Struggling reading through romans 8 & 9 and Calvinism.

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
Dec 21, 2020
1,825
474
83
The "promise" of the Holy Spirit is not the Holy Spirit itself (verse 9). The promise is the earnest of our inheritance. (verse 14).
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
 

NOV25

Well-known member
Nov 23, 2019
977
385
63
Any form of Pelagianism or Arminianism is heresy. There’s nothing more to say.
 

Rosemaryx

Senior Member
May 3, 2017
3,721
4,081
113
62
Romans 9: 22 What if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction;
I was reading this , this morning...He makes us how He wants to make us , some pots for decoration , some for garbage...
 

Snacks

Well-known member
Feb 10, 2022
1,410
771
113
Romans 9: 22 What if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction;
My brother, I appreciate you sharing, and please understand that I don’t overlook or take lightly Scripture that is used to support calvinism. One thing to remember however about the Scripture you share above, don’t overlook the words, “what if.” Paul is not making a declaration but rather a statement of possibility. On another note, I love your love for the Lord.
 
Dec 30, 2020
868
226
43
Our God and Savior is Jesus Christ who even though He obeys the Father to perfection and has divine love for the Father, He also has divine love for all mankind. Jesus explains that all the things that He says and does is the Father's will, not His. CHrist died for all mankind which makes all of mankind eligible for salvation, but it is the Father who chooses who will be placed in the spiritual body of Christ. He does not save everybody because He wants to show His wrath and consequences for disobedience to those beings that are in the spiritual realm.
In 2 Peter 3: 9 Peter is talking about US, those that are predestined to salvation ( past, present, and future). He is slack in returning to judge the world until all those predestined in the future come to repentance and get saved.
It is obvious that Jesus' will is different from the Father's will.
Matt 26: 39 And He went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
Jesus died for the whole world and wants everyone to get saved, but as explained in Rom 9: 22, the Father wants to show His wrath and consequences for sin on the vessels fitted to destruction as well as His mercy on the vessels of mercy on those He predestined.
Rom 9: 23-24 And that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory, Even ( that is) us, whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Eph 1: 3- Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ ( we are in Christ because we are part of His spiritual body and as such receive all the blessings He receives from His life and death), According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before Him, in love Having predestined us unto the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of His will ( the Father chooses whoever He wants to fill Jesus Christ's spiritual body. ), To the praise of th glory of His grace, through which He hath made us accepted in the Beloved; ( because we are part of Jesus' spiritual body when we trust in His death for the forgiveness of sins and receive His Holy Spirit which was given to Him by the Father when He was glorified and is given to those predestined.) Having made known unto US the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself; ( Not everyone who declares themselves as Christians are going to understand the mystery of His will. Just the ones that receive His Holy Spirit).
 
Jan 14, 2021
1,599
526
113
The question I asked was seeking clarification from Inquistor for what he meant by "Israel".

you've concluded that an interpretation where the promises are made to an ethnic bloodline of Israel are equally incorrect
The 'an' part is out of place.

I've never made a claim in quite that particular way you phrased it above.

The seed promises were never made to an ethnic bloodline, they were made to Christ and those in Christ. Abraham, Jacob/Israel, and Isaac were each directly given the promises, and in each promise Christ is referenced (the seed). There are other promises, references, and prophesies to true "Israel" or "all Israel" which is a subgroup within "of Israel". There were certainly bloodlines pertaining to promise, it's just that not the case that every ethnic bloodline would fall under those promises. Christ Himself is an example of an ethnic Isaac descendant that does qualify for every promise to all Israel.

I think it's important to note that "house of Israel" also appears to be a different reference than "all Israel" or "all of Israel" with unclear overlap.

There are promises made to an ethnic bloodline of Israel
There are promises made to a spiritual people. The fleshly component and how it related to the flesh is really the focus of the conversation.

that these promises are fulfilled on a spiritual level in gentile believers (i.e. Christians) through forfeit by ethnic Israel.
I don't agree with this premise, mostly because 'Christian' doesn't mean 'Gentile' and there are still inheritors of the promises that are Isrealite by heritage (such as Paul). The inheritance of the seed promises are largely irrespective of genetic heritage because they are attained through Christ.


but the modern people currently in the land are not of that ethnic bloodline
I think it would still be the case that you would need to demonstrate that these promises were ever made exclusively to ethnic bloodlines to begin with. The moment "all Israel" is referenced is where that question especially comes into play.

