If I ask the Lord to make me a vessel of honour and mercy...

[justbyfaith]

...would He then, instead, make me into a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction?

Mat 7:7, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Mat 7:8, For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Luk 11:9, And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10, For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luk 11:11, If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luk 11:12, Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Luk 11:13, If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

However, there are those who believe that salvation is entirely up to God and that we have no say in the matter: that God chooses us arbitrarily from before the foundations of the world; but not on the basis of His foreknowledge of whether we would ask Him for salvation.

I can see that point of view; but I would say that these scriptures unequivocally show that if anyone asks Jesus to make them a vessel of honour and mercy, He is not going to, instead, make them into a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction: that would be like giving a stone to someone who is asking for bread; giving a serpent to someone who is asking for a fish; or giving a scorpion to someone who is asking for an egg.

Therefore I believe that the sound teaching of scripture is that if anyone seeks the Lord, He will be found of them (see John 6:37, Jeremiah 29:13, Deuteronomy 4:29); and that if anyone has received Him, He is not going to condemn them as the result but is sure to save them.

Hopefully this deals with the misinterpretation of specific verses as they are dealt with by Calvinists:

Rom 9:16, So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Jhn 1:13, Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

We know that it is not by the will of man that anyone is saved: we cannot save ourselves by turning over a new leaf as an act of the will.

Nevertheless the Lord calls all men everywhere to repent; and we do so by seeking the Lord and asking Him to grant it to us that we might be able to walk in His ways and most importantly to believe on Him and what He did for us on the Cross.

We must indeed repent in order to be saved; and this is indeed an act of the will. But it is not the act of the will that saves. However, the Lord responds to that act of the will by sending His Holy Spirit to regenerate and renew the repentant sinner; and it is this invasion of the Holy Ghost into the life of the repenter that brings salvation.

Thus God is completely the One who saves, and does so as the result of a turning away from sin as an act of the will on the part of the sinner; coupled with a faith in the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the scriptures.

 

[justbyfaith]

Hos 14:2, Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.

 

[Episkopos]

so will we render the calves of our lips.

Just a comment first on this passage..."so we will render the bull (pharim)of our lips" Yes it is actually bulls not calves...and this is from the MSS.

It may just be an ironic slip...like a "lot of bull"....(if you get my meaning.)

But many believe that it is a scribal error...as it should read like so..."so will we render the FRUIT (Peri or pheri) of our lips." The Septuagint confirms this.

Adding in (in this case by accident) a final mem to the Hebrew word for fruit makes the word "Bulls".

In Hebrew the plural form of fruit is feminine (because the word fruit is feminine).
פירות

So then the masculine plural makes the word...bull.

The modern Hebrew word for "cows" looks almost identical to "fruits" as cows is feminine...

פרות

 

[justbyfaith]

Hosea 14:2 is simply to be compared to Hebrews 13:15; whether it is rendered "calves" "bulls" or "fruit"

I like to think of it as a sacrifice of praise; and calves are what they used to sacrifice in those days; so I think that the kjv rendering fits quite nicely; though it require comparison of other scriptures to gain understanding.

To @Episkopos.

 

[Episkopos]

...would He then, instead, make me a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction?

Mat 7:7, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Mat 7:8, For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Luk 11:9, And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Luk 11:10, For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Luk 11:11, If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
Luk 11:12, Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
Luk 11:13, If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?

However, there are those who believe that salvation is entirely up to God and that we have no say in the matter: that God chooses us arbitrarily from before the foundations of the world; but not on the basis of His foreknowledge of whether we would ask Him for salvation.

I can see that point of view; but I would say that these scriptures unequivocally show that if anyone asks Jesus to make them a vessel of honour and mercy, He is not going to, instead, make them into a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction: that would be like giving a stone to someone who is asking for bread; giving a serpent to someone who is asking for a fish; or giving a scorpion to someone who is asking for an egg.

Therefore I believe that the sound teaching of scripture is that if anyone seeks the Lord, He will be found of them (see John 6:37); and that if anyone has received Him, He is not going to condemn them as the result but is sure to save them.

Hopefully this deals with the misinterpretation of specific verses as they are dealt with by Calvinists:

Rom 9:16, So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Jhn 1:13, Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

We know that it is not by the will of man that anyone is saved: we cannot save ourselves by turning over a new leaf as an act of the will.

Nevertheless the Lord calls all men everywhere to repent; and we do so by seeking the Lord and asking Him to grant it to us that we might be able to walk in His ways and most importantly to believe on Him and what He did for us on the Cross.

We must indeed repent in order to be saved; and this is indeed an act of the will. But it is not the act of the will that saves. However, the Lord responds to that act of the will by sending His Holy Spirit to regenerate and renew the repentant sinner; and it is this invasion of the Holy Ghost into the life of the repenter that brings salvation.

Thus God is completely the One who saves, and does so as the result of a turning away from sin as an act of the will on the part of the sinner; coupled with a faith in the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the scriptures.

I see it as a combination of our resolve, will and purpose by faith...and God's resolve, will and purpose working with us. With some God has to get the ball rolling...or we can be attracted to God to seek Him first.

But these work together so closely that I just say...we work together. We do what is possible and He does the impossible.

We must do more than just desire the things of God we must conform to the truth through humility. For many this is too high a price to pay. Their pride is stronger than their desire for the things of God.

The more things we get right the easier God's part becomes towards us.


So we are not to grieve the Spirit.

So then our striving is not to directly try to improve our walks....but rather to seek the Lord. To stop striving in the flesh and start "striving" by faith...casting our faith towards Him.

Until one day things start to change...

 

[justbyfaith]

I believe that just by staying in the word we can eventually come to a place in our faith and understanding where we will understand doctrine in such a way as to obtain that second benefit (2 Corinthians 1:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, Hebrews 10:14, 1 John 3:9).

 

[justbyfaith]

I think also that repentance is an act of our will and is required for salvation; though it does not save us in and of itself.

What saves us is the Lord's response to our repentance, in coming to dwell within our hearts via His Holy Spirit, so that we are not born of the will of man but of God.

We do not save ourselves; but He saves us by coming to dwell in our hearts in response to our repentant attitude of heart.