Arminian perspective on Gods Sovereignty and mans free will
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civic
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yes we know biblically faith always precedes life.
Ezekiel 18:30-32
“Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!
Notice what comes first
1- Repent , turn away from sin
2- the after you repent you get a new heart/spirit ( calvinism- regeneration, new life)
3- repent then you live, have life- ie new heart, spirit.
John has the same order in in his opening of the gospel and in his purpose statement for writing his gospel.
John 1:12-13
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Same order as above receive, believe, call on Him then the new birth follows.
John 20:31
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Once again the order is consistent with the OT- belief/repentance precedes life.
Romans 10:8-13
But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Again above we see its hearing the gospel, believing the message , confessing then calling upon the Lord results in salvation.
Acts tells us the same order in 11:18- "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.” Repent precedes life.
Paul confirms the order in Ephesians below as well. Hearing and believing precedes the Holy Spirit that we were sealed with not before belief.
Ephesians 1:13
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit
James and Peter have the same exact order in James 1:18 , 1 Peter 1:23.
See how scripture is consistent when you do not read your doctrine into it but read it objectively, without bias ?
Calvinism has it backwards with life,regeneration, the new birth preceding faith.
conclusion: as we read in these SALVIFIC passages there is a consistent order.
1- hearing the word, the gospel
2- believing the gospel
3- receiving the gospel
4- calling upon the Lord
5- confessing Jesus is Lord
6- resulting in the new birth, born of God, salvation, eternal life
hope this helps !!!
We agree that regeneration is the new birth. It's the re-birth of our human spirit that had been dead towards God and all that is good.
Yes indeed; however, these verses are speaking of eternal life, which is in Christ and is different from the re-born human spirit that we are given, when we are born again.
No: we are not born into God's family; we are adopted into God's family. Being born again creates the willing heart/spirit within us that repents and believes in Jesus Christ; we are then adopted into God's family.
Yes; we are adopted into God's family by faith in Christ Jesus.
As long as we remember that there is more than one kind of life.
This is speaking of our dying, being buried and rising again, in the figure of immersion (baptism); it's not talking about initial salvation.
That is the reverse order.
God makes us born again, using his word (there's no mention of any other part of the ordo salutis in this verse).
As above.
As above.
If God makes us born again, by the power of the Holy Spirit, using the gospel, then we believe in Jesus Christ.
Being regenerated is the necessary precursor to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Without that we would remain unwilling to come to the Light, in faith, because we would still hate the Light.
Yes.
If you look at this verse in context, you will see that the forgiveness of trespasses refers to Jesus nailing the law to the cross (He being the embodiment of the law).
Col. 2:13,14 (KJV)
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;
No: God forgives those whom he has regenerated, through the faith in Jesus Christ that results from that regeneration.
Genuine repentance and faith always go together.
Spiritual life is of eternal duration.
Regeneration makes one alive eternally
The following verses show faith precedes life
John 5:24 (KJV) Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
John 20:31 (KJV)
31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
John 5:40 (KJV)
40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. (one comes to Jesus by faith)
Acts 11:18 (KJV)
18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
Nope one has faith and then repents and then is granted life
The Means of Regeneration
God regenerates (John 1:13) according to His will (James 1:18) through the Holy Spirit (John 3:5) when a person believes (1:12) the Gospel as revealed in the Word (1 Pet. 1:23).
Ryrie Basic theology
(a)Man is Regenerated by Means of the Acceptance of the Message of the Gospel.
God begat us by “the word of truth” (James 1:18). We are “born again,” says Peter (1 Peter 1:23), “of incorruptible seed, by the word of God.” We are “begotten through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15). These scriptures teach us that regeneration takes place in the heart of man when he reads or hears the Word of God, or the Gospel message
Evans great doctrines of the bible
It occurs through the hearing of the Christian gospel Jas 1:18 See also 1Pe 1:23-25 The “word of God” is the good news about Jesus Christ.
Regeneration - Dictionary of bible themes
Succinctly stated, to regenerate means “to impart life.” Regeneration is the act whereby God imparts life to the one who believes.
Moody Handbook of theology
Um we are made children of God (regenerated) when we believe
Sorry born again speaks of being born into God's family not adoption
Regeneration makes one a child of God John 1:12, 13
(5) The “children of God.”—Those who are “begotten of God” are ipso facto “children of God” (tékna theoú, Jn 1:12; 11:52; 1 Jn 3:1, 2, 10; 5:2).1
1 R. Law, “Johannine, Theology, The,” ed. James Orr et al., The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company, 1915), 1703.
