anyone else smell false teacher?

Gloria Copeland - wife to famous Word-Faith heretic Kenneth Copeland gave a message that I heard recently (the message isn't recent - I just heard it recently) that Christians are "supposed" to control the weather, by rebuking tornadoes and hurricanes, and dissipating storm clouds; Just like she has seen done and has done herself.

Now Gloria, I grew up in Joplin, MO (you may have heard of the Gigantic Tornado that tore through town) and I was just wondering why you didn't bother to save my loved ones (my hometown) from the 150 dead, nearly 7,000 homes destroyed, 18,000 cars totaled and $3 billion in damages caused by a storm that you as a Word-Faith heretic had complete control over? I was just curious, where you and Kenneth too busy spending old folks retirement money to help us? Drop me a line; I'd love to hear about it.

storyline of the bible

As Dorothy Sayers has said, the story of the Bible is so amazing that to not be interested is to not understand exactly what God has done in history. It is to not understand that from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, the entire Bible focuses on Jesus, and what Jesus-as God-was going to do to save mankind from God's wrath. It is a true story of a God, as C. S. Lewis says, who is not safe, but is good. It is a story of us being saved from God by God.

Dorothy Sayers: Mystery writer and apologist

She was summarizing a story others had criticized as dull (the Bible): "So that is the outline of the official story—the talk of the time when God was the underdog and got beaten, when He submitted to the conditions He had laid down and became a man like the men He had made, and the men He had made broke Him and killed Him."

As if she hadn't already made the point, Dorothy Sayers continued: "This is the dogma we find so dull—this terrifying drama of which God is the victim and hero."

You can almost hear the pause after the period; then she concludes, "If this is dull, then what, in Heaven's name, is worthy to be called exciting?"

Sayers never found Christianity, nor life itself, dull. This type of passionate argument, usually accompanied by pointed humor, was typical for Sayers, as was passionate living. It seemed no matter what she put her hand to, it became a success; we can be thankful that Christian apologetics was one of her many passions.

Theodore Cuyler

After a little while - you will see me! John 16:17

Oh the infinite sweep of that glorious transition! A few years here in a poor dwelling, whose rent it is hard to pay - and then infinite ages in the palace of the King of kings! Here a scanty table and course clothing - and yonder a robe of resplendent light at the marriage supper of the Lamb! Let this blissful thought put new courage into your soul, and fresh sunshine into your countenance!

That disease which no earthly physician can cure - will soon be cured by your Divine Physician, who by the touch of His messenger death, will cure you in an instant, and bring you into the perfect health of Heaven! You will exchange this weary bed of pain - for that crystal air in which none shall ever say, "I am sick;" neither shall there be any more pain.

Not only to the sick and to the poverty - stricken children of God, do these tender words of our Redeemer bring solace. Let these words bring a healing balm to hearts that are smarting under unkindness, or wounded by neglect, or pining under privations, or bleeding under sharp bereavements. I offer them as a sedative to all sorrows - and a solace under all sharp afflictions. "After a little while - you will see Me!" The sight of Him shall wipe out all the memories of the darkest hours through which you made your way through this wilderness world - to mansions of glory!

The 16 False (or Anti-) Disciples

Acts 13:9-10

Judas Iscariot
Bob Rell
Patricia King
Brian McLaren
Rick Warren
Joel Osteen
Harold Camping
William Tapley
Steven Fertick
Sid Roth
Bishop John Spong
NT Wright
Doug Pagget
Tony Jones
Perry Nobel
almost forgot 
Ed Young, Jr

9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

The 12 Actual Disciples

Matthew
John - son of Zebedee
Peter/Simon
Andrew
James - son of Zebedee
Philip
Bartholomew - son of Talemai
Thomas
James - son of Alphaeus
Thaddeus
Simon - the Zealot
Matthias

Tullian Tchividjian

The Hard work in Christianity is more fully realizing the finished work Christ accomplished in Salvation.

The Mouthpiece of Satan!

Do you love Health, Wealth and Success more than you love Jesus!? 

Well your in luck, there's an entire religious movement dedicated to your heresy.

