John Piper: Born again through faith in the gospel
- Thread starter TomL
- Start date
After he believes he is made alive
John 3:16For in this way God loved the world, so that he gave his one and only Son, in order that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life.
Acts 16:31And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household!”
Rom 10:9–10that if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.
brightfame52
Active Member
Before man is born from above, he is spiritually dead, believing the Gospel is a spiritual obedience and activity, its life being manifested and active.
TibiasDad
Active Member
Spiritually dead only means we are separated from God, just as physically dead mean the spiritual aspect of man is separated from his body.
The spiritual aspect does not cease to be what it was, it just lacks relationship to the body. Our true being is out of relationship with God, but we are naturally created to be in relationship with God, and thus are able to be if both parties agree.
Separation does not equate to inability.
And God moving toward us by offering the gospel gives us the grace to receive him as we were created to do. The only reason we would be unable to be in relationship with God is if he didn’t want to be in relationship with us.
To offer salvation to those with whom he has no desire to save and then condemn them for not accepting it like a man born without a left arm, and God says only left handed people can go to heaven, so why don’t you have a left arm?
Doug
civic
Active Member
Ditto
brightfame52
Active Member
Spiritually dead means no spiritual life, just natural life. Without spiritual life there can be no spiritual acts or activity which believing is.
Believe first then life
John 20:31 (NASB95) — 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
You need to stop being a bible denier.
brightfame52
Active Member
Before man is born from above, he is spiritually dead, believing the Gospel is a spiritual obedience and activity, its life being manifested and active.
TibiasDad
Active Member
Spiritual life means being in relationship with God; being connected to God. We are created in his image, which means, in part, that we are built to commune with God. Our sin keeps us from doing that, but God seeks us out “to save that which is lost”, which means that we are capable of hearing his call to salvation, for how else can that which is lost be saved?
We are meant to be connected; we are built to be connected. Not being connected doesn’t mean we are incapable of connecting. Again, we are built to be connected to God, but being disconnected doesn’t mean we have lost the capacity for connection.
Doug
brightfame52
Active Member
Spiritual life is being born of the Spirit, and being born from above. Otherwise men are spiritually dead, or dead in sin. Another scripture says alienated from the life of God. Eph 4 18
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
civic
Active Member
Yep he has is backwards
civic
Active Member
Spot on !!!
Much indeed.
Belief clearly brings life
Believe first then life
John 20:31 (NASB95) — 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
You need to stop being a bible denier.
TibiasDad
Active Member
Paul clearly says that salvation is received or discarded by belief/unbelief.
Rom 11:17If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.
It does not specify a lack of new birth as the problem, but a lack of belief/faith. It also says that being born again can be gained, lost, and retrieved as one’s faith is gained, lost or retrieved.
Doug
DavidTree
Active Member
Well, let's get it Straight from the Holy Spirit
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you used to walk when you conformed to the ways of this world and of the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience. All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses.
It is by grace you have been saved!
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might display the surpassing riches of His grace, demonstrated by His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
@TibiasDad @TomL
The gift is salvation, not faith.
John 20:31 (NASB95) — 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
brightfame52
Active Member
if a man isnt saved by the new birth, they are in a lost condition, as such, the Gospel is hid to them that are lost and they believe not, for they are under the power of the devil 2 Cor 4:3-4
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
There is no faith in a blinded mind, sorry
brightfame52
Active Member
Before man is born from above, he is spiritually dead, believing/hearing the Gospel are spiritual obedience and activity, its life being manifested and active.
You should be sorry
The text does not state God blinds the mind nor does it state belief is impossible because of the gods of this world
1 Timothy 2:3–5 (LEB) — 3 This is good and acceptable before God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and human beings, the man Christ Jesus,
2 Peter 3:9 (LEB) — 9 The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
John 3:16–17 (LEB) — 16 For in this way God loved the world, so that he gave his one and only Son, in order that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world in order that he should judge the world, but in order that the world should be saved through him.
Titus 2:11 (LEB) — 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people,
