"That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: SHALL NOT THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH DO RIGHT?
God's exchange with Abraham gives us insight that we can expect God to do things according to his Nature!
He's a righteous Judge and though he's sovereign and can do as he pleases.
It's blasphemous to believe what pleases him is to NOT provide a way of salvation but to only a fraction of a WORLD he says he loves!
ALL have sinned and ALL was facing condemnation.
THE WHOLE WORLD!
God displayed his love to the WHOLE WORLD, that he gave his only begotten Son!
God didn't elect only a fraction of mankind for salvation and ordain the rest to be condemned to show love to those he saves!
God doesn't allow someone to go to hell because he's is sovereign and felt like it.
We can't one minute say God can't do things outside his nature and then turn around and say he creates and destroys those he haven't chosen/elected to send them to hell because he's sovereign!
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.
The idea that God has absolute power and authority over all things, and is the right of God to rule over his creation. The Bible teaches that God's sovereignty is a fundamental part of his identity. "That's the sovereignty of God"
God displays his power and authority over all things, and the right to rule over his creation IN RIGHTEOUSNESS as displayed in Genesis 18:25!
The True Gospel is transparent to nationality or economic status or political standing. It has nothing to do with economic prosperity or with socio-political issues. When the churches become involved in political activism or social or economic issues, they forget that the task of the believers is to be an ambassador of the kingdom of God. When Jesus was placed on trial for his life at the behest of the chief priests, Jesus said to Pontius Pilate:
John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Concerning political rulers, the Bible commands in Romans 13:1-5 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
The true gospel has been emasculated in our day as the churches have become more involved with the social and physical and political issues of the day, which in themselves have nothing to do with the true gospel.
Even more significant, virtually every church today proclaims a man-made do-it-yourself gospel of grace plus works where they will tell you how to become saved.
The TRUE GOSPEL is beautifully expressed in Eze 36 & Jer 29. God does 100% of the work of Salvation. Read Jonah 3 and Joel 2:12-14.
Christ did not make atonement for sin to give us whole bodies, as many teach. That will only take place at the resurrection of the Last Day when we shall instantly be changed from corruption to incorruption, and from mortal to immortal. Our present bodies are fashioned from the dust of the ground and shall return to the dust. When mankind fell into sin, God cursed the ground from which man was formed. Surely, it can be said, if Christ died to give us physical health or physical healing, then the gospel is an abject failure, because each and every day, approximately 150,000 people on average die all over the world. They die for a variety of reasons, most of which relate to physical disease of one form or another. If they became a true child of God, are they prevented from physically dying? No. If someone who is sick becomes well again, is the faith of that person what healed him? God can heal, but God can heal in the life of one who is not saved just as quickly as one who is saved. The emphasis of the gospel is on the spiritual, not the physical. The believers who have experienced the first resurrection, namely the resurrection of their sin-sick souls, shall receive a brand new incorruptible spiritual body at the Last Day.
When Christ and the apostles performed miracles and healed the sick and gave sight to the blind, those were physical portraits pointing to some spiritual aspect. Once Christ went back to heaven and the apostles died, any miracles of that kind ceased. When Christ healed the sick, he did so to demonstrate that he has power on earth to forgive sins.
Matthew 9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. (see also Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24)
The true gospel has to do with the primary problem facing mankind, the wages of sin, which is death, and the penalty demanded by the law of God, which is the second death, eternal damnation, eternal destruction. God sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save sinners. Christ, who is eternal God in every sense of the word, and who was without sin, was laden with the sins of all the elect who were given to him by the Father before the foundation of the world, which had nothing to do with their works. Christ paid the FULL PENALTY demanded by the LAW OF GOD on behalf of the elect, and ONLY the elect, who are just a remnant, a tiny part of the whole.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Ephesians 1:3-11 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
The True Gospel is circumscribed by the Bible, Alone and in its Entirety, the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, in its original languages. The King James Version, is translated from the oldest and most reliable manuscripts available, and the translators sought to stick as closely as possible to the original text; This is in stark contrast to the modern translations that use inferior manuscripts and seek to reinterpret the original text and put it in more understandable language. That said, the KJV is far from perfect, it does contain errors, and the KJV translators were heavily influenced by the doctrines of the church, which when viewed from the superior vantage point of our day when we are very near the end of time and God is opening our understanding to many truths that were previously kept sealed (read Daniel 12:4,9), were often faulty. Therefore, the serious Bible student should always carefully check the original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek using the modern tools that are readily available, such as interlinears and concordances, which are keyed to the KJV.
