John MacArthur: Distinguished Calvinist Preacher.

[JLB]

It demonstrates he is still capable of learning and modifying his positions, even after decades of teaching something else, which is to be admired.

It's why we are commanded to pray. Such men are capable of changing their positions on other issues as well if they come around to seeing things with new information in hand.

Amen. Well said sir.

Here is the rub.

• having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 2 Timothy 3:1-5

The biblical power to be a witness is the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

• But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:4-8



JLB

 

[JAG ..]

Thoughts , I agree with this link .

7 Reasons Why I’m Not a Calvinist

Everybody gets to have and hold their Reasons for one thing or another.
So?
So I can produce 14 Reasons why you ought to be a Calvinist.
Actually I can produce over 100 reasons why you ought to be a Calvinist.

But I have more interesting goals than to haggle and bicker here inside
Thread World over the Armenian-Calvinist debate.

Btw, it was predestined before the world began that you be an Armenian .
[if you end up remaining one]

Best.

JAG

[]

 

[JLB]

Btw, it was predestined before the world began that you be an Armenian

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:3-6

• that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love

No one is predestined to be a Calvinist or Armenian.


Everything that has to do with predestination is predicated on being
“in Christ”.

Those who remain in Christ will continue to be conformed to the image of His Son.

Those who do not remain in Christ no longer have His Life in them.


If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. John 15:6

Here is how we are instructed to remain “in Christ”.


Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. 1 John 3:24



Does Calvinism teach this ?




JLB

 

[electedbyhim]

I didn’t mention “demon possessed”.

What John M believes is Christians who speak or pray in tongues and cast out devils are doing so by demons.

IOW the spirit that they are operating by is a demon spirit, not the Holy Spirit.


Is this what you believe?

Doing so by demons = demon possession

 

[jasonc]

Demonic possession is real .but that is another thread .

How many here who are pentacostals speak in tongues and no interpretation in church ?

My old church allowed that .

It's not what Paul commanded .

 

[jasonc]

I'm hardly anti pentacostal but I see the out there problems

I have personally met a few that think if the healing promises are true then they will die with no organs diseased.

Well shoot ,if God wants that .then I think my eyes and knees and old age wouldn't occur .yet it's not a promise .no one is promised tommorow
What we are promised is a ressurection into eternal life .

This old body won't be raised up it will be a new one .

 

[Dorothy Mae]

I do.

My wife does.

My Pastor does.

Most of the people in my congregation do.

Many, many churches all across the world do.


So much for that.

I’ll tell you a story I heard from someone there. Two girls were visiting hospital patients in the US and came upon a woman who spoke Tagalogue. One of them said to the other, “she sounds like my prayer language. You pray and I’ll go “talk” to her. “ So my friend prayed and the other “talked” to the patient. She has no idea what she said but the woman seemed to pause and reflect upon the sentences she heard. Questions were asked and answers given. The american had no idea what the Holy Spirit communicated but it wasn’t gibberish.

 

[JLB]

Doing so by demons = demon possession

Not even close.

Every Christian can be influenced, tempted or enticed by demons.

Satan desires to entice or influence us to sin, obey him and disobey God.

We are called to resist him by the power of the Spirit.


JLB

 

[Hidden In Him]

Demonic possession is real .but that is another thread .

How many here who are pentacostals speak in tongues and no interpretation in church ?

My old church allowed that .

It's not what Paul commanded .

I find the church currently isn't walking in numerous supernatural gifts near as much as she should, not just the gift of interpretation of tongues.

Granted, the mandate to use tongues properly in church shouldn't be dismissed, but focusing on the lack of this one gift at the expense of many others is usually just an attempt to attack the Continuist position rather than have much genuine concern for the furtherance of the gospel. Not that this is necessarily what you're doing, but God was confirming the word with signs and wonders following back in NT times and well into the church age, and I don't see why Christians wouldn't want to see the same things happening today. The argument that the gifts have ceased isn't supported by scripture nor is it verified by church history, nor does it further the gospel. Rather it cripples it, and renders it powerless.

Just posting while I have a little time. I've seen this argument go round and round, so I know how to goes. And to some extent maybe the Charismatic church is to blame. We've spent more time trying to convince others of the truth of it in word rather than in prayer and fasting to actually demonstrate the truth of it in action.

Blessings in Christ,
- H

 

[GodsGrace]

Some here in this thread bad-mouthed John MacArthur and made
accusations against him. My point in the post about the wars was
to say that true Christians have a long history of being very unkind
and accusatory to each other and even in some cases being very
hateful to each other in the name of "I have the truth and YOU DON'T.

