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Do you note that only those the Father has given to Jesus will repent?That is why Christ incarnated to CALL sinners to repentance...
Repentance is man's appropriate response to God's CALL to repentance...
UNLESS man repents from his sins, God WILL NOT Save him...
Christ's very words from Holy Scripture in all three Synoptic Gospels:
Mat 4:17
From that time Jesus began to preach,
and to say,
Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
After His Death on the Cross, Peter continued to the Gentiles:
Act 2:38
Then Peter said unto them,
Repent,
and be baptized
every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins,
and
ye shall receive the Gift
of the Holy Spirit.
Indeed - YOU have to desire to be saved and do something about it, or God will grant you your filthy rags permanently...
When God calls YOU to repent and be Baptized INTO Christ, and YOU do NOT do so, you will NOT be saved by God...
"I came... to call sinners to repentance..."
Do you not believe Christ's very words?
God calls us to repentance that we should be Saved by God...
You have three fingers pointing right back into your own soul...
You simply CANNOT teach
that no one can do anything
for the sake of gaining
their own Salvation
from God...
We need to repent of our filthy rags...
God will purify us in the Baptismal Waters of Purification...
"And the Spirit of God
Moved Upon the Face of the Waters..."
Christ's Baptism completes Genesis for man...
Arsenios
1Co 9:22
To the weak became I as weak,
that I might gain the weak:
I am made all things to all men,
that I might by all means
save some.
Believing in God,
I become as a Sola Scripture believer
that I might gain
those believing in Scripture Alone...
No one denies that repentance is required.
The issue is whether justification (the changed relationship, the coming of spiritual life, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the giving of faith in Christ as Savior) is the RESULT of the dead, atheistic enemy of God performing a good work (in this case, repentance) or whether such is a result of the Incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ (in other words, is Jesus the Savior or is each individual death, atheistic enemy of God).
IMO, you are making a fundamental error that undermines (if not destroys) the Gospel and the whole point of Christianity, by ignoring Jesus and placing everything on what the dead, atheist, enemy of God DOES, making everything (EVERYTHING) hinge on a good work performed by one whom the Bible expressly says is incapable to doing it. IMO, you are diminishing (or perhaps eliminating) Jesus and replacing it with a work performed by the dead atheist - all with NOTHING from God (no Holy Spirit, no life, no nothing) - just God calling.
I'd remind you of the rising of Lazarus. Yes, Jesus called the dead from the Tomb but it's JESUS that performed the MIRACLE, Lazarus did not raise himself by obeying the Call. We give Jesus 100% of the credit for the miracle because Jesus did 100% of it. Lazarus was raised, Lazarus didn't raise himself. Yes, Lazarus responded to the call but only because he then had life.... It's Jesus' miracle, not Lazarus'.
If Jesus is the Savior, then Jesus does the saving. The granting of life, of the Holy Spirit, of faith in Christ as Savior are miracles GOD performs. HOW He works this all out is a mystery (as all miracles are) but insisting that self actually does all of it by self OBEYING, PERFORMING and God simply accordingly rewarding that is the soteriology of Islam and all the false religions of the world.
Josiah said:
No one denies that repentance is required.
The issue is whether justification (the changed relationship, the coming of spiritual life, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the giving of faith in Christ as Savior) is the RESULT of the dead, atheistic enemy of God performing a good work (in this case, repentance) or whether such is a result of the Incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ (in other words, is Jesus the Savior or is each individual death, atheistic enemy of God).
IMO, you are making a fundamental error that undermines (if not destroys) the Gospel and the whole point of Christianity, by ignoring Jesus and placing everything on what the dead, atheist, enemy of God DOES, making everything (EVERYTHING) hinge on a good work performed by one whom the Bible expressly says is incapable to doing it. IMO, you are diminishing (or perhaps eliminating) Jesus and replacing it with a work performed by the dead atheist - all with NOTHING from God (no Holy Spirit, no life, no nothing) - just God calling.
I'd remind you of the rising of Lazarus. Yes, Jesus called the dead from the Tomb but it's JESUS that performed the MIRACLE, Lazarus did not raise himself by obeying the Call. We give Jesus 100% of the credit for the miracle because Jesus did 100% of it. Lazarus was raised, Lazarus didn't raise himself. Yes, Lazarus responded to the call but only because he then had life.... It's Jesus' miracle, not Lazarus'.
