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The roots hold up the trunk or the trunk holds the roots in the ground? |
December 14, 2011
Dear
Brother Sing F Lau
Praise
Jesus our Lord and King.
I feel that there is a shortfall in your summary; you have jumped around to several places in scripture on points of justification. But there is one area that you did not clearly explore and that is Romans 3:1 through 11:36. Paul is writing to the church in Rome to those who have believed the teaching of the early church as evidenced by what was written by Luke in the Book of Acts. All the epistles written by Paul, Peter, John, James, and Jude were written to believers in those cities. Paul was writing to the believers in Rome that at one time worshipped Roman gods and he was telling them that they were followers of Jesus Christ. That they were not to worship Jesus and the Roman gods together. ~ Shellie ~
Sing
Indeed,
indeed! The Apostle Paul was writing to “... all that be in Rome, beloved of God,
called to be saints.” He was writing to those beloved of God and called to be
saints.”
However,
I was commenting on justification as summarized in the 1689 CoF.
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-doctrine-of-justification-as.html
A
brief outline of Romans’ teaching on justification:
-
The gospel: God's own provision of righteousness
-
Bad news: all men without exception are under condemnation
-
God provides righteousness in Jesus Christ.
-
Justification is accomplished by the righteousness through the faith(fulness)
OF-OF-OF Christ alone. (The faithfulness of Christ secured the righteousness
required for the justification of His people)
-
Justification is applied to each elect freely by the grace of God alone.
-
Justification is experienced through faith IN-IN-IN Christ alone.
The
three 'alone' are separate and distinct.
Now
you flesh up the skeleton.
Sing
That's
fine with me. The 1689 CoF tells me what the Framers have
understood what the Bible teaches. There is no man whom I can't learn
something from!
Fine,
let's stick to the Bible. Here is the summary on justification from Romans.
Romans
teaching on justification in brief outline
-
The gospel: God's provision of righteousness by the faithfulness of Christ
-
Bad news: all men without exception are under condemnation
-
God provides righteousness in Jesus Christ.
-
Justification is accomplished by the faith OF-OF-OF
Christ alone.
-
Justification is applied by the free grace of God alone...
-
Justification is experienced through faith IN-IN-IN Christ alone.
Don't
quote Scriptures and assume I understand what you wish those Scriptures to say;
don't assume I agree with your opinions.
So, quote the Scriptures, and then spell out what you intend those Scriptures to teach. These are the ground rules on my turf. You agree, welcome and enjoy yourself.
Sing
Let
me be clear with you: there is no virtue in quoting the Scriptures. A child as well
as the devil can do that.
Unless
your quotations of Scriptures are demonstrated to be related to the subject of
justification, I shall delete them.
I
am never impressed with people quoting Scriptures. The devil showed his prowess
at the temptation of Christ.
I
have preached 10 sermons on Jude 1-5 just recently. So what do you want to say
about justification? Keep away your machine gun and stop spraying and wasting
your bullets. If you can shoot at all, bring out your sniper gun with the cross
hair on.
You
tell me what was Jude saying!
Sing
Oh
good. We now know the subject - 'how we lead others to Christ in a clear and
crisp manner.'
That's
a good subject. Keep speaking... quote Scriptures and let's study the subject.
Sing
Yes,
I call them creepers because they are spineless and can't walk upright. What
has that to do with the subject you have in mind - 'how we lead others to
Christ in a clear and crisp manner.'
Jude
wrote to those who are ALREADY in Christ!
Shellie
There
has to be a point where God calls a sinner and the sinner responds with
repentance and asking for forgiveness of said sins and understanding that
he/she is born into sin. That just because they feel that they are a fairly
good person does not exclude them from having to ask for forgiveness.
Sing
A
plan is just some intention/purpose in mind... not executed yet. Is the gospel
God's purpose/plan to save sinners, or is the gospel the good news of what God
has ALREADY accomplished and applied to intended hearers? Don't get diverted by
this needed question!
Let's
stay focused and don't stray from the good subject: 'how we lead others to Christ
in a clear and crisp manner.'
Sing
When is that point when God calls a sinner?
And
what happens when God calls a sinner?
Does
God need a preacher to call a sinner out of his native state of sin and death
to that of grace and eternal life?
What
is the role of a preacher with respect to those whom God saves?
Shellie
Are
we not all ministers of Christ? Let us look at the sinner in light of knowing
nothing about Christ. It is better to clearly allow the Holy Spirit to lead in
the direction of the teaching. But let us also look at when someone is not
walking in truth and there are those that do not teach the biblical teaching on
salvation. i Cor. 1:10
Sing
Yes,
you are a minister of Christ, so please answer the questions on your statement,
'There has to be a point where God calls a sinner...' Other creep and stray.
But you please stay focused.
So
concerning your statement 'There has to be a point where God calls a sinner'
please answer these questions:
-
When is that point when God calls a sinner?
-
And what happens when God calls a sinner?
-
Does God need a preacher to call a sinner out of death to eternal life?
-
What is the role of a preacher with respect to those whom God saves?