By definition, any gospel that cites an authority that is outside the 66 books of the Bible, or narrower than the Bible, is a False Gospel. That includes gospels that look upon other books as divinely inspired or that feature the teachings of those who claim to have received direct revelation from God, whether in a dream or a vision or tongue, as in the tongues described in 1 Corinthians 14.
Revelation 22:18-19
"18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."
COGIC WORSHIP 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: I worship a God that is Anointing, makes you one with God, A Holy Sacred setting that is about a Holy God. A God of justice and peace-God of inheritance !
Hello Jackieboy80. Very briefly, TULIP is an acronymn that was developed at the Synod of Dort in the Netherlands (1618 AD) to both counter & condemn the teachings of Jacob Arminius. You will have to do your own (Web) research to learn more of Arminius' & John Calvin's beliefs, but to answer your question, TULIP stands for the following, and these are Calvin's beliefs:
a. T = Total Depravity. Man is totally depraved by sin & unable in any way to save himself or assist in it.
b. U = Unconditional Election. It is God Who chooses who will be saved & they are called the Elect.
c. L = Limited Atonement. Christ's Death was effectual only for those who are to be saved, i.e. the Elect. His Blood did not avail for those not appointed to salvation.
d. I = Irrestible Grace. Those whom God has called & chosen to salvation cannot resist Him in His Work or choose to turn aside from His appeals.
e. P = Perseverance of the Saints. The Saints will/must persevere in their faith by the help of God in their lives. They can never be lost forever.
I hope that helps a little; there's much more to be added to these points & it becomes especially interesting when you learn of Arminius' beliefs & then compare them with what you believe from reading the Word. You might find that there are Truths in both positions. GBU.
PS. Sorry for the "Removed Comments". My sentence structure was a little haphazard, so had to repost.
They could not rescue themselves, set themselves aright, escape from the knowledge of evil and sin ever on their own, or overrule God's judgment on them for their sin. They were now lost, fallen from glory, out of God's will, and reaping what they had sown by their free choice to sin.
So, thankfully, God freely and sovereignly chose to redeem Adam and Eve with the promise of the seed of the woman who would crush the works of the tempter. Genesis 3.
God sought them out in the garden, covered their naked bodies with skin from an animal He sacrificed for their sin, and shed on them His mercy and grace. Angels never experience this redemption. They are either completely given over to evil or made holy and sinless by election.
From the moment Adam and Eve sinned on, mankind was now sinful beyond self-redemption. They were made captive to their sinful nature. They were dead in sin, at enmity towards God, being His enemies, in opposition and rebellion to God and His ways, and have since that time have tried and failed to create their own sense of righteousness or way to get back to God according to their own reasoning, actions, and unholy "righteous deeds" that God cannot accept.
God did promise the Savior to Adam and Eve (and most likely said more about the Savior to Adam and Eve than is recorded), and I believe that these two humans and some of their offspring were elected to salvation, but this took an action that only God could do for them.
When Satan brought temptation to disobey God to Adam and Eve, they made free choices to listen to him and consider his reasoning about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This listening and considering birthed in them doubt about God, His goodness, His providence, His veracity. Adam and Eve could have freely chosen to walk away from Satan and seek out the Lord in the Garden. They did not do this. They lingered and continued to hear Satan's deception and invitation to do what God had commanded them not to do. And it was not long before Eve freely chose to look at the tree and its fruit and determined that it was good for food and to make her wiser than she presently was. She freely chose to pick the fruit and eat it. And then she gave the fruit to Adam, who freely chose to take hold of it and eat it, too. They could have freely chosen otherwise in that moment. But they did not.
