Greetings in the Name of Jesus!

[The Hawker]

Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I am privileged to be a part of this forum, and in having fellowship with those who believe in the Sovereign Grace of God, and His power through grace to change the attitudes of sinful man as He wills in His good pleasure.

I read some articles on the pristine grace web site by Mr Kraft, which I am very excited about, one of which namely "The confessions of a hyper-calvinist".

The doctrines of grace relieve the saved sinner in thinking that he/she is responsible for their salvation, and that as God is the author and finisher of our faith, the bit between God starting and finishing our faith, is God's work as well. Hallelujah!

May we continue to be challenged to stand for truth!

Coming from a pentecostal/charismatic background and initially being brought up in the church of Scotland, the Lord has shown me how vain my own efforts at holinesss are. Praise be to God, that through grace, He enables us to stand. It is ONLY by grace!!

May the Lord bless you all as you spend time in His word and sup with Him, in communion with Him. May His hand be upon you all as you seek the Lord, that He would continue to pour out more grace in order for us to do all He commands us to do!

Blessings ALWAYS,

Abraham854.

[Kentucky Kid]

Welcome to the Forum Kevin...........if you are interested in "Hyper- Calvinism", there are some "Hyper-Calvinists" floating around here..................KK (Kentucky Kid)

[Whammer]

Nice to have you aboard Milton, I'm sure if you have enjoyed some of the Pristine Grace articles, you will enjoy them all.......continue to feast Whoops thats Kevin, not Milton

[Saint Nicholas]

Welcome Kevin,

It is nice to have you on this forum. May Jesus our Lord continue to bring His sheep into the unity of the Spirit by the True Gospel of Christ.

Nicholas

[Highlyfavored]

Welcome to the Forum Kevin...........if you are interested in "Hyper- Calvinism", there are some "Hyper-Calvinists" floating around here..................KK (Kentucky Kid)

Alright ya' found me out I thought I had everybody fooled.

P.S. Welcome Kevin

[Robert R. Higby]

Welcome Kevin! When you have time I would like to discuss the attitude and position of the Evangelical Free Church here in the U.S. in contrast to the U.K.; here a supralapsarian Calvinist who expresses conviction with candor would never be tolerated (in most of their congregations)!

[The Hawker]

Personally, I would prefer to not discuss the views of my church concerning the kind of Calvinism that I believe in. I believe that it would be wrong of me to do so as I don't have their permission to divulge any information of any kind. I don't want to be disloyal to them, suffice to say that I was given the opportunity to preach, the last Lord's Day evening, where I presented the biblical premise in Romans 5:1-2 (NIV) where it says, 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. No one at church told me I was wrong to say that. Glory to God!!

These verses in my opinion are packed with truth, and one could say that they are some of the most powerful verses in the entire bible. The reason I say that is because we are told in verse two that we stand by the grace of God. In another part of the bible we are told that God is the author and finisher (or perfector) of our faith. I believe that if God is the author or initiator of our faith as well as the finisher, the bit in the middle between authoring and finishing is done by God also.

I believe strongly that the responsibility of living a Holy life is worked out and carried out by the Lord in His guidances and enablings to us through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and primarily the work of Sovereign Grace that makes it possible to do the impossible (which would be impossible in our human responsibility capacity). If it is man's responsibility to live a Holy life, we are doomed to failure. Even if we do manage it, who glories? Man may, if he is not careful. When the Lord has the responsibility, the Lord has ALL the glory.

May the Lord Bless You ALL as we stand together bought by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour!!!!!!

Abraham854.

[Robert R. Higby]

Abe,

I'm certainly thrilled by your teaching on these points. As to this:

Personally, I would prefer to not discuss the views of my church concerning the kind of Calvinism that I believe in. I believe that it would be wrong of me to do so as I don't have their permission to divulge any information of any kind.

I can't respect any church organization that is not candid and straightforward about its 'unstated' views. Being very familiar in experience with the denomination here in the U.S., I know well what the unstated views of this are here: SHUT UP AND LIVE IT! The EFC wants no one to positively teach sovereign grace doctrine, let alone high-grace teaching of the same.

[Whammer]

Personally, I would prefer to not discuss the views of my church concerning the kind of Calvinism that I believe in. I believe that it would be wrong of me to do so as I don't have their permission to divulge any information of any kind. I don't want to be disloyal to them,
Abraham854.

So what would these people do to you if you compared the denomination that bears the same name in the USA and UK and they didnt like your opinion?
Is your "kind of calvinism" different than theirs to some degree, or would that be crossing over the lines of divulging to much about them?
If they found out you were reading some of the great material on this forum......would they "put you out"? Or do have the freedom to say that here?

