Featured Where is the Gospel in Acts 2 as the Calvinists preach it?

What if a Reformed preacher preached what he really believes? What if he said, "Jesus Christ MIGHT have died for SOME of you that hear my voice this morning, but I can't be sure. He might love you and want to save you, but maybe not. You might be the elect, but I can't say for certain. But to be honest, God might not love you, and Jesus may have not died for you. But if you can trust this Jesus to save you, he will."

Boy, would that encourage faith!

No, Peter told all his hearers that Jesus died for them, their children, and all that be afar off, as many as God "shall call".

Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

And how many did Jesus command the gospel be preached to?

Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

No man is excluded, all men are called by the gospel.

 

I am redefining nothing, Romans 8:9 clearly states that a man is not in the flesh if the Holy Spirit dwells in him. Therefore the opposite is true, if the Holy Spirit does not dwell in a man, then that man is in the flesh. That man is not a spiritual man, he is a natural man, a man of the flesh.

The men in Acts 2 were very convicted, yet they had not received the Spirit yet. Peter told them they must first repent and be baptized in Jesus's name for the forgiveness of their sins before they would receive the Spirit. Therefore, natural men, men in the flesh can repent and believe the gospel.

That natural men can repent/believe the gospel and afterward receive the Spirit is confirmed by many scriptures, especially Galatians 3:2 and Ephesians 1:13, there are many other besides.

Pro 1:23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

Here God tells men to turn (repent) at his reproof and he will pour out his spirit unto them.

 

Mandy-

This first sermon addresses the covenant promises included through out the Ot.

Joel 2
psalm16
psalm 110

This one passage does not include several key theological truths.
it does not describe many truths;
being born again
sanctification
intermediate state
adoption
reconciliation
church government
reality of hell
prayer
mortification of sin

So Mandy- are you trying to say that if the exact terms are not used here, then they do not apply? Tell me you are not suggesting this


God is sovereign in salvation 100&.....he saves sinners....many who do not understand much of the theology at the time they are regenerated. That does not mean that a study of the whole of scriptures will not yield the theology that many past saints have seen.
It does not mean that all scripture is not to be searched out.

The truths of regeneration,the effectual call of God's irresistable grace or regeneration are found in many places, not one initial sermon, by an Apostle.

 

If I remember right, Spurgeon said it is. But I'm not arguing that. I'm saying that such matters as irresistible grace and regeneration/salvation are meat, when newborn believers need milk first. So the message is Christ died for sinners, and call upon his name and you'll be saved.

 

Actually, it just might. But I've never heard any preacher of any stripe ever make that kind of exhortation.

The way I read it, the promise is to all those whom the Lord will call. For those who answer, it is the effectual call (some call it the Inward Call).

Paul also told the people on Mars Hill (Acts 17) that God calls all men everywhere to repent. And Jesus himself (Matt 5:48) said we must be perfect, just like the Father. No one should claim that because Jesus said we must, that we can.

 

For Spurgion it was enough to say, " You are a sinner, and Jesus died for sinners. If you would be saved, you must repent of your sins & believe in the gospel."

 

And why do you assume all men cannot repent? You are guilty of the very offence you accuse me of.

As for Mat 5:48, you pull it out of context. Jesus is not saying we have to be sinless, no man can be perfectly sinless. Jesus was saying we must be spiritually mature or complete, we should be like our Father and love those that hate us, and do good to those who do evil to us as our Father has done. We are quite capable of doing this.

Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

You can't pull verse 48 out of context (well, you can, but it is error) and interpret this to be saying a man must be absolutely sinless, that is not what Jesus was saying. He was saying we must be spiritually mature or complete and love our enemies as God loved us, even when we were sinners.

And this we are ABLE to do.

 

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

And those ones ones who were saved are none other then the "whosoever-wills.

 

It does not matter what they believed about either issue. A person who comes to faith in Christ does not need to know theological terms like justification, sanctification, regeneration, irresistible grace et. al. All they need to understand is the message of the Gospel (Rom. 1:16). As a person grows in their Christian faith they will have to wrestle with many of the great doctrines of scripture, but that is after they become a Christian.

 

You say this as if it was a news flash,the whosoever wills are the elect who are made willing.....if God did not enable them they would never believe.
because it does not mention election in the sermon by that exact word...it is covered by as many as our God shall call.:thumbsup::thumbsup:....and The Lord added to the church...it does not say, they added themselves ,then God elected them also.

