Gods Plan of Salvation

World View

Mike H. — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:24:10 +0000

Creation:

Corruption:

Catastrophe:

Confusion:

Christ:

Cross:

Consumation:

Reprobation

Mike H. — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:00:05 +0000

The opposite of God electing a people for salvation is reprobation. It is a mystery why God with his unreachable and far surpassing knowledge has chosen some to come out of reprobation, but the rest are left to eternal damnation. When God elects one and rejects another, it has nothing to do with the individual, but entirely on God’s mercy to save whom he desires. To the human mind this may not seem fair, but God is the potter and we are the clay. Who can argue against the omniscient and sovereign will of God?

We must understand that the reprobate are guilty of sin and condemn themselves. Abandon the idea that God did not provide a way of escape through the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all men; all who repent of theirs sins and confess Christ as their Lord will be saved. The problem is, all men apart from being Called (elected) by God to come out of reprobation refuse to confess genuine faith in Christ as Lord and their sins remain, they are guilty before God. In effect, God fatalistically chose them to remain reprobate through his immutable will.

God provides every opportunity for the reprobate to respond to him of their own accord, but each time they reject him they distance themselves further from him. At some point God gives them over to a debased mind and hardens their hearts (God shuts the door and locks it). We cannot know if someone who is an unbeliever will remain in unbelief their entire lives, who are we to say that God wouldn’t call them on their deathbed. Some who are reprobate may even imitate (falsify their faith) and fool some of the elect for a time, we just don’t know. Therefore we preach Christ to all men in all circumstances.

God also uses the reprobate to refine and strengthen the elects faith through undue trials and tribulations.

Exodus 4:21, 33:19; Joshua 11:20; Psalms 47:4, 105:25, 115:3; Isaiah 6:9-10; Ezekiel 36:26; Matthew 13:11; John 12:37-40, 15:16; Romans 1:28, 9:11, 9:17-18; II Corinthians 4:4, II Timothy 1:9, 2:25, 3:8; II Peter 3:9.

End Time Events

Mike H. — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:07:24 +0000

This is a controversial subject. I have no intention of being argumentative if you disagree with the following statements. The only requirement I see is that you must believe that at some time in the future Christ will come back again to reign, that Christians will reign with Christ and unbelievers will receive eternal damnation. Beyond that we can agree to disagree.

I believe in Historic Premillennialism and that the Rapture is at the end of the tribulation period.

Essential Features of Historic Premillennialism

Christ Returns at the end of Tribulation before the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. That the Second coming and Rapture happen at same time.

The Millennial Kingdom is a literal 1,000 year earthly and physical reign of Christ over the world with the Church being the focal point of His reign.

The Jews will be converted nationally and restored to their land. They will occupy a special place in a national sense, but spiritually will be part of the Church.

The Two Resurrections of Rev 20 are separated by the 1,000 year kingdom.

At the end of the 1,000 years Satan will be released from his bondage, lead a rebellion of those who have been born during the kingdom era, but are yet unsaved. Christ will destroy the rebellion, and after the judgments the Church will enter the eternal state of heaven.

Divine Directive

Mike H. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:57:42 +0000

As a superabundant expression of God’s love within the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), God predestined a chosen people to come out of reprobation (abandonment/condemnation) to become the Bride of Christ. To be adopted into the family of God.

God’s eternal purpose is for the Church to Glorify the Father and to display his wisdom to all creation, to both the angels and mankind through Jesus Christ our Lord. The will of God is the cause of all things; his purpose in all things will be made complete. That does not mean that our dire circumstances in this life are always the result of our sins or the sins of our parents (automobile accident caused by someone else or being born paraplegic), it is simply because we live in a fallen and cursed world, in which someday God will restore all things back to himself.

The greatest honor for God’s chosen people (the elect), is their worship and service to God because of love for their Creator and Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ who rescued them from the pit of Hell.

That man apart from Union with Christ (chosen by the Father to become a Bride for his Son) are eternally reprobate because of their bondage to the love of self rather then their love for God and righteousness; they condemned themselves. Why God rescued some (the elect) for salvation and not all is a mystery known only to God. It is not for us to know the incomprehensible knowledge and purpose of God, He has not revealed all things to us.

God’s plan of salvation can be summed up in the five solas: Sola scriptura (by Scripture alone), Sola fida (by faith alone), Sola gratia (by grace alone), Solo Christo (through Christ alone), and Soli Deo gloria (for the glory of God alone).

Ephesians 3:11

Would you consider yourself to be a good person

Mike H. — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:43:42 +0000

Friend, from a human viewpoint you may very well be a good person, an outstanding citizen, but are you good in the eyes of God? He will use the law, the Ten Commandments to judge our most intimate thoughts and actions. Do you fear/respect the judgment of God?

What Will Happen To You When You Die

Mike H. — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:07:50 +0000

The Bible says “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” Hebrews 9:27. Everyday 150,000 people die and unfortunately many will spend eternity in Hell because they have violated the laws of God and rejected His plan of salvation through Christ alone. They saw themselves as good and that God would have overlooked their sins, but in reality this was not the case. It is not to late for yourself, the Bible as God’s revelation to man reveals how you can become right with Him.

The Bible is the complete word of God and is our only written source for understanding the character and will of God. The translations of the Bible (KJV, NKJV, NIV, NAS) in use today provide mankind with a reliable reflection of the original manuscripts penned thousands of years ago by God’s holy prophets and is trustworthy and true. It is used as the foundation for our belief in God and our belief must be based on multiple sources of scripture to provide clarification and authentication. There were many signs and wonders used during biblical times to authenticate those who carried God’s message, but today Scripture is the only test as to the validity of a man’s message. God is just as powerful today as He was in Old Testament times, but in today’s world we must acknowledge Him through personal faith and not through miraculous events. The problem is, mankind apart from God, is spiritually dead and cannot understand His truth without His help.

