As for thinking that I meant to be offensive (i.e. intending to hurt people's feelings so as to cause only pain): This is simply not true. You are not God to truly know me, my heart, my mind, and or thoughts.
I do not need to be God to know the intentions behind words
that people chose to use. Anybody over the age of 30... and
I am MUCH older than that, would be able to understand your
intention for using the following words - it does not matter
WHAT you say now.
Bible Highlighter said:
↑
No offense, but I believe Calvinism is a club for those who fit a certain personality type or it fits a person who has made certain cold unloving choices in life.
But you need not worry because (a) I am a big boy and I can stand
to have people
JUDGE me for being "cold" and "unloving" for repeating
HIS WORDS and (b) Jesus
TOLD US to expect
such behavior from those following "
another gospel"...
in fact, it is actually a BLESSING to me.
Remember, according to JESUS, the church consists of many
unsaved "
tares" sown by Satan and relatively FEW saved
"
wheat" sown by God... and He
PROMISED that we
could tell the difference by their "
fruit", which is
not just their behavior, since non-Christians
often behave righteously, but by the
"
fruit" of their doctrines.
In other words, since there are essentially TWO (2) different and
contradicting "gospels" in the church (monergism and synergism)
we can know those teaching
FALSE doctrines are either (a) just
"
babes in Christ" needing much correction or (b) unsaved "
tares"
showing the "
fruit" of NOT being saved "
wheat"... there are not
other options provided in Scripture. I am not judging you since
I do not know whether you are a "
babe in Christ" needing much
correction or someone showing the "
fruit" of an unsaved "
tare".
Yet, my Bible tells me to save myself.
Does it?
Before you can even PRETEND to understand the MEANING
of any passage you must first be able to discern the CONTEXT
because (as noted earlier, the church consists of BOTH the saved
"wheat" sown by God and destined to eternal life AND the unsaved
"tares" sown by Satan and destined to eternal torment.
Now... you cited a couple of "proof texts"...
let's look at the CONTEXT of those texts to discern the CONTEXT,
are they focused on (a) the "wheat" or (b) the "tares" or (c) Both?
(1) You cited Acts 2:40 which says to "
save yourselves from this
untoward generation". Now, we know the
CONTEXT is not the
unsaved "
tares" in the church because (a) they
ARE the untoward
generation we are to save ourselves from and (b) the people who
are the
FOCUS of that command to "
save yourselves" are those
who are "
pricked in their heart" (already being "
drawn" by God)
and "
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to
all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
[v 37and 39]
So, you see, the "proof text" you cited was
ONLY for those who
had been "
chosen" or "
elected" to be saved and who were being
"
drawn" by God (the "
wheat")... it was
NOT (of course) for the
unsaved "
tares" who were sown by Satan and are destined to the
same fire prepared for Satan and his demons [Mat 25:41]. NOW
do you
SEE WHY you must discern
CONTEXT of a passage before
you can even PRETEND to understand the
MEANING of a verse?
The command to "
save yourselves" was
ONLY for those who were
"
pricked in their heart"... those who "
our God shall call".
I hope I helped you LEARN something in this example.
My Bible tells me to draw near to God and He will draw near to me.
My Bible tells me to cleanse my hands, and purify my heart.
“Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” (James 4:8).
First, you embarrass yourself whenever you say "my Bible tells me"
because you do
NOT have a "special" Bible. But let's (again) look
at the
CONTEXT of your "proof text" to see if you have any chance
of understanding the
MEANING of the passage.
Contrary to the first "proof text" that you offered (above) the
passage in James is
NOT directed to those who are regenerated,
and producing the "
fruit" of being "
children of God", but it is talking about those who are still walking in the flesh and
CAPTIVE to Satan.
Jas 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you.
So the question I would ask you (since you APPLY this passage
to yourself)... are
YOU living in the flesh and
CAPTIVE to Satan?
Does this verse apply to
YOU or
ANY regenerated person who is
walking in the Spirit? Of course it does NOT apply to those who
are walking in the Spirit. James 4:4-10 is NOT talking to all men.
Secondly (and this is
CRITICAL for you to understand if you
EVER
want to understand the Gospel of the Bible)... Scripture does not ever
contain contradictions. When you read passages like James 4:4-10,
and you come up with a "theory" of what that passage means... you must then
TEST your "theory" against
ALL RELATED SCRIPTURE to see if there is any contradictions. Because, if there is a contradiction
with
RELATED SCRIPTURE the you can know absolutely that your "theory" is incorrect.
In this case your "theory" is that
ALL MEN can "
draw near to God"
and "
cleanse their hands and purity their hearts". That is YOUR
premise stated above.
However, there are
MANY different Scriptures that contradict your
"theory" so we can know absolutely that your "theory" is not
Biblical and, therefore, incorrect (false doctrine)
(1) Mark 4:12 teaches that some men were
NEVER MEANT to be
saved. They can neither "
draw near to God" or "
cleanse themself".