They were not coerced by Satan. They freely chose to test God in their own testing. And so they sinned, not just in a singular way, but in multiple ways and fell from the glory that God had given them in their creation. They fell short of the perfect righteousness God required of those who would be in right fellowship with Him. They fell a long, long way. And from then on, mankind could never return to this original state of sinlessness, innocence, and goodness on their own.
FALLEN MANKIND
With this free choice to become sinful, Adam and Eve no longer could choose to remain sinless. Their will was now driven by the desire to sin which took control of their nature making it impossible for them to regain what they lost. They only were free to choose to sin. They could not please God by their works. They hid from God instead of seeking Him out. They knew that the relationship they had with God was broken and they feared God, feeling the condemnation that sin always brings, and the wages of sin-death, began to work in them.
oops, I keep hitting send by mistake. This time I will paste what I have written.
HUMAN WILL
PT. 3
BEFORE THE FALL
Unfallen Adam and Eve could freely choose according to their nature, but this human function of will had limitations, unlike God's will.
Adam and Eve were created subject to God and His will and sovereignty. God acted in their lives. He created the garden, the animals, all the living plants, the tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God placed them in the place where they would meet temptation by Satan and He allowed Satan entry to this place and access to this man and woman. God could have prevented all these things from occurring. History, whether in regards to a moment in time, a day, a year, a millennium, or all of the ages, are in God's control and He acts to bring about the fruition of all that He wills.
Adam and Eve were subject to the laws of nature God had created. Gravity kept them on the earth. Energy kept the earth spinning and revolving around the sun, promoted growth of animals and plants, the falling and rising of the seas. And Adam and Eve were subject to these forces and laws. Time passed day by day and Adam and Eve did not know eternity past or the future. They had limited sight distance when looking out on the landscape. They had limitations on what they were able to hear as far as frequencies. They were limited by how far they walk in a day. And in the area of volition, they were limited by the moment by moment actions of their minds, emotions, reasoning, desires, bodies, and interactions with God and one another. God does not have such limitations to affect His will.
Even with limitations, Adam and Eve freely chose every choice of their will and so they were responsible for these choices. He had to choose some of what he wished to choose over others. He could not choose all of what He preferred at once.
Their choosing was according to their nature as creatures, not because they were not good at first, but because of humanity's God-made make-up of intellect, emotions, desires, preferences, and reasoning which affect their will. The heart is what drives man's choices. Whatever he prefers the most at the moment will drive the free choices he makes. Whether the preference is one of intellect or emotion or desire or reasoning, it has a direct and determining force upon their choice. Their choice is freely chosen, unless it is coerced by outside threat or force.
However, mankind cannot choose beyond what is in his nature. For instance, as an amoral choice, he may desire to fly, but as a human, it isn't in his nature to fly, so he cannot take off the ground and fly like a bird. As a moral choice, he may prefer to be the one who decides what is right and what is wrong, but it is not in his nature to set standards of morality. That is within God's nature alone to decide. Certainly, mankind can make laws that are moral and just. And man can decide to establish his own moral standards apart from God's. This is within our sphere of human nature, but establishing moral standards that are infallibly good or evil is not given to man by God.
It is my best guess that man would have sinned without the temptation of Satan as a reaction to God giving them a command of what not to do. Likewise, I don't think that Adam and Eve had it within themselves as to their nature to remain sinless forever. As with the elect angels, this would have required God to grant grace to cause this to occur, as He will do for believers when we are glorified.
But God, in His wisdom did not sovereignly choose to do this according to His over-reaching purposes in creation, to show forth all of the glory of His Perfect, Infinite Being expressing all that He is outwardly to creation as well as inwardly to the distinct Persons within His One Being (as He always was doing in eternity.
Adam and Eve were created by God good, sinless, and innocent of evil. In this state they had the ability to choose according to their nature as God's creatures. Like the angels, they could choose to sin or to obey. Unlike the angels, Adam and Eve were not elected to remain sinless as the elect angels were.
These facts bring up some important questions:
Did God ordain Adam and Eve to sin?
Would Adam and Eve had sinned if Satan had not tempted them?
Did Adam and Eve have it in themselves innately by nature to remain sinless forever?
How was Adam and Eve's volition limited compared to God's sovereign freedom to will as He pleases?
