Here is a reality....
A.) J. Calvin made Calvinists.
God didn't.
God made CHRISTians.
God made Sons/Daughters, "in Christ".
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Here is a reality....
A.) J. Calvin made Calvinists.
God didn't.
God made CHRISTians.
God made Sons/Daughters, "in Christ".
This is essentially true, but there is more to it. Every religion in the world -- other than Bible Christianity -- teaches that a man may merit salvation through his own righteous/noble/good deeds and works. For the Jews (particularly the Pharisees) it was "the works of the Law " on which they were depending for their salvation. For Catholics it is the sacraments. What most religions forgot is that since all men are sinners, and there is a penalty for sins, someone would need to pay that penalty. So no matter how righteously a person lived, that issue would not go away.
When we turn to the New Testament, we find a Gospel which goes contrary to the above. We are told that "there is none righteous, no not one". This is in comparison to the absolute righteousness of God and Christ. We are also told that in comparison to God, "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags". Which leaves a person with absolutely nothing to merit salvation. Thus we are driven to Christ and faith in Christ alone for our salvation.
Since God knew that no man could save himself or ever merit salvation and entrance into Heaven, He sent His only begotten Son to be our Substitute, and also our Redeemer and Savior. Jesus of Nazareth was the only Man who lived a perfect life, then gave His life and blood as an offering for the sins of the whole world. But He did not stop there. He also rose again for our justification.
In view of this God has set down TWO conditions for salvation: (1) REPENTANCE toward God and (2) FAITH toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So when a sinner truly repents and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, God justifies him by His grace, and gives to him the gift of eternal life. God also IMPUTES to the sinner the perfect righteousness of Christ. And that is the only way that former sinners can enter into Heaven. We are clothed with "the robe" of Christ's righteousness. This is the "fine linen" clean and white covering the saints after we are washed in the blood of the Lamb.
At the same time, those who are saved by grace are commanded to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, and to purify themselves, even as Christ is pure. Therefore the Bible says "Let everyone that nameth the name Christ depart from iniquity" (2 Tim 2:19).
Dear Behold,
It sounds like you are saying that God's foreknowledge comes from Him being a fortune teller rather than Him making all things to happen just as He desires.
Here is where scripture says God's foreknowledge comes from:
Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
God declares the "end from the beginning" because He will execute His counsel and bring it to pass. In other words, God's foreknowledge comes from the CERTAINTY that God's Word will ACCOMPLISH all that He has said He will do.
No where in scripture does it say that God is a fortune teller who looks into the future and then CLAIMS those outcomes as coming from His own works. This belief is heresy and brings God down to the level of mankind.
Satan's Gospel teaches the Doctrines of Free Will and Hell. Those doctrines teach the "crooked way" of "works".
Behold, I did go back and read some of your posts and I found that I was right about you believing in the Doctrines of Free Will and Hell.
From your past posts, you have stated that not everyone will be saved by Christ. Why do you believe this will be the case?
Most people who hold with your beliefs will say that they remained lost because they did not accept Christ as "Lord" as they did. In other words, they are saying that the lost did not do the ONE necessary work which would have saved them. It is that one work which distinguishes them from the lost.
But scripture contradicts that statement.
Scripture says that no person can know Christ or even have a desire to seek Him. In that carnal condition, how can anyone make a confession of faith? How did you make it? Did you make a "free will" decision because you are smarter, wiser or less evil?
Scripture says the ONLY WAY a person can make that confession of faith is by Christ coming to them and giving them the Holy Spirit. And because no person can know Christ or have a desire to seek Him, they will not even ask Christ to come to them. The only thing they can do without Christ spiritually intervening in their life is to continue in their rejection of Him.
For this reason, scripture makes the following claims:
Prov 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
Phil 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, BUT OF GOD.
As I said in my earlier posts, mankind is saved only because it is God's "will" to save us. It is His free gift to all mankind and He gives us this gift because of His grace and not because of any "works" that we think we can do to be worthy of the gift.
When Christ is ready to save a person, either in this age or the next age, He will come to them and give them the free gift of the Holy Spirit. Once a person has the Spirit, they will make the confession of faith and will no longer reject Him. They have no free will ability to do anything else.