And in many cases Christians killed other Christians in the tens of
millions -- their motives for killing each other is 100% irrelevant to my
point which was the reality that in fact they did kill each other. That was
the ONLY point I was making. And it is not arguable.

Here is the post to which you refer. See the bolded red which was the
main point I was making.

______

We live in the age/epoch where Christians kill each other by the tens
of millions in wars. Some examples: the American Revolutionary War
was fought between Christian England and Christian America.

The American Civil War was fought between the Christian North and
the Christian South.

World War 1 was, for the most part, fought between Christian nations.

World War 2 was (except for Japan) fought between Christian nations.

So in all that up there we had Christians killing Christians and by the tens of
millions too.

So?

So it would be nice if Christendom had more tolerance for the various doctrinal
disagreements among Christians when there are good reasons to believe that there
is no major doctrinal heresay involved.

Nobody believes that John MacArthur is a heretic on any major Christian doctrine
because everybody knows he is not.

Yet reality tells me that tolerance is NOT going to happen. Why not? Because humans,
and especially we John 3:3 regenerated Christians, are a warrior species. Humans are
aggressive and adversarial and combative - and THAT is a fact.

Best

JAG

[]

OK I understand.

Some here in this thread bad-mouthed John MacArthur and made
accusations against him. My point in the post about the wars was
to say that true Christians have a long history of being very unkind
and accusatory to each other and even in some cases being very
hateful to each other in the name of "I have the truth and YOU DON'T.

And in many cases Christians killed other Christians in the tens of
millions -- their motives for killing each other is 100% irrelevant to my
point which was the reality that in fact they did kill each other. That was
the ONLY point I was making. And it is not arguable.

Here is the post to which you refer. See the bolded red which was the
main point I was making.

______

We live in the age/epoch where Christians kill each other by the tens
of millions in wars. Some examples: the American Revolutionary War
was fought between Christian England and Christian America.

The American Civil War was fought between the Christian North and
the Christian South.

World War 1 was, for the most part, fought between Christian nations.

World War 2 was (except for Japan) fought between Christian nations.

So in all that up there we had Christians killing Christians and by the tens of
millions too.

So?

So it would be nice if Christendom had more tolerance for the various doctrinal
disagreements among Christians when there are good reasons to believe that there
is no major doctrinal heresay involved.

Nobody believes that John MacArthur is a heretic on any major Christian doctrine
because everybody knows he is not.

Yet reality tells me that tolerance is NOT going to happen. Why not? Because humans,
and especially we John 3:3 regenerated Christians, are a warrior species. Humans are
aggressive and adversarial and combative - and THAT is a fact.

Best

JAG

[]

Last post got sent in error....

Just wanted to say that I see what you mean and I agree,,,but it won't be possible NOT to have Christians killing each other.

First for the reason you stated, and another reason is that we would have to have a religion of legalism in order to have everyone believe exactly the same.

I also think it's even OK to disagree with some doctrine or other - although it must look terrible to outsiders - but maybe we could do this in a loving and respectfuly manner? I see too many on these threads attacking each other and being sarcastic which is of no help.

Jesus said we're to be united.
We're anything but...

 

[electedbyhim]

Not even close.

Every Christian can be influenced, tempted or enticed by demons.

Satan desires to entice or influence us to sin, obey him and disobey God.

We are called to resist him by the power of the Spirit.


JLB

How come you will not debate me on the sign gifts?

I have offered more then once.

Grace and peace to you.

 

[JLB]

How come you will not debate me on the sign gifts?

I have offered more then once.

Grace and peace to you.

I will be glad to discuss the scriptures about any subject you like.


Please start a thread.



JLB

 

[JAG ..]

OK I understand.

Last post got sent in error....

Just wanted to say that I see what you mean and I agree,,,but it won't be possible NOT to have Christians killing each other.

First for the reason you stated, and another reason is that we would have to have a religion of legalism in order to have everyone believe exactly the same.

I also think it's even OK to disagree with some doctrine or other - although it must look terrible to outsiders - but maybe we could do this in a loving and respectfuly manner? I see too many on these threads attacking each other and being sarcastic which is of no help.

Jesus said we're to be united.
We're anything but...

Thjank you wondering, for your comments. I think you made
excellent points that reflect Biblical based wisdom.

I have been on the worldwide web for a very long time
and I have learned over the decades to avoid the ugly harsh
bitter-argumentative fights here inside Thread World and NOT
because I do not have the warrior soul, I do, but because fighting
those kinds of fights is =unproductive -- in the end what you
actually get is not much that is good.

