- Apr 17, 2018
- 6,713
- 2,298
- Country
- Italy
- Gender
- Female
- Faith
- Christian
- Marital Status
- Married
Well b, I think we agree.Thanks for the good reply. You can rest securely knowing that you are not an Arminian, much less a Calvinist. Both theologies encompass far more than soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) and, unfortunately, most people tend to view Calvinists as being only monergists, as if that is the only doctrine in Christianity, or Arminians as being only synergists. I know some monergistic Arminians and some synergistic Calvinists.
The problem in Christianity seems to lie with human responses. As James points out in his letter, there are many who profess to be Christians (we have a virtual nation of "Christians") but their lives bear out a totally different story - there are no works that demonstrate a genuine faith in Jesus Christ. That said, if one actually does have saving faith and is a new creature in Christ he will not be like the dog or the sow that Peter refers to. We will naturally desire to love and obey God and to do His will.
The old questions, which you may have heard, go like this - "How many sins does it take in order for a person to become sinner?" and "How many times does a dog need to bark in order for it to become a dog?" The obvious answer is that both are born that way. People are sinners from birth and retain that nature until they die. The new nature, which is sinless in Christ, does not eliminate the original nature, but overcomes it such that the believer naturally desires to follow God.
Thanks again.
I also believe we retain the sin nature but are given the strength to overcome it, but not completely.
I hear some that say they can live as they want and still be saved.
I hear some that say they never sin.
Both are impossible.
Some believe the sin nature is abolished when born again but then can't explain why they still sin.
Your last sentence is important...
WE DESIRE TO FOLLOW GOD.
Amen.
Thanks to you too...always nice to meet a level headed person.
Upvote
0