I agree mark. eph 2 10 says for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we SHOULD walk in them. it says we should doesn't mean we always will. eph 2 8/9 tells us how we are saved. for by grace are ye saved through FAITH and that NOT of yourselves it is the gift of God NOT OF WORKS lest anyman should boast. matt 7:21-23 not everyone that saith unto me Lord Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.many will say to me in that day Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful WORKS? And then I will profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that WORK iniquity. these people were TRUSTING in their WORKS. Jesus said only those that do the will of the Father will enter. what is the WILL OF THE FATHER? John 6:40 and this is the WILL OF HIM that sent me. that everyone that seeth the Son and BELIEVETH on Him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up on the last day.

I don't find any disagreement with any of what you said. I also agree that Billy Graham seemed to have softened his message in later years from repentance to " God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life". I won't go as far as saying he's not saved ( I don't know), but he did seem to compromise on the true Gospel and Paul addresses that in Galatians 1:8. Regarding salvation, Matthew 7:21 seems to be addressing God-fearers (like the Pharisees) who were not Christ followers. Believing God exists is not enough to save anyone if they're not a follower of Christ (Romans 1:20). If someone is genuinely converted, scripture informs us that they will "be kept to the end" (Matthew 24:13).

yup. let me backtrack I don't know if graham is in hell but he taught a false gospel that said you have to repent "of your sins" if I have to stop sinning in order to be saved then that is a work I could boast in. the pharisee was trusting in the obedience to the law the tax collector HUMBLED himself before God the Bible says that God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble. rom 4:5 but to him that worked not,but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for rightousness.

Faith and repentance are different sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. Scripture indicates faith comes directly from God, as does repentance. Regardless, a genuine, born-again Believer WILL repent and keep on repenting as they grow in sanctification.

He never preached sinless perfection. Like ever.

BINGO !!!!!!!

Not sure what your definition of Calvinism is JW. You and I agree on a lot. That said, I am saved through Christ alone. I sin regularly and hate it. I try to avoid it and still do it.. I am in the process of being sanctified. I have a close relationship with Christ who sits at the right hand of the father and intercedes on my behalf. I am as close as you can get being a present day Calvinist. While you cannot say you have met me, you can say you know of a Calvinist that sins and has a relationship with the one true triune God.

Let me know your definition of Calvinism, and it might help to qualify my response.

I thought this thread was about Taylor Swift....

no pics???

Well.... it's about her selling her soul. so......

Ole T Swift is sure inadvertently spreading the Gospel in this one. Albeit in 18 different directions.

You are wasting your time when they skipped my question and brought up another scripture I realized what I was up against. I prayed last night that the Lord would forgive me for repenting and being convicted of my sin and so don’t think I am confused lol

I said I wasn't going to respond any more but, the answer to your question number one is in the scripture you gave. Peter said" repent AND be baptized and you will receive the holy spirit. " this is exactly what it says.....what you have to do to receive the holy spirit. If you read the scripture I gave you, it says what you have to do to be saved. God didn't make a mistake when he gave us these scriptures, nor did he do it to confuse us. You have to repent , and do good works, AFTER you are saved. Repent means to turn from your old life and follow a new one. You can do this without believing in Jesus Christ. I can say I'm a terrible person, but if I want to keep my wife I'm going to change and start doing right to keep her. See there I just repented but I'm not saved. If I first believe in Jesus, that he was here, he died for my sins, and HE WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD BY GOD. Then I'm going to follow him. The first step in following him is to study his word. Not go to church and listen to someone tell me, really try to find out for myself, because I believe he is real. Then I will start doing the things he teaches me and tells me I should be doing. Like trying to stop sinning, and being baptized, and doing good works. They are all equal in his eyes. Just like ALL sin is equal in his eyes. Only you and him really know how hard you are working on this and he WILL reward you accordingly when you meet him. I really hope you were asking seriously and not trying to be argumentative, and I hope this helps bring you closer to him. Again this is NOT my interpretation it IS what the scripture says......read it for yourself.

