Closing the Gap in Dispensationalism
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I would suggest reading the book "Identifying the Seed: An Examination of the Differences Between Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology" by Rob McKenzie.
Rob is an ex-Dispensationalist who taught at Moody Bible Institute at one time.
He also has a 15-series set of discussions on Reformed Forum on this topic.
See at:
https://reformedforum.org/?s=dispensationalism
The series is underneath this list, as well as some other scattered audios.
The main problem with dispensationalism is that they attempt to impose a hermeneutic which they themselves don't follow. They claim that they are the ones with the correct view, and that covenant theology people are "spiritualizing" or "allegorizing" Scripture. Additionally, they follow an Israel-centric hermeneutic rather than a Christocentric hermeneutic.
Scripture definitely teaches that there is only one man in Christ, and this one man is composed of Jews and Gentiles. Yet, the dispensationalist continues to try to separate out Jews from Gentiles.
One example of this is their claim that the "kingdom of God" is different than the "kingdom of heaven". We know this is not true because if you examine the Gospels side by side, you will see that Matthew tends to use the phrase "kingdom of God" where other apostles used "kingdom of heaven". This is because Matthew was a Jew, communicating with Jews, and he hesitated to use the word "God" when he didn't have to. This general philosophy shows up in other word sources, such as the word Majesty to refer to God himself.
Anyways, my biggest bone to pick with dispensationalists is their inconsistent use of their "literalizing hermeneutic" which ignores the genre of the literature. Why do I say "inconsistent"? They will consider genre if it doesn't violate their pre-existing Israel-centric worldview, but they will not if it violates their Israel-centric worldview.
Additionally, they will accuse non-dispensationalists of being anti-Semitical. Listen to this one section where the speaker infers that non-dispensationalists hate Jews. He was speaking at a popular Chosen People Ministries seminar:
It is true that Luther made hateful comments toward Jewish people in his old age, frustrated by the lack of fruit in his evangelism to them, but that is not the norm amongst contemporary non-dispensationalist evangelicals. However, this speaker tries to insinuate that dispensationalists love Jews, while non-dispensationalists do not, and this is simply a falsehood. Every Christian knows Jesus was a Jew, and he loves his Savior.
Anyways, I would also hold the position that few dispensationalists have a proper focus on union with Christ, because if they did understand union with Christ, they would not draw distinctions such as they have drawn.
Rob is an ex-Dispensationalist who taught at Moody Bible Institute at one time.
He also has a 15-series set of discussions on Reformed Forum on this topic.
See at:
https://reformedforum.org/?s=dispensationalism
The series is underneath this list, as well as some other scattered audios.
The main problem with dispensationalism is that they attempt to impose a hermeneutic which they themselves don't follow. They claim that they are the ones with the correct view, and that covenant theology people are "spiritualizing" or "allegorizing" Scripture. Additionally, they follow an Israel-centric hermeneutic rather than a Christocentric hermeneutic.
Scripture definitely teaches that there is only one man in Christ, and this one man is composed of Jews and Gentiles. Yet, the dispensationalist continues to try to separate out Jews from Gentiles.
One example of this is their claim that the "kingdom of God" is different than the "kingdom of heaven". We know this is not true because if you examine the Gospels side by side, you will see that Matthew tends to use the phrase "kingdom of God" where other apostles used "kingdom of heaven". This is because Matthew was a Jew, communicating with Jews, and he hesitated to use the word "God" when he didn't have to. This general philosophy shows up in other word sources, such as the word Majesty to refer to God himself.
Anyways, my biggest bone to pick with dispensationalists is their inconsistent use of their "literalizing hermeneutic" which ignores the genre of the literature. Why do I say "inconsistent"? They will consider genre if it doesn't violate their pre-existing Israel-centric worldview, but they will not if it violates their Israel-centric worldview.
