Results 1401 - 1420 of 1928
|
||||||
Results from: Notes Author: Reformer Joe Ordered by Verse |
||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1401 | Who, besides the elect of God,are saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 74876 | ||
"I have seen to many lives destroyed by it." Give me some examples. "Look at the mess the denomination is in that holds to this deception." Which denomination are you referring to here? --Joe! |
||||||
1402 | Who, besides the elect of God,are saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 74877 | ||
"No I don't enjoy this, I do it because I can/will not let this blasphemous doctrine go unchallenged." I would be very careful about throwing the word "blasphemy" around. Are/were John Newton, John Bunyan, Francis Schaeffer, Isaac Watts, Matthew Henry, John MacArthur, J.C. Ryle, Charles Spurgeon, George Whitfield, William Wilberforce, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, and so many others "blasphemers"? This is not a rhetorical question, so I would appreciate a forthright answer. --Joe! |
||||||
1403 | Who, besides the elect of God,are saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 74890 | ||
"If he was deaf how can he be faulted of not hearing it?" Because his "deafness" (or often "blindness") is a sympptom and result of his sinful nature. Matthew 23:19-26. John 9:39. "So then we become guilty of ignorance not sin." No one is ignorant, but rather sinful man supresses the truth. Romans 1:18 ff. Not having ears to hear is more a moral inability to receive what is said than an inability to actually hear the content of the gospel. Humanity made itself "deaf." It is up to God to give people their hearing back. --Joe! |
||||||
1404 | Who, besides the elect of God,are saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 74892 | ||
If you are talking about the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., they have not only largely abandoned Calvinism, but has largely abandoned Scripture as an infallibe standard for faith and practice. The apostasy of many PCUSA churches comes from the influence of liberalism in the nineteenth century, and many, many PCUSA members and pastors would applaud your attacking Reformation theology the way you are. In other words, those homosexual, aborting, divorcing members of that denomination are on YOUR side on this one. Blaming Calvin for the liberalism of the PCUSA is as foolish as blaming the liberal tendencies within the United Methodist Church on John Wesley. Perhaps it is time for you to stop "proclaiming the truth," because frankly your keystrokes are outpacing your knowledge. If you think that the PCUSA by and large is a bastion of 5-point Calvinism, then you really do need to do your homework better! Now if you want to pour more gasoline on the fire by continuing to post factual error, then be my guest. Just don't go crying "abuse" when you are shown to not know what you are talking about. --Joe! |
||||||
1405 | Who, besides the elect of God,are saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 74893 | ||
"If I say anything you will come back and accuse me of character assassination, as you have in the past. Besides the thread is thankfully restricted and there is no need to defend against this convolution of scripture." You have already called Calvinism "blasphemy," which makes me and every other Calvinist saint in church history a "blasphemer" as a result. The character assasination and maligning of one's brothers in Christ has already been done. I merely wanted to point you once again to the illogical conclusions of throwing inappropriate words around. You complain about how Calvinism kills thriving Christian ministries, and yet you have provided not a single example of this happening. You complain about the ineffectiveness that Calvinism inspires, yet when I bring up a list of prominent, productive, and effective saints who are Calvinists, you have failed to apply your accusations to them. Who is really the one on a smear campaign here, Ed? We were talking about Scripture? It has been a long time since I have seen you include one in your posts. You will never succeed in your anti-Calvinist tirade, so why don't you resolve to live peaceably with those of us who will indeed be inhabiting heaven with you rather than condemning us as blasphemers? --Joe! |
||||||
1406 | Who, besides the elect of God,are saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 74912 | ||
"Joe are you going to deny that within the Calvinistic ranks there aren't those that take the approach (rightly or wrongly) that since it is all predestined there is not much use in evangelism?" Did you miss my earlier post? I acknowledged that people do indeed (wrongly) take elements of Reformed theology and justify disobedience to Christ. Reformed theology as a whole mitigates against such a life, but some take the parts they like to support inactive spiritual lives. I also mentioned that an Arminian can (wrongly) decide not to evangelize the "hard cases" because of an assumption that such individuals will never willingly come to the cross. Are there not Arminians like that? Would you consider the possibility of such misinterpretation a reason for abandoning what you consider to be biblical? Assuming your answer is "no," why should I reject what I consider to be biblical just because some people might twist it and use it as an excuse for disobedience? "If I use scripture you complain I'm proof texting..." Example? "...interpreting wrong or just too stupid to understand." Show me once where I have referred to you as "stupid." What I HAVE said is that you often do not speak from authority on a particular subject. When you say that Luther didn't hold to predestination or that there were 100 years between Luther and Calvin or that the PCUSA is an example of the result of adhering to the theology of the Reformation or that Calvinism inevitable leads to the death of evangelism, you simply show yourself