I dont reckon i have a personal definition of calvinism. To be hinest, i reckon i dont even know the people i was referring to are calvinist, they could be lutherine or something like that. I think theyre all close to the same. An outline of their docterine can be found online. Ive read it. But, if you are a calvinist and i said something that wasnt the truth, please correct me. Seems to me their main focus is learning the bible, which in itself is great but a man can know the bible backwards and forwards and still be lost, without the spirit, its just words on pages. Then theres that they think the ones God chose to be saved cant sin. I reckon he saved Paul and he said he sinned every day.

It is my understanding that a calvinist believes God know everything. He knows what you are going to do before you do it. Therefore he knows if your going to be saved before you are ever created. Meaning he has already picked his people before he created them, also he knows who going to be damned before he creates them. This means me and you have no control on weather we're saved or not, it's pre determined by God and we really have no control over it. I'm no scholar so correct me if I'm wrong, but that's my understanding.

If I was to be pigeon holed, some may refer to me as "Calvinist", but I believe Reformed Baptist is more applicable. I disagree with Calvin on paedobaptism (baptizing infants). Believers baptism is what is evidenced through scripture. I've been a member at both Arminian and Reforned Baptist churches. Reformed, or what some may still refer to as "Calvinist" actually have a much better grasp at what sin is and how it separates us from God. I haven't met anyone at all that say they don't sin, at all. NEVER. They do have a firm view of understanding how radically depraved mankind is and why we need a Savior? They are much deeper into studying and understanding the Bible than any church I've been a part of. How can we know God, if we don't endeavor to read what His Word says about Him?

I am a sinner saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus alone. I still sin, I am convicted daily if not every second, I repent, knowing that God through Christ Jesus has forgiven me. Turning from sin and seeking to walk accordingly, and imperfectly. May His name be glorified. My only boast is Christ. The general call to salvation is given to all. That is when we share the gospel without distinction. The particular call to salvation is answered only by those who have been given by the Father to the Son. Those who respond do so only because their wicked hearts have been regenerated (born again) to respond to the effectual call of the Holy Spirit. See John 1:12-13 and John 3:3, plus John Ch. 6 and 10.

Great post Mark

Mark, there are people who believe they dont sin, or wont admit to it anyhow, theres some here and one we both know well on bamahuntin. Like i said, im not 100% sure theyre calvinist. But that would be my guess. Ive been through some of this over and over again here, being told i cant have a relationship with God. He wont speak directly to me. All we have is the bible to know God by. These folks do seem knowlegeable. But i think we both know knowledge is great but its not enough. Believing is essential but it isnt enough. You have to know God and they say the only way we have to know God is through his word. Its all good stuff but if his spirit dont live in you all that bible you read wont mean anything. All that knowledge you have wont teach you anything. Theres so much more available. You probably know all this but theres quite a few "christians" who dont.

Agree with much that you said, however, I don't think you actually understand what Calvinism is? The biggest problem in my time in ministry is that there are folks who profess to be Believers that never crack open a Bible outside of Sunday and just kind of create their own version of God apart from what the Bible says. That's creating an idol and not Christianity if a person is not interested in learning about Christ. I was one. Most couldn't tell you a verse of scripture outside of John 3:16 although they've professed to be Believers for decades. Paul said that is problematic in Hebrews 5. Its like a Doctor or Airline pilot that never goes to school or opens up and learns from their textbook. How can we know God and His commands if we don't open up and read His Word? The Bible is God's revealed Word about Himself.

What many do is create a "theology bag". Things we hear along the way in our lives that sound good, but aren't necessarily biblical, but we place them in our theology bag.

"Cleanliness is next to godliness."

"We are all God's children."

"God helps those who help themselves."

"God never gives us more than we can handle."

"This too shall pass."

The Bible is authoritative. The way that we govern our lives, churches, homes and families should be regulated by it, not our opinions and feelings because they rise and fall with our emotions. We should NOT listen to our heart. Scripture tells us that it is "wicked and deceitful above all things." Jeremiah 17:9

I agree with all of that. I dont know what it has to do with calvinism. I think it was a lutherine preacher told me once you were only qualified to be a preacher if you had gone to seminary for two years. Thats right along the same lines as what im talking about. If God tells a man to go preach his word, that man is qualified right then.

Whyinthecornbreadhell is a Taylor Swift thread turned into a bible class?