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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Are we presenting the gospel scripturaly | John 1:12 | hobbs | 172479 | ||
Dear Tim, to my knowledge, there is not a particular verse that states directly that regeneraation occurs prior to or subseuent to belief. However, their is a body of text upon which we may deduce that regeneration is the Spirit's ministry which He performs according to the will of the Father. Regeneration by J.I. Packer Regeneration is the spiritual change wrought in the heart of man by the Holy Spirit in which his/her inherently sinful nature is changed so that he/she can respond to God in Faith, and live in accordance with His Will (Matt. 19:28; John 3:3,5,7; Titus 3:5). It is an inner re-creating of fallen human nature by the gracious sovereign action of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-8). This change is ascribed to the Holy Spirit. It originates not with man but with God (John 1:12, 13; 1 John 2:29; 5:1, 4). It extends to the whole nature of man, altering his governing disposition, illuminating his mind, freeing his will, and renewing his nature. What had always puzzled me is how it is that one person becomes cognizant of his fallen nature but another (such as the Pharisee) remains in the dark. Scripture teaches us that prior to regeneration, all men are dead in trespasses ans sin (Eph 2:1); that they are carnal creatures Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Therefore, an outside agency (by necessity) must be involved! Yet the majority of evangelicals in America believe that the sinner is not "so" dead that he cannot save himself through an act of his own will cooperating with God's will. That God does His work, but until the sinner approves the proposition by believing, God's plan for him/her is suspended. The alternative to self-help salvation is the Soverign election and calling of God. But this is anathema to many professing christians. To them it seems unfair. The reason I can be so bold to say what I have said is because I have been told by them why they reject the alternative. I also know it from personal experience, having had the same feelings myself at one time. John |
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2 | Are we presenting the gospel scripturaly | John 1:12 | lionheart | 172482 | ||
John, Excellent piece of material. Where can I acess this particular artical? In Christ, lionheart |
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3 | Are we presenting the gospel scripturaly | John 1:12 | mark d seyler | 172492 | ||
Hi Lionheart, You can read the entire article at: http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/packer_regen.html There are a number of other "reformed theology" essays, links, and such, but I caution you to carefully consider and compare with Scripture things you may find there. This includes not only the reformed theology of regeneration before repentance, but also Covenant Theology, which in general, sets aside Israel (Quoted from a page linked to Monergism.com: "National Israel as such does not retain its covenant identity in the new, eschatological age of the Spirit." http://www.twoagepress.org/Karlberg.pdf). This is to say that the promises made to Israel in the OT have been spiritualized to be fulfilled in the Church. This brings in the allegorical interpretations of prophecy. Covenant Theology has a profound effect on hermeneutics, often reguiring Old Testament passages to be viewed as allegorical, or as "types", even where the text does not specifically say that they are types. I am not saying that everyone who claims to believe in the "reformed" manner will hold to all of these things, but many do, and as you read this material you will tend to find these types of things. Following is a statement from an artical on Monergism.com titled "The Hermaneutics of Eschatology III" - link: http://www.enjoyinggodministries.com/article.asp?id(equals)393 replace (equals) with the equals symbol - this will give you good practice for understanding their theology ;-) "1. The fulfillment of Israel’s prophetic hope as found in the OT documents is found in the person and work of Jesus Christ and the believing remnant, i.e., the Church, which he established at his first coming. The point is that Jesus Christ and his Church are the focal and terminating point of all prophecy." So every promise not yet fulfilled to Israel is now considered transfered to the Church, the foundation of "replacement theology". But this requires that you say of many passages in the Bible, "it says that, but it doesn't mean that." As a non-dispensational theology, this theology is "amillennial", or "post-millennial" and rejects the leteral, post-apocalyptic 1000 year reign of Jesus as being other than a symbol, no matter that the Bible states it as a factual future event. The following is quoted from "The Amillennial View of the Kingdom of God" by Dr. Sam Storms, presented on Monergism.com: "1. Contrary to what the name (Amillennialism) implies, AMs do believe in a millennium. The millennium, however, is now: the present age of the church between the first and second comings of Christ in its entirety is the millennium." So, according to this, we are IN the millennium! Praise the Lord for that! This is just a very small sampling. I just wanted you to be alerted to what you may find as you explore that website. Love in Christ, Mark |
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4 | Are we presenting the gospel scripturaly | John 1:12 | lionheart | 172507 | ||
Mark, Thanx my brother. I think you and a few others here on the forum have a good grasp of where my head and heart are. I will ever be grateful to God for you guys! I try to stay as close to scripture as I can when I'm studying things out, I'm not real big on outside sources,but there are some that are biblically solid and oft times do a better job at laying things out than I can. That's why I can be so fanatical at times regarding 2 Timothy 2:15. I'll stand or fall with this one. I believe when a man or woman has deep convictions regarding this area of thier walk with God it makes it much simpler to seperate that which is truth and that which is deception. In Christ, lionheart |
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