Results 1 - 5 of 5
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Do we "will" to love? | 1 John 4:19 | terrib | 151449 | ||
Do we "will" to love? Was our will renewed to love Christ? Or, was our love a response? | ||||||
2 | Do we "will" to love? | 1 John 4:19 | DocTrinsograce | 151451 | ||
Hi, Terrib... In the fall, our ability to love God and desire His will was effected. You are also correct in linking the love with the will. Scriptural love is not primarily or even secondarily emotional, but an active choice. "True religion consists, in large part, in the affections ... and this begins with the initial step of saving faith all the way through to final perseverance. But how can the natural man, who 'loves darkness' (John 3:19), work up any affections or desire for God? or apprehend His beauty and excellence? We know that human reasoning is never free from the effects of sin, and that people deny God, not because they lack evidence, but because their hearts are rebellious. So the unbelievers' problem is ethical first and then intellectual and thus he/she requires a supernatural work of God to understand and apprehend spiritual truth as revealed in Scripture. Those who know facts, therefore, are not the same as those who forsake sin and come to love God. We must therefore appeal to the entire person and not merely their intellect. God is hidden from man because he loves sin and remains in hostile rebellion against God. This antagonism for the gospel is seated in the affections, not because we lack data or are not smart enough. So we appeal to the heart because God is not just a precept or an axiom as found in mathematics. To come to faith in Christ one must first desire Christ, perceive and take delight in His unmatched beauty, and have a love for Him that is greater than a love of sin. Faith will never 'just happen' out of thin air but actually requires that we desire Him, for we only choose that which we most desire. But to be sure, the Scriptures teach that these holy affections are not produced by our unregenerate human nature (Rom 8:7; 1 Cor 2:14). And since the root of faith cannot be indifferent or neutral, a full orbed gospel is not merely a list of impersonal propositions for our intellectual assent, but it is proclaiming the full person of Christ in His love for sinners shown in His life, death and resurrection. Words are not enough, however, to persuade those bent on rebellion because spiritual knowledge, which is relational, requires a new sense of God's unsurpassed excellence ... and this is possessed only by the regenerate. Paul, when speaking to the Thessalonians makes this clear when he says, 'for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction...' (1 Thess 1:5)." --John Hendryx See the full paper at http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/spirit_affections.html In Him, Doc |
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3 | Do we "will" to love? | 1 John 4:19 | terrib | 151455 | ||
Hi Doc, "To come to faith in Christ one must first desire Christ, perceive and take delight in His unmatched beauty, and have a love for Him that is greater than a love of sin. Faith will never 'just happen' out of thin air but actually requires that we desire Him, for we only choose that which we most desire." This is NOT true! Did Saul (Paul) desire Christ? Maybe I am by myself in this, but I didn't desire Christ before I was saved nor until I heard the words of the Gospel. "Words are not enough", we are convinced by words. Was the world created by words (the Word)? terrib |
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4 | Do we "will" to love? | 1 John 4:19 | DocTrinsograce | 151456 | ||
Dear Terrib, You are right... and yet John Hendryx is right as well. :-) We haven't gotten to the theological term "regeneration" yet. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17) You are right, that prior to God's saving work in us, we will not desire Him. Quite the contrary! Paul states, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha." (1 Corinthians 16:22) But the Lord Jesus said, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him." (John 14:23) Therefore, God must do a miraculous work in us. Sorry for slapping down an answer... but I'm trying to study for a test coming up Monday. :-) Good comments, though, Terrib! I am glad you always rise up to question things that don't sound right to you! That is a blessing for us all in the forum. I commend you for it! In Him, Doc PS My studies are hampered by the fact that I'm passing another kidney stone. Ouch! |
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5 | Do we "will" to love? | 1 John 4:19 | terrib | 151459 | ||
Hi Doc, Do your studies first! We can come to these questions later. God will bless you in your efforts! I have just prayed for your relief and God will honor my prayer. Blessing to you. terrib |
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