So is EVERY ONE that is born of the Spirit.

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth:
so is EVERY ONE that is born of the Spirit."

 

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is EVERY ONE that is born of the Spirit."

Please note carefully, won't you: "so is EVERY ONE that is born of the Spirit."

Can someone with a sound mind spell out those implications?

6 Comments

Sing F Lau

"...so is EVERY ONE that is born of the Spirit" means to say, either EVERY ONE is regenerated through the instrumentality of the preached word, or EVERY ONE is regenerated immediately and directly by the Spirit, i.e. WITHOUT that instrumentality.

The new school Calvinists with their cousins, both the old and new Arminians, insist that their preaching is a necessary instrument to the Spirit's work of regeneration.

The old school baptists believe that every regenerated elect is regenerated directly and immediately by the free and sovereign act of the Spirit of God, without means.

Of the two alternatives, one has fatal implications, and the other does not.

Sing
Many new school Calvinists - unless they embrace the plain truth that EVERY ELECT, without exception, is regenerated in exactly the same manner by the Holy Spirit, as declared by Christ Himself - embrace the popular notions that there are TWO different manners of regeneration:

1. The NORMAL manner: the sentient elect are regenerated by the Spirit through the instrument of the gospel preaching, BUT

2. The EXCEPTIONAL manner: the non-sentient elect, those elect that died in infancy and others that are mentally challenged, are regenerated directly.

They reject the plain truth declared by Christ Himself - ""so is EVERY ONE that is born of the Spirit."

They choose to believe a LIE. And to cover that obvious lie, they invent an exception to cover their ERROR. Very wise!

An error always leads to another more serious error! Flesh begets flesh. Lies beget more lies!

They just won't receive and accept the simple and glorious truth: "so is every one that is born of the Spirit" - i.e. by the free and sovereign activity of the Spirit of Christ, "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

Sing
There are other new school Calvinists that say, "Yes, we do indeed believe that there ONLY ONE WAY of regeneration: "EVERY ONE is regenerated by the Spirit through the instrumentality of the preached word ALONE. Therefore, no preaching of the gospel, no regeneration. None will go to heaven unless they hear the gospel preached and believe in Jesus Christ. There is none in heaven who have not heard the gospel and believe in Jesus Christ when they were on earth... one must hear and believe the gospel in order to be given eternal life...blah... blah...blah."

These new school Calvinists would have to conclude these if they are consistent (which they hardly are!)
- there is absolutely no elect of God among all those who did not hear the gospel... why? every elect of God will hear the gospel... there is no elect of God who will not have the opportunity to hear the gospel...
- there is absolutely no elect of God among all those who did not BELIEVE the gospel... why? every elect of God will hear the gospel AND BELIEVE the gospel too.

Are they prepared to own those inevitable implications of their notion?

And they invent the 'WHOLE PACKAGE' fiction that hearing the gospel and believing and persevering in a life of faith and obedience to the end of their life is part of the 'WHOLE PACKAGE' of the eternal salvation God secured for His elect.

Sing F Lau
The old school baptists, who stood upon the truth of the Scriptures, condemn the new school Calvinists for their blatant lies.

The old school baptists believe that EVERY ELECT is regenerated in EXACTLY the ONE same way, based exactly upon the ONE same ground, the redemption of Jesus Christ.

The old school baptists declared, in conformity to the Scriptures that they are God's children (elect regenerated freely and sovereignly by the direct and immediate activity of God) who are incapable of hearing and believing, and there are others who are incapable of being outwardly called by the gospel, i.e. they have no opportunity to hear the gospel in their lifetime on earth.

The new school Calvinists are not the children or descendants of the old school baptists, despite all their claims to hold to the same ancient confession framed by them (1689 LBCF), which faithfully summarized the truth of the Scriptures.

Regeneration by the direct and immediate activity of the Spirit of God ALONE, without any human instrumentality whatsoever, is the truth that salvation is indeed "by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed."

ONLY one way will GUARANTEE that the promised salvation in Jesus Christ be SURE TO ALL THE SEED.

Introduce any human instrumentality, and many of God's elect shall be excluded from their eternal inheritance!

But thank God that will not be the case, despite the LIES embraced, preached and defended by the new school Calvinists.

God will still do His holy will despite the fact that His children (of the new school Calvinist label) believe and preach LIES about their regeneration!

The KJT word for such is 'BASTARD'!

Jerry Chapin
@Sing, Isaiah had a word for them..."And in that day, seven women will take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel, ONLY LET US BE CALLED BY THY NAME, to take away our reproach." Isaiah 4:1