As brought to the fore by a certain commenter (see comments) who goes by the name Theophilus, the Spurgeon quote below is being reposted because of the seriousness of the subject, i.e. being born twice, or 'again'. Very important to have a correct understanding of this most important truth. For that reason, it is hoped that reposting this with the added comment just below and the reader comments would be an overall help:
The word 'again', in the original Greek, is 'anothen' (an'-o-then), meaning literally 'from above'. To speak of being 'born twice' then, is to speak of a second birth experience which comes 'from above', or even more specifically, an altogether new experience which is nothing less than to actually be 'born...of God' (John 1:13). Truly, a man can have nothing more to do with taking credit for his natural birth, then to take any credit for a second 'supernatural' birth. If a man is truly born 'again', God, and God alone, has brought forth that new life, with no help whatsoever from one who has yet to even be conceived. This is the starting point in understanding God's great plan of salvation. "Except a man be born again"...first, according to the Lord Jesus Christ, he will be absolutely unable to even 'see' the Kingdom of God. Nevertheless, this doctrine, called 'election', has for the most part been completely set aside by that sad parody of what passes for the Christian church in these Laodicean days in which we live, replaced with a little magic formula called the 'sinner's prayer'. Say the magic words, and you're in....saved forever and ever...and you don't even have to understand it...just say the words. That's all there is to it...welcome to the club. Is it really any wonder, then, to find that the organized church, across the board, has now become thoroughly apostate, joining themselves to such things as the global interfaith movement and the homosexual agenda? Rev. 18:4
***
"...if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" 2 Cor. 5:17
"...if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" 2 Cor. 5:17
The ungodly cannot comprehend the godly; they scoff at them, they turn their glory into shame because they themselves love vanity and seek after lying. The godly man is not understood by the people among who he dwells; God has made him to be a stranger and a foreigner in their midst. They who are born twice have a life that cannot be comprehended by those who are only born once. Those who have received the Spirit of God have a new spirit within them that is so singular that the carnal mind cannot perceive what it is.
Spiritual things must be spiritually discerned. When a man has become a new creature in Christ Jesus, the old creatures round about him cannot make head or tail of him. They look at him, they see him actuated by motives they cannot understand, they see that he is kept in check by forces they do not acknowledge, that he is constrained by energies of which they are not partakers, and that he looks for something they do not desire; so the Christian becomes in a measure like to Christ Himself, of Whom the poet sings, “The Jewish world knew not their King, God’s everlasting Son.”
“Therefore, the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not” - 1 John 3:1.
Spurgeon
--------------------------------------
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
--------------------------------------
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
5 comments :
Very good quote and very accurate. However, Spurgeon was a false teacher. He was ecumenical and smoked cigars. Do the research......I have a hard time reading anything by anyone who I know taught false doctrine (enternal security/Calvinism), because even the lovely quotations such as presented here are tainted by their straying from the true Gospel. "Beware, lest you FALL from your secure position, being led away by the error of the wicked." 2 Pet 3:17 "And He became the author of eternal salvation unto all those who OBEY Him." Heb 5:9 (Also see Rom 11:21, James 5:19, 2 Pet 2:20, James 2:17, Rom 6:16, Phil 2:12, Heb 10:26) Charles Spurgeon is one of the father's of modern day "easy believism" or lukewarm apostasy.
Theo,
How it's going...
Since Calvin did not author any scripture, I prefer to completely avoid the label "Calvinism". But I do fall squarely on the side of the sovereignty of God and election, with many proof texts also.
But, you seem to have your doctrinal mind made up, so debating the topic would probably not be profitable.
Just one though, words spoken by the Lord Jesus to his own:
John 15:16 'Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you'
The reason I call Spurgeon "Calvinistic" is because he idolized Calvin and taught the same type of predestination you call "soverienity". I call it puppet making. God doesn't make puppets who have no free will to choose Him and to continue to CHOOSE Him (aka perseverance!)Not my opinion but the WORD OF GOD: "You are that one's servant whom you obey, whether of sin (self/satan) leading to (spiritual) death, or righteousness (Jesus) leading to Life. Rom 6:16 Obviously, we do have a choice in the matter. Yes, He chooses us first. He chose ALL of mankind when He hung on the cross: "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who DESIRES THAT ALL MEN BE SAVED and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Tim 2:4
That doesn't mean all men will CHOOSE to follow Him! Spurgeon teaches the false doctrine that once someone makes a profession of faith, the can never fall away. (Once saved, always saved). If that doctrine were true, then Satan and his angels would never have fallen away and Adam and Eve would never have disobeyed God to start with! Spurgeon makes God a liar. Yes you're right, my mind is made up, not because of personal opinion but because of being a berean (Acts 17:11) and searching the scriptures to see if these things are so, and they ain't!: "For is we sin willfully after we have recieved the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries (fallen ones). Heb 10:26 Jesus said it, not me. I'll side with Him over Spurgeon any day! Here's a little more proof for you (from God, not me)
Isaiah.1:18: Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Unregenerate man can “reason” with God!
