2. The beginnings of the Reformation and its first disciples.
The Reformation was finally to exercise a profound influence upon the sentiments and moral ideas of a great proportion of mankind. Modest in its beginnings, it was at first a simple struggle against the abuses of the clergy, and, from a practical point of view, a return to the prescriptions of the Gospel.
It never constituted, as has been claimed, an aspiration towards freedom of thought.
Calvin was as intolerant as Robespierre,
and all the theorists of the age considered
that the religion of subjects must be
that of the prince who governed them.
Indeed in every country where the Reformation was established
the sovereign replaced the Pope of Rome,
with the same rights and the same powers.
All "restorations" are a replay of history: the American Restoration Movement furthered the REFORMATION but it just gave little "sovereigns" the open door to replace the POPE. As long as SCHOOL OF THE BIBLE is replaced with institutions the grasp to REMOVE the Bible from the people is repeated over and over. If the Catholics chained the Bible to the pulpit, all reformations and restorations "chains the preacher to the pulpit."
We have noted several troubling signs on these forums: first, Lipscomb has David Lawrence on its faculty. He runs ENGEDI-MINISTRIES and boasts of being a somewhat "campus minister" for the PCA which is a HYPER-Calvinist group. Many students who have been engulfed found it hard to get out and see it like a cult. This crew infiltrated and diverted Smith's Spring congregation. You should read the Smith's Spring thread which defines the hostile takeover common to man churches. The "neo-Calvinism" OF NECESSITY gives them the authority to steal the church houses of widows.
We have watched a FORUM become a haven for STRIDENT Calvinists who seem to be approved and are virulently ANTI-church of Christ. Justifying the quotations of our author, they are LOCKED INTO a string of verses and CANNOT even see black ink on white text.
Rubel Shelly and John York wrote about THE JESUS PROPOSAL which attempts to deny individuals the right to read, interpret and speak about the Bible OUTSIDE of the community or commune.
In France, in default of publicity and means of communication, the new faith spread slowly enough at first. It was about 1520 that Luther recruited a few adepts, and only towards 1535 was the new belief sufficiently widespread for men to consider it necessary to burn its disciples.
By 1525 Zwingli had introduced BELIEVER'S BAPTISM as an old pagan form. To this day the IRRATIONAL reward for accusing God of burning bodies at random to prove His SOVEREIGNTY is the refusal to look at whole passages in context and to grasp the difference between justification and regeneration.
In conformity with a well-known psychological law,
these executions merely favoured the propagation of the Reformation.
Its first followers included priests and magistrates, but were principally obscure artisans. Their conversion was effected almost exclusively by mental contagion and suggestion.
Hitler makes it clear that the INTELLECTUALS lead but the masses do the dirty work as "human material."
As soon as a new belief extends itself,
we see grouped round it many persons who are indifferent to the belief,
but who find in it a pretext or opportunity for gratifying their passions or their greed.
This phenomenon was observed at the time of the Reformation in many countries, notably in Germany and in England.
Luther having taught that the clergy had no need of wealth, the German
lords found many merits in a faith which enabled them to seize upon the goods of the Church.
Henry VIII. enriched himself by a similar operation. Sovereigns who were often molested by the Pope could as a rule only look favourably upon a doctrine which
added religious powers to their political powers and made each of them a Pope.
Far from diminishing the absolutism of rulers, the Reformation only exaggerated it.
And so we see "restorationists" infiltrating and diverting peaceable churches and using their power to STACK the STAFF with friends to ride on the backs of widows by demanding A LAW OF TITHING or A LAW OF GIVING. Little "princesses, all." Calvinists like James Kennedy had directed effort to influence the government of the US. Baptists are just as bent on making the country into a theocracy and the WILL hurt you.
3. Rational value of the doctrines of the Reformation.
The Reformation overturned all Europe, and came near to ruining France, of which it made a battle-field for a period of fifty years. Never did a cause so insignificant from the rational point of view produce such great results.
