The Doctrines of Grace
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Ritajanice
Born-Again
We’re not talking about 2,000 years ago....we’re talking about now ...a Born Again is in the now...not 2,000 years ago.
Ritajanice
Born-Again
We’re not talking about 2,000 years ago....we’re talking about now ...a Born Again is in the now...not 2,000 years ago.
Wrong,
If a man's beliefs are God breathed meaning he understands the word of God having rightly divided it.
Then no he would not fall into one camp.
Simply because the word of God came way before any of those two men existed.
Therefore my beliefs are before Arminianism.
My beliefs are Jesus' teaching.
Therefore I am a Christian only.
Not a Calvinist not an Armenian.
I'm a Christian with no hyphen!!!
Ritajanice
Born-Again
Hey You!
Member
Samson’s pillars ~ * September 9
Judges 16:29 KJV; And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
Most people know the story of Samson; the world’s strongest man. He wasn’t a very good man, but as a Judge he defended his people Israel. One day, his enemies used a woman to bring him down; many a man’s weakness. The Philistines blinded his eyes and kept him around; to bring him out from time to time, and mock him. During a great party they displayed him in their midst, but he had reconciled with God, and sacrificed himself by pulling the house down; killing more than he ever had. ~ When someone has a bad Doctrine, I use Samson and the Pillars as a way to show them they’re wrong. I get someone who disagrees with me to take turns giving Verses we use to make our points, and I even let them go first. I have to agree with their Verse and put one hand on it, while keeping my other hand on the Verses for my side; like holding to both sides of the argument. The first one to take their hand off the other persons pillar is the Loser. The person I'm debating with always takes their hand of my column before I take my hand off their column. The other person can't see how both columns can be true at the same time! ~ Keeping our hands on all columns results in a Systematic Theology; believing All Scripture…
Samson was a Scoundrel; are you better than him? ~ Samson Lied to Delilah all the time; what do you think she called him for Lying to her? Have you ever told a Lie?? Hmm; I think she would call you a Liar too. Have you ever had an Affair? This is called Adultery; but you deny it. Jesus said that whoever looks upon a woman to Lust for her has committed Adultery with her in his Heart! Saint James said “Each one is tempted when his own evil desires lure him away and he’s enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to Sin; and when Sin is full-grown, it gives birth to death.” In case you didn’t notice, this is a picture of Adultery in the Heart. ~ These were only two of God’s Ten Commandments, if he judged you by his standard would you be innocent or guilty? When you die, would you go to Heaven or to Hell?
Hell is a place of eternal torment and your hand is on its pillar; what you need to do is put your other hand on the pillar of Heaven; a place of eternal Glory! ~ For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him shall not perish but have everlasting Life! Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God that takes away the Sin of the world. He gave up his life like Samson did, and Saved all who put their trust in him. He shed his blood and died on the Cross, was buried three days but rose from the grave; the Hope of eternal Life. We’re Saved by Grace through Faith in the Resurrected Savior Jesus Christ, without Works lest we boast; this is when you can take your hand off Hell’s pillar! Repent of your Sins, Confess Jesus Christ as your Lord God and join a Bible believing Church. ~ Do you believe the whole Bible but think others don’t? Ask yourself; “Is his Verse good or bad for my Doctrine?” When his Verse is Fundamentally true but bad for your doctrine, maybe you’re the one who doesn’t believe all the Bible?
2ndTimothy 3:16 KJV-a; All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
Judges 16:29 KJV; And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left.
Most people know the story of Samson; the world’s strongest man. He wasn’t a very good man, but as a Judge he defended his people Israel. One day, his enemies used a woman to bring him down; many a man’s weakness. The Philistines blinded his eyes and kept him around; to bring him out from time to time, and mock him. During a great party they displayed him in their midst, but he had reconciled with God, and sacrificed himself by pulling the house down; killing more than he ever had. ~ When someone has a bad Doctrine, I use Samson and the Pillars as a way to show them they’re wrong. I get someone who disagrees with me to take turns giving Verses we use to make our points, and I even let them go first. I have to agree with their Verse and put one hand on it, while keeping my other hand on the Verses for my side; like holding to both sides of the argument. The first one to take their hand off the other persons pillar is the Loser. The person I'm debating with always takes their hand of my column before I take my hand off their column. The other person can't see how both columns can be true at the same time! ~ Keeping our hands on all columns results in a Systematic Theology; believing All Scripture…
Samson was a Scoundrel; are you better than him? ~ Samson Lied to Delilah all the time; what do you think she called him for Lying to her? Have you ever told a Lie?? Hmm; I think she would call you a Liar too. Have you ever had an Affair? This is called Adultery; but you deny it. Jesus said that whoever looks upon a woman to Lust for her has committed Adultery with her in his Heart! Saint James said “Each one is tempted when his own evil desires lure him away and he’s enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to Sin; and when Sin is full-grown, it gives birth to death.” In case you didn’t notice, this is a picture of Adultery in the Heart. ~ These were only two of God’s Ten Commandments, if he judged you by his standard would you be innocent or guilty? When you die, would you go to Heaven or to Hell?
