STT, I pastor a growing church, I am a spiritual leader in our community, I am leading our church through a very exciting building project right now, I minister in our prison weekly, I am taking three classes (two of which are master's level history courses), I have five young children that require much of me, I preached seven times last week, and this week not many times less.
I don't have time to answer every question you throw out there.
You expose your immaturity by publicizing that you expect such nonsense.
The Scriptures have perspicuity- your words are utterly void of that.
And I don't request nor require you to excuse me.
I don't care if you excuse me.
Who are you???
I have more than a clue of what is at your core.
All anyone would have to do is read your words and they reveal your core.
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks- Matthew 12:34
If they read your words they will see that you believe at your core that salvation is by faith plus ACTING UPON FAITH.
It could not be clearer.
Yes.
MacArthur's view is nearly identical to mine along the lines of lordship salvation.
What YOU are saying MacArthur and all people who value sola fide would spurn.
MacArthur believes, as I do, that true faith PRODUCES works and is of such a nature that the believer naturally yields to the lordship of Christ.
You believe that faith is some abstract thing that has to be activated by some mysterious work of ACTING UPON IT.
You believe, it appears, that God gives everybody saving faith but it does not save until they activate by some mysterious volitional work of ACTING UPON IT.
So it is by grace through faith PLUS acting upon your faith.
So you admit it.
You believe salvation comes by faith PLUS.
Your prooftexting here seems to indicate that you believe salvation comes by faith PLUS trying to enter a door and standing firm to the end.
The RESULT is good works.
The good works are not part of what saves you.
You said you must ACT UPON FAITH in order to be saved.
The Bible teaches the opposite.
You must BELIEVE to be saved.
The acting upon faith is simply the natural and inevitable result.
You see, Skandelon, Arminians CANNOT abide sola fide- not in its purity.
You cannot because your ENTIRE SOTERIOLOGICAL SYSTEM rests absolutely, completely upon the premise that our salvation is really the result of our choice.
But since the Bible says that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone you have to REDEFINE FAITH to make your system sound biblical.
At your core you believe this: Salvation is by grace through CHOICE.
With lip service you SAY this: salvation is by grace through faith.
You have to redefine faith as a choice.
But faith is not a choice.
You do not CHOOSE to believe ANYTHING.
Faith comes by the power of external forces working on you persuading you that something is true.
You don't CHOOSE to believe in gravity.
Gravity persuades you that its existence is true.
You don't CHOOSE to believe in Christ as Lord.
The Gospel and the Holy Spirit PERSUADE you that he is Lord.
No choice involved there.
But you and other anti-cals have to, in order to justify the existence of your entire system, ADD one more step to it: ACTING UPON FAITH.
Because acts are the results of choice.
You HAVE TO, I mean ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO, have choice involved in salvation.
So you just ADD it in there to suit you.
But like it or not, salvation is not by choice.
It is by grace through faith.
Isn't this verse talking about unbelievers that scorn the knowledge of the Lord? Further, isn't the actual context of the verse that "simple" indicates "foolish"? (i.e., how long will the foolish love foolishness?)
In other words, this verse has nothing to do with the simplicity of the gospel message; and this verse doesn't say what you're trying to make it say. Worse, you would apply it to a fellow believer?
Is there a passage you can reference about the "simplicity of the Gospel?"
I've not seen it, but I do know the verse that many people point to. It's typically used to mock study, intellect, laboring in the word &c contrary to the Biblical mandate of how we are to behave towards such that do, 1 Timothy 5:17.
Let me be clear.
I do not deny that the Gospel is simple enough for a child to understand on its surface.
It is a poor man's Gospel.
But no Christian should be satisfied with just the surface of the doctrines of Christ once he has been saved.
And he CERTAINLY should not despise the deep and complex truths of Scripture.
He should mine for them as precious treasure.
He should be most thankful for those with theological training who help him uncover those glorious nuggets located deep beneath the surface.
There's something wrong with somebody who hates depth and despises Christian scholarship.