Additionally, they will accuse non-dispensationalists of being anti-Semitical. Listen to this one section where the speaker infers that non-dispensationalists hate Jews. He was speaking at a popular Chosen People Ministries seminar:
It is true that Luther made hateful comments toward Jewish people in his old age, frustrated by the lack of fruit in his evangelism to them, but that is not the norm amongst contemporary non-dispensationalist evangelicals. However, this speaker tries to insinuate that dispensationalists love Jews, while non-dispensationalists do not, and this is simply a falsehood. Every Christian knows Jesus was a Jew, and he loves his Savior.
Anyways, I would also hold the position that few dispensationalists have a proper focus on union with Christ, because if they did understand union with Christ, they would not draw distinctions such as they have drawn.
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You are basically just portraying Reformed theology in a false light.
Reformed theology teaches that God gives the man a heart of flesh, to replace his spiritually dead heart of stone. This heart of flesh produces faith and repentance as a response.
The free-willer view claims that fallen man, with a heart of stone, needs to dredge up faith and repentance from his stony heart. He then receives a heart of flesh.
This leaves room for the free-willer to boast about the work of his heart of stone.
Reformed theology does not ignore the fact that man has creaturely free will, but it realizes the fact that man's "free will" is in bondage to sin. This is exactly what is taught in John 8 , Romans 6, and other places in Scripture. He cannot free himself because he is in bondage to his sin and accompanying lusts.
He must be made alive again, experiencing a spiritual resurrection, which is what regeneration is all about.
After he receives a new nature, he is able to respond in faith and repentance. This faith and repentance is an inevitable result of receiving a new nature.
So, the puppet analogy is simply a free-willer strawman attempt. And, it clearly ignores Ephesians 2:1-10 which is probably the best set of Scriptures to describe what occurs with the believer.
However, I don't blame the free-willer for denying Reformed theology, and the concept of regeneration preceding faith. It is a great insult to the carnal mind to think he is not in control, and that God is in control. He may have been raised in a Sunday-school environment where his free-willer Sunday School teacher patted him on the head for being gracious enough to ask Jesus into his heart, and lauded all kinds of praise on him for his free-willer decisions.
I am sure I experienced that at some level in my free-willer, Judaizer cult. It was somewhat of an insult for me to realize that God regenerated me, and I was saved totally by his grace, rather than my gracious acceptance of Jesus into my heart. Acknowledging this threw me off the supreme throne, where I thought I was the final, determining factor in my salvation, and not the LORD God who is sovereign over all, and changes human minds by giving them a new nature.
I encourage free-willers to read these Scriptures, and dwell on every word in them. Ask yourself whether your free-willer, Sunday school conditioning is not perverting your acceptance of these truths. I think it is.
Ephesians 2:1-10 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)
Who do you believe, God or your free-willer Sunday School teacher who praised you after inviting Jesus into your heart? Why didn't she praise God for regenerating you, rather than praising the goodness of your little Sunday schooler heart for graciously allowing him to come in?
Reformed theology teaches that God gives the man a heart of flesh, to replace his spiritually dead heart of stone. This heart of flesh produces faith and repentance as a response.
The free-willer view claims that fallen man, with a heart of stone, needs to dredge up faith and repentance from his stony heart. He then receives a heart of flesh.
This leaves room for the free-willer to boast about the work of his heart of stone.
Reformed theology does not ignore the fact that man has creaturely free will, but it realizes the fact that man's "free will" is in bondage to sin. This is exactly what is taught in John 8 , Romans 6, and other places in Scripture. He cannot free himself because he is in bondage to his sin and accompanying lusts.
He must be made alive again, experiencing a spiritual resurrection, which is what regeneration is all about.
After he receives a new nature, he is able to respond in faith and repentance. This faith and repentance is an inevitable result of receiving a new nature.
So, the puppet analogy is simply a free-willer strawman attempt. And, it clearly ignores Ephesians 2:1-10 which is probably the best set of Scriptures to describe what occurs with the believer.
