- Psalm 3:8 "Salvation belongs to the LORD"
- Matthew 19:23-36 "And Jesus said to His disciples, "Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, "Then who can be saved?"And looking at them Jesus said to them, "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
- Ezekial 36:22-32
- Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God"
- 1 Corinthians 2:14 "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."
- Ephesians 2:3 "among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind"
- Romans 3:10-11 " "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God."
- Isaiah 64:6 "We have all become like one who is unclean and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
- John 15:5 " I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."
Therefore, salvation is a work of God because the natural man cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God, nor can the natural man produce any good works apart from God. The purpose of God in election is based on God being glorified to the fullest, so that no one may boast.
At least, that's how I see it....
9 comments:
Because of a recent conversation with my father on this very topic, I wrote this little (two part) ditty on the same topic.
It is indeed the most popular view that God chooses us based on the foreknowledge that we would choose Him ... but that violates so many biblical points. Yours are prime examples. Another is the fact that God is not a respecter of persons when it comes to salvation, but He would be favoring His "friends" if this form of foreknowledge election were true.
Good stuff.
But ... why do you keep deleting stuff? I like it and then it's gone. Should I quit liking stuff?
What else did I delete?? :D (I don't remember deleting anything else?)
I get into moods of "this sucks" and "what was I thinking here??" and then I delete things. I'm a perfectionist, even though my writing is far from "perfect"!!!
I like that phrase, "God is not a respecter of persons" So true, so true.
OH...I remember what I deleted. It was the first part of the last post I did. I didn't like it. I don't remember what it said...but I didn't like it! :D
Oh, thanks for the link. I'm quite sure that will explain a lot of what I'm attempting to say!
I've had a lot of trouble signing into blogger tonight. Don't know why. So I'll try and use the anonymous button.
I found Stan's posts very interesting. I particularly liked this statement: All of this to say ... there is a vast difference of opinion among learned men of God.
Do you mind if I ask how you understand 2 Peter 3:8 "He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
Susan from http://abooklook.blogspot.com
"At least, that's how I see it...."
So true.
Absolutely right.
Susan from A Booklook ... I don't know how Samantha will answer that question, but I actually posted on that recently.
Samantha, you had that little piece on witnessing that you deleted, then the one where you started answering your own questions that you deleted. But I understand "perfectionism". I'm just not perfect at that, either. =)
Hey Stan-
Actually, I was going to explain Susan's question with a comment you made once:
"God has multiple wills. His ultimate will is always accomplished, but not His will of desire or His will of decree. That is, there are things he wills (desires) (like that all would be saved) that don't happen, and He has stated His will when He stated the Commandments (for instance), but those definitely occur."
Susan, check out Stan's blog, his comment (above) and this Piper article:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1995/1580_Are_There_Two_Wills_in_God/
(Still can't sign in.)
Thanks for all the links and for sharing with me. It has been most enlightening.
God bless.
Susan from http://abooklook.blogspot.com
Great post thank you.
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