Jesus explains clearly that some men are not
GIVEN the ability to
either "
perceive" or "
understand" the Gospel and, therefore they
can
NEVER "
be converted" or "
have their sins forgiven".
So we see that
RELATED Scripture contradicts your "theory" that
ALL MEN can "
draw near to God" or "
cleanse themselves", in fact,
the OPPOSITE is Biblical, some men were
NEVER MEANT to be saved.
(2) Romans 9 is clear that God
CREATES some men to be
"
vessels of mercy" (saved) and He
CREATES other men to be
"
vessels of wrath" (unsaved).
Again we see that
RELATED Scriptures contradict your "theory" that
ALL MEN can "
draw near to God" or "
cleanse themselves" since
men
CREATED to be "
vessels of wrath" have NO HOPE of deciding
to be "
vessels of mercy". It is
GOD (not man) that chooses who
HE WILLS to be saved. We see this again in the next example.
(3) In John 6 Jesus was very clear that
NO MAN can ever come
to Him unless the Father first "
draws them" and
ALL MEN that the
Father draws "
shall come" to Him... and He will lose
NONE of them.
This was Jesus teaching the Biblical doctrine of "
election" and, when
His disciples realized Jesus taught salvation by "
election" then MANY
of them immediately
abandoned Him [John 6:65-66] because they,
like most men today, do not WANT a salvation plan where God is
Sovereign and Autonomous. They WANT a salvation plan where
MEN chose to save themselves.
YOUR "theory" is the exact opposite. You pretend that
ALL MEN
cam come to Jesus and
SOME MEN will be lost. You cannot have
it
BOTH ways... either JESUS is telling the Truth or
YOU are correct
and Jesus is just a big fat
LIAR. I wonder which it is?
And so, in less than 2 minutes I have provided you with BIBLICAL
proof that your "theory" (that
ALL MEN can come to God and that
ALL MEN can cleanse themselves) and
SOME who are "
drawn" will
be
LOST... is just a false doctrine of man, it is just a common heresy
taught by those who are NOT saved "
wheat" or (at best) those who
are only "
babes in Christ" needing much correction.
In other words, Jesus was speaking to the Jews in
John 6:44-45 and not unbelieving Gentiles. So those who have learned of the Father would be faithful Jews under the Old Covenant
and not just anyone today.
But of course that common heresy designed to
IGNORE the Truth
and is contradicted in the simple fact that Romans 6 applies to
BOTH
the Jews and Gentiles... since (a) there is only
ONE shepherd and
there is only
ONE fold and (b) Jesus prays for
THEM ALONE who
are "
given to Him"... He does NOT pray for "
vessels of wrath".
You must engage in mental gymnastics to DENY "election" of both
the Jew and Gentile (as one fold) under ONE shepherd.
Joh 10:16
And other sheep I have,
which are not of this fold:
[the Gentiles] them also I must bring,
and they shall hear my voice;
and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Joh 10:26-28
But ye believe not,
because ye are not of my sheep,
as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,
and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:15
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father:
and I lay down my life for the sheep.
[both Jew and Gentile]
Joh_17:9
I pray for them:
[the sheep, both Jew and Gentile in one fold]
I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me;
for they are thine.
Also,
Romans 3:11 was said in context of
Psalms 53 (a Psalm by David). The context is Gentiles at that time who denied God's existence. Yet, David was a believer, and so thus that does not mean that there was no man who did not seek after God; For surely David was a man after God's own heart.
That is hilarious.
In the OT it was true that
NO MAN would ever "
seek God"
except those God regenerated. So showing David is an example
is only showing a man
GOD "
drew" to Him... and not the norm.
Any HONEST Bible student would admit as much. For MOST Jews
were never saved.
The same applies to the NT.
NO MAN will ever "
seek God" except
those God Regenerated... (Remember now, this applies to the NT
and
NOT the OT. As, again, most "Christians" are unsaved "
tares"
NEVER MEANT to be saved, and NOT saved "
wheat"... and, clearly,
no non-Christian ever "
seeks God".
So
PRETENDING that Romans 3:10-12 applies to the OT does not
even pass the "giggle test" and
PRETENDING that it is just a
LIE,
and (unregenerated) men CAN ACTUALLY "
seek God" is jus clear
heresy and rejection of Scripture, which states
NO, NOT EVEN ONE.
Again, those
WANTING to preach heresy can
DENY or
IGNORE
what the Bible says... but this teaching is neither difficult or some
"mystery" for all those with "
ears to hear". However, it's a mystery
(and a contradiction to their heresy) for all those men who were
NEVER MEANT to "
perceive" or "
understand" the harmony of
Scripture... those who were
NEVER MEANT to "
be converted"
or have "
their sins forgiven".
Jim