However, I don't blame the free-willer for denying Reformed theology, and the concept of regeneration preceding faith. It is a great insult to the carnal mind to think he is not in control, and that God is in control. He may have been raised in a Sunday-school environment where his free-willer Sunday School teacher patted him on the head for being gracious enough to ask Jesus into his heart, and lauded all kinds of praise on him for his free-willer decisions.
I am sure I experienced that at some level in my free-willer, Judaizer cult. It was somewhat of an insult for me to realize that God regenerated me, and I was saved totally by his grace, rather than my gracious acceptance of Jesus into my heart. Acknowledging this threw me off the supreme throne, where I thought I was the final, determining factor in my salvation, and not the LORD God who is sovereign over all, and changes human minds by giving them a new nature.
I encourage free-willers to read these Scriptures, and dwell on every word in them. Ask yourself whether your free-willer, Sunday school conditioning is not perverting your acceptance of these truths. I think it is.
Ephesians 2:1-10 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (ESV)
Who do you believe, God or your free-willer Sunday School teacher who praised you after inviting Jesus into your heart? Why didn't she praise God for regenerating you, rather than praising the goodness of your little Sunday schooler heart for graciously allowing him to come in?
Read all of Deuteronomy 29-30.
It is plain that God commanded Israel to keep the Law, even though he knew they didn't have the "heart of flesh" that was required.
He would give this "heart of flesh" to all believers under the New Covenant.
It is true that some Israelites were given this "heart of flesh", such as David and a remnant. But the normal Israelite did not have the heart that they needed to fully obey God.
They had stony hearts that were not able to obey God.
God commands in order to display to man that he is totally helpless to obey God, neither does he want to. This is an agency of condemnation for most, but works to convict those that God is drawing to Himself.
Deuteronomy 29:2-4 2 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 3 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.
(ESV)
Deuteronomy 30:4-7 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7
(ESV)
Jeremiah 31:31-34 31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
(ESV)
Ezekiel 36:25-28 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God
(ESV)
I fundamentally disagree with free-willer theology in this regard. God changes the heart of the individual, and the result is faith and repentance. The unsaved man is enslaved to sin, and does not have a free will in the sense that free-willers claim. He has a limited, creaturely free will, but it is enslaved to his fallen nature.
That is why he needs a new nature in order to be made alive again.
Ephesians 2:1-10 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
(ESV)
It is plain that God commanded Israel to keep the Law, even though he knew they didn't have the "heart of flesh" that was required.
He would give this "heart of flesh" to all believers under the New Covenant.
It is true that some Israelites were given this "heart of flesh", such as David and a remnant. But the normal Israelite did not have the heart that they needed to fully obey God.
They had stony hearts that were not able to obey God.
God commands in order to display to man that he is totally helpless to obey God, neither does he want to. This is an agency of condemnation for most, but works to convict those that God is drawing to Himself.
Deuteronomy 29:2-4 2 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 3 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.
(ESV)
Deuteronomy 30:4-7 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7
(ESV)
Jeremiah 31:31-34 31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
(ESV)
Ezekiel 36:25-28 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God
(ESV)
I fundamentally disagree with free-willer theology in this regard. God changes the heart of the individual, and the result is faith and repentance. The unsaved man is enslaved to sin, and does not have a free will in the sense that free-willers claim. He has a limited, creaturely free will, but it is enslaved to his fallen nature.
That is why he needs a new nature in order to be made alive again.
Ephesians 2:1-10 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
(ESV)
You are claiming that somehow an unsaved man dredges up faith and repentance from his stony heart.
That's the fundamental principle that Reformed theology disagrees with.
It does give you the opportunity to pat yourself on the head, for being noble enough to cease resisting God.
This is another issue with Reformed theology. We believe in Soli Deo Gloria, that God only deserves the credit for salvation.
By the way, I have heard some free-willers clearly state that they were smart enough to repent and express faith, and that those who are lost are not.
So, they are doing exactly what Scripture forbids...boasting about salvation.
If you read Ephesians 2:1-10, you will see that even faith is a gift to those who are saved, therefore there is no room for boasting.
