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Discussion Forum : Scriptures and Doctrine : Is there anything God doesn't know?

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Heydave
Member



Joined: 2008/4/12
Posts: 1306
Hampshire, UK

 Re:

William wrote "Does it come down to HOW each person hears, the willingness of their hearts to hear and to obey the message preached?
The parable of the sower sowing the seed in different types of earth?"

Exactly!

Faith is available to all, through the word of Christ. That is clear and it is not just handed out selectively to selected persons. It comes to all who hear. It is often referred to a prevenient grace (e.g. by Wesley), i.e it is the gift of faith through the word that enables men to then respond in saving faith toward God. But it can be ignored or resisted. No such thing as irresistible grace in scripture.


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Dave

 2018/4/10 12:07Profile
savannah
Member



Joined: 2008/10/30
Posts: 2265


 Re: William



William,

Greetings!

I offer this counsel to you. The Word and prayer is enough for the Spirit to enlighten you to His Truth. All else are merely helps, yet nonetheless they may help or they may hinder.

Here's George Mueller's testimony, how he went about his search for the deep truths of God;

Before this period I had been much opposed to the doctrines of election, particular redemption, and final persevering grace; so much so that, a few days after my arrival at Teignmouth I called election a devilish doctrine. I did not believe that I had brought myself to the Lord, for that was too manifestly false; but yet I held, that I might have resisted finally.

And further, I knew nothing about the choice of God's people, and did not believe that the child of God, when once made so, was safe for ever. In my fleshly mind I had repeatedly said, "If once I could prove that I am a child of God for ever, I might go back into the world for a year or two, and then return to the Lord, and at last be saved."

But now I was brought to examine these precious truths by the word of God. Being made willing to have no glory of my own in the conversion of sinners, but to consider myself merely as an instrument; and being made willing to receive what the Scriptures said; I went to the Lord, reading the New Testament from the beginning, with a particular reference to these truths. To my great astonishment I found that the passages which speak decidedly for election and persevering grace were about four times as many as those which speak apparently against these truths; and even those few, shortly after, when I had examined and understood them, served to confirm me in the above doctrines.

As to the effect which my belief in these doctrines had on me, I am constrained to state, for God's glory, that though I am still exceedingly weak, and by no means so dead to the lusts of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, as I might and as I ought to be, yet, by the grace of God, I have walked more closely with Him since that period.

My life has not been so variable, and I may say that I have lived much more for God than before. And for this have I been strengthened by the Lord, in a great measure, through the instrumentality of these truths. For in the time of temptation, I have been repeatedly led to say:

"Should I thus sin? I should only bring misery into my soul for a time, and dishonour God; for, being a son of God for ever, I should have to be brought back again, though it might be in the way of severe chastisement."

Thus, I say, the electing love of God in Christ (when I have been able to realize it) has often been the means of producing holiness, instead of leading me into sin. It is only the notional apprehension of such truths, the want of having them in the heart, whilst they are in the head, which is dangerous.

 2018/4/10 13:17Profile
Gloryandgrace
Member



Joined: 2017/7/14
Posts: 1165
Snoqualmie, WA

 Re:


Todd: T.U.L.I.P. is a rebuttal arminianism, it is not an axe to chop down other Christians or a boat anchor to stop the sharing of the gospel. All of this is your perceptions, which being distorted now skew how you think the reformed minister the gospel.

Mak, included a few tidbits of what it means when men begin to believe, and that is by the work of the Spirit of God in conjunction with the preaching of the word of God. This very thing the reformed and Arminian do because they believe 'faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God'. So, God using means, brings men to himself.
This is the bedrock of reformed faith, namely the preaching of the word of God, where instead of traditions of men, false teachers and false doctrines, human ideologies, admixtures of superstitions...the word of God judges all of these.

All of this is my back yard.

lastly, since you never proved me to have blasphemed God, but left that accusation un-proven it is certain you are only grandstanding.

God is not bad to make his own decisions, he is not bad to chose a people for himself, he is not bad for punishing sinners. You are implying I am making God bad when I attribute to him the very things He has claimed to do.

Savannah introduced a lengthy article on the sovereignty of God in salvation...full of scripture references, full of interpretations and conclusions, let someone scrutinize what was said by Jonathan Edwards and pull it apart and prove his interpretations are in error.

The Wesley post in rebuttal contained Wesley's railing against it, but addressed nothing substantive to Edwards article, as such it is only opinion.

My intent was never to pit Edward's words against Wesley's, because what they have said is frozen, there is no more they will bring to the table in this discussion, you and I on the other hand are alive and interacting.

Since you too are frozen in anti-Calvinist reasoning, there is no reason to continue in this vein with you.

Thank you Todd for interacting with me and engaging me where you did. Though my words were against you, my heart is always for you.


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Marvin

 2018/4/10 16:02Profile





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