Results 1 - 3 of 3
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | God grant repentance? | Gal 3:23 | hopalong | 187460 | ||
Dear Friend, it appears that the "bone of contention" beteween you and I is regeneration itself. We both know that being "born again" entails a radical change. The question is at what stage of our conversion was our nature changed. From our studies in 1 Cor 2, we learned that the unsaved (natural) man is dead to spiritual things. To him the things of god are foolishness; that by his very nature, he is incapable of even understanding spiritual things. That being the case, repentance must be granted as a gracious gift to this helpless enemy of God. From 2 Tim 2:25, Paul shows that this helpless rebel, this slave to Satan, this man whose very will is captive to evil, is not beyond the saving power of God Almighty! For the Scripture proclaims:..." perhaps God may grant them repentance". Ezek 36:26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. That is the kind of change that I was speaking of. That is the kind of change that changes the natural man to the spiritual man. Hoppy |
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2 | God grant repentance? | Gal 3:23 | Lookn4ward2Heavn | 187475 | ||
Regeneration is the presence of Christ entering by the Holy Spirit into the one who turns to God in faith. However, what that change entails in a metaphysical sense the Bible gives no instruction and, therefore, it is beyond me. Whatever regeneration entails, it is not because man is physically or spiritually unable to believe God or obey the law but because: (a) man refuses to trust God, and (b)he cannot obey the law in a manner that God approves. Both cases are the result of his fallennes by virtue of Adam's transgression and their continued participation in such fallenness. I admit, there is a change; but that transformation is due to the presence of the Holy Spirit entering within the one believing and entails, as far as I can tell, no physical change in the substance of the heart or the spirit. Of course, when Christ comes, all things will be made new and, in that day, there will occur some sort of physical transformation (mainly by the total extraction of sin?) of heart and spirit. In 1 Cor 2, we do learn that man is incapable of spiritual discerment but it is not the result of your interpretion of the text since it goes beyond what the text actually says, at least, as I read it. I already discussed where your interpretation of the phrase, "God may grant them repentance," is mistaken, which the TEV clarifies. Eze 36:26 refers to Israel as a nation and it is primarily in that context it ought to be interpreted. As such, the language is metaphorical with respect the transformation of the heart from stone to flesh. The "new spirit" is due to the promised presence of the Holy Spirit. Again, this is with respect to Israel as a nation and not individuals. To extend the text to mean individual persons, however, poses no problem. It is still metaphorical, as far as the heart is concerned. No one's heart is stone, at least, to my knowledge. The "new spirit" primarily involves the entrance and domination of the God's Spirit dwelling within man's (keeping in mind that we are not told how He will do it, only the fact that He will). If you are speaking of a moral and spiritual change without suggesting a physical transformation of the heart or a change of substance of the spirit, I can agree; otherwise, I do not. From my reading of the Bible, what you suggest is unwarranted by the Bible verses cited. |
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3 | God grant repentance? | Gal 3:23 | hopalong | 187477 | ||
NASB: with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, (NASB ©1995) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GWT: He must be gentle in correcting those who oppose the Good News. Maybe God will allow them to change the way they think and act and lead them to know the truth. (GOD'S WORD®) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KJV: In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASV: in meekness correcting them that oppose themselves; if peradventure God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBE: Gently guiding those who go against the teaching; if by chance God may give them a change of heart and true knowledge, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DBY: in meekness setting right those who oppose, if God perhaps may sometime give them repentance to acknowledgment of the truth, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEY: He must speak in a gentle tone when correcting the errors of opponents, in the hope that God will at last give them repentance, for them to come to a full knowledge of the truth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WBS: In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEB: in gentleness correcting those who oppose him: perhaps God may give them repentance leading to a full knowledge of the truth, -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YLT: in meekness instructing those opposing -- if perhaps God may give to them repentance to an acknowledging of the truth, |
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