Dear
sister BumbleBee,
Thank you very much for your effort in proofreading. See my comments below, after yours marked ##
## Pastor Hoe in one of his sermons did say: “We are not justified by our faith but by the work of Christ alone.” In another sermon previous to this, he also said that “we are justified by God’s grace alone, and by Christ’s blood, but this justification comes to us by faith”. So, no one is “actually” justified in time until a person repents and believes in Christ.
sing: Finally speaking, it still boils down to “No faith, no justification” no matter how Pastor Hoe qualifies about justification by the work of Christ alone and justification by God’s grace alone. The bottom line is ‘justification by faith alone’ and that is a serious error.
We
are justified
- by the grace of God (the MANNER it is applied, freely, at effectual calling) alone
- through the blood of Christ alone (the BASIS/GROUND, at the cross), and
- faith and works of faith are (MEANS/INSTRUMENT) make manifest this free grace justification. (like breath manifests life.)
The
Scripture says, ‘The just shall live by faith.’ This is repeated no less than 3
times in the Scriptures.
This simple declaration that the just shall live by faith alone is enough to tell us that faith is the effect of justification. The just are those justified by God. It is the JUSTIFIED ONES (past tense) that shall live (future, indicative) by faith (believing in Christ). Abraham was a classic proof – because Abraham was ALREADY a justified man, he believed the gospel of the promised seed – Gen 15:1-6, Romans 4:1-8. His believing is counted to him for righteousness, I.E. his faith was blessed to experience the blessedness of his justified state.
Think about this carefully… IT IS “the just shall live by faith”… and NOT “by faith, the condemned shall be justified and live” – this is commonly believed.
##
It was said, “No repentance, no eternal life.”
Conversion is essential to salvation.
sing: Here’s a riddle: how does a person without life (spiritual and eternal) ever believe or repent?
Here is another riddle: how does a person without eternal life ever be converted – persuaded and embrace the gospel?
An elect is given eternal salvation so that he can be converted to know and experience temporal salvation here on earth. Eternal salvation is by grace from beginning to end. Temporal salvation is conditioned upon obedience to the gospel. Conversion is obedience to the gospel. Conversion is only possible because God has FIRST bestowed eternal life.
##
With regeneration we have a new nature.
And conversion is the first act of that new nature.
sing: With regeneration, we are given eternal life (the term spiritual life is not used in the Scriptures, but eternal life is spiritual life). The eternal life begotten in us explains the new nature. The eternal life ANIMATES all spiritual activities that follow.
So
this third statement CORRECTLY admits that eternal life must PRECEDE repentance
and faith. It, therefore, CONTRADICTS the second statement above, which is
erroneous.
[Do you notice that Cornelius manifested many acts of the new nature BEFORE he was converted by Apostle Peter's ministry?]
## Below is a summary of my understanding on the teaching thus far (which I think both parties would agree?). The circle with the red outline represents the “redeemed of the LORD”.
sing: I
have a similar diagram – much simpler based on the 1689.10. The framers were
theologians… and theologians of those days were all trained logicians because
logic was one of the primary disciplines.
The Venn diagram below summarizes chapter 10 of the 1689 CoF:
I am in complete agreement with the truth summarized by the 1689.10.
Let me outline here the logical order and the relationship of the 4 paragraphs:
Para
1: describes the effectual calling of ALL the elect. All the elect are
effectually called to eternal life in precisely the same manner at God’s
appointed and accepted time – whether they are infants or adults, sound minds or
idiots, capable or incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the
word.
[This
is the only and only way EVERY elect is brought to grace and salvation by the
Triune God. There is not a NORMAL WAY nor an EXCEPTIONAL WAY. God has only one
way of salvation. The exceptional way is invented by confused men to
accommodate their confused minds.]
Para
2: describes all those effectually called elect in Para 1 who receive the
outward gospel call.
Para
3: describes all those effectually called elect in Para 1 who do not receive
the outward gospel call. For various reasons, they are incapable of being
outwardly called by the ministry of the word. The gospel call has reference to those who have the capacity to hear and understand, who can be communicated with the gospel. It is irrelevant to all others.
[This is not an exceptional way of salvation. These are among the elect in paragraph 1, therefore included in paragraph 1, an are saved by God in the same way. These people are not outwardly called by the gospel. But they are saved by God in the one and same way.]
Para 4: describes all those not in Para 1, i.e., those who are not predestinated to eternal life, but who have the outward gospel call.
You don’t need to reply to this.
I will send you a book to read – if you have time to read at all before your early retirement.
By
grace alone,
sing
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