Is the GOSPEL a work of the Holy Spirit, or not?

It is the gospel that is the power unto salvation. This is the only way.

You say this. You take 1Cor.2:14 (spoken to believers) out of its context to teach error.

Foolishness.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found.
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost.
"For I am come not to call the righteous, but sinners unto repentance."

Those verses don't teach Irresistible Grace. You only think they do, taking them out of context and squeezing them into a pre-conceive theology.

 

:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

 

Before, you said a man must be enabled to receive the Gospel. Now you say he already is able. He has that ability by nature. Are you sticking to this story, now?

 

If you came to my door and it was locked, you could not enter could you? It is not that you lack the ability to walk through my doorway, you do, but the door is locked. If I unlock the door and open it, I have enabled you to enter. But you walk in with the ability you already possessed.

Men have the ability to believe, we all exercise faith many times daily. But no man can believe what he does not know. When God revealed Jesus to us by his scripture, we were all enabled to believe, but we believe with our own ability.

I hardly believe this is too difficult for you to understand, I could have easily understood this when I was seven years old.

 

Reply to Bro. Dallas(Frogman)

Bro. Dallas,

I am going to respond to some of what you posted to me, and because of it's length, I may not get to all of it. Okay?

Here are the two verses you used to support your view:

Eph. 2:1 and Col. 2:13

Now, lets look at Eph. 2:1, and go just a few verses further down and see what it means to be "quickened".

Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved; )

6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

So, here, Apostle Paul is telling us that Jesus has "quickened" us(made us alive)in Him. If we are in Him, were are saved/regenerated by His blood. We are regenerated/quickened/made alive via His blood. In this passage, they weren't quickened "to hear"(made alive to hear), but quickened because they heard, and were placed in Jesus Christ.

Now, let's expand Col. 2:13 and get to the "meat of the bone":

Col. 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.


Look at how Apostle Paul wrote this. In verse ten he states "ye are complete in Him. In verse twelve, "buried with Him in baptism. In verse thirteen, "quickened together with Him. When we are quickened/made alive, we are regenerated/saved. Salvation does come in "clumps and/or wads", but is a package deal. When we are saved, we are placed in Him, and not before we are saved.


I will respond to the other parts of your post in the next/following posts. I love you, Bro. Dallas!!

 

Bro. Dallas, you posted:

Yes, that is correct. But back up to verse twenty-two, and you will see that God isn't referring to Jesus(My Son), from verse twenty-three to the end of that chapter.

Prov. 1:22 How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?

23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Here, God is speaking to ye simple ones, those who would not turn at His reproof. Unless, you believe that God was calling "My Son" a simple one, He wasn't talking about Jesus. And FTR, I know you know that He wasn't calling "My Son" a simple one, just trying to prove a point.

 

Bro. Dallas, you posted this:

First off, please explain "time salvation" to me. I have googled it, and even went to ask.com, and it seems "fuzzy" to me, and it kinda sounds like there is more than one type of salvation. Please explain this to me.

Okay, let's expand Romans 8:7 a little bit, Brother.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Well, as you can see in verses one and two, Apostle Paul is explicitly speaking about those who are already in Christ. They are now spiritually minded because they have been placed in Christ via the blood. I agree that no one will come to the Father, except he first be drawn/called.

What I am trying to say dear Brother is this; you become spiritually minded when you are placed in Christ(or this is how I see it, but could be wrong), and not before. When God comes in and cleans the "inner man", He cleans him up. Now the spiritual mind that He gives us, helps us whenever satan comes along and entices us with the things of the world, such as the things we did prior to being saved.

 

Bro. Dallas, you posted this:

And then you used John 6:39 for your proof. Now let's expand that a little bit more and find out who Jesus is talking about.

John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Here, Jesus is talking of those who would come to Him while He was in His fleshly body. None of those could come to Him at that time, unless God drew them. Sure, it's that way now, in that He first calls/draws us, but at that time, He was talking about those who were with Him while He was here on earth.

Romans 5:6 states that Christ died for the ungodly. It also states that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So, Jesus died for all humanity, and not some.

 

Winman, I know what you think. This exchange with Scandal traverses several different threads. What you're describing is NOT what Scandal has asserted in the past. Just wondering if he's going to stick to his story this time.

 

Put Aaron in the killfile and be done with it.

 

You know, In the Light, I have prayed about that, about concluding that Calvinism's acolytes have so hardened themselves they are unable to receive truth, because of the manifold examples we see on this and every other board. But I did not have peace with that conclusion, so I remain committed to continuing to presenting the truth in one way and then another such that we might help some become more effective in the ministry of Christ.

 

I agree with your conclusions to continue to present your beliefs, but I question the need to respond to intractable posters that put words in your mouth, belittle you, and misrepresent your beliefs. Why endure that?

 

:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

 

And whats that supposed to mean?

 

It means click "Ignore".

 

Your own words, if you wish.

As you can see, he asserted that something was added to the natural man when he heard the Gospel that enabled him to respond or not.

This is quite different than the view Winman posed, that of nothing added to the man, merely a door being opened before him, and quite different from what he is asserting in this thread.

Just want to know which story he has finally decided to believe.

 

Just out of curiosity: Is the changing of his name considered a personal attack?