Hell is a place of eternal torment and your hand is on its pillar; what you need to do is put your other hand on the pillar of Heaven; a place of eternal Glory! ~ For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him shall not perish but have everlasting Life! Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God that takes away the Sin of the world. He gave up his life like Samson did, and Saved all who put their trust in him. He shed his blood and died on the Cross, was buried three days but rose from the grave; the Hope of eternal Life. We’re Saved by Grace through Faith in the Resurrected Savior Jesus Christ, without Works lest we boast; this is when you can take your hand off Hell’s pillar! Repent of your Sins, Confess Jesus Christ as your Lord God and join a Bible believing Church. ~ Do you believe the whole Bible but think others don’t? Ask yourself; “Is his Verse good or bad for my Doctrine?” When his Verse is Fundamentally true but bad for your doctrine, maybe you’re the one who doesn’t believe all the Bible?
2ndTimothy 3:16 KJV-a; All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
I agree.
Allah's God does not exist.
Calvin's God does not exist.
The reformed faith blasphemes God.
I don't say this to be mean as some reading along might think.
I say it because it's true.
Let's see why.
Reformed theology teaches that God predestinated everything from before the beginning of time.
INCLUDING SIN....
Because EVERYTHING includes sin.
Now, some reformed accept this....
and some reformed cannot accept this.
For instance...the Westminster Confession states that God did, indeed, predestinate everything,
however He did not predestinate man's sins.
Interesting concept.
They do tend to change the meaning of words...so EVERYTHING does not really mean EVERYTHING,,,,I guess.
So,,,IF God predestined EVERYTHING, as John Calvin, Doug Wilson, John Piper and others believe....
then God also predestined sin.
If God predestined sin,,,,
then they are attributing to GOD
what SATAN does.
Pure and simple blasphemy.
Interesting! Are you reading it because you agree with it? Or are you just reading it to see what it says? I ask because that confession is considered Calvinistic in its soteriology (view of salvation). And iIt is also theistic in its view of God and covenantal in its view of Biblical (systematic) theology... which is also good... <smile>
Grace and peace to you.
Ritajanice
Born-Again
@Titus .
Excellent commentary.
100% understand what he is saying in my spirit...Praise God!....more heart revelation!
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
— 1 John 3:6
A true child of God cannot continue to habitually live a lifestyle of sin! It is impossible! In fact, if someone claims to be a child of God but continues in a life of sin, it is more than likely that he was never genuinely born again in the first place. You see, the Bible makes it clear that it is simply impossible for a bona fide child of God to continue in a life of sin! Today I want to tell you the reason why this is impossible.
First John 3:6 says, “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” Do you see the word “sinneth” used two times in this verse? In both cases, the Greek tense indicates continuous action, which means the verse could be more accurately translated, “He who abides in him does not go on continually, habitually sinning as a way of life; he who continually goes on routinely sinning as a way of life has not seen him, neither known him.”
I realize this is a very strong statement, but this is precisely what John said to us in this verse. According to this verse, anyone who continues to live in habitual sin does not know Jesus. It could be that this individual has come close to the Kingdom of God and has even tasted the powers of it. But the fact that he has continued uninterrupted in the practice of sin shows that he has never become a real child of God. The fact that his life never changed demonstrates that his nature was never changed. This is exactly what John wrote in First John 3:6.
John then goes on to tell us, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). The tense of the word translated “commit” again indicates continuing action, which means the verse could be translated, “Whosoever is born of God simply cannot go on continually sinning.…” And then John tells us why!
John writes, “…for his [God’s] seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” The word “seed” is the Greek word sperma — and yes, it is where we get the word sperm.
According to this phenomenal verse, God injected His own seed into you the day you gave your life to Christ! Just as the sperm of a human father carries the DNA of that father, God’s seed — the Word of God — carries the life and nature of God within it. When that divine seed was implanted on the inside of you, it imparted the very nature of God Himself to your spirit.
