Posted on 01/04/2013 7:15:20 AM PST by xzins
He is a Calvinist, but no Calvinist would reject Sola Fide; it is one of their basic principles.
So far as being selected by God, even free-will Christians believe that. "Those He foreknew, He predestined."
It is possible both to examine oneself and not become a Pharisee. The Apostle Paul says, "a man ought to examine himself..."
John says:
"1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. "
"If we confess our sins..." assumes that we have reflected and realized our sin.
Of Course we must examine ourselves. It is part of the Christian Walk.
But we must be very careful, in going through a “Checklist” that we do not succumb to legalism.
Funny Story:
I was in the 4th grade, and the rather inept public school teacher was explaining about the Puritans. Of COURSE, I asked: “What’s a Puritan?”
Teacher: They were Calvinists.
Me: What’s a Calvinist?
Teacher: Someone who believes in predestination.
Me: What’s predestination?
Teacher; That’s the belief that God has already decided who’s going to heaven and who’s going to hell.
Me: Then why be good? if you’re going to hell anyway, why not just do whatever you want to?
The teacher then just sputtered “I’m SURE that’s NOT what Calvin had in mind!’ and changed the subject. I was always a troublemaker, I guess, and now I’m a FReeper. (and a CHRISTIAN!)LOL!
Happy New Year, FRiend, and thank you for your service!
:-)
Interesting list. With arguably the exception of #3 none of them are work based related. If one goes to the website MacArthur points out how even #3 is that we want to be obedient because of our gratitute for what Christ has done.
It's all about a relationship, not works.
Or that we make "not going through a checklist" into a legalism.
However, this article is about each of us examining the authenticity of our OWN salvation. John says that those who are His have fellowship with Him.
“Otherwise, I’d have to ditch half the family.”
Wait a minute, just wait a minute. There are only 11 statements. I don’t see anything there about having to love one’s family. You can’t just change testing to suit a personal cross. Next thing you’ll be requiring is that we have to love Presbyterians or worse, Episcopalians.
I'm a Calvinist. I became a Calvinist about 5 years ago. What I have learned is that God is VERY, VERY GOOD and I am VERY, VERY EVIL. It's not much more complicated than that.
Presbyterians, yes, but Episcopalians require a special dispensation.
And incense.
There is no check list to check over. It is the Holy Spirit working in us and through us believers until the day Christ comes for us. Everything else that needs to be "checked off some list" are WORKS, performed by man to pat himself on the back with and once again FEEL worthy of God's acceptance.
Alright, maybe the Presbyterians, but they have to be single malt, pre-trib, Presbyterians; no blended, mid-trib, post-trib or amills. They steal your libations and start endless fights.
Longer than 5 years...right?? Weren't you part of the Calvin Wars, the GRPL and all that here on FR? That was every bit of 5 years and some.
Nor any preterist Presbyterians.
After all, the pre and the ter are both already in the name.
PREsbyTERians.
I might consider presbyteriist.
Hmmmmm...that’s a good question. You might be right. I went back to my home page and noticed that I started on FR in 2003. I remember my “conversion” :O) with Dr. E and Dr. SteveJ but I can’t quite recall when I embraced the TULIP. As far as the Calvin Wars, that seems to have been going on forever. Was there ever a time when that didn’t take place?
10 years here?!? Thanks for reminding me how old I’m getting. :O)
You hit that one spot on! Well done!
I meant to point out how old you've been looking lately.
:>)
I used to have hair....
Let me take just a slight bit of issue with the "even myself" part.
Paul says in 2 Co 13: 4 For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him to serve you. 5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?
If you're going to ping this out, please add my name to the list.
While various excesses and heightened emotional experiences were common, scores of people didn't demonstrate any evidence in their lives to verify their claim to know and love Jesus Christ, which led critics to attack the Great Awakening, contending it was nothing but a big emotional bath without any true conversions.
This still seems to be the case in many groups I've encountered and in some churches and denominations as well.
This is a weakness of televangelists. There is lots of show but there's no way to determine if what happens is of God because there's no follow up.
I’m thinking, after reading these posts, that many people are confused about the purpose of this thread and series.
It’s not about how to get saved, which IS very simple, but about examining the evidence of salvation.
I used to have eyesight....
(Was on amazon looking for reading glasses in an aluminum tube so I can carry them around in my pocket. Was filling my chainsaw with gas this morning, and was better able to hear that it was nearly full than see that it was nearly full. “I don’t want to hear Wales dead... I want to SEE Wales dead.”.)
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