ELECTION By B.B. Warfield

http://www.the-highway.com/Election_Warfield.html ^ | 9/13/06 | ALPHA-8-25-02

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GOOD MORNING SAINTS!

[Gamecock]

Ahhh, the Lion of Princeton. What a Godly man he was (through the Grace of course)

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B. B. Warfield -- The Lion of Princeton B. B. Warfield: The Lion of Princeton is an edited version of my 1997 doctoral dissertation (The Lion of Princeton: Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield on Apologetics, Theological Method and Polemics) written under the supervision of Richard A. Muller. This version has been edited for publication on the Riddleblog. http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/b-b-warfield-the-lion-of-pr/ GODSPEED!

[isaiah55version11_0]

The marvel of marvels is not that God, in his infinite love, has not elected all of this guilty race to be saved, but that he has elected any. What really needs accounting for — though to account for it passes the powers of our extremest flights of imagination — is how the holy God could get the consent of his nature to save a single sinner. If we know what sin is, and what holiness is, and what salvation from sin to holiness is, that is what we shall feel.

Its going...going..gone right out of the park.

Thanks for this great Post.

[Kitty Mittens]

Just as Lazarus was called out of the grave by the sheer power of the God who raises the dead, we have been called out of our death in trespasses and sins by the sheer grace of God...

All Things are for His Purposes, to the Praise of the Glory of the King of Creation.

Thank you, Servant of our Lord Jesus.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Who hath Blessed us with All Spiritual Blessings in the Heavenlies in Christ. (Eph.1:3)

[gracebeliever]

The Lion of Princeton is certainly wordy. Much of what he avers is pure truth, however he leaves many questions for the reader. One relates to the Bible version used for the quotes. This shows Eph. 2:5,8 as stating "have ye been saved," which indicates an action that occurred once at a point in time in the past. The KJV states "are ye saved," indicating not only an event that occurred at a point in time in the past, but is also a present reality. The KJV provides more assurance of our salvation.

Secondly, the Bible says we are "saved by grace through faith." Now whose faith is this? God's, Christ's, man's? How does faith enter into the equation? Certainly it cannot be ignored because it is in the verse.

Thirdly, relates to the statement, "We have not made the first step in knowledge of the salvation of God until we have learned, and made the very center of our thought of it, this great fact: that it is by the pure grace of God, by that and that alone, that we are saved. That, as we have said, is the heart of the heart of the gospel." While a gospel is "good news," and being "saved by grace through faith" is definitely good news, what is the gospel this is the "heart of the gospel?" Does acknowledging that we are saved by grace (through faith) actually save us? Are we saved without knowing anything at all? IF that is true, then we must have some merit in us for God to pluck us out of the garbage heap and save us through His grace. Otherwise God can be viewed rightfully as a biased, fickle God who takes pleasure in teasing man and condemning many to eternal death in hell, similar in action to the mythological Greek gods.

So then, how does 1Cor. 15:1-4, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I reached unto you, which also ye received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures," fit into the picture of one being saved? And the same goes for Ro. 10:17, "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

So many questions and so little time.

[isaiah55version11_0]

Odd post from someone with the screen name of gracebeliever.

Bible says we are "saved by grace through faith." Now whose faith is this? God's, Christ's, man's? How does faith enter into the equation?

Read the whole verse:

NASB Ephesians 2:8 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Grace and faith are a gift of God. This is even more clear in Greek.

IF that is true, then we must have some merit in us for God to pluck us out of the garbage heap and save us through His grace.

NASB Romans 11:6 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.

It can’t be merit that would nullify what the word grace means. And if it was merit we could have something to boast about. Eph 2:9

Otherwise God can be viewed rightfully as a biased, fickle God who takes pleasure in teasing man and condemning many to eternal death in hell, similar in action to the mythological Greek gods.

"rightfully"!!! Tread lightly. Pray for guidance from the Holy Sprit. Start reading slowly and purposefully from Rom 9:11 on…. Your above issue is confronted. Chew thoroughly before you swallow. This took me years before it sunk into my very thick skull. I sincerely pray that it won’t take you as long.

[Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin]

Why was he referred to as, "The Lion of Princeton?"

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Princeton
In 1887 Warfield was appointed to the Charles Hodge Chair at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he succeeded Hodge's son A. A. Hodge. Warfield remained there until his death. As the last conservative successor to Hodge to live prior to the re-organization of Princeton Seminary, Warfield is often regarded as the last of the Princeton theologians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._B._Warfield

[Mrs. Darla Ruth Schwerin]

Thanks for the info. and the link...