God is good, so He would not have caused Adam and Eve to sin. But for the greater good of His glory and grace, He may have ordained creation history to involve sinning on the part of mankind. The wisdom of this is truly beyond what we could understand.
In our humanness, we would have done the opposite of what God ordained. We would have not allowed sin to enter creation in any way. But we are the creature, not the creator and we should humbly believe that God's ways are right and true and beyond questioning. We should have reverence in this matter because we are unable to see the whole of what God has purposed, willed, and ordained sovereignly.
Since Lucifer was able to create sinful desires in himself without outside temptation, I think that likewise, Adam and Eve could create sinful desires in themselves without outside temptation. But God allowed sinful temptation to come to Adam and Eve through Satan. In this way, Satan's condemnation and eternal judgment is greater than Adam and Eve and all of sinful mankind. Yet, even so, Adam and Eve chose to freely sin on their own according to their desire and most dominant preference.
You see it in Romans 9:10-11 "And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
In the wilderness when God provides Moses with THE WAY for the children of Israel to be saved in Numbers 21:8-9 there was nothing asked of Israel but to look upon the provided way that would lift the curse.
When we examine one of the most familiar verses in the Bible written by John, ( John 3:16 )
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
In the previous verses " John 3:14-15" he relates this passage to Numbers 21:8-9.
(14) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
(15) That WHOSOEVER believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
HERE'S THE PARALLEL.
Numbers 21:8-9 "And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that EVERY ONE that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten ANY MAN, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
With God's foreknowledge he knew who would look on the brazen serpent in the wilderness just like he knows who will believe in Christ.
What is elected in these passages is the way!
Moses lifted up the serpent to ALL of Israel! and ALL had the ability to see it.
Glad we have this understanding. We can pray for one another as the scriptures teach us to do. I appreciate your prayers and will keep you in prayer also.
I accept your apology and I do appreciate that you have presented your viewpoint here honestly.
It seems that your main objection is to Calvinism. I am not touting that here, but addressing what I learn from Scripture on the topics of God's will in comparison to the will of angels and humans. But what I discover in my studies of these topics may or may not align with Calvin or Luther or Augustine or Arminius, but that is not because I am an adherent to any of these people's views as a starting point. I am studying Scripture on this topic and considering prayerfully what is being taught in Scripture on this topic.
So I appreciate it if other people don't put me in TOTAL alignment with any of these people . I do know some of what they taught on these topics but was not raised on any of these people's theology.
I respect your view. I do think that the Scriptures are our rule and guide for understanding God's revelation to humanity. The reality is that everyone who reads and studies Scripture formulates what is understood whether internally or spoken out.
According to your view, in the strictest sense, there is no need to be taught by a pastor or teacher because they expound on the Scriptures and relay their understanding of what Scripture teaches. Your viewpoint would exclude any discussion between believers of what Scripture means because only Scripture could be quoted without dialogue. I doubt that you think this, but, to be consistent, by criticizing that I do speak about what I understand from Scriptures, by necessity, you would have to exclude all other speaking or writing out of how one understands Scripture.
I welcome your reply, but I do not wish to get into a protracted discussion on this matter with you or jesusgirl87 because it is a matter of differing viewpoints on how we are to utilize Scripture that cannot be resolved, since I think that the view you and Jesusgirl have expressed is quite flawed and is one that neither you nor Jesusgirl applies to themselves, as I have read comments from both of you that expresses how you understand Scripture as I have done, which is inconsistent with what you say as your view in your post to me responding to what I have posted.
"That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: SHALL NOT THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH DO RIGHT?
God's exchange with Abraham gives us insight that we can expect God to do things according to his Nature!
He's a righteous Judge and though he's sovereign and can do as he pleases.
It's blasphemous to believe what pleases him is to NOT provide a way of salvation but to only a fraction of a WORLD he says he loves!
ALL have sinned and ALL was facing condemnation.
THE WHOLE WORLD!
God displayed his love to the WHOLE WORLD, that he gave his only begotten Son!
God didn't elect only a fraction of mankind for salvation and ordain the rest to be condemned to show love to those he saves!