But may I suggest that it isn't an "either-or" situation between these two options. There's a third option: There are promises made to an ethnic bloodline of Israel but the modern people currently in the land are not of that ethnic bloodline. The ethnic bloodline descendants are still scattered and have yet to inherit the promises during this "time of the Gentiles" (which we're currently in).
I don't necessarily agree with many of the interpretations of the "times of the Gentiles".

I think that if we are looking at what you are proposing though, you are stating that there is an unrealized ethnic group that will move into the physical land promised to Abraham at the end of what Dispensationalists commonly refer to as a "Church age". And from that, probably something about a 1000 year kingdom ruled by an ethnic group on earth?

The scenario has interesting implications including the question of how would we ever know who is part of that ethnic group or not?

When I mention Israel or The nation of Israel I'm speaking about Jacob whose name was changed and his descendants who formed the 12 tribes and the ancient kingdom and future ethnic descendants. I'm never speaking about the modern geopolitical state.
I know that some users have two user names. Are you also Inquisitor?

but enough of their seed MUST receive those promises. Yes, The Messiah is heir according to those promises but so is a remnant of ethnic Israel.
We can certainly look at what the minimum remnant are.

Q) Who is the remnant of Israel?

A) The 144,000
Let me propose a counter interpretation:

The 144k represent OT saints of the tribes, and the transition of John's vision to see a multitude of those dressed in white represents the change into the NT covenant, and that the 144k have blended into the crowd and become indistinct (also dressed in white/Christ). The multitude do not represent Gentile converts, but all Christians regardless of origin, from all nations and people.

Q) So who are those currently in the land?

A) Esau/Edom, as the scriptures prophesied would happen and as history confirms.
Many Israeli people have high content of Canaanite ancestry, according to at least one study. But this goes back to the dilemma of determining ancestry. There is at least one user on here that proposed the idea that when Paul converted to Christianity that he ceased being part of Israel (invalid to inherit the promises through bloodline).

There are strange aspects of ontology that need to be hashed out to reach any consensus about ancestry.

Even the ontology of what it means to be in Christ needs to be hashed out.

If a promise was made to flesh, and man and wife become one in flesh, do they not then share that same promise? If the Church is the wife and Christ is the bridegroom, do they not share things after marriage that they did not previously share before marriage?

If a promise is made to a body and something is consumed and integrated into the body, does that promise not also then apply to that integrated part?
 
Jun 20, 2022
6,460
1,330
113
I want to be nice here but has anyone actually ignored Google searches and looked directly into the archives themselves concerning John Calvin?

There's literal, not mythical, but 2 separate documentations one by the Government of France and another that affirms it by the Church that indicate Calvin had serious issues.

I won't go into detail but I find it fascinating how many follow the mind of a severe mental madman and believe they're adhereing to sound advice.
 
L

Locoponydirtman

Guest
I want to be nice here but has anyone actually ignored Google searches and looked directly into the archives themselves concerning John Calvin?

There's literal, not mythical, but 2 separate documentations one by the Government of France and another that affirms it by the Church that indicate Calvin had serious issues.

I won't go into detail but I find it fascinating how many follow the mind of a severe mental madman and believe they're adhereing to sound advice.
Why no one ever looks at how geneva was while he was there is beyond me.
 

cv5

Well-known member
Nov 20, 2018
18,520
7,274
113
The question I asked was seeking clarification from Inquistor for what he meant by "Israel".



The 'an' part is out of place.

I've never made a claim in quite that particular way you phrased it above.

The seed promises were never made to an ethnic bloodline, they were made to Christ and those in Christ. Abraham, Jacob/Israel, and Isaac were each directly given the promises, and in each promise Christ is referenced (the seed). There are other promises, references, and prophesies to true "Israel" or "all Israel" which is a subgroup within "of Israel". There were certainly bloodlines pertaining to promise, it's just that not the case that every ethnic bloodline would fall under those promises. Christ Himself is an example of an ethnic Isaac descendant that does qualify for every promise to all Israel.

I think it's important to note that "house of Israel" also appears to be a different reference than "all Israel" or "all of Israel" with unclear overlap.



There are promises made to a spiritual people. The fleshly component and how it related to the flesh is really the focus of the conversation.



I don't agree with this premise, mostly because 'Christian' doesn't mean 'Gentile' and there are still inheritors of the promises that are Isrealite by heritage (such as Paul). The inheritance of the seed promises are largely irrespective of genetic heritage because they are attained through Christ.