[Dr. Eckleburg]

then we must have some merit in us for God to pluck us out of the garbage heap and save us through His grace.

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." -- Philippians 2:13

"To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect." -- JOHN OWEN

God is no respecter of persons. He gives grace and He withholds grace according to His good pleasure alone.

This, of course, doesn't stop men from trying to claim it was all their idea or that they did something to deserve God's grace. Life is much richer, however, when we understand salvation is all of Him and none of us.

That's why it's called "mercy," and not "payback."

Thanks, Alpha, for the wonderful Warfield thread.

[blue-duncan]

"This, of course, doesn't stop men from trying to claim it was all their idea or that they did something to deserve God's grace+"

When my boys were little they would have trouble getting the cap off the new jar of jelly. I would take it and make believe I was having a hard time myself while I loosened it just enough so they could turn it. I would give it back to them and they would apply a little pressure and it would come off and they would proudly tell me they had done it.

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THANKYOU SISTER FOR THE OWEN QUOTE.

STILL KEEPING YOUR FAMILY IN PRAYER!

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"Regarding Total Depravity and Irresistible Grace:
When you say, "Can God make me become a Christian?" I tell you yes, for herein rests the power of the gospel. It does not ask your consent; but it gets it. It does not say, "Will you have it?" but it makes you willing in the day of God's power....The gospel wants not your consent, it gets it. It knocks the enmity out of your heart. You say, I do not want to be saved; Christ says you shall be. He makes our will turn round, and then you cry,"'Lord save, or I perish!- C.H.SPURGEON

Murray, Iain. The Forgotten Spurgeon, 2d ed. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1986; reprint. Spurgeon, Charles H. "A Defence of Calvinism" in C. H. Spurgeon Autobiography. Edited by S. Spurgeon and J. Harrald. Rev. ed. Vol I, The Early Years 1834-1859. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1976; reprint. Spurgeon, Charles H. New Park Street Pulpit. A collection of his sermons. Spurgeon, Charles H. Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit. A collection of his sermons.

I LIKE YOUR HOME PARABLE AND WILL USE IT AND GIVE YOU AUTHORSHIP,IF I MAY.

[blue-duncan]

Use it as your own, now need for attribution.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

When you're a famous novelist we're going to have to put an end to that largesse.

Residuals add up. 8~)

[bremenboy]

Grace and faith are a gift of God. This is even more clear in Greek

I don't know about Greek but its quit clear in English that the gift in
NASB Ephesians 2:8 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

IS SAVATION

[gracebeliever]

Actually the name, Gracebeliever fits, as it should all true believers. My point is tthe Lion of Princeton neglected to finish the verse and only focus on grace and not faith. God's grace is the "free" gift of God and the Bible is abundantly clear, although apparently not to some, that grace and works are antithetical. However that still leaves open the role of "through faith" in salvation. Nowhere does this indicate that a person is saved then is given faith, otherwise it would not state "through faith."

Grace and faith are a gift of God. This is even more clear in Greek.

I will not get into a deep discussion of Greek, since I feel the interpreters of the KJV were much more adept in that language than anyone I am aware of today. The only issue I will make is the Greek word for through, dia, as used in Eph. 2:8, from the sources looked at gives the meaning of being causal, or denoting the channel of an act. Seems clear to me that salvation is by grace through faith. So the issue comes back to who's faith.

It can’t be merit that would nullify what the word grace means. And if it was merit we could have something to boast about. Eph 2:9

As Eph. 2:10 states, works, at least those God ordains, follow salvation by grace through faith. From this divine order, faith must precede works, with saving faith therefore not a meritorious act. While it is true that dead men cannot do anything, it is the Word of God that quickens and as Ro. 10:17 states, faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Seems rather simple and straightforward to me. It is tragic what religion has done to the clear Word of God.

[isaiah55version11_0]

I don't know about Greek but its quit clear in English that the gift in NASB Ephesians 2:8 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. IS SAVATION

Thank you for pointing this out! I repent, it seems I have fallen into a very common error.

John Calvin agrees with you regarding this verse.

And here we must advert to a very common error in the interpretation of this passage. Many persons restrict the word gift to faith alone. But Paul is only repeating in other words the former sentiment. His meaning is, not that faith is the gift of God, but that salvation is given to us by God, or, that we obtain it by the gift of God. a>

In fact after today and working thru this stuff. I am even more impressed with Calvin. He could of glossed over this but he did not.

If you want to take this deeper. I found this useful. Follow the debate with Ray.

Did John Calvin Believe Faith is a Gift given From God?

Enjoy