Just as I am, without one pleaBut that Thy blood was shed for me,And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee,O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, and waiting notTo rid my soul of one dark blot,To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, tho' tossed aboutWith many many a conflict, many a doubt,Fightings and fears within, without,O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind:Sight, riches, healing of the mind,Yea, all I need in Thee to find,O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;Because Thy promise I believe,O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Just as I am — Thy love unknownHath broken ev'ry barrier down;Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
Christ does not ask it, nor can the sinner do it.
Just because the sinner is so vile and so polluted, Jesus says to him, Come unto Me; just because he is in such a pitiable condition and can never better himself, Jesus says, Come unto Me. It is not you who are whole or who think that you can heal yourselves that Jesus invites, but you who are sick. It is not you who would first wash your souls somewhat clean with your own tears that Jesus invites so that He may wash you in His blood. And be assured of this: where there is faith, you will not wait till you have made preparation to go to Christ;
you will go to Him just as you are:
Lord, we are altogether vile, therefore we come to Thee to cleanse us; we are altogether naked, therefore we come to Thee to clothe us; we are altogether without strength and can of ourselves do nothing, therefore we come to Thee to do all for us. This is ever the language of true faith."(William Trail)
Consider Abraham, the father of our faith. "And he [Abraham] believed in the LORD; and he [the LORD] counted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:6) The context of this verse is, the LORD God spoke a promise to Abraham, and then Abraham believed the Words of God. Faith is believing what God says.
And faith is the gift of God.
"Is faith a gift? Jesus declares, "No one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father" (John 6:65). In the same passage Jesus declares, "All that the Father gives to Me will come to Me" (John 6:37). In both verses the phrase "come to Me" simply means "believe in Me" and so taken together Jesus is stating that no one can believe in Him unless God grants it, and all to whom God grants it will believe" According to this passage, then, God grants faith, a faith that will infallibly arise in the heart of those He has given His Son." (monergism)
R2D2 wrote:How is it that God can require NOTHING of man per your doctrinal interpretations, but YOU can require that man HAND OVER ALL AUTHORITY and CONTROL to the Lord??????? So that he may RECEIVE the teaching of Total Depravity????? You are one mixed up bag of contradictions!
Clearly you don't understand Total Depravity. That means "SIN" BTW
Try and Remember that SIN actually does have some influence over the sinner.
Get it? Sinner.
Boy it sometimes gets very difficult around here.
Faith. The GIFT of God. wrote:The theory that God requires the sinner to participate or contribute in some way by retained "human faculty" is essentially the alternative to a COMPLETE trust. The sinner absolutely hates to hand over all authority and control to the Lord. That is why many cannot receive the teaching of Total Depravity,
The sinner absolutely hates to hand over all authority and control to the Lord. That is why many cannot receive the teaching of Total Depravity,
You are one mixed up bag of contradictions!
The theory that God requires the sinner to participate or contribute in some way by retained "human faculty" is essentially the alternative to a COMPLETE trust.
Thus it is a "partial" trust in divine grace - whilst seeking to add the vain hope that the sinner = NOT quite Totally Depraved = NOT quite dead in sin - can retain an active response towards his own salvation. Satanically subtle!!
The sinner absolutely hates to hand over all authority and control to the Lord. That is why many cannot receive the teaching of Total Depravity, which is the very basis of Limited Atonement and Perseverance.
Thus is Election completely Unconditional.The Calvinist can declareI trust in God ALONEI trust in Christ ALONEI trust in the Holy Spirit ALONEI trust in Grace ALONEFor *ALL* my salvation.
*ALL* the glory to GOD alone. Zero to me!
Faith. The GIFT of God. wrote:"How many rest on their sound doctrinal views of Christ. They believe firmly in His Deity, His holy humanity, His perfect life, His vicarious death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension to God’s right hand, His present intercession on high, and His second advent. So too did many of those to whom James addressed his epistle, but he reminded them that the "demons also believe and tremble" (James 2:19). O my reader, saving faith in Christ is very much more than assenting to the teachings of Scripture concerning Him; it is the giving up of the soul unto Him to be saved, to renounce all else, to yield fully unto Him.(A.W Pink. 'Studies on saving faith')
When I posted similar things to that quote I was accused of all sorts of things, including lordship salvation, works-salvation, RCC Arminian Jesuit free willer, blah blah....
But yes, the quickening of the Spirit does influence the will into a new way of thinking, with a desire that Jesus be Lord of my life, with a hatred of my own sins and a desire to turn from them to serve the living and true God. In my case, I hardly knew any 'doctrine' at the time of my conversion. But I knew it was ALL or NOTHING.
Permit me wrote:[URL=http://www.dod.org/Products/DOD1982.aspx]]]Day of Discovery- Drs Paul and Margaret Brand[/URL] And I'm not young
And I'm not young
http://www.dod.org/Products/DOD1982.aspx
It is a short video production by "Day of Discovery" on the lives of Drs. Paul and Margaret Brand, who were medical missonaries to leprosy patients in India.
