In reading these posts, I have bcome more convinced that until one is called by the Father, and the believer places faith in Him through the Son, then the Holy Spirit doesn't rgenerate the human spirit in the believer.
Instead, a human who seeks to find God on his own, independent of believing in God hrough faith in Christ, simply scars his own thinking processes and interprets Scripture purely from a soulish perspective.
Likewise for believers who have sinned, but have never returned to God through faith in Him by His protocols, there is a tremendous worldly system of religion which pulls at the reversionistic carnal Christian, luring him into false religion. The carnal Christian seeking solace, but without actually returning to the true Christ, might fall back onto past soulish thinking, turnign to a worldly system of religion instead of relying on God the Holy Spirit.
The more he studies Scripture while out of fellowship with God, the further he scars his own soul, further decreasing his conscience from signaling his deeper reversion from God.
There are only two groups of humans, believers and unbelievers. If an unbeliever, the first issue is to come to God by believing in Him through faith in Christ. This only possible through the work of each person of the Godhead, one God. If a believer, the issue is to keep short accounts and remain in fellowship with God through faith in Christ. 1stJohn 1:9 provides ample guidance for those who deny His Divinity in post salvation sin. Then after returning to fellwoship with Him, the believer must allow God the Holy Spirit to do all the work of transmitting the LOGOS to our understanding, to our mind, to our heart and remain in fellowship with Him as we put doctrine into practice as we are tested.
Those who deny the Son, or the Holy Spirit merely blind themselves to the grace He has made available to them.
Those who deny the Son, do not have the Father in them, nor the Son.
Those who deny the Son, do not have the Father in them, nor the Son.
A couple words that are immensley important are 'confess' and 'in'.
'Confess' (homologeo) means to say the same thing. A confession means that one truly and without reservation believes in his heart what he says. (See Romans 10:9,10)
'In' (en) means to be in (duh!), totally in, not partially out. One is either in or not in. If one is partially outside a real, one is not 'in' that realm. One is either standing inside a circle drawn on the ground or is not inside that circle, no inbetween or also to it. In or out.
1Jo 2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
Jesus is the Christ. The one God sent, the one God annointed one, the one that God glorified.
1Jo 2:23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [(but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also].
1Jo 2:26 These [things] have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
1Jo 4:1 ¶ Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1Jo 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
Confesses the Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, in, totally in, not a portion outside.
1Jo 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Anyone that fails to confess, truly say what they believe, that Jesus has come in the flesh (totally man) is not of God.
1Jo 4:15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
How can anyone truly confess that Jesus is the Son of God and God all at the same time? It doesn't say confess Jesus as God, it says confess him as Son of God!
1Jo 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
So we see that the whole context of this is about idolotry. Failing to confess that Jesus has come in the flesh and that he is the Son of God falls in the realm of idolotry.
2Jo 1:7 ¶ 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.
So far no one here has disputed or corrected me when I claim that Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God who was born of Mary and lived a sinless life and became the full payment for our sin. The man Jesus obeyed his father, God Almighty, and was crucified and died. God Almight raised his son Jesus on the third day and the raised him up where he now sits on his (God's) right hand.
There is but one God and that God is one. God is not a man, is spirit and is invisible.
There is only ne mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus who was obedient to his Father God who sent him.
God is the creator. Jesus is his son.
Jesus is not God.