TBN, the Prosperity gospel, Name it and Claim it...The Word-Faith movement is still going strong, and I had to opportunity recently to listen to Johnny Mac (that's Pastor John MacArthur) speak about it at a 2010 West Coast Conference {see this link http://www.ligonier.org/blog/2010-west-coast-conference-session-2-john-macarthur/} where he spoke regarding the vast ponzi / pyramid scheme leading millions of unregenerate "church"-goers to Hell. Please read or listen to the whole lecture - Becoming a better you - it's great.

Did you love the bestselling books the Secret or the Shack? Would you like to hear more of their heretical drivel? But maybe you're saying, I like this false teaching but I also like to feel like I'm in an actual church. Well you're in luck American Amusement Parks (sorry I meant Mega-churches) provide just that.  

But I just wanted to highlight 2 quick points of the lecture.  1st Joel Osteen is the Mouthpiece of Satan! Totally spot-on, Mac. Amen and Amen. 2nd There are only 2 religions in the World: Divine Accomplishment (where God does it all for you - you know Biblical Orthodoxy) and every other religion (even Atheism) is measured by some level of Man must do (human achievement). What's vile is that Churches can vomit this 2nd religion and get away with calling themselves "christian" or a "church".

John MacArthur

“I sometimes think no group is more fashion-conscious than the current crop of hipster church planters—except perhaps teenage girls.”

james smith 1867

when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold! job 23:10

the Lord puts all of His people into His furnace! Some are long in melting and refining - and with others the work is quick. but long or short, the Lord will keep His people in the fire - until they are purified! a genuine Christian loses nothing in the furnace, but his dross. he comes forth bettered, purified, refined. he is more humble, his faith is more simple, and his life is more spiritual. he shines like molten gold, and reflects the image of the Great Refiner. 

He will sit as a Refiner and Purifier of silver, He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Malachi 3:3

J C Ryle

We find that they are empty bubbles!

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does (like free-will decisions) - comes not from the Father but from the world! 1 John 2:15-16

The possession of the whole world, and all that it contains - will never make a person happy. Its pleasures are false and deceptive! Its riches, rank and honors, have no power to satisfy the heart! So long as we have not got them- they glitter, sparkle, and seem desirable. The moment we have them - we find that they are empty bubbles, and cannot make us feel content.

And, worst of all, when we possess this world's good things to the utmost bound of our desire - we cannot keep them! Death comes in and separates us from all our property forever! Naked we come upon the earth, and naked we go forth - and of all our possessions, we can carry nothing with us.

Such is the world, which occupies the whole attention of thousands!
Such is the world, for the sake of which millions are every year destroying their souls!
This world is fading away, along with everything that people crave! 1 John 2:17

from Puritan James Smith's diary

It has occurred to me, that the reason why the Lord has of late allowed me to be so severely tired - is that I have been very little at His throne of grace. Nor have His promises appeared so precious, pleadable, and suited to my case. 

Jesus is determined to have me often at His throne, and if the invitations and promises of His Word will not draw me there - then He will send trials to drive me there! Blessed Jesus, are you not saying to me by every trial, "Call upon Me! Make use of Me! See what I will do for you!"

What a proof of the deep depravity and base ingratitude of man's heart is this - that You are obliged to send trials and troubles to bring us to Your feet! Yet it is so! For unless drawn by the cords of Your loving-kindness, or driven by painful trials - men don't come to You with earnestness, fervor and life!

I am so prone to wander, to be light and trifling - troubled by shadows, and excited by mere trifles! I abhor myself because I am vile! O how base my heart is, to despise so glorious a privilege, and to neglect so choice a duty!

5 best podcast on iTunes

Fighting for the Faith - Lutheran
White Horse Inn - Protestant
Renewing your Mind - Presbyterian
Gospel Coalition - Christian
Together for the Gospel - Christian

Must Read -Church Fathers #7

All of Grace -

 C. H. Spurgeon outlines the plan of salvation in such clear, simple language that everyone can understand and be drawn to the Father. Any attempt to please God based upon our own works brings only self-righteousness and coldness of heart. It is God's free grace that makes the heart glow with thankfulness for His love. This classic is summed up in Spurgeon's final cry to the reader, "Meet me in heaven!"

