[drstevej]

"I would that free grace were more preached, because it gives men something to believe with confidence."

[drstevej]

***Brethren, let the man receive these truths; let them be written in his heart by the Holy Spirit, and they will make him look up. He will say, "God has saved me;" and he will walk with a constant eye to God. ***

Grace ping....

[JesseShurun]

Moreover, my brethren, this doctrine overwhelms as with an avalanche all the claims of priestcraft. Let it be told to men that they are saved by God, and they say at once, "Then what is the good of the priest?" If they are told it is God's grace then they say, "Then you do not want our money to buy masses and absolutions," and down goes the priest at once. Beloved, this is a battering ram that God uses with which to shake the gates of hell. How much more forcible than the pretty essays of many divines, which have no more power than bulrushes, no more light than smoking flax.And there goes the authority of the priests and the worship of the temple without which the chaff blows away

[drstevej]

grace ping

[Starwind]

Better still is it that this doctrine not only gives the man something to hold but it holds the man. Let a man once have burnt into him that salvation is of God and not of man, and that God's grace is to be glorified and not human merit, and you will never get that belief out of him;

Puts the 'amazing' in Amazing Grace.

[Calvinist_Dark_Lord]

..."it is in the confessions of all sorts of Protestant Christians, except those who are avowedly Arminian"...

What was Spurgeon's use of the Word "Arminian"? Is it possible that he was thinking of Pelagian here?

While he was a Calvinist, is this "radical use" of the term Arminian normal in his writings? i would have probably said that it is in the confessions of all Arminian churches, and i'm no friend of Arminianism.

i am reminded of an old Jonathan Edwards sermon title: "Thieves, Robbers, and Deists, (with apologies to Thieves and Robbers)"

[ponyespresso]

I am currently reading Martin Luther's The Bondage of the Will. I had to get a used copy because they told me it was out of print (I guess people are too busy publishing yet another Philip Yancy book or the 28th volume of the "Left Behind" series.) I was wondering if you had ever read it and what you thought.

I am immediately struck by three things: first, he is brutal in his attacks on Erasmus. Do you think that Luther goes a tad overboard, like he is really trying to get back a Erasmus, or is this just his style (I am not questioning his style Biblically; "You foolish Galatians" screamed Paul. That is what Luther reminds me of).

Second, he is brutal in his attacks on the Pope and the whole structure and institution of the Roman Church. Did he always feel this way, did he ever simply want to reform the Roman Church or had he always felt this sort of contempt for the Holy See and the boyz?

Third, I'm only about half way through it and, while I am getting a profound insight on the real meaning of God's grace, I am still unconvinced about such Calvinistic teachings as Limited Atonement or Preservation of the Saints. Does Luther deal with these later in this volume, in any other of his works, or are these simply Calvin's teachings which originated with Calvin, and not any of the other reformers (Luther, Zwingli, et al)

Other that these questions, it is an amazing work so far which is having a profound effect on my faith and love for Christ, probably because it seems so far removed from the meaningless and irrelevant drivel spewing from our pulpits (well, at least from the Charismatic/Evangelical pulpits I am used to.). From now on I think I will only be reading the good stuff; any other suggestions for a "meat/not milk" reading list?

[jwh_Denver]

At the same time this doctrine makes a man look down upon himself. "Ah," saith he, "I am nothing, there is nothing in me to merit esteem. I have no goodness of my own. If saved, I cannot praise myself; I cannot in any way ascribe to myself honour; God has done it, God has done it." Nothing makes the man so humble; but nothing makes him so glad;

Oh so beautiful and so true. Through grace God reveals Himself to us as our reward is to know God Almighty and His son, Jesus Christ, on an intimate and personal level and the spiritual truths God has made. He wants to show us that He is God and that He loves us so intensely. And in so doing we realize total dependence on Him is total triumph through His son Jesus Christ.

Almost all the Pauline epistles from Romans throught II Thess. 2 start with "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ". God has already given us grace and peace. Do we believe it?

No matter what we do or don't do does not or ever will stand in the way of God's grace to us. We absolutely cannot work for his unmerited favor. He's already given it to us. Once God gives you a glimmer of what grace really is in your heart you cannot help but change. And you will lift up your voice to God with praise and worship for what He has done for you through the work of His dear son, Jesus Christ.

[LiteKeeper]

read later

[JWinNC]

Free Grace bump

JWinNC