Saturday, August 3, 2013

Sinclair Ferguson: Grace is Jesus


"Grace is not some appendage to Christ’s being. All there is is the Lord Jesus Himself. And so when Jesus speaks about us abiding in Him and He abiding in us – however mysterious it may be, mystical in that sense – it is a personal union.

Christianity is Christ because there isn’t anything else. There is no atonement that somehow can be detached from who the Lord Jesus is. There is no grace that can be attached to you transferred from Him. All there is is Christ and your soul.” 

5 comments:

  1. I AM NOT A CALVINIST!
    I BELIEVE IN PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS, BUT I AM NOT A CALVINIST!

    It is impossible to proclaim a belief in perseverance of the saints, also know as once saved always saved and eternal security, and at the same time declare you are not a Calvinist.

    The Calvinistic T.U.L.I.P explained.

    T-Total Depravity. Means that sin is in every part of one's being, including the mind and will of man. Therefore men are without free- will. Men are saved by grace alone.

    U- Unconditional Election. God predetermines who will be saved and who will spend eternity in hell.

    L-Limited Atonement. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was only for the predetermined elect.

    I-Irresistible Grace. God selects men to be saved and then forces then to believe in Jesus.

    P-Perseverance of the Saints. The people God has chosen for salvation cannot lose their salvation.

    Perseverance of the saints is the culmination of the T.U.L.I.P.
    Without the first four points of the Calvinistic T.U.L.I.P there cannot be a fifth point.

    You either embrace all 5 points of the T.U.L.I.P or none of the points.

    Yes, all five T.U.L.I.P points are contrary to Scripture.

    T-Total Depravity.
    Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.(NKJV)

    All men who hear the gospel can choose to accept God's grace or reject it.

    U-Unconditional Election.
    Faith: John 3:16
    Repentance: Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19
    Confession: Romans 10:9
    Water Baptism: Acts 2:38. Mark 16:16

    There are conditions that need to be met in order to receive salvation.

    L-Limited Atonement.
    John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold ! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.(NKJV)

    Jesus died for the sins of all men.

    I-Irresistible Grace.
    Acts 7:51 "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.(NKJV)

    Men did and still do resist the Holy Spirit. Grace is not irresistible.

    P-Perseverance of the Saints.
    Luke 8:13...who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.(NKJV)
    1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrine of demons.(NKJV)

    The Holy Spirit says men will fall away from the faith. Who do you believe the Holy Spirit or John Calvin?

    It you believe in perseverance of the saints, once in grace always in grace, eternal security, then you are a Calvinist.




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    Replies
    1. over 2000 years of church history and you just proved that the doctrines to be a falsehood in one short blog post? I dont think so. Theres nothing new under the sun bro. Dont be to prideful to realize that your not the first one to think the way you do. There's also a good reason that the majority of the church throughout history has not embraced the idea that the will is free or that Christ's death and resurrection made salvation man's perogative instead of God's. Id say give things a lil more consideration before jumping to your conclusion. Deal with all of the data in the Bible instead of supposing that certain verses stand alone and be honest with yourself about what you read. And like I said, look through church history and consider what the majority of Christian's thought.

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    2. I meant the doctrines of grace. lol.

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  2. I do believe in the preservation of the saints. Nothing will separate Christians from his love. So, if the shoe fits - I'll wear it.

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  3. One thing that I stress to people when talking about the doctrines of grace is the nature of freedom. Most people (including the post above) who oppose predestinarianism do so on the basis of a false conception of the relationship between God's freedom and man's freedom. In other words, they assume that god exercising his freedom impugns upon our ability to exercise our freedom.

    However, the Bible gives a completely different picture. Throughout the testimony of Scripture, men are counted as free and able to exercise a "free-will" while God is simultaneously sovereign over all creation. Usually if you ask someone who opposes such a view to describe the relationship of our freedom to God's, they are unable to do so because they have never thought about it.

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