You are taking the position that it can't be teaching that a sinner has to have the Spirit of regeneration before he can find it in himself to repent and believe the Truth.
Well, I appreciate your shock concerning my claim. In this sense, I appreciate your disbelief. The funny thing is, you need to get over your shock concerning my claim and start noticing that my claim is correct.
Surprise, surprise. The verse is saying what you are so profoundly reluctant to believe. You have not been bucking at me, but at the apostle Paul.
There are two and only two possible explanations for this, as follows:
1) You are unregenerate, and that's why you cannot receive the Truth of what the verse is saying. You can see at some level that what I am saying abiout God's sovereignty is what the verse is saying, but you have no Spirit in your soul for embracing it. You hate the God Who would dare to do as He pleases in this regard.I guess there are two take-home points. First of all, I am not such a bad guy after all. And I am not exalting myself over you, even when I am being boldly assertive, even rather fiercely confrontational in my defense of the faith once delivered unto the saints. I am prepared to cheerfully accept your change of heart in the present controversy. I will not cruelly tease you for having been badly, even wickedly mistaken concerning God's predestination.Lacking the Spirit of Christ Who mysteriously works in the souls of His elect to give them a Receptor of Truth, you can only recoil at the Truth. You are a Truth-suppressing monster (Romans 1:18) who just happens to be a hypocritical crank of four-generation Wesleyan religiosity. You have only a mind of carnal enmity against the real God, the One the Calvinists are telling you about in a way of a loving warning!
In other words, under this scenario, you are not born again. You have not even begun to face the fact of your racial complicity in Adam's fall, of your Adamic-Satanic contempt for God's Word. You are a kind of Pharisee, a temporary/nominal "believer in Jesus."
See John 8:31 concerning nominal believers who were destined for hell (vv.43-47). Look especially at vv.43-44.
Notice also that these believers were Arminians in their theology. It's actually quite funny under the circumstances of our FR forum. Even with the Lord Himself instructing the fools in the second half of John 8, they couldn't grasp the fact that there is a profound difference between being "free" (i.e., possessing free will) and being "free indeed" (i.e., regenerate!).
If the above scenario fits you, then you are in for a big surprise on Judgment Day. On Judgment Day, I win this argument.
2) An alternative scenario is that you are born again but mired in a party spirit. You are not walking in the Spirit. You are too Wesleyan to be teachable. (See 1 Corinthians 3.)
This would explain why you sometimes seem to be civil, but when I am earnest enough to say that you don't understand our position--that you don't clearly want to understand it--you just get mad at me, calling me smug and arrogant for my trouble. The fact that I am faithful to God's Word and concerning about your spiritual well-being means practically nothing to you as a diehard Wesleyan. (Ask RnMomof7 about that.)
But you do need a change of heart. And your heart really is in the Lord's hands, not mine (Proverbs 21:1).
In the second place, this stuff which we Calvinists are showing you is very, very serious. Arminianism is dangerous. It is the Lie of Eden itself. No kidding. You are responsible to get well away from it. At all costs, you must believe what Paul is obviously saying in 1 Corinthians 2:14. If and when you do, it will bloom in your soul as a wonderful thing.
The doctrine of predestination is great stuff, friend. If you ever come to grasp this doctrine as a brother indeed, it will produce some of the most thrilling experiences possible in the Christian life.
I can see that, but you do have an "edge." ;-)
And your heart really is in the Lord's hands, not mine (Proverbs 21:1).
For that I'm eternally grateful.
If you ever come to grasp this doctrine as a brother indeed, it will produce some of the most thrilling experiences possible in the Christian life.
Well, I have a whole passel of pentecostal friends who might disagree with you there, but let's not open that can of worms...
While I'm sure you see me as stubborn and following a dangerous path, I appreciate your willingness to try to teach me what you believe to be the truth. I have to tell you that in our three and a half years in a Reformed church I tried to "get it" I tried to grasp onto it. But I just couldn't. Now from some of my previous posts, you'll recognize that church had more problems than what I considered to be incorrect theology. So maybe I didn't get a clear representation.
This whole experience did prompt me to pull a few texts off the shelf and take another look at why I believe as I do. I'm fairly certain they will only solidify my position.
I will however, continue to follow these discussions, perhaps more as a lurker than a poster. But ask RnMomof7, she knows I can only keep my "mouth" shut for so long.