Josheb
Senior Member
- Joined
- May 19, 2023
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- Location
- VA, south of DC
- Faith
- Yes
- Marital status
- Married with adult children
- Politics
- Conservative
When it comes to exegeting scripture in an effort to understand salvation it is critically important to know and understand several matters but paramount among them are...
All salvation occurs within a covenant context and God is the sole initiator and maintainer of His Christologically salvific covenant.
Verses written about the regenerate believer or the already-saved state of being do not apply to the unregenerate believer.
Scripture does not often explicitly assign causality to salvation but when it does, it always attributes the cause to God and never the unregenerate sinner's fleshly volition.
These three facts of scripture are fatal to synergism. There's not a single episode of salvation existing outside the covenant relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. God initiates the covenant, He chooses the covenants participants, He calls them, and He commands them with an expectation of obedience..... and He never once asks anyone if they want to be a participant until after these matters have been monergistically established. Nearly every verse in the Bible pertaining to salvation is written about people living within the criteria just listed. Every single verse written about a Hebrew or Jews is one that is written within the overarching covenant context. Every single verse in the epistolary written about a Christian is written about people who are all already saved. Not a single one of those verses is written about any unsaved person. Not a single one of those verses is written about an unchosen person, an uncalled person, an unregenerate person. Where stated, the cause is always stated to be God and never the sinfully dead and enslaved sinner's will.
These three conditions: 1) the covenant context, 2) the exegetically identified audience affiliation, and 3) the causality of God are the foundation for everything written in the Bible on the subject of salvation.
All salvation occurs within a covenant context and God is the sole initiator and maintainer of His Christologically salvific covenant.
Verses written about the regenerate believer or the already-saved state of being do not apply to the unregenerate believer.
Scripture does not often explicitly assign causality to salvation but when it does, it always attributes the cause to God and never the unregenerate sinner's fleshly volition.
These three facts of scripture are fatal to synergism. There's not a single episode of salvation existing outside the covenant relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. God initiates the covenant, He chooses the covenants participants, He calls them, and He commands them with an expectation of obedience..... and He never once asks anyone if they want to be a participant until after these matters have been monergistically established. Nearly every verse in the Bible pertaining to salvation is written about people living within the criteria just listed. Every single verse written about a Hebrew or Jews is one that is written within the overarching covenant context. Every single verse in the epistolary written about a Christian is written about people who are all already saved. Not a single one of those verses is written about any unsaved person. Not a single one of those verses is written about an unchosen person, an uncalled person, an unregenerate person. Where stated, the cause is always stated to be God and never the sinfully dead and enslaved sinner's will.
These three conditions: 1) the covenant context, 2) the exegetically identified audience affiliation, and 3) the causality of God are the foundation for everything written in the Bible on the subject of salvation.
