That He May Be Glorified

[KenH]

THAT HE MAY BE GLORIFIED

The righteousness in which God is well pleased is found only in Christ, through his obedience unto death. It is never found through your best works, most sincere prayers, or tears.

The satisfaction of God's justice which put away sin is found only in the righteous obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ unto death, even the death of the cross.

It is never found through your repentance, for repentance is ever and always a God given turning away and denouncing of every false way in which you had formerly sought to approach him in order to gain his favor.

Likewise, his justice is not satisfied by your faith, for true faith is simply God's revelation of himself in and through the person and work of Christ Jesus. Faith is knowing Him through his gracious revelation of himself as he is.

While it is the nature of all flesh to approach God based on our perceived merits, God breaks those foolish thoughts in pieces and grinds them to powder. Such foolish and idolatrous thoughts can never stand before a thrice holy God. We need an Advocate. We need a Surety. We need a Substitute. We need another's righteousness, charged to us, that we did not and cannot produce though, even now and as long as we shall live, in our flesh dwells no good thing.

This alone is how God is glorified in the salvation of his sheep, through the person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jonah said it very simply. "Salvation is of the LORD." Jonah 2:9

2 Corinthians 5
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

- by Kenny Dyess via his Facebook page

 

[Silverhair]

THAT HE MAY BE GLORIFIED

The righteousness in which God is well pleased is found only in Christ, through his obedience unto death. It is never found through your best works, most sincere prayers, or tears.

The satisfaction of God's justice which put away sin is found only in the righteous obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ unto death, even the death of the cross.

It is never found through your repentance, for repentance is ever and always a God given turning away and denouncing of every false way in which you had formerly sought to approach him in order to gain his favor.

Likewise, his justice is not satisfied by your faith, for true faith is simply God's revelation of himself in and through the person and work of Christ Jesus. Faith is knowing Him through his gracious revelation of himself as he is.

While it is the nature of all flesh to approach God based on our perceived merits, God breaks those foolish thoughts in pieces and grinds them to powder. Such foolish and idolatrous thoughts can never stand before a thrice holy God. We need an Advocate. We need a Surety. We need a Substitute. We need another's righteousness, charged to us, that we did not and cannot produce though, even now and as long as we shall live, in our flesh dwells no good thing.

This alone is how God is glorified in the salvation of his sheep, through the person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jonah said it very simply. "Salvation is of the LORD." Jonah 2:9

2 Corinthians 5
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

- by Kenny Dyess via his Facebook page

Kenny Dyess continues to miss the obvious.

It is the person that has to repent and believe. God does not do that for the person.

 

[David Lamb]

Kenny Dyess continues to miss the obvious.

It is the person that has to repent and believe. God does not do that for the person.

But a person cannot repent and believe without God's enabling.

 

[Ben1445]

But a person cannot repent and believe without God's enabling.

Since we are made in God’s image, we have been made very capable people.
Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Yes you can see the doctrine of Calvinist total depravity fall apart before it ever starts.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil
At the fall, man lost innocence in his disobedience. He didn’t lose the knowledge of good.

Genesis 3:22
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

All man needs to have in front of him is Jesus Christ. He already has the ability to know good and evil.
I don’t think that man is capable of saving himself. That is why Jesus gave Himself.
I don’t believe that salvation involves God taking over the brain of an unbeliever in order to make them believe.
There is enough life in a physical body to give oxygen to the brain to allow someone with knowledge of Good, to cease from his own works and enter into the rest of Jesus Christ.

 

[David Lamb]

Since we are made in God’s image, we have been made very capable people.
Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Yes you can see the doctrine of Calvinist total depravity fall apart before it ever starts.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil
At the fall, man lost innocence in his disobedience. He didn’t lose the knowledge of good.

Genesis 3:22
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

All man needs to have in front of him is Jesus Christ. He already has the ability to know good and evil.
I don’t think that man is capable of saving himself. That is why Jesus gave Himself.
I don’t believe that salvation involves God taking over the brain of an unbeliever in order to make them believe.
There is enough life in a physical body to give oxygen to the brain to allow someone with knowledge of Good, to cease from his own works and enter into the rest of Jesus Christ.

But merely knowing good and evil (even if we assume that we inherited whatever benefits Adam gained by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) doesn't mean sinners have the innate ability to repent and believe.

 

[Ben1445]

But merely knowing good and evil (even if we assume that we inherited whatever benefits Adam gained by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) doesn't mean sinners have the innate ability to repent and believe.

We aren’t robots.
Believe is what the believers are instructed to do. Believe in Jesus Christ and cease from their own works. Enter into His rest. (It was not referring to a day of the week as some think)
If belief is ceasing from my own work, belief is not ability.

 

[David Lamb]

We aren’t robots.
Believe is what the believers are instructed to do. Believe in Jesus Christ and cease from their own works. Enter into His rest. (It was not referring to a day of the week as some think)
If belief is ceasing from my own work, belief is not ability.

But saying that we are not saved by our works (which I agree with as being biblical) does not mean that we therefore have the innate ability to believe. Paul refers to unsaved sinners as "the natural man," and says:

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Co 2:14 NKJV)

Naturally speaking, we are unable to receive the things of God.