Here is one of the innumerable proofs of the fact
that beliefs are propagated independently of all reason. The theological doctrines which aroused men's passions so violently, and notably those of Calvin, are not even worthy of examination in the light of RATIONAL LOGIC
Greatly concerned about his salvation,
having an excessive FEAR of the DEVIL,
which his confessor was unable to allay, Luther sought the surest means of pleasing God that he might avoid Hell.
Having commenced by denying the Pope the right to sell indulgences, he presently entirely denied his authority, and that of the Church, condemned religious ceremonies, confession, and the worship of the saints, and declared that Christians should have no rules of conduct other than the Bible. He also considered that no one could be saved without the grace of God.
This last theory, known as that of predestination, was in Luther rather uncertain,
but was stated precisely by Calvin, who made it the very foundation of a doctrine to which the majority of Protestants are still subservient. According to him:
``From all eternity God has predestined certain men to be BURNED and others to be saved.'
' Why this monstrous iniquity?
Simply because ``it is the will of God.''
Thus according to Calvin, who for that matter merely developed certain assertions of St. Augustine, an all-powerful God would amuse Himself by creating living beings simply in order to burn them during all eternity, without paying any heed to their acts or merits.
It is marvellous that such revolting insanity could for such a length of time subjugate so many minds--marvellous that it does so still.[1]
Augustine was of Berber extraction and spent time in Carthage. Burning children to Baal or Moloch was practiced both in Carthage and Jerusalem. Moloch determined THE DESTINIES and was pleased to devour children. In fact, the GOD (from Gad) of Augustine CANNOT be based on any other known practice. Therefore, we MUST ask: Is Baal or Moloch the GOD of most of the PROTESTANT RELIGION?
[1] The doctrine of predestination is still taught in Protestant catechisms, as is proved by the following passage extracted from the last edition of an official catechism for which I sent to Edinburgh:
``By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death.
``These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished.
``Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to His eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of His will, hath chosen in Christ unto everlasting glory, out of His mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith or good works, or perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or causes moving him thereunto; and all to the praise of his glorious grace.
``As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath He, by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore they who are elected being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ; are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His spirit working in due season; are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by His power through faith unto salvation.
Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only.''
The psychology of Calvin is not without AFFINITY with that of Robespierre.
Like the latter, the master of the pure truth, he sent to death those who would not accept his doctrines.
God, he stated, wishes ``that one should PUT ASIDE all humanity when it is a question of STRIVING for his glory.''
The case of Calvin and his disciples shows that
matters which rationally are the most contradictory
become perfectly reconciled in minds which are hypnotised by a belief.
In the eyes of rational logic, it seems impossible to base a morality upon the theory of predestination, since whatever they do men are sure of being either saved or damned.
However, Calvin had no difficulty in ERECTING a most severe morality upon this totally illogical basis.
Considering themselves the ELECT of God, his disciples were so swollen by PRIDE and the sense of their OWN dignity that they felt obliged to serve as models in their conduct.
Is it possible that the MAJORITY of "religionism" or "christianism" is actually organized and manned by SONS of the DEVIL? It was true in the case of Jesus and He said that "doctors of the law take away the key to knowledge."
It is more than possible: it is a fact. What then shall we say of huge bundles of money stolen from honest working people to build TEMPLES to pride to keep the people BUSY with entertainment? God and Thomas Campbell demand that WE COME OUT OF BABYLON. The MUSICAL MASTERS are the MARK without a doubt (Revelation 18)
Kent, I tried very hard but couldn't find your argument for or against. Did you forget or did you misplace it? But at least your presence here has been acknowledged.
This message has been edited by Donnie.Cruz from IP address 70.156.8.7 on Jan 2, 2006 11:41 AM
And some so biased cannot recognize "depth" when it stares them in the face; or, having observed too many "abnormal"--correction--"not normal" people, they only know to interpret that "depth" as "abnormal"--correction--"not normal." Applied to those who have not quite "gone around the bend" (or "gone off the deep end"), apparently the opposite or antonym of "normal" is NOT "abnormal" but "not normal." It reminds me of the word play in Alice in Wonderland of celebrating one's "unbirthday" (that's any day of the year that's NOT your actual birthday). Or perhaps "not birthday" would be a synonym. Maybe not.
