Results 1 - 4 of 4
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | What is Free Will? | Bible general Archive 1 | zach† | 34324 | ||
Curt; let me post what my favorite Christian author said; Failure to distinguish the part of God from the part of man in salvation has prevented countless seekers from finding peace, and left whole sections of the Church of Christ powerless for long periods of time. There are some things which only God can do, and there are other things which only man can do It is vain for us to try to do the work which can only be done by sovereign grace; it is equally vain for us to implore God to do what has been commanded by sovereign authority. Among the things which only God can do, is the work of redemption. That glorious work owes nothing to the effort of any man; It was all of God, and man could simply have no part. Christ’s work on Calvary made atonement for every man, but it did not save any man. Salvation is personal. It is redemption made effective toward the individual. Salvation is the work of God in the heart, made possible by the work of God on the Cross. Both the once-done work of redemption and the many-times-multiplied work of salvation are in the class of things which only God can do. No man can forgive his own sins; no man can regenerate his own heart; no man can declare himself justified and clean. All this is the work of God in man Universal atonement makes salvation universally available, but it does not make it universally effective toward the individual. If atonement was made for all men, why are not all saved? The answer is that before redemption becomes effective toward the individual man there is an act which that man must do. That act is not one of merit, but of condition. THIS ACT OF APPROPRIATING SALVATION IS ONE WHICH ONLY MAN CAN DO. Failure to distinguish God’s part from man’s has resulted in mental confusion and moral inaction among Christians. In the things-which-God-cannot-do category is this: God cannot do our repenting for us. In our efforts to magnify grace we have so preached the truth as to convey the impression that repentance is a work of God. This is a grave mistake, and one which is taking a frightful toll among Christians everywhere. God has commanded all men to repent. It is a work which only they can do. It is morally impossible for one person to repent for another. Even Christ could not do this. He could die for us, but He cannot do our repenting for us. God in His mercy may “incline” us to repent and by His inworking Spirit assist us to repent; but before we can be saved we must of our own free will repent toward God and believe in Jesus Christ. This the Bible plainly teaches Repentance involves moral reformation. The wrong practices are on man’s part, and only man can correct them. Lying, for instance, is an act of man, and one for which he must accept full responsibility. When he repents he will quit lying. God will not quit lying for him; he will quit for himself. When stated thus frankly everything seems obvious enough and we may wonder how reasonable persons could expect someone else to relieve them of their personal obligation to repent. The “all has been done, you can do nothing” emphasis has caused no end of confusion among seekers everywhere. People are told, they can do nothing in the direction of salvation; even to suggest such a thing is to offend God: So they are tossed helplessly between the first Adam and the last Adam. One did their sinning for them and the other has done everything else. Thus the nerve of their moral life is cut and they sink back in despair, afraid to move lest they be guilty of sinful self effort. At the same time they are deeply troubled with the knowledge that there is something seriously wrong with their religious lives. The remedy is to see clearly that men are not lost because of what someone did thousands of years ago; they are lost because they sin individually and in person. We will never be judged for Adam’s sin, but for our own. For our own sins we are and must remain fully responsible The idea that we can delegate repentance is an erroneous inference drawn from the doctrine of grace wrongly presented and imperfectly understood. Another thing God cannot do: He cannot believe for us. Faith is a gift of God, to be sure, but whether or not we shall act upon that faith lies altogether within our own power. The realization that we are personally responsible for our individual sins may be a shock to our hearts, but it will clear the air and remove the uncertainty. Returning sinners waste their time begging God to perform the very acts He has sternly commanded them to do. Repent and believe is the order. Faith will follow repentance, and salvation will be the outcome. Any interpretation of free grace which relieves the sinner of responsibility to repent is not of God nor in accordance with revealed truth. They listen to the sermon and then go their way, waiting in vain for God to do the things He has commanded them to do. Until this is corrected we can hope for very little power in our churches. (Tozer) |
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2 | What is Free Will? | Bible general Archive 1 | Lionstrong | 34434 | ||
Is this Arminianism? If it is, it is well written. Hogwash, but well written! It robs God of the glory of His salvation. It tells me that the atonement does not save, but at least it is "available." Available but ineffective to save. It tells me that the poor, helpless, dead sinner must somehow someway find it within his pathetic self to do the one thing he must do, but cannot--repent. And that God can only "incline" him. Praise God! He makes the dead alive! Praise God! He grants repentance! Praise God! He is the author and finisher of our faith! Peace, Lionstrong |
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3 | What is Free Will? | Bible general Archive 1 | Curtnsally | 34445 | ||
Here is another Tozer quote... (I think it might square with your theology): "Christian theology teaches the doctrine of prevenient grace, which briefly stated means this, that before a man can seek God, God must first have sought the man. Before a sinful man can think a right thought of God, there must have been a work of enlightenment done within him; imperfect it may be, but a true work nonetheless, and the secret cause of all desiring and seeking and praying which may follow. We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. We pursue God because, and only because, He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to the pursuit. "No man can come to me," said our Lord, "except the Father which hath sent me draw him," and it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for the act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him we are already in His hand: "Thy right hand upholdeth me." In this divine "upholding" and human "following" there is no contradiction. All is of God, for as von Hegel teaches, God is always previous. In practice, however, (that is, where God's previous working meets man's present response) man must pursue God. On our part there must be positive reciprocation if this secret drawing of God is to eventuate in identifiable experience of the Divine. In the warm language of personal feeling this is stated in the Forty-second Psalm: "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" This is deep calling unto deep, and the longing heart will understand it." ------------------- Tozer was a CMA (Christian Missionary Alliance) pastor, a church with Calvinistic doctrine. He did strongly articulate that believers respond to God because of God. This follows the concept presented in Eph 2:10 (often not quoted with 2:8-9, but equally important). Ephesians 2 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Thus, we are not saved by our works, or anything we do, but we were created to do good works, that God might be glorified. Blessings Curt |
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4 | What is Free Will? | Bible general Archive 1 | zach† | 34481 | ||
Curt; Thank you very much for this post. Yes I agree with what A.W. Tozer says here, and I find nothing unBibical in his writtings. I hope Lionstong gets a chance to read this also. In Christ zach† |
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