What is meant by Cals when they ask: do you believe "by our own ability?"

I recall the story about a particular Pharaoh in Egypt... :laugh:

 

I looked at where you might have seen some hope akin to George Whitefields famous conclusion "we become Calvinists by the grace of God" and concur that perhaps the process is in motion! :thumbsup: :laugh:

 

I am what I am--a Biblicist!

 

Oh yeah, the one God judicially hardened after he hardened his own heart.

 

Ive heard that a few times lately....but what is it actually?

 

I am not a Calvinist and did not go to a Calvinistic college.
The same can be said for Arminian. I am certainly not Arminian.
As I study the Bible on my own I arrive at my own conclusions, not those of any one person or system. For example I am a dispensationalist because of my own study. But I may not have as many or as few dispensations as others.

I have come to conclude:

And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. (Ecclesiastes 12:12)

 

I seriously doubt you're a dispensationalist via your own study alone. I do however embrace your own words that you come to your own conclusions.

 

No. You affirm it everytime you have the opportunity. You assert that all men are walking about with all sins forgiven, yet one thing is lacking. What is that one thing?

 

See what I mean? Everything is from God so all things are hallowed. They're in effect saying there is no difference between the flesh and the spirit. Mormons say that.

Is the citing of verses necessary to rebut an error so elementary and basic?

 

By my own study doesn't mean I exclude the books/works of other men and teachers.

 

VIII Parrot Disease

And how do they hear without an ear to hear what the Spirit says?

Every day a jailor brought the prisoners their food, and as he laid down the dishes he would say a word to them. If their meal was flesh he would remind them that they were eating corpses, or give them some account of the slaughtering: or, if it was the inwards of some beast, he would read them a lecture in anatomy and show the likeness of the mess to the same parts in themselves. Or if the meal were eggs he would recall to them that they were eating the menstrum of a verminous fowl, and crack a few jokes with the female prisoner. So he went on day by day. Then I dreamed that one day there was nothing but milk for them, and the jailor said as he put down the pipkin:



"Our relations with the cow are not delicate—as you can easily see if you imagine eating any of her other secretions."



Now John had been in the pit a shorter time than any of the others: and at these words something seemed to snap in his head and he gave a great sigh and suddenly spoke out in a loud, clear voice:



"Thank heaven! Now at last I know that you are talking nonsense"



"What do you mean?" said the jailor, wheeling round upon him.



"You are trying to pretend that unlike things are like. You are trying to make us think that milk is the same sort of thing as sweat or dung."



"And pray, what difference is there except by custom?"



"Are you a liar or only a fool, that you see no difference between that which Nature casts out as refuse and that which she stores up as food?"​

—C. S. Lewis, The Pilgrim's Regress​

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You are like the jailor. You can see no difference between the flesh and the Spirit. Both are from God, but one He does not receive, and the other He does.

 

I wouldn't expect you to get it and you didn't disappoint. Have fun erecting your strawmen not wasting my time.

 

So People like Pink, A Rogers, Spurgeon, Luther, Edwards etc have no relevance to you then. I wonder, do you think the HS had enlightened these folks so that they could in-turn do the same for you or do you as a "Blblesist" consider it your responsibility to extract it directly from Scripture.....is that what you mean by biblesist?

Then does any Confessions of faith serve you or do you consider them also as null & void? This is interesting this "Biblesist" moniker ....to me at least. Anybody else care to comment?

OK read it again YOU DONT EXCLUDE other men...my apologies, read it wrong.

 

I have read plenty of Spurgeon's works. I read some of Pink's. The others I don't have. The Holy Spirit works through his word, not through commentaries. That doesn't mean I don't learn through commentaries, but the Holy Spirit speaks to me when I am meditating on His Word.
A Biblicist is simply one who follows the Bible.
A Baptist has as one of his major distinctives that the Bible is his final authority in all matters of faith and doctrine. So it is with me.

I don't normally look at Confessions of Faith. For one, I don't have any to look at. I use my library more than the ones on-line. And secondly I don't find that a Confession of Faith would be particularly helpful.

 

What if you find the bible appearing to contradict itself...what do you do to resolve the problem?

 

"Read to reject."
In other words read with an analytical mind.
Most of the commentaries that I have are written by Calvinists when you consider men like Barnes, Matthew Henry, etc. Right now in the thread on the kenosis theory their works are helpful. But when it comes to eschatology I may have to find another source. I have Keil and Delitzch on the OT. They are liberals believing in the JEDP theory and other liberal ideas. I reject those things when I read them. But I know they have an excellent knowledge of Hebrew, so when it comes to the meanings of Hebrew words they are fairly reliable. That is what I mean by "Read to reject." Reject the bad, accept the good. No one is perfect on everything; not even Spurgeon.

 

My turn to not read your post carefully.
There are many places where the Bible appears to contradict itself.
Usually further study clears up any contradictions.

 

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