Must Read -Church Fathers #6

Mere Christianity^[2] is a theological book by C. S. Lewis, adapted from a series of BBC radio talks made between 1941 and 1944, while Lewis was at Oxford during World War II. Considered a classic of Christian apologetics, the transcripts of the broadcasts originally appeared in print as three separate pamphlets: The Case for Christianity (1942), Christian Behaviour (1942), and Beyond Personality (1944).^[3] Lewis was invited to give the talks by Rev. James Welch, the BBC Director of Religious Broadcasting, who had read his 1940 book, The Problem of Pain.^[4]

Must Read -Church Fathers #5

Institutes of the Christian Religion (Institutio Christianae religionis) is John Calvin's seminal work on Protestant systematic theology. Highly influential in the Western world^[1] and still widely read by theological students today, it was published in Latin in 1536 and in his native French in 1541, with the definitive editions appearing in 1559 (Latin) and in 1560 (French).
The book was written as an introductory textbook on the Protestant faith for those with some previous knowledge of theology and covered a broad range of theological topics from the doctrines of church and sacraments to justification by faith alone and Christian liberty. It vigorously attacked the teachings of those Calvin considered unorthodox, particularly Roman Catholicism to which Calvin says he had been "strongly devoted" before his conversion to Protestantism. The over-arching theme of the book – and Calvin's greatest theological legacy – is the idea of God's total sovereignty, particularly in salvation and election.^[1]

Must Read -Church Fathers #4

Pilgrim's Progress

The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come is a Christian allegory written by John Bunyan and published in February, 1678. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature,^[1] has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print.^[2] Bunyan began his work while in the Bedfordshire county gaol for violations of the Conventicle Act, which prohibited the holding of religious services outside the auspices of the established Church of England. Early Bunyan scholars like John Brown believed The Pilgrim's Progress was begun in Bunyan's second shorter imprisonment for six months in 1675,^[3] but more recent scholars like Roger Sharrock believe that it was begun during Bunyan's initial, more lengthy imprisonment from 1660-1672 right after he had written his spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.^[4]

How the Old Testiment Jews were saved, those who were saved.

Many people falsely assume that only New Testament believers are saved by grace whereas Old Testament believers were saved by their obedience to the law of Moses and not by grace. The truth is that both the Old and New Testaments clearly teach that everyone who is saved, throughout all history, is saved the same way: by grace, through faith, on account of Christ alone.
In fact, the New Testament writers argue their case largely by appealing to the Old Testament Scriptures themselves. First, after spending the bulk of three chapters to prove that both Jews and Gentiles are unrighteous, quoting extensively from the Old Testament (Rom. 1-3), the apostle Paul concludes that no one will be declared righteous by observing the law (Rom. 3:20).
Furthermore, Paul points to Abraham, the father of the Jews who lived long before Moses, as his prime test case to prove that salvation comes through faith apart from works that we perform. Paul writes, "If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about--but not before God. What does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness' " (Rom. 4:2-3; cf. Gen. 15:6; Gal. 3:6-9).
Finally, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all the symbols and predictions of the Old Testament (Luke 24:44; Rom. 3:21-22; Heb. 1:1-3). For example, the Jews celebrated the Passover every year to keep them focused on the One who was to come to die for their sins. As the book of Hebrews says, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Christ] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Heb. 10:1, 11-12, 14).
Jesus Christ stands at the apex of history. Just as we look back in history to Christ's sacrifice for our sins on the cross, Old Testament believers looked forward to His sacrifice for them.

Now you may say correctly that the OT Jews knew only bits and pieces of a coming redeemer, signs and symbols, but did not know Christ correctly enough back then to specifically be looking for a Jewish carpenter's adopted son as God and Savior to all who would be saved and I would heartily agree. 
Remember that since God is a Electing, Predestining God you can read the several passages in the NT regarding "before the Foundation of the World (Creation)" which state when it was that all the Elect - where Chosen by God to be saved - not just NT Christians but also OT "believers" those who were Saved by Grace through Faith though not specifically on a Godman named Jesus/Joshua but Faith that God was Sovereign and He had a plan to redeem them, save them, lead them, and rescue them from Sin (which is failure to obey the whole of the Law) and Death just like Egypt. That is what they looked forward to.

Titus 2:11-14

Remember that Paul uses "grace" as a collective term to encompass many aspects of God's freely given kindnesses. To the astute, grace is a gift that teaches its recipients. These verses show what it teaches:

1. It teaches how and in what attitude we must conduct our lives—that is, righteously and godly.

2. It teaches us to live in anticipation of Christ's return.

3. It teaches us about iniquity and redemption.

4. It teaches that we must zealously do good works.

Ephesians 2:8-10 states that salvation is by grace through faith, and that these two lead to good works. Grace and faith are the very foundations of salvation, and with the privilege of having access to God, we also have a responsibility: to perform the good works God ordained beforehand for us to do.

