First
Matthew 5:17
Romans 7:15-20 – see section on Romans in Total Depravity…
Rom 8:28-30
One reason Calvinists hold to Perseverance of the Saints is because they hold to Unconditional Election and Irresistible Grace. If God unilaterally elects people to heaven and irresistibly confers grace upon them without their consent or choice, then it make sense for God to also unilaterally and irresistibly override the free decisions of Christians to disobey God and rebel against His will. Making this connection, Daniel Wallace writes that “election is not just to salvation, but to sanctification and glorification. Cf. Eph. 1:4-5; Rom 8:28-30”0 If God irresistibly and unconditionally elects, then it only makes sense for God to irresistibly and unconditionally sanctify the believer. But note that neither text which Wallace cites says what he claims. In fact, in the “golden chain of redemption” of Romans 8:29-30, sanctification is noticeably absent. Paul mentions both justification and glorification, but not sanctification.
Ephesians 2:10
Philippians 2:12-13
1 Thessalonians 5:23-25
James 2:14-26
2 Peter 1:5-11
1 John 2:19, 25
1 John 3:4-15
The NIV mistranslates meno (remain/abide) as "live" and then adds the words "keeps on" and "continues" to the verse. In essence, the NIV translation of this verse is saying that if you continue to sin, you do not have life in Him. This is a favorite proof text for the P in TULIP: Perseverance of the Saints.
But if we translate it literally, 1 John 3:6 is saying that when we are "abiding" in Him we do not sin. That is, sin does not come from a state of abiding in Christ.
An almost identical problem is in 1 John 3:9.
Then in 1 John 3:10, the NIV says that anyone who does not do what is right “is not a child of God.” But the words “a child” are not in the Greek. The text should say that anyone who does not do what is right “is not of God.” This doesn’t mean that if you sin, it proves you were never born again, but rather, that when you sin, you are not acting of God.
Then there is 1 John 3:12. As an explanation for why Cain murdered Abel, the NIV says that Cain "belonged to" the evil one. But really, the Greek only says that Cain "was of" the evil one, which leaves open the question as to why Cain acted as he did. For example, another option could simple be that Can "was acting according to" the evil one.
Again, this verse is sometimes used to defend the idea that anyone who commits murder proves that he/she does not have eternal life, but "belongs to" the evil one.
This same idea is carried on into 1 John 3:15. Here, the NIV completely omits the word "abiding." The NIV says "...you know that no murderer has eternal life in him." Instead, it should say, "...you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him." Again, the two are very different.
Having eternal life and abiding in eternal life are not the same. The first implies that anyone who murders proves that they do not have eternal life. This supports Perseverance of the Saints again. Including the word "abiding" however, says that someone who has eternal life might actually murder someone, but if they do, it is not because they have (or don't have) eternal life, but simply because they are not acting according to the eternal life that they have from God.
I could go on and one. These are just a few examples out of chapter 3.
1 John 5:4, 11-13, 20
Hebrews 6
Hebrews 10
Jude 24-25
The Last Word
My view
Olson, chapter 12, 13, 14
The Sovereignty of God in Light of Scripture
Sovereignty discussion Vance, 250-302
Does faith on the part of man limit God's sovereignty? no
Free will discussion… Vance, 201-219
Boyd and Eddy, Across the Spectrum, 35, 56
Boettner, 30
Fisk Calvinistic paths 31-47
Fisk, divine sovereignty and human freedom
Marston and Forster, God’s Strategy, 109-132
Sovereignty is not his primary attribute (if he even has one)
If he has one, it is holiness. Sovereignty is limited by holiness
Bible says that he is holy – thrice holy. But never thrice sovereign.
He cannot lie, because he is holy.
He cannot allow sin into his presence because he is holy.
Dave Hunt- what a sovereign God cannot do.
The whole plan of salvation – not brought about because he simply wanted it, but because he is holy. If he was supremely sovereign, he could have simply saved us, but he did not – because this would violate his holiness.
Actually he first asked me.... What does sovereignty mean?
My answer.... That God is in control of everything.
That was the correct definition. So Joash then went on to ask me the above question.
His point was that sovereignty is NOT part of God's character.
God is LOVE... (His character)
God is merciful...
God is kind...
God is good...
God is just...
God is patient...
God is compassionate...
etc., etc!
These are character issues.
Joash's point.....
God's sovereignty is taking man's choices (foolish or otherwise) and bringing glory and honor to Himself anyway. God is in control of everything. It does not diminish God's character for us to be given choices in salvation or any other area of life. Human responsibility in salvation is not shrinking God. It does not "downsize" His character, nor does it change the fact that God is in complete control of everything. -(A pastor friend believes that GES has downsized God because of this issue)- BECAUSE He is in control, He has chosen to give us free will. It's His choice to make it that way. He is sovereign! He is in control of everything. He wants our love and devotion because we want Him.... not because He "programmed" us that way.
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Donald Barnhouse -(whom I like..... even though I recognize his Presbyterian roots and disagree with on this issue)- says in his commentary on Romans......
I must, forevermore, interpret such passages as John 5:24 to mean, "He that hears my word and believes on him that sent me [does so because he] has everlasting life." I can no longer accept the idea which I accepted in my early Christian life that it means "He that believes my word and believes on him that sent me has [as a result] eternal life." If ten thousand soldiers were lying in a field, some of them dead and some alive (but, for the sake of my illustration none merely wounded), and if the all clear were sounded, we would say, "Those who get up and walk have life," I can never join with those who think that they get life by getting up and walking, but I must believe the common sense meaning that they have life, and with that life they get up and walk. I know in my own case that I was given life, eternal life, by God through Christ. I used that eternal life to hear His Word and to believe on the Father who sent the Son.
I don't believe that statement at all~!!! Yet I like Donald Barnhouse in some of the things he writes.
Hope you'll forgive me for bothering you so much.
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