Posted on 02/01/2002 5:26:40 AM PST by CCWoody
All men are by nature the children of wrath, and are under the power of darkness. In this state men are not the subjects of Christ's kingdom and have no fitness for heaven. From this terrible state they are unable to deliver themselves. (I John 5:19; Romans 5:6) Out of this state they must be supernaturally called.(I Peter 2:9; Colossians 1:13) This divine "call" or work of grace is called in Scriptures as: REGENERATION (Titus 3:5); TRANSFORMATION (II Cor.3:18); THE NEW BIRTH, ILLUMINATION (II Cor. 4:6); SPIRITUAL RESURRECTION (John 5:24). This inward call is attended with justification and adoption and conversion,(which includes faith and repentance). (Romans 8:30; Eph. 1:5; Eph.2:1-10) Thus leading us to the EFFECTS OF REGENERATION.
Jesus in John 3:8 tells us of this matter, speaking of the blowing of the wind. Man is unable to originate, order or regulate the wind. Man knows very little of the cause which controls the wind, yet the presence of the wind is unmistakable; and its EFFECTS are plainly evidenced, "SO IS EVERY ONE THAT IS BORN OF THE SPIRIT." BUT THE TRANSFORMING RESULTS BECOME PLAIN.
The illumination of the understanding Gen. 1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Then:" the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep." Next: "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters," and God said: "Let there be light."
So it is when God begins to restore fallen man: "For God who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (II Cor. 4:6)
This Divine illumination is not by dreams, visions, or mere feelings, but the revelation of things to his mind and soul which have been all along in sacred Scriptures. Now the blessed Holy Spirit removes the blindfold from his eyes and opens his heart to receive the written Word. (Acts 16:14) Then He begins to powerfully apply to the mind and conscience some portion of it. The result is that the one renewed is able to say, "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." (John 9:25)
To be more particular, The sinner is now enlightened in the knowledge of his own terrible condition. He may earlier have known many Bible facts, even doctrinal statements, received much instruction; BUT NOW, the solemn declarations of God's Word concerning his fallen state are brought home in piercing power to him. He no longer justifies himself by comparison with his fellow man, he measures himself by the law of God. He is now terribly convicted by his own uncleanness and wickedness before a thrice holy God. ( Isaiah 1:6; 64:6)
By this new spiritual light which God communicates in REGENERATION he now sees that the "wages" he has earned by sin deserve eternal death. That he has placed himself under the awful wrath of God. He now realizes that he has lived his whole life in utter independence of God, having no regard for His glory, what pleased and displeased a holy God. He is thus brought to cry out "WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?"
He now understands truly the awful malignity of sin, as being not only contrary to the whole law of God, but contrary to the true nature of God Himself. He is convinced of the absolute impossibility of contributing anything to obtain his own deliverance. He no longer has any confidence in himself; he has been brought to the end of himself. As Paul wrote "He is without Christ and without hope in this world." (Eph.2)
Thus his mouth is stopped and he confesses himself GUILTY BEFORE GOD, and justly liable to His awful vengeance, both because of the plague of his own heart and his numerous transgressions.
HE NOW SEES THE SUITABILITY OF CHRIST
By means of this illumination the renewed soul, under the Holy Spirit through the Word, now perceives (comprehends) how WELL SUITED Christ Jesus is to his poor wretched condition. The only hope he clings to is the prospect of obtaining deliverance from the "wrath to come" through the vicarious life and death of the Lord Jesus (i.e. Jesus Christ lived for and died right in the very place of a people). This keeps his soul from being overwhelmed with grief and from sinking into complete despondency because of the SIGHT of his sins.
As the Holy Spirit (through the Word) presents to him the infinite merits of Christ's obedience and righteousness, His tender compassion for repentant sinners, His great power to save, desires to share in that work now possess his heart. He is now resolved to look for salvation in no other. (person, working, or church) Under the gracious influences of the Holy Spirit, the soul is drawn by such words as these: "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." or "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out,"and he is led to apply to Him for pardon, cleansing, peace, righteousness, strength.
REPENTANCE
Other acts besides turning to Christ, such as REPENTANCE, which is a godly sorrow for sin, a hating of sin as sin, and an earnest desire to forsake and be completely delivered from its pollution. In the light of God, the renewed soul now perceives the utter vanity of the world, and the worthlessness of those former worthless toys and perishing trifles which the godless strive so hard to acquire. He has been awakened from the dream-sleep of death, and things are now seen in their true nature. Time is precious, not to be frittered away. God in His awesome Majesty is an object of godly fear and reverence. His holy law is accepted as just and good. All of these perceptions (new sight, or new way of seeing what the Word has stated) and actions are included in that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. In some these actions are more vigorous than in others, and consequently, are more seen by the man himself. But the fruits of them are visible to others in external acts.
