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  1. Bruce-Leiter

    Perseverance of the Saints is different from Once Saved Always Saved

    Evil is NOT a problem for Christianity but for evil humans. No matter how you cut it, God includes in his plans permitting evil without being responsible for it, and humans are fully responsible for it. The Bible teaches both.
  2. Bruce-Leiter

    IS THE REFORMED FAITH BIBLICAL?

    Always remember that the relationship between his will or plan and our will and plans is a MYSTERY. We are responsible to repent from our rebellion against him, whereas he has already decided to choose and enable us to grow in our repentance. It's a mystery, the solution to which has been held...
  3. Bruce-Leiter

    IS THE REFORMED FAITH BIBLICAL?

    Yes, God never desires for people to sin, but he allows us to in order for us to humble ourselves before him acknowledging that his grace and love for us are very great.
  4. Bruce-Leiter

    IS THE REFORMED FAITH BIBLICAL?

    Yes, God does make it clear to us that we have been chosen because of the evidence in our lives, but we have nothing to be proud about, because his salvation is 100% by his grace.
  5. Bruce-Leiter

    Doctrine as a god - bow down before the one you serve...

    Why did you go out and buy a Bible? Even more pertinently, how did you get born again if you knew nothing about the Bible and God? Did you attend church or Sunday School before then? I'd like to hear your experience, and then I can share mine.
  6. Bruce-Leiter

    Perseverance of the Saints is different from Once Saved Always Saved

    The catechisms, both Heidelberg and Westminster, accurately convey the two biblical truths. God plans everything including sin but doesn't cause it. Satan and all humans do. My intellectual honesty starts and ends with Scripture. The ways God's and humans' will interact is mysterious, and...
  7. Bruce-Leiter

    Doctrine as a god - bow down before the one you serve...

    I believe in using plain English to communicate. After all, I was an English teacher and am now a published author with 13 published books (knowingtoknowGod.com). The Bible interprets itself by providing the meanings and teachings that illuminate God's ideas and history. What I mean is, do...
  8. Bruce-Leiter

    Doctrine as a god - bow down before the one you serve...

    All nations are affected by the sinful rebellion of humans and by Satan. The Bible itself has to be the final judge of interpretations, because the meanings of words and the contexts of passages determine their meanings. After all, it's God's inspired Word.
  9. Bruce-Leiter

    IS THE REFORMED FAITH BIBLICAL?

    During 27 years of preaching twice a Sunday, I offered the gospel to everyone, but I left in God's hands how he was going to use those words. By the way, I'm Reformed because that set of beliefs is biblical.
  10. Bruce-Leiter

    Perseverance of the Saints is different from Once Saved Always Saved

    He has two kinds of will, permissive and causal will. Where in Scripture do you find that God predestined or caused any sin? Some OT verses seem to point that way, but the OT often leaves out the intermediate, direct causes of actions. His permissive will allows humans to do what they want to...
  11. Bruce-Leiter

    Perseverance of the Saints is different from Once Saved Always Saved

    I don't know how you can be responsible for all your actions, but you are. Therein lies part of the mystery. The horrible sins that humans commit are all their fault, but God PERMITS them, doesn't cause them in order to bring good out of them for his people. Since he doesn't cause sin, he's not...
  12. Bruce-Leiter

    IS THE REFORMED FAITH BIBLICAL?

    God's will, as revealed in the Bible, is all-powerful, all-knowing, present everywhere, and eternal. Such a view of God is very high.
  13. Bruce-Leiter

    Choice of doctrine is driven by religious preconception - Spirituality is an individualized journey

    I leave it in God's hands. He will do what he wants with it. I fulfilled his mission, and that's the best I can do.
  14. Bruce-Leiter

    Choice of doctrine is driven by religious preconception - Spirituality is an individualized journey

    I fulfilled the mission that God sent me there to do. I'm satisfied that I shared with the whole truth, and how they received it is theirs before God (Ezekiel 33).
  15. Bruce-Leiter

    Perseverance of the Saints is different from Once Saved Always Saved

    No, God saves, while humans are responsible to accept and trust in Jesus' death and resurrection to save them. Yes, there's a mystery that our minds can't solve about how the two truths work together. We can't reason everything out, because as God says in Isaiah 55. Isa 55:6 “Seek the LORD...
  16. Bruce-Leiter

    IS THE REFORMED FAITH BIBLICAL?

    It's the offer that if we repent of our sins and trust in Jesus as the way to the Father's acceptance, we will be saved.
  17. Bruce-Leiter

    Choice of doctrine is driven by religious preconception - Spirituality is an individualized journey

    It is, but what God wants is that we do it together. That's why I feel the need for being part of a small group in which we share one another's burdens, especially in prayer.
  18. Bruce-Leiter

    Choice of doctrine is driven by religious preconception - Spirituality is an individualized journey

    God divided up my 27 years as a pastor among 7 churches. He moved me around a lot. He called me to be a little like Jeremiah to dying churches for scattering the seeds of spiritual renewal. Two of those churches have now closed. I was sent to them to give them the need to reach out to the lost...
  19. Bruce-Leiter

    Choice of doctrine is driven by religious preconception - Spirituality is an individualized journey

    I participate in all of them by praying for them, since at 82 years old, I'm very limited physically.