Perhaps Rick has been having his own version of "fun" with us, not unlike Kent's "fun" (minus the verbal abuse). Hope Rick has enjoyed OUR version of fun and that the above was not too technical for him.
Hey, that's pretty good. It's not what I said, but it is pretty good.
RE: Normal vs. Abnormal vs. Not Normal.
Abnormal is not interchangeable with not normal. Abnormal refers to a definite psychological condition in which the person being described as such is in need of therapy to correct this condition. Not normal just means a certain behavior that is odd or quirky, but not necessarily indicative of a serious condition. Normal is an ideal state, a set of behaviors and attitudes that is probably not possessed by any one person.
Depth, on the other hand, means more than being able to copy and paste long-winded passages from obscure and esoteric sources to give the impression of scholarship.
Wesley thought that God was WORSE than Moloch for Calvinists.
1. This premised, let it be observed, that this doctrine represents our blessed Lord, "Jesus Christ the righteous," "the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth," as an hypocrite, a deceiver of the people, a man void of common sincerity.
For it cannot be denied, that he everywhere speaks as if he was willing that all men should be saved.
Therefore, to say he was not willing that all men should be saved, is to represent him as a mere hypocrite and dissembler.
It cannot be denied that the gracious words which came out of his mouth are full of invitations to all sinners.
2. Such blasphemy this, as one would think might make the ears of a Christian to tingle! But there is yet more behind; for just as it dishonours the Son, so doth this doctrine dis honour the Father. It destroys all his attributes at once:
It overturns both his justice, mercy, and truth; yea, it represents the most holy God as WORSE than the devil, as both MORE false, more cruel, and more unjust.
More false; because the devil, liar as he is, hath never said, "He willeth all men to be saved:"
More unjust; because the devil cannot, if he would, be guilty of such injustice as you ascribe to God,
when you say that God condemned millions of souls to everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,
for continuing in sin, which, for want of that grace he will not give them, they cannot avoid:
3. This is the blasphemy clearly contained in the horrible decree of predestination! And here I fix my foot. On this I join issue with every assertor of it. You represent God as worse than the devil; more false, more cruel, more unjust.
But you say you will prove it by scripture. Hold! What will you prove by Scripture?
That God is WORSE than the devil? It cannot be.
Whatever that Scripture proves, it never proved this; whatever its true meaning be. This cannot be its true meaning. Do you ask, "What is its true meaning then?" If I say, " I know not," you have gained nothing; for there are many scriptures the true sense whereof neither you nor I shall know till death is swallowed up in victory.
4. This is the blasphemy for which (however I love the persons who assert it) I abhor the doctrine of predestination, a doctrine, upon the supposition of which, if one could possibly suppose it for a moment, (call it election, reprobation, or what you please, for all comes to the same thing) one might say to our adversary, the devil, "Thou fool, why dost thou roar about any longer?
Thy lying in wait for souls is as needless and useless as our preaching. Hearest thou not, that God hath taken thy work out of thy hands; and that he doeth it much more effectually? Thou, with all thy principalities and powers, canst only so assault that we may resist thee; but He can irresistibly destroy both body and soul in hell!
Thou canst only entice; but his unchangeable decrees, to leave thousands of souls in death, compels them to continue in sin, till they drop into everlasting burnings. Thou temptest; He forceth us to be damned; for we cannot resist his will.
Thou fool, why goest thou about any longer, seeking whom thou mayest devour? Hearest thou not that God is the devouring lion, the destroyer of souls, the murderer of men?
Moloch caused only children to pass though the fire: and that fire was soon quenched; or, the corruptible body being consumed, its torment was at an end;
but God, thou are told, by his eternal decree, fixed before they had done good or evil, causes, not only children of a span long, but the parents also, to pass through the fire of hell, the 'fire which never shall be quenched; and the body which is cast thereinto, being now incorruptible and immortal, will be ever consuming and never consumed,
but 'the smoke of their torment,' because it is God's good pleasure, 'ascendeth up for ever and ever.' "
If YOUR infant is burning in HELL Augustine wants you to know that it was because you INJOYED conceiving it. Your pleasure PASSED ON a virus more deadly than AIDS.
