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| "Sola scriptura" is just a shibboleth to many, and calvinitis is a dreadful disease. |
Sir, what
is the state of a man before regeneration???
=️========
You
want the simple, glaring truth?
You
may not like it. The truth shatters popular lies.
Eph 2 KJT
1 ¶
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to
the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh
and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 ¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved...
1.
He is dead in trespasses and sins
- this
deadness does not consist in inactivity. In fact, he is full of activities, but
they are all activities of death! In this deadness, he is utterly incapable of
any activities that bring himself to God. Instead, he is actively in enmity
against God and separated from God.
2.
He walks according to the course of this world
-
according to the prince of the power of the air. He is under the power and
influence of the spirit that works in him. (So much for the imagined 'free
will' of this captive under Satan's power!)
3.
He is a child of disobedience
- a
rebel, in enmity against God. (so much for the fable that man in his native
state can believe Christ and get eternal life!)
4.
He lives in the lusts of his flesh
-
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. That's his native state.
(so much for the fiction that such a man will believe in order to have eternal
life!"
5.
He is, by nature, a child of wrath
-
the just and righteous wrath of God upon him.
BUT...
BUT... BUT... BUT... BUT... this disjunctive is one of the best in the
Scriptures!
Without
grace... a man will happily remain in his NATIVE states of sin and death,
happily serving sin! He is completely helpless, dead in trespasses and sins,
captives under the power and influence of the strong man, and in enmity and
rebellion against God.
While
in such helpless condition, God freely and sovereignly - i.e. by grace-
quickened him who was dead in sins.
In
quickening him, God VITALLY united him to Christ and gave him the eternal life
that Christ has secured for His people. This is 'by grace ye are saved'! With
the quickening that man is saved... yes S. A. V. E. D. - as saved as could
be... i.e. perfectly and completely fit for eternal glory. Faith, his act of
believing, is completely excluded; faith was an impossibility with a man dead
in trespasses and sins; it is possible ONLY as an effect and consequence of
having BEEN SAVED FREELY BY GRACE. (So, beware of twisting and perverting
"faith" in verse 8!)
God
saves, and saves by His free and sovereign grace. He quickens the dead, and
this enables a man to believe. God does not give faith to a man dead in
trespasses and sins, and expects him to believe, in order to be regenerated!
That's a fable!
The
simple and plain truth is, "Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved."
Those
SAVED by God's free grace are called by the ministry of the word to work out
their own salvation with fear and trembling... through their obedience to the
will of their FATHER.
The
salvation that God freely and sovereignly bestows upon the elect, dead in
trespasses and sins, and which enables them to work out their own salvation, and
the salvation that God's children are summoned to work out for themselves are
different and distinct salvations. The former is eternal salvation, and the
latter is temporal salvation.
The
biblical distinction is the essence of sound theology.
---------
picture:
just got this book. A friend suggested I study it and give some feedback.
I'm
more interested if they are in harmony with the Scriptures. Since when did John
Calvin become a standard of reference?
"Sola scriptura" is just a shibboleth to many, and calvinitis is a dreadful disease.
