How can it be a sinner's will that repents of sinning, when it is in obedience to the commanded will of God to do so? It's not possible. It's a contradiction to how man begins to sin against God in the first place, which is always by doing our own will.
Are not the ones doing their own will, those that refuse to repent of their sinning in the first place? Of course.
Remember, by their own saving faith alone, they don't ever believe nor preach repenting of all sins and trespasses at once, according to God's commandment.
Who says this? Certainly not the doctrines of Christianity, so who is it? Everyone who believes that faith alone is the way through which salvation comes? I have neither read her nor heard posited any such thing. It is not taught in Christianity, which you umbrella under a "they" as though it were a doctrine of Christianity. Those in Christ have willingly repented of sinning against God. (Not just of individual sins. Having been ignorant and spiritually dead in those sins, they neither recognized or acknowledged them as being against God. Maybe as being morally wrong, but not as being against God.)The question is not whether or not we repent. We do repent. The question is, why do we repent? Is it because of something God has done in us through the Holy Spirit, or is it because completely by our own choosing, and from resources we do not have in us as enemies of God and at enmity with Him, we somehow found this knowledge and understanding that we are blind and deaf and dead to. (1 Cor 2:10-16; John 3:5;John 6:60-65).
When you say "by their own saving faith alone, they don't ever believe nor preach repenting of all sins and tespasses at once-----" you again use "their" and "they" to accuse all people falsely under the same umbrella and misstate a Christian doctrine as though it were the Christian doctrine. First of all you have no way of knowing what all these persons believe or preach. And second of all, the teaching in the doctrines of Christianity is that the first repentance is of sinning/rebelling against God, period, which would include all sins. It is rebellion against God and failing to trust in Him, that results in all sinful acts. It does not teach that saving faith is of themselves but that it is a gift of God. It further teaches that repenting of sinful acts is ongoing as we learn through the Holy Spirit's instruction in His word, what those sins are. It continues all of our life until we either got to be with the Lord through the death of the flesh or at His return and our bodies are raised to life incorruptible. It teaches that the sins we do commit while still in our sinful flesh, and surrounded by sin in this world and the influence of the devil in it, cannot condemn us for we have Chris't own righteousness imputed to us and are sealed in Him. (Rom 8:1; Eph 1:13-14) It does not teach that it is ok to go on sinning without repentance.
They only preach faith in being saved first, with 'gradual' repentance of their sinning in part. They never obey nor preach God's commandment to repent of all our sinning against Him. They only preach a convenient repentance of their own, that is never by 'offensive' commandment.
Again the umbrella of "they" and of identifying persons as the doctrine. Also a false accusation of gross proportions. For the truth of the matter, I refer you to the previous portions of my post. You have completely left out the power of God and the trust in God that is contained in Scripture and the doctrines of traditional Christianity and placed all power or salvation and sanctification, into the hands of man, while accusing all Christians of doing what yourself are doing in that respect.
They applaud going on to sinning less than before, but in fact condemn obeying God's commandment to repent and go to sin no more.
"They's" are persons and you present them as all being as you define them to be, and mistake persons for the doctrines of Christianity. The doctrines do not condemn obeying God's commandments but insist upon it. It even goes so far as to agree with James that faith without works (obedience) is dead. Which means that it is nothing more than a professed faith and not a saving faith that has been given by God. They have not been regenerated. Truly astonishing how disagreement with Jesus alone saves and that through faith alone, brings out armies consisting of nothing but straw men.
What they therefore call 'walking after the Spirit' with casual repentance down the road, and doing so only 'by God's will alone', is just religious terminology for repenting and changing our ways when we feel like it, not when we are still enjoying our old sin.
Another straw man. "They" is persons, not doctrines, and if persons are going to be used in their place, then evidence must be presented. So far, all that is presented are the way in which this poster views persons.
That is in fact the feel-good Christianity of convenience. It is the gospel of being saved, justified, and repenting according to one's own faith and will. Indeed, they have an animus against obeying God by commandment, and call it saving ourselves by 'works of the law'.
Feel-good Christianity is not necessarily Christianity. The doctrines of traditional Christianity never says that it is one's own faith and will, but rather according to Scripture it is by grace (in other words can never be earned or merited no matter how much we repent without faith) through faith and that faith does not come from within ourselves but is a gift of God---that no one should boast. The only doctrinal teaching that claims that faith is one's own and one's own desires apart from regeneration, are those who follow Arminianist leaning teachings of one form or another. And though this will not affect one's salvation as long as this "choosing" is actually a result of the heart being softened first by God in regeneration, it is still incorrect. Anyone who has an animus against obeying God, is still in an unregenerate state, and does not have saving faith.
The dirty little secret coming out here, is that it's not keeping the law without faith, that we preach with Paul against, but it's obeying God at all as by law of commandment, that so offends them. In fact, by hearing such unrepented sinners, the word obedience is not normally used, if ever, it's all about peace, love, and dove with willing desire, but not about crucifying one's own will through obedience to God.
Again "them" is not Christian doctrine but it is you assigning an accusation against "them" (who you never identify) that is meaningless, as it is only expressing your opinion of something that has never been established by you. The offense in Christian doctrine is when it is said that Christ and His work is insufficient to save, that faith in His person and work, is insufficient, but works must be added to the means of salvation, rather than being the fruit of it.
The ongoing sinners' gospel is being with Christ by faith alone, with man's promise of leisurely repentance to follow. The gospel of Jesus Christ is to repent first and eschew evil of our own will, with God's promise of a while new glad heart and life well pleasing to God.
Demonstrate from Scripture that such a thing as man repenting when he is spiritually deading in his trepasses and sins is possible. That he can bring himself to spiritual life through his own will.
The gospel of self-will is that of unrepented sinners, that demand they be saved by their own faith alone, and then consent to please God with some repentance following in their own good time.
It's the gospel of rebellious disobedient children, that will only do something they want to do, and never because they are told to.
After all, if we are obeying God's commandment to repent by His will, and not our own, then that would only be before believing we are saved and justified by grace.
Straw man, strawman, and a person who has been united with Christ by faith is going to fall on his knees with grief at the sins he has committed against God.
Unrepented sinners don't even make such an 'offensive' demand on themselves and others. They just suggest it would be better for life and 'discipleship' to repent and sin less and less at their own convenience. Their ministerial leadership cannot based upon growing in purity of heart and holiness in all things, but just on who's doing the less sinning most of the time.
An unrepentant sinner is not saved, and has no faith. And more false accusations based on a lack of knowledge.
