Some monumental and subtle errors took place

https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/362399352298

March 13, 2010 

The first order of business in dealing with a legally condemned, and spiritually dead sinner is to remove that condemnation by justification, and the deadness by regeneration.  In both actions, it is wholly and solely by the FREE and sovereign grace of God ALONE... and necessarily so, because a man in a state of condemnation and deadness is utterly incapable of contributing anything, or meeting any condition.

Sing F Lau
Before God does these things, the most eloquent and faithful preaching of the gospel would come across to the condemned dead sinner as utter foolishness.

But to them that ARE SAVED - i.e justified, regenerated and adopted with the Spirit of God indwelling the heart - the same gospel message, preached by the dullest preacher, comes across as the message that speaks of the power of God in saving him!

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which ARE SAVED it is the power of God."

When the gospel comes to THEM THAT ARE SAVED... THAT IS, they are ALREADY SAVED BY GOD, i.e. justified and regenerated (which necessary includes adoption and gift of the Spirit to dwell within the heart) - the message SPEAKS OF, and IS PERCEIVED AS the power of God unto salvation.

This plain passage plainly CONDEMNS the FABLE of 'gospel regeneration.'

Sing F Lau
God ordained the gospel ministry NOT as an aid in His FREE and SOVEREIGN work of justification and regeneration.

God ordained the gospel ministry as an instrument in the CONVERSION of His children (those already justified and regenerated by His free g… See more

Sing F Lau
In light of 2Tim 3:16-17, those who claim that the gospel preaching is the necessary instrument for regeneration by God, therefore profitable to the work of regeneration, is obviously LYING and are DECEIVED.

FREE GRACE must produce the man of God first, otherwise all Scriptures would profit the condemned dead man NOTHING. Instead, he is positively hostile and in enmity against God, incapable of discerning any spiritual things.

'Salvation by grace alone' is just a religious shibboleth to so many.

Edna Allen Strickland
You are blessed with such a wonderful understanding of the scriptures--and able to put your thoughts into words easy to be understood. Such a blessing from God.

Hope and pray this helps many to understand that our eternal salvation does not depend on ANYTHING we do. We do NOT accept Him. Ephesians 1:6

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Sing F Lau
But to SO MANY, the first order of business in dealing with a legally condemned, and spiritually dead sinner is to find a preacher, because they believe in a god who needs and depends on the aid of man's preaching to regenerate, and man's believing to justify!

Sing F Lau
"In both actions, it is wholly and solely by the FREE and sovereign grace of God ALONE... and necessarily so, because a man in a state of condemnation and deadness is utterly incapable of contributing anything, or meeting any condition."

To this, it must be added, that a man in the state of condemnation and deadness is utterly UNABLE to benefit or profit from anything other sincere men zealously endeavor to do. No amount of preaching would do him any good. The good news is foolishness to him. He is utterly incapable of discerning spiritual things, of which the whole gospel is completely spiritual in nature.

Cooking a most sumptuous meal for a dead man does not benefit him in anyway whatsoever! If he had been made alive by God's free grace, then such a meal would do him lots of good. The gospel ministry is profitable to those that are already justified and made alive by God's free grace... thus possessing the ability to believe.

Stephen Gibney
We are elected in eternity, regenerated and then justified by faith in time. There is no such thing as eternal justification. That is imbalanced and unscriptural.

Stephen Gibney
Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
election, regeneration, then justification. If there is no faith, there is no evidence of regeneration thus no justification.

Sing F Lau
Check here for a biblical Order of Salvation: 
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2018/03/orderly-messed-up-order.html

[Rev 13:8 "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
1. "From before the foundation of the world" is associated with the names written in the book of life. It answers the question, WHEN were the names written? From before the foundation of the world.
2. "The Lamb that was slain" is related to the book of life. It answers the question, WHOSE book of life? The book of life of the Lamb slain.
3. To associate the Lamb slain with from before the foundation of the world is to do violence to what is plainly stated in Rev 13:8.

Sing F Lau
Stephen, where did I even mention ETERNAL justification?

READ this slowly and carefully. Stop imagining things. Stick to what is written.
Justification was PURPOSED in eternity for all elect.
Justification was ACCOMPLISHED in time for all elect by Christ at the cross
Justification is APPLIED in time to the individual elect at the effectual calling
Justification is EVIDENCED & EXPERIENCED in time by each child of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Justification shall be publicly vindicated on the day of judgment.

Sir, you have not even begun to realize that JUSTIFICATION is a multi-faceted dazzling jewel. You see it as a common glass marble, i.e justification by faith only!

Stop and think and study a bit.

Sing F Lau
Men come to faith in Christ BECAUSE they HAVE BEEN FREELY JUSTIFIED by the grace of God; it's not IN ORDER to be justified! It's the just (the justified ones) who shall live by faith!

