What is grace?

[donadams]

Are we talking about grace? Or are we talking about ways we can make it mean what we like?


Oh you will. If God is saving someone, it's irresistible.

Here you go, explaining it as to how we humans would want it.

109. There is a supernatural intervention of God in the faculties of the soul, which precedes the free act of the will.
110. There is a supernatural influence of God in the faculties of the soul which coincides in time with man’s free act of will.
111. For every salutary act internal supernatural grace of God (gratia elevans) is absolutely necessary.
112. Internal supernatural grace is absolutely necessary for the beginning of faith and of salvation.

122. The Human Will remains free under the influence of efficacious grace, which is not
irresistible.
Thanks

 

[donadams]

The short question is Why?

The longer is , would that be because it is the unmerited favor from God? That by His grace, God is willing to forgive us and bless us abundantly, in spite of the fact that we don't deserve to be treated so well or dealt with so generously?

May I ask this....

Does grace come before or after "faith" or is it bestowed upon only those who have been "predetermined" and not for others?

Grace always comes first

 

[donadams]

Unmerited Election ~ by ReverendRV * December 7

Ephesians 2:8 KJV; For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Compared to many Christians I know, I consider myself a ‘mini-Theologian’; and ABC, 123 kind of guy. In a way, this can be advantageous; I can say something which is as true as a deep Theologian but say it in a way that’s easier to understand. There’s a Doctrine called Unconditional Election, one of the 5-Points of Calvinism; it means that God chooses you to be Saved before you choose him as your God. I said to a friend that every Evangelical believes in Unconditional Election and I could prove it. Our verse says we are Saved by Grace, which means ‘Unmerited Favor’; there is no condition we can ever meet to merit his Election. God chooses people before they’ve done anything Good to deserve it or before they have done anything bad not to deserve it, that his purpose in Election will stand. I suggested to my friend that we change the name of Unconditional Election to Unmerited Election, and he said this would mean we are Saved by Grace. I said, “Now you’re getting it!” How can we be Saved any other way but by Grace?

Let me explain the problem. ~ Have you ever used the name of God as a cuss word? This takes his Name in Vain and is Blasphemy; what if someone went around running your name through the mud? Have you kept the Sabbath Day Holy? What if you invited someone to your Wedding but they decided to work in the yard instead; how would you feel? What if the person decided to choose your Fiancee for you before they would come? Shouldn’t YOUR purpose in your Engagement stand? These are just three of the Ten Commandments, not even counting Lying and Stealing; if God judged you by his standard would you be innocent or guilty? Would you go to Heaven or to Hell? Shouldn’t he choose anyone else but you to live happily ever after with him? Does this bother you? Then you should check to see if you’ve been invited…

This is what God’s invitation looks like. ~ For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting Life! Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he was the Sinless sacrifice which appeases the Wrath of God against Sinners. He was hung on a Cross and shed his blood for the remission of Sin that he never committed; the Just dying for the Unjust. He arose from the grave and became the Author of Life for everyone who would dare to believe. We’re Saved by God’s Grace through Faith in the Resurrected Savior Jesus Christ, apart from Works; that’s the only way it could be true that it’s not of ourselves. Repent of your Sins, Confess Jesus Christ as Lord and start reading your Bible. ~ Unconditional Election doesn’t mean you can’t be Saved but teaches that God chooses us first, then we choose him. Since God is allowed to choose his people like we are allowed to choose our own Spouse, God can choose you even if you think you’re unlovable. God’s Love is special…

John 15:19 NASB; "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

Eph 2:8 who’s faith?

 

[donadams]

Sin has put us way outside God’s favor and under His righteous and terrible wrath upon sinners.

Knowing this how can scripture say:

Lk 1:28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

“Full of grace”

“Lord is with Mary”
(not Mary is with the Lord)

“Blessed”

The only possibility is the “immaculate conception” by the power of God thru the future merits of the passion and death of Jesus Christ! Amen! Lk 1:37 Lk 1:49

Thanks

 

[Soyeong]

The law is fulfilled?

