Rejection of prevenient (preceding) grace

[agedman]

There seems to be the concept by some posting on the BB that prevenient (or the modern term of preceding) grace is acceptable doctrine.


A great amount of thread space on supporting my view could be used, but the link (click here: Theopedia) provides well written and thought through statements of just what is preceding grace, the history of it, and basically much of the reasoning why I personally find preceding grace views offensive to the Scriptures.

I realize that the vast majority of believers have been schooled to accept the preceding grace (as I was), and I also realize that I will certainly be in the minority in my view on this matter.

However, in my defense, I have found NO Scriptures that are not misapplied when folks defend the preceding grace view (as the article admits).


When (a number of years ago) I was working through my lesson plans and through what actually - taught and historically taught in such a way as to never question the validity - I began to unravel certain views that would oblige me to either manipulate Scriptures to continue to hold them or reject the views as unsound.

Ultimately, I came down on the side that I would rather rely totally upon the Scripture for all faith and practice, and not have to take verses and manipulate them to fit a human generated view that Scriptures do not clearly support.

 

[Herald]

It would be helpful to understand how those who believe in prevenient grace would define it and how it operate. Sometimes prevenient grace is confused with common grace (i.e. God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust). In regards to salvation it is often used antithetical to total depravity. Man is fallen but not completely dead (spiritually). There remains a form of grace in the sinner that can point them to salvation. I believe that view fails the test of Scripture (Eph. 2:1; 1 Cor. 2:14; Rom. 8:7).

 

[agedman]

It would be helpful to understand how those who believe in prevenient grace would define it and how it operate. Sometimes prevenient grace is confused with common grace (i.e. God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust). In regards to salvation it is often used antithetical to total depravity. Man is fallen but not completely dead (spiritually). There remains a form of grace in the sinner that can point them to salvation. I believe that view fails the test of Scripture (Eph. 2:1; 1 Cor. 2:14; Rom. 8:7).

Herald, you are correct.

The article (linked in the OP) shows three basic preceding grace views as giant bows of a tree.

Even some who are not aligned with the Methodist, typical modern and historic Baptist, and Nazarene embrace and teach prevenient grace.

The problem is typical schools teach preceding grace as fact, seek to appropriate Scriptures, and, generally in my view, they present a faulty teaching which has no actual support other than human engineering.

A problem is that preceding grace presides across various theological views in some form or another.

And of course those who support the preceding grace view use that in some attempt to quell those of us who actually put no credence in the scheme.

 

[psalms109:31]

Grace has been around us and has ever been. Grace is nothing if you know nothing about it. It does not mean it does not already exist. If grace is not already there for me it is meaningless to know about it.

That is why we are saved by grace through faith. Faith is made up off knowledge that comes from God through His word and trust and belief a verb that comes from us.

All of grace is a small book from Spurgeon.

Calvinism was a pain in my rear Spurgeon beginning with that book really showed me and a book called Spurgeon v. Hyper-Calvinism: The Battle for Gospel Preaching and my signature showed me there is a difference between hyper-calvinism and calvinism and regeneration before faith is a residue left over from hyper-calvinism and is not the Gospel message.

Jesus came to save sinners and I am the worst so we must repent turn to Jesus to live is. Spurgeon saying regeneration before faith being ridiculous is part of his battle for the Gospel message.

We are all equals because we are equal to each other. We all have the same hope as I have to be saved Jesus Christ.