 

[KenH]

All man needs to have in front of him is Jesus Christ. He already has the ability to know good and evil.

1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 4:7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

 

[Ben1445]

But saying that we are not saved by our works (which I agree with as being biblical) does not mean that we therefore have the innate ability to believe. Paul refers to unsaved sinners as "the natural man," and says:

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Co 2:14 NKJV)

That statement was made to believers who were thinking carnally and had the “ability” to be spiritually minded. It doesn’t mean that you have to be spiritually resurrected in order to have a spiritually dead ability to be made spiritually alive.
Regeneration is salvation. If you have been regenerated, you are alive. If you are alive, you are not dead, you are not in your sins.

Naturally speaking, we are unable to receive the things of God.

We are able enough the way God created us to be able to respond to Him.

 

[KenH]

It doesn’t mean that you have to be spiritually resurrected in order to have a spiritually dead ability to be made spiritually alive.

A person has no part in their natural birth; a person has no part in their spiritual birth.

 

[David Lamb]

That statement was made to believers who were thinking carnally and had the “ability” to be spiritually minded. It doesn’t mean that you have to be spiritually resurrected in order to have a spiritually dead ability to be made spiritually alive.
Regeneration is salvation. If you have been regenerated, you are alive. If you are alive, you are not dead, you are not in your sins.

So if as you say Paul meant Christians, people who had been born again, but who were thinking carnally, and they were unable to receive the things of God, how much more true is that of the sinner still dead in trespasses and sins?

We are able enough the way God created us to be able to respond to Him.

That was so when mankind was first created, but not since the Fall.

 

[Silverhair]

But a person cannot repent and believe without God's enabling.

But do you not think He has enabled all men to come to Him? If He holds all men responsible for rejecting Him then all men must logically have the ability to repent and believe. Or do you think God does not mean what He says?

 

[David Lamb]

But do you not think He has enabled all men to come to Him? If He holds all men responsible for rejecting Him then all men must logically have the ability to repent and believe. Or do you think God does not mean what He says?

Not according to Ephesians 2:1-10, which I won't quote again here, as I quote the passage so often. In it, Paul reminds the Ephesians Christians that before being saved, they were dead in trespasses and sins. God made them alive - they couldn't do so themselves.

 

[KenH]

If He holds all men responsible for rejecting Him then all men must logically have the ability to repent and believe.

You are trying to judge Almighty God, the Creator, the Potter, by the standards of wretched mankind, the creature, the clay.

Romans 9:14-21 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

 

[Silverhair]

Not according to Ephesians 2:1-10, which I won't quote again here, as I quote the passage so often. In it, Paul reminds the Ephesians Christians that before being saved, they were dead in trespasses and sins. God made them alive - they couldn't do so themselves.

Do you think being dead in sin means unable to think and respond to the gospel message?

 

[Ben1445]

So if as you say Paul meant Christians, people who had been born again, but who were thinking carnally, and they were unable to receive the things of God, how much more true is that of the sinner still dead in trespasses and sins?

That was so when mankind was first created, but not since the Fall.

You don’t want to believe that men have the ability to believe.
So you don’t have enough faith to believe that God created men so that they can respond when Jesus calls them.
There is no amount of biblical evidence that will convince you unless you are willing to see it.

 

[David Lamb]

You don’t want to believe that men have the ability to believe.
So you don’t have enough faith to believe that God created men so that they can respond when Jesus calls them.
There is no amount of biblical evidence that will convince you unless you are willing to see it.

That's a strange way of expressing what I believe. I believe that God grants to people the ability to believe. Sinners don't have that ability naturally. Your final sentence, "There is no amount of biblical evidence that will convince you unless you are willing to see it." could equally have been written by somebody who believes as I do about somebody like you.

 

[Silverhair]

You are trying to judge Almighty God, the Creator, the Potter, by the standards of wretched mankind, the creature, the clay.

Romans 9:14-21 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

So your version of God judges man for something that he has no ability to do. Not the God of the bible but He is the god of calvinism it would seem.

The Message of Salvation to All

Rom 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:
Rom 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.
Rom 10:11 It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
Rom 10:12 For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,
Rom 10:13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

 

[KenH]

Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.

Appears to me that the Bible says that it is God who quickens(makes alive). So, obviously, those quickened(made alive) were dead before. And it is God who does the quickening(making alive), not those who were previously dead.

Also, as far as I know, in the natural world, a dead corpse cannot do anything by its own will. It is no different spiritually.

 

[Ben1445]

That's a strange way of expressing what I believe. I believe that God grants to people the ability to believe. Sinners don't have that ability naturally. Your final sentence, "There is no amount of biblical evidence that will convince you unless you are willing to see it." could equally have been written by somebody who believes as I do about somebody like you.

Except that I believe that God loved the world means that and Calvinism believes God loves only some of what God did not divide.
God would have all men to be saved and Calvinism divides out what God did not. Instead they say some all men. You don’t believe it because you don’t want to believe it. It is easier to believe God said exactly what He meant than to insert an interpretation of an all inclusive word and phrase to justify a belief that is held.
Calvinism fits the Bible to its own purposes. It doesn’t allow the Bible to shape truth.