God doesn't allow someone to go to hell because he's is sovereign and felt like it.
We can't one minute say God can't do things outside his nature and then turn around and say he creates and destroys those he haven't chosen/elected to send them to hell because he's sovereign!
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.
The idea that God has absolute power and authority over all things, and is the right of God to rule over his creation. The Bible teaches that God's sovereignty is a fundamental part of his identity. "That's the sovereignty of God"
God displays his power and authority over all things, and the right to rule over his creation IN RIGHTEOUSNESS as displayed in Genesis 18:25!
Blessings
You've already shared sections 41-45.
They were just as good the second time around!
Thanks for all you do.
God bless you.
No, I'm not saying that the resurrection is a spiritual resurrection.
In order to stay in the context of the post I want to say eschatology is not the focus on the text so I'll stay away from it..
The context was Christ being Judged on the cross for the believers and they won't be judged again for their salvation.
We have already been Justified in Christ.
Christ righteousness has been imputed over to us.
Here's what I wrote;
"You've been baptized in to Christ Spirit that lives and never dies.
You've taken part of the first ressurection!
We have been given the earnest of the Spirit and now we wait to be clothed with our glorious bodies.
1 Corinthians 15:20 reads "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
We have already been born again, baptized into Christ and as Christ rose from the dead "being the first fruit" we have obtained that right.
We have taken part of that along with all whom the second death has no power of!
Blessings.
The True Gospel is transparent to nationality or economic status or political standing. It has nothing to do with economic prosperity or with socio-political issues. When the churches become involved in political activism or social or economic issues, they forget that the task of the believers is to be an ambassador of the kingdom of God. When Jesus was placed on trial for his life at the behest of the chief priests, Jesus said to Pontius Pilate:
John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Concerning political rulers, the Bible commands in Romans 13:1-5 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
The true gospel has been emasculated in our day as the churches have become more involved with the social and physical and political issues of the day, which in themselves have nothing to do with the true gospel.
Even more significant, virtually every church today proclaims a man-made do-it-yourself gospel of grace plus works where they will tell you how to become saved.
The TRUE GOSPEL is beautifully expressed in Eze 36 & Jer 29. God does 100% of the work of Salvation. Read Jonah 3 and Joel 2:12-14.
Christ did not make atonement for sin to give us whole bodies, as many teach. That will only take place at the resurrection of the Last Day when we shall instantly be changed from corruption to incorruption, and from mortal to immortal. Our present bodies are fashioned from the dust of the ground and shall return to the dust. When mankind fell into sin, God cursed the ground from which man was formed. Surely, it can be said, if Christ died to give us physical health or physical healing, then the gospel is an abject failure, because each and every day, approximately 150,000 people on average die all over the world. They die for a variety of reasons, most of which relate to physical disease of one form or another. If they became a true child of God, are they prevented from physically dying? No. If someone who is sick becomes well again, is the faith of that person what healed him? God can heal, but God can heal in the life of one who is not saved just as quickly as one who is saved. The emphasis of the gospel is on the spiritual, not the physical. The believers who have experienced the first resurrection, namely the resurrection of their sin-sick souls, shall receive a brand new incorruptible spiritual body at the Last Day.
When Christ and the apostles performed miracles and healed the sick and gave sight to the blind, those were physical portraits pointing to some spiritual aspect. Once Christ went back to heaven and the apostles died, any miracles of that kind ceased. When Christ healed the sick, he did so to demonstrate that he has power on earth to forgive sins.
Matthew 9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. (see also Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24)
Continued in Part 4
The true gospel has to do with the primary problem facing mankind, the wages of sin, which is death, and the penalty demanded by the law of God, which is the second death, eternal damnation, eternal destruction. God sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save sinners. Christ, who is eternal God in every sense of the word, and who was without sin, was laden with the sins of all the elect who were given to him by the Father before the foundation of the world, which had nothing to do with their works. Christ paid the FULL PENALTY demanded by the LAW OF GOD on behalf of the elect, and ONLY the elect, who are just a remnant, a tiny part of the whole.