Peter referred to this miraculous event when he wrote that you are “…born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23). This means the day you got saved, that divine seed came rushing into your spirit, carrying the life and nature of God within it to give you a new nature. Just as a human seed produces a human life, God’s divine seed immediately began to produce the life of God inside you.
In Genesis 1, God declared a spiritual law — that every living thing produces after its own kind (vv. 21,24,25): Humans produce humans; horses produce horses; plants produce plants, and so on. This principle is also true in the spiritual realm. The day that God’s divine seed was planted in you, that seed transported the very nature of God Himself into your spirit, with the full expectation that His very life and nature would be reproduced on the inside of you. This is why your desires suddenly changed after you were born again. This is also why you felt so badly about sin that previously didn’t bother you at all and why you became so driven to possess a holy life. You weren’t the same anymore, because you had a new nature. The nature of God Himself had been planted in you!
This is the reason a genuinely born-again person cannot continue habitually in his past sinful patterns. His new nature will drive him to be different, to be holy, to be like God. His born-again spirit will grieve and sorrow if sins are committed, because such actions violate the new nature that has been implanted in his spirit. If a person continues in sin as though nothing happened inside him, then nothing is probably exactly what did happen! More than likely, he was never really born again, for if he had been born again, that new nature of God within him would not permit him to continue living habitually in sin.
What does this mean for you and me? If a person who claims to be born again continues uninterrupted in habitual sin, we can take it as a strong indicator that he has probably never really been born again. This person may have come close to the Kingdom of God; he may have even learned the lingo of the saints. But the fact that his actions are unchanged indicates that his nature has never been changed. If he had really been infused with the divine seed of God, that life-giving seed would have so changed him that he wouldn’t be able to continue living as he had lived in the past.
This is why I say that people who claim to know the Lord but whose lives never reflect a change should question if they have ever really been born again. The great preacher, Charles Finney, once remarked that most people who attend church are probably not born again. When asked why he believed this, Finney remarked that it was impossible for true children of God to live in blatant sin as many believers do. Finney made this statement over 100 years ago. As I contemplate the amount of sin that is so prevalent in the Church today, it makes me wonder, How many people who attend church in our own day are not genuinely born again?
On the other hand, if a person’s life does not emulate God, perhaps it is an indication that he has never really received God’s divine seed into his spirit. If he had been implanted with God’s seed, that seed would have caused clear and visible changes in his life.
You must remember that in regard to the works of the flesh, Paul said, “…They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21). The word “do” is the Greek word prasso, which means to practice. The Greek expresses the idea of a person who performs these things as a matter of routine. These actions are his ritual, his norm, his pattern of life. It means the verse could be translated, “…Those who put these things into practice and who do these things routinely shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
This is not the story of someone who has lost his salvation; rather, this is the story of someone who thought he was saved but who never really possessed genuine salvation in the first place. If he had truly been saved, he wouldn’t have been able to continue living a consistent life of sin. The apostle John made this point emphatically clear in First John 3:9.
Excellent commentary.
100% understand what he is saying in my spirit...Praise God!....more heart revelation!
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
— 1 John 3:6
A true child of God cannot continue to habitually live a lifestyle of sin! It is impossible! In fact, if someone claims to be a child of God but continues in a life of sin, it is more than likely that he was never genuinely born again in the first place. You see, the Bible makes it clear that it is simply impossible for a bona fide child of God to continue in a life of sin! Today I want to tell you the reason why this is impossible.
First John 3:6 says, “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” Do you see the word “sinneth” used two times in this verse? In both cases, the Greek tense indicates continuous action, which means the verse could be more accurately translated, “He who abides in him does not go on continually, habitually sinning as a way of life; he who continually goes on routinely sinning as a way of life has not seen him, neither known him.”
I realize this is a very strong statement, but this is precisely what John said to us in this verse. According to this verse, anyone who continues to live in habitual sin does not know Jesus. It could be that this individual has come close to the Kingdom of God and has even tasted the powers of it. But the fact that he has continued uninterrupted in the practice of sin shows that he has never become a real child of God. The fact that his life never changed demonstrates that his nature was never changed. This is exactly what John wrote in First John 3:6.
John then goes on to tell us, “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God” (1 John 3:9). The tense of the word translated “commit” again indicates continuing action, which means the verse could be translated, “Whosoever is born of God simply cannot go on continually sinning.…” And then John tells us why!
John writes, “…for his [God’s] seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” The word “seed” is the Greek word sperma — and yes, it is where we get the word sperm.