Ephesians 2:8-10

Notice first how this chapter begins: He has made us alive (Ephesians 2:1). Paul makes sure that we understand that it is God who creates our Salvation in us, not us. As for verse 8, it does not matter whether we believe that the pronoun "it" refers to grace or faith; both are gifts of God. It fact proper understanding would be "it" refers to the whole process of Salvation by Grace through Faith. 

Grace is God's kindness to us, shown or demonstrated by His revealing Himself to us. It might help to think of this in reference to God revealing Himself to Moses in the burning bush before He sent him to Egypt. If God did not freely purpose on the strength of His own sovereign will to reveal Himself, neither Moses nor we would ever find Him. If a person cannot find God on his own, how could he possibly have faith in Him? Satan has deceived us so well that men don't have the foggiest idea of what to look for.

Faith—with God as its object—begins and continues as part of His gift of kindness. The gift includes His calling, the granting of repentance, the sacrifice of Christ for our forgiveness, and His giving of His Spirit. It is a complete package of many individual gifts. The gospel is the medium that provides knowledge of the objects of the faith He gives, that is, what we believe and trust in. Paul, perceiving these gifts as a package, uses "grace" as its label. In verses 9-10, he advances to the logical "next step" in God's purpose.

Our works in no way jump-start the process of justification, sanctification, and glorification. All our works, beginning with repentance and continuing through our period of sanctification, depend directly on the freely given kindness and faith God provides. Our God-ordained good works are the result of our response to the gift of faith that God gives. Works, then, are the external evidence of the unseen, internal faith that motivates them. A person could not do them unless God had given the gift of faith beforehand. Good works follow, they do not precede.

II Corinthians 5:17-18 confirms this: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation." This corroborates that it is God working in the person. His work is termed a "new creation." Since nothing new creates itself, we are the workmanship of another. We are God's workmanship. In sum, because of what God does, we cooperate and produce works that He ordains.

The apostle Paul adds to our understanding in Philippians 2:12-13: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." He is not saying that we should work in order to obtain salvation. These verses indicate the continuing use of something one already possesses. They suggest carrying something to its logical conclusion, which is for us to live lives worthy of the gospel, doing the works God ordained, as in Ephesians 2:10.

In Romans 9:9-19, Paul, using Jacob and Esau's pre-birth circumstances as a foundation, provides a clear illustration to show that from beginning to end, the whole salvation process depends upon God's involvement. Jacob, representing those called into the church, received God's love in the form of gifts designed to prepare him for the Kingdom of God. To Esau, representing the uncalled, God has simply withheld His Saving Love.

Ephesians 2:8-10

When we first turn to Ephesians 2:8-9, the first thing we notice is that we are confronted with a whole list of spiritual-sounding words: grace, saved, faith, gift, works. Even those of us who have been in God's church for many years and who may clearly understand each of these words individually, are slowed down in our comprehension of these verses when faced with such terms presented one after the other.

So let us take a very brief Greek lesson. Please take the time to study these words in more detail. Here are the key terms contained in this scripture in English and Greek, the Strong's Concordance reference number, and, to make the meanings clearer, other English terms translated in the New Testament from the same Greek words:

• Grace (#5485): charis (khar'-ece). Also translated as favor, thanks, thank, pleasure.
• Saved (#4982): sozo (sode'-zo). Also translated as make whole, heal, be whole.
• Faith (#4102): pistis. Also translated as assurance, believe, belief, those who believe, fidelity.
• Gift (#1435): doron. Also translated as present, offering.
• Works (#2041): ergon. Also translated as deed, doing, labor.

We have just learned that ergon is the original Greek for the English word "works." It does not appear to be a very difficult, ambiguous, or confusing term. But what do the many people and churches who claim that works are not required perceive "works" to be?

Opinions vary. One group perceives works to mean the whole law in general. A second group perceives works as specific portions of God's law, which they look upon as being "Jewish" or "Old Covenant," or that they are just not willing to keep and teach. A third group, amazingly enough in their rejection of it, perceives this term as meaning works of charity in general!

