Recent comments on other blogs (April 2009)

Chatsworth House, England (Near my friends Mr. and Mrs. X)

The following are what I view as some of my better recent comments from other blogs. I am not indicating that these are my favourite blogs (or not), at the expense of others.

I keep those opinions to myself.

Obama and AIG

Dumb Ox

No shock.

I have speculated and will stick to it that if Obama plays his cards right and continues with his pragmatic (not to be confused with truth seeking) political approach and has what appears to be success, at least, he could end up a billionaire once out of the White House. Obamamania just has to sort of continue and he could do it.

Top Western politicians that officially make non-celebrity like government wages, sometimes for decades and yet live like 'celebs', must in my mind receive much help from the upper class that they have at times helped in their positions as gov. officials.

Mr. Ox, I have posted my PhD graphs on the problem of evil, which may interest.

Russ

Jeff and I discuss the Watchmen

Jeff Jenkins

My last comments on your previous post were not published. Oh well, it happens, thanks Blogger.

So, I present more on the Watchmen...

I think Dr. Manhattan should put some pants on!

He is:

A smurf (your suggestion) crossed with Mr. Clean and the Jolly Green Giant turned blue and with the misused power of someone like Galactus.

Dr. Blue Baldy

Sure let's kill millions and it will provide temporary world peace, but oh yea I cannot change human nature.

So, I guess 'Baldy' hostilities will begin again in a few years and you helped cover up the death of millions with faulty reasoning. Wars will continue with corrupt humanity despite your cover up of mass murder.

The fall

Mormonism Reviewed

Adam and Eve were made good (Gen. 1: 31). In my PhD writing I reason they were morally perfect and did good but inexperienced in regard to evil, and pleased God. Future resurrected Christians and Old Testament saints that are all regenerated/born again (John 3) trusting in the Biblical God, the only God, (Isaiah 43, 44, 45), the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 22: 13) will have experienced sin, death, the problem of evil, the atoning and resurrection work of Christ and will have spiritual/intellectual maturity that Adam and Eve did not, and will be guided by God through the Holy Spirit, in particular to not fall again. God with pure motives willed the fall, he made Adam and Eve in a way that he knew within the circumstances they would fall, but he did not force or coerce it and therefore as they were significantly free, Adam and Eve were morally accountable for it. We are morally accountable for our sins, even as we come from a corrupted nature and can only be saved as we are predestined to be saved by the work of Christ (Eph. 1 and Rom. 8). Persons are saved by grace through faith in the gospel work (Eph. 2). This should lead to works but our salvation is not in any way caused by human works (Eph. 2, Rom. 4, Gal. 2). The corrupt nature of humanity (Rom. 1-3) demonstrates that God must determine who shall be saved, as persons cannot contribute to salvation through autonomous choice, will or any type of works.

The subject of death

GGM

The last five years the number of persons I know that have died, and not all of them old, has greatly increased.

Thank God for God's everlasting Kingdom. (John 3: 16, Revelation 21-22).

Aspirin and vegetables

Aspirin and vegetables

I noted:

'It makes sense to primarily digest foods that will build up the body and avoid foods that will not build up and foods that will primarily do harm.'

Not a very profound statement, but it is amazing how many persons in Western culture will not follow it.

A Debate: Must a Christian have repented of all known sins upon death to go to heaven?-The debate begins here with me in reply and concludes in comments with the other person, Greg, included.

Back to Jeff's blog: Repentance (for which I need to do regularly, just to be clear!)

Jeff Jenkins!!!

I do not think we always repent of every sin we know about. We are not saved by repentance but through the regenerating work of Christ in his atoning and resurrection work which leads to repentance. I will be kindly blunt:), this is often a classic evangelical error. We are told to repent in Scripture as we need this to be right with God and God uses this as conviction of the Holy Spirit in the initial regeneration process I reason, and in continual santification.1 Corinthians 3: 15 and perhaps Hebrews 6 discuss saved persons that have their temporal works burned up, and do not come to repentance is all areas, certainly in Hebrews. There is a debate on whether these are true believers or not in Hebrews. 2 Peter 3, although a disputed passage (...for any to perish but for all to come to repentance) has Peter appearing to write to those in the church and so it is reasonable to assume that some saved do enter paradise while not in a completely repentant state and yet are still covered under the atoning work.