THE WILL FREED FROM BONDAGE
By nature,(the state into which all men are born), the will of man is free in only one direction: AWAY FROM GOD. Sin has enslaved the will, therefore, do we need to be "made free" (John 8:36). The two states are contrasted in Romans 6: "free from righteousness" v20 and "free from sin" v 18, when we have been made alive unto God. At the new birth the will is liberated from the "bondage of corruption" (Rom. 8:21 cf II Peter 2:19), and rendered conformable to the will of God (Psalm 119:97). In our unregenerate state the will was naturally rebellious, and its language was, "Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?" (Exodus 5:2) But the Father promised the Son, "Thy people shall BE WILLING in the day of thy power" (Ps.110:3), and this is accomplished when God "worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Phil 2:13; Heb.13:21)
"A new heart, a new spirit...I will take out your stony heart...and I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes." (Heb.8:10; Ezek.36:26-27) The regenerated freely consent to and gladly choose to walk in subjection to Christ, being anxious now to obey Him in all things, even though imperfectly. His authority is his only rule, His love the constraining power: "If a man love me, he WILL KEEP my words." (John 14:23)
The will is so emancipated from the power of sin to be enabled to answer the Divine Command.
ELEVATION OF THE HEART
Rightly does the Lord claim first place as Creator, Owner, and Redeemer. "My son give Me thine heart" (Prov.23:26) expresses God's claim. They "first gave their own selves to the Lord" (II Cor.8:5) is the response of the regenerate. For before they were born anew, by natural birth they are "lovers of their own selves" and "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God" (II Tim.3:2,4). When a sinner is renewed, his affections are taken off his idols and fixed on his Lord (I Thess. 1:9). Hence it is written "with the HEART man believeth unto righteousness" (Rom.10:10).And hence, also it is written, "If any man LOVE NOT the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed" (I Cor.16:22).
In Deut. 30:6 we read: "And the Lord God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to LOVE the Lord thy God WITH ALL THY HEART." This is the renewing of the heart, severing its love from all illicit objects. None can truly love God supremely till this miracle of grace has been worked in him. Then, and only then, is it that the affections are refined and directed to their proper objects, He who once was despised by the soul, is now the "altogether lovely" One. He who was hated (John 15:18) is now loved above all others. "Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee." is now their joyous confession.
The love of God is now become the governing principle of their life. (II Cor.5:13) What before was drudgery is now a delight. The approval of His Saviour is now his concern. Gratitude moves his will to glad obedience. Then his heart goes out to members of Christ's family, no matter their nationality, social position, or church connections: "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (I John 3:14).
"A NEW HEART ALSO WILL I GIVE YOU..."
A CHANGE OF CONDUCT
A tree is known by its fruits. Faith is evidenced by works. The principle of holiness manifests itself in a godly walk. "If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of Him" (I John 2:29). The deep longing of every child of God is to please his heavenly Father in all things, and though this longing is never fully realized in this life-"NOT as though I had ALREADY attained, either were already perfect" (Phil.3:12)- nevertheless he continues "reaching forth unto those things which are before."
A change will take place in the conduct of the most oral unconverted man as soon as he is born from above. Not only will he be far less eager in his pursuit of the world, more careful in his selections of companions, but he now realizes that the holy eye of God is ever upon him, marking not only his actions, but weighing his motives. He now bears the sacred name of Christ, and his deepest concern is to be kept from everything which would bring a reproach upon it. His aim is to let his light so shine before men that they may see his good works and glorify his Father which is in heaven. That which gives him concern and distress is not the sneers and taunts of the ungodly, but that he fails to measure up to the standard God has set before him, and that conformity to it after which he so yearns. BUT ought not the Christian to "grow in grace"? Yes, indeed. Yet it must be emphatically said that growing in grace most certainly does not mean an increasing satisfaction with myself. No, it is the very opposite. The more I walk in the light of God, the more plainly I see the vileness within me. The only relief from this distressing discovery and the only peace for the renewed heart is to look away from self to Christ and His perfect work for us. Faith empties of all self-complacency and gives an exalted estimate of God in Christ.
OCCUPIED WITH CHRIST
A growth in grace is defined, in great part, by the words that immediately follow: "...and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (II Peter 3:18). It is the GROWING realization of the perfect suitability of Christ to a poor sinner, the deepening conviction of His fitness to be the Saviour of such a vile wretch as the Spirit shows me I am. It is the apprehension of how much I need His precious blood to cleans me, His righteousness to clothe me, His arm to support me, His advocacy to answer me on high, His grace to deliver me from all my enemies, both inward and outward.