God bless.

JAG


PS
Here is an old post I erote a good while back:
You may smile when you read it?

____________

There Is A Lot Of Love In Threads On The Internet, Isn't There?​

The core principle of Christianity is Love. We can see the Love Principle
made clear in First Corinthians chapter 13.

Here are the characteristics of the Principle Of Love as presented in
First Corinthians chapter 13.

{1} Love is patient.
{2} Love is kind.
{3} Love does not envy.
{4} Love does not boast.
{5} Love is not proud.
{6} Love is not rude.
{7} Love is not self-seeking.
{8} Love is not easily angered.
{9} Love keeps no record of wrongs.
{10} Love does not delight in evil.
{11} Love rejoices with the truth.
{12} Love always protects.
{13} Love always trusts.
{14} Love always hopes.
{15} Love always perseveres.
{16} Love never fails.
{17} These three remain: faith, hope, and love.
{18} But the greatest of these is Love.

Threads on the Internet At Large are characterized by those 18
demonstrations of Love, aren't they?

There is not any hateful ugly squabbling, haggling, and bickering that
goes on between Opponents inside Thread World on the Internet
At Large, is there?

Inside Thread World on the Internet At Large there is not a never
ending Cannibalistic Feast of biting and devouring one another going
on, is there? Thread World on the Internet At large is not The Land Of
The Cannibals, is it? Rather Thread World is characterized by love,
kindness, compassion, empathy, sympathy, and a charitable reading
of each other's posts, isn't it?

Inside Thread World on The Internet At Large, there is hardly ever
any harshness, resentment, hateful criticism, denunciation,
accusations, loathing, disgruntlement, snide and snippy one-liner
responses to posts, insults, and generally unpleasant tones and
attitudes towards everybody that disagrees with each other on most
any subject, is there?

My prayer for all Internet posters:

May the Lord bless and keep you.
May the Lord make His face shine upon you
May the Lord be gracious unto you.
May the Lord turn His face toward you
May the Lord always bless you and give you peace
{based on Numbers 6:24-27

God Bless.
End
[]

 

[GodsGrace]

Thjank you wondering, for your comments. I think you made
excellent points that reflect Biblical based wisdom.

I have been on the worldwide web for a very long time
and I have learned over the decades to avoid the ugly harsh
bitter-argumentative fights here inside Thread World and NOT
because I do not have the warrior soul, I do, but because fighting
those kinds of fights is =unproductive -- in the end what you
actually get is not much that is good.

God bless.

JAG


PS
Here is an old post I erote a good while back:
You may smile when you read it?

____________

There Is A Lot Of Love In Threads On The Internet, Isn't There?​

The core principle of Christianity is Love. We can see the Love Principle
made clear in First Corinthians chapter 13.

Here are the characteristics of the Principle Of Love as presented in
First Corinthians chapter 13.

{1} Love is patient.
{2} Love is kind.
{3} Love does not envy.
{4} Love does not boast.
{5} Love is not proud.
{6} Love is not rude.
{7} Love is not self-seeking.
{8} Love is not easily angered.
{9} Love keeps no record of wrongs.
{10} Love does not delight in evil.
{11} Love rejoices with the truth.
{12} Love always protects.
{13} Love always trusts.
{14} Love always hopes.
{15} Love always perseveres.
{16} Love never fails.
{17} These three remain: faith, hope, and love.
{18} But the greatest of these is Love.

Threads on the Internet At Large are characterized by those 18
demonstrations of Love, aren't they?

There is not any hateful ugly squabbling, haggling, and bickering that
goes on between Opponents inside Thread World on the Internet
At Large, is there?

Inside Thread World on the Internet At Large there is not a never
ending Cannibalistic Feast of biting and devouring one another going
on, is there? Thread World on the Internet At large is not The Land Of
The Cannibals, is it? Rather Thread World is characterized by love,
kindness, compassion, empathy, sympathy, and a charitable reading
of each other's posts, isn't it?

Inside Thread World on The Internet At Large, there is hardly ever
any harshness, resentment, hateful criticism, denunciation,
accusations, loathing, disgruntlement, snide and snippy one-liner
responses to posts, insults, and generally unpleasant tones and
attitudes towards everybody that disagrees with each other on most
any subject, is there?

My prayer for all Internet posters:

May the Lord bless and keep you.
May the Lord make His face shine upon you
May the Lord be gracious unto you.
May the Lord turn His face toward you
May the Lord always bless you and give you peace
{based on Numbers 6:24-27

God Bless.
End
[]

Great post!
Sarcasm well used.

