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No person can come to Christ by their own freewill !

Jerry N.

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We don't receive the gift of the Holy Spirit until we are saved. Before salvation the Holy Spirit is pulling us to repentance in a thousand different ways from the "outside" if you will. After we accept, Christ the Holy Spirit leads us from within, and that is the most important part of the gift of the Holy Spirit.
 
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Brightfame52

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We don't receive the gift of the Holy Spirit until we are saved. Before salvation the Holy Spirit is pulling us to repentance in a thousand different ways from the "outside" if you will. After we accept, Christ the Holy Spirit leads us from within, and that is the most important part of the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This sounds crazy. The Holy Spirit saves us Titus3:5-6


5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
 
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Jerry N.

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This sounds crazy. The Holy Spirit saves us Titus3:5-6


5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Of course we are saved by the Holy Spirit, but we don’t receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit until after we accept Christ. Are you saying that I was saved before I asked Jesus for forgiveness and salvation? That doesn’t fit with the book of Acts. When was Paul saved?
 
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zoidar

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Just on a quick google search I was able to find that Augustine believed in total depravity and that man was unable to be saved without Grace being first bestowed by God. That God’s grace is the sole source of salvation. But there is evidence that church fathers all the way back to 100 AD believed in total depravity. They might have called it something different (total inability, etc.), but it is there before Augustine.
I doubt it, but ok. Maybe you can show the evidence?
Many years back when I first came to CF, there was a poster whose screen name was AugustineWasCalvinist, so I’ve known for quite a while that Augustine held to total depravity. Of course, Augustine wasn’t a Calvinist, but his soteriology was remarkably close to Calvinism.
Maybe Calvinism should be called Augustinianism instead of the other way around. ^_^
 
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Brightfame52

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Of course we are saved by the Holy Spirit, but we don’t receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit until after we accept Christ. Are you saying that I was saved before I asked Jesus for forgiveness and salvation? That doesn’t fit with the book of Acts. When was Paul saved?
You sound confused to me, and I dont know anything about you. This is about Jesus said no man can believe on Him, they dont have the ability.
 
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Jerry N.

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You sound confused to me, and I dont know anything about you. This is about Jesus said no man can believe on Him, they dont have the ability.
You didn't answer my questions.
 
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Jack Terrence

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No it doesnt matter in salvation, all the same, dead in sin Rom 3:9,19-20
Yes, it does matter. Jesus said that the Jews of his generation will be under a greater judgment. He said that the Ninevites will stand in judgment against them.
9 What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin
This doesn't prove that Jews and Gentiles share guilt in the same measure. Jesus called only his own generation of Jews "a wicked and adulterous generation" because they wanted signs. Gentiles believed without signs. They did not carry all the guilt the Jews carried.
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped,
The Gentiles weren't under the law (Romans 2:14; 1 Corinthians 9:20-22).

and all the world may become guilty before God.
I thought Calvinists deny that "all the world" means everybody? ?????
 
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Jack Terrence

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Certainly in the earlier part of the chapter he mentioned the Jewish leaders who arranged Christ's crucifixion, but when he later talks of the natural; man, the context shows that he is not thinking only of those Jewish leaders:

“12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Co 2:12-14 NKJV)

Surely "the spirit of the world" was not only evident in the actions of the Jewish leaders, but in all who do not know the Saviour.
Verse 8 clearly tells us who didn't that didn't understand. It was the Jewish rulers who crucified Christ. Therefore, the contrast is not between the saved and the unsaved, but the Jewish rulers who couldn't understand the things of the Spirit of God and the apostles to whom the things of the Spirit was revealed.

12 Now we [the apostles] have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we [the apostles] might know the things that have been freely given to us [the apostles] by God.
13 These things we [the apostles] also speak, not in words which man’s [the Jewish rulers] wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man [the Jewish ruler] does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him [the Jewish ruler]; nor can he [the Jewish ruler] know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Co 2:12-14 NKJV)

There is no support for the Calvinist inability doctrine in this passage. In fact, Paul said that the veil is lifted from one's eyes "when one turns to the Lord" and not the other way around (2 Corinthians 3:16).
 
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Brightfame52

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Yes, it does matter. Jesus said that the Jews of his generation will be under a greater judgment. He said that the Ninevites will stand in judgment against them.