Replacement theology

Christ replaces David as king! Lk 1:32-33

The new covenant replaces the mosaic covenant! Matt 21:43 heb 8:13 heb 8:6 heb 9:15
Gal 4 new Jerusalem / new creation
Mary mother of all those living in the new creation of Jesus Christ replaces eve as the mother of the living! Jn 19:26 rev 12:17

The new covenant church is the new Israel! Matt 21:43

The cross replaces the Star of David as the symbol of salvation!

Christ reformed the mosaic covenant into the new covenant
Heb 10:9

Thanks

To fulfill the law means "to cause God's will (as made known in His law) to be obeyed as it should be". After Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law, he then proceeded to fulfill it six times throughout the rest of the chapter by teaching how to correctly obey it as it should be.

The Mosaic Covenant is eternal (Exodus 31:14-17, Leviticus 24:8), so the only way that it can be replaced by the New Covenant is if the New Covenant does everything that it does plus more, which is what it means to make something obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). So the New Covenant still involves following the Torah (Hebrews 8:10), plus it is based on better promises and has a superior mediatory (Hebrews 8:6). One of those better promises is that Israel would never cease to be a nation before God (Jeremiah 31:35-37).

 

[donadams]

Grace is the life of God in us
Supernatural life given to men
Jn 10:10
Jn 14:6
Jn 1:16
Jn 20:21
Eph 2:1 & 2:5 quickened or brought to life

2 Peter 1:4
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

“promises” sacred oath which is a sacrament

By the sacraments we have supernatural life!

Acts 17:28
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Jn 1:12 but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

John 1:4
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Thanks

2 cor 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

1 Corinthians 3:16
Know ye not that ye are the templeof God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

 

[ReverendRV]

Eph 2:8 who’s faith?

Why do you ask, "Who's Faith?"; when the Gospel Tract is titled, "Unmerited Election"? Changing the subject?

Is a Baptized Infant Unconditionally Elect apart from their Faith?

 

[Soyeong]

Grace is not offered. If it were offered, it would require works to complete it. Which cancels grace

When considering grace as favour, we must define it as merited, unmerited, or demerited favour.

Sin has put us way outside God’s favor and under His righteous and terrible wrath upon sinners.

Merited favour would be a reward for good works, so the Catholics and foolish conditionalists, which takes in most sects.

Unmerited favour would be a gift to a neutral party, so we see the election and preservation of elect angels.

"Demerited" favour would be a gift to those deserving judgment, so the blessed truth of the gospel.

True grace is demerited favour without obligation, worth, or conditions. Works are totally excluded.

By God’s definition, grace and works are mutually exclusive by their definition (Romans 11:5-6).

If a man works for righteousness before God, even by faith, it is debt and not grace (Romans 4:4-5). Faith is the system God has ordained whereby we come to know of our free justification~ it is the evidence and is no way the condition, medium, by which we receive God's free grace. It is by faith we receive the knowledge of our great salvation that we have freely in Christ.

Grace used as an acronym may properly define Biblical grace … God Rewards and Clears Enemies.

Grace = God does not judge and punish the elect as they do deserve, but He does honor and reward them with blessings they do not deserve.

This enhanced definition is like we do with justification.

Grace is a gift and gifts can't be earned as a wage, so grace is incompatible with works insofar as those works as done to earn a wage (Romans 11:5-6), however, works can be done for any number of other reasons that are not incompatible with grace, which is why there are many verses that connect our works with grace. For example, in Psalms 119:29-30, he wanted to put false ways far from him, for God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey His law, and he chose the way of faithfulness by setting God's law before him, so this has always been the one and only way of salvation by grace through faith. Likewise, in Titus 2:11-14, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, so God graciously teaching us to do those works in obedience to His law is part of the content of His gift of salvation.

