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Men are not saved until they enter into the everlasting covenant with God, inaugerated by Christs blood, by an act of their own free will in accepting the offer given them by the Lord after they are drawn by the Father.
Christians are given the promise of marriage after they agree to it but they are not married until Christ returns for the wedding.
LA
Ah, yes! And the "engagement ring" was slipped on the finger on the day of Pentecost.
The only if that has regard to salvation in the gospel is "if any man hear my words and believe on Him who sent Me he hath eternal life and I will raise Him up on the last day"
Your problem is that you do not hear His words.
Yes, when we believe, we are born again. Believing comes with putting our faith in action.
Relationship.
The Salvation unto life given to us all, so that we could all choose to believe or not, was done through His work alone on the cross. (no freewill).
The provision was made at the cross, but not received/appropriated until one believes. Not everyone believes and not everyone is saved/born again (vs universalism). His wording is imprecise/inaccurate.
No, all were saved by His finished work on the cross. This is why all the 'ifs' in remaining in that position, and warnings to not fall away, before you were born again. Salvation is first a free gift, and not made 'everlasting' until you come into relationship with God. No unsaved man has the ability to work up a relationship with God. That is why it is a free gift given to all. Then, God see's what His people choose to do with it. We must choose to be born again, (given back to God a relationship), that He freely gave to us.
Most never do.
Most just remain in their 'saved' state, without seeking a relationship/born again experience, which is why most are said to be in apostacy. They fell from the grace given freely unto them, yet God is patient and kind, seeking to call them out of Babylon, in which they returned.
I do wish more understood the truth today.
Last edited by Lovebug; October 4th, 2012 at 07:13 AM.
Men are not saved until they enter into the everlasting covenant with God, inaugerated by Christs blood, by an act of their own free will in accepting the offer given them by the Lord after they are drawn by the Father.
Christians are given the promise of marriage after they agree to it but they are not married until Christ returns for the wedding.
LA
The bold:
This is when men are born again.
No man can make a decision to pick up their cross and follow Him, in an unsaved state. The unsaved man has no ability to seek God.
This is why God saved us first, and even in the shadow account of old, God saved Israel before He sent them into the wilderness to be tested. We are tested to be born again, not saved.
Most are in apostacy, as Israel went into apostacy. Fell from the free grace given to them, unto salvation.
Only when you make a free choice to pick up that cross that saved you and follow Him are you born again.
Ah, yes! And the "engagement ring" was slipped on the finger on the day of Pentecost.
Remember God divorced those who were not faithful to the message, and the message is that He was their Husband, and He saved them, without their doing one thing, prior to the testing in the wilderness. They had never believed, when He saved them. The only ones who 'believed' were the remnant that had been given faith. The majority who were unfaithful, were never given faith. Proving that no man can please God, without faith.
Now, all men are saved and given a measure of faith, so that no man is now without excuse, to move onward, and do what the Husband desires, which is to be born again.
God's purpose in not giving most a measure of faith in the old times was to prove that without faith no one has the ability to please God, so that His message would be clear. He is our Husband, and He alone saves.
God has both proved that without faith it is impossible to please Him, and He saved Israel before He sent them out to be tested in the wilderness to prove that they would fail, and He has also proved that with a measure of faith, we can be born again, (the remnant who had faith during those days), but the thing is that for all, He is the Savior, and He alone will receive glory for Salvation, for He did Save the remant, before they were given the measure of faith, too. They could not of believed, had He not. Israel proved that, too.
God has both proved that without faith it is impossible to please Him, and He saved Israel before He sent them out to be tested in the wilderness to prove that they would fail, and He has also proved that with a measure of faith, we can be born again, (the remnant who had faith during those days), but the thing is that for all, He is the Savior, and He alone will receive glory for Salvation, for He did Save the remant, before they were given the measure of faith, too. They could not of believed, had He not. Israel proved that, too.
Get off the Israel thing, OK? They are irrelevant in this. It is a new day with Christ.
Get off the Israel thing, OK? They are irrelevant in this. It is a new day with Christ.
Yes, life has been won. Not all remain in the free gift, which is why there is apostacy. Not all use the free gift, and are born again.
God does not change, nor do His ways. If all men were not given a measure of faith in this new day, God certainly would still be 'winking' at their unbelief, that is not the case, however. He now demands all men everywhere repent.
He chose to not give all men a measure of faith during the old times, to prove that without faith it was impossible to please Him. That has not changed either, in the big picture of it all, just because He now has supplied man with that measure of faith so that they are now without excuse.
Yes, life has been won. Not all remain in the free gift, which is why there is apostacy. Not all use the free gift, and are born again.
God does not change, nor do His ways. If all men were not given a measure of faith in this new day, God certainly would still be 'winking' at their unbelief, that is not the case, however. He now demands all men everywhere repent.
He chose to not give all men a measure of faith during the old times, to prove that without faith it was impossible to please Him. That has not changed either, in the big picture of it all, just because He now has supplied man with that measure of faith so that they are now without excuse.
Your obstinacy is appalling and an offense to me. You slander God.
Your obstinacy is appalling and an offense to me. You slander God.
How? Because I do not fall into unbelief in knowing that Salvation is what He claimed it is, a free gift? Sorry you have such a hard time with the facts. If we had to believe in order to be saved, it would be a work of man, if it was ours to work up/belief. Due to the fact that faith is a gift of God, no man can boast.
The gospel is not logical for mere men.
Here is a clue. He is both the Author and Finisher of man's faith.
If you think you authored your own faith, you are in unbelief. Even that does not mean you are not saved. He has considered all in unbelief, to have mercy on all.
He will call those who are in unbelief, out of the Babylon they have returned to.
His ways are past finding out, for those who do not believe. For those who do, ...what a blessing.
How? Because I do not fall into unbelief in knowing that Salvation is what He claimed it is, a free gift? Sorry you have such a hard time with the facts. If we had to believe in order to be saved, it would be a work of man, if it was ours to work up/belief. Due to the fact that faith is a gift of God, no man can boast.
The gospel is not logical for mere men.
Here is a clue. He is both the Author and Finisher of man's faith.
If you think you authored your own faith, you are in unbelief.
"The Bible is very clear, Christians aren't supposed to be busybodies, nor are they supposed to strive with any man who hasn't harmed him (Or someone else, by implication.)" RandPaulfor2016, May 10, 2013
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