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Ephesians 1:3-11 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Continued in Part 3
The True Gospel is circumscribed by the Bible, Alone and in its Entirety, the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, in its original languages. The King James Version, is translated from the oldest and most reliable manuscripts available, and the translators sought to stick as closely as possible to the original text; This is in stark contrast to the modern translations that use inferior manuscripts and seek to reinterpret the original text and put it in more understandable language. That said, the KJV is far from perfect, it does contain errors, and the KJV translators were heavily influenced by the doctrines of the church, which when viewed from the superior vantage point of our day when we are very near the end of time and God is opening our understanding to many truths that were previously kept sealed (read Daniel 12:4,9), were often faulty. Therefore, the serious Bible student should always carefully check the original languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek using the modern tools that are readily available, such as interlinears and concordances, which are keyed to the KJV.
By definition, any gospel that cites an authority that is outside the 66 books of the Bible, or narrower than the Bible, is a False Gospel. That includes gospels that look upon other books as divinely inspired or that feature the teachings of those who claim to have received direct revelation from God, whether in a dream or a vision or tongue, as in the tongues described in 1 Corinthians 14.
Revelation 22:18-19
"18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."
Continued in Part 2
SCHOOL BOOK October 27, 2024 Ezekiel 43:1-12 KJV
COGIC WORSHIP 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: I worship a God that is Anointing, makes you one with God, A Holy Sacred setting that is about a Holy God. A God of justice and peace-God of inheritance !
a. T = Total Depravity. Man is totally depraved by sin & unable in any way to save himself or assist in it.
b. U = Unconditional Election. It is God Who chooses who will be saved & they are called the Elect.
c. L = Limited Atonement. Christ's Death was effectual only for those who are to be saved, i.e. the Elect. His Blood did not avail for those not appointed to salvation.
d. I = Irrestible Grace. Those whom God has called & chosen to salvation cannot resist Him in His Work or choose to turn aside from His appeals.
e. P = Perseverance of the Saints. The Saints will/must persevere in their faith by the help of God in their lives. They can never be lost forever.
I hope that helps a little; there's much more to be added to these points & it becomes especially interesting when you learn of Arminius' beliefs & then compare them with what you believe from reading the Word. You might find that there are Truths in both positions. GBU.
PS. Sorry for the "Removed Comments". My sentence structure was a little haphazard, so had to repost.
Pt. 5
They could not rescue themselves, set themselves aright, escape from the knowledge of evil and sin ever on their own, or overrule God's judgment on them for their sin. They were now lost, fallen from glory, out of God's will, and reaping what they had sown by their free choice to sin.
So, thankfully, God freely and sovereignly chose to redeem Adam and Eve with the promise of the seed of the woman who would crush the works of the tempter. Genesis 3.
God sought them out in the garden, covered their naked bodies with skin from an animal He sacrificed for their sin, and shed on them His mercy and grace. Angels never experience this redemption. They are either completely given over to evil or made holy and sinless by election.
From the moment Adam and Eve sinned on, mankind was now sinful beyond self-redemption. They were made captive to their sinful nature. They were dead in sin, at enmity towards God, being His enemies, in opposition and rebellion to God and His ways, and have since that time have tried and failed to create their own sense of righteousness or way to get back to God according to their own reasoning, actions, and unholy "righteous deeds" that God cannot accept.
God did promise the Savior to Adam and Eve (and most likely said more about the Savior to Adam and Eve than is recorded), and I believe that these two humans and some of their offspring were elected to salvation, but this took an action that only God could do for them.
Pt. 4
DURING THE TEMPTATION
When Satan brought temptation to disobey God to Adam and Eve, they made free choices to listen to him and consider his reasoning about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This listening and considering birthed in them doubt about God, His goodness, His providence, His veracity. Adam and Eve could have freely chosen to walk away from Satan and seek out the Lord in the Garden. They did not do this. They lingered and continued to hear Satan's deception and invitation to do what God had commanded them not to do. And it was not long before Eve freely chose to look at the tree and its fruit and determined that it was good for food and to make her wiser than she presently was. She freely chose to pick the fruit and eat it. And then she gave the fruit to Adam, who freely chose to take hold of it and eat it, too. They could have freely chosen otherwise in that moment. But they did not.