Hope the link works. I am soooo non-tech! Where are the young people when you need them??????
I can see you'll have to cut and paste. Oh, well.....
Takeheed wrote:good perspective on pain can be found in a book by Dr. Paul Brand & Philip Yancey called "Pain, The Gift Nobody Wants." It pays to make sure what the author believes and what he doesn't believe, though Yancey might say much that is good consider Cecil Andrews articlehttp://www.takeheed.net/YANCEYlasciviousness.htmTake heed that no man deceive you
Google Dr. Paul Brand. His obituary alone would inspire one to awe.
Dr. Robert Bork, Surgeon General of the U.S. said if he could be anyone other than himself, he would have been Dr. Brand. I couldn't agree more.
Better yet, read his books. They are EXCELLENT!
BTW, Philip Yancey's style of style of writing is excellent, making these books even more pleasurable to read.
It pays to make sure what the author believes and what he doesn't believe, though Yancey might say much that is good consider Cecil Andrews article
http://www.takeheed.net/YANCEYlasciviousness.htm
Take heed that no man deceive you
'don't know if was the same organisation, but thirteen years before my conversion I somehow turned up at a Navigators meeting in a church'John uk
There is an excellent book by a Navigator which is like a modern day Pink 'Sovereignty of God' but applied to life's hurts and pain. Should be in our Christian Library
Have you read:
Trusting God Even When Life Hurts by Jerry Bridges
[URL=http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=trusting+god+bridges&x=17&y=24]]]Jerry Bridges Trusting God When Life Hurts[/URL]
[URL=http://www.amazon.com/Trusting-God-Even-When-Hurts/dp/1600063055/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236449250&sr=1-1]]]see reviews[/URL]
Candle lit wrote:I know that there is distinct reference to two covenants in Scripture, the old being under the law, and the new being of Grace. The new covenant is far superior to the old, as dealt with in Hebrews. What I meant was that I believe the OT saints were saved exactly as the NT saints are saved and that is through the atoning work of Christ on the Cross, His substitionary death satisfying the demands of the Father as payment for sin. All of Grace. I'm sure that it's not something that you dwelt on, but, my answer bothered me.
Apparently there is a third covenant as well, which is between the Father and the Son, a covenant of redemption, but that one is more for theologians than me.
A busy day today, but I'll keep dipping in.
You won't read this until the morning, but I need to correct something that I said in a previous post where you asked whether I believed in one or two covenants. I mis-spoke, and said one, and for no other reason than conscience, I need to correct myself.
I know that there is distinct reference to two covenants in Scripture, the old being under the law, and the new being of Grace. The new covenant is far superior to the old, as dealt with in Hebrews.
What I meant was that I believe the OT saints were saved exactly as the NT saints are saved and that is through the atoning work of Christ on the Cross, His substitionary death satisfying the demands of the Father as payment for sin. All of Grace.
I'm sure that it's not something that you dwelt on, but, my answer bothered me.
Another clarification needs to be made about my times listening to John MacArthur. Yes, I have listened to him since college days, but my post sounded like I was travelling in sales for 30 yrs. Not so! Not important, but misleading, and I have a super-sensitive conscience.
Whew! Clear conscience . . . I can sleep well.
Candle lit wrote:Thanks, John. I was not aware of either of the devotionals that you mentioned, but I will keep them in mind when browsing for books. I only discovered J.C. Ryle when I read his book "Holiness" last year. I didn't want it to end, it was so good - but, alas, I stretched my reading of it as long as I could.
One thing is for sure, love for Christ always increases while reading Ryle.
Now it is time for retirement, so a goodnight to all, and may the Lord Jehovah Jesus help us all to set our 'affection on things above, not on things on the earth'.
John UK wrote:The best books I've seen recently are the daily readings from the gospels by JC Ryle, and a daily devotional by James Smith. I never tire of reading Ryle.
I only discovered J.C. Ryle when I read his book "Holiness" last year. I didn't want it to end, it was so good - but, alas, I stretched my reading of it as long as I could.
Candle lit wrote:John,That verse captivated me even as child, though it seems strange. I wouldn't know much of trial, suffering, pain, and death as a child. Yet, I remember that verse piercing my heart as a pre-teen.Mercifully, God has spared me much, until recent years, but my trials, pains, and sufferings have been suffered vicariously through others. The human condition is a source of pain for me. I long for an end to that.
And yes, the longer I live in this world, the more I understand the most awful effects of The Fall, with its resultant mess all over the world. I am very thankful that I do not have the knowledge of all events in the world simultaneously like the Lord does. What a dreadful sight.
Dr Brand sounds an interesting character, I'll remember his name and look out for his books. Thank you.
The best books I've seen recently are the daily readings from the gospels by JC Ryle, and a daily devotional by James Smith. I never tire of reading Ryle.
