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Why did you accept Christ?
- Thread starter whetstone
- Start date
I think it's pretty obvious why they don't accept Christ- they are sinners, blind and straying from God.
Let me ask YOU Mark. Why did YOU accept Christ when others did not? I'm not asking what your motivation was (fire insurance). Why did you seek the fire insurance when others just like you did not?
I did not want my newborn son to grow up as confused as I had been and I felt desperate to know the truth. It had nothing to do with goodness (quite the reverse, in fact!) or intelligence (it hadn't helped me at all). It had to do with an inner hunger and longing for the truth of things and a desire to change or be changed, which was beyond my ability to do.
T
TexasSky
Guest
Whetstone,
I do respect what you want to accomplish with your question, but even after sleeping on it, I can't answer it with the kind of answer I think you are hoping for.
My relationship with Christ is exactly that, a relationship. It is based on love. I cannot explain to you why I love my children or anyone else in my life. Nor can I explain to you why I love Christ.
I can tell you that as a child, the words that made me first reach out to Christ were words that said Christ not only loved us, but loved us so much that He took the punishment we deserved, and loved us so much that He forgives the hurt we cause to him and others if we ask, and loves us so much that He will never be too busy to listen, too caught up in His own issues to care about ours, in too much of a hurry to be there for us, never so angry with us that He forgets that He loves us.
So I guess the short answer is "love".
I do respect what you want to accomplish with your question, but even after sleeping on it, I can't answer it with the kind of answer I think you are hoping for.
My relationship with Christ is exactly that, a relationship. It is based on love. I cannot explain to you why I love my children or anyone else in my life. Nor can I explain to you why I love Christ.
I can tell you that as a child, the words that made me first reach out to Christ were words that said Christ not only loved us, but loved us so much that He took the punishment we deserved, and loved us so much that He forgives the hurt we cause to him and others if we ask, and loves us so much that He will never be too busy to listen, too caught up in His own issues to care about ours, in too much of a hurry to be there for us, never so angry with us that He forgets that He loves us.
So I guess the short answer is "love".
Ok.
God bless.
Dan
To be honest, I don't know what others did or did not do. I don't know other people's hearts. </font>[/QUOTE]Other people who are just as sinful as you have died and gone to hell. Their hearts were sinful and they died without Christ. Scripture is filled with people like you and me who died without Christ. Why did you accept Christ when they didn't? What was the difference between you and they?
God bless.
Dan
Ok.
God bless.
Dan </font>[/QUOTE]ALL people have spiritual thirst. It is up to them what they do with the truth that they are shown at various times in their lives. Very often ego gets in the way and the truth is suppressed. Often a man must 'reach the end of his rope' before he is willing to admit he can do nothing for himself and 'please, Jesus, if you are real, save me' kicks in.
An excellent book, and a short one, has an interesting thing to say about this thirst. It is "A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23" by Keller. In it he discusses "he leads me beside the still water". Sheep will not drink from running water. They will only drink from still. When they are thirsty, they would rather drink from urine-contaminated roadside pools than from a running stream. So the shepherd will cut out pools where the water is still for them.
People are like that. They all thirst, but some prefer the poisonous waters. That is what seems familiar and nearby.
What I think Calvinists miss is that ALL people thirst. THAT is why "Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."
Rev. 22:17
whoever wishes. whoever thirsts.
It is our job to take the living water to these thirsty people. They are ALL thirsty.
Helen: Why do some people fill that thirst with worldly things- and some with Jesus? What is the difference? If they all thirst- why do some accept Christ and some do not? There has to be some dividing line- some factor that can be traced in every conversion story that shows the difference between a thirsting believer and a thirsting unbeliever. What do you suppose that difference is?
God Bless.
Dan
God Bless.
Dan
I am not in the business of judging hearts, Dan. I know we all thirst. I know God does not want one to perish, but because many do, that means He is allowing other wills to work, even though He certainly doesn't have to!
What makes a man turn this way or that? If he could not choose his own direction, then a good part of what the Bible presents and says is a lie. I know that. Man can choose.
Why he makes the choices he does is something only He and God are aware of in each individual life.
You want to call it predestination because you cannot fathom God to be big enough for this, I think. But the Bible says 'choose this day' and 'do not harden your hearts' and 'seek God'.
When you then take a second look at the favorite predestination verses, you will find that it is not the person who is predestined to become a believer, but the believer who is predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. It is not the person who is predestined to become a believer, but the method of salvation has been predestined for the person who chooses to become a believer.