They were not coerced by Satan. They freely chose to test God in their own testing. And so they sinned, not just in a singular way, but in multiple ways and fell from the glory that God had given them in their creation. They fell short of the perfect righteousness God required of those who would be in right fellowship with Him. They fell a long, long way. And from then on, mankind could never return to this original state of sinlessness, innocence, and goodness on their own.
FALLEN MANKIND
With this free choice to become sinful, Adam and Eve no longer could choose to remain sinless. Their will was now driven by the desire to sin which took control of their nature making it impossible for them to regain what they lost. They only were free to choose to sin. They could not please God by their works. They hid from God instead of seeking Him out. They knew that the relationship they had with God was broken and they feared God, feeling the condemnation that sin always brings, and the wages of sin-death, began to work in them.
HUMAN WILL
PT. 3
BEFORE THE FALL
Unfallen Adam and Eve could freely choose according to their nature, but this human function of will had limitations, unlike God's will.
Adam and Eve were created subject to God and His will and sovereignty. God acted in their lives. He created the garden, the animals, all the living plants, the tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God placed them in the place where they would meet temptation by Satan and He allowed Satan entry to this place and access to this man and woman. God could have prevented all these things from occurring. History, whether in regards to a moment in time, a day, a year, a millennium, or all of the ages, are in God's control and He acts to bring about the fruition of all that He wills.
Adam and Eve were subject to the laws of nature God had created. Gravity kept them on the earth. Energy kept the earth spinning and revolving around the sun, promoted growth of animals and plants, the falling and rising of the seas. And Adam and Eve were subject to these forces and laws. Time passed day by day and Adam and Eve did not know eternity past or the future. They had limited sight distance when looking out on the landscape. They had limitations on what they were able to hear as far as frequencies. They were limited by how far they walk in a day. And in the area of volition, they were limited by the moment by moment actions of their minds, emotions, reasoning, desires, bodies, and interactions with God and one another. God does not have such limitations to affect His will.
Even with limitations, Adam and Eve freely chose every choice of their will and so they were responsible for these choices. He had to choose some of what he wished to choose over others. He could not choose all of what He preferred at once.
pt. 3
pt.3
Pt. 2
Their choosing was according to their nature as creatures, not because they were not good at first, but because of humanity's God-made make-up of intellect, emotions, desires, preferences, and reasoning which affect their will. The heart is what drives man's choices. Whatever he prefers the most at the moment will drive the free choices he makes. Whether the preference is one of intellect or emotion or desire or reasoning, it has a direct and determining force upon their choice. Their choice is freely chosen, unless it is coerced by outside threat or force.
However, mankind cannot choose beyond what is in his nature. For instance, as an amoral choice, he may desire to fly, but as a human, it isn't in his nature to fly, so he cannot take off the ground and fly like a bird. As a moral choice, he may prefer to be the one who decides what is right and what is wrong, but it is not in his nature to set standards of morality. That is within God's nature alone to decide. Certainly, mankind can make laws that are moral and just. And man can decide to establish his own moral standards apart from God's. This is within our sphere of human nature, but establishing moral standards that are infallibly good or evil is not given to man by God.
It is my best guess that man would have sinned without the temptation of Satan as a reaction to God giving them a command of what not to do. Likewise, I don't think that Adam and Eve had it within themselves as to their nature to remain sinless forever. As with the elect angels, this would have required God to grant grace to cause this to occur, as He will do for believers when we are glorified.
But God, in His wisdom did not sovereignly choose to do this according to His over-reaching purposes in creation, to show forth all of the glory of His Perfect, Infinite Being expressing all that He is outwardly to creation as well as inwardly to the distinct Persons within His One Being (as He always was doing in eternity.
HUMANITY:
Adam and Eve were created by God good, sinless, and innocent of evil. In this state they had the ability to choose according to their nature as God's creatures. Like the angels, they could choose to sin or to obey. Unlike the angels, Adam and Eve were not elected to remain sinless as the elect angels were.
These facts bring up some important questions:
Did God ordain Adam and Eve to sin?
Would Adam and Eve had sinned if Satan had not tempted them?