CHILDREN OF GOD. Persons in this category are only those who of the fallen race are regenerated as a result of faith in Christ1
1 Merrill F. Unger, “Children of God,” ed. R.K. Harrison, The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988).
Children of God (tekna theou). In the full spiritual sense, not as mere offspring of God true of all men (Acts 17:28). Paul's phrase huioi theou (Galatians 3:26) for believers, used also by Jesus of the pure in heart (Matthew 5:9), does not occur in John's Gospel (but in Rev. 21:7). It is possible that John prefers ta tekna tou theou for the spiritual children of God whether Jew or Gentile (John 11:52) because of the community of nature (teknon from root tek-, to beget). But one cannot follow Westcott in insisting on "adoption" as Paul's reason for the use of huioi since Jesus uses huioi theou in Matthew 5:9. Clearly the idea of regeneration is involved here as in John 3:3.
Word Pictures in the New Testament.
Vincent agrees
Sons (τέκνα)
Rev., more correctly, children. Son is υἱός. Τέκνον, child (τίκτω, to bring forth), denotes a relation based on community of nature
Word Studies in the New Testament.
τέκνα θ. γενέσθαι] The spiritual life owes its beginning to a birth from above, ch. 3:3–7. And this birth is owing to the Holy Spirit of God; so that this is equivalent to saying, ‘As many as received Him, to them gave He His Holy Spirit.’ And we find that it was so: see Acts 10:44.
Henry Alford, Alford’s Greek Testament: An Exegetical and Critical Commentary (vol. 1; Grand Rapids, MI: Guardian Press, 1976), 684.
You are bifurcating spiritual life which is of eternal duration
Those regenerated have eternal life and born into the family of God
First Baptism and immersion are not the same
second
Colossians 2:12 (KJV)
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.
this is not about a water ritual
Colossians 2:13 (KJV 1900) — 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;
quickening making alive, being raised up is regeneration it is preceded by having your sins forgiven which requires faith
therefore faith precedes regeneration
1) We are born again, by the Holy Spirit, through hearing/reading the word of God (a re-born human spirit)
2) This new, soft heart then repents and believes the gospel.
3) We are given the Holy Spirit to indwell. (eternal life in Christ)
If we do not distinguish between regeneration of the human spirit and eternal life in Christ, then it will lead to all kinds of confusion.
Baptism is not a translation; it is a transliteration. The correct translation is "immerse", or "dip".
You reverse the order God regenerates those who receive Christ
The order is faith and then regeneration (new life) as all those verses you ignore show
The meaning of baptizo is neither to immerse or dip in scripture and no major committee translates it that way
Wash, purify however are translations which can be found in scripture translations
TibiasDad
Well-known member
There are a lot of nuances of meaning to eternal life, and we need be careful to not apply a general sense of meaning as the whole.
Regeneration makes one “alive” from the prospective of being in relationship with God. We are spiritually reconnected to our creator’s being.
Life is not merely function, it is always defined by our relationship to God. Relationship determines the ability to function. One connected to God should be functioning as God desires, whereas one disconnected from God will not function properly.
Eternal life is a life connected to the Eternal being, and thus, the question becomes whether we can be “disconnected” from the Eternal source of life. I believe that we can, and thus all the warning passages about not continuing to sin.
Eternal life is not to be confused with “permanency” of life on this side of eternity.
All human beings are “permanently” existent, even in Hell. They are humanly functional; able to feel, speak, etc. But their existence is not connected with God’s eternal being. Thus, they are “eternally dead” without remedy. Those who are connected with God in eternity will never cease to be connected and their “functioning” will be positive and pleasurable.
So in one sense, all human life will be “everlasting”, but whether it is eternally positive or punished is the question. Both realities will never end, and thus, are “eternal” in nature. All participants in these realities will never cease to exist within these conditions.
Doug
True, Yet scripture speaks of having and not having life
John 3:36 (LEB) — 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life—but the wrath of God remains on him.
Life here is not just endless existence but a certain quality of Life. This life is granted upon faith and restores our relationship with God
TibiasDad
Well-known member
Indeed, but this is only due to our intimate connection with God or lack thereof. All humans are eternally existent. We are all “alive” in the functional, consciously aware sense.
Doug
