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Not Quite Calvinist.

All Becomes New

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I'd like to lay out my view of soteriology.

I will start by giving a general summation of my view and then color it up with scripture.

I asked Grok, the AI for X and this is how it summarized my view of soteriology based on articles I have written which I fed to Grok. This is what it (eventually) spit out.

Premise 1: God selectively chooses individuals for divine revelation and roles based on their alignment with His will, as demonstrated by figures like Abraham, Moses, and Paul.
Premise 2: These chosen individuals typically embody the virtues of the Beatitudes, indicating they are blessed by God to receive and appropriately handle divine revelation.
Premise 3: Within the church, the authority to spread the gospel is structured around this divine selection, where apostles and prophets, due to their direct revelation, hold a higher position, reflecting both predestination and the necessity of humble service.
Conclusion: Therefore, God's method of choosing individuals for divine revelation and leadership within the church is deliberate, based on foreknowledge and moral virtue, creating a hierarchical yet servant-hearted model for the spread of the gospel, which integrates elements of divine election and the call to humility.

I will now start to give evidence for my view (this will be a crash course; feel free to ask questions).

In Ephesians 1:13, Paul changes the group he is talking about when he says "In Him you also," contrasting with what he said earlier, "made known the mystery to us," which cannot be the Ephesians since they were not some of the "first to believe." Paul tells us who the us is in Ephesians 2:20 when he says, "built on the foundation fo the apostles and prophets," which Paul then says, "In Him you also," in relation to the Ephesians again. Paul then says, Ephesians 3:4-5 "When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."

Looking elsewhere for this pattern we can see this:

1 Corinthians 2:10
"these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God."

Noteworthy about this is that before this verse, Paul was using the pronoun “you” speaking to the Corinthians, as seen in, 1 Cor. 1:3–15, 30; 2:1–3. But in 1 Corinthians 2:10, Paul is speaking of another group, namely, the apostles and prophets, when it says of “we” or “us,” seen in, 1 Cor. 1:18, 23, 30; 2:6–7. This all culminates with Paul saying, 1 Corinthians 1:30 "And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,"

Further,

Romans 1:5, 8; 6:1, 11
"through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Which you only have to notice the noun usage of apostleship and pronoun usage of you, your, we respectively.

And,

1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:2, 6; 3:1-3
"Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this."

Also, Galatians 1:9, Philippians 3:17, Titus 3:15, Hebrews 5:11, 1 Peter 1:10-13 etc.

For my defense that These called ones, or specially anointed ones, or apostles and prophets, if you want to call it that, I point to:

Matthew 5:11-12
"“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Here, Christ is saying that the prophets of old embodied the characteristics of the Beatitudes, as such, they were a persecuted people but were blessed with God's favor. Without going into detail, I could make a case for how all the patriarchs, prophets, and whatnot all had a very good disposition of character and responded positively to the revelation they received. However, some people receive revelation and reject it, such as Balaam who is condemned throughout the Bible, especially 2 Peter 2:15-22.

And this is all why the Great Commission is so important. It is those who Christ revealed Himself to that are to spread the message of Christ, as seen here,

Matthew 28:19-20
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”"

There is more to say, such as that each person has a nature that determines how they will respond to the Gospel, but I think I have given you all enough work to fact-check me at this point.
 

Clare73

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I'd like to lay out my view of soteriology.
I will start by giving a general summation of my view and then color it up with scripture.
I asked Grok, the AI for X and this is how it summarized my view of soteriology based on articles I have written which I fed to Grok. This is what it (eventually) spit out.
Premise 1: God selectively chooses individuals for divine revelation and roles based on their alignment with His will, as demonstrated by figures like Abraham, Moses, and Paul.
Premise 2: These chosen individuals typically embody the virtues of the Beatitudes, indicating they are blessed by God to receive and appropriately handle divine revelation.
Premise 3: Within the church, the authority to spread the gospel is structured around this divine selection, where apostles and prophets, due to their direct revelation, hold a higher position, reflecting both predestination and the necessity of humble service.
Was Paul aligned with his will and embodying the virtues of the beatitudes on his way to persecute Christians when God divinely selected him and knocked him off his horse?
Conclusion: Therefore, God's method of choosing individuals for divine revelation and leadership within the church is deliberate, based on foreknowledge and moral virtue, creating a hierarchical yet servant-hearted model for the spread of the gospel, which integrates elements of divine election and the call to humility.
A little Biblical work on the meaning of God's foreknowledge (prognosis) is in order here.

In the Bible, God's foreknowledge is always of what he is going to do, not of what man is going to do.

Ac 15:18
- "Known to the Lord from all eternity are his works."

Is 48:3 - "I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them, I made them known; then suddenly I acted; and they came to pass."

Is 37:26 - "Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass."

Yes, God selects, but his selection has nothing to do with foreknowledge of what man is going to do, because that is not what God's foreknowledge is.
His foreknowledge is always of what he is going to do. . .and he knows what he is going to do becuse he has decreed that he shall do it.

