Have You Accepted Jesus into Your Heart?

To: .45 Long Colt

God has chosen the willing. He has not willed the chosen. When Paul asked “who has resisted His will?” He was not making an argument for that statement, he was rather pointing out the foolishness of that view. Many resist His will. Sin is against His will. Christ taught to pray Thy will be done... because it isn’t currently.

Paul warned not to receive the grace of God in vain. He said he did not frustrate the grace of God. And Hebrews warns of the possibility of our failing in relation to God’s grace.

Our participation by receiving grace does not constitute earning or working for grace or the gift of salvation. Receiving means receiving. When someone gives a gift you can receive it or reject it. Some receive Christ. Some receive Him not.

What Calvinists and non-Calvinists can agree on is Christ’s death is sufficient for all but only efficient for the elect. Anyone who enters Heaven will give God 100 percent of the credit, and anyone who goes to hell must accept 100 percent of the blame.

22 posted on 06/07/2013 5:49:59 PM PDT by unlearner (You will never come to know that which you do not know until you first know that you do not know it.)

אֲנִי לְדֹודִי וְעָלַי תְּשׁוּקָתֹֽו "I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me." (Song of Songs 7:10, v.11 the in Tanakh)

The only other time this word for "desire" is found in the Bible is in Gen. 3:16, when Eve is told that she will have desire for her husband, and the word תְּשׁוּקָתֹֽו has the implication of a craving (the word in Haggai's "desire of the nations" is different, meaning something pleasant to desire). We belong to Him because of the price He paid to redeem us from death and the power of the devil, but He craves us, and will move heaven and earth to be with us; it is never His fault that we have sclerokardia and would rather go our own way.

23 posted on 06/07/2013 6:12:48 PM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)

Notice that there is no knob on the outside of the door where Jesus is standing.

We need to open the door to our hearts by turning the knob on the inside of the door and opening it for him.

24 posted on 06/07/2013 6:30:16 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

25 posted on 06/07/2013 6:37:39 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

To: Responsibility2nd

“I’m often amused at fundies who claim that praying the Believers Prayer and asking Jesus to come into their heart = Salvation.”

No doubt this is a valid act of entrusting oneself to Christ alone for salvation, with child-like understanding... But as to the words, they are not Biblical.

26 posted on 06/07/2013 6:50:35 PM PDT by aMorePerfectUnion (Gone rogue, gone Galt, gone international, gone independent. Gone.)

The Reverend Longenecker is right. Or, why should I trust some anonymous Internet keyboard warriors and amateur theologians over a well educated, well spoken priest?

27 posted on 06/07/2013 6:53:53 PM PDT by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)

I said the same things about Calvinism for almost 40 years. But short of salvation, the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me was coming to understand the Doctrines of Grace. I’m a radically different man.

“For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.” (Romans 9:15-17)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16)

“So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened” (Romans 11:5-7)

“But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14)

Based on the authority of Scripture I know that I wasn’t seeking Him and I would never have chosen Him had He not chosen me first because:

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:11-12)

I truly believe your argument isn’t with me, it’s with Scripture.

28 posted on 06/07/2013 7:30:21 PM PDT by .45 Long Colt

“God has chosen the willing.”

There aren’t any:

Rom 3:10-12 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (12) They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

“He has not willed the chosen.”

He has willed the chosen:

Act_13:48 ... and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

And the chosen do not choose Christ, they are chosen by Christ.

Joh_15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

“When Paul asked “who has resisted His will?” He was not making an argument for that statement, he was rather pointing out the foolishness of that view.”

No, he was responding to the outrage that his previous statements cause (like the outrage you feel right now when we say it).

Here’s the sentence:

Rom 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

And here is what precedes it:

Rom 9:11-18 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) (12) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. (13) As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. (14) What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. (15) For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (16) So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. (17) For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. (18) Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Is God hardening anyone or no? Did God choose Jacob before neither child had done good or evil or no? And if Paul was just ridiculing his own ideas... why is there outrage? “Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?” Why would they say “Why doth he yet find fault?” if Paul did not just get done teaching the Gospel of election, which asserts that no one can come to God unless God gives it to him?

“And Hebrews warns of the possibility of our failing in relation to God’s grace.”

From Calvin’s commentary on Hebrews 6

“But here arises a new question, how can it be that he who has once made such a progress should afterwards fall away? For God, it may be said, calls none effectually but the elect, and Paul testifies that they are really his sons who are led by his Spirit, (Romans 8:14;) and he teaches us, that it is a sure pledge of adoption when Christ makes us partakers of his Spirit. The elect are also beyond the danger of finally falling away; for the Father who gave them to be preserved by Christ his Son is greater than all, and Christ promises to watch over them all so that none may perish. To all this I answer, That God indeed favors none but the elect alone with the Spirit of regeneration, and that by this they are distinguished from the reprobate; for they are renewed after his image and receive the earnest of the Spirit in hope of the future inheritance, and by the same Spirit the Gospel is sealed in their hearts. But I cannot admit that all this is any reason why he should not grant the reprobate also some taste of his grace, why he should not irradiate their minds with some sparks of his light, why he should not give them some perception of his goodness, and in some sort engrave his word on their hearts. Otherwise, where would be the temporal faith mentioned by Mark 4:17? There is therefore some knowledge even in the reprobate, which afterwards vanishes away, either because it did not strike roots sufficiently deep, or because it withers, being choked up.
And by this bridle the Lord keeps us in fear and humility; and we certainly see how prone human nature is otherwise to security and foolish confidence. At the same time our solicitude ought to be such as not to disturb the peace of conscience. For the Lord strengthens faith in us, while he subdues our flesh: and hence he would have faith to remain and rest tranquilly as in a safe haven; but he exercises the flesh with various conflicts, that it may not grow wanton through idleness.”

