It Should Be Clear, you say ? .. faith in Jesus Christ is not the faith of Jesus Christ... the faith of Jesus Christ saves... Gal. 2:16
old man joe
as many so word their ideas of what salvation is, the Word of God clearly defines exactly
what kind of faith saves... and it's recorded in Ro. 3:22; Gal. 2:16 and 3:22 and in Rev.
14:12.
it is the " faith of Jesus Christ " which saves... and never " faith in Jesus Christ "
which is clearly meant to express a work of man trying to invoke the grace of God
so as to save himself all the while he is in the flesh... the gospel's of co-redemption's
finest ( and last ) hour.
modern Bible translations reword these passages so as to tell the reader it is man's
doings that will bring about salvation. Gal. 2:16 puts it bluntly...
" that we might be justified by the faith of Christ... "
this is what the Bible teaches about the real faith which God gives and as someone put it
by saying... " faith must be in Christ alone for salvation. " this is not salvation as
the Word of God teaches it. the faith that saves doesn't pop in out of nowhere... one
doesn't put what one doesn't have " in Christ alone for salvation, " it is given by Jesus
Christ to His elect ones because they otherwise don't have it. that's why the Bible
says... " that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. "
believing, which is the verb form of the Bible word ' faith ' comes after being given
life, not before. Acts 13:38 and 18:27 state this as well as Jn. 3:3. believing unto
salvation is an act of God, not man. ( Jn. 6:29 ) all of the glory goes to God.
the truly elect are first made alive by the grace of God toward them, and at that
instance, given the faith of Christ who is Life. it's " when we were dead in sins,
( He ) hath quickened us together with Christ, ( by grace ye are saved )... "
( Eph. 2:5 ) and not by some mythical act of man placing a trust he doesn't have in Christ
so as to co-redeem himself.
all of the glory for the doing goes to God.
John Cooper
news:bu6qc596v3grhfhr0...@4ax.com...
> aved )... "
> ( Eph. 2:5 ) and not by some mythical act of man placing a trust he
> doesn't have in Christ
> so as to co-redeem himself.
>
> all of the glory for the doing goes to God.
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Mr Old Man Joe,
This is your second and final admonition.
It is wrong to discourage people from repenting and believing in Christ, by
suggesting, as you do, that in so doing they could be denying the grace of
God. If a man or a woman truly repents and believes in Christ, then God
gave them the ability to do so. To imply that a person could do wrong in
these actions, is wicked.
Predestination is indeed taught in Scripture, but it is God's problem, not
ours. Our RESPONSIBILITY is to repent and believe the Gospel. Making
people worry whether their repentance and faith is God-inspired or not (as
if we ever read of such a case in Scripture) does not edify the saints.
It is true that Jesus said 'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you'
(John 15:16), and his disciples were probably quite surprised to hear it,
for they were probably of the mistaken impression that they had chosen
Christ. And so it is possible to mistakenly think that one has taken the
initiative in repentance and faith in Christ, and only later, through a
better understanding of Scripture, to realise that God was actually behind
it all.
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Another example, this time from the Old Testament:
7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of
water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; 8 A
land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a
land of oil olive, and honey; 9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without
scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are
iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. 10 When thou hast eaten
and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which
he hath given thee. 11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not
keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I
command thee this day: 12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast
built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; 13 And when thy herds and thy flocks
multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast
is multiplied; 14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD
thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house
of bondage; 15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness,
wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no
water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; 16 Who fed
thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might
humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter
end; 17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand
hath gotten me this wealth. 18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for
it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his
covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.' (Deuteronomy
8:7-18)
Here the children of Israel are reminded that they did not drive out the
Canaanites. God drove them out. They did not claim Canaan by their sword.
God fought for them. They did not acquire the Land. God gave it to them.
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Another example, this time from the New Testament:
'Give us this day our daily bread.' (Matthew 6:11)
We may work to earn money with which we buy our food, but we are to remember
that it actually comes from God. We receive our daily bread even if we
don't pray this prayer, even if we don't even acknowledge God as the
Provider. It still comes from him.
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People are not guilty of attempting co-redemption if they heed the Gospel's
command to repent and believe in Jesus. If you continue to dissuade people
from salvation through your extreme Calvinism, you will discover that you
were predestined to do so.
Yours very sincerely,
John Cooper