to be wrong. Not stupid, but definitely wrong --as wrong as if you had posted that 2 plus 2 is 71. I would never call you stupid, but I would definitely encourage you to get your facts right before recklessly posting the anti-Calvinist propaganda. "When I give you scripture you change the meaning and say the words don't really mean what they say." When have I done this? "If I complain about the doctrine I have to be disparaging a saint." No, it is when you are disparaging the saints that I do call you out on the carpet. Criticize Calvinism all you wish from a Scriptural point of view, but saying that I hold to blasphemy (along with the list of saints you still haven't touched with a ten-foot pole) is not doctrinal critique, but uncivil invective. " If I examine the saint I'm character assassinating." Examining the saint? Is that what you call what you have been saying about Calvin and Calvinists in the past couple of days? What if I said the same things of you that you have said of Reformed individuals the last couple of days. Honestly, go back and take a look! "And short of remaining silent and letting you prattle on nothing has worked." Prattling? Yes, truly a saintly "examination"... Please go back up the thread and see where I "stepped in" to this conversation. What prompted me to do so? Take a step back and seriously examine your own motives and your own heart and your own words, Ed. Do they glorify Jesus Christ? --Joe! |
||||||
1407 | Who, besides the elect of God,are saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 74923 | ||
Be glad to. First of all, the initials make a lot of difference. This is what I mean by the need to be precise. There is a world of difference, theologically speaking, between the PCUSA (the denomination you were referring to) and the Presbyterian Church in America, a completely separate denomination which was founded in 1973 as an answer to the liberal influences you mentioned. This denomination, of which I am a member, is adherent to the Reformed confessions of the English Puritans and the theology of the Reformation. While there are both liberal and good churches within the PCUSA, the PCA as a whole does not ordain homosexuals, promote "a woman's right to choose," blink at divorce, or any of those other things you depicted as being fruits of Calvinism. Unlike the PCUSA, the PCA is a growing denomination, with thriving North American and foreign missions. We hold to sola Scriptura as an inflexible standard of our church. In addition, there are other Reformed denominations in the United States, such as the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Korean-American Presbyterian Church, Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Reformed Church in the U.S., Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, and the United Reformed Churches of North America. In addition, there are many other denominations with Reformed congregations. Many Baptist churches, for example, are Reformed (the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is himself a 5-pointer, and was responsible for conservatizing what had become a very, very liberal academic institution). Of course, many independent congregations teach many of the distinctives of Reformed theology as well (Alistair Begg's Parkside Church and John MacArthur's church are examples of those). The fact is that one cannot be a good, traditional Calvinist and endorse those sins you previously mentioned. Once more, it is important to be careful in one's debating to avoid bearing false witness. --Joe! |
||||||
1408 | Who, besides the elect of God,are saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 74958 | ||
"The facts are it is mostly Calvinist that stand in the camps of homosexuals, abortionist, and winking at divorce." This is, hands down, the most foolish sentence you have ever submitted to the Forum. Ed, just please stop. You are embarassing yourself, and doing so very publicly. Putting one's ignorance on a subject on worldwide display, especially after having your misconceptions and errors clearly explained to you, is so far from wisdom that I cannot believe that someone who holds a position in an academic setting would ever stoop to what you are doing here. We are held accountable by God for the things we say. For you to have said it once makes you mistaken. To continue to repeat the same statement after having been shown how the wing of the PCUSA you describe has ABANDONED not only Calvinism, but Scripture itself as a rule of faith and practice, makes you a slanderer and a false witness. How do you explain the liberal tendencies within the Southern Baptist Church? The United Methodist Church? Did Calvinism somehow work its evil roots into Wesley's denomination? Good grief, Ed! Please remove your foot from your mouth and stop dishonoring the name of Jesus Christ by your smear tactics. --Joe! |
||||||
1409 | Who, besides the elect of God,are saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 74965 | ||
'No I did not miss it but when I mentioned it you accused me of “mud slinging”.' I did? Where? In any case, if I had already responded to your question, why did you ask it again?!? "Joe your slick and your whole tactic since your point can’t be proven is to make your opponent appear stupid, malicious or vindictive." I am not slick. I am precise. I do not post things haphazardly or make inaccurate statements about verifiable facts of history. That way I do not have to be corrected as often by others. And on those occasions when I have made such errors, I do not try and paint my opponent as "slick" for correcting them rather than admit when I am wrong. "Please don’t insult me or intelligence of others on this forum by piously telling me to examine the motive of my heart. Let him without sin cast the first stone." Stones? What stones? Surely you as a minister do not think that you are beyond correction and rebuke by your fellow Christians. "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." --Matthew 