The Ten Commandments are the Covenant, did you know?
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I posted a response to "HigherGospel". You quoted me. I responded to you... so yes.
You were saved/born again before you "accepted Christ" - the exact moment of which often doesn't come with fanfare for us to realize that it's happened because it occurs on the spiritual level - your acceptance was the result, not cause. Sanctification, which you experienced, occurs throughout a saved person's lifetime not all at once, and is that which increases spiritual wisdom and growth within us - your acceptance falls into that category - it came as a new awareness. Look at Rom 8:2 (below). Notice that Paul was not placed in Christ by anything that he did such as by his acceptance. Paul was only a recipient, not its executor - the law of life in Christ Jesus alone is what freed him from the law of death and placed him in Christ. This does not happen to everyone.
[Rom 8:2 KJV] 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
[1Co 1:30 KJV] 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
[Rom 1:16 KJV] 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
[Jhn 6:29 KJV] 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
[Phl 1:29 KJV] 29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
Rom 1:16 is contingent upon a person having true belief, however, true belief only comes as a gift from God; it is not of man and is given only as a result of salvation.
[2Co 4:6 KJV] 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
[2Co 1:1 KJV] 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy [our] brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:
In 4:6, Paul is addressing those who have already become saved as we see in the salutation of 2 Co 1:1. The "our" of 4:6 (above) represents them.
A new heart and spirit must first be given to someone for the gospel to shine within their heart, and which comes only from salvation.
[Eze 36:26 KJV] 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Who do you think wrote that verse?
As I included in my prior post to you, that those of John 1:12, are those of 1:13; that is, they received Him only because they were first born of God
[Jhn 1:12-13 KJV]
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Okay, so then you are saying you don't believe that Christ is the Savior, but that man is.
I used to believe OSAS myself so I understand their claims and proof text but they cannot prove their beliefs from the whole of scripture. Believers in the first four centuries of Christian history taught that salvation is contingent on our CONTINUING to believe.
The message of the Gospel is that if we REPENT of our sins and put our trust (i.e., have FAITH) in Jesus to be our savior we can be saved. What Christ accomplished on the cross made this salvation possible for us. In what way does this "make man his own savior?" Do you think that BELIEVING is just another "meritorious work" which we BUY salvation? If so, then you do not understand the gospel. It is because we COULD NOT offer ourselves as a payment for our sins that we must put our faith in the Lamb who "takes away the sin of the world."
You seem to think human choice is itself as "work" similar to the practices the Judaizers they had to do in order to EARN "right standing" before God. However faith is the opposite of that kind of work. Faith is not trusting in our own efforts. It is trusting in Christ to do for us what we CANNOT do for ourselves.
I do not know why you insist that I provide examples ONLY from those who post in this forum when the teaching of (unconditional eternal security) affects many other people. Deciding whether a doctrine is true or not is not established through consensus. It can only be determined by hermeneutical evidence.
No, the message of the gospel is that Jesus ALONE is Savior and it is impossible for there to be two. What you suggest would mean that Jesus isn't THE Savior because salvation would be dependent upon the actions of the one who is to be saved AND upon Jesus; however, in Scripture, Jesus, and Jesus alone, is always referred to in the singular as Savior. Therefore, man cannot make any contribution to it whatsoever. As the Savior, all of the requirements for salvation were, and had to be, satisfied by Him alone, or He couldn't/wouldn't be
correctly labeled the Savior in Scripture as it clearly tells us He is.
Trace back through the thread and read my posts carefully. You are responding to me as though I criticized your post. I didn’t. I’m not asking you for anything.
Sorry, but I have never seen such a post. Would you please point it out, O man of little faith?
:sad: Is it not that us "Greasy grace" people are believing All Of God's Word, Rightly Divided,
About our Eternal [ "GRACE Through faith!" ] Salvation!:
God's Eternal Salvation Is, In Biblical Fact, "in view" In God's Revelation Of The Mystery,
God's OPERATION On All New-born babes In Christ!
+ Updates: (of # 11) + (of #14)
+
God's Eternal Life Assurance
+
God's Eternal Life Insurance
Hallelujah! Jesus Christ's Work On The Cross Is Finished!!
We will just keep
for All of out critics, eh?
Extra Info -----------
And, precious friend(s), Please Be Very Richly Encouraged and Edified
In The Lord Jesus Christ and In His Precious Word Of Truth, Rightly
Divided:
The Bible: The BIG Picture
Amen.
About our Eternal [ "GRACE Through faith!" ] Salvation!:
God's Eternal Salvation Is, In Biblical Fact, "in view" In God's Revelation Of The Mystery,
To/For Gentiles, Today, In His Dispensation Of The Grace Of God, Biblically Confirmed By:
God's OPERATION On All New-born babes In Christ!
