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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Ephs 4:30; 1:13-14 | 2 Tim 1:12 | Wild Olive Shoot | 165821 | ||
Thanks Doc. Am I correct in thinking that Romans 12:2 is applicable as well Romans 8:1-15? Your thoughts? Romans 12:2(ASV) And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. "Your mind - The word translated “mind” properly denotes intellect, as distinguished from the will and affections. But here it seems to be used as applicable to the whole spirit as distinguished from the body, including the understanding, will, and affections. As if he had said, Let not this change appertain to the body only, but to the soul. Let it not be a mere external conformity, but let it have its seat in the spirit. All external changes, if the mind was not changed, would be useless, or would be hypocrisy. Christianity seeks to reign in the soul; and having its seat there, the external conduct and habits will be regulated accordingly." - Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible WOS |
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2 | Ephs 4:30; 1:13-14 | 2 Tim 1:12 | DocTrinsograce | 165860 | ||
Dear WOS, Without presuming on Matt Perman or Albert Barnes, I'll try to answer as I understand it: Sanctification is both a state and a process. (See the discussion of the ordo salutis for more particulars.) Upon regeneration the entire man -- will, affections, intellect, spirit -- is transformed. As a new creature a man is able to freely choose -- although not entirely without some internal conflict -- that which is pleasing to God. The general bent of such a life will manifest itself in a progressive sanctification. (The habits of the old life often require a great struggle to set aside. In the regenerated man, that struggle does not cease in the present life.) As Barnes points out, if the change were simply a matter of intellect, it would not be regeneration. This is an extremely broad subject into which much Scripture could be brought to bear and many minds have deliberated over the centuries. (This is, by the way, particularly Protestant, but not unique to any single denominational persuasion.) In a very tiny nutshell: The will is the mind [in the operation of] choosing. Three general factors contribute to this operation: the intellect (the ability to reason), knowledge (what we are fully committed to as being true), and the affections (the heart). Man, being what he is, can and does do things contrary to his reason and his knowledge. Ultimately, however, his heart has the final say. (That is why preachers speak of the need for a "heart transplant," etc.) To see what the Bible has to say on the nature of man, I'd recommend a good systematic theology. Louis Berkhof does a pretty decent job of summing it up. Man in His Original State http://www.mbrem.com/shorttakes/berk11.htm Man in the State of Sin http://www.mbrem.com/shorttakes/berk12.htm Man in the Covenant of Grace: http://www.mbrem.com/shorttakes/berk13.htm For a more exhaustive discussion on the Biblical particulars of the operation of the will (as I described above), I'd recommend Jonathan Edwards. Freedom of the Will http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/will.html I'm sorry that this answer is not nearly as exhaustive as we'd both prefer. In Him, Doc |
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3 | Ephs 4:30; 1:13-14 | 2 Tim 1:12 | Wild Olive Shoot | 165866 | ||
Doc, My thanks for the information and links. I will surely visit those, but prior to, I wanted to express my thoughts and who knows, maybe after further study, I’ll gain an even better understanding. My thoughts are that once a regenerate is confirmed to be, by God’s workings, the will, which is still totally free to choose based on ones own thoughts and rationale, becomes a submissive will to God, and therefore desires God’s will for himself and acts upon that accordingly. I see many “free-willers” (which I am one) misunderstand just what free will is as Biblically defined. The misrepresentation is that once a person is indwelt by the Spirit of God, and sealed as God’s, that for one reason or another, should they so choose, they can reject God’s grace because of their free will and God’s honoring of that will which allows them to do so. This almost seems to negate any effect the Holy Spirit has on the person and insinuates that we can arrogantly overrule God’s calling and election and sealing. Almost to the point that the Holy Spirit is nothing more than ineffective and unable to keep us as promised. I find it hard to understand how one can claim to be saved and then directly say that he can loose that salvation should he choose to. In my opinion, one who is saved would not have the option of then choosing to be unsaved, because as God’s Word informs us, salvation, once graciously given onto a child of God, is forever, and our will, though free, is acting largely in part on other principles instituted by the Spirit and not so much on principles held in our hopeless, unregenerate state, although I think they coexist to an extent until glorification. Wouldn’t rejection be a frontal process and not an intermediate or later process? That once there was acceptance of God’s grace, and only as our response according to His calling, rejection would cease to be a factor. Your post from Perman “…we always choose according to our greatest desire…” had me thinking on the lines as to what drives our thought processes and determines just what we actually desire based on those. I was simply looking for more thoughts on the subject as I find this particular one to be most intriguing. Thank again for yours Brother. WOS |
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