I first came on here because I really have no fellowship here -
I love my Catholic brothers and sisters and some priests I know and even a monk I've studied with!
But it's different - difficult to explain.

So, go figure, I came on here for fellowship.
I did what you do - keep away from the big, mean fish.
Stay with those that I could learn something from and that seem to exude Christianly mannerisms, or even love at times!

I think you're of the reformed faith and I'm not, but I could certainly get along with you.
And maybe not with all who agree with me!
That's how it is.
Blessings

 

[JAG ..]

Great post!
Sarcasm well used.

I first came on here because I really have no fellowship here -
I love my Catholic brothers and sisters and some priests I know and even a monk I've studied with!
But it's different - difficult to explain.

So, go figure, I came on here for fellowship.
I did what you do - keep away from the big, mean fish.
Stay with those that I could learn something from and that seem to exude Christianly mannerisms, or even love at times!

I think you're of the reformed faith and I'm not, but I could certainly get along with you.
And maybe not with all who agree with me!
That's how it is.
Blessings

Thank you.

Yes I am a locked down five point Calvinist (Reformed Presbyterian) but I am
never NEVER pushy. I NEVER do more than merely present what I think is the
truth and then I leave it to the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to do the
convincing.

Then this point: Since I am locked down on:
"God has from all eternity predestined whatsoever comes to pass" ...
__Westminster Confession
.. then it naturally follows that God has predestined some of His people to
NEVER become Calvinists -- because many never do become Calvinists.
And I am well aware of this fact.

Then one more point: I am a devotional Calvinist. That means the whole and
entire goal of my Calvinism is to urge and nurture total faith in the Sovereignty
of God so that we Christians can have a solid anchor for the soul here in this
world that is now under the control of the evil one 1 John 5:19

Also I am well aware that many sincere Christians have a very difficult
time with the Calvinistic Theological System which, on the surface, strikes
their mind as ultra-harsh and unreasonable. I can empathize with them.

Yes I think you and I could get along very well together.

Btw, I think you have a beautiful mind.

God bless.

JAG

[]

 

[Iconoclast]

I used to love John MacArthur. When I found out the grace of God is that his Son bore terrible, undeserved sinful conduct at the hands of unjust people without bringing them into judgment, that's when I knew Mr. MacArthurs' view of Christs' sacrifice is wrong.

I am not sure you are stating this position accurately.
Penal substitutionary atonement is biblical.

 

[GodsGrace]

I am not sure you are stating this position accurately.
Penal substitutionary atonement is biblical.

Hi I,
Every atonement theory is biblical.
I can't think of one that isn't.
It's just a matter of which ones you agree with most.
Haven't followed along this conversation, but the other poster might mean that he doesn't like
the Penal Substitution Theory.

Will get to your replies after dinner...

 

[JLB]

God has from all eternity predestined whatsoever comes to pass" ...
__Westminster Confession

Could you present a passage of scripture that says…

God has from all eternity predestined whatsoever comes to pass

I hope to discover some new things about Calvinism that I never knew.

One question I have is —

Did God predestine that Adam should sin?



JLB

 

[JAG ..]

Could you present a passage of scripture that says…



I hope to discover some new things about Calvinism that I never knew.

One question I have is —

Did God predestine that Adam should sin?



JLB

My view: The very best way you can come to understand
the Calvinistic Theological System is to purchase one of the
highly popular (and inexpensive) classic presentations of that
system. (You do not have to agree with it in order to come to
understand the system.

Dr. Loraine Boettner, (who is male btw) was one of Calvinism's most trusted and
distinguished scholars. And amazon has this work, right now, for $17.65 new
or Used in good condition for $6.73 plus $3.99 S/H

You can relax and in the privacy of your own home, come to understand the whole and
entire Calvinistic Theological System by merely reading this book.

Plus I guarantee that you will be greatly blessed - its packed with devotional faith-Bible verses and
faith-in-God ideas.
I have read this great work many times.
And I still read in it regularly.

By the way. I think the entire book is online. I will see if I can find it for you.
However its much better to have your own private hardcopy, imo.

Best

JAG


[]

 

[JAG ..]

Could you present a passage of scripture that says…



I hope to discover some new things about Calvinism that I never knew.

One question I have is —

Did God predestine that Adam should sin?



JLB

Follow up

Here is the entire book online PDF

https://theologue.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/predestination-lboettner.pdf

Please look at the Table Of Contents. Very informative.

Best

JAG

[]