This doesn't prove that Jews and Gentiles share guilt in the same measure. Jesus called only his own generation of Jews "a wicked and adulterous generation" because they wanted signs. Gentiles believed without signs. They did not carry all the guilt the Jews carried.

The Gentiles weren't under the law (Romans 2:14; 1 Corinthians 9:20-22).


I thought Calvinists deny that "all the world" means everybody? ?????
All you have done here is deny all scripture proofs
 
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Brightfame52

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Verse 8 clearly tells us who didn't that didn't understand. It was the Jewish rulers who crucified Christ. Therefore, the contrast is not between the saved and the unsaved, but the Jewish rulers who couldn't understand the things of the Spirit of God and the apostles to whom the things of the Spirit was revealed.

12 Now we [the apostles] have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we [the apostles] might know the things that have been freely given to us [the apostles] by God.
13 These things we [the apostles] also speak, not in words which man’s [the Jewish rulers] wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man [the Jewish ruler] does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him [the Jewish ruler]; nor can he [the Jewish ruler] know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1Co 2:12-14 NKJV)

There is no support for the Calvinist inability doctrine in this passage. In fact, Paul said that the veil is lifted from one's eyes "when one turns to the Lord" and not the other way around (2 Corinthians 3:16).
Its the natural man that doesnt receive the the things of God, it doesnt matter the ethnicity lol
 
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A New Dawn

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I doubt it, but ok. Maybe you can show the evidence?

Maybe Calvinism should be called Augustinianism instead of the other way around. ^_^
Here is an article that demonstrates that the concept of total depravity was around long before Augustine.


Responses similar to yours about what to call Calvinism is why most Calvinists believe in calling them The Doctrines of Grace. Because they are truly Biblical.
 
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Jerry N.

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Here is an article that demonstrates that the concept of total depravity was around long before Augustine.


Responses similar to yours about what to call Calvinism is why most Calvinists believe in calling them The Doctrines of Grace. Because they are truly Biblical.
The link is very good and explains total depravity doctrine well. Here is a refuting article: REFUTING TOTAL DEPRAVITY

I still contend that both are true and that we can’t or are not intended to understand it. One must act with all the freedom of will we have to seek God and His righteousness, and we must recognize the mercy of God to bring us to Himself through the power of His Spirit. If a man is drowning, and he calls out for help. Then someone hears him and saves him, would he say that he saved himself?
 
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A New Dawn

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The link is very good and explains total depravity doctrine well. Here is a refuting article: REFUTING TOTAL DEPRAVITY

I still contend that both are true and that we can’t or are not intended to understand it. One must act with all the freedom of will we have to seek God and His righteousness, and we must recognize the mercy of God to bring us to Himself through the power of His Spirit. If a man is drowning, and he calls out for help. Then someone hears him and saves him, would he say that he saved himself?
The argument in that article is based on a secular definition of depravity rather than a biblical definition of it. Total depravity, biblically, means total inability. You can’t speak about biblical doctrine using secular definitions because they are part of fallen society, under the same influences as the rest of the fallen world.

As far as your example, the scripture in the article you quoted is a good example of what the answer is. One has to recognize that they are drowning and in need of help before they can call out. An unregenerated person doesn’t recognize that they are drowning to know they need to call out. They are more like the person who thinks they can swim to shore and save themselves.
 
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Jerry N.

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The argument in that article is based on a secular definition of depravity rather than a biblical definition of it. Total depravity, biblically, means total inability. You can’t speak about biblical doctrine using secular definitions because they are part of fallen society, under the same influences as the rest of the fallen world.

As far as your example, the scripture in the article you quoted is a good example of what the answer is. One has to recognize that they are drowning and in need of help before they can call out. An unregenerated person doesn’t recognize that they are drowning to know they need to call out. They are more like the person who thinks they can swim to shore and save themselves.
Right, my point is that the argument between free well and predestination is always presented as binary. The person drowning would call out if they knew help was nearby or not. Just as our instincts force us to cry for help, the Holy Spirit has been influencing the unsaved person to see that they are in trouble with their soul. Many philosophers have recognized that people see their depravity, but only some people choose to do something about it. That doesn’t mean that the Holy Spirit’s leading cannot be rejected. They might choose Hinduism or something else. The interaction between man’s free will and God’s predestination is not binary. Both come into play, but God gets all of the glory.
 
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