You should read Joel chapter 2. The setting of the chapter is the final age (the "Lake of Fire" age). Christ's army in the first part of the chapter represents the Elect who are reigning with Him in judgment over the lost. The lost are being judged by the Law which requires their death (the true penalty of sin). But before they perish, verse 18 says that Christ will pity his people and (v. 23) will give them the Early and Latter Rains. With the Early and Latter Rains, the people who are being judged will be "born again". After they are "born again", their judgment will continue until their old spiritual nature is destroyed. Once it is, they will be converted just as the Elect were converted in this age. This is the only way mankind is saved.
This verse tells why Christ has pity (mercy) upon the lost in the final age who are being judged by the Law:
Mat 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Even though the lost of the final age are being judged by the Law, Christ will NOT forget the "weightier matters of the Law" which are judgment, mercy and faith.
Your beliefs, like those of the Pharisees, are void of these "weightier matters".
Joe
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This repentance isn't to be "sorry i did it God"....... its not that.
Its the change of the heart from Unbelief to BELIEF.......that is the repentance., that IS "Faith", that God accepts.
God understands that, but Self Righteousness, does not see it that way.
Many who say they are believers, will tell you that your works, commandments, law, water baptism, enduring.....is the "next step", or its what you do to stay saved.
So, the way you spot a heretic, and the foundation of a heretic is self righteousness and spiritual blindness.....
= The way you spot them is to ask them..
"Can you lose your Salvation".
A person who says ""yes"", is proving that they dont actually trust in Christ.
Listen carefully, reader.... if you believe that Christ does not keep you saved, then you believe that YOU DO., as there is no other option.
= SELF Righteousness, pretending to be Christianity.
Never thought about it that way, did you? ....... If thats you.
See that?
So, think about it now, and never be that one.
If you believe you can lose your salvation, then you are not Trusting in Christ, at this time.
You are trusting in you, to keep yourself saved.
= SELF Rightousness
And these deceived people will post verses till they drop dead from exhaustion trying to prove all you have to Do to stay saved, or what you must not do, or you'll "lose it'.
Here is what you'll never find in a real bible.
This verse..."Jesus left the Born again person". or "You can be Un-born again".
Why are those verses not in a real bible?
Because it cant happen.
You should not be manufacturing your own theology like Episkopos. You also present too many false ideas.
Repentance is a TURNING AWAY from all sins and idols and a TURNING TO the living God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore Peter said "Repent and BE CONVERTED* that your sins may be blotted out.
*Strong's Concordance
epistrephó: to turn, to return
Original Word: ἐπιστρέφω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: epistrephó
Phonetic Spelling: (ep-ee-stref'-o)
Definition: to turn, to return
Usage: (a) trans: I turn (back) to (towards), (b) intrans: I turn (back) (to [towards]); I come to myself.
So this includes godly sorrow for past sins, unlike your theology. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. (2 Cor 7:10)
God know what you are thinking, and what you will do, before you do it.
God sees the intent of your heart.
The NT says...>"Jesus knew their Thoughts".
So, you JOE, would think and actually say on a christian forum, that this is "fortune telling".
Guess again, Cultist, Deceiver.
So, it sounds like you are trained by a cult to believe that Hell does not exist, and that Free Will does not exist.
Those are Cult teachings.
You're in a cult, and your posts are reflecting your training.
So,
The Foreknowledge of God, is an ability of God., Its related to God being Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent.
Its the same ability the Bible has.......and the bible version is called : "Prophecy."
"its SEEING what will happen next".
Its "knowing what will come"
"FOREKNOWLEDGE".... This is understood is "God knowing all things, but not God casing all things".
Calvin's theology is from Hell. Its some of the Devil's finest work.. Its a betrayal of the Cross of Christ.
Calvin, just like the Devil ....want's God blamed, as if Satan's not the Evil one, the perpetrator, the father of lies, the enemy of God, of Christ, of YOU and ME.
So, Calvin the Heretic, created a crazy Theology, that teaches that The Cross is not for everyone..
Calvin teaches that : John 3: 16 is a Lie.
Calvin teaches that : John 12:32 is a Lie
Calving teaches that : 1 Timothy 2:4 is a Lie.
Dear Behold,
I do not follow or teach Calvinism. It is just another false teaching of the apostate church.
I have tried to help you understand the true Gospel of Christ but you will have no part of it. I can do nothing more - Christ is the only one who can heal the blind. I will accept the Lord's "will" in this matter and end our discussion.
Joe
Let me tell you about Episkopos..
He never preaches or teaches.. ."The preaching of the Cross" or "Christ Crucified" as our Redemption.
Paul wrote it as the doctrine of Salvation.
I aways teach it and preach it, and i always will.
