I don’t put anyone on ignore. I occasionally stop responding to them if I see they aren’t here to encourage and be encouraged in this difficult race. But I still pray and read some of their posts from time to time to see if there’s any soft ground yet.
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I don’t put anyone on ignore. I occasionally stop responding to them if I see they aren’t here to encourage and be encouraged in this difficult race. But I still pray and read some of their posts from time to time to see if there’s any soft ground yet.
And there you go. I see the spirit enter every time. The results are ALWAYS the same, anything gained, however small, is lost. He knows how to toss us around. He’s a spirit of offense. I saw him enter hours ago. He ruined the day. But it’s good that I know what to pray now.
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BarneyFife
Well-Known Member
No way. Thanks, but I'm a bare-handed squatter from way back. ;)Barny, do you want to borrow my catchers mitt? Saves the fingers.
BarneyFife
Well-Known Member
It's always been my understanding that the Bible was written for the common man. I've looked up a few words in the original languages, but I've always had more success putting things together by comparing a variety of English translations. But, hey, whatever gets you through the night, I guess. :)
BarneyFife
Well-Known Member
If you have no discernment of spirits you have to just shoot at anything that moves. Or you can ask for what you lack.
Lambano
Well-Known Member
Johann, what are you wrestling with?
Are you looking for solid ground? (Allusion to Matthew 7:24-27)
Regarding the subject of this thread: The battle between the Articles of Remonstrance and TULIP has been ongoing since 1611. Both sides have strong Biblical support, which is why faithful believers still debate it without resolution. The cognitive dissonance in trying to believe two contradictory theological systems is mentally destabilizing. The only solid ground I can offer is πίστις, TRUST. That's where I find peace of mind.
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Did you also battle with these two camps, Armenian and Calvinism Lambano?
I was not aware how long this debate is going on..there are "grey" verses that imply the free offer is for all, then there are verses that state we were chosen before time, some elect, others not.
Maybe you can help me clear the fog since I am getting desperate here..hope you know what I'm getting at dear friend
J.
Some resort to intellectual oratory others have it all together.
Glad you have not shoot at me.
My mantra for so many years as I wrestle is: Oh, I don’t know, I don’t know. But I trust You. It’s what calms me too. To just stop the wrestling and return to practicing trust when I become too greatly unsettled.
Lambano
Well-Known Member
And that's cool too.
I got pointed to Blue Letter Bible and it's interlinear feature by someone on another forum, and the way my mind works, it was like turning a kid loose in a candy store.
Lambano
Well-Known Member
Lambano
Well-Known Member
I did. I could identify all too well with the conviction that I was condemned to an eternity of torment by an arbitrary decree issued before the foundation of the world. But my real issues were with trusting God, which was rooted in being threatened with hellfire as a 12-year-old child. Theology, and particularly the Calvinist understanding of Election, just gave me an intellectual reason for distrusting Him.
God came to me in a night of intense prayer and asked me why I didn't trust Him. And then he healed me. And He loved me. And I realized I could trust Him.
I've studied the Arminian - Calvinist debate, including reading writings by John MacArthur and John Piper. I found Robert Picirilli's Grace, Faith, and Free Will to be particularly helpful because it laid out the Biblical arguments and counter-arguments for both sides. The author himself (a professor at a Free-Will Baptist seminary) then makes his case for Reformation-era Arminianism.
If you're looking to lift the fog using only Biblical proof-texts, I don't think you can do it. If it could be done, this issue would have been resolved sometime in the last 411 years. As you can probably tell from my sidebar discussion with @stunnedbygrace yesterday, I lean towards the Arminian side and am very close to driving into her left-hand ditch. One of the reasons why is, as she pointed out, is because the Calvinist side tends to heavily downplay and condition the verses that talk about the love of God for the world He created (John 3:16, for example), which to me is non-negotiable. I have other reasons that are based on the church's traditions, reason, and experience.
Having discovered that I cannot obtain certainty even from studying scripture, I fall back on the big three: Trust, Hope, and Love. (1 Corinthians 13:13). And the greatest of these is love.
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The debates all center around groups of verses that seem to say different things. There are many different debates like this. You have to start with the sure premise that both verses/sets of verses are true, rather than argue one set of verses.
The clearest, most starkly delineated example of what I’m talking about is this passage because the verses follow one after another, which isn’t the case elsewhere:
4Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or you will become as foolish as they are.
5Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or they will become wise in their own estimation.
Riddles and parables and bears, oh my.
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
The clearest, most starkly delineated example of what I’m talking about is this passage because the verses follow one after another, which isn’t the case elsewhere:
4Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or you will become as foolish as they are.
5Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
or they will become wise in their own estimation.
Riddles and parables and bears, oh my.
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
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Is this downloadable in a PDF format Lambano...
Frank Piccirilli's Grace, Faith, and Free Will...?
Lambano
Well-Known Member
If you have Amazon.com in South Africa, it is downloadable in Kindle format.
I also misspelled Dr. Picirilli's surname and got his first name completely wrong (should be "Robert")
There are some…keys. They unlock some things. Without them, the fog remains. The keys are hidden in plain sight, so to speak. Concerning endtimes matters, a key is what timeframe the verse fits in. Otherwise, yes, the debate just rages on as to whether God removes the righteous or removes the wicked. Another key is whether a verse concerns righteousness or holiness. Otherwise, yes, the debate just rages on unresolved.
Lambano
Well-Known Member
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