Because of the MUSICAL IDOLATRY at Mount Sinai God TURNED Israel over to "worship the starry host" according to Acts 7 and numerous other accounts. This included MOLOCH where they burned babies in the arms of a bronze bull image. This is an old woodcut which I have colorized:
The worship of MOLOCH who was worshipped by the Jews in Jerusalem as they tried to coexist with Canaanite Baalism is the ONLY KNOWN PATTERN for Augustine's understanding of a God he mortally feared. This mixed up with his own sexual adictions merged to invent a God who MANUFACTURES infants specificially so He can BURN THEM eternally to PROVE that He is sovereign. If the MAJORITY is NOT worshipping Satan then Christ through John didn't know what he was speaking about: Notes from Patrick Tierney in RED
One of the reasons that Aymara shamans can easily adapt satanic rituals to their own practices of mountain worship is that Satan, "that serpent of old" (Revelation 12:9), is an ancient relative of their snake god on Mount Kapia.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was CAST OUT that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
As Apollo the having-fallen Satan is Abaddon or Apollyon. The LOCUSTS are code words for his "musical worship team" which would be common knowledge to Greek speakers who often witnessed Homer's hymns recited. That is until Orpheus and the Lesbian singers added TUNES and instruments. Revelation 18 proves that this is the same Babylonianism where the HARPS and HARPISTS will go back into Sheol with Satan to burn. Isaiah 30 has God pronouncing a musical-burning ritual on all of the nations which practice child burning.
Would this same holy God PRACTICE that which He universally condemned and which He punishes the GUILTY with that which they practiced in their own lives.
Isa 30:12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
Isa 30:13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
Isa 30:14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
Isa 30:15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
In spite of John Milton's vivid picture of the blood- smeared Moloch in Paradise Lost, there was no demon Moloch, just as there was no Paradise lost.
No serpent spoiled the Garden of Eden.
We have made it clear that the SERPENT was not a snake but a Musical Enchanter. He/she seduced Eve "wholly" in Paul's words as one seduces a bride just before her husband consummates the marriage. That is why Cain was OF THAT WICKED ONE. In the Book of Enoch and other documents the SEDUCTION involved calling people down from a hill or mountain.
The king/queen of Tyre is said to have been in Eden as the "singing and harp playing prostitute." The people of Tyre and the rulers in Jerusalem were more Phoenicians than Semites. That is why the GARDEN continued to exist in Jerusalem in Tophet once King Solomon's MUSIC GROVE and in Carthage where Augustine got the ONLY "patternism" for a SUPERIOR Satan who is satisfied by burning and devouring young children:
Eden belonged to that old serpent. And Eden, as the children buried beneath the lovely, overgrown garden in Carthage know too well, raged with the fires of Hell. The process by which the fantasy of Eden became the nightmare of Hell claimed its own victims, too.
Tyre, Babylon and the END TIME prostitute are FORMS of the original fall of Satan to the Earth. Worship which imitated this came from Tyre to Carthage. In Carthage, Augustine got his impulse to TEACH PREDESTINATION as a way get mothers to have their children "sprinkled." Speaking of the king/queen of Tyre as the "singing and harp playing prostitute" who USED music and sexuality to STEAL commercially, Ezekiel wrote:
Eze 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
Eze.28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Polluted and CAST AS PROFANE identifies the MUSICAL-PROSTITUTE nature:
Chalal (h2490) khaw-lal'; to profane (a person, place or thing), to break (one's word), denom. (from 2485) to play (the flute) : - begin (* men began), defile, * break, defile, * eat (as common things), * first, * gather the grape thereof, * take inheritance, pipe, player on instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain), sorrow, stain, wound.
Post Christian saw this common Jewish curse still existing in Carthage:
It's no accident that the fifth-century theological battles over this man-made Hell took place near Carthage,
spearheaded by Saint Augustine and the African bishops who followed him.