The main problem is that free-willers have a defective anthropology, or understanding of man's nature. They deny that man is spiritually dead, and that he is utterly helpless. Worse than that, he doesn't even want to obey God.
It doesn't help that Pelagians like Leighton Flowers are schooling baby free-willers in his defective theology, either.
That's the fundamental principle that Reformed theology disagrees with.
It does give you the opportunity to pat yourself on the head, for being noble enough to cease resisting God.
This is another issue with Reformed theology. We believe in Soli Deo Gloria, that God only deserves the credit for salvation.
By the way, I have heard some free-willers clearly state that they were smart enough to repent and express faith, and that those who are lost are not.
So, they are doing exactly what Scripture forbids...boasting about salvation.
If you read Ephesians 2:1-10, you will see that even faith is a gift to those who are saved, therefore there is no room for boasting.
The main problem is that free-willers have a defective anthropology, or understanding of man's nature. They deny that man is spiritually dead, and that he is utterly helpless. Worse than that, he doesn't even want to obey God.
It doesn't help that Pelagians like Leighton Flowers are schooling baby free-willers in his defective theology, either.
https://christianchat.com/threads/closing-the-gap-in-dispensationalism.190094/post-4225332
"Accepting Christ is not a work. Its actually the cessation of a work.
Before a person is born again, they are always resisting the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51).
When a person stops resisting, the new birth happens. So you can't call it a work or an effort or a merit, its actually when someone gives up and surrenders. Its still the work of the Holy Spirit, but its the result of a person ending their resistance.
and......that's the end of Calvinism"
It's a work. Not doing anything was how the wicked Jews kept the law. Not stealing, not killing etc. You are no different, not resisting = legalism and works salvation.
"Accepting Christ is not a work. Its actually the cessation of a work.
Before a person is born again, they are always resisting the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51).
When a person stops resisting, the new birth happens. So you can't call it a work or an effort or a merit, its actually when someone gives up and surrenders. Its still the work of the Holy Spirit, but its the result of a person ending their resistance.
and......that's the end of Calvinism"
It's a work. Not doing anything was how the wicked Jews kept the law. Not stealing, not killing etc. You are no different, not resisting = legalism and works salvation.
Their claim is that they bring about salvation through their own resources, from their stony heart.
They fundamentally deny regeneration occurs, and the fruit of regeneration is faith and repentance, which are gifts of God.
The unsaved man is like this:
• The unsaved live in spiritual darkness (Acts 26:18, Ephesians 4:17-18, Colossians 1:13)
• The unsaved are spiritually dead and alienated from the life of God(Ephesians 2:1-2, 4:17-18, 5:8, Colossians 2:13)
• The unsaved hate God, are hostile toward him and his law and are under his wrath (Romans 1:30, 5:9, 8:7, Ephesians 2:1-3, 5:6, Colossians 1:21)
• The unsaved are slaves to sin (John 8:34, Romans 6:20)
• The unsaved reflect the character of Satan, and as such reject God’s authority over their lives (John 8:43-44, I John 3:8-10)
• The unsaved are spiritually deaf and blind and cannot understand the gospel message without God’s direct intervention (Isaiah 6:10, Jeremiah 6:10, Ezekiel 12:2, Mark 4:9-12, Luke 8:10, John 8:47, Deuteronomy 29:4, Matthew 13:13-15, John 12:37-40, Acts 28:26-27, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
Somehow they think through the power of their own will, the person can dredge up faith and repentance, which is basically their free will choice.
The Reformed believer is convicted that regeneration occurs prior to salvation, to reverse the situation described above.
It is clear that faith and repentance are not something dredged up by the individual from his cold, stony heart.
God himself gives the believer faith (Acts 16:14, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Peter 1:1, Philippians 1:29, Acts 3:16) and grants them repentance (Acts 11:18, 2 Timothy 2:25). Those who are saved have nothing to boast about whatsoever because of this; it is not about human works (Romans 3:20, 27-28, 4:5, 1 Corinthians 1:31, Galatians 2:16). Salvation is God’s work.
