Elect does not mean "saved at birth"

I took a ten day vacation and this thread is still going?Wow.
I appreciate your patience with SkyPair Canady.
You are getting as far as I did but at least we tried.

 

Actually, I had hoped you would re-examine your relationship with God, canady. It is so very true that when husband and whfe don't respond to one another or one is unresponsive, the marriage is pretty much dead.

Here you have given me cause to believe that God never responds to you. Would you like to take back that remark? And if you do, how does He respond when you pray? How did He respond when you believed? Has praying changed your life? Any miracles? Or have you pretty much been like the acorn -- growing up into what you were designed to be in a very normal fashion for an "elect" one?

skypair

 

Do you think canady is experiencing the fullness of the Christian life if God doesn't even respond to him? That was his admission, not my accusation. Now I see no effort at all on his part to deny that God is unresponsive to him. Pretty soon that can only lead to skepticism and suspicion on his part (actually, already has).

So, in the interest of developing a healthy relationship, why don't we let canady answer for himself so we can get to the bottom of this.

skypair

 

skypair. Your personal attacks on me are nothing more than an attempt to distract from the obvious intellectual and theological thrashing you are taking.

Your beliefs are contrary to scripture. I have demonstrated that fact many times from God's Word. You, however, never let facts concerning God's Word stop you from believing what you want to believe.

I pray that Holy Spirit, according to His will, may someday convict you of your disgusting pride and convince you of your error. Until such a time, I am certain you will continue to swim in the sea of your own self-deception.

I refuse to respond to your insulting comments concerning my relationship with God. I will never allow a thread to become a debate on whether I am saved or not.

Go jump in your sea.

Peace to you:praying:

 

I have come to this conclusion about many people like SkyPair already, including SkyPair.

I have to keep reminding myself that I was once just as ignorant.
Thankfully, God took the blinders off of my eyes and took about 4 years to chisel away my pride to admit what the Bible so plainly teaches.

 

Yeah, it's so "plain" that the majority of believers don't believe it.

 

The majority are ignorant. And the greater majority in our day believe in no God at all.
Why is it surprising that the majority of people prefer to think of themselves as not being totally depraved?

 

That hasn't always been true. It is usually true, though. Here's why:

 

I recognize that but I don't remember where I read it. Could you help me out?

 

It's A. W. Pink. I copied it from the Walkington's Works thread.

 

Was it in the Sovereignty of God? I have that Audiobook but it has been a while since I listened to it.
It was excellent. It really helped me solidify what I had been reading.

 

Rippon has been posting quotes in that thread for quite a while. I seem to recall he mentioned it wasn't all from Sovereignty of God (which I've read and really appreciated), but I don't recall which books he used. I'm pretty sure he mentions the source(s) somewhere in the thread.

 

You are lumping MANY godly men into your "ignorant" comment. The minority of BELIEVERS (not humans) believe reformed theology for a reason...it's false doctrine. What you call totally depraved and what Scripture calls totally depraved are night and day.

 

OK...I'll take Pink's word for it :rolleyes: He must be the authority...

 

Study a little history..read confession from about 300 years ago. See what you find out.
Read baptist confessions such as the LBC or the westminster or even others such as Lutheran etc.
But that is a total diversion.
While I would doubt any new revelation, any new doctrine, the doctrines of grace are hardly new.

Godly or not, and many I am sure are, they are still wrong.
I am also rather sure we might have a differing list of who's who in the Godly men list.

As an aside, being from Cleveland, are you familiar with Alistair Begg?
I am pretty sure he is of a calvinistic persuasion.

 

None of this has anything to do with Pink's comment given by npetreley.

You are entitled to your personal opinion...but it is just that. If it were as clear cut as you make it, there would be no debate.

I am familiar with him, I listen to him on our local radio. I wouldn't dare call him ignorant as you did with every believer who doesn't see eye to eye with you, though. Last time I checked, Alistair Begg has two nostrils the same as me...he's only a man.
You mentioned your pride was chiseld away. Referring to every believer (the majority, btw) who are not calvinists as "ignorant" is a VERY prideful accusation to make, IMO.

 

That's pretty much what I would have said about Jesus when I was unsaved.

 

I hope you are not referring to me as being unsaved...

 

Not at all. I'm quite confident you are saved. I mean that to a person who is blind to the truth about anything (including Jesus), everything seems debatable.

Do you think the truth about Jesus is debatable now, though? I don't. It seems pretty obvious that we have the truth. Yet the world is filled with people who are either confident Jesus is not who He said He is, and people who think it's all still very debatable. That doesn't mean it is debatable.

 

I never once called every believer ignorant just because they do not see eye to eye with me.

I did say and will say again more clearly that any believer who is wrong about the doctrine of grace is either ignorant or dishonest or perhaps wrong for another reason I have missed but they are wrong.

As for pride and arrogance (something I have been guilty of way too many times)
That is what believing you have some good in your self is...prideful, arrogant.