Together they enforced a new doctrine that any infant who died without baptism would go straight to Hell-
a teaching meant to INTIMIDATE pagan parents into surrendering their age-old custom of dedicating newborn children to Tanit, who by this time was called Dea Caelestis.
Such Tanit dedications were symbolic, though the Church Father Tertullian claimed that child sacrifice in North Africa secretly continued well into the Christian era.
Therefore, the motive is that IF you have your infants BURNED before they can be baptized they will go into an ETERNAL burning identical to the VERY SHORT burning in Moloch's red hot embrace. Forced "collecting" of members is a common mark.
Julian of Eclanam, an Italian bishop, ridiculed Augustine's doctrine of Hell, asking him:
"Tell me then, tell me: who is this person who inflicts such punishment on innocent creatures...
You answer: God. God, you say! God! He Who commended His love to us, Who has loved us, Who has not spared His own Son for us...
He is the persecutor of newborn children; He it is who sends tiny babies to eternal flames."
Julian's question "Who is this person who inflicts such punishment on innocent creatures?"
is a profound one. Does God send babies to Hell?
Or is Augustine's God, as Julian suggests, really a DEMON IN DISGUISE?
Peter Brown, one of Augustine's biographers, says that, "Augustine had always believed in the vast power of the Devil: God had shown His omnipotence most clearly in restraining this superhuman creature."
Julian, however, suspected that Augustine had given this superhuman devil power so vast that Satan had become MORE than GOD'S equal.
There simply is NO place in the Bible where Augustine could have found such a horrible view of God which is Satanic. He was immersed in the Moloch worship in Carthage and the GOD which came out of his own sin-filled life connected a burning hell to intimidate women into rejecting sexuality totally UNLESS It was for the purpose of GENERATION. Otherwise they PASSED on "original sin" which he again had to HATCH UP from a simplistic view of PROOF TEXTING.
Large areas of "the World" will not hear us till we have publicly disowned much of our past. Why should they? We have shouted the name of Christ and enacted the service of Moloch. Author: C. S. Lewis Source: None
I can't believe that Ken is quoting Gustave LeBon. What were the "well known psychological laws" that gave rise to Reformation associated executions? Were they LeBon's own home-grown theories that he admitted were not even accepted by his colleagues when he wrote "The Psychology of Crowds" and "The Psychology of Socialism?"
I am no defender of Calvinism, but the reasons for starting this thread seem rather thin, and not the least bit deep.
Ken,
Would you explain "Justification" and "Regeneration" as the Calvinist see this? Does the man sitting in the pew of the church of Christ understand Justification?
When and where does the church of Christ believe and teach that Regeneration "kicks in?" (for the lack of a better term).
Great study,
Thanks,
Jack Mann
You must understand that this is well above my pay grade: but, that has never stopped me from trying. There are many passages which speak of JUSTIFICATION by FAITH. However, faith only thinkers translate that to SALVATION BY FAITH ONLY. Unless justification MEANS salvation then we have found the roots to their heresy. From the best of my research this mix up was made primarily by ZWINGLI.
A person who LIVED RIGHT and PRACTICED SOCIAL JUSTICE was approved by God. Those who BELIEVE have the POWER to become a child of God at baptism. Of the Jews of known quality, John demanded that they REPENT and BRING FORTH FRUITS of that repentance. UNrighteous people were not baptized. A RIGHTEOUS person is contrasted with a WICKED PERSON:
Gen 18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
That says--to me--that God does not remit sins at baptism for a PRACTICING or habitual sinner.
Salvation, on the other hand is connected to faith which leads to repentance and baptism. At baptism God bestows HIS OWN righteousness and we assuredly cannot LIVE well enough to reach that point. We are REgenerated because God gives us a REnewed human spirit.
Zwingli claimed that "all of the doctors before him were wrong" and took the credit for inventing SALVATION by faith only. Luther also agreed that Zwingli invented something new. This led to BELEIVER'S BAPTISM where WASHING was to prove that you were ALREADY CLEAN in paganism.