If Jesus is the Savior, then Jesus does the saving. The granting of life, of the Holy Spirit, of faith in Christ as Savior are miracles GOD performs. HOW He works this all out is a mystery (as all miracles are) but insisting that self actually does all of it by self OBEYING, PERFORMING and God simply accordingly rewarding that is the soteriology of Islam and all the false religions of the world.
.
The issue you are failing to engage is the CALL of God to Repentance...
Arsenios said:Man's response to that CALL is crucial to his Salvation BY God Alone...
Do you note that only those the Father has given to Jesus will repent?
No, I'm not.
You are failing to acknowledge that Jesus is the Savior and thus does the saving. That the dead, atheistic enemy of God does NOT save self by the performance of a good work.
A flat out contradiction.
If the unregenerate, dead, atheist performs the good work by himself that results in his justification - then he is not saved by God alone. God is simply RESPONDING justly according to the good work performed by the dead enemy of God.
No, I'm not.
No one denies that repentance is required.
The issue is whether justification (the changed relationship, the coming of spiritual life, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the giving of faith in Christ as Savior) is the RESULT of the dead, atheistic enemy of God performing a good work (in this case, repentance) or whether such is a result of the Incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ (in other words, is Jesus the Savior or is each individual death, atheistic enemy of God).
IMO, you are making a fundamental error that undermines (if not destroys) the Gospel and the whole point of Christianity, by ignoring Jesus and placing everything on what the dead, atheist, enemy of God DOES, making everything (EVERYTHING) hinge on a good work performed by one whom the Bible expressly says is incapable to doing it. IMO, you are diminishing (or perhaps eliminating) Jesus and replacing it with a work performed by the dead atheist - all with NOTHING from God (no Holy Spirit, no life, no nothing) - just God calling.
I'd remind you of the rising of Lazarus. Yes, Jesus called the dead from the Tomb but it's JESUS that performed the MIRACLE, Lazarus did not raise himself by obeying the Call. We give Jesus 100% of the credit for the miracle because Jesus did 100% of it. Lazarus was raised, Lazarus didn't raise himself. Yes, Lazarus responded to the call but only because he then had life.... It's Jesus' miracle, not Lazarus'.
If Jesus is the Savior, then Jesus does the saving. The granting of life, of the Holy Spirit, of faith in Christ as Savior are miracles GOD performs. HOW He works this all out is a mystery (as all miracles are) but insisting that self actually does all of it by self OBEYING, PERFORMING and God simply accordingly rewarding that is the soteriology of Islam and all the false religions of the world.
.
See? You are calling that Holy Call of God inefficacious...
See? You are calling that Holy Call of God inefficacious...
Without the Holy Spirit, it is.
"Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God"
John 6:65
Ephesians 2:8-9
1 Corinthians 12:3
1 Corinthians 2:14
Ephesians 2:1
Romans 8:7
Hebrews 11:6
Consider Lazarus. Did dead Lazarus (stinking in the tomb) raise himself by hearing the call of Jesus and walking out of that tomb in obedience? Or did Jesus perform a miracle, giving Lazarus life and thus he walked out of the tomb? Is the Bible wrong to say Jesus gave him life? Are we wrong in saying Jesus performed a miracle when in reality Lazarus simply obeyed the call of Jesus?
Pelagianism is a heresy. But at least that heresy says we respond ONLY because God FIRST comes to us and empowers it.... You claim to hold that God alone saves... but you have an entirely absent God, who does NOTHING but calls, everything depending on the dead one "hearing" it and performing a good work that God simply (in His justice) rewards accordingly. In your soteriology, God has nothing to do with saving, just ordering dead people to do what they can't and won't do without Him.
.
Consider Lazarus.
Did dead Lazarus (stinking in the tomb)
[Did Lazarus] raise himself by hearing the call of Jesus
and walking out of that tomb in obedience?
Or did Jesus perform a miracle,
giving Lazarus life and thus he walked out of the tomb?
Is the Bible wrong to say Jesus gave him life?
Are we wrong in saying Jesus performed a miracle
when in reality Lazarus simply obeyed the call of Jesus?
Total blather...
Recalling a man back to his corpse is an entirely different matter from calling a sinner to repentance...
A straw man rabbit hole into blackness...
A very silly so-called argument...
