Faith From The Heart...

Maybe this was missed or I missed the response...I will ask again:

I have a question. The Scriptures state "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved". The verb is present active...meaning YOU believe. If the believing were an action being done by another to me, meaning the Spirit believing or exercising faith for me, wouldn't it use the passive voice?

An example of that is where Paul commands us, "Be ye filled with the Spirit" and "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" Both appear to be passive voices that recognize we yield and the action is done actually to us not by us. Both can be translated "Allow yourself to keep on being filled" Meaning yield to the filling. We don't actually do the action of being filled, that is done by the Spirit but we do act passively and yield. The same with being transformed. It appears passive meaning, "Allow yourself to keep on being transformed". Again the transformation is done by the spirit of God through the renewing of the mind. We cannot do the transforming but yield to it by learning Bible doctrine and the spirit transforming us.

However, when it says, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" If the Spirit were doing the action as above, wouldn't it or shouldn't it rightly be a passive voice and not an active voice which reflects US doing the action?

 

You mean like when Peter stated "...save yourselves from this untoward genteration..." in Acts 2 and after that about 3000 souls were saved.

He wasn't meaning that you can save yourself but that if you do not act in faith toward the Work of Christ done for you, you will be condemned with the present generation.

It is our responsibility to believe or not.
We (the world) can reject the gospel that CAN save us (it could not potentally save them if the work was not actaully done on their behalf).

Even Paul states "I beseach (plead, beg) you therefore be reconciled..."

The action of faith is the persons.

Man does have the capsity to believe but if left to himself he will never believe the truth of God of which is the only belief that saves.
That is why God must reveal truth to man, since man on his own will never come to understand the spiritual things of God because they are spiritually discerned and man is not spiritual in that sense but natural.

When God reveals truth to man it is the only time man has an option to believe against that which his nature has dictated to him since birth. All that man learns through natural means (which constitutes that which he will believe even in the natural sense) is twisted and convoluted because of his nature. Why? Because man never knew Truth and so never could choose anything but the lie. Therefore it is only by God by passing this natural process (where by a understands and forms or determines his beliefs) and delivering truth directly to man which allows man to even have a choice to beleive or reject the truth revealed.

It is much akin to Adam and Eve. They had the capcity to do good or evil. They continued doing good because they had no other information whereby a choice could be made, until... the serpent brought forth something new to them - a choice. They could no more do evil on their own, than we could do salvic good as sinners on our own. Their nature was innocent and it can be presummed that they could go either way. But they had to be given something different to believe in order for them to turn to one or the other. Why did they not choose the good then, 1) That without God leading and guiding and 'constantly being with us' (unlike with Adam and Eve) - they did what man will always do; go his own way. (2) IMO - to better help us understand - Without God we can do nothing.

 

Further Points Of Clarification

Concerning Albert Barnes and his status as a moderate Calvinist -- it has absolutely nothing to do with infra or supra --lapsarianism .

Dr. Samuel Chandler 1693-1766 was also "moderately Calvinistic and leaned toward Arianism" according to Wikipedia . He was British , but was of the New Divinity School of thought . That association was a taint against his Calvinistic crendentials .

Dr. James Macknight (1721-1800 ) the commentator wrote "Apostolical Epistles" and "Harmony Of The four Gospels " among other things . I do not own a single book of his . However , I do own Robert Haldane's : "Exposition Of Romans" . In Haldane's treatment of Romans he quotes Dr. Macknight extensively --- always in the negative . Macknight could hardly be called a true Calvinist since he denies most of the core platforms of Calvinism . He was a liberal . Even Arminians would find some of his views offensive .

 

No that is not what I meant, I posted what I meant. Please stick to what I asked if you are going to respond. The context of "save yourselves" is not the same first of all and not applicable. But again, more importantly, NO, that is not what I meant. Please go back and read what I asked and respond to the distinctions I pointed out and asked about. Thank you.

 

In my opinion the context is exactly the same. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved" was (as I am sure you know) the answer given by Paul and Silas to the Philippian gaoler's question, "What must I do to be saved?" Peter's words on the day of Pentecost, "Save yourselves from this untoward generation" are similarly in the context of a question, this time from many people in Jerusalem. Although they don't actually say "to be saved", the context indicates that that is exactly what they were asking about. Acts 2.37-42:

37 ¶ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?"
38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation."
41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
42 ¶ And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. ​

Incidentally, the NKJV has "Be saved" rather than "Save yourselves". I don't know Greek, but I understand from Strong's Concordance and other reference works that the Greek verb there is in the passive.

 

I disagree that they are fair comparisons but my lovely calls and later I will elaborate. I see your point but their is a nuance that I believe separates them in the case of my question. I would still like to have an answer to my first question though instead of going to someone else's passage.

 

Not quite sure what you mean by "going through someone else's passage", but anyway, I'll have a go at answering your original question, which I think was:

"The Scriptures state "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved". The verb is present active...meaning YOU believe. If the believing were an action being done by another to me, meaning the Spirit believing or exercising faith for me, wouldn't it use the passive voice?"​

I see a balance in Scripture between God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. Jesus said in John 6.37:

37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out."​

That's God's sovereignty.

But that does not mean we are just to sit back as it were, and wait to see if we are included in "All that the Father gives to Jesus Christ". In John 6.35, Jesus said:

Joh 6:35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.​

I am not certain that I have answered your question in the way you intended. If not, I apologise if I have misunderstood the question.