18:16-17 "When I mention Calvin's history which you don't anyone to know you tell me I disparaging the man. Yet you freely give Durant's history as a service." You were wrong about the facts. Wrong. I am not even talking about Calvin's motives. I am talking about when he lived in relation to Luther, what he studied, the nature of classical scholarship during the Renaissance, etc. Forget about motives. You have got the FACTS wrong, demonstrating that you are speaking from a position of error. Durant's secularist position with regard to all things Christian had nothing to do with our exchange, so why do you bring it up? Who is trying to cloud the issue here? "This is the Bible Study forum, not the forum to study Calvin’s hypothesis or any other doctrine of man." And, as I said before, I promise to stop correcting your errors of fact as soon as you stop making them. John has already pointed out to you in the last couple of days how you misunderstand the doctrine, using a long series of quotes from you misrepresenting the Reformed position. You imply the most ridiculous things like "Calvinism leads to ordaining homosexuals" and expect silent agreement? You defend the words of a historian who, in the very same work that was quoted, insists that Christian doctrine was stolen from Middle Eastern paganism, and think that your position is safeguarded by such a man? You refer to me as just "being slick" and "trying to make you look stupid," yet you cannot point to a single instance in which I have misrepresented what you have said in order to accomplish my fiendish plot. Again, who needs to examine his words and his honesty and his motive? --Joe! |
||||||
1410 | Who, besides the elect of God,are saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 74970 | ||
What in the world are you talking about now? | ||||||
1411 | Do I have to be Baptized to be saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 77518 | ||
"Jesus had not then died and rose again,so the New Covenant had not yet arrived." Jesus initiated the New Covenant with the institution of the Lord's Supper (Luke 22:20, 1 Corinthians 11:25). People are saved A.D. the same way they were saved B.C. (Romans 4:1-5). --Joe! |
||||||
1412 | Do I have to be Baptized to be saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 78002 | ||
Welcome to the Forum. I haven't been on much lately, as I am taking a lot of time with my new twin baby girls, but feel free to email me! --Joe! |
||||||
1413 | True believer | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 95619 | ||
Ever hear of context, my friend? The sticks are not scriptures, contrary to what the LDS propaganda says: '"When the sons of your people speak to you saying, 'Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?' say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand. The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. '"Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. Verse Info. Notes Ezek 37:26 "I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. And the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever."' -Ezekiel 37:18-28 The sticks are the two kingdoms of Israel, not two holy books. Reading comprehension is such a valuable skill... --Joe! |
||||||
1414 | True believer | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 95772 | ||
All is forgiven, and I also apologize for any harshness I showed to you. --Joe! |
||||||
1415 | Faith apart from reading the Bible? | Rom 10:17 | Reformer Joe | 20346 | ||
Great. Now you are defending Mormon epistemology. Just out of curiosity, when a Mormon comes to your door and tells you that the Holy Spirit convinced them that their interpretation of the Bible is true, how do you evangelize such an individual? But back to the Holy Spirit and His operation...He does undoubtedly work directly in our lives when we study His Word. However, it is also clear from Scripture that He works externally in our lives through our brothers teaching us from His Word. It is unscriptural to say the latter is unimportant because we have the former. God gave us both, and He works both angles in a teaching setting. Again, rejecting sound doctrine from another human being is a spiritually dangerous thing. It is very easy for us, because of sin, to rationalize our desires as being from the Holy Spirit when it may just be our pride and selfishness mixing things up. The external teaching of others helps hold us to sound doctrine as we biblically evaluate what is said. That is the dynamic between the two, not the favoring of one over the other. --Joe! |
||||||
1416 | Joe, is your reasoning not circular? | Rom 10:17 | Reformer Joe | 20392 | ||
I don't understand what this has to do with being teachable, which is a very New Testament trait. So where does correction of others fall into the life of the church? What is the basis of that correction? If we are perfect receptors of the Holy Spirit's teaching, why do we need correction and teaching and discipline in the church at all? That is my point. The "don't bother telling me; the Holy Spirit already has told me directly everything He wants me to hear" approach is not based in Scripture. God saves us individually, but God saves us into a body of believers -- the church. The church itself does not save, but one neglects the gifts of God through the church to his/her peril. God has purpose in corporate teaching, worship, and evangelism. --Joe! |
||||||
1417 | Joe, is your reasoning not circular? | Rom 10:17 | Reformer Joe | 20399 | ||