While Paul denied in Romans 4:1-5 that was can earn our righteousness as a wage as the result of our works, he also said in Romans 2:13 that only doers of the law will be declared righteous, so there must be a reason that our righteousness requires us to choose to be doers of the law other than in order to earn it as a wage, such as faith insofar as the faith by which we are declared righteous does not abolish our need to be doers of the law, but rather our faith upholds it (Romans 3:31).

In Proverbs 3:5-7, we have a choice between whether we are going to lean on our own understanding of right and wrong by doing what is right in our own eyes or whether we are going to trust in God with all of our heart to correctly divide between right and wrong through doing what He has instructed, and He will make our way straight, and again this has always been the one and only way of salvation by grace through faith.

 

[donadams]

Sinners, coming to God, through Christ, .... are not worthy of "The Gift of Righteousness" which is "the Gift of Salvation".

However, its because the "all have sinned" are allowed by God's Grace, (which is the Cross of Christ), to be eternally forgiven, and eternally redeemed,..... THIS then = is the Mercy of God, clearly shown.

God makes a sinner RIGHTEOUS... and that is undeserved favor.

This is "God's Grace".

I agree but how does it happen?
Faith and baptism

Jn 3:5 cannot enter the kingdom on your own
2 pet 1:11 must be ministered unto you by the holy apostolic church thru faith and baptism
Thanks

 

[donadams]

Yes; the reason why is because Grace is Unmerited. Like I said elsewhere, getting words and definitions right; goes a long way is correcting Dogma...

Practically EVERY Christian believes Grace is prevenient, that Grace is the first factor of Salvation. People haven't heard me say it lately, but if Faith is the first factor of Salvation; that person is saved by their very own Prevenient faith. It being their very own, Grace is no longer Grace...

Non Calvinists can't stand it when I mix Terms like Prevenient Grace, with words like Faith; I develop a New Term, 'Prevenient Faith'. This shows how ridiculous it is for them to insist Faith comes before Grace. My doing this works on the average Christian, but not on Posters who can't stand Calvinism. So, they keep on saying Faith is first; even if the Church thinks they're stupid...

Calvinism is pretty simple; any Christian who believes they're Saved by Grace, is a closet-Calvinist. Grace Alone is one of the 5-Solas, right? When Grace is first, it is Alone; until it ain't...

Why is the Holy Spirit excluded from the sola’s?

How can you have more than one sola? Sola means alone, if there are five then there not alone?

 

[donadams]

There is a popular acronym that says grace is God's Riches At Christ's Expense, and grace is commonly understood as "unmerited favor," but I learned from studying the Greek in Bill Mounce's website that the conjugation of "charis" proves relevant and important. For example, in the Ephesians 2:5-10 text charis is used genitively and datively. In verse 8 grace is an act of asserting causal effort or power. The salvation asserted is done with and by chariti (not faith absent grace, or faith of the sinner's flesh). This "gift" is given, but not as we might give someone a wedding present that they can leave unopened, or in which they can take joy but never use, consider nice but not important, re-gift, or treat any number of other ways (my wife and I just gave wedding gifts to three young couples marrying this weekend). It is a life-changing gift, a person-changing gift. The dependent construction of verses 8 through 10 is not one in which anything is dependent upon faith, but one in which the salvation and the person being saved, and his/her salvation are causally dependent upon the grace. It is not a passive voice; the chariti of Ephesians 2:8 is an assertion of divine might, an assertion of causal might that saves. It is not a dependency.

Is it possible that eph 2:8 refers to redemption and not justification?

 

[prism]

Don’t we have to choose to abide in Him
It bears fruit immediately

Does a branch choose to abide or is it naturally an outgrowth of the tree/vine?

 

[ReverendRV]

Why is the Holy Spirit excluded from the sola’s?

How can you have more than one sola? Sola means alone, if there are five then there not alone?

