Being Led by the Holy Spirit

[SavedOnebyGrace]

I've been a 5-point Calvinist for awhile, and a non-denominational Fundamentalist Christian for 34 years or so.  I've argued the predestination position at length on two different Christian forums, and have read numerous books on the subject.  But within the last two weeks, the Holy Spirit has led me to question my understanding of Holy Scripture on the subject and He pointed me to Job.  Why Job?  The Holy Spirit gave me some initial insight I'm not ready to share.  So respecting the Holy Spirit's prodding, I will be studying Job for awhile.  I'm anxious to see what He'll teach me.  I've studied Job before, so I'm not sure what I missed.

Has this happened to anyone else?  Where you feel led by the Spirit of God to study something, or do something?  It happens to me a lot but I don't always give in to the gentile nudging.  Early in my Christian walk I was led to study Daniel and related prophecy scriptures.  I guess that's why I'm a dispensationalist, not common for a Calvinist.  Maybe I should stop calling myself a Calvinist until I see what the Holy Spirit is going to teach me.

[KPaulG]

I've been a 5-point Calvinist for awhile, and a non-denominational Fundamentalist Christian for 34 years or so.  I've argued the predestination position at length on two different Christian forums, and have read numerous books on the subject.  But within the last two weeks, the Holy Spirit has led me to question my understanding of Holy Scripture on the subject and He pointed me to Job.  Why Job?  The Holy Spirit gave me some initial insight I'm not ready to share.  So respecting the Holy Spirit's prodding, I will be studying Job for awhile.  I'm anxious to see what He'll teach me.  I've studied Job before, so I'm not sure what I missed.

Has this happened to anyone else?  Where you feel led by the Spirit of God to study something, or do something?  It happens to me a lot but I don't always give in to the gentile nudging.  Early in my Christian walk I was led to study Daniel and related prophecy scriptures.  I guess that's why I'm a dispensationalist, not common for a Calvinist.  Maybe I should stop calling myself a Calvinist until I see what the Holy Spirit is going to teach me.

Yes, it happened to me too.

 

God Bless you.

 

Your brother in Christ,

KPaulG.

[Ezra]

 

Maybe I should stop calling myself a Calvinist until I see what the Holy Spirit is going to teach me.

The Holy Spirit would have no objection to you calling yourself a Biblicist.

And predestination is very simple when we actually read the words of Scripture without superimposing any pre-conceived notions. We are predestined "to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom 8:29). That's the Biblicist concept.

The Holy Spirit does lead us to those portions of Scripture which are necessary at the time that they are given, or when they are needed.

[JohnD]

Happened to me too on the subject of women preachers. I had all the biblical evidence and arguments all lined up, and dogged women pastors and those who supported their ministry. The the Holy Spirit intervened, asking me simply "then it is better that the Gospel is not preached than that a woman should teach it to men?"

I was wrong. I did not take into account the shortfall of pastor teachers in the body of Christ.. And when men do not step up for cowardice or worldliness, God raises up women to fill that void.

As far as Calvinism goes... it is only a perspective on scripture. Like my nearly airtight argument against women preachers was. There's always a factor man does not consider.. but the mind of God knows all things past, present, and future plus all the variables given the effect of the limited sovereignty he has granted men and angels. When you put the mind of God into the 5 points and more specifically in predestination, all the riddles are solved. 

 

[gdemoss]

The name John Calvin means to remove the covering of the grace of God.  Does anyone describe Calvinism that way?  Very curious to hear your thoughts.

Yes, I have been led to read certian scriptures by inner prompting.  The more I grow the more I feel bad for the Holy Spirit who has patiently been guiding me.

May God richly bless your study!

[SavedOnebyGrace]

Maybe I should stop calling myself a Calvinist until I see what the Holy Spirit is going to teach me.

The Holy Spirit would have no objection to you calling yourself a Biblicist.

