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May 22nd, 2026
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Lots could be said about what you wrote/asked. But I'll do my best to make my responses brief and to the point.
1. Asking if someone wants to be born-again is a serious error in doctrine for the new birth, aka: regeneration, born again, born from above, made alive, etc., is outside of both a person's ability and experience. Regeneration is a supernatural, secret and silent work of the Holy Spirit, which is clearly taught by the Lord Christ Himself (Jh 3:3ff). Additionally, this reveals that the person asking the question believes that regeneration follows faith. In short, IF you believe... you will be born again. Billy Graham holds to this heresy and even wrote a book with the title, How to be Born Again. The bottom line is that those who hold the view that the new birth follows and/or is the result of faith, of necessity deny that fallen man is totally depraved; that is sinners are totally unwilling (no desire) and unable (powerless) to believe on Christ UNLESS the Spirit regenerates them first.
2. One can embrace and articulate all the doctrines of Scripture perfectly (hypothetically of course) and still be liable to judgment. The horror of all this is that the majority of churches teach that one only need to give assent to the "essentials of the faith" and "ask Jesus into your heart" and you are saved. Historically, this damnable heresy is called Sandemanianism, or more popularly known as "Easy Believism". True conviction is Spirit wrought and affects the entire man; mind, body and spirit (the heart). When true conviction comes, the result is far more than a simple admission that one is 'separated from God' or one is 'guilty of sin'. True conviction brings forth the realization that one is guilty before God because of who he IS, not just that things haven't always been done perfectly. One also realizes that they are under the wrath and just condemnation of God; God is their enemy and they His. True conviction also reveals the inexorable holiness of God and the dire need to be perfect before God in order to be reconciled to Him. And, that also leads to one's insatiable desire to have Christ as one's own; Lord, Saviour, Mediator and Righteousness. There is much more that I could add here, but these are the universal elements which all who have been brought by the Spirit to Christ (Jh 6:44).
3. Not to sound like a broken record, but IF a person who embraces Pelagianism, semi-Pelagianism, or Arminianism in their HEART as well as their head, then they cannot be saved, for those systems of theology deny the very grace of God needed to be saved by adding their own "free-will" (autonomy) to that grace 1; Yup. Thats why I brought up that particular exmple, and I remember it as though it were yesterday+50 years. 2.3. These two though, at least, from our view form a wavy line. The requirements , as seen by each one of us are subjective in the extreme, and acutely so if we attempt to judge another. Im sure 25 dedicated followers of Calvin would not agree on the exact dividing point of a full on/semi Pelegian. Knowing our own heart can be an imposible challenge, much more anyone else's . I love this line; God is their enemy and they His quite a thought. I reckon there are times when the only real response is deep dark fear. Im sure that will be worth a look, as have the other realted links. I may have heard the term but I've never seen anything printed on the subject. H
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Joined: Apr 2001
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Needs to get a Life
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OP
Needs to get a Life
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 4,893 Likes: 49 |
As someone who has been around for a while, my experience is that although a statement of faith can seem sound on the surface. When one digs a little deeper into the particular doctrines; it is then where discrepancies’ usually occur. For example: 4. Man was created good by God but was separated from God through original sin. One would need to flesh out what the AOG means by this and how it affects man's relationship with God. I.e., does original sin affect man's ability to come to God by their own free will? Etc... Also, what I have found about many Churches today as well as many Christians, is that they actually believe that if Church doesn’t have an alter call; then it must not be a biblical Church. Or at the very least it is missing an essential element. I challenged one person on this asking them if they know the history of the alter call and they had no idea. They just assumed that it was biblical because that is what they were taught. Tom
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