Did Adam and Eve have it in themselves innately by nature to remain sinless forever?
How was Adam and Eve's volition limited compared to God's sovereign freedom to will as He pleases?
God is good, so He would not have caused Adam and Eve to sin. But for the greater good of His glory and grace, He may have ordained creation history to involve sinning on the part of mankind. The wisdom of this is truly beyond what we could understand.
In our humanness, we would have done the opposite of what God ordained. We would have not allowed sin to enter creation in any way. But we are the creature, not the creator and we should humbly believe that God's ways are right and true and beyond questioning. We should have reverence in this matter because we are unable to see the whole of what God has purposed, willed, and ordained sovereignly.
Since Lucifer was able to create sinful desires in himself without outside temptation, I think that likewise, Adam and Eve could create sinful desires in themselves without outside temptation. But God allowed sinful temptation to come to Adam and Eve through Satan. In this way, Satan's condemnation and eternal judgment is greater than Adam and Eve and all of sinful mankind. Yet, even so, Adam and Eve chose to freely sin on their own according to their desire and most dominant preference.
Part 2. The Way.
That way is grace alone!
You see it in Romans 9:10-11 "And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
In the wilderness when God provides Moses with THE WAY for the children of Israel to be saved in Numbers 21:8-9 there was nothing asked of Israel but to look upon the provided way that would lift the curse.
Blessings.
When we examine one of the most familiar verses in the Bible written by John, ( John 3:16 )
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
In the previous verses " John 3:14-15" he relates this passage to Numbers 21:8-9.
(14) And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
(15) That WHOSOEVER believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
HERE'S THE PARALLEL.
Numbers 21:8-9 "And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that EVERY ONE that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten ANY MAN, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
With God's foreknowledge he knew who would look on the brazen serpent in the wilderness just like he knows who will believe in Christ.
What is elected in these passages is the way!
Moses lifted up the serpent to ALL of Israel! and ALL had the ability to see it.
God bless.
I look forward to reading your interpretations of Scripture in the future. It helps us to better understand one another.
You sent me this message earlier this week but I don't see it on the site. I viewed it on my email.
Perhaps you took it down?
It was a reply to my earlier posts.
Here's the quote.
( Past sins not future sins unless they are repented of.) End quote.
I didn't have time to search the threads to find one where I could reply to you directly.
When time permits I will reach out directly.
God bless.
Thanks for replying!
Yes, I would love to discuss this with you.
Allow me to free some time and we can engage soon.
Thanks and God bless.
I accept your apology and I do appreciate that you have presented your viewpoint here honestly.
It seems that your main objection is to Calvinism. I am not touting that here, but addressing what I learn from Scripture on the topics of God's will in comparison to the will of angels and humans. But what I discover in my studies of these topics may or may not align with Calvin or Luther or Augustine or Arminius, but that is not because I am an adherent to any of these people's views as a starting point. I am studying Scripture on this topic and considering prayerfully what is being taught in Scripture on this topic.
So I appreciate it if other people don't put me in TOTAL alignment with any of these people . I do know some of what they taught on these topics but was not raised on any of these people's theology.
I respect your view. I do think that the Scriptures are our rule and guide for understanding God's revelation to humanity. The reality is that everyone who reads and studies Scripture formulates what is understood whether internally or spoken out.
According to your view, in the strictest sense, there is no need to be taught by a pastor or teacher because they expound on the Scriptures and relay their understanding of what Scripture teaches. Your viewpoint would exclude any discussion between believers of what Scripture means because only Scripture could be quoted without dialogue. I doubt that you think this, but, to be consistent, by criticizing that I do speak about what I understand from Scriptures, by necessity, you would have to exclude all other speaking or writing out of how one understands Scripture.
I welcome your reply, but I do not wish to get into a protracted discussion on this matter with you or jesusgirl87 because it is a matter of differing viewpoints on how we are to utilize Scripture that cannot be resolved, since I think that the view you and Jesusgirl have expressed is quite flawed and is one that neither you nor Jesusgirl applies to themselves, as I have read comments from both of you that expresses how you understand Scripture as I have done, which is inconsistent with what you say as your view in your post to me responding to what I have posted.