You should start., Enoch111
Now, and getting back to your LEGALISM...., you created a sentence in your post using "turning from Sin" that isn't in the Verse you twisted, that Peter wrote.
Heretics always invent verses or add to them, as you just did, Enoch111
Peter only said to "Repent". "Repent and be baptized"...thats Acts 2:38, which by the way is not Paul's Gospel.
So, to turn from unbelief to Faith, when you hear the Gospel, as "faith comes by hearing... is not """repent from sin comes by hearing""" as heretics teach it, and God will blot out your sins, with the Cross of Christ., as the deceived teach it.
Also, I never post my Theology
I only post Pauline Theology.
So, you should not be lying about me on my Thread, or anywhere else.
Listen,
Strong's Concordance is not my bible.
Make certain you understand that, Enoch111
I dont teach "Concordance", but people who want to pretend they are a "teacher", will preach and teach = "Concordance"
As you know, Enoch111
I teach Paul's Theology, from the Bible., from the New Testament.
And i never EVER try to correct the Holy Bible with the "original greek"... nonsense.
Listen ...again
The reason a person is not a Christian, is because of their UNBELIEF.
This is the same reason they go to HELL.
Its not for not repenting from SINS.....its only for the = sin of "Unbelief".
So you repent from That ONE, and God takes your Faith, and gives you Salvation, which forgives them all.
Noone is saved by repenting of sin, or from it.
God saves you because you BELIEVE in Jesus.
= "faith is counted as righteousness".
"all that BELIEVE IN JESUS< shall be saved"
Telling God you are sorry for your sin, is not the same as Giving God Your FAITH in Christ.
So, Its time you stop trying to prove that God only accepts you if you make him some promises.
See, Paul teaches that we are saved "while we are YET sinners".
Not as you teach it..>>"stop sinning, agree to be good, and then God will save you".
You are making a "WORK" out of your idea of REPENTANCE.
You're making it a SELF EFFORT, to be saved, out of your idea of "repent", as usual.
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Yes,
i agree,
i will have no part is what you are teaching, other than to correct it for your benefit and for the benefit of the readers who take the time to come to my Threads.
<B><
Bob Estey
Well-Known Member
I showed you that "converted" means turning from and turning to. So this is about as STUPID as it gets. "Legalism" substituted for the true Gospel of grace which I presented? Actually you are the heretic who has twisted the meaning of repentance. And frankly you do not really understand the Gospel.
More BALONEY from you. Genuine believers do not believer such nonsense. This is all in your imagination. Another Episkopos.
Converted "NT Conversion"... =means the person is born again.
See, in the OT, you had the water baptism of John the Baptist.
He taught. (not Jesus, but John the Baptist)..."Repent and be baptized"..
Jesus does not teach that, as HIS Salvation.
Paul does not teach that as "The Gospel".
We do not repent so that God will take us....
WE BELIEVE and God saves us.
Enoch111,
You dont know this, because you are probably indoctrinated as a Catholic, or as a "Acts 2:38" cult member, who has no understanding of "justification by faith" without Works, without anything.......accept "FAITH is counted as Righteousness"...
.
LOL. Only to someone as confused about doctrine as you. As for style... I speak in understatement. @Behold speaks in hyperbole.
And the message is very different. I speak godly counsel. @Behold speaks from a scheme based on iniquity.
You sit in your armchair and dictate your opinions as if they came from Sinai. But strangely enough...you are right about @Behold.
Listen Deceiver,
Episkops, just like you, is all about WORKS.
However...
The Gospel is: The Grace of God, as provided by the Cross of Christ., that is a GIFT...>"The GIFT of Salvation">
So, that ends your water baptism, to be saved.
That ends your repenting to be accepted.
It ends your ALL self effort to try to go to heaven, Enoch111
It exposes you as a Legalist, same Episkopos.
That's the reality.
What?
I don't like being compared to any dogmatic religionists. Why am i being used to insult others? Am I equally misunderstood by all carnal factions?
Could it be the offense of the truth????
You insult the Cross with your "godly counsel" so the god that you are representing, also has BIG ISSUES with the Cross, Episkopos.
Now, you can begin to pretend some theological nonsense about The Cross, to try to install some damage control, but as you have written so many Post that insult the Cross......you are just too late to try to deceive the real believers who have read your endless Cross denying "godly council"
You are being used by Enoch11 to try to "guilt by association".
It's retarded carnal behavior, but, it's his spiritual fruit.
That's life.
