Featured Is Pelagius Teaching On The Rise?

Well, if a man cannot regenerate himself, how can he take credit for eternal life?

Even if you choose to be saved, you must depend on God to regenerate you, NO??

Not everybody who chooses to be saved will be saved.

Mat 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Jesus here tells of people who believed they were saved, but were not. Did they believe in God? YES. Did they make God the Lord of their life? YES, in fact it is emphasized by Jesus that they said "Lord, Lord" TWICE.

So why weren't they saved?

Because they depended on their works. Look at their claim, they claimed to have prophesied in Jesus' name. They cast out devils in Jesus' name, and they did MANY WONDERFUL WORKS in Jesus' name. They depended on their good works to earn them heaven instead of submitting to God and depending on Jesus alone to save them.

Now look at a man who did it right.

Luk 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

You probably know the story, the publican and the Pharisee went into the temple. The Pharisee bragged about his good works but was not saved.

Did the publican get dragged into the temple? NO, he went in of his own free will. What was different was his attitude about himself. He did not claim any good works that could merit salvation, but confessed he was a wicked sinner and cast himself on the mercy of God.

And Jesus said this publican went down to his house justified.

Did the Pharisee want to be saved? YES. Why was he not saved? Because he did not submit to God and trust in him, but depended on his own righteousness and his own good works to merit salvation.

The man that cries out to Jesus to save him from his sins is saved.

Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

 

Someone needs a theological dictionary. Words don't mean what you want them to mean just because that is what you want them to mean. Free will is not the extent of the teachings of Pelagius. To represent them as the same thing is either intentionally dishonest or wholly uninformed.

 

That's like saying anyone that believes one must persevere to the end doesn't understand salvation to begin with.

 

Actually semi-Pelagianism is more prevalent in Baptist churches than Pelagianism. Semi-Pelagianism does not deny original sin, but it also teaches that man cooperates with God in salvation. Man is tainted by sin, according to semi-Pelagianism, but not completely fallen. Charles Finney was the great modern proponent of this theology, and his handiwork still dominates broad evangelicalism.

 

"Reformed" Baptists do, also, believing in all the petals of TULIP. And they mistakenly refer to those as the "doctrines of grace", as if Arminians and others do not believe in grace.

 

The early church fathers were Greek in orientation, and they had a different concept of sin from that which developed in the Latin-influenced church.

 

That is correct. A study of Pelagius is in order.

 

If you are equating that with Arminian Baptists, this is a gross misrepresentation and injustice.

 

Oh, it is there. I can rattle off at least a dozen fundie-type Baptist and baptistic churches in north Jersey that channel Finney. But more and more you're seeing churches that are retreating on the Finney model in place of conversion through osmosis.

 

Not jumping, automatically or otherwise. Notice my use of the word "If"?

 

Well, lets see...

many deny Original Sin, deny that we have had imputed the Fall of Adam towards us, deny that we are spiritually dead, hold that we can still come to Jesus by freewill alone, no need for extra enabling Grace...

yep, would say that its alive and well in Evangelical circles today!

 

Yes, and many Christians have denied this from the beginning of the church.

Yep, because Ezekiel 18:20 says the son shall not bear the iniquity of his father. Many Christians have believed this from the beginning of the church.

When we are born we are not spiritually dead, Paul said he was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and he died.

Rom 7:9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.


Paul HAD to be speaking of spiritual death here, he could not possibly have written that he physically died. So Paul himself tells us he was originally spiritually alive. He told us in verse 7 that the law made him to know what sin is. So, when Paul learned the law and came to know what sin is, he was convicted as a sinner and spiritually died. It is you that denies scripture, not me.

Jesus said "Come unto me". He did not attach any conditions to this, and he did not say a person had to be made spiritually alive to come to him. In fact, Jesus said a person must come to him to have life.

Jhn 5:40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

It is you that teaches the false doctrine that a person must have life to come to Jesus. Jesus taught the exact opposite, that a person must come to him to have life.

This is an outright falsehood and you know it. There is not one person here at BB that claims a person can come to Jesus without God's grace. I challenge you to show where ANYONE here has EVER said that.

You can't show that and you know it, you have told an intentional falsehood.

You say all sorts of silly things, I would completely ignore you except that others might believe your nonsense.

 

I applaud you for this link.
Amen
MB:applause::applause::applause:

 

well, according to paul, its ALL of God, even our faith to receive Jesus comes to us by Him, part of the entire 'salvation package!"