God's selection is based on nothing but his sovereign choice, as we see in the case of Jacob (Ro 9:10-12).
I will now start to give evidence for my view (this will be a crash course; feel free to ask questions).
In Ephesians 1:13, Paul changes the group he is talking about when he says "In Him you also," contrasting with what he said earlier, "made known the mystery to us," which cannot be the Ephesians since they were not some of the "first to believe." Paul tells us who the us is in Ephesians 2:20 when he says, "built on the foundation fo the apostles and prophets," which Paul then says, "In Him you also," in relation to the Ephesians again. Paul then says, Ephesians 3:4-5 "When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."
Looking elsewhere for this pattern we can see this:
1 Corinthians 2:10
"these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God."
Noteworthy about this is that before this verse, Paul was using the pronoun “you” speaking to the Corinthians, as seen in, 1 Cor. 1:3–15, 30; 2:1–3. But in 1 Corinthians 2:10, Paul is speaking of another group, namely, the apostles and prophets, when it says of “we” or “us,” seen in, 1 Cor. 1:18, 23, 30; 2:6–7. This all culminates with Paul saying, 1 Corinthians 1:30 "And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,"
Further,
Romans 1:5, 8; 6:1, 11
"through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus."
Which you only have to notice the noun usage of apostleship and pronoun usage of you, your, we respectively.
And,
1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:2, 6; 3:1-3
"Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this."
Also, Galatians 1:9, Philippians 3:17, Titus 3:15, Hebrews 5:11, 1 Peter 1:10-13 etc.
For my defense that These called ones, or specially anointed ones, or apostles and prophets, if you want to call it that, I point to:
Matthew 5:11-12 - “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Here, Christ is saying that the prophets of old embodied the characteristics of the Beatitudes, as such, they were a persecuted people but were blessed with God's favor.
Actually, that is not what he is saying.

He is saying that reviling, persecution and false charges are blessings and occasions for rejoicing rather than occasions for discouragement and disappointment, because instead of demonstrating your rejection by God, they prove your approval by God and reward in heaven.
Without going into detail, I could make a case for how all the patriarchs, prophets, and whatnot all had a very good disposition of character and responded positively to the revelation they received. However, some people receive revelation and reject it, such as Balaam who is condemned throughout the Bible, especially 2 Peter 2:15-22.

And this is all why the Great Commission is so important. It is those who Christ revealed Himself to that are to spread the message
Christ reveals himself through the Holy Spirit to all the born again.
of Christ, as seen here,
Matthew 28:19-20
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”"
There is more to say, such as that each person has a nature that determines how they will respond to the Gospel, but I think I have given you all enough work to fact-check me at this point.
 
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All Becomes New

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Was Paul aligned with his will and embodying the virtues of the beatitudes on his way to persecute Christians when God divinely selected him and knocked him off his horse?

I did not realize Paul was on a horse. Is that in the Bible somewhere?

A little Biblical work on the meaning of God's foreknowledge (prognosis) is in order here.

In the Bible, God's foreknowledge is always of what he is going to do, not of what man is going to do.

Ac 15:18
- "Known to the Lord from all eternity are his works."

Is 48:3 - "I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them, I made them known; then suddenly I acted; and they came to pass."

Is 37:26 - "Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it; now I have brought it to pass."

Yes, God selects, but his selection has nothing to do with foreknowledge of what man is going to do, because that is not what God's foreknowledge is.
His foreknowledge is always of what he is going to do. . .and he knows what he is going to do becuse he has decreed that he shall do it.

That is just plain false as far as I can see, unless we are talking about different words, in which case, you have to account for the word that actually means foreknowledge, which is πρόγνωσις. Only two places in the Bible this word is found is here:

Acts 2:23
"this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men."

1 Peter 1:2
"according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you."

The word foreknowledge does not have anything to do with action at all. Just knowledge of time.

Actually, that is not what he is saying.

He is saying that reviling, persecution and false charges are blessings and occasions for rejoicing rather than occasions for discouragement and disappointment, because instead of demonstrating your rejection by God, they prove your approval by God and reward in heaven.

You are ignoring the earlier part of Matthew 5 as if they are completely unrelated.

Christ reveals himself through the Holy Spirit to all the born again.

I agree. And He reveals Himself especially to some.
 
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Clare73

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You seem to think you do.
It's not about authority over you, it's about the word of God correctly understood in the light of all the word of God.

That Scripture is not your authority is between you and God, not between you and me.

However, if the word of God in Scripture is not your authority, we have no reason for discussion, because
it doesn't matter what the actual meaning is, all that matters is what you want it to mean.
 
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All Becomes New

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It's not about authority over you, it's about the word of God correctly understood in the light of all the word of God.

That Scripture is not your authority is between you and God, not between you and me.

However, if the word of God in Scripture is not your authority, we have no reason for discussion, because
it doesn't matter what the actual meaning is, all that matters is what you want it to mean.

Great. How do you know Paul was on a horse?
 
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All Becomes New

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How do you know that he was not?

I don't know that. But I'm not the one making a claim about him being on a horse. And if you can't get a basic thing like that right, it shows you are listening to tradition over what scripture actually says.
 
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2PhiloVoid

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Probably from the pictures of my childhood. . .

Clare, you know why some people get frustrated with you . . . and because of that, you need to consider backing off a bit.

I understand your reasoning, but that's only because I have a few extra insights; however, many others won't be able to understand your reasoning, and it will be for no fault of their own since they haven't been afforded those same insights.
 
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2PhiloVoid

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I don't know that. But I'm not the one making a claim about him being on a horse. And if you can't get a basic thing like that right, it shows you are listening to tradition over what scripture actually says.

Brother, save yourself the frustration in this instance. There's a good reason why you can and why you should (for your own peace of mind).
 
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