Being Led by the Holy Spirit

[Dakila777]

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.

MOST OF THE TIME... AS I ALWAYS TRY TO LISTEN TO HIS GUIDANCE IN EVERYTHING I DO. TAKES A LOT OF PRACTICE, TAKES A LOT OF FAITH, BUT THIS HAS NOW BECOME A NORMAL OCCURRENCE TO ME.

I'm a non-denominational Christian myself, though I don't have yet a home church, and my own spiritual journey has not been a walk in the park 

[SavedOnebyGrace]

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.

I would say the Gospel (Good News) focuses on God's grace.  The Old and New Testaments as a whole, focus on God's sovereignty.  Labels tend to back us into corners we are then forced to defend.  I agree with your comment.

[Righttruth]

On 11/7/2015 at 0:46 PM, JohnD said:

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. 

 

Allowing a woman to preach is like getting forbidden fruit every Sunday! 

[FresnoJoe]

13 hours ago, Righttruth said:

Allowing a woman to preach is like getting forbidden fruit every Sunday! 

?

Say What?

But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: Acts 2:16-18

[Righttruth]

5 hours ago, FresnoJoe said:

?

Say What?

But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: Acts 2:16-18

Prophesying is different from preaching and leading the church.

[FresnoJoe]

35 minutes ago, Righttruth said:

Prophesying is different from preaching....

?

Preaching The Words Of The LORD

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. Judges 4:4

Down Through The

And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38

Ages

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:15

[Righttruth]

2 hours ago, FresnoJoe said:

?

Preaching The Words Of The LORD

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. Judges 4:4

Down Through The

And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Luke 2:36-38

Ages

And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:15

The shadows of the OT are not applicable now.  Again Anna was not preaching! And Timothy was not a woman!

[Omegaman 3.0]

On 11/8/2015 at 7:14 PM, Ezra said:

The Gospel does NOT focus on the sovereignty of God, but on the infinite grace of God.

Well, the two are not mutually exclusive though, and if God's grace is infinite, then no one, including Satan, are destined to destruction. Satan and others are destined for destruction, so God's grace is finite.

[Ezra]

4 hours ago, Omegaman 3.0 said:

Well, the two are not mutually exclusive though, and if God's grace is infinite, then no one, including Satan, are destined to destruction. Satan and others are destined for destruction, so God's grace is finite.

While God's grace and God's sovereignty are not mutually exclusive, the Bible makes it crystal clear that the Gospel is all about God's grace, therefore the preaching of the Gospel must focus primarily on the grace of God. Which does not mean that Hell should be excluded from the Gospel, or that the sinfulness of sin should be excluded, or that the necessity of repentance should be excluded.  What is NOT contained in the Gospel is that God has decreed some men to Heaven and others to Hell.  That is a travesty of the Gospel.

[Omegaman 3.0]

38 minutes ago, Ezra said:

While God's grace and God's sovereignty are not mutually exclusive, the Bible makes it crystal clear that the Gospel is all about God's grace, therefore the preaching of the Gospel must focus primarily on the grace of God. Which does not mean that Hell should be excluded from the Gospel, or that the sinfulness of sin should be excluded, or that the necessity of repentance should be excluded.  What is NOT contained in the Gospel is that God has decreed some men to Heaven and others to Hell.  That is a travesty of the Gospel.

I like that post a lot, and agreed with it until the last two sentences. Even there I may or may not agree, depending how we split hairs. Agree or not, it is clear to me, that God has chosen some (not sure how many times the Bible has to say that before people will accept it) and yet not all will make it to eternal life, some, will end up in eternal separation from God, what ever you choose to call that. People go there, because that is what people deserve, dueo to there sin. Sin, separates people from a Holy God. 

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, there is none who does good, no, not even one. I know I do not have to cite verses there, I know you are aware of them.n

Now, it is reasonable to say, that people choose separation from God, when they choose to sin. I will go that far with you for sure. However, it is also true that it is God, who sends them to Hell, that is God's choice, unless you want to say that God had no choice in the matter. So, while God may have not chosen people to go to Hell, He has chosen THAT they go to Hell.

However, I think it is questionable to say that they (people destined to Hell) chose to sin out of a true, free will, as some understand the idea. People sin, because they are sinners, it is there nature. No one is as bad as they could be, but no one is good. More that goodness (by our standards) is required to make it to Heaven, perfection by God's standards is required.

So, we read in the Bible:

When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

And that is the crux of the whole matter. People cannot be saved by there efforts, it is just impossible. That is why we need grace, because apart from getting what we cannot earn (eternal life) we will get what the wages of sin have earned us - the second death.

So, sure, God does not choose people to go to Hell, but He does not chose to save them all from it either. Some people, He abandons to Hell, chooses not to rescue them.

Based on passages like the following:

14 What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

      19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. (From Rom 9 NASB)

I am not comfortable saying that I am certain that God never chooses anyone to Hell. I think the case can be made that He does, at the very least, He choose some to escape, apart from any merit in them, and it is pretty much implied, that by default, he chooses others to persish, by not choosing to same them. To me, the difference seems more like a semantical technicality.

If my city government comes to me and says: "You have one too many dogs, you have to get rid of one. I choose to keep dog A to stay. Is it honest for me to say that I did not choose dog B to go?

However, I do want to restate and reinforce that I agree with your premise, that the primary focus of the New Testament, is the story of how God, in His mercy and His grace, spared not His own Son, allowing Him to experience a torturous and humiliating death, for the sake of those He chose to love in a special way, in order to spare us what we deserve.