Who Did Jesus Come To Save?

[pinoybaptist]

Originally posted by Yelsew:
]Peter confirms Jesus' words by declaring in 1 Peter 1:13-25, that man's regeneration come from believing the Word of God, and does not precede the hearing of the word.

Well, here is 1 Peter 1:13-25

1:13
Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end F3 for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1:14
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
1:15
But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1:16
Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
1:17
And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
1:18
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1:19
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1:20
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1:21
Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
1:22
Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1:23
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1:24
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
1:25
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

I don't see here where it says belief precedes regeneration. I do see that regeneration preceded belief (v. 21 against v.23) and that is very consistent with John 1: 12-13

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

[Yelsew]

Try verse 23 Regeneration is being born again! Being born again is the result of Hearing the Word of God! Peter says so!

Look also at verse 22 "obeying the truth" where do we get "truth" if not from the word of God.

It is in the Word of God, both OLD and NEW TESTAMENTS that we are repeatedly told to believe the WORD OF GOD! BELIEVING and OBEYING is Regeneration because our sin nature is that of IGNORING and DISOBEYING!

 

[Yelsew]

PinoyBaptist, you also made reference to John 1:12,13

[John 1:11] He came to his own and his own people did not accept him.
[John 1:12] But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believed in his name
[John 1:13] who were born not from human stock or human desire or human will but from God himself.
[John 1:14] The Word became flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory that he has from the Father as only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Well let's see what is being said here.

First He came to his own, the elect, and they did not accept him. But of the elect that did accept, that is, believe in Him, he enabled to be Children of God, that is, those who believed in his Name. The Apostles were of this group. They were born of God in spirit, not of human stock or by any desire of the human will. They heard the Word that became flesh, Jesus, and who lived among us, whose glory which came from the Father the Apostles witnessed. The Key words are that those who became children of God did so by accepting the Word by belief. They were not regenerated first so that they could believe, they believed and by so doing they were regenerated into children of God. So like Peter said 1 Peter 1:22-25, it is by believing the Word of God that we are regenerated.

 

[gb93433]

I think scripture clearly states the teaching on election.

Matthew 22:2-14, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son. "And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. "Again he sent out other slaves saying, `Tell those who have been invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast." ' "But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. "But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire. "Then he ^said to his slaves, `The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. `Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.' "Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. "But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, `Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And the man was speechless. "Then the king said to the servants, `Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' "For many are called , but few are chosen."

 

[Yelsew]

Well done gb93433! You are, of course, quite right. Those who accept the King's open invitation to come and who dress themselves in righteousness through repentence of sin, are welcomed to the wedding feast!

Accepting the King's invitation is willful believing in the Bridegroom (being born again).

Dressing properly is repentence from sin and "walking in the light" (of the Bridegroom).

 

[jimliz]

I believe this a mystery on predestination and
election and freewill.How will I know for sure
God has chosen someone for salvation? I'm not
asking this question for debate,I'm just asking
to know for my own reference. Thanks.

 

[Yelsew]

Originally posted by jimliz:
I believe this a mystery on predestination and
election and freewill.How will I know for sure
God has chosen someone for salvation? I'm not
asking this question for debate,I'm just asking
to know for my own reference. Thanks.

Perhaps it is not for us to know whom God saves, except that we have Gods promise that if we believe, that is have faith, we shall have everlasting life. That sure sounds like salvation to me!

When do we Get this Salvation? Well we receive the promise by hearing the Word which is one of the reasons why we come to believe. So from first belief, when we have little more than the promise, we have faith which is the substance of things hoped for, that we will receive eternal life at the appointed time because we retain our faith in Jesus. Our eternal life begins when our faith begins, and so long as we do not lose our faith, we have eternal life.

Now how can we tell who else has eternal life? Scripture says, "By their fruits ye shall know them". So, become a fruit inspector.

 

[Yelsew]

Is there a Calvinist Retreat in progress? Haven't heard from any in days!

 

[texmedic]

Does the *all* mean all men ever created? No. It means all as in all races of men. If He literally desired all men to be saved then all would be saved....... we would have universalism.

He also calls every man. But this call is just because He is a just God. This is His general call.......... not His effectual call that everyone that receives will come. Only His chosen will receive His effectual call..... and all the Father gives Him will come. His general call will be ignored by the non elect. Grace and peace to you, Tex

 

[Yelsew]

Texmedic,

There are a few definitions for 'all' as you may know.

God's grace is for All, no qualifying limitations.

God's love is for All, no qualifying limitations.

God's Mercy is for All, no qualifying limitations.

God's atonement for the sins of All, no qualifying limitations.

God's Salvation is also for all, but there is a qualifier assigned by God, and that qualifier is faith, all who will be saved must have faith in Him, His son, even on the name of his son.