And predestination is very simple when we actually read the words of Scripture without superimposing any pre-conceived notions. We are predestined "to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom 8:29). That's the Biblicist concept.

The Holy Spirit does lead us to those portions of Scripture which are necessary at the time that they are given, or when they are needed.

Predestination and free will are hot-button issues for many Christians.  The free will advocates seem to discount God's sovereignty to the point where God is maybe sitting back and watching what happens.  On the other side, predestination believers may go to the extreme as being fatalists.  At least, that's what free will believers would routinely argue.  Personally, I never had a problem reconciling free will and predestination (as evidenced by God's sovereignty).  

But out of nowhere while I was at work, the Holy Spirit showed me something something new from the Book of Job.  He gave me a different point of view I had not considered.  From that initial experience, I had the feeling I was missing something important that could affect how I considered other beliefs related to my Calvinistic viewpoint.  It's paramount with me to have the right perspective on things.  If I'm going to write on Christian forums, I don't want anything I say to be in error.  I am always checking my views against God's word.  I believe we all should be open to God's teaching. 

Biblicist maybe a good label.

Edited November 8, 2015 by Saved.One.by.Grace

[*Deidre*]

Yes, in fact, I was led back to the faith after being an atheist for a time, by the Holy Spirit. It is amazing! And lately, I've been led to study certain Scriptures. God bless you Saved One!

[SavedOnebyGrace]

The name John Calvin means to remove the covering of the grace of God.  Does anyone describe Calvinism that way?  Very curious to hear your thoughts.

Yes, I have been led to read certian scriptures by inner prompting.  The more I grow the more I feel bad for the Holy Spirit who has patiently been guiding me.

May God richly bless your study!

I do not support all the teachings of John Calvin, some of which are unsupportable.  Up until now, I have been a vocal advocate of T-U-L-I-P.  God's grace is evident through His love and Irresistible Grace poured out upon us.  Predestination and election are spoken of throughout the New Testament.  But to be fair, so is free will.  I had this reconciled in my mind even though I couldn't always explain it for others to accept my logic.  So see the winning of an argument more important than the truth, imho.

There's something important for me to learn in Job.  How this relates to T-U-L-I-P I can't say at the moment until the Holy Spirit makes it clearly known to me.  Like you and most of us who take God's word seriously, I pray before I study.  So I'm going to suspend any arguments on election versus free will, etc, at least until the Holy Spirit shows me what I need to know.  It's humbling to know I've been wrong, at least in some aspect.  I would be arrogant if I clung to a position I now questioned only for the sake of argument.  God's word is not to be used to satisfy ego.  God's word is truth.

[Ezra]

The leading. guiding, and teaching of the Holy Spirit is an ongoing (and hopefully daily) process for those Christians who are serious about knowing God's truth and giving it out to others. But God demands hard work -- labor -- not coasting along on what others have noted or taught (2 Tim 2:15).  Christians are generally not challenged to study as workmen -- miners -- in the gold mine of the Scriptures. Miners work extremely hard and are exhausted at the end of the day.

Those who claim to be Calvinists or Arminians have locked themselves within man-made molds, and it is generally impossible to show them how greatly they misunderstand or misrepresent Scripture. The Gospel does NOT focus on the sovereignty of God, but on the infinite grace of God.

[SavedOnebyGrace]

Yes, in fact, I was led back to the faith after being an atheist for a time, by the Holy Spirit. It is amazing! And lately, I've been led to study certain Scriptures. God bless you Saved One!

Have you given your testimony yet?  It might make an excellent evangelizing tool.  I haven't given my testimony either.  I went from Roman Catholic to a religious seeker after a near death experience, to agnostic, to Word-Faith Charismatic to Fundamentalist Christian (somewhat like the Southern Baptists, but not quite).  I am a non-Denominational Fundamentalist Christian.

God Bless You Deidre

Edited November 8, 2015 by Saved.One.by.Grace