The more the heart is occupied with Christ, the more the mind is stayed on Him by trusting in Him (just camped right there, JCS) (Isaiah 26:3), the more will faith, hope, love, patience, meekness, and all spiritual graces be strengthened and drawn forth into exercise and action to the glory of God. The MANIFESTATION of growth in grace and in the knowledge of Christ is another thing. The actual process of growing is not perceptible either in the natural or in the spiritual sphere; but the results of it are, mainly so to others. The chief EVIDENCES of spiritual growth in the Christian are a deepening hatred of sin and a higher value put on spiritual things, a yearning after them, and a fuller recognition of our deep need and dependency on God to supply it.
"The Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly" (Ps.84:11). Grace and glory are not to be separated. Grace is glory begun. Glory is grace elevated to its perfection in the eternal state. In I John 3:2, we are told that we shall be like Him, reason? "WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS." The immediate vision of the Lord of glory will be a transforming one, the bright reflections of God's purity and holiness cast upon the glorified will make them perfectly holy and blessed. BUT there is to be a resemblance of that here in the lives of His people. And too comes from BEHOLDING HIM. (II Cor.3:18)
"But we all...beholding...the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
(Excerpts from A.W. Pink on Regeneration and the new birth)
Why does grace work on one occassion and not another ? I know we have discussed this before..but there was never an answer.
You would say that man "just decides " to refuse Gods grace and the gospel. But when one knows hell is the ultimate destination for one that refuses,ya gotta wonder how they could refuse. There must be some difference in the understanding if nothing else.
Does the one who says yes have better "spiritual hearing" do they understand better?
Come on, Woody, you know better than that. Free Republic is a conservative forum. If I believed as you say, I'd be over at Democratic Underground.
But to use your analogy with appropriate adjustments.
Free choice means that everybody in America has the right to decide if they want a car or not.
But if you have the ultimate choice. Gods hands are tied,He must wait on you to make your decision before He can decide how to complete HIS plan ( Or is that YOUR plan ).
I am bright enough to know that every man in scripture that met with God fell on his face..he did not ask God to wait while he decided.See thats what sinful man does in the presence of a Holy God.
Speak Lord your servent is listening!(Samual)
I am a man of unclean lips (Isaiah)
What would you have me do?(Paul) etc. etc. etc.
God allows man to do as he will. We all have free will. The question to be asked is why we will what we do.
Perhaps since I am a project manager, I can see how both things can happen at the same time. You know what someone is going to do, you know what you want to accomplish, so you use the ones who are willing to be used, and let the rest go - sometimes taking advantage of their poor choices.
So we are back to the issue - if God controls me, then He is responsible for my sin. No way around that.
Jesus invited those who desire salvation to put their lives aside & follow him. This suggests we have the free will to do so.
I found I had to plumb the very depths of my own sense of inadequacy before I would even consider giving over control of my life to God. Being a 'work in progress' I still struggle with this every day. This is why I find the Calvinist assertion re: pride of non-Calvinists so ironic.
Let's forget about the two men and speak about the one man, ME.
Did I have a better spiritual hearing the time I said "yes" as opposed to the time I said "no."
That seems an obvious "yes" as I think BACK on my experience with the Lord. If for no other reason than that the results of saying "yes" were far better than those of saying "no."
Here's an interesting scripture for you from the book of Acts. The setting is in the home of Cornelius, the Centurion. The event occurs BEFORE Cornelius has accepted Christ.
Acts 10 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!" 4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked. The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.
I think they're powerful indicators that what WE THINK OF as "works righteousness" (which the Bible says is impossible) is not what the bible means when most of us say, "works righteousness."
God was impressed by Cornelius' virtuous life. The text says so. The text also says that the angel came to Cornelius BECAUSE of Cornelius' gifts to the poor.
God was impressed by it. He was impressed BEFORE Cornelius became a Christian. This WAS ALREADY the Christian era.
No, the Calvinist affirms man's responsibility. If you refrain from calling me a hyper-Calvinist then I will refrain from calling your beliefs rabid foaming at the mouth Arminian heresy. This way, we can countinue to discuss in a reasonable, although strained, manner.
The issue is, does God control everything or does He chose to allow us to exercise our will? If He controls everything, then He is responsible for my sin, not me. If He allows us to exercise free will, then why does anyone claim He allows it for everything but the one thing that counts?