As a result of man’s rebellion in the garden of Eden, man became dead, blind, and deaf to the things of God; his heart is deceitful and desperately corrupt. His will is not free, it is in bondage (slave) to his sinful nature. Sinful man gravitates towards man made religion and is ignorant/hostile towards a Holy God. Man’s heart is in total bondage to the love of self rather then a love for God. Written in the hearts of man is God’s moral law and the conscience bears witness.

Would you consider yourself to be a good person?

Yes

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Mike H. — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:18:07 +0000

Order of Salvation

Mike H. — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:36:03 +0000

Predestination/Foreknowledge/Election: God foreknew even before time began that no one out of their own free will would respond favorably to the Gospel; if left to themselves none would be saved. He predestined to save some out of reprobation, they are the elect. Those foreknown in Christ are those God predestined (chosen) in Christ.

Hypostatic Union: Jesus Christ who is the eternal Son of God became a man, born of a virgin (born without a sin nature), lived his life without committing any sin and shed his blood for our justification. As the eternal Son of God along with his perfect sin free human life qualified him to become our mediator, kinship redeemer, our sacrificial lamb. Christ lived under God’s law and kept it perfectly. He had full knowledge of who he was and what he was doing and willingly took upon himself the guilt of those who are chosen.

Atonement:The forgiving or pardoning of sin through the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion, which made possible the reconciliation between God and creation. Christ laid down his life for all men, but the appropriation for atonement was directed towards those God has chosen-the elect. The benefit of atonement was deposited into the believers account which transcends through all time (past/present/future). We receive reconciliation through the atonement, Christ restores our relationship with God.

Propitiation: Aspect of the Atonement dealing with God’s wrath. Christ satisfied the righteousness and justice of God’s Holy wrath against the elects sin.

Redemption: Christ paying the debt (here, price of the sin) at his own expense. Set free from being held captive to sin/Satan, Christ paid the ransom price for the debt of sin. This resulted in forgiveness and freedom from bondage to sin and the Satan/World system. Christ’s righteousness is imputed (transferred) into the believers account at the moment of salvation, this allows our justification to be made complete.

Substitutionary Atonement: Our sin alienated us from God resulting in spiritual death, but Christ died as a qualified substitute in our place. Faith in Christ results in regeneration of our spiritual life (spiritual rebirth). The Holy Spirit is actively involved in the regeneration of our spirit, he stands in the gap allowing us to commune with God.

Justification: We become cloaked in the righteousness of Christ in which God declares an unrighteous individual to be righteous because of the work of Jesus Christ. We receive instant sanctification through the Holy Spirit as process of our justification. It is not based on anything an individual has done to secure their salvation. Christ’s Righteousness is imputed to the believer apart from any of their works, their sins are covered by the blood of Christ. As the result of Atonement in which it’s effect was deposited into our account, we now have a New Position in Christ through Faith and Repentance. That God provides the faith we need to believe and follow him.

Called: At the appointed time, the elect respond to the Holy Spirits wooing through the preaching of the Holy Scriptures. They are convicted of their sins and brought to the point of Justification through faith in Jesus Christ.

Perseverance of the saints: Our new life in Christ leads to progressive sanctification, one which leads to a life of ever increasing holiness. All who are chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the Spirit are eternally saved. In the end their faith will remain in Christ.

Glorification: At the coming resurrection we will receive glorified and incorruptable physical bodies.

Eternal Security/Preservation of the Saints

Mike H. — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:29:27 +0000

All who are chosen by God, redeemed by Christ, and given faith by the Spirit are eternally saved. They are kept in faith by the power of Almighty God and thus persevere to the end. The believer receives instant and progressing sanctification and ultimately glorification upon New Birth (become Born Again). We are to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith, and that it is not based on works, but that it is based on the Grace of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

At the Judgment, the reprobate will have no choice but to confess Christ as Lord and agree that God is Just in casting them into Hell. They go because they are unrepentant sinners who rejected Christ.

John 3:3-8, 15:5; II Peter 1:10

Carnal-Spiritual Union

Mike H. — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:26:42 +0000

Christ offered/gave his life for all mankind out of love and compassion, in other words all sin was laid upon the cross and is available for substitution; it basically gets everyone’s foot in the door because of the humanity of Christ. Christ may have died for all the sins of man but he predestined to save only those whom the Father has chosen. All any sinner needs to do is turn to him, problem is we don’t on our own. But he did die for the sins of the world. But for substitution to actually happen requires both carnal and spiritual union.

Carnal Union with Christ is realized through the virgin birth/trials/temptations of Jesus Christ, in which he lived his life without personal sin. Because he qualified (Incarnation/Hypostatic Union) to become the perfect human sacrifice for the sins of man in accordance to God‘s ordained system of sacrifice (without the shedding of innocent blood by a qualified substitute there is no forgiveness of sin) he willingly became our kinship redeemer. Eligibility for substitution of sin was made possible through Carnal Union with Christ, but Spiritual Union is required before one can receive Christ’s substitution for sin.

Spiritual Union with Christ is realized through God’s call to the elect and they respond to the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in faith and repentance. Christ became their substitute, and the Holy Spirit unites the believer with Christ so that the benefits of Christ becomes theirs. The reprobate rejects Spiritual Union with Christ, there is no substitution of sin on their behalf.

Hebrews 2:9