I think it would still be the case that you would need to demonstrate that these promises were ever made exclusively to ethnic bloodlines to begin with. The moment "all Israel" is referenced is where that question especially comes into play.



I don't necessarily agree with many of the interpretations of the "times of the Gentiles".

I think that if we are looking at what you are proposing though, you are stating that there is an unrealized ethnic group that will move into the physical land promised to Abraham at the end of what Dispensationalists commonly refer to as a "Church age". And from that, probably something about a 1000 year kingdom ruled by an ethnic group on earth?

The scenario has interesting implications including the question of how would we ever know who is part of that ethnic group or not?



I know that some users have two user names. Are you also Inquisitor?



We can certainly look at what the minimum remnant are.



Let me propose a counter interpretation:

The 144k represent OT saints of the tribes, and the transition of John's vision to see a multitude of those dressed in white represents the change into the NT covenant, and that the 144k have blended into the crowd and become indistinct (also dressed in white/Christ). The multitude do not represent Gentile converts, but all Christians regardless of origin, from all nations and people.



Many Israeli people have high content of Canaanite ancestry, according to at least one study. But this goes back to the dilemma of determining ancestry. There is at least one user on here that proposed the idea that when Paul converted to Christianity that he ceased being part of Israel (invalid to inherit the promises through bloodline).

There are strange aspects of ontology that need to be hashed out to reach any consensus about ancestry.

Even the ontology of what it means to be in Christ needs to be hashed out.

If a promise was made to flesh, and man and wife become one in flesh, do they not then share that same promise? If the Church is the wife and Christ is the bridegroom, do they not share things after marriage that they did not previously share before marriage?

If a promise is made to a body and something is consumed and integrated into the body, does that promise not also then apply to that integrated part?
So you are saying "replacement theology" is a thing? I mean that seems to be what you are proposing. As as far as I can tell.
 

ForestGreenCook

Well-known member
Jul 8, 2018
8,397
1,204
113
Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

The idea of believing in spiritual things before you have been reborn spiritually will not harmonize with the other scriptures, such as Eph 2:1-5, John 10:26-29, 1 Cor 2:14, Rom 8:7,
 
Dec 21, 2020
1,825
474
83
The idea of believing in spiritual things before you have been reborn spiritually will not harmonize with the other scriptures, such as Eph 2:1-5, John 10:26-29, 1 Cor 2:14, Rom 8:7,
The Bible says people are reborn spiritually when they believe the Gospel.
 
Jan 14, 2021
1,599
526
113
The larger part of spiritual Israel that turned away from God did not lose their eternal inheritance, they only lost their fellowship with God, until they repent.
I agree, but the important point is that not all that someone might think of as being Israel would necessarily be Israel. Saul turning into Paul is an example about how the inheritance was never lost, it was just awaiting the intended timing. But it might be the case that someone like Saul could have had a fervent antiChrist father that was never in Spiritual Israel even though Saul himself was. It could even be the case that someone could have had both parents that were never part of Spiritual Israel despite the child being so.

~~
I'm still thinking on some of your other posts. I haven't forgotten them, I'm just taking my time contemplating them. I'll reply to them when I get a chance.

Cheers
 

Inquisitor

Well-known member
Mar 17, 2022
2,366
730
113
The question I asked was seeking clarification from Inquistor for what he meant by "Israel".
Hello Jocund.
I know that some users have two user names. Are you also Inquisitor?
There is only one living Inquisitor.

Israel?

The Israel that was defined in the scripture.

Matthew 10:6
But rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 15:24
But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Hebrews 8:8
For in finding fault with the people, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will bring about a new covenant With the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

Hebrews 8:10
For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel After those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.
 
Jan 14, 2021
1,599
526
113
Hello Jocund.
There is only one living Inquisitor.

Israel?

The Israel that was defined in the scripture.

Matthew 10:6
But rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 15:24
But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Hebrews 8:8
For in finding fault with the people, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will bring about a new covenant With the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

Hebrews 8:10
For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel After those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.
I don't think you understand my question from post 285.

But the implicit clarification that you and Yahshua aren't the same user is much appreciated.
 

cv5

Well-known member
Nov 20, 2018
18,520
7,274
113
Hello Jocund.
There is only one living Inquisitor.

Israel?

The Israel that was defined in the scripture.

Matthew 10:6
But rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Matthew 15:24
But He answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Hebrews 8:8
For in finding fault with the people, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will bring about a new covenant With the house of Israel and the house of Judah,

Hebrews 8:10
For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel After those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.
Jer 46:28
Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.