please realize, that putting words in my mouth and stating facts that you don't know, are lies.

 

[Rippon]

What words did I put in your mouth ? Are you putting words in MY mouth by saying that I put words in your mouth ? Why that's silly of you .

How can one state facts they don't know ? Also , how can those facts be lies ? I always thought lies were not factual . But , then again , you seem to put a spin on words from your unique "Williams Dictionary" .

You seem to have Ruckman's style down pat . I know that you have said that folks would be shocked to realize that you don't believe everything he says -- but you seem to use a large heaping tablespoon of Ruckmanisms in your posts .

 

[Bro. Williams]

Really?

You still never defined what a Ruckmanite is... other than by saying I was one... but that is circular reasoning in a way, since it was me you were trying to bash in the first place.

I am still curious to know how you know I have the record for deleted and edited posts.

 

[webdog]

Therefore, one of the "elect" who did not experience being born again and lives like one of the damned is not a Christian, right?

He won't answer...he's been banned for a while now.

 

[Bro. Williams]

What was he banned for?

 

[Rippon]

A Needed Reminder

I have seen several non-Calvinists use this phrase on the boards recently .

Over the weekend a number of books arrived . One is called " Sermons That Shaped America . " All of the sermons were delivered by Presbyterians with the exception of Jonathan Edwards , who was a Congregationalist . Afterall ,the book was put out by P&R .

James Boice's sermon on the subject heading was the next-to-last entry . Dr.Boice was one of the best American preachers in the last third of the 20th century . He went to glory in June of 2000 . This sermon was delivered in 1999 . I will give some brief quotations .

One week , after I had preached a sermon from John touching on some of the main points of the Reformed faith , I found a bulletin from the service upon which someone had scribled his opinion of the message . It said , " I'm sick of Calvinism in every sermon . "
The message did not particularly bother me . Notes like that seldom do . But I found it surprising that the person who wrote the note somehow regarded Calvinism as a system of thought that could well be dispensed with while nevertheless , as he assumed , still preserving Christianity . In other words , this person , like many others , somehow regarded the doctrines that go by the name of Calvinism as at best an addition to the pure gospel and at worst a system which is opposed to it . Is this true ? Are the doctrines of grace wrong ? One proof that they are not is seen in the verses to which we come in this chapter . [ John 10:27-29 ]
The verses I have in mind are those in which the Lord Jesus Christ spoke plainly to his enemies , saying that those who do not believe on him do not believe because they are not his sheep , that those who are his sheep believe and follow , that this is true because they are given to him by the Father , that these who are given to him by the Father inevitably come to him , and finally , that these who come will never be lost . This is a message of man's complete ruin in sin and God's perfect remedy in Christ , and it can be expressed in the distinctive points of Calvinistic theology . Before we look at these points in detail , however , we should see that far from being an aberration or addition to the gospel , these truths have always belonged to the core of the Christian proclamation and have been characteristic of the church at its greatest periods .

Part One .

 

[Rippon]

Listen To His Words

Continuing with Dr.Boice's message of Christ The Calvinist .

To begin with , the doctrines of grace known as Calvinism were most certainly not invented by Calvin ,nor were they characteristic of his thought alone during the Reformation period . As we shall see , these are the truths taught by Jesus and confirmed for us in Scripture by the Apostle Paul . Augustine argued for the same truths over against the denials of Pelagius and those who followed him . Luther was a Calvinist . So was Zwingli . That is , they believed what Calvin believed and what he later systematized in his influential Institutes of the Christian Religion .[ Boice then cites many Calvinists throughout history ]... For all these the doctrines of grace were not an appendage to Christian thought but were rather that which was central and which most fired and gave form to their preaching and missionary efforts .
This, of course , is precisely why I am reviewing this history -- to show that the doctrines known as Calvinism are not something that emerged late in church history but rather are that which takes its orgins in the teachings of Jesus , which has been found throughout the church in many periods, and which has always been characteristic of the church at its greatest periods of faith and expansion . It follows from this that the church of Jesus Christ will again see great days when these truths are widely proclamed , and proclamed fearlessly .

Part 2 of Boice .

 

[Rippon]

Jesus is our example . We sometimes think of these doctrines as household doctrines ; that is , as truths to be proclaimed only to those who already believe . But this was not Jesus' procedure . He taught them also to his enemies . In this case, they had come to him with the implication that he was responsible for their failure to believe ; they had said , " If thou be the Christ , tell us plainly . " He answered this , not so much with a statement concerning his identity as the Messiah ( although he did say that his words and works authenticated him ) , but much more importantly by a full statement of man's utter inability to choose God and of the necessity for divine grace in each step of salvation . Did they want it told plainly ? Well , this is the truth told plainly : " Ye believe not , because ye are not of my sheep ... my sheep hear my voice , and I know them , and they follow me . And I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall never perish , neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand . My Father , which gave them me , is greater than all ; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand "( vv. 26-29 )

Part #3 of James Boice .

 

[Rippon]

... For while it is true that in ourselves we cannot come to Christ and so lie under God's just condemnation , the main point of these verses is that God has nevertheless acted in grace toward some . Earlier this was expressed by saying that Christ died for the sheep ; in other words , by the doctrine of a particular redemption ( v.11) . In this section we are told that Jesus has given eternal life to the same people ( v. 28), and that these are those whom God has given him ( v.29) .
You cannot trace the orgins of our salvation further back than that . In this , as in all things , the orgins are to be found in God . Some say , " But surely God called them because he foresaw that some would believe . " But it does not say that . Others say , " He chose them because he knew in advance that they would merit salvation . " It does not say that either . What it does say is that the initiative in salvation lies with God and that this is found , on the one hand , in God's electing grace whereby he chooses some for salvation entirely apart from any merit on their part ( which , of course , they do not have ) and , on the other hand , in Christ's very particular atonement by which he bore the penalty for the sins of his people .

Part number 4 of Boice's sermon .

 

[Rippon]

... The third of the Reformed doctrines presented by Jesus is the effective call: that is , that God's call of his people is accompanied by such power that those whom he calls necessarily come to him , believing on Christ and embracing Christ for salvation . Jesus expresses this by saying : " My sheep hear my voice , and I know them , and they follow me " ( v.27 ) .It is a mark of the sheep that they both hear and follow their shepherd .

... I wish that all God's children might come to know and love these truths . I wish that many might be saved by them .
We live in a day that is so weak in its proclamation of Christian doctrine that even many Christians cannot see why such truths should be preached or how they can be used of the Lord to save sinners . But this was not always so , and it was not always the case that these truths were unused by God in saving sinners .

...I do not preach a gospel that has a shaky foundation . I do not proclaim a religion of percentages and probabilities . I proclaim the message of Christ , Paul , Augustine , Luther , Calvin , and all others who have found God to be their pure hope and salvation . It is the message of man's complete ruin in sin and of God's perfect remedy in Christ , expressed in his election of a people to himself and his final perservation of them . God grant that you might believe it wholeheartedly .

And the concluding part # 5 of Boice's message : Christ The Calvinist .

 

[standingfirminChrist]

My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ never was, nor will He ever be... a Calvinist.

 

[Rippon]

My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ never was, nor will He ever be... a Calvinist.

Not much of a reader are you ?