Acts 17:30: but now [God] commandeth all men every where to repent: God does not make it impossible but commands: man can “repent” thus requiring a CHOICE on their part!
John 6:29 This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. Man can choose to “believe”! God chooses us first, then we choose Him (or NOT).
Acts 10:34-35: God is no respecter of persons: 35But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. ....Unregenerate man can “fear God” and “work righteousness” just like Cornelius did, before Peter preached to him and he was saved! Acts 10
2 Corinthians 5:19: God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Calvinists would have us believe that the word world mentioned here is the world of the “elect”. They are wrong, this is the world of mankind. They do the same with other verses also, like John 3:16 and John 1:29. They must reject and change the meaning of words to come up with their false doctrine. The word all is another word from scripture they love to mutilate.
2 Thessalonians 2:13: God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: We are “chosen-through-belief”. What is chosen is the method of salvation, not the who! That is a form of elitist snobbery, to think we are "elect" for any reason other than humble repentance and obedience to the Savior! (You are that one's servant whom you obey Rom 6:16).
Isaiah 66:3-4 Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions and bring their fears upon them. Clearly, we choose our ways ... no gettin around it!
Proverbs 1:24-26: Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ... 26I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; God will laugh at Christ rejecters. Why? Because they refused! THEY CHOSE TO REFUSE.
Believe God, not men. Acts 5:29
Theo,
Actually, my docrinal mind is made up too. Here's a little of the results of my Bereanism. The conclusion is not the same as yours though.
***
Mystery of election
EPH. 1: 3, 4, 5. — Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him (John 6:44)
"As many as were ordained to eternal life believed" (Acts 13 :48).
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes. 5:9)
As the scripture clearly teaches, the Father will in time draw those he has ordained, appointed, and predestinated for adoption, i.e. those chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Which is exactly what the apostle Paul testified had happened to him:
"But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,To reveal his Son in me..." (Gal. 1:15-16)
God chose Paul from his mother's womb, later called him, revealed his Son...when it 'pleased' him to do so, and Paul had nothing to do with it at that point. He definitely did not respond to an 'altar call'.
Why? Again, it is solely "according to the good pleasure of his will". No other explanation is given to men. If anyone objects to this they will have to first explain away almost the entire 9th chapter of Romans, in particular the scriptures dealing with God's pre-birth choice of Jacob over Esau. For example Rom. 9:11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
But how can it be? It's fairly simple really. It is not of works but of him that calleth. This is called election. It is wholly of grace and the creature can take no credit to himself, not even the idea that there was something in himself that was able to 'reason' and then 'choose', for the scripture clearly teaches that "the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" Rom. 8:7, and just as certainly, the scripture concludes all men as dead in their trespasses and sin. Dead means dead, i.e. unable to respond, that is of course until first quickened, i.e. made alive (Eph. 2:1), as this scripture shows:
2 Thessalonians 2:13: God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
It is only through the "sanctification of the Spirit", which comes first, that those whom have been 'chosen' to salvation "from the beginning" are, secondly, then able to respond by 'believing'.
(cont below)
(cont from above)
Now admittedly, the doctrine of election is difficult, and, being misunderstood by many if not most, is often abused. Here's the rub. What is most often overlooked is the area of human responsibility, i.e. 'believing'. Human responsibility calls on each individual to 'believe', and to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Not a mental assent to a set of facts, but a life whereby the proof of a true faith is the evidence of "works", as James laid it out for us. Also, it is not the Christian's prerogative to try and determine who is or isn't elect, who does or does not have a "vessel with oil", or to have some sort of spiritual pride because he believes himself to be one of the "chosen few". The 'race' is not over, and it is the believer's responsibility to 'finish' his course, taking nothing for granted.
Far from slacking in the 'once saved always saved' mode, Peter exhorted believers to an even greater dilligence concerning their "calling and election":
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall (2 Peter 1:10)
The book of Hebrews has many warnings that, such as this one, warn strongly that it is not 'okay' to take your salvation for granted, just because you think you elected:
Heb. 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him
And, the apostle Paul underscored the idea of the importance of taking nothing for granted: 1Corinthians 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Do I consider myself elected? I'm not there yet, am I?
Every Christian who does finish the race, will though, I believe, then repeat exactly the words found in Eph. 1:3-5 (see top)...Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...who hath chosen us...before the foundation of the world...etc.
re: all
One more thing, the LORD GOD is not the personal possession of the Jew. Although they objected long and loud, God's salvation has gone out to ALL men, as the wide cross section of the 'chosen before the foundation of the world' bride of Christ themselves testify with a song of praise, giving him all credit, when they are with him in glory:
"And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation" (Rev. 5:9)
Pressing on to the celestial city like Bunyan's pilgrim...
tm
Post a Comment