What makes a man turn this way or that? If he could not choose his own direction, then a good part of what the Bible presents and says is a lie. I know that. Man can choose.
Why he makes the choices he does is something only He and God are aware of in each individual life.
You want to call it predestination because you cannot fathom God to be big enough for this, I think. But the Bible says 'choose this day' and 'do not harden your hearts' and 'seek God'.
When you then take a second look at the favorite predestination verses, you will find that it is not the person who is predestined to become a believer, but the believer who is predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. It is not the person who is predestined to become a believer, but the method of salvation has been predestined for the person who chooses to become a believer.
Why do some people choose to live in Chicago and others in Mesa?
Why do two people who are in the same situation, whatever that situation is, make different decisions?
Why do some turn left and others right?
Why when my wife and I are cleaning the house does she do it one way and I another?
Certainly, God is at work calling men to Himself. He is touching men's hearts. Men respond to the call God, some in belief and some in rejection-----Why?
Only God knows.
Bro Tony
Why do two people who are in the same situation, whatever that situation is, make different decisions?
Why do some turn left and others right?
Why when my wife and I are cleaning the house does she do it one way and I another?
Certainly, God is at work calling men to Himself. He is touching men's hearts. Men respond to the call God, some in belief and some in rejection-----Why?
Only God knows.
Bro Tony
whetstone,
Why did I accept Christ? I've already answered that. Why do others reject Christ? Simply put, because they choose to. Now you may like to carry this to the next step and talk about "desire", "want", and so forth, but I already know where you're going with this. Bottom line, I don't believe I was elected to the new birth. The new birth has nothing to do with election anyway.
Lets get something straight; when you say "accept Christ", you mean "being born again". First, you assume that I believe the same as you on what "being born again" is. Don't be so certain about that. I'm sure we're not on the same page about it. Second, you assume individuals can tell whether other individuals are going Hell or not. The fact is, we cannot. You and I cannot see or prove the condition of someone else's heart. Now to get to your question.
Why did I accept Christ? I've already answered that. Why do others reject Christ? Simply put, because they choose to. Now you may like to carry this to the next step and talk about "desire", "want", and so forth, but I already know where you're going with this. Bottom line, I don't believe I was elected to the new birth. The new birth has nothing to do with election anyway.
Then by all means- before we talk about why people are saved- let's talk about salvation. What is being born again to you? If it is not accepting the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross- what is it? This is a fundamental question: more important than the one in my OP.
I don't think I've assumed anything. Scripture is clear that many people will die and go to hell. It doesn't matter if they can tell whether they will or not. I just want to know from you why you repented of your sins when they did not.
No you didn't. You repeated what I said in my OP: That you accepted and others did not. You never got around to telling my what was different about you that caused you to accept when others did not.
I'm not asking why others reject Christ. I already know the answer to this. I'm asking why YOU accepted Christ.
Are you scared of where I'm going with this?
What does the following verse mean to you?
2Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
God bless.
Daniel Allen
You make the assumption that all people are identical- and all in the same situation.
You assume you are exactly like your wife having identical backgrounds, life experiences, mental makeup, etc. Does she feel the same way?
Bro Tony, what if I had some spectacular news for you that might just make your heart jump for joy? God has revealed to us why some accept and others reject! I kid you not! It is the only dividing line between believers and unbelievers since all are lost in their sins. Here it is:
Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
It's so painfully simple! You are justified (saved) because you were called and you were called because you were predestined. The man who dies unjustified was not called- and therefore not predestined.
God bless.
Daniel Allen
It is either a lie or you do not understand it. You must concede that it could be either case.
What DOES make a man's heart turn this way or that? What does this verse mean to you Helen?
Pro 21:1 The king's heart [is] in the hand of the LORD, [as] the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Is this a lie? Does God really NOT turn men's hearts whichever way He pleases?
But why does he choose Christ?
So God has a part in man's choice, correct? Do you think God perhaps influences man's choice by putting him in certain circumstances or convicting him to make a certain decision?
My questions to you are: Who will choose this day? Who will not harden their hearts, who will seek God?
If you are referring to Romans 8:29,30- you must take care to read the verses together.
Rom 8:29,30 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate [to be] conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
It would seem believers are foreknown, predestined, called, justified, then glorified. Could you eplain to me how an unbeliever could be predestined to conforming to Christ without first being saved?
That's not what the verses say. The verses say 'whom.' The method of salvation isn't the focus of Romans 8:29,30. It's a WHOM in question.
Whom will be saved Helen? When all people are thirsting- WHOM will accept Christ?
God bless.
Dan