Posted on 07/22/2007 7:40:38 PM PDT by xzins
Which makes you wonder if the east considers their priests to be “another Christ.”
God is always free to exercise His will. All that happens happens by His will. It makes no sense that He would "ordain" Himself to do something He doesn't want. God is not predestined to do anything.
Aside from God being "predestined" to conform to His own nature, I'd say this sounds pretty good, Kosta. :) Part of that nature would include never needing to change His mind.
Thank you for saying this. I wholeheartedly agree.
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (1CO 10:31; 1PE 4:11; REV 1:6; 2PE 3:1; EPH 3:21; REV 7:12; ROM 11:36) Soli Deo Gloria!
There is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time...For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything. (1TI 2:5-6; COL 1:13-18) Solo Christo!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just 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 to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us. (Ephesians 1:3-8) Sola Gratia!
Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "All the nations shall be blessed in you." So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them." Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "The righteous man shall live by faith." (Galatians 3:6-11) Sola Fide!
“I consider any doctrine ‘new’ that the bible does not teach. By teach, I mean that it is testified to by all scripture, and that it is not used out of context to teach falsely....etc.”
Well, fine, but is the same true for the Orthodox Church?
He has foreordained us to salvation, and that is biblical. Can you show me where it is not?
The Spirit of God moves the believer to pray. It is a natural desire of a believer to pray as well as an act of obdeience to God. Again, show me where God claims He has not foreordained whatsoever comes to pass or where he has not asked us to pray to Him?
In my last post I spoke to two different ideas and you now try to make them one idea. That is dishonest, or you need to go back and reread my post for better comprehension. The elect know they are saved by His word and His spirit. But we cannot know who the unsaved are. And that, Mark, was made very clear in my post. Again, more redundancy with your questions? We do not know who is saved Mark, save for those who confess Christ, only God does. Potential believer? Only in that WE CANNOT KNOW who they are. How does this concept so elude you? Have you read your bible?
The RCC teaches heretical doctrine. Praying to Mary as just one example. As to any of the reformers being pure...no one is pure save God.
What are the ‘old heresies’ that reformed doctrine resurrected?
As to reigns of terror we only need to think of Bloody Mary and the inquisition...or if Spain and England are too tame, how about France and St. Bartholemy Day?
He has foreordained us to salvation, and that is biblical. Can you show me where it is not?
The Spirit of God moves the believer to pray. It is a natural desire of a believer to pray as well as an act of obdeience to God. Again, show me where God claims He has not foreordained whatsoever comes to pass or where he has not asked us to pray to Him?
In my last post I spoke to two different ideas and you now try to make them one idea. That is dishonest, or you need to go back and reread my post for better comprehension. The elect know they are saved by His word and His spirit. But we cannot know who the unsaved are. And that, Mark, was made very clear in my post. Again, more redundancy with your questions? We do not know who is saved Mark, save for those who confess Christ, only God does. Potential believer? Only in that WE CANNOT KNOW who they are. How does this concept so elude you? Have you read your bible?
The RCC teaches heretical doctrine. Praying to Mary as just one example. As to any of the reformers being pure...no one is pure save God.
What are the ‘old heresies’ that reformed doctrine resurrected?
As to reigns of terror we only need to think of Bloody Mary and the inquisition...or if Spain and England are too tame, how about France and St. Bartholemy Day?
Of Course
You are my sola sister!
STRANGE? ARE YOU THE BIBLE???
I am not the bible, thus, it is an outside "force" or entity...
I cannot believe I am explaining this to another person. On another forum, someone is using John 1:1-2 to claim that the Bible is God. Now, you are claiming to be the bible? What is it with you guys?
Regards
And you, as well. I hope that I have given you some food for thought.
Regards
LOL! Here we go again on the "merry-go-round" of reformed Christianity... It gives me a headache just thinking about the circular argument that this "doctrine" relies upon.
How do YOU know who is a "true Christian"? People today claim that they are "true Christians", only to be outcast by the "remaining true Christians" who said the other guy was "never one to begin with" 10 years later! You call that a "guarantee"?
You are right that there will be some who claim the same thing as I do who will be lost. No getting around that. That's why I can't claim with Divine certainty.
Ah, NOW we are getting somewhere!
Regards
You must be. For there is NOTHING about the Reformed anything that is "as pure as possible this side of heaven."
It doesn't say only the scripture. Besides, you don't know what scripture is. When this was written, "scripture" was a little different set of books than what you are reading today...
But I want to know HOW do YOU know WHAT is scriputre and what is not?
Can God change? Can He asusme a different nature and cease being divine? I would say God is very much "predestined" to conform to His own nature. This conforming is however done in concernt with His will. His will and His essence are never at odds, as is the case with the fallen nature of humans.
It doesn't constitute "proof" because it's solipsism. Problem is, in and of itself, such "knowledge" of being "saved" is itself suspect and without proof internally. It could be God, a demon, or insanity.
Kosta, I "think" you yourself have said that your own faith defies objective reason. You can't "prove" that your faith is reasonable by human standards. Yet, at the same time you demand that we prove to you by human standards that we can have assurance of our salvation. Is this fair? :) How can you prove that you are not "insane" for following the teachings of your Church? :) You believe that the Holy Spirit reveals the meanings of scripture to your men first, and through them to you. We believe that God skips the middlemen. I'm not asking you to believe the truth of my claim to being saved for certain. And even though I claim that my assurance is based on scripture, at least you could maybe recognize that I'm using the same "unprovable" faith that you are for such a belief.
Repentance is not a satisfying of a debt. That is your legal idea of your relationship with God coming to the forefront again. Our relationship with God is familial, thus, there is not a "debt satisfaction" when we repent.
It has nothing to do with MY relationship with God. Since you believe that each mortal sin yanks you out of Heaven again, I surmised that you must think that repentance for each settles the score so that you can once again gain entry. How is this NOT a "debt satisfaction"?
Why did God ordain it? Was He bound by some outside force, like the Bible? The incarnation did not have to happen. God CHOSE to save man in that manner.
I don't know why you would call the Bible an "outside force". God, in effect, WROTE the Bible. It's His word after all, not man's. ...... God COULD have ordered the universe such that man never needed saving. But He didn't. I presume that if the Fall of man was a given, that the Incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection were NECESSARY for His plan to save man. I don't think God would have chosen "overkill" given the circumstances (no pun intended). If God's justice would have been satisfied with a couple of rams on the altar, then I assume that's what would have happened. If man's salvation could have been accomplished with LESS than what happened, then Christ died in vain.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.