While the Bible speaks volumes about the work of Christ, the epistles also continually make statements about the nature of the Christian:
"New creation"
"In Christ"
"Set free from the law of sin and death"
...and so on.
And so, when someone begins to look to the work of Christ in the Word, they will eventually see the connections between Christ's historical work on the cross and these individual statements about Christians, that they go hand in hand.
A genuine saving faith in the person and work of Christ will also yield in time a genuine faith regarding self. But until a person is factually "in Christ", or is actually "a new creation", a person cannot genuinely believe these things to be true for them.
Synergism is therefore impossible. The act of believing is empty unless it terminates on the rock of truth. Until a person actually has been seated in the heavenly places with Christ; it will do them no good to believe it though they do with all their heart. When the bible says of Christians "you are a new creation"; that is either true for a person or it is not; and while genuine faith is a mark of new creation; as a fact it stands irrespective of faith; you are or you aren't.
Therefore! A person must first made a Christian before they can believe they are a Christian. A person must be actually blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies before they can genuinely believe it to be truth concerning them.
A person must be in Christ before they can ever believe it as truth and not a lie. Therefore faith can only be instrumental in revealing to a person what God has already done in them.
The act of divine grace (not merely the gracious disposition) in an individual must absolutely preceed faith.
It's late here. Forgive my rambling if it was obvious. Correct me if I am mistaken. Blessings all.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
"New creation"
"In Christ"
"Set free from the law of sin and death"
...and so on.
And so, when someone begins to look to the work of Christ in the Word, they will eventually see the connections between Christ's historical work on the cross and these individual statements about Christians, that they go hand in hand.
A genuine saving faith in the person and work of Christ will also yield in time a genuine faith regarding self. But until a person is factually "in Christ", or is actually "a new creation", a person cannot genuinely believe these things to be true for them.
Synergism is therefore impossible. The act of believing is empty unless it terminates on the rock of truth. Until a person actually has been seated in the heavenly places with Christ; it will do them no good to believe it though they do with all their heart. When the bible says of Christians "you are a new creation"; that is either true for a person or it is not; and while genuine faith is a mark of new creation; as a fact it stands irrespective of faith; you are or you aren't.
Therefore! A person must first made a Christian before they can believe they are a Christian. A person must be actually blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies before they can genuinely believe it to be truth concerning them.
A person must be in Christ before they can ever believe it as truth and not a lie. Therefore faith can only be instrumental in revealing to a person what God has already done in them.
The act of divine grace (not merely the gracious disposition) in an individual must absolutely preceed faith.
It's late here. Forgive my rambling if it was obvious. Correct me if I am mistaken. Blessings all.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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