+ Updates: (of # 11) + (of #14)
+
God's Eternal Life Assurance
+
God's Eternal Life Insurance
Hallelujah! Jesus Christ's Work On The Cross Is Finished!!
We will just keep
Extra Info -----------
And, precious friend(s), Please Be Very Richly Encouraged and Edified
In The Lord Jesus Christ and In His Precious Word Of Truth, Rightly
Divided:
The Bible: The BIG Picture
Amen.
Whether we believe in Him or not, Jesus is still our only Way to the Father and the Only Lamb who can take away our sin. He becomes OUR Savior when we turn from our old way of life (repent) and put our trust in Him believing in Him as Savior. This is the gospel proclamation s found in passages such as Mark 1:15, where Jesus proclaims, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”
This presents two imperatives: to REPENT, meaning a turn from sin and a change in heart and mind, and to BELIEVE, meaning to place one’s faith and trust in the message of salvation through Christ. Repent and believe both IMPERATIVE verbs. We who need to be saved are commanded to respond to the call which shows that we can respond either by accepting or rejecting God's plan. This precludes the idea that we must remain totally inactive and passive in the process
Unlike what the Reformers said, salvation is not a unilateral act of God UPON US which MAKES us surrender and believe. Instead, the Holy Spirit's influence is one of PERSUASION. Jesus said: And when He [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will CONVICT the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me;…
First, He convicts us of our sin.
The Greek word translated "convict" is elégxō [ἐλέγξει]– which means to convince with solid, compelling evidence, especially to expose (prove wrong). God does not "zap" people into compliance with His will by a deposit of "irresistible grace. He convinces us by appealing to our heart, mind and conscience. Inasmuch as we were made in His image to be self-determing creatures, we are able to resist Him as our history as a race has shown.
Are you saying that FAITH is also NOT a requirement for salvation since "believing" is something we are commanded to do?"
You seem to perceive becoming saved as being solely the work of the unsaved man to achieve, making man his own savior - there simply is no way around that conclusion. To do what you've mentioned above first requires a new heart be given and that only from salvation because the old heart is deceitful and desperately wicked - unable to change itself; otherwise, we remain spiritually dead unable to correctly comprehend, nor being able to respond to spiritual truth, nor desiring to respond to spiritual truth. For those whom God saves, nothing whatsoever is required of them because salvation is given solely by His grace through Jesus Christ the Savior, not by our works - it is given as a completely free gift unto those whom God had chosen for it. Therefore, belief is not a cause of salvation, but the result of it.
We are told in Jhn 6:29 that belief is the work of God, not man
[Jhn 6:29 KJV] 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
We are told in
We are told in Phl 1:29, that belief is given in the behalf of Christ; it is not of man.
[Phl 1:29 KJV] 29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
[Jer 17:9 KJV] 9 The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Yes, that is what I'm saying. There are many commands even though given that man simply cannot satisfy of himself, by himself, and that is why salvation is a gift given solely through grace.
John 1:12 reverses the order that you claim. I'll leave it at that.
No, they were first born of God. John 1:13:
[Jhn 1:13 KJV] 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
You seem to perceive becoming saved as being solely the work of the unsaved man to achieve
No, I do not believe being saved in SOLELY the work of an unsaved person. I do not think ANYONE would ever follow Christ on his own without the influence of the Holy Spirit who impresses the Word (or message) of Salvation on our hearts and testifies to us of the reality of Christ's claims.
18For the MESSAGE of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
[1 Corinthians 1:18]
The Holy Spirit brings conviction by showing us our sin. He also bears witness as to Who Christ is, assuring us that He is able to deliver us if we will but put our faith in Him. It is precisely because of our ignorance and depravity that The Spirit needs to be involved in this process.
The message of the cross does not make us alive by our merely hearing it. We must UNDERSTAND it and ACT upon it by surrendering ourselves to serve HIM rather than the desires [lusts} of our flesh and mind. Until this is accomplished, we WILL NOT YIELD to Him not because of some metaphysical INABILITY but because we are in competition with God over who will our souls. As Jesus said:
Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.…(Romans 6:16-17)
When Jesus talks about our conversion, He describes it as the result of having "wholly obeyed the form of TEACHING we received." He says nothing about our "achieving" anything through our own efforts but, rather about our giving up TRYING to be acceptable and just trusting in Him. In this way, we can find the "rest" that has been promised to all followers of Jesus. By contrast, you believe, along with Augustine, Luther and the Reformers, that we can make no movement towards God, not even to calling on Him for His help. This shows the depth of the Reformers' commitment to Augustine's ideas about total determinism which other teachers had been denying for four centuries before Augustine was born.
Man can play no part in his salvation. Salvation is completely a free gift which comes from and given by an exceedingly merciful and gracious Father through Jesus Christ the Savior to those who in no way deserve it. It is not within man's power to intervene in nor contribute to it.
[Tit 3:5-7 KJV]
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
[Rom 3:20 KJV] 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin.