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Bill do you see any fault in the
below?
Dean, here is a
quotation from that passage: "If they (the frames and feelings) are
not in us, it is a sure sign that though the wilderness became a pool, the pool
is become a wilderness again."
I can agree that a believer
can apostate to the point that God will take him home, so to speak, so as to
prevent him from irreparable destruction. But I am not convinced that a true
believer can lose his or her salvation, once having received the
guarantee and seal of the Holy Spirit; for that is no longer the
Christian going back on his word; it is God.
Bill
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, February 04, 2006 6:11
AM
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk]
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 2/3/2006 10:55:41 PM
Subject: Re: [TruthTalk]
It may be helpful to distinguish
between duality and dualism.
cd; Yeah what he
said:-)
I'll defer to John's
comments for now, Dean, as his are insightful and I do not wish to
devote the time to the topic which would be needed to draw out the
distinctions. Suffice it to say that (1) I see two distinct natures at work
in the person of Christ prior to his death and resurrection: a human nature,
replete with all the limitations commensurate with fallen humanity; and a
Divine nature, which is fully God. (2) I also see two distinct natures at
work in his person after the resurrection: the same Divine nature as
before, along with a new, glorified human nature. (3) As it pertains to us
as Christians, I see two distinct natures at work in our members: an old
fallen nature which refuses to stay down (if you will allow some latitude
with this language); and a new nature which is that of the resurrected
Christ, as ministered to us by the Holy Spirit. Moreover, (4) I believe
that the old nature will be erased in our resurrection, never again to
rear its ugly h ead; that will leave us with but one nature,
the same nature which we received from Christ in the new
birth.
Dean, I hope this makes
sense and helps you to understand how I can find agreement with David
on the topic of dualism, without desiring to delve into a detailed
discussion on its distinctions in a separate thread.
-------------------------------
cd: Bill I can agree with yours-and
Johns- presentation and of dualism in the brethren for a time. But I
also feel one must allow for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to stronger
levels of Holiness that will press the old man into total subjection for
this is pleasing to God. Love would be the domination word for this as it is
the domination emotion for us Christians. With love I will not get angry for
being struck -with love I will not lust for the scantly dressed women my
heart will pull back from that sin-love is the only way to fulfill the law
of loving my neighbor as myself.Love will root out all sin in the flesh.As
we grow in sanctification we are growing in love to where even dualism is no
longer a factor for me as my union is with the father, Son ,and the Holy
Ghost.Bill do you see any fault in the below?
J. Wesley wrote:
2Pe 3:18 - But grow in grace - That is, in every
Christian temper. There may be, for a time, grace without growth; as there
may be natural life without growth. But such sickly life, of soul or body,
will end in death, and every day draw nigher to it. Health is the means of
both natural and spiritual growth. If the remaining evil of our fallen
nature be not daily mortified, it will, like an evil humour in the body,
destroy the whole man. But "if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of
the body," (only so far as we do this,) "ye shall live" the life of faith,
holiness, happiness. The end and design of grace being purchased and
bestowed on us, is to destroy the image of the earthy, and restore us to
that of the heavenly. And so far as it does this, it truly profits us; and
also makes way for more of the
heavenly gift, that we may at last be filled with all the fulness of God.
The strength and well - being of a Christian depend on what his soul feeds
on, as the heal th of the body depends on whatever we make our daily food.
If we feed on what is according to our nature, we grow; if not, we pine away
and die. The soul is of the nature of God, and nothing but what is according
to his holiness can agree with it. Sin, of every kind, starves the soul, and makes it consume away. Let us
not try to invert the order of God in his new creation: we shall only
deceive ourselves. It is easy to forsake the will of God, and follow our
own; but this will bring leanness into the soul. It is easy to satisfy
ourselves without being possessed of the holiness and happiness of the
gospel. It is easy to call these frames and feelings, and then to oppose
faith to one and Christ to the other. Frames (allowing the _expression_) are
no other than heavenly tempers, "the
mind that was in Christ." Feelings are the divine consolations of the Holy
Ghost shed abroad in the heart of him that truly believes. And wherever
faith is, and wherever Christ is, there are these blessed frames and
feelings. If they are not in us, it is a sure sign that though the
wilderness became a pool, the pool is become a wilderness again. And in the
knowledge of Christ - That is, in faith, the root of all. To him be the
glory to the day of eternity - An _expression_ naturally flowing from that
sense which the apostle had felt in his soul throughout this whole chapter.
Eternity is a day without night, without interruption, without
end.
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