Grace is just whose concept and not a law that is not subject to change?
His gift according to His work of faith falls short of His grace? How do you figure that?
Who is G-d?
We cannot have the faith of (coming from) Christ, the faith of God unless He first chooses us as the lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world..
Galatians 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are “known of God”, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
We can love Him because He first loved us by giving us the hearing of faith (His) It is the first work of God that works in us to both will and do His good pleasure .It turns us ,then after we can repent (repentance is a work of God). .
I think that context is shown in Revelation. Because they left their first love(the rearing of faith) as the Spirit gives us ears to hear Him not seen... He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches, denominations. Not what the Nicolaitanes teach.
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy “first love” (the hearing of Christ’s faith) Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; (believe the scriptures)or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God Rev 2:4
We cannot have in (towards) Christ if the Spirit of Christ(generated by towards us ) is not living eternal in us . So it is the faith of Christ that works in us not of us. If Christ has begun the good work of salvation in us He will finish it to the last day.
In or of?
Philippians 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
Right, and G-d can choose us in His foreknowledge or middle knowledge. Like I said above, it's not far fetched to understand that because G-d created us into existence... by default, He also knows what our choices will be. Him choosing for us to exist... He also chose he/she who will be saved without forcing us into salvation.
About Galatians 4:9, if you're implying that Arminianism doesn't uphold to total depravity then your wrong to at least one kind of Arminianism. Classical Arminianism holds to the belief that mankind is totally depraved. As for known by G-d part, I think the above paragraph is good to explain that.
As for him loving us first, of course, my goodness how clear is that when we think of who G-d is. G-d is eternal! How can man ever love G-d first? From a practical perspective, G-d can ONLY beat us to the punch when it comes to who loves who first.
Next, Arminianism advocates the belief of previniant grace. This means that G-d liberates us from our bondage, from our total depravity. As scripture says, the truth will set you free. In this state of liberation, then we can choose if we want to accept G-d or not... all this by G-d's sovereign will.
We lean on G-d and he does the work. We follow G-d's teachings and of course he's teachings will lead us rightly. We accept his gift of salvation and of course the finished work of Christ will save us... not our choice to accept Christ... but Christ's work.
The spirit giving us ears fits well with previniant grace, resistible grace.
It's so so senseless. If Calvinism was true... why ever mention what men can or cannot do? Why even mention faith.
Because Calvinism doesn't explain the bible well. Men do need to have faith in Jesus Christ.
Joshua 24:15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then
choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
In or of doesn't matter. It's clear in the scriptures that men need to have faith to be saved.
Romans 10:9-10
[SUP]9 [/SUP]If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [SUP]10 [/SUP]For it is with
your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with
your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
There is a part that man has to play. This part is ordained by G-d. Men need to put their faith in G-d.
For G-d so loved the world... don't re-interpert or add to that. All verses containing chosen and foreknow have been and can be explained. However, Calvinism has to add into the word (some of the... world) into John 3:16 and other verses. Arminianism has answers for the verses that have chosen and foreknow. Calvinism calls mystery or adds into the bible.
Also, read James. It's clear that works and faith are different. Otherwise James would never call faith without works dead faith.... by default, faith would be a work... so the accusation from Calvinists saying that faith is a work is not biblical.