I have maintained that God used Pharaoh's own free will to harden his heart. I maintain that man has absolute free will. You simply refuse to believe the scripture that say what man does with his free will; only of evil continually. Until God changes a man's want to only sin and to do evil into God pleasing actions, even the God pleasing action of repenting and believing, then man will only use his free will to sin and do evil.
The issue is does man thwart God's will in any way? If you think so, then you believe that man is more powerful than God in whatever way man can thwart God's will.
The believer has free will, to choose (to continue?) to serve God, but the above examples of conversion experiences show each man completely and totally crumpling before God. Thinking particularly of Paul's conversion on the Demascus Road.
Gotta run, Analytical Chem lab is coming soon. Fun stuff :-) .
Friend, since you have read Max Lucado I would assume that you have some interest in and/or knowledge of the truth. There is no need to be abusive. I definitely lean Calvinistic but we should accept as brothers and sisters those that do not. Don't let an issue like this decide Christian fellowship.
No you keep bring it back to that not me :>)
How is a sovereign God allowing you to do exactly what you will to do any different than a powerless god allowing man to do what he wants to do?
Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
Psalms 51:5, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me;"
1 John 1:10, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
Romans 3:10, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one;"
Isaiah 64:6, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."
Now the bottom line is we all are born wearing the mark of Adam.All of us sin because we look like our father Adam..and we continue to look just like him in our wants and desires untill we are born again . In our sin none of us seek after God!
Woody, so we got Hyper-Cal's and Rabid- Arm's? LOL. (And Foaming Mouths...)
We need something for "Calminians." (I'm afraid to suggest something for mormons and catholics 'cause I can't say "bash-worthy" things about them. (Let's see, halfway between the "hyp" (hip) and the arm is the belly, the love handles (for those like me....I'm sure you don't have any), and other fat deposits. Let's call them Squishy....the Squishy Calmins
Do you really think man can do anything to impress God? All our righteouness is as filthy rags....What can a sinful man do that God thinks is worthy of respect?
I believe the story of Cornelius expresses the "reform " position on God's grace
Acts 10 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!"4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. "What is it, Lord?" he asked. The angel answered, "Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.
5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter.
I think we need to consider the times here. Cornelius was faithful to the revelation of God that he had. I am no expert on such things ,but it seems to me that his experience is like that of most of God's elect. There was a moment of God's grace to which the man Corneilus responded as I did and as most of us do when overcome by that grace.. "What do you want from me Lord" . The dead had been raised..the blind see and the deaf hear. (again similar to Samuel,Isaiah, Paul ,etc)
This man sought first to Hear from God.
As for him " impressing God" Well I find it impossible to believe that any man..no matter how self righteous can impress God. Does God know our hearts and our acts yes..It seems to me that noting the "good works" and pious activity of Cornelius the words here remind us that God often spoke of the prayers of His people raising up to him. (incense being a type of that) We see some of that in Hebrews where it is taken from sacrifices and applied to prayers. Scripture says of burnt sacrifices that the smoke and smell of them goes up into God's nostrils, and so do our prayers, as a sweet smelling sacrifice which the Lord takes great pleasure in.It seems to me there is application there
We are exercising our "willfulness" when we say we have "free will."
But it is a false concept which flourished during the 17th century.
In response to the hard truths of the Reformation (and encouraged by Rome), "Pietist movements" sprung up throughout Europe which said everyone's interpretation of the Bible was correct if "it felt good." It discouraged orthodoxy in favor of a "personal understanding of God."
This concept negated most organized theology (Catholicism as well as Calvinism) and refused to follow the governing structure of the Reformers. Instead, it maintained that each church and each individual had its own governing power.
Needless to say, Rome loved this movement as it splintered the Reformation into dozens of sects.
Two hundred years later, we are left with autonomous churches who offer the "feel good" theology of everybody can be saved; we create our own evil; we're all part of God; we can thwart God's plan by accepting Him or denying Him; we have the power to surprise God; etc.
And taken to the extreme, these concepts are responsible for Mormonism, which says we are each a God in our own right and that we will one day rule our own planet; and Scientology, which says the same thing, only gets more laughs.
Read John. Read Romans. Read Calvin. God is absolute.
So you don't think God's foreknowledge is powerful enough to both grant us free will ahead of time and see after that decision what the results of it will be?
If God grants free will before time begins, before the creation of humanity, can God look through history all the way to AFTER the great white throne judgement and see the group that ends up believing in Him?
Can He? Is He Able? Is His Foreknowledge powerful enough?
Amen. May I add Ephesians to your list? And a contemporary John Piper?
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