According to this phenomenal verse, God injected His own seed into you the day you gave your life to Christ! Just as the sperm of a human father carries the DNA of that father, God’s seed — the Word of God — carries the life and nature of God within it. When that divine seed was implanted on the inside of you, it imparted the very nature of God Himself to your spirit.
Peter referred to this miraculous event when he wrote that you are “…born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23). This means the day you got saved, that divine seed came rushing into your spirit, carrying the life and nature of God within it to give you a new nature. Just as a human seed produces a human life, God’s divine seed immediately began to produce the life of God inside you.
In Genesis 1, God declared a spiritual law — that every living thing produces after its own kind (vv. 21,24,25): Humans produce humans; horses produce horses; plants produce plants, and so on. This principle is also true in the spiritual realm. The day that God’s divine seed was planted in you, that seed transported the very nature of God Himself into your spirit, with the full expectation that His very life and nature would be reproduced on the inside of you. This is why your desires suddenly changed after you were born again. This is also why you felt so badly about sin that previously didn’t bother you at all and why you became so driven to possess a holy life. You weren’t the same anymore, because you had a new nature. The nature of God Himself had been planted in you!
This is the reason a genuinely born-again person cannot continue habitually in his past sinful patterns. His new nature will drive him to be different, to be holy, to be like God. His born-again spirit will grieve and sorrow if sins are committed, because such actions violate the new nature that has been implanted in his spirit. If a person continues in sin as though nothing happened inside him, then nothing is probably exactly what did happen! More than likely, he was never really born again, for if he had been born again, that new nature of God within him would not permit him to continue living habitually in sin.
What does this mean for you and me? If a person who claims to be born again continues uninterrupted in habitual sin, we can take it as a strong indicator that he has probably never really been born again. This person may have come close to the Kingdom of God; he may have even learned the lingo of the saints. But the fact that his actions are unchanged indicates that his nature has never been changed. If he had really been infused with the divine seed of God, that life-giving seed would have so changed him that he wouldn’t be able to continue living as he had lived in the past.
This is why I say that people who claim to know the Lord but whose lives never reflect a change should question if they have ever really been born again. The great preacher, Charles Finney, once remarked that most people who attend church are probably not born again. When asked why he believed this, Finney remarked that it was impossible for true children of God to live in blatant sin as many believers do. Finney made this statement over 100 years ago. As I contemplate the amount of sin that is so prevalent in the Church today, it makes me wonder, How many people who attend church in our own day are not genuinely born again?
- Could it be that many who claim to know the Lord really aren’t born again but instead have only been “enlightened” by coming closer to the Kingdom of God?
- If someone is really born of God, could he continue to blatantly live in sin, completely unchanged in his actions or attitudes?
- Doesn’t John tell us that it is impossible for a person to continue in habitual sin if God’s nature genuinely resides in his heart?
- Don’t you think it is tragic that many people who come to church week after week, assuming they are saved, may not really be saved at all?
On the other hand, if a person’s life does not emulate God, perhaps it is an indication that he has never really received God’s divine seed into his spirit. If he had been implanted with God’s seed, that seed would have caused clear and visible changes in his life.
You must remember that in regard to the works of the flesh, Paul said, “…They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:21). The word “do” is the Greek word prasso, which means to practice. The Greek expresses the idea of a person who performs these things as a matter of routine. These actions are his ritual, his norm, his pattern of life. It means the verse could be translated, “…Those who put these things into practice and who do these things routinely shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.”
This is not the story of someone who has lost his salvation; rather, this is the story of someone who thought he was saved but who never really possessed genuine salvation in the first place. If he had truly been saved, he wouldn’t have been able to continue living a consistent life of sin. The apostle John made this point emphatically clear in First John 3:9.
Hey You!
Member
God didn't Predestine Sin. He said it never entered his Mind to Cause Judah to Sin...
I agree that God didn't predestinate sin.
This is what the reformed/Calvinists believe.
Hey You!
Member
In your opinion. Fair enough. I say you're wrong, and you can certainly call that my opinion, and that too is fair enough.
Man's beliefs are not God-breathed. Supposing that is really kind of ridiculous. Scripture is God-breathed... meaning He is the One Who said what is contained in Scripture, even through the words of the individual writers.
This understanding is the gift of God. True wisdom and knowledge are gifts of the Spirit; see Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Those things are given to all Christians by the Spirit, but in different portions, according to the will of God.
But the two both claim to be Scriptural, and they are mutually exclusive. If there are two diametrically opposed viewpoints regarding any one thing in Scripture, then the only possibilities are that they one is wrong and the other is right, or that they are both wrong. There is no other possibility.