Luther's SOLA FIDA really meant SOLA SCRIPTURA because Faith comes only by hearing the Word. Because the Scriptures demand BAPTISM he concluded that salvation is by BAPTISM ONLY because--as he believed--Christ put His authority in the water.
John wrote:
1Jn.3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness IS righteous, even as he is righteous.
John spoke of our CHARACTER and not our relationship to God:
Dikaios (g1342) dik'-ah-yos; from 1349; equitable (in character or act); by impl. innocent, holy (absol. or rel.): - just, meet, right (- eous).
Dikaiosune (g1343) dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay; from 1342; equity (of character or act); spec. (Chr.) justification: - righteousness.
Mt.9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have MERCY, and NOT SACRIFICE: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Lu.15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
If people were sinners it was THEIR FAULT but they were not PREDESTINATED: THEY could AND should repent. Only by repenting and PRACTICING righteousness would the BE righteous.
I am not a lawyer, but a person righteous or NOT GUILTY of wrongdoing, had the RIGHT to appeal to the courts fore REMISSION of a charge. A person who is righteous as opposed to unrighteous or evil has the RIGHT to "call on the name of the Lord" at baptism (Acts 22:16) for the REMISSION OF SINS or a REQUEST for a CLEAR CONSCIENCE (1 Peter 3:21).
Liddell and Scott
Dikaios adj1 adj2 [dikę]
A. in Hom. and early writers,
I. of persons, observant of custom and social rule, well-ordered, civilised, Od.; so, dikaię zoę a regular way of living, Hdt.:--adv., dikaiôs mnasthai to woo in due form, decently, Od.
2. observant of right, righteous, Hom., etc.:--so of actions, in accordance with right, righteous, id=Hom.
B. later usage:
I. of things, even, well-balanced, harma dikaion Xen.:-- regular, exact, rigid,
2. right, lawful, just, to dikaion right, opp. to to adikon, Hdt., etc.; also, a right, a lawful claim, Thuc., etc.:--adv. -ôs, rightly, justly, Hdt., etc.
II. of persons, as well as things, like Lat. justus, meet, right, fitting, Aesch.; hippon d. poieisthai tini to make a horse fit for another's use, Xen.
3. fair, moderate, like metrios, Thuc.: --dikaiôs with reason, Soph., Thuc.
Even the best are NOT righteous enough to save themselves and that is why right living people have the RIGHT to become the children of God if they BELIEVE. However, the Augustinian idea that ALL people are as evil as His own life had been or as the ALMOST UNIVERSAL condition of the society he saw in Carthage, or that we are the DESCENDANTS OF SATAN is the wackiest notion of the wackos.
Ken,
You are saying: Justification involves only a change in our legal relation to God and His law?
This being true, Regeneration is the result of the addition of the Holy Spirit to our lives (Acts 2:38) rather than the miraculous alteration of our minds and spirits as taught in Calvinism.
The church of Christ then, teaches that Regeneration does not completely remove sinfulness. (The theory of miraculous regeneration logically calls for perfect sinlesness.) Would we say then, regeneration speaks of a "new direction," not a "transformed condition?" (Romans 7:14-25).
As I understand, a distinction must be made between the ministry of the Holy Spirit to the alien sinner and the ministry of the Holy Spirit to the Christian.
Calvinism attributes to the reborn a miraculous-given will toward God that the sinner could not have prior to regeneration, i.e., regeneration produces faith and repentance.
It looks to me like Regeneration is the begining of the answer to the problem of "corruption." Sanctification is the continuing answer.
Paul wrote to the church at Corinth something that give me hope: "Thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, not revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of OUR God" (1 Cor.6: 10-11). I like to believe, that if that "washed" bunch at Corinth are "Justified"???
Evidently, sin remains with the Christian, but it is not a source of condemnation (Romans 8:1). Sin strives, but it does not reign. What was once a delightful habit or the accepted norm, now becomes the humiliating exception. Romans 6:1-11 contrasts death "for" sin and death "to" sin. This verse is often taken out of context.