[The Hawker]

I think that one thing is vital here. My church doen't tell me what web sites I should look at and what web sites I shouldn't look at. Obviously, they can state their point of view, but that is as far as it goes. The bible tells me to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling. I am freed by the blood of Jesus Christ to do just that. If my church ever decided to put me out because of my views on the grace of God, that will be their own problem. I preached on the subject of God's grace one week ago, and put my views out in the open, not because they were "my views" but because Romans 5:1-2 says what it says full-stop. I didn't receive any negative feedback. Why don't we simply let the Lord do His work!

All of the things that the Lord has shown us regarding His grace, we need to thank God for. It is only by His grace that we have come to the conclusions we have come to. Why do we as Christians have to be so highly critical of other Christians when we were once in the same place as those we are now criticising. If we believe in High Grace, why don't we simply ask the Lord to pour out this high grace in abundance on those who think they have to do something to earn God's approval?

We need to remember that it is not the arminian or the modernised calvinist that is the problem. It is the principalities and powers that we fight against in the heavenly realms. We have to cast down every imagination that goes against the knowledge of God.

Please do not get me wrong. I deeply appreciate the high calvinist position, and that is what I believe. I appreciate the articles on "common grace" like everything I have read on this web site. However, in all that we say, and all that we do, it has to be done through the eye of love (1 Corinthians 13) or it is worthless.

Now that we believe that God is more sovereign than we realised previously, let us contend for the faith, allowing God's grace to operate in our lives and those who have not seen the truth yet, after all it has taken a lot of us years to come to the understanding we have arrived at, and are still learning.

Praise be to the God of Heaven who is the author of all truth!

Blessings to you ALWAYS,

Abraham854.

[Highlyfavored]

I think that one thing is vital here. My church doen't tell me what web sites I should look at and what web sites I shouldn't look at. Obviously, they can state their point of view, but that is as far as it goes. The bible tells me to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling. I am freed by the blood of Jesus Christ to do just that. If my church ever decided to put me out because of my views on the grace of God, that will be their own problem. I preached on the subject of God's grace one week ago, and put my views out in the open, not because they were "my views" but because Romans 5:1-2 says what it says full-stop. I didn't receive any negative feedback. Why don't we simply let the Lord do His work!

God will accomplish whatever he has purposed, it does not matter what we think.

All of the things that the Lord has shown us regarding His grace, we need to thank God for. It is only by His grace that we have come to the conclusions we have come to. Why do we as Christians have to be so highly critical of other Christians when we were once in the same place as those we are now criticising. If we believe in High Grace, why don't we simply ask the Lord to pour out this high grace in abundance on those who think they have to do something to earn God's approval?

God will pour out His grace as He sees fit. It is fine to ask, however if they are not elect it does not matter what we ask for, it is only God's purposes that are realized.

We need to remember that it is not the arminian or the modernised calvinist that is the problem. It is the principalities and powers that we fight against in the heavenly realms. We have to cast down every imagination that goes against the knowledge of God.

One of the ways that we do this is by realizing that God is ultimately sovereign and that his will is not mutable. God is never disappointed, He always gets what He wants.

Please do not get me wrong. I deeply appreciate the high calvinist position, and that is what I believe. I appreciate the articles on "common grace" like everything I have read on this web site. However, in all that we say, and all that we do, it has to be done through the eye of love (1 Corinthians 13) or it is worthless.

I believe that all must be done in love for God and the elect, not the reprobate. Since we don't know who the condemned are it is good to be kind to all.

Also you will find that the position of this forum is that there is no such thing as common grace.

Now that we believe that God is more sovereign than we realised previously, let us contend for the faith, allowing God's grace to operate in our lives and those who have not seen the truth yet, after all it has taken a lot of us years to come to the understanding we have arrived at, and are still learning.

Praise be to the God of Heaven who is the author of all truth!

Blessings to you ALWAYS,

Abraham854.

Keep running hard after the truth.

[Robert R. Higby]

Abraham,

We are not here to condemn your perspective on these things. We definitely want your input and teaching on the whole counsel of God. I can only remind you in response to this statement:

We need to remember that it is not the arminian or the modernised calvinist that is the problem. It is the principalities and powers that we fight against in the heavenly realms. We have to cast down every imagination that goes against the knowledge of God.

that we are convicted that Arminianism and low-grace Calvinism ARE the problem. The Bible teaches that there ARE doctrines of devils; these teachings are the principalities and powers that we fight against. They are the imaginations of men that go against the knowledge of God.

