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Regeneration According To Romans 8

Where does the Bible teach we are to believe in order to be regenerate? Nowhere.   The Bible teaches that regeneration precedes saving repentance and saving faith.  People are not able to do anything good accompanying their salvation.   Romans 8: For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Question: Does exercising saving repentance and faith please God?  Of course it does.  It would be foolish to say otherwise. Romans 8: You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong...
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Love The Sinner & Hate The Sin

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  7  “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2  For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3  •Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. 6  “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.  ( Matthew 7:1–6 , ESV) 17  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the onl...
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The 4th Commandment (Part 6)

  Peace with God Through Faith 5  Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we [ a ]  have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.   2  Through him we have also obtained access by faith [ b ]  into this grace in which we stand, and we [ c ]  rejoice [ d ]  in hope of the glory of God.   3  Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,   4  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,   5  and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6  For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.   7  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—   8  but God shows his love for us in that wh...
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The 4th Commandment (Part 4)

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When you think about, the 4th Commandment reminds us that we must lay down our (rooted) works righteousness in order to be justified,   12 And the Lord said to Moses, 13 “You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, ‘Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you.  Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.  15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. 16 Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. 17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lordmade the h...
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The 4th Commandment (Part 3)

Let’s take a look at the 4th Commandment in Exodus 20 8  “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9  Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the  Lord  your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.   11  For in six days the  Lord  made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the  Lord  blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. The 4th Commandment is part of an increasingly specific list.     God is the only Creator-Deliverer. Worship no other gods; there is only one, the I AM THAT I AM. Don’t take God’s name in vain.    Don’t say “Thus says the LORD!” when the LORD has not so said.  The Sabbath is blessed by God.    Find 1 day out of 7 t...
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The 4th Commandment (Part 2)

The first clear Sabbath command appears with Israel, and Exodus 31:16-17 says it was a sign between God and the children of Israel.   Actually it first appears as an enumerated command in Exodus 20:8.  Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are New Covenant ordinances commanded by Christ and His apostles. Sabbath-keeping is not. Baptism & the Lord’s Supper correspond to circumcision & washings & the Jewish liturgical feast cycle.     They are acts of inductive-intuitive prophecy through which God speaks.   Your theology of what Sabbath regulations encompass is grossly defiecient.    Administration of ordinances is governed by the 1st Table of the Law as a whole.   Colossians 2:16 says, “Let no man therefore judge you… in respect of… the sabbath days.” So the New Covenant does not bind Sabbath law on Christians. The present administration of the Covenant of Grace most certainly does. We are still commanded to administer & obse...
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The 4th Commandment (Part 1)

There are some Christians who think that the New Testament doesn’t support the administration & observance of the Sabbath.       In their minds, the 4th Commandment no longer applies whereas the other 9 do.     One way they articulate this runs through drawing a sharp distinction between what they call the Old Covenant & another covenant they call the New Covenant.  What follows comes from an interaction I myself had on social media a day or 2 ago.  The Bible itself uses “new covenant” language, not merely as a casual descriptor. Jeremiah 31:31 says, “I will make a new covenant.”  Notice that the text uses the word A not THE.     God says He will make A new covenant not THE New Covenant.   Hebrews 8:8-13 quotes that and says the first covenant became old.  Which means old is a descriptor of  A  previous covenant **The Old Covenant.** The proper name of the covenant that precedes the one you call The ...
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