I do not doubt they believe and have repented in general terms at some point in their life but may perish (Apollumi: bodily destruction) in a state of unrepentant sin. In light of total depravity not yet completely eliminated, logic allows us to reason that many Christians die knowingly sinning.If a Christian regenerated pastor has a unrepentant affair with his secretary and is killed in a car accident on his way home, is he damned? Hardly. To say so is to make the serious error of putting too much emphasis on human free will in salvation. This is what is so good about a Reformed/Biblical understanding of salvation as we ARE NOT saved by own free will, and that includes our ability to repent of every sin known. We are regenerated by God and simultaneously believe and in general terms, even as sinners, repent.

Further...

There is no slippery slope in my Reformed theology. Sin is countered by a dependence on God and a call to God in repentance for holiness.

You (not Mr. Jenkins) make an assertion and did not deal with my points that countered yours.

But okay, there is no further debate.

You have admitted to me in previous posts on thekingpin68 that some of it is basically beyond your education and fair enough. Certainly some of your education, formal and otherwise, is beyond mine.

But, therefore you should be willing to be more flexible in your theological and related views and become more educated and develop stronger opinions as you learn more when you can (in this busy world).

If one pays close attention to what I have written here and on my blogs, NOT ONE THING I have written ever excuses sin or would lead to that taking place.

All sin must be covered under the work of Christ. That is solid Reformed doctrine.

Look at my article against and titled Annihilation on satire and theology in archives.

In spirit form after death I reason we will not sin in Paradise. We will not sin when resurrected. We will have repented of our sins at both points.

We are presently told not to sin and to seek the Lord in his Spirit and repent. This is a Reformed view.

The Reformed bar is higher than that of free will evangelical and associated (as presented by you and some others, but not all evangelicals), in my opinion. Even if persons could repent of all of the sins they knew about, they would still be condemned by the sins they did not know about, as the nature is still corrupted and resulting actions remain at least somewhat tainted in this life.

In strict terms, persons are not going to be saved because they repented or damned because they did not repent of all known sins. They are damned by not being covered by Christ's atoning work which leads to repentance, although we see in Scripture (Rom. 7, 1 John 1-2) that Christians do sin even as regenerated and therefore need to repent continually. Human repentance is never the vehicle that saves someone, as the human will cannot add to or cause salvation. I pointed out verses already which seem to indicate that some believers are not fully repentant and therefore lack works. 2 Cor. 5: 10 indicates a judgment for right and wrong done in Christ. This is hardly a sign of resurrected believers that necessarily fully repented of all known sins in this temporal life.

God standards are so high, and human beings so corrupt, God elects his chosen (Eph 1. and Rom. 8) and as Eph. 2 point out persons are saved by grace through faith for good works. Eph. 2: 8-10 NASB.

8For (U)by grace you have been saved (V)through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is (W)the gift of God;

9(X)not as a result of works, so that (Y)no one may boast.

10For we are His workmanship, (Z)created in (AA)Christ Jesus for (AB)good works, which God (AC)prepared beforehand so that we would (AD)walk in them

The call to repentance is a vehicle to lead some in regeneration and to lead believers in sanctification in salvation.

Libertarian freewill views have been soundly discredited in this posting of Jeff in comments, and on my blogs Biblically, theologically, and philosophically as much as you are a solid Christian and you and I agree on many points as brothers in Christ.

Thanks my friend, but I need to take a stand here.

Rather than attempt to debate me (I agree you are wise to avoid this...and yes I am still learning myself!), I reason you need to read some Reformed theology with an open mind.

Here is a list of books. I am going through Bavinck and Frame for my revisions and they are quite helpful. And by the way, in my undergraduate degree at a Mennonite college I was primarily taught Arminian, free will theology for over four years.

I have also studied major free will thinkers (Augustine, Lewis, Plantinga, Pinnock) for my MPhil and PhD theses.

CALVIN, JOHN (1543)(1996) The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Translated by G.I. Davies, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.

BAVINCK, HERMAN (1918)(2006) Reformed Dogmatics Volume 2: God and Creation, John Bolt (gen.ed.), Translated by John Vriend, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids.

BAVINCK, HERMAN (1918)(2006) Reformed Dogmatics Volume 3: Sin and Salvation in Christ, John Bolt (gen.ed.), Translated by John Vriend, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids.

ERICKSON, MILLARD (1994) Christian Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.

FRAME, JOHN M. (2002) The Doctrine of God, P and R Publishing, Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

Skating on a Manitoba highway. I for one am glad Spring is here.

FYI

How the Union Flag came to be.



I was curious what the American flag would look like with the red and white reversed. I prefer the actual flag.