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Showing posts with label Sola Gratia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sola Gratia. Show all posts

Monday, April 25, 2011

God's Plan for Salvation - Harmony of the New Birth and the Gospel.



Thank you for waiting patiently for this Part 2 in my series God's plan for the Salvation of the human soul.

In part two, I do a quick 5 minute re-cap on what was discussed in Part one. Then I take a deeper look at God's Sovereignty - an attribute you cannot afford NOT to embrace in it's fullness. I discuss the reasons for this in the re-cap section before I pick up the narration I did about a month ago.

The new Birth is prophesied in the Old Testament in Ezekiel Chapter 37, also known as the "Dry Bones" chapter. Here we are told how God commands Ezekiel to prophesy over a valley of dry bones, and by doing so, they are brought to life, which is a type and shadow of things to come, and a picture of the raising to life of the dead human soul by the Holy Spirit.

"The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. (Ezekiel 37:1-14)

Another passage in Ezekiel is Chapter 36:24-26, where we are told the following:

"For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:24-26)

The fullfillment of this prophesy is adequately discussed in Titus 3:4-8a

"But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying...." (Titus 3:4-8a)

Once the human soul has been brought to life by God Himself (quickened), the Gospel can be preached and heard and understood by those who were foreordained unto eternal life in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world.

Here is the Gospel:

"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures..." (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

The Holy Spirit SEALS that person into Christ by indwelling the Believer. (Ephesians 1:13 and 2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

"For the gifts and the calling of God are IRREVOCABLE." (Romans 11:29)

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

John 17 - THE PRAYER OF JESUS - Sovereign Grace IS Calvinism



THE PRAYER OF JESUS.
Our Lord prayed as a man, and as the Mediator of his people; yet he spoke with majesty and authority, as one with and equal to the Father. Eternal life could not be given to believers, unless Christ, their Surety, both glorified the Father, and was glorified of him. This is the sinner's way to eternal life, and when this knowledge shall be made perfect, holiness and happiness will be fully enjoyed. The holiness and happiness of the redeemed, are especially that glory of Christ, and

of his Father, which was the joy set before him, for which he endured the cross and despised the shame; this glory was the end of the sorrow of his soul, and in obtaining it he was fully satisfied. Thus we are taught that our glorifying God is needed as an evidence of our interest in Christ, through whom eternal life is God's free gift. (Jn 17:6-10)



John 17 (King James Version)

1These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

2As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

4I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

5And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

6I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

7Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.

8For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.

9I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

10And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

12While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

13And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

14I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

15I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

16They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

17Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

18As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

20Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

21That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

24Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

25O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

26And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

Monday, March 21, 2011

God's Plan for Salvation - Part One.

This is the first part of a basic description of God's plan for the salvation of the human soul. In this part one, I take a look at the difference between the saving Gospel mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, and I start to explore the harmony of this Gospel with the New Birth mentioned by Jesus in John 3:3.

There are many people who do not understand the simple truth that the human soul is born dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) and is incapable of seeking God in any way. We are totally UNABLE to hear the Gospel until such time as the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus said He would send after He had ascended into Heaven. has quickened us to life through the washing of the regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, spoken of in Titus 3:5.

It is my prayer that those whom God has given ears to hear His truth will be comforted by this word and that it will help you to understand why the saving work of the Godhead (Father Elects, the Son saves and the Holy Spirit effects Christ salvation through the New Birth), can NEVER be thwarted and why our salvation is utterly IRREVOCABLE!

By the way, all you unbelievers who watch this video - refute me with SCRIPTURE please, or be quiet.