Grace Alone: An Evangelical Problem?

CPRF ^ | 1996 | Dr. Kim Riddlebarger

[Gamecock]

Dr. Kim Riddlebarger is a graduate of California State University in Fullerton (B.A., Westminster Theological Seminary in California (M.A.R.), and Fuller Theological Seminary (Ph. D.). Kim has contributed chapters to books such as Power Religion: The Selling Out of the Evangelical Church, Roman Catholicism: Evangelical Protestants Analyze What Unites & Divides Us, and Christ The Lord: The Reformation & Lordship Salvation, and is currently the pastor of Christ Reformed Church in Placentia, California.

[nothingnew]

Thanks for the post. Marking for later.

FMCDH(BITS)

[Gamecock]

GRPL Ping

[scott7278]

Thank you.

[PetroniusMaximus]

“Second, the degree to which we argue that we contribute something to our salvation is the degree to which we deny sola gratia.”

Philippian Jailer: “what must I DO to be saved?”

Answers...

A. Reformation theologion: (silence, crickets chirping... )

B. Paul: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

[Salvation]

Grace: Commentary on the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas

Rev. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

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Preface and Table of Contents
Chapter I - Introduction
Chapter II - The Necessity of Grace
Chapter III - The Grace of God with Respect to Its Essence
Chapter IV - The Divisions of Grace
Chapter V - The Doctrine of the Church
Chapter VI - Sufficient Grace
Chapter VII - Efficacious Grace
Chapter VIII - Excursus on Efficacious Grace
Chapter IX - The Cause of Grace
Chapter X - The Effects of Grace
Chapter XI - Merit
Chapter XII - Recapitulation and Supplement
Appendix and Index
 

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[Proud2BAmerican]

Interesting theological question I never thought of until reading your quote: Is Paul saying that salvation will be ascribed to the family if the Philippian jailer, individually, professes belief on Lord Jesus Christ?

[Gargantua]

"“what must I DO to be saved?”

Answers...

A. Reformation theologion: (silence, crickets chirping... )

B. Paul: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world (us) that He gave His only begotten Son that all who believe in Him might have eternal life."

By Faith alone, through Grace. Grace on God's part, without Faith in Christ on our part, does us no good at all, for those who do not willingly choose to profess the Lordship of Jesus Christ as their crucified and risen Savior cannot ever know God's forgiveness through grace. Jesus himself said so many, many times:

"Jesus also said, "For I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, for none shall come to the Father but through me." (emphases my own, words, Christ's own)

Grace is wonderful, but our faith in Christ gets us grace, and our lack of faith in Christ gets us nada, zip, zilch, squantum, nothing. Nothing worth having, anyway.

This is not to suggest that there is any inherent good in us which finds us deserving of God's grace, for there is not. What it suggests is that by our own admission, we cannot ever be worthy (on our own) of God's perfect love. We are filth. It is only when we clothe ourselves in the Blood of the Lamb by accepting Jesus (Faith) that when God looks at us, He sees His perfect Son, and with that grace vanishes our confessed sins.

Amen.

;-/

[WKB]

A little more succinct than this post but still
quite compelling:

Ephesians 2:8 (New International Version)

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

[WhatNot]

If you read the next two verses you’ll see that they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house, they must have become believers, because then the whole family was baptized.

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Of course we must believe in Christ. And the only people who do believe are those whom God has appointed to faith.

"And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed." -- Acts 13:48

Faith is the conduit God has determined to employ to call forth His family from among all nations and races. If a person has faith in Jesus Christ it is because God determined from the foundation of the world to give that person His free, unmerited gift of grace through faith in Christ made possible by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

"Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.

But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you." -- John 10:25-26

"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." -- Ephesians 1:4-6

Claim for yourself the ability and good sense and piety to believe in Christ. I'm grateful to lay the entire event, the desire and the doing, at the feet of the Savior who alone is 100% responsible for my new eyes, new ears and rebirth, according to the will of God.

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." -- Phil. 2:13

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Amen. The astounding fact that faith is an unmerited gift of God’s grace is the foundation of the Reformation. We are justified by Christ’s righteousness alone, and not our own. The farther we stray from that fact through our own boasting, the closer we return to Rome’s works-based salvation.

[GOP Poet]

bookmark

[Just mythoughts]

Many Evangelicals identify themselves as "born again" Christians. And indeed, as our Lord expressly states in John 3:3-7, "unless one is born again," they cannot see, much less enter into the kingdom of God." What then, does it mean to be "born again?" Historic Protestants, both the Lutherans and Reformed, have not placed the notion of being "born again" at the center of the Christian faith in the way in which many of our Evangelical contemporaries do. The reason for this is not because Lutheran and Reformed Christians reject the idea of being "born again." Instead, they equate John's teaching on being born again with the larger Biblical category of "regeneration." That is, being "born again," is a synonym for being "regenerate," or "being made alive," and therefore, while an essential aspect of the Christian life, it is approached from the perspective that regeneration is something God does, not man.

There is a problem here. John 3:3 does not say born again... it says born from above. It is important to teach what the WORD says and not change the meanings of the word, it serves NO ONE especially the Heavenly Father, the One that sends that soul/spirit at conception to be born of woman.

[Lee N. Field]

If you read the next two verses you’ll see that they spoke the Word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house, they must have become believers, because then the whole family was baptized.

Be careful of reading things into the text that aren't there.

[wmfights]

The astounding fact that faith is an unmerited gift of God’s grace is the foundation of the Reformation.

Don't forget numerous Christian churches were persecuted for this belief prior to the Reformation.

It's not as if in the 1500's that Christians discovered this truth. In the 1500's control of Scripture by a few (because of the expense to reproduce it) was lost with the creation of the printing press. The result being that instead of smaller Christian churches understanding this truth now large numbers of Christians became aware of the TRUTH.

[ksen]

Philippian Jailer: “what must I DO to be saved?”

Answers...

A. Reformation theologion: (silence, crickets chirping... )

B. Paul: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

Of course you are begging the question, "Who is it that will want to believe?"

Reformed answer: The person upon whom God has given grance is the person that will even begin to want to believe. No grace, no desire to believe.

Faith and belief are symptoms of salvation, not the cause of it.

[enat]

The scriptures are clear that God is the source of saving faith (John 6:37, 44, 65; Acts 13:48; 16:14-15; 18:27; Eph. 2:4 10; 2 Tim. 1:9) and repentance (Zech. 12:10; Acts 5:31; 11:18) and though we think we are free in what we do, behind our plans and desires are those of God (James 4:13-16).

[colorcountry]

Amerians??

Can you familiarize me with the term?

[Iscool]

Interesting theological question I never thought of until reading your quote: Is Paul saying that salvation will be ascribed to the family if the Philippian jailer, individually, professes belief on Lord Jesus Christ

There's doesn't seem to be enough scripture to actually clarify that idea...But here's an interesting verse...

1Co 7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

One thing to consider is the scripture that says two will become one flesh...

One preacher I listen two says that being sanctified is being 'set apart'...The unsaved husband/wife is constantly in a spiritual turmoil...They are no longer part of the world, but not yet saved...