Matthew Johnson wrote:
> In article , Gary McNees
>
> >The Greatest teacher of salvation by pure Grace is Jesus Christ.
> >He put it in fewer words than anyone else.
> >John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me
hath
> >everlasting life.
>
> Not so fast. How do you jump from 'believeth on me' to 'pure Grace'?
And are you
> aware of the many different meanings of that verb, 'believe'? Here,
it does not
> refer to mere intellectual assent, but to _living_ a life fueled and
ruled by
> faith. No "once saved, always saved" here!
>
"from faith to faith," not "from faith to cooperative good
works."

John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me,
and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do
nothing.

Now I know what Matt will say to this verse.  He will distinquish the
giving of grace from Christ is necessary but that in and of itself is
not sufficient.  Man's free-will must cooperate with that grace.  The
giving of grace is the work of God but the assenting is the work of
man.  Therefore, according to Matt's position, grace is not
irresistable.

There's a small problem with this, however,  Even though he will  try
to wiggle out of it, to require assent from the free-will of man is to
necessarily make it virtuous.  If resistance is to fault grace (lose
one's salvation), then to assent to it has to involve virtue with opens
the door for boasting.  Basically, this also concludes that though the
intellect and the sensibilities of man were ruined by sin, the will was
not.

"Apart from Me you can do nothing" seems pretty exclusive as does
Paul's statement, "It is all from Him, through Him and to Him."  Faith
involves abiding.  That is why it is "from faith to faith."  That is
how the sanctified life is lived.  It is by not quenching the Spirit's
enablement.  To quench His enablement is grieve or wound His operation
in and through us.  Sanctification requires cooperation.  It is the
outworking of the reality of being "in Christ" and Christ being in us.
But it is all rooted on the fact that we *have been* justified.  The
loss of salvation is not the issue.  Our salvation is sure because we
have had a boundary marked out around us (predestination).  "Abiding"
reflects that just as we came into our new relationship of peace with
God, just so we are to live out that new reality -by faith.  "Faith" is
resting upon God's work.  "Faith" is placing our whole weight on His
abiding in us.  What Matthew proposes leaves one, if  not both feet on
the floor.

((( s.r.c.b-s is a moderated group.  All posts are approved by a moderator. )))
(((   Read http://srcbs.org for details about this group BEFORE you post.   )))
---
þ RIMEGate(tm)/RGXPost V1.14 at BBSWORLD * Info{at}bbsworld.com

---
 * RIMEGate(tm)V10.2áÿ* RelayNet(tm) NNTP Gateway * MoonDog BBS
 * RgateImp.MoonDog.BBS at 12/11/04 4:35:47 PM