This is a general theme from some that I find so disheartening.

It is as if a “true Christian” always passes all trials before moving on to the next level/season.

It is as if a young Christian doesn’t need the strength and guidence of mature Christians to walk a Chist-like path.

It is as if Christians have never been taught that they need other Christians around to steel them when they need support.

The seed that falls on good soil (the true Christian) is sustained until the end.

As I understand it, the “good soil” in this case means the seed, young Christian, must be tended. So the young Christian has to read the Bible. The young Christian has to surround themselves with mature Christians who can help them along the way. The young Christian has to grow and get stronger in the word. This holds true for the more mature Christian as well.

So, I really find comment #53, which I quoted, disheartening. And it’s more sad that as of when I respond, no one else has written anything.

I found my heart broken that my brother had fallen.

Your Christian blog-family is always here to support you. That is why I sent a request to have you added to my Yahoo! IM Buddies.

Grace and peace,
AC

There are two kinds of influence that the Creator may exercise over creation – moral persuasion or physical persuasion.

These are the forces of love as opposed to the forces of compulsion. Humanity was constituted free. God has refused to exercise compulsion over creation as yet.

Thus it is that immediately any ecclesiastical authority commences to use compulsion, it ceases to represent God, and becomes instead the representative of anti-God forces.

Humans must make choices of their own free will, using those reasoning powers with which they have been endowed. “Come now and let us reason together…” (Is.1:18)

Scripturally, there is no such teaching as ‘Original Sin’. Neither is there an automatic fatherhood of Satan. Adam, created by God, chose Satan. So too, every person has the right to freely choose to follow Adam, who was earthy, or to follow Jesus, who was spiritual.

The doctrines, the traditions, the forms, the rituals, the theological empire-building, and the mind-numbing complexities introduced by the Christian churches over the last two millennia render unintelligible the single simple dictum of the New Testament – follow the Old Man, Adam, or the New Man, the ‘last Adam.’ Our choice!

The New Testament writers enumerate principles to follow in order that Christians living many centuries later may become one with Jesus. Where John preached the gospel of love, Paul announced redemption by a inner and spiritual identification with Jesus, with a self-imposed crucifixion and resurrection.

By subordinating the will of his own flesh, and by choosing the truth of God instead of lies, and obedience to God instead of disobedience, Jesus restored man to his position as it existed in the beginning. By this ‘atonement’ he has made it possible for godly men and women to emulate him and become children of God.

Those that do not choose to do so are still sons of Adam and must carry Adam’s burden of sin and death.

As for the ‘elect’, the proposition of the New Testament is that the ‘elect’ are ‘foreknown’, not ‘foreordained’. There is a vast difference between to two positions.

Here’s a link for you.

I haven’t actually debated this with anyone, but when I was taught about Calvinism, it seemed to be a good fit to what was in Scripture.

This limited vs. unlimited atonement issue does appear to be important. I think it comes down to this: Did Jesus die for those who are now in hell?

Here’s a couple of links for you:
http://www.spurgeon.org/calvinis.htm
http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/topic/calvinism.html