Bible Discussion Thread

conti....

That by this faith alone, which is the gift which is from above, (and not that faith which grows either in the wilderness or garden of the old nature, and is fed by the oldness of the letter, and not by the newness of the Spirit) is Christ received. For Christ can be received by the faith alone that comes from him; and that faith which comes from him cannot but receive him. Man's faith refuseth him; it receiveth a literal knowledge of him from what it heareth from men, or from what it readeth related in the Scripture concerning him; but refuseth the nature of the thing. And it cannot be otherwise; for man's faith, not being of the nature of it, cannot but refuse it. But this faith, which is given of God, which is from above, being of the same life and nature with Christ, cannot refuse the spring of its own life; but receiveth him immediately. There is no distance of time; but so soon as faith is received, Christ is received and the soul united to Him in the faith.

Nicely put; although many either won't accept it or have difficulty understanding this scriptural concept. I would say that understanding how lost and helpless we are is part of the way the Lord draws in His own. Thus I am not so dogmatic as to always emphasizing the time that we make a confession of faith; as I believe God works with His own BEFOREHAND as well as afterwards.

In fact; I am sure you will agree that mere "confessional regeneration" is a misnomer; otherwise known as "accepting Christ". Christ is already Lord just as much as Lucifer is now the Devil if we are merely to state a fact. For Christ to be Lord and Savior; of course He is to be our Master.

There can be a point when we ask God to help us with our unbelief. As for my own walk I can only say that I believed in the existence of a Creator but didn't get why things were so messed up in the world; only later did I realize that I myself with all my affections and such was part of the problem separating me from that God.

Telling the wheat from the chaff; however isn't something we can always do. You know them by their fruits but God will listen to the pleas of some and abandon others ultimately even when they cry out to Him. We can't take this concept to the level that we are cold toward those crying out to the Lord for help; in that we say if they are the elect they will receive a response. That is because until we believe this concept of election really can't be fully understood. I have seen "hyper" Calvanists say things like that when the Lord would use them to have a listening ear and compassionate heart to those struggling with sin. The difference of course is that the unregenerate only want to avoid the consequences (worldly sorrow leads to death); and those who end up being saved are those who have Godly sorrow. This is why we don't make Calvanism or the doctrines therein as our faith but we believe in the God who Himself chooses to act in this way ( Deut. 29:29).

Agape.