However, the free-willer will continually take credit for his salvation, in the ultimate sense. Even if his contribution is .01%, he will continually grasp to it and talk about his free will decision all the time.
They fundamentally deny regeneration occurs, and the fruit of regeneration is faith and repentance, which are gifts of God.
The unsaved man is like this:
• The unsaved live in spiritual darkness (Acts 26:18, Ephesians 4:17-18, Colossians 1:13)
• The unsaved are spiritually dead and alienated from the life of God(Ephesians 2:1-2, 4:17-18, 5:8, Colossians 2:13)
• The unsaved hate God, are hostile toward him and his law and are under his wrath (Romans 1:30, 5:9, 8:7, Ephesians 2:1-3, 5:6, Colossians 1:21)
• The unsaved are slaves to sin (John 8:34, Romans 6:20)
• The unsaved reflect the character of Satan, and as such reject God’s authority over their lives (John 8:43-44, I John 3:8-10)
• The unsaved are spiritually deaf and blind and cannot understand the gospel message without God’s direct intervention (Isaiah 6:10, Jeremiah 6:10, Ezekiel 12:2, Mark 4:9-12, Luke 8:10, John 8:47, Deuteronomy 29:4, Matthew 13:13-15, John 12:37-40, Acts 28:26-27, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
Somehow they think through the power of their own will, the person can dredge up faith and repentance, which is basically their free will choice.
The Reformed believer is convicted that regeneration occurs prior to salvation, to reverse the situation described above.
It is clear that faith and repentance are not something dredged up by the individual from his cold, stony heart.
God himself gives the believer faith (Acts 16:14, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Peter 1:1, Philippians 1:29, Acts 3:16) and grants them repentance (Acts 11:18, 2 Timothy 2:25). Those who are saved have nothing to boast about whatsoever because of this; it is not about human works (Romans 3:20, 27-28, 4:5, 1 Corinthians 1:31, Galatians 2:16). Salvation is God’s work.
However, the free-willer will continually take credit for his salvation, in the ultimate sense. Even if his contribution is .01%, he will continually grasp to it and talk about his free will decision all the time.
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False assumptions about God requiring all men to choose. Reformed theology over does the intervention of God in a man being saved. Faith required to trust Christ as Savior comes from hearing the word of God. Man does not dredge up his own faith. God produces it in the hearts of all who hear. Every man has sufficient light from God to hear.
Those that hear as saved by grace and make no claim of self accomplishment contary to the false claims of the reformed.
God loves His creation man. God sent Jesus to save all who will receive this great gift of grace. Reformed think they are special and the less fortunate are destined to perish. All men are destined to perish apart from the grace of God. One could say that the reformed boast in their election which is what they accuse others of doing.
God saves no man against his will. Adam chose the sin and we must choose to receive Christ for our forgiveness of sin.
For the cause of Christ
Roger
Those that hear as saved by grace and make no claim of self accomplishment contary to the false claims of the reformed.
God loves His creation man. God sent Jesus to save all who will receive this great gift of grace. Reformed think they are special and the less fortunate are destined to perish. All men are destined to perish apart from the grace of God. One could say that the reformed boast in their election which is what they accuse others of doing.
God saves no man against his will. Adam chose the sin and we must choose to receive Christ for our forgiveness of sin.
For the cause of Christ
Roger
The Reformed believer is convicted that regeneration occurs prior to salvation, to reverse the situation described above.
It is clear that faith and repentance are not something dredged up by the individual from his cold, stony heart.
God himself gives the believer faith (Acts 16:14, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Peter 1:1, Philippians 1:29, Acts 3:16) and grants them repentance (Acts 11:18, 2 Timothy 2:25). Those who are saved have nothing to boast about whatsoever because of this; it is not about human works (Romans 3:20, 27-28, 4:5, 1 Corinthians 1:31, Galatians 2:16). Salvation is God’s work.
However, the free-willer will continually take credit for his salvation, in the ultimate sense. Even if his contribution is .01%, he will continually grasp to it and talk about his free will decision all the time.
Some of these guys like Leighton Flowers even claim that those God chooses are "choice meats" and there was something great about them that made God choose them.
The truth is much different. God chooses pitiful specimens in order to glorify Himself. He is like the star athlete who chooses the slow, dumb, nearsighted kids to be on his team, so he can display his glory more clearly.
But, the free-willer will continually twist things around to the point where it is he who chose God, and not vice versa. In the final analysis, that is exactly what he does. He may apply theological terms to it, such as corporate election, or he may focus on God's foreknowledge of his decision, but it all reduces to claiming he chose God, rather than God choosing him.
I have yet to see any free-willer address this set of Scriptures in any meaningful fashion:
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
(ESV)
It is plain that "God chose" as he repeats it three times. It is also plain to see that the choice relates to salvation. It is plain to see, also, that the individuals had negative traits, and that is why God chose them. And, it is plain to see that the person himself could not glory in the fact that he was chosen.
All of these reduce free-willer claims to nothing. The kind of free-will they claim exists in salvation is simply not biblical. Like I said, man has a limited free will, but it is basically captive to his nature. It is only through receiving a new nature that the person can even desire God.
It is clear that faith and repentance are not something dredged up by the individual from his cold, stony heart.
God himself gives the believer faith (Acts 16:14, Ephesians 2:8-9, 2 Peter 1:1, Philippians 1:29, Acts 3:16) and grants them repentance (Acts 11:18, 2 Timothy 2:25). Those who are saved have nothing to boast about whatsoever because of this; it is not about human works (Romans 3:20, 27-28, 4:5, 1 Corinthians 1:31, Galatians 2:16). Salvation is God’s work.
However, the free-willer will continually take credit for his salvation, in the ultimate sense. Even if his contribution is .01%, he will continually grasp to it and talk about his free will decision all the time.
Some of these guys like Leighton Flowers even claim that those God chooses are "choice meats" and there was something great about them that made God choose them.
The truth is much different. God chooses pitiful specimens in order to glorify Himself. He is like the star athlete who chooses the slow, dumb, nearsighted kids to be on his team, so he can display his glory more clearly.
But, the free-willer will continually twist things around to the point where it is he who chose God, and not vice versa. In the final analysis, that is exactly what he does. He may apply theological terms to it, such as corporate election, or he may focus on God's foreknowledge of his decision, but it all reduces to claiming he chose God, rather than God choosing him.
I have yet to see any free-willer address this set of Scriptures in any meaningful fashion:
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
(ESV)
It is plain that "God chose" as he repeats it three times. It is also plain to see that the choice relates to salvation. It is plain to see, also, that the individuals had negative traits, and that is why God chose them. And, it is plain to see that the person himself could not glory in the fact that he was chosen.
All of these reduce free-willer claims to nothing. The kind of free-will they claim exists in salvation is simply not biblical. Like I said, man has a limited free will, but it is basically captive to his nature. It is only through receiving a new nature that the person can even desire God.
It sounds like this letter chafes against some dispensationalist propaganda, and is an attempt to avoid the fact that Peter uses language related to Israel to the Church.
Here's some good notes from the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible:
1 Peter 1:1 1:1–2 Salutation. The book, in the form of a letter, begins with the author’s name and addresses the original readers of the letter. This was the conventional form of personal correspondence in the Greco-Roman world. Here, however, Peter enriches the greeting with deep Christian content. The people to whom Peter writes are God’s elect (i.e., chosen) exiles who are scattered across the five Roman provinces listed. Some from this area were present in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached (Acts 2:9–11). All Christians, however, become spiritual exiles in this world because their new life as God’s children is shaped by principles and values that earthly societies do not necessarily share.
