The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Is man required to "choose" in order to be saved?

And what is it that YOU are offering if not just "an argument"? The "light cessationist" arguments are based upon the biblical record using the Grammatico-Historico hermeneutic; i.e., it takes seriously the language and historical context of the passages which speak of the ecstatic gifts given to the Apostles during their earthly life. It also takes into account Biblical Theology, i.e., the progression of revelation that has been revealed in ALL of the Scriptures.

The answer to your first two rhetorical questions is, "Yes!", you are undoubtedly wrong to believe that regeneration results from believing. There is no text which teaches this. And your error is not a matter of "logic", but rather one of hermeneutics. As I have elsewhere told you, a "psycho-statistical-mean" approach to the Scriptures violates the most fundamental rules of language. But you are "unfortunately convinced of what you believe", not that being convinced of one's own beliefs is inherently wrong as you have implied. Would one be more virtuous to confess that one is unsure, unconvinced or everything that is believed? Agnosticism in all its forms has never been deemed a prize to own.

Using your "logic", it would appear that every place where you see the word, "life" appear in a text where "belief or faith" appears, it is to be understood as a synonym for regeneration, e.g.,

John 20:31 "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."

Of course, you have totally ignored the wider context of this passage in that John is addressing people who already have believed and are united with Christ. (cp. 1Jh 5:1 with 1Jh 2:1; 2:7; 3:1, 2, 7, 18, 24; 4:1, 7; 5:10-13).

But, again, let's put your "logic" to the test in another passage:

John 3:15-16 (ASV) "that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life [regeneration?]. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life [regeneration?]."

Let me try and illustrate the problem with your hermeneutic another way. If I should ask a group of people what the word, "bark" means, I should no doubt get answers such as, "the sound dogs make", or "the outside substance that covers a tree," or "how my wife speaks to me when she isn't happy with something I have done", etc. So, I take all the answers, add them up and the one which had the most responses is what I then use as a definition for the word, "bark". Now, is this logical? Is this the way language is designed to be used? How about another one... What does the word, "run" mean? Answer(s), "move one's feet rapidly in an alternating sequence", "a defect in a nylon stocking", "the movement of water", "what those do who are seeking political office", etc....

Surely the point can be easily seen, that the same word can have various and sometimes contradictory meanings depending upon the context in which they are used. Thus, to the point at hand, "life" may mean "regeneration", or "eternal existence in communion with God", or "one's physical existence", or "that invisible element of a human being which we call a soul/spirit", or... etc. As has been pointed out to you, and which you quickly rejected, the texts which you are wanting to eisogete by forcing the definition of "regeneration" upon the word "life", don't speak of regeneration at all, but of that life which is joined with Christ after one believes upon Him which results in being reconciled to God. It also includes an existence where the blessings of Christ's atonement are bestowed upon the one who believes. In short, there are many facets involved, many of which have no relation to "regeneration".

James 1:18 (KJV) "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

In His Grace,