LOL. Your beliefs ~ if you agree with his five objections (listed above) in opposition to John Calvin's five responses to those objections (also listed above), then you are influenced, whether you realize it or not, by Jacobus Arminius's beliefs ~ if not directly, then indirectly.
Well, we all say that, sure.
Armenia is a country. Arminian is what you are; you believe along the same lines as he did and thus are at least indirectly influenced by him... you fall into his "camp," even regardless of Jacobus Arminius himself. And, Pelagius, too, who made the same points ~ about 1100 years before Arminius ~ in his dispute with Augustine.
Meh. Okay. This is certainly not to say you are lacking in intelligence or lying in any way, but you misunderstand, or misconstrue, or both.
Grace and peace to you.
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Ritajanice
Born-Again
God made man from the dust of the earth...he must have known ,when he told them not eat from the tree ,that they would, whose to say he didn’t know this when he made Adam and Eve.
Why did he tell them not to eat from the tree, when he already knew that they would?
God knows the beginning and the end?
Just another way of looking at it.
So do I, certainly, along with all good Calvinists and all good Reformed folk. Yes, perish the thought.
Absolutely not. Such would be really to call evil good and good evil, which is the unpardonable sin.
Grace and peace to you.
Hey You
There's really no difference between Calvinists and hyper-Calvinists.
Calvinists just use the term hyper-calvinists because even THEY have trouble accepting
the reformed teachings so they try to sugar coat them.
Remember that all calvinists believe in the meanings of the acronym of
T.U.L.I.P.
And
No other denomination does except them.
Ritajanice
Born-Again
None of this is Biblical.its just your own testimony, no scripture to support it.in fact it doesn’t make an ounce of sense,as it’s you talking...not the word.
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Hey You!
Member
I got saved at a Reformed Baptist Church, then I moved to an Independent Fundamental Baptist Church; they couldn't be more different, but they were alike because they are Baptists. I think that due to my experience during my formative years, I understand both sides well. I wrote each of these Gospel Tracts I Post; Hypers don't write Gospel Tracts...
What do you think are different or the same about both Categories af Calvinists?
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Voila' Pinseeker.
Why do you think I call calvinists blasphemers?
Because they attribute to God what satan does.
Just because your Westminster confession states that God does not predestine sin, immediately following the statement that God predestinates everything that occurs.. does not mean that the reformed do not teach this.
It's pschizophrenic.
If God predestinated EVERYTHING, which is reformed theology, then He also predestinated sin.
Let's see what John Calvin states about predestinating sin:
The Institutes
Book 1
Chapter 16
Paragraph 2
2. That this distinction may be the more manifest, we must consider that the Providence of God, as taught in Scripture, is opposed to fortune and fortuitous causes.
By an erroneous opinion prevailing in all ages, an opinion almost universally prevailing in our own day--viz. that all things happen fortuitously, the true doctrine of Providence has not only been obscured, but almost buried.
If one falls among robbers, or ravenous beasts; if a sudden gust of wind at sea causes shipwreck; if one is struck down by the fall of a house or a tree; if another, when wandering through desert paths, meets with deliverance; or, after being tossed by the waves, arrives in port, and makes some wondrous hair-breadth escape from death--
all these occurrences, prosperous as well as adverse, carnal sense will attribute to fortune. But whose has learned from the mouth of Christ that all the hairs of his head are numbered (Mt. 10:30), will look farther for the cause, and hold that all events whatsoever are governed by the secret counsel of God. With regard to inanimate objects again we must hold that though each is possessed of its peculiar properties, yet all of them exert their force only in so far as directed by the immediate hand of God. Hence they are merely instruments, into which God constantly infuses what energy he sees meet, and turns and converts to any purpose at his pleasure.
The difference between Calvinists and hyper-Calvinists:
Hyper all believe in Limited Atonement....some Calvinists do not.
Hypers believe that God created everything, including sin - like murder, rape, - for whatever reason God sees fit.
James White has stated that IF God did not decree a rape...then the rape is of no worth and it would be terrible if it happened for no reason.
Some Calvinists believe what the Confessions state,,,I have the Westminster and the 1689...
they both state that God predestinated everything HOWEVER....He did not cause sin.
This is a clear conflict and God is not a God of confustion.
They attribute everything that could not be understood as being a mystery that our finite brains cannot understand.
I don't find this idea in scripture...
What a find is a God that wishes for us to know Him.
Calvinists are more soft than the hyper calvinists,,,,,they try to be more in line with mainline Christians and so they use different language.
But the teachings are the same....it's mens words that make them a little different.
What do YOU think the differences are?
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