Israel is designated as God’s chosen people in the OT (Deut 4:37; 7:6–8; Ps 106:5; Isa 43:20–21; 45:4), but Peter identifies his Christian readers as God’s chosen people, showing the continuity of God’s work from OT into NT times. Since Peter is addressing primarily Gentile Christians, he implicitly claims that the church of Jesus Christ is the new Israel, made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ. “Scattered” (Greek diaspora) makes the same claim. Although the term was used to describe the scattering of the Jews in the OT (Deut 28:25; 30:4; Neh 1:9; Ps 147:2; Isa 49:6; Jer 41:17; cf. John 7:35; Jas 1:1), Peter sees a parallel in the church being literally scattered throughout the world. (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)
But, it is interesting to note that your Israel-centric hermeneutic forces you to come up with some futuristic context to this letter
Here's some good notes from the NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible:
1 Peter 1:1 1:1–2 Salutation. The book, in the form of a letter, begins with the author’s name and addresses the original readers of the letter. This was the conventional form of personal correspondence in the Greco-Roman world. Here, however, Peter enriches the greeting with deep Christian content. The people to whom Peter writes are God’s elect (i.e., chosen) exiles who are scattered across the five Roman provinces listed. Some from this area were present in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when Peter preached (Acts 2:9–11). All Christians, however, become spiritual exiles in this world because their new life as God’s children is shaped by principles and values that earthly societies do not necessarily share.
Israel is designated as God’s chosen people in the OT (Deut 4:37; 7:6–8; Ps 106:5; Isa 43:20–21; 45:4), but Peter identifies his Christian readers as God’s chosen people, showing the continuity of God’s work from OT into NT times. Since Peter is addressing primarily Gentile Christians, he implicitly claims that the church of Jesus Christ is the new Israel, made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ. “Scattered” (Greek diaspora) makes the same claim. Although the term was used to describe the scattering of the Jews in the OT (Deut 28:25; 30:4; Neh 1:9; Ps 147:2; Isa 49:6; Jer 41:17; cf. John 7:35; Jas 1:1), Peter sees a parallel in the church being literally scattered throughout the world. (NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible)
But, it is interesting to note that your Israel-centric hermeneutic forces you to come up with some futuristic context to this letter
God gives us the means and the choice to believe.
From Romans 10, we see that there must be a response to hearing a preached message, as the gospel does not arise spontaneously from within a person. Hearing is the intermediate step or ‘hinge’ between the message being spoken and its being believed. The message awakens faith and makes it possible. Faith must rest on the message that is preached, and without that message there is no basis for faith. "Faith comes by hearing the Word Christ". He doesn't say "by merely hearing...", there's another step.
We must understand this in the broader context of Scripture.
Paul expressed that he was thankful that the Thessalonians heard and accepted the Gospel:
"when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe." -1 Thess 2:13
(δέχομαι-accept)="to indicate approval or conviction by accepting"
An illustration: I could mail you a formal invitation (plane ticket included) to my wedding. Once the invitation is in your hands, you have the ability to chose to go or not go. If you don't chose to go, then you don't. But if you do chose to go, you do...and I get the credit for your arrival because I made it possible.
From Romans 10, we see that there must be a response to hearing a preached message, as the gospel does not arise spontaneously from within a person. Hearing is the intermediate step or ‘hinge’ between the message being spoken and its being believed. The message awakens faith and makes it possible. Faith must rest on the message that is preached, and without that message there is no basis for faith. "Faith comes by hearing the Word Christ". He doesn't say "by merely hearing...", there's another step.
We must understand this in the broader context of Scripture.
Paul expressed that he was thankful that the Thessalonians heard and accepted the Gospel:
"when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe." -1 Thess 2:13
(δέχομαι-accept)="to indicate approval or conviction by accepting"
An illustration: I could mail you a formal invitation (plane ticket included) to my wedding. Once the invitation is in your hands, you have the ability to chose to go or not go. If you don't chose to go, then you don't. But if you do chose to go, you do...and I get the credit for your arrival because I made it possible.