Bill: You wrote: "But the last thing I would tell a new believer is to go pick a church, any church, and seek out a teacher in order for him to grow in the Lord." I never said ANY church. Why do you always think in extremes? If your pastor/minister teaches truth, why would you recommend a new convert not sit under his teaching? I can think of no better place for a new brother in Christ to be than sitting in the pew next to me, hearing about His new Lord and his glorious Savior and learning from more mature believers about our holy and awesome God. Not in ANY church, but in a GOOD one. I would think that the believer who led that individual to Christ also has teh responsibility of helping in the discipleship of the new convert. That was Paul's m.o. That does not REPLACE personal Bible study, but it does indeed reinforce it. And I hold that God in his sovereignty preserves His elect from complete apostasy. You wrote: "God does indeed have purpose in corporate functions but those things must never take the place of a personal one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ as revealed through the Word and His Spirit in us." Again with the extremes! Show me one place where I said the corporate takes the place of individual study and prayer and worship. God has given us BOTH. BOTH! There should not be a rejection of either in favor of the other. God wants all believers learning both individually and corporately. --Joe! |
||||||
1418 | Faith apart from reading the Bible? | Rom 10:17 | Reformer Joe | 20448 | ||
You are wrong, Steve. You cannot say that there is something truer than the Bible and then say that the Bible is inerrant (meaning "no error"). Truth and error are complete opposites. Is there anything in the Bible that is not truth? If so, it is not inerrant. If not, then nothing can be "truer" than something that is 100 percent true. Or are you saying that Jesus is 120 or 190 percent true? A more precise statement would be that the revelation of God's plan of redemption reached its culmination in Christ. Both the Old Testament and Jesus Christ are revelations of absolute truth. Neither is false in any way. And now that Christ dwells in Heaven once more, how do we in the 21st century objectively learn of Jesus Christ? The Bible is not just a book ABOUT God, or even a book FROM God, but is a book divinely AUTHORED by God. One should never be shamed or ridiculed for revering God's self-revelation in the Scriptures, which He has preserved for all generations that we may know truth. --Joe! |
||||||
1419 | Joe, how do you know the truth? | Rom 10:17 | Reformer Joe | 20465 | ||
Actually, my point can be summed up in one sentence: Both private study and learning from others in the church (that includes the "dead guys," too) are God-ordained, Spirit-directed, and God-commanded practices, and neither is to be relegated to "second place" or ignored for the sake of the other. --Joe! |
||||||
1420 | Joe, how do you know the truth? | Rom 10:17 | Reformer Joe | 20467 | ||
Bill: The very atrocities and false teachings you mentioned are precisely WHY there was a Reformation. And it was private study of Scripture that revealed to the Reformers that such teachings were false. For example, Luther was reading Romans 1:16-17 when the "light" of justification by faith alone hit him square in the eyes. However, swinging to the other end of the pendulum ("just me and my Bible are all I need") was never a position advocated by Luther or Calvin or any of the other Reformers, nor of the Bible itself. Luther just as quickly condemned the "enthusiasts" of his day who rejected the sound teaching of Scripture. He would have never advocated that anyone -- most especially a new convert -- try and grow in truth apart from the teaching God supplies in the context of the church. You wrote: "If the 'church' believes that God cannot speak to me from His Holy Word, right here, right now where I am through the enablement of His Holy Spirit and divine power, then the 'church' has once again entered the dark ages." Where did Tim or I make such an assertion? Of course God can and does speak to you through the Scriptures. The question is, how well do you listen? It does require our God-given brains to understand Scripture. We are to love God with all our MINDS as well as with our souls and hearts. Studying and understanding Scripture is not a "no-brainer" process. Some core issues take time and mental effort to wrap our minds around (try finding ten people at random in your church to show you the full doctrine of the Trinity from Scripture), and God did gift some of his people especially in the area of teaching others these truths. Knowledge and wisdom and the intellect are not to be despised, Bill. Solomon said to God, "Give me now WISDOM and KNOWLEDGE, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?" (2 Chronicles 1:10). More support? "Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments." --Psalm 119:66 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction." --Proverbs 1:7 "How long, O naive ones, will you love being simple-minded? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing And fools hate knowledge?... Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently but they will not find me, Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD." --Proverbs 1:22,28-29 "Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge, And he who hurries his footsteps errs." --Proverbs 19:2 "And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment" --Philippians 1:9 "Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness" --1 Peter 1:5-6 God does not despise learning and knowledge the way you seem to; he commands it. The intellect is a key component of adoration of God and understanding His truth. True, the intellect apart from the Holy Spirit will never come to a knowledge of the truth (true knowledge is rooted in the fear of the Lord), but like any good teacher, the Holy Spirit doesn't spoon-feed us his revelation, either. God forces us to use our brains, and has blessed us with keen minds such as Paul and Augustine and Jonathan Edwards and others throughout Church history to be teachers of truth. Do not despise the gift of teaching, and exercise the mind God has given you to its fullest potential for His glory. --Joe! |
||||||
Result pages: << First < Prev [ 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 ] Next > Last [97] >> |