In a way, God the Holy Spirit is not excluded from the 5-Solas; because HE is the Voice of Sola Scriptura. If you would like to add the Holy Spirit to the Solas, in what way would you do it? In that he exists?

Calvinists are not unaware of the irony that there are five Onlies. They are not Alone, except in the Concept that if Salvation could theoretically be rounded down to one thing; they each are THAT important to our Salvation, as if they were the Lone Factor. For instance, Christ Alone; he is our Salvation. I put it this way; we're Saved by Grace Alone through Faith Alone in the Christ of Scripture Alone, Glory to God Alone. As a Catholic you should understand that the Solas are a Creed meant to isolate Grace from Works, Scripture from Dogma, Glory of Man from Glory to God; etc. In a sense, the Sola aspect is not that there are five Onlies; but that each Sola is Alone when it comes to their Contrasts also. For instance, Christ Alone compared to the Holy Spirit; HE Alone died on the Cross for us, HE is the JUST and the Justifier Alone. Christ Alone compared to Allah. Etc...

You see, they are Onlies in this respect too. Should there be more or less Solas? Maybe. But these were handed down to us. A Hyper Calvinist behaves as if Unconditional Election were a Sola; in that if you rounded Salvation down to one thing, our Election is it. Professor Flowers behaves as if Faith is the Only Sola. There are many Fundamentals of the Faith, too many to list; but perhaps the best way to look at the 5-Solas is to consider them a List of Prime Fundamentals. Surely you agree Christ is the only Savior; I don't think you are AS against the 5-Solas as you want to appear to be. For instance, the Catholic Church and the Pope are not Inspired the same way the Bible is Inspired; Scripture Alone is, right?

Again, your questions are off topic compared to the Post you responded to. Why change the Subject ? But the change let's me speak to the Lurkers...

 

[prism]

Why is the Holy Spirit excluded from the sola’s?

Because He always works in conjunction with His Word.

 

[Arial]

How can you have more than one sola? Sola means alone, if there are five then there not alone?

They are not all addressing the same aspect of salvation or the church. Each one is alone (only) in that which it concerns.

 

[donadams]

To fulfill the law means "to cause God's will (as made known in His law) to be obeyed as it should be". After Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law, he then proceeded to fulfill it six times throughout the rest of the chapter by teaching how to correctly obey it as it should be.

The Mosaic Covenant is eternal (Exodus 31:14-17, Leviticus 24:8), so the only way that it can be replaced by the New Covenant is if the New Covenant does everything that it does plus more, which is what it means to make something obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). So the New Covenant still involves following the Torah (Hebrews 8:10), plus it is based on better promises and has a superior mediatory (Hebrews 8:6). One of those better promises is that Israel would never cease to be a nation before God (Jeremiah 31:35-37).

Their were three parts of the law

Moral law is eternal the Ten Commandments

The jurisdictional law authority
Taken from Israel and given to the apostolic church

The ceremonial law which is fulfilled done away with

Colossians 2:14
Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Thanks

 

[donadams]

Why do you ask, "Who's Faith?"; when the Gospel Tract is titled, "Unmerited Election"? Changing the subject?

Is a Baptized Infant Unconditionally Elect apart from their Faith?

Can a man be saved without a priest?

 

[donadams]

Why do you ask, "Who's Faith?"; when the Gospel Tract is titled, "Unmerited Election"? Changing the subject?

Is a Baptized Infant Unconditionally Elect apart from their Faith?

No, I was wanting to know who’s faith is it that saves?

 

[donadams]

Why do you ask, "Who's Faith?"; when the Gospel Tract is titled, "Unmerited Election"? Changing the subject?

Is a Baptized Infant Unconditionally Elect apart from their Faith?

If the infant is baptized yes!

 

[ReverendRV]

If the infant is baptized yes!

So even YOU believe in Unconditional Election...

Just relax, and find someone who can help you figure us out. Calvinism is not as bad as you think it is...

See what happens when you start listening instead of Telling; or by not changing the Subject?