The degree of sanctification which one achieved can never be the test of justification. The motive for personal righteousness is the desire to have a living faith and the desire to express gratitude for justification.
The Calvinist believes that God grants man "miraculous spirituality." To believe this, is to believe that God has taken from man the "freedom of the will" in regard to our relationship with Him.
Sanctification must be understood in the light of the character of man's created nature. It is doubtful that miraculous spirituality is possible. (Jesus worked physical miracles, but not moral miracles. The latter requires "persuasion" (Acts 26:27-28).
We must admit, we are conformed to that which dominates our mind. 2 Cor. 3:12-18; Col. 3:16,17; Eph. 5:18-19; 26; Romans 12:1,2; 2 Thess. 2:13.
My righteousness, is like the next guys: "as filty rags." In Baptism we see the point in time at which the benefits of the work of Christ are conveyed to the repentant sinner: Union in Christ, Gal. 3:27;
Justification, Acts 2:38; Regeneration, Col. 2:12; Sanctification, Romans 6:3-11.
This is why Paul would write: "For he (God) has made him (Jesus) to be sin for US, who knew no sin; that we might be MADE the righteousness of God in HIM."
This is why the cross removes the obstacle in the nature
(holiness and love) of God. This is the fundamental point in the words and concepts used in the Bible to describe the death of Christ and its effects. The cross was not only a "demonstration," it was a "substitution."
This point, I feel, was lost in Mr. Mel Gibson's "The Passion." A tear jerker that left the movie goer and the man in the pew with the question: Why?
God is love, and love desires our salvation.
If we were all cast into hell, this would satisfy the justice and preserve the holiness of God. Romans 6:23.
How to preserve holiness and practice love (John 3:16) is a problem fit for God. Romans 3:25-26.
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What Happened At the Madison Church of Christ?
There are thousands of churches being taken over across America.
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references you might be able to inoculate your church. At the very least
you will recognize the signs early on.
Many of the current members of the Madison Church of Christ still don't
know what happened.
Some never will know! This book is for them as well.
Madison Church of Christ was a 60 year old church. At one time it was
one of the largest churches in the US, and the largest Church of Christ.
It thrived for many years on the vision of it's elders and those of
it's ministers. Those visions undoubtably came from the the inspired word
of Jesus Christ.
At sometime in the last 10 years there was a deliberate plan by a majority
of the elders to take the Madison Church of Christ into a more worldly
realm.
They used secrecy, covert planning, and outside sources to scheme and
to change the format and direction of the Madison Church of Christ.
The Elders knew that the membership would never approve such a plan.
Using the tools of the "Community Church Movement"(consultants, books,
seminars, meetings,planters,seeders) they slowly started initiating change
so it was never noticed by the members until it was too late.....
At the heart of the plan was the fact that old members were going to
be driven off so new techniques could be used to go out and reach the unchurched
through new "Contemporary Holy Entertainment" methods developed by the
"Community Church Movement"
Old members had to be kept on board long enough to get their plans ready,
or the funds would not be there to pay for the new building. So by the
plans very nature, it had to be secret.
The church had no plan in effect to renew or approve elders. There was
never any need. The elders had always been "as approved by God". 10 of the last
15 elders would begin to shed some doubt on that.
The Elders did not even need a majority at first, because some of the
elders went along unwittingly.
This edition starts shortly after some of the members begin to smell
something strange in January 2001. Later editions may go back and fill
in some of the timeline.
To even start to understand whats happening here, you must read the
background materials in the first of the book.
This is only the first edition, and not the end. New editions will be
printed as needed. To keep abreast of current changes, please visit our
web site; http://www.concernedmembers.com/madison
Here is the list of players;
5 Godly Elders
10 Not so Godly Elders
120 "Deacons" (allegiance unknown)
2,800 - 4,000 church "members"
2 "teners" (people who have publicly confessed to have broken all ten
commandments)
Unknown number of "sinners" (This is what the 10 elders call us.)
Unknown number of "demons" (Flying everywhere, to many to count)
