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Pilgrim said:
I find your phraseology quite confusing. Man doesn't make ANYTHING effectual; God does. And God is the One who also has determined and provided the means by which one is justified, i.e., the preaching/reading of the Word, repentance and faith. Again, God doesn't repent for anyone and nor is it God Who believes on Christ. Man has a specific part, albeit due to the Spirit's regeneration and enabling, in apprehending justification. Likewise, faith is the means or vehicle which apprends Christ. Faith has no inherent value in and of itself. It is Christ alone Who saves and not the actual faith that embraces Him. Yet, without faith exercised by the man, there is no salvation to be had. . .
What do you mean by "cooperation"? IF by that you mean that man contributes something of his own which works with the working of the Holy Spirit, then absolutely not. Salvation is of the Lord. However, as I have maintained so many times in responses to you since you arrived here, man has a definite and necessary part in the apprehending of justification, i.e., repentance and faith, both of which are the fruit of the Spirit's regeneration.

I find the WCF phraseology confusing. Saying regenerate man is enabled to actively embrace grace is another way of saying man is justified by his action of embracing. Or does embracing grace mean something different from being declared righteous? Or, as Helm seems to infer, made righteous by inner character change?

While God doesn't repent or believe for anyone, neither can man do anything to believe or repent. He receives faith and repentance as gifts. So faith and repentance are means that apprehend Christ but how can embracing be a means to obtain grace since it is clearly a work that men do?

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I have repeated said that the Holy Spirit works with the instrumental means of the Word of God. I have never stated a logical or temporal order of that working. One cannot hear unless one is given ears to hear. But one is not given ears to hear, normally, apart from the preaching/reading of the Word. (Rom 1:16; 10:12-17)

Could preaching/reading and regeneration (and normally would they) occur at the same time?

Last edited by speratus; Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:22 AM.