[Whammer]

Yes Kevin, I also hope you will not think there is a condemning "tone" to any of our posts. We here at this forum seek to "speak the truth in love" as Paul says. 1st and foremost when we have new people, whom we dont know, join our forum, our 1st priority in this command is......how do we speak before our Lord Jesus Christ.......so I hope you will continue to "sharpen" with us. As you read the articles throughout the forum, you find these are not unfamiliar or undiscussed topics.....to one degree or another.
Certainly you would grant us the same privledge of any believer to "use the weapons of our warfare, which are not fleshly, to pull down/destroy the strongholds, arguments that are raised against the knowledge of God" (2 Cor. 10:3-4), knowing that we are in warfare.
We are not in the dark about what Paul says here in Timothy....2 Tim. 2:24-26, we are not ignorant of the devils schemes either and are aware that temporally speaking there are some of our brethren caught in his traps/held captive. WHO ever is being held captive to DO his will.....will in fact be doing it.......sheep only for a short time, but the reprobates are fathered by him, who ever they are. (John 8:44)
Anyway, once again, I hope you will continue to enjoy the forum

[The Hawker]

Thank you Bob and Whammer for your good words! They make sense!

The amazing thing for me in understanding the truths that you promote on this website is not contending with others about the truths, although it is necessary to do so for the Kingdoms' sake, but to walk in this supernatural sovereign grace and experience the benefits of understanding the supernatural way He cuts our desire for sin as we call on the Lord to pour out His abundant grace at the very start of the day. He does it, in great measure. I can testify of this in the last week, and it is ALL GOD!!!!!!

I would be very careful in your questioning of the inclusion of James in the canon of scripture. The Lord allowed it to be there, and I believe that it provides the balance of where works fit in to the believers way of life. I have always taken the book of James on the works issue to mean that works is purely the outworking of the inward work of grace that God has applied and balmed the soul with. I don't believe that James is really saying that we are justified by works, or else this would be one scripture against many in the bible which say that it is justification by faith alone. We have to remember that James and Paul were talking to different groupings of people.

It is amazing how I used to hear the scripture in 2 Peter 3:9 NIV, which says, 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with "you", not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

It is interesting to note that the word "you" in quotes in verse 9 refers to the brethren that Paul was talking to, and not as I was under the impression several moons ago, that God wants ALL men saved. What a revelation to see the truth exposed and the false teaching demolished in that verse. If God isn't willing that ANY man perish, no one would burn in hell, but we know that this cannot be the case when we see the truth of election and predestination from the very foundation of this world for His ELECT to go to heaven.

May the Lord Bless you all as you glory in God and His Sovereign Truth!

Blessings ALWAYS,

Kevin.

[Robert R. Higby]

Thanks for your further observations Kevin!

We do not make the James issue a test of orthodoxy in and of itself, of course. But in response to your points I would encourage you to study all that has gone before in the threads (when time permits). A lot of evidence has been presented.

Our position on scripture itself is that it is the God-breathed, infallible revelation of God and free of all erroneous teaching. So our canon debate is not a debate on the nature of scripture or the truth of SOLA SCRIPTURA. It is instead a debate on the scope and extent of scripture.

On the issue of Arminianism I was just trying to give you a 'heads up' that we don't refer to confirmed, doctrinaire Arminians who loathe sovereign predestination as 'brethren' here. So this is a different environment than what exists in many church denominations that embrace both sides.

Grace and peace in the gospel,

Bro. Bob

[The Hawker]

Hello Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I was thinking about what Paul was saying in Galations 2:20-21. This is awesome! He says quote, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. NKJV.

I notice in the KJV, midway through verse 20, it says quote, "I live by the faith of the Son of God". This is quite a difference. The King James version would appear to me to be saying that it is the faith of Jesus that we live by and not "our own faith in Jesus". The faith of the Son of God is a more powerful faith than my own. That is why I believe Paul was so powerful in his Christian witness.

The last paragraph aside, I wanted to discuss the main thrust of the verses above, which is that Paul confesses that his "own" life is gone, and that his life in the flesh is lived by the faith of the Son of God, who is his Lord and Saviour. He then makes the most powerful statement that you can imagine. You can just skip over it as I have done many times when reading this passage. He says, "I do not set aside the grace of God". Even Paul, the chief apostle didn't take responsibility for his holy life. He rested on the grace of God, and depended on it to live the life. Grace gives us what we need to have any hope of living the Christian life to the Glory of God.

I can see that High Grace is the enabling factor to living a life that pleases God. Anything less is a shame to the Lord.

Thank you all for your encouraging posts. They are encouraging me to dig deeper into the grace of God.

May the Lord Bless You all ALWAYS.

Yours depending on the Sovereign Grace of God,

Kevin.

[The Hawker]

To whoever can help me,

In what way has the grace of God in the above verses, appeared to all men. How fo we interpret this in light of election and predestination?

Thank you,

Kevin.

[Robert R. Higby]

For believers in Definite Atonement, 'ALL MEN' in this and other NT biblical contexts refers to 'all men everywhere' (the nations, Jew and Gentile) as opposed to physical Israel only. This interpretation is consistent with the whole message and emphasis of the New Testament.

[Robert R. Higby]

On the matter of election and predestination, the ALL is the true humanity redeemed in Jesus Christ. The others outside of redemption are not truly human but in fact are devil.