[SkyPilot]

Jesus Christ. That is the only answer.

[Gamecock]

Never get tired of reading that.

[RnMomof7]

Excellent read Harley ...
Yes ,it amazes me that man basically removes God from regeneration.. that the dead can decide to live again

But this line really hit me

Are we innocent of the doctrinal indifferentism with which Luther charged Erasmus? Do we still believe that doctrine matters?

Today we have mega churches (and small churches) that do no catachis of their members or attenders ... people sit in a pew for years without instruction on the fundamentals of the faith.. original sin, the trinity, the virgin birth ...with scripture in general ... except in the case of a few denominations or good non denomination churches doctrine is ignored.. the sermons and Sunday schools deal with "life issues" , success, feelings etc.. doing no more than motivational speakers or secular counselors do.

The pews are filled with unsaved people , some of which made a "profession of faith" or not ..

Ask one of them what the trinity means , or the harder what is the atonement ..and they get a blank look

Catholics here think that we represent "protestantism " and want them to convert.. NOT AT ALL... if you are unsaved your church does not matter.. be a buddhist or Mormon, or catholic or go to Olsteen's church... or be a presbyterian or methodist.. IT JUST DOES NOT MATTER.. hells fires await you ..

Doctrine matters because it gives us a framework to read and rightly divide the scriptures.. not because it saves .. only Christ saves..

[Pelham]

bookmark

[Claud]

N.B. Predestination of the will to evil was condemned at the Council of Orange that also condemned Semipelagianism:

According to the catholic faith we also believe that after grace has been received through baptism, all baptized persons have the ability and responsibility, if they desire to labor faithfully, to perform with the aid and cooperation of Christ what is of essential importance in regard to the salvation of their soul. We not only do not believe that any are foreordained to evil by the power of God, but even state with utter abhorrence that if there are those who want to believe so evil a thing, they are anathema.

Where did Sproul stand on this?

[Claud]

He was a Protestant, an evangelical. But his view of salvation was no different from the Roman view.

Oh and THIS charge is pure balderdash. I would have given Sproul exactly the answer he wanted: because of grace.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

"Yes, of course we have a will. Calvin said, if you mean by a free will a faculty of choosing by which you have the power within yourself to choose what you desire, then we all have free will. If you mean by free will the ability for fallen human beings to incline themselves and exercise that will to choose the things of God without the prior monergistic work of regeneration then, said Calvin, free will is far too grandiose a term to apply to a human being."

It is said that humans are created in the image of God. Yet according to the above notion when human choices are made the least likely choice to be made, even by Reformed Christians, will be the choice that God would most want.

The rest of the essay suggests that nothing that is said or written or preached or done by any preacher, no matter how in line with Reformed doctrine, will have any effect on a particular person's likelihood to receive the grace necessary to become a true Christian.

If a person cannot be saved by his own works or acts of faith, then he certainly cannot be saved by the works or acts of faith of another.

In running away from pelagianism, the Reformed Church seems to have fallen into the lap of Malebranche's occasionalism.

[imardmd1]

Clear presentation of the Reformed approach.

I wonder what Sproul's analysis would be of the parable of the sower, the seed, and the condition of the soil. He must have an opinion on record somewhere.

And having the guidance of The Law at hand, how it is that from day to day an unregenerated person can make a decision in some matter to not sin, and how a regenerated person can easily make a decision to execute a sinful act or thought, deliberately or unintentionally.

In fact, why did Jehovah bother to establish the Mosaic Covenant at all?

Hmmmm.

[Prospero]

When He was alone, those around Him, with the Twelve, asked Him about the parables. He said “to you is given the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but to those outside everything is in parables, so seeing they see not, and listening, hear but understand not, else they turn and be forgiven.”

And He said to them, “You don’t understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables?”

[lupie]

Thank you for posting this Harley. Balm to my soul.

[dartuser]

No doubt where R.C. stands on hyper-Calvinism ...

Is a good summary of the position here.