Adoption, Irresistible Grace, and Unconditional Election: An Anecdote

Adoption, Irresistible Grace, and Unconditional Election: An Anecdote

Adoption, Irresistible Grace, and Unconditional Election: An Anecdote

Adoption, Irresistible Grace, and Unconditional Election: An Anecdote

A YOUNG MAN'S WAY

''WHEREWITHAL SHALL A YOUNG MAN CLEANSE HIS WAY/ BY TAKING HEED THERETO ACCORDING TO THY WORD''PSALM 119;9 The psalmist's question about the way of a young man may be likened unto a manufacturer's attempt to display the utmost effectiveness of his product. The power of a soap to cleanse a stain is not seen until the stain be very deep, and thus it is declared from the opening chapters of Genesis, ''for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth'' [8;21], proving that a very great power is required to cleanse it. Youth is often a time when lust cries for gratification, and passions are most unruly, and when indulged these will quickly begin to form beaten paths for sin in a young man's life which he may never depart from all his days. The greatest danger of the way of self-gratification in youth is that it seems pleasurable, even right, to the youthful mind which is not farsighted enough to reckon with the day of accounting that is coming, as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes warned; ''Rejoice O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment'' [11;9]. Hence the question ''wherewithal'' or by what means is the unwary youth to cleanse himself from the evil within his own heart, and keep himself from the defiling temptations all about him/ A straightforward, emphatic answer follows, ''by taking heed thereto according to thy word.'' In order to do this, it must first be accepted that everything the Bible says is God's inspired Word, that it is the end of all controversy, that the thoughts of one's heart, if contrary to it are wrong, and the Bible is right. God's testimony that man's heart is ''deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked'' [Jer. 17;9] muist not only be agreed to as true of all mankind in general, but also by the Holy Spirit's convicting work must come a feeling sense of one's personal unbelief, rebellion, and disobedience. With the conviction of sin, comes also an understanding that the blood and righteousness of the now risen Saviour is required for God to ever pardon and justify a sinner, and that to continue to follow Satan, the god of this world, will emd in eternal Hell [Jn.16;8-11].

Letter to Awakened Sinners

Dear awakened sinner, I have prayed for you and longed for you, that you by the grace of God, would trust or lean upon, or give yourself completely to the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Remember--anything this side of Hell is mercy. Remember--you deserve to go to Hell. Remember--God has only one way to save any sinner, and that is, by Christ as your Substitute. Then it is come to Christ or be lost forever. Do you feel your need of Christ/ Do you see your need of Christ/ Have you come to the end of your way where you must look to Christ and Him alone as your Substitute, as the One who died in your place/ Have you signed your death warrant meaning you have acknowledged in your heart that you deserve to go to Hell, you ought to go to Hell, and if God sends you to Hell, you will get your just dues/ It is then, and only then, that you look to Christ, because He is the only One left to whom you can turn. Have you come to see and to know and to acknowledge that you are utterly lost, and that you are at your wit's end [Ps. 107;27], and have been made to cry out of the depths of your heart, from your distressed soul, ''Lord, save me, or I perish... Lord, be merciful to me the sinner''/ If you have, then you are pardoned. As some old divine has said, based upon God's Word, ''Salvation is knowing yourself, and knowing Christ.'' No one will flee to Christ until he has first come to know himself. There are 2 prayers that every awakened sinner can pray; first, ''Lord, show me myself,'' second, ''Lord, show me Christ.'' I must be frank with you, it will cost you everything in the world that you have, or ever hope to have to get to Christ, because ''believing on Christ'' means surrendering everything, giving up everything. If you are not willing to surrender everything, according to Luke 14;33, if you are not willing for Christ to be Lord of your heart and life, then forget about ever being saved. Just make up your mind that you are goung to Hell, and stop trying to make God come to your terms. I leave these pungent words with you, and may the Holy Spirit take them to your heart. If He does, you will soon be writing me, ''Thank you, Brother Foltz, for being true to me. I am now rejoicing in Christ, as my Lord and Saviour.'' Ever Your Friend, Paul W. Foltz DD

THE GRACE OF GOD

The general meaning of grace is a favorable disposition or kindness. In the Bible it is the eternal and absolute free favor of God shown to guilty sinners. Grace has been defined by means of an acrostic; God's Riches At Christ's Expense. To elaborate on that definition,grace is divinely appointed, eternal precious blessings which comes to the undeserving, having been purposed by the Father, purchased by the Son, and applied by the Holy Spirit.

No, I haven't died. I haven't become a Catholic and joined a monastery. I am not sequestered somewhere writing a book. I haven't been kidnapped by aliens for X-File type experiments. No, I have been 1. somewhat busy and 2. procrastinating. I am really good at the second one. But I am around and things are getting back on track. So those of you who take the time to read this blog will be seeing some new material soon.

The Doctrines of Grace

The doctrines of grace far from being secondary, form the very heart of the gospel. As the marrow is to the bone un, so these doctrines are essential to rightly understanding the body of God's revealed truth. The 5 doctrines--TOTAL DEPRAVITY, UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION, PARTICULAR REDEMPTION, IRRESISTIBLE GRACE, AND PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS IN HOLINESS AS PROOF OF THEIR SALVATION, must be accepted by faith before one can understand God's eternal purpose in saving some of mankind. These doctines are the pith and marrow of all sweetness. They tell us how God has graciously condescended to save rebels. Praise His name. He chose me..... WELL, GLORY......

GOD'S PROMISES

All the promises of God found in His Word, the Bible, are made to special individuals-that is, every promise in God's Word is made to HIS people, to the saints of God, or, the born again ones, or called-out ones. they are not made to the world, neither does Christ pray for the world [John 17;9]. Let me repeat it; the promises of God's Word were given to His people [John 17;8], because every promise grows out of the covenant of grace between God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for His people. ''For all the promises of God in him, are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us'' [II Corinthians 1;20].

2 Peter 3;1-9 EXPLAINED

1. Some scoffers had raised the question of the delay of the Second Coming. Did the fact of that delay mean that God was slack in some way regarding the fulfillment of His promise, maybe even incapable of bringing it to pass/ Why the delay in His coming/ 2. Peter answers that there is a group that is the object of God's foebearance, and that God is not willing that these certain ones should perish, but that all of these should come to repentance. 3. Therefore the Second Coming is not delayed, but it is right on schedule, according to God's plan and purpose in saving a people. Christ will come, when this people is complete, and in the interval till then He will work bringing these to salvation. 4. Therefore the passage is not teaching that God is holding up the Second Coming in the hope a few more will be saved. Rather, the Second Coming will happen according to God's purpose and will, which includes the calling out of a people prior to that hour. 5. This interpretation not only is true to the text and context, but it is also true to the Biblical concept of God, Who is in full control, and works all things after the counsel of His own will.

TWIN GRACES

When the Holy Spirit regenerates the sinner, whom God the Father gave to Christ [JOHN 17], He implants the graces of faith and repentance which lead to the initial conversion experience [EPH. 2;8-9; ACTS 5;39]. This must be so because the sinner is DEAD spiritually, unable to believe or repent on his own.

A SAD DAY

When the Holy Spirit awakened me to my lost condition, it was a gracious day. But soon after I experienced a sad day, when the Spirit led me to see that I had sinned against Him, Who had died for me. Then I learned we have two natures warring in us. The one we feed and yield to, is the one which gets the upper hand. But through the filling of the Spirit, we have the victory of the sin nature. We must confess our known sins and yield ourselves to The Holy Spirit. It must be done repeatedly; everytime we sin.