Posted on 04/21/2002 6:12:38 AM PDT by RnMomof7
Is the unregenerate person spiritually dead or not?
Human beings are also spiritual beings. But our spirits are fallen, flawed, unclean and doomed. They need to be remade by God's own spirit, who is a witness to our human spirit. But even in our fallen state, we have the capacity to chose. Even WE have a sense of right and wrong. No man lives up to what he expects of himself, let alone what God would require. And as Paul notes, God has made enough evidence of his creation available to all men that none have the excuse of claiming they never realized he was around. Indeed, it was our acquisition of the knowledge of good and evil that got us into this mess to begin with.
Are you trusting His righteousness produced in your life as the basis for entrance to heaven or His righteousness fully placed to your account to get you into heaven?
The only thing that justifies us in God's sight is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But his Spirit in us urges us on to righteousness and holiness ourselves.
Is salvation a reward or a gift?
Salvation is God's gift. It is offered and available to all and all could avail themselves of it through repentance. Sadly, as Christ noted, few choose that path.
Does the Bible say we can know we have eternal life?
Throughout scripture, God speaks to us of his mercy, his longsuffering patience and his willingness to forgive us. And the Bible is laced with His promises and messages of comfort and assurance. Paul also seeks to assure his readers with logical proofs, and concrete evidence of our successful adoption in the form of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in us. But any man who is arrogant enough to wave flimsy human reason in the face of God and demand He make good on what we take to be his promises, is a fool. We should pray and repent daily as if we are doomed to hell, and praise him as if we are already in heaven. We will know what he wants us to know. He will show us our salvation: His etneral life will come welling up in us like a fountain.
Is eternal life eternal?
We'll know it when we see it.
Did He say on the cross "It is finished."? or did He say, "I've done my part you better do yours!"?
When he said "it is finished," he was speaking about much more than man's redemption. As you will note where the quote is repeated in The Revelation, it really refers to the main reason Christ came into the earth: to destroy the works of the Devil. Except for the very brief and cryptic description of Christ's temptation in the desert, we really know very little about the spiritual struggle that was going on in Jesus' life. But it was mighty. And it was the result of his victory in that fight that we were able to be rescued from the clutches of evil and death. Do we have a job to do in responding to that grace? Without question.
Again. I appreciate your input to the discussion.
It is certain the doctrine of the atonement is central to understanding all Christian doctrine. It is also certain the Calvinists have it wrong.
Here this teacher starts off using the correct terminology, that is "covering" from the Hebrew cofer, the same word used for the "cover" of the ark of the covenant where the mercy seat was.
The atonement was exactly what it says, a covering that allowed God to forgive sin.
There is not one word in the Bible about sin being "paid for", or a "sin-debt" being paid for. There is much about the forgiveness of sin, for example, these last 4 verses of Scripture speaking of forgiveness:
Col. 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.
James 5:15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
Now in the example, "If a person is unable to make payment on the debt which he owes to the bank, and if a friend volunteers to pay this debt for him, then that debt is covered and the man is free from all obligation," the case is the opposite to that of Scripture. Sin is not represented as a debt that needs to be paid, but as wages that one will recieve. The penalty of sin is not debt, but a consequence and punishment that is to be recieved. If I should have a debt at a bank, and some benefactor should pay it for me, and the banker ultimately told me, he "forgave me" of my debt, I would consider that presumptuous. Why should I need forgiveness of a debt that has been paid, no matter Who pays it. If my sins are paid for, I do not need to be forgiven of them too.
The whole idea of sin being paid for is preposterous. Sin cannot be paid for. The very idea makes the Calvinist position absurd. If the atonement was "payment" for sin, and only the sins of the elect are paid for, then the death and suffering of Christ are due to the sins of the elect only, since the sins of the non-elect were not payed for. This means that only the sins of the saved are responsible for the death of Christ, since everyone else must pay for their own sin.
No, the atonement is exactly what Scripture teaches, a covering. When we should have received the judgement of God for our sin, our Savior bore the punishment for us, and covers us that the judgement should not fall on us.
Rom. 4:7 ... Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Hank
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