 

Winman,

Your post is plain foolishness. When I preach the Gospel I preach Law and Grace. Law = Man has transgressed God's Law and stands condemned. Grace = Christ's death satisfied God's wrath and all that repent and place their faith in Christ will have their sins forgiven because of Him. Yes. As a Calvinist I believe that only the elect will respond, but no human being knows who is elect and who is not. That knowledge belongs to God alone. I preach the Gospel to all who will listen and call on all who listen to repent and believe. That is all I care about when I preach. The Calvinist pastors I know believe and practice the same thing. They preach like Arminians, in that they preach to all and put no qualifications on those they preach to.

 

Of course morseop....most know that is true:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

What if a Reformed preacher preached what he really believes?

It would be like this....Jesus died to save sinners, a whole multitude of them.
You who hear my voice are all qualified having died in Adam
The love of God expressed in the cross.....is only found IN JESUS///If you remain apart from Jesus you remain apart from His love and still under the wrath to come.
God has elected a multitude of sinners to be saved, and at a point in time they will respond savingly to the gospel.
Today is the day of salvation.Today if you would hear his voice,harden not you hearts:wavey::wavey::wavey:

 

Do you tell your listeners that Jesus died for their sins? What do you tell them?

What is it you tell them to believe? That Jesus died for sins? Whose sins? Did Jesus pay for everyone's sins?

I bet you preach like an Arminian, because if you really said what you believed, no one would ever be saved.

 

What you teach is faith in faith itself, as though believing something makes it so. That is pure error.

You could believe the world is flat, doesn't make it so.

If Limited Atonement is true, a person could convince themselves that Jesus died for their sins, when in fact Jesus did not die for their sins. This person is deceived and will die and go to hell, regardless of what he believes if Limited Atonement is true.

No, Jesus died for ALL men everywhere. When you understand this, you are placing your faith in fact, you are placing your faith directly upon the work Jesus has absolutely performed for you.

Fact is, if you believe in Limited Atonement, then you don't have a clue as to whether Jesus died for you. You don't even know if you are saved. You could be self-deceived and on your way to hell, doesn't matter what you believe.

 

Winman,

Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailer:

Acts 17:30 announces:

That is the message I preach. If a person professes Christ, I have absolute confidence that Jesus has saved them. The only way that confidence can be broken is if they apostate:

Winman, you are looking for the Calvinist Bogeyman. "Watch out! The Calvinist Bogeyman is coming to rob you of your assurance of salvation! He will not tell you that he believes in definite atonement." Pure poppycock.

One thing I will never do is use gimmicks like having them write their spiritual birthday on the inside of their bible, or patting them on the back and saying to them, "Welcome to the family of God." No. The sinner who professes Christ has become a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. That journey begins immediately. They will be taught, prayed for, prayed with, encouraged, disciplined, befriended, utilized etc. As they grow in grace, so will there assurance.

 

So, now I am a liar?

 

I didn't call you a liar. What I am saying is that if you believe Limited Atonement is true, then you believe Jesus only died for some men, and you have no idea who these men are. You don't even know if Jesus died for YOU if Limited Atonement is true. You can tell me all night and day Jesus died for you, if Limited Atonement is true, you have absolutely no way of knowing this. Your faith could very well be a false faith, you may have simply convinced yourself you are saved and are self-deceived.

Oh, you will then say your life proves you are saved. No it doesn't. Just because you read the Bible, or go to church, or give money to the church, etc.. does not prove you are saved, you are simply trying to prove your salvation to yourself if you are not sure you are one of the elect. And you can't possibly know this.

I am not trying to make you doubt your salvation, if you believe in Limited Atonement I am sure you already doubt if you have given this doctrine any serious thought at all. You know as well as I do that you have no assurance you are one of the elect if your doctrine is true, no Calvinist does.

I am not trying to make you doubt, but I am exposing the glaring error of Calvinism and the doctrine of Limited Atonement. If a person believes LA they must necessarily work to prove to themselves they are one of the elect and saved. This doctrine turns salvation into a works salvation.

Get mad if you want, but you know in your heart I am telling you the truth.

A person who believes in Unlimited Atonement does not need to work to prove to themselves they are saved, they simply trust Christ, they take God at his word that Jesus died for them personally and come to Jesus in their heart and trust him to save them. No work required, complete assurance.

This is why so many Calvinists are 4 pointers, and the doctrine they almost always reject is Limited Atonement. They have to, or else the doctrine is unbearable.