Arsenios
Josiah said:John 6:65
Ephesians 2:8-9
1 Corinthians 12:3
1 Corinthians 2:14
Ephesians 2:1
Romans 8:7
Consider Lazarus. Did dead Lazarus (stinking in the tomb) raise himself by hearing the call of Jesus and walking out of that tomb in obedience? Or did Jesus perform a miracle, giving Lazarus life and thus he walked out of the tomb? Is the Bible wrong to say Jesus gave him life? Are we wrong in saying Jesus performed a miracle when in reality Lazarus simply obeyed the call of Jesus?
Pelagianism is a heresy. But at least that heresy says we respond ONLY because God FIRST comes to us and empowers it.... You claim to hold that God alone saves... but you have an entirely absent God, who does NOTHING but calls, everything depending on the dead one "hearing" it and performing a good work that God simply (in His justice) rewards accordingly. In your soteriology, God has nothing to do with saving, just ordering dead people to do what they can't and won't do without Him.
.
IF You are CALLED by God to repentance,
THEN You are able to repent...
Arsenios said:I am arguing that
IF God CALLS you to repentance...
THEN you CAN repent...
What an illogical assumption...
I am horrified.
.
1. How illogical.
Josiah said:Arsenios said:I am arguing that
IF God CALLS you to repentance...
THEN you CAN repent...
.
1. How illogical.
2. God disagrees with you. See for example:
John 6:65
Ephesians 2:8-9
1 Corinthians 12:3
1 Corinthians 2:14
Ephesians 2:1
Romans 8:7
3. Please provide the Scriptures that teach, "If God commands the unregenerate to do anything, THEREFORE they all can totally do it all on their own, by their own ability and strength, without faith or the Holy Spirit or anything from God." Where is that verse? Please quote it.
4. I disagree with you that dead, atheistic enemies of God save themselves by performing the good work of repentance, making self the Savior and making Jesus irrelevant. I hold that Jesus is the Savior and thus Jesus does the saving because we need SAVING. If we all can totally save ourselves by our own ability and own works, then God's mercy, grace, incarnation, Savior, the Cross, the Resurrection - they are all irrelevant. Indeed, God is irrelvant. What you express is a godless, pure legalistic issue of self obeying, performing a good work, all on their own and with their own ability and will. That's worse than most of the false religions of the world.
5. Your point that self is the one responsible for the salvation of self, and that each dead self does this WITHOUT anything from God - no mercy, no grace, no empowering, no Holy Spirit, no faith - just the dead one being OBEDENT to a legal call. That's even worse than the heresy of Pelagianism. It's even worse than the soteriology of Islam and Hinduism (which at least indicate that God empowers our obedience) - you have a godless soteriology, one entirely of the Law, all founded entirely on what SELF does (you don't even mention Jesus).
6. IF this "Tradition" of a soteriology void of God, void of Jesus, void of the Cross and Empty Tomb, void of the Holy Spirit, void of any Gospel, void of any mercy - PURE Law, with justifically entirely and wholly dependent on each dead atheist enemy of God performing a good work... if this is the "Tradition" of the EOC
, then I could not disagree more. I find the soteriology of Islam and Judaism and Bhatki Hinduism to be closer to Christianity than that. And I note that what you are suggesting is perhaps why the RCC
split off from you, what you are saying was loudly condemned by our Catholic teachers as pure heresy. At least the heretics argued that we respond to God with God's empowering, with the enabling of the Holy Spirit, you have a completely godless theology here: God just COMMANDS and the dead man just RESPONDS - all with nothing from God. No grace, no mercy, no Holy Spirit, no divine involvement or role at all. IF what you are conveying is the "Tradition" of the EOC, then I am horrified.
.
For you to say that God commands us to do that which we cannot do is the apex of illogicality...
Arsenios said:But for you, here is an easy one:Simply show me in the Bible just ONE Command That God gave That the person He gave it to Was unable to obey Until the Holy Spirit helped him out?
[CUT AND PASTE ALERT]
John 6:65
Ephesians 2:8-9
1 Corinthians 12:3
1 Corinthians 2:14
Ephesians 2:1
Romans 8:7
Ah. So God calls all to be perfect. To be void of sin. To love all even as Christ loves. So, according to you, it is MANDATED that all can do that.... nothing from God needed, just His command. No mercy needed. No grace needed. No Cross needed. No resurrected needed. No Savior needed. Just God commanding and every unregenerate person DOING it. An entirely godless religion. If what you say is "logical" then Christ died in vain and He sent the Holy Spirit in vain - totally unnecessary. All self needs is self, fully able to do anything God calls on anyone to do.