Below I will remove any doubts or confusion you might have in thinking tulip is true and it’s not. Calvinism (tulip) is not true. It all stands or falls upon each letter the tulip represents. I know as I was a Calvinist for over 4 decades defending these doctrines of grace (tulip). And one of the most famous Calvinists of all Spurgeon went on record saying that tulip is the gospel. That is blatantly false and as Paul says in Galatians 1 that it is another gospel and adding to the gospel itself these man-made doctrines of grace.
As I've stated before, I don't do "ism's," I do Scripture.
So I will evaluate according to Scripture what you present.
So let me spell this out one more time with Scripture, the Bible.
The Spirit comes after faith, confession, repentance.
Not according to
John 3:3-8, where
one cannot know or be acquainted with the kingdom of God; i.e.,
the divine spiritual realm
unless he is born again.
The rebirth must come
before everything else.
Anyone granted eyes to see knows the order below and scripture is consistent in both testaments. The Spirit comes after believe, receive, confess, repent etc.......
Actually, the OT revelation is not
complete, it is completed in the NT revelation.
The OT is the NT concealed, the NT is the OT revealed.
OT revelation is to be understood
in the light of the completed NT revelation.
John 3:3-8, NT completed revelation, is the light in which the OT revelation of
Ezekiel 18:30-32 is to be understood.
Ezekiel 18:30-32
“Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!
Notice what comes first
1- Repent , turn away from sin
2- the after you repent you get a new heart/spirit ( calvinism- regeneration, new life)
3- repent then you live, have life- ie new heart, spirit.
John has the same order in in his opening of the gospel and in his purpose statement for writing his gospel. Receive, Believe, Birth
Where does it state below that "receive" was necessarily the first step?
All it does is present the relation of reception to belief, and does not exclude the other steps prior, per John 3:3-8, where rebirth precedes and is essential for everything else.
John 1:12-13
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent,
nor of human decision (to repent and believe) or a husband’s will, but born of God.
And
you miss what is actually being presented there:
1)
our right to co-heirs in Christ's personal inheritance, a
right because we are (legally) adopted sons, with all the
rights of a
begotten son, and
2)
no human decision is involved in our being born of God; i.e., our rebirth, just as Jesus states in
John 3:3-8.
Same order as above receive, believe, call on Him then the new birth follows.
John 20:31
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Once again the order is consistent with the OT- belief/repentance precedes life.
Romans 10:8-13
But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Again above we see its hearing the gospel, believing the message , confessing then calling upon the Lord results in salvation.
Acts tells us the same order in 11:18- "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.” Repent precedes life.
Paul confirms the order in Ephesians below as well. Hearing and believing precedes the Holy Spirit that we were sealed with not before belief.
Ephesians 1:13
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit
In Acts below the Spirit comes after repentance
Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
In Galatians the Spirit comes after hearing, believing, receiving
Galatians 3:2
I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?
Galatians 3:14
He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
In the
context of
Galatians 3, is Paul presenting
regeneration by faith,
or
is Paul presenting
justification by faith, in
contrast to
justification by law keeping (
Galatians 3:16)?
And is he using "faith" in relation to
regeneration, or in relation to
justification?
Is his point there regarding
faith not about receiving the
Spirit by faith
instead of by law keeping,
rather than receiving
regeneration by faith?
Paul is not presenting an order of regeneration there, where regeneration begins with faith unpreceded by anything else, contrary to
John 1:13,
John 3:3-8.
James and Peter have the same exact order in James 1:18 , 1 Peter 1:23.
Paul says in
1 Corinthians 4:15, "
for in Christ Jesus through the gospel I begat you,"
which is to say there, as is said in James and Peter above, that in the presence of the word proclaimed, the Holy Spirit regenerates one's spirit,
giving one to hear the word in truth and in power, to
receive it and
to believe it.
None of which excludes the rebirth
before being able to
receive it, which exclusion is simply your presumption,
contrary to Jesus in
John 1:13,
John 3:3-8.
See how scripture is consistent when you do not read your doctrine into it but read it objectively, without bias ?
Summary of The Biblical order- notice where new life, regeneration is on the list from Scripture.
With only your
assumption that it is not the first thing that must happen, as Jesus presents in
John 3:3-8.
You set Scripture against itself with your
assumptions, but not with Scripture
itself, which is clear on the matter in
John 3:3-8, and in agreement with all Scripture.
1- the preaching of the gospel- Rom 10
2- the hearing of the gospel- Rom 10
3- belief in the gospel- John 1:12
4- receiving the gospel- John 1:12
5- repentance Luke 5:32
6- the new birth that results in #7
7- salvation, eternal life- John 1:13
8- Justification- Rom 8:30
9- Sanctification- Rom 8
10- Glorification Rom 8:30
conclusion : the Spirit comes after faith , belief, receiving, repentance, confession, not before.
Not when Scripture is understood in its
context, and in agreement with itself in
John 3:3-8,
as demonstrated above.