Along the way, some monumental and subtle errors took place. The crafty devil caused the careless and unthinking children to exchange pure gold the fathers left to them for a lump of gold-looking dung!...

Let me explain.

The Scriptures teach that God FREELY justifies an ungodly condemned dead man by His grace, by freely applying the righteousness of Christ of life to him and forgiving him of all his sins. This gives divine warrant for the Spirit to regenerate this justified man.

Thus FREELY justified and regenerated by grace, this man is able to believe when the gospel ministry is ministered to him. In believing, his faith justifies him, i.e. his faith demonstrates and manifests and vindicates that he is ALREADY justified and regenerated by God's FREE grace, his believing gives him the authority to claim that he is a child of God, since 'whoever believes HAS eternal life' - believing is a manifestation eternal life.

This is where the disaster took place.

The LEGAL justification by the righteousness of Christ at the cross and the Vital justification by God's FREE grace at effectual calling are not distinguished from the EXPERIENTIAL justification by the believer's faith in Christ.

WORSE STILL, the experiential justification by believer's faith is CONFUSED AS, and FUSED WITH the justification by God's free grace.

Thus they end up with the damnable heresy of legal justification by believer's faith, and by believer's faith only!

How the devil has deceived so many to embrace a lie as the truth!

Sing F Lau
Brother Stephen, 'justification by faith alone' as the sum total of the doctrine of justification is likened to a one-fingered hand - a monstrous deformity, to say the least.

Read here: https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2009/08/one-fingered-hand-is-monstrous.html

This is a deceiver

2John 2:
7 ¶ For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

These teachers of falsehood are described:
- by their quantity or number: there are many, far more than teachers of truth; and so be vigilant and beware of their mischief!
- by their nature: deceivers, workers of deceit, subtly masquerading themselves as ministers of Christ but in reality handle the word of God deceitfully; they are anti-Christ in that they preach another Christ. Claiming themselves to be servants of Christ, but their teaching evidence that they are antichrist, i.e. opposed to Christ.
- by their commission: they were self-commissioned and have "entered into the world." They are NOT Christ's servants to His church.
- and by their chief heresy on the person of Christ: denying that Jesus Christ is the eternal Word made flesh and has come in the flesh.

Look to yourselves... watch out against these deceivers... gone out into the world, seeking whom they may deceive and plunder.

Failure to distinguish the eternal from the temporal

 

https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/10215880412378693
March 9, 2020 

How I wish Owen's statement is true!

Don't you, Parents, Elders, Reverends, Doctors of Divinity, etc.?

What if I say, "Health, wealth, and happiness are the inseparable fruits, effects and consequence of conception"? Well, I concede that an exceptional few will say, "of course!" The rest will politely inquire, "which planet did you come from?" 🙂 😮

When the greatest minds fail to distinguish the eternal salvation by God's free and sovereign grace from the temporal salvation through the working (with fear and trembling) of His children, they INEVITABLY end up making false and erroneous statements.

"Justification, regeneration, adoption, and glorification are the inseparable fruits, effects, and consequence of election" is the truth.

Romans 8
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

(Dr John Owen was probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Puritan theologians.)
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Victorio Moises De Guzman
True indeed.

Dhong Ejnar Rue
It appears then that " faith, obedience and holiness" fall on the realm of temporal salvation.

Sing F Lau
Dhong, though faith, obedience and holiness are made possible through the application of eternal salvation at the effectual calling, they are conditioned upon the effectually called (i.e. God's children) working out their own salvation with fear and trembling.

Election doesn't guarantee those wonderful virtues.

Dhong Ejnar Rue
Sing F Lau - Yes, I agree. Regenerate children of God are empowered to do God's will but they need to use that power. It is willful and active obedience to God.

Reggie Lee
Wow! John Owen got it wrong!!! How disappointing! I love this guy, too! Man that sucks.. oh well... Nevertheless, I still love me some John Owen

How the Lord saves and the gospel saves

https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/10213402277746876
March 9, 2019

The Lord saves and the gospel saves; they save quite differently; the former is prior and independent of the latter.

When God saves, He saves to the uttermost, always complete and perfect every time, from predestination all the way unto glorification, never misses one beat on any elect. And He does not need any help from anyone whatsoever. God saves by turning condemned dead sinners into justified regenerated children of God, all equally, and perfectly fitted for eternal glory, and all by His own free grace, based on the same finished work of Jesus Christ. That's eternal salvation. In this, there is no variation or deficiency; it is always complete and perfect. All are equally saved in every sense of the word. That deals with the BEING of God's children.

God appoints the gospel ministry for the instruction and conversion of His children to the truth of their salvation by His free and sovereign grace. This deals with the WELL BEING of God's children. The well being of God's children is through the gospel ministry; and a whole host of different human factors are involved in the gospel ministry.