There is no reason to suppose that the damned cannot share in the gifts of God and yet still, ultimately, fall away. The Lord tells of those who would say to Him “Lord, Lord, have we not done many wonderful works in your name? Have we not cast out devils in your name? And prophesied in your name?” (Matt 7:22, paraphrased). And yet Christ’s response isn’t “I knew you until you rejected me.” He replies, “I never knew you.” From the beginning, they were unknown, they were never “of us.” As John explains, they “must leave us” because they were “not of us.” Not that they were “once of us, but now cease to be”:

1Jn_2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

To compare, the sheep of God are always known by the Shepard:

Joh 10:26-27 But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. (27) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

They can never fall away nor fail to be found:

Joh 10:28-29 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (29) My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

Joh_6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

Mar_13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

“Receiving means receiving.”

Receiving means receiving the knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, not through your own mental knowledge or particular holiness in “seeking God” (there are none who seek), but through a direct revelation by God Himself:

Mat_16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

1Co_12:3 ... no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

And unless God reveals Himself to you, unless God gives it to you from above to believe, you can never believe:

Joh 6:64-65 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. (65) And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

Notice, also, that the Jews here did not receive it from the Father and then rejected. They never “received” it at all, and that is why they did not believe. The fact that some receive it and others don’t is fatal to your position.

“Anyone who enters Heaven will give God 100 percent of the credit,”

By definition, if you claim that you are persevering in faith, then you get credit for being that rare person who ‘seeks after God’ and sticks with Him, unlike everyone else.

29 posted on 06/07/2013 7:53:20 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans

“Notice that there is no knob on the outside of the door where Jesus is standing.”

Notice that your theology is based on the various details found within paintings.

30 posted on 06/07/2013 7:54:02 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans

To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

31 posted on 06/07/2013 7:54:06 PM PDT by narses

To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

32 posted on 06/07/2013 7:54:29 PM PDT by narses

To: cornfedcowboy

Yes. It is a good thing. Interesting though, the Bible of course states to “believe” but it never mentions the actual “accept Jesus in to your heart”.

John 1:12-13 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Ephesians 3:14-19 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

33 posted on 06/07/2013 8:18:00 PM PDT by metmom (For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore & do not submit again to a yoke of slavery)

To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

34 posted on 06/07/2013 8:19:29 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

To: Salvation; Greetings_Puny_Humans

Clueless.

Totally clueless......

35 posted on 06/07/2013 8:30:12 PM PDT by metmom (For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore & do not submit again to a yoke of slavery)

I am not clueless. Thanks for pinging me.

Jesus always waits for us to approach him. I think you know that.

36 posted on 06/07/2013 8:35:28 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

Yes! That is a True confession of Faith. I challenged a spell-caster under the Holy Spirit. This was when she declared herself a Christian. I told her that she could not declare Christ came in the Flesh/human as in the Creeds. 1John4.

Entities starting making her stutter right when it got to Born of the Virgin Mary. If you are possessed. Meaning deep into Tarot cards and "new Age" you will not be able to declare. When she tried to say it -only "There are many Gods" came out of her mouth. She was more shocked than I. She tried it several times same answer. It cannot be pronounced in the personal pronoun if one is deep in the occult. Astonishingly accurate.

1 John Chapter 4

1John 4

2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:..

3 and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God: and this is the spirit of the antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it cometh; and now it is in the world already...

15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in...

2 John Chapter 1

7 For many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist...

Revelation Chapter 3

5 He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels...

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Eternal Father, we offer Thee the merits of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Thy Beloved Son and my Divine Redeemer, for all my relations, friends and enemies, for the poor, the sick, and those in tribulation, and for all those for whom Thou willest I should pray, or knowest that I ought to pray.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Blessed and praised forevermore be Jesus Who hath saved us by His Precious Blood!

37 posted on 06/07/2013 8:52:03 PM PDT by johngrace (I am a 1 John 4! Christian- declared at every Sunday Mass , Divine Mercy and Rosary prayers!)

Jesus always waits for us to approach him. I think you know that.

No, He doesn't.

When He was here on earth, He spent three years actively reaching out to people. He didn't just sit back and wait for people to come to Him.

38 posted on 06/07/2013 9:28:10 PM PDT by metmom (For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore & do not submit again to a yoke of slavery)

the woman reaching for his cloak because of her hemmoraghing

The blind man calling from the side of the road

Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night

Just some examples where they sought Jesus

39 posted on 06/07/2013 9:40:20 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)

For Catholics, Jesus sits and helplessly waits. For Christians, He is beating at the door and welcomed IN.

40 posted on 06/07/2013 9:47:00 PM PDT by bonfire

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