God's children are at different stages of conversion through the gospel ministry... but they are perfectly and equally God's children by the free and sovereign grace of God.

Apostle Paul called the believers in Corinth SAINTS... as well as those in the church in Thessalonica. Look at the saints in the seven churches in the book of Revelation.

There is a vast degree of practical sanctification in the children of God through the gospel ministry.... EVEN THOUGH all of them are equally and definitively sanctified from their state of condemnation and death unto justification and eternal life.

May the Lord grant you understanding.

Amen.
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Comments

Vicki
😃

Jonathan
Very, very well stated

Jerry Chapin
Thank you, Bro. Sing...and, Bro. Bill for posting it. What comforting thoughts for the child of God who, in this evil world sometimes have doubts to their eternal home. Scripture is replete with examples of those who's lives were less than perfect, but still, they were children of God and have a home in eternal glory. This indeed, gives us hope and assurance that we too, will join them when we leave here...

Bill Taylor
It is the only hope I have that the act of God's regeneration is an instantaneous application of the finished work of Christ on the Cross, done by God alone without man's helpm knowledge, or understanding; and that; if I had died immediately after that instantaneous work of being born again, I would have been perfectly fitted for Heaven and immortal glory!

Bill Taylor
Such is the hope of the babe in the womb, the "brain-dead" patient on life support, the person who in incapable of a clear and logical thought, and the sinner dead in trespasses and in sins! Praise God's holy name!

Bill Taylor
Salvation is of the Lord!

Bill Taylor
How I do pray for more of God's people to be converted to this precious truth!

Bonnie Hendrickson
Thank you for your comment regarding the babes in womb, 'brain-dead' etc. Last night I was struggling with the futility of life after spending a lot of time in the nursing hospital my mother is in. A lot of these people are "useless" from a practical perspective and their lives are lost from their memories. I needed to be reminded that we are here for God to love--directly and through his children.

Virginia Sohns
I, too, pray for more of God's people to converted to this precious truth. It is so great to live by and nothing better to die believing.

Virginia Sohns
Keep posting, Bro. Bill!

Ellen Tolley Lovett
I pray that more of God's little ones will break free of the chains that tie them to the lies of Satan and that they may fully embrace the beautiful, finished work of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

What was accomplished at the cross?

https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/10218452454998151
March 6, 2021

A kind soul asked:
Sing, what was accomplished at the cross?

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1. One thing is almost certain: ALL the sins of ALL the elect of God were IMPUTED to Christ, YES, even including all the sins of all the elect that were not even conceived yet.

2. Just as certain, Christ Jesus - the redeemer of all those that were given to Him by the Father - suffered and endured the divine curse of all those sins in the place of His people, and made complete satisfaction of the wages of sins owed by ALL of His elect.

Equally certain, there are misguided Christians who believe that their sins were imputed to Christ ONLY when they believed in Jesus Christ. They don't realize that any sin imputed to Christ POST/AFTER the cross-death-and-resurrection event would be tooooo late!

If a man's sins are not INCLUDED (by legal imputation to Christ) in the one-offering of Christ of Himself for sin, there is NO MORE atonement for those sins. He MISSED the one Sin-Ship! The Ship has left the harbour, never to return for more sins! The one Train that carried away sin has left the Station!

There is no more a second, or a third, or a fourth offering of Christ for sins at the WHIM and FANCY of some stupid (i.e. lacking common sense - not a derogatory term in any way, but an objective adjective!) people.

Silly misguided children of God DOOOOOOOOO believe fables that are so injurious to themselves! They think Christ is at their beckoning! Not surprising at all because they the mighty ones ACCEPTED a poor Jesus who begged at their doors for their ACCEPTANCE of Him! They have been sold a poor and pathetic Jesus! So they end up with this fable that it is they who decide when to surrender their sins to be imputed to Christ when they believe in Christ!

3. Just as certain, double imputations took place at the cross, i.e.

- The sins of all His elect were IMPUTED to Christ, and Christ rendered full and perfect satisfaction for all of them. That is why not one iota of sin was able to hold Him in the grave!

- The righteousness of Christ, from His life of perfect and sinless obedience to God, was IMPUTED to all His elect.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

p/s What is IMPUTED legally (a legal transaction) is APPLIED vitally (a personal transaction); the former doesn't need your personal existence, the latter requires it. What is applied freely by God's grace, i.e. when a man is dead in sins and trespasses, is EXPERIENCED through faith in Christ Jesus, whose righteousness is the sole basis and alone ground of God freely justifying the condemned, dead, alienated sinners. 

Peruse the note on "when is the righteousness of Christ imputed to the elect?https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.com/2020/03/when-is-righteousness-of-christ-imputed.html