Individuals or groups who choose to substitute the word "law" for the word "works" in Ephesians 2:8-9, and who thus say that New Testament Christians do not have to keep God's law, do not appear to mean it totally and literally. Instead, most of them reserve the right to choose which parts of the law they wish to keep ("You shall not kill," "You shall not steal," etc.) and those that they do not wish to keep ("Remember the Sabbath," holy days, tithing, clean and unclean meats, etc.). God has nowhere given authority to His people to be selective in these matters, thus this stance toward the law is inconsistent and even hypocritical.

The apostle Paul, in Ephesians 2:8-9, does not say that works are not required at all. The purpose of his statement is to show that works do not save us, but that grace and faith do! In fact, the very next verse, verse 10, shows that God calls members of His church for the very purpose of performing good works: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

The apostle's language is very clear. God desires us (Christians) to walk in good works, and He has predestined us so that we will do them. Doing good works in the name of Jesus Christ is a major part of the purpose for the life of each true Christian. We cannot truly be acting "Christ-ian" without them! But you never have the freedom to add, combine, and merge those good works you should be doing with how God in His mercy has saved you. Do good works because He has unilaterally saved you. 

Galatians 2:17-21

Justification is clearly an act of God's grace, because what we deserve from what we have earned—from what we have done, the conduct of our lives—is death. There is none righteous, no not one (Romans 3:10; Psalm 14:1). Since justification, then, cannot be claimed as a right because we have sinned, it must be received as a gift. That fact that it is given makes it an act of grace.
It is not our hanging on to Christ (that is, the keeping of the law) that saves us, but rather Christ hanging on to us. That is, it is not what we do, but it is what He does continuously as acts of grace that saves us, because we deserve death. If we can earn salvation through law-keeping, Paul is saying in verse 21, "then Christ died in vain." If we can earn salvation through law-keeping, then Christ's sinless life and agonizing death were not necessary, because we can do it ourselves.
Justification is not vindication or exoneration. Both of those words connote that a person was right all along, but the true facts were hidden from those who were doing the judging. In some cases with men, vindication is possible because people are judged unrighteously. Their judges are not using righteous judgment.
But God never judges unrighteously! He knows all the facts. He knows our heart. He knows everything about us in every situation that we have ever been in, so He cannot vindicate us because we are not clear of guilt. He cannot exonerate us because we are not innocent. Justification is more than that. It is setting us right or calling us righteous though righteousness does not exist in us.

Romans 5:20-21

Grace reigns supreme over law, sin, and death. Because God is gracious and the supreme sovereign over His creation, and because He is supreme over law as its Giver and can resurrect whom He chooses, grace is His to give freely as He pleases. Grace is supreme over the others because God has willed it so and gives it to whomsoever He chooses.

Because grace is a gift, it can neither be demanded nor earned (it can, however, be requested). Therefore salvation must be by grace. Because of this, even the greatest sinner is not beyond the reach of His mercy. Conversely, because salvation is by grace, all boasting is likewise excluded.

For example, Isaac receives grace, but Ishmael is cast out with his mother. Jacob receives the inheritance and blessing, but Esau is in reality cursed. God chooses to have Christ born in the tiny town of Bethlehem, not at the Temple or even in the capital city, Jerusalem. He could have sent angels to announce His Son's birth in every capital of every nation on earth, or at least to announce it to the religious leaders among the Jews. Instead, He chooses to invite common shepherds and foreign magi for that peculiar honor.

Romans 3:19-21

Some ministers would like us to believe that justification and salvation by grace through faith just suddenly appeared when the Son of God lived and died in the first century. They imply that God changed His approach to saving men—that He was either losing the battle to Satan, or the way He had given man was just too hard. It also implies that men under the Old Covenant were saved by keeping the law.
Once a person has sinned, they are under the penalty of the law, and their righteousness is not sufficient to justify them before God. Since all have sinned, the whole world is guilty before God. It takes a righteousness apart from lawkeeping to do this.
Then Paul says that this righteousness is revealed in the Old Testament Law and Prophets! The teaching has been there all along, all through the centuries from Moses to Christ and down to our time! God never changed His course. In the first century, He only openly revealed the means, Christ, through whom would come the righteousness that will justify one before God.
Men have always been justified and saved by grace through faith. People who were saved during Old Testament times looked forward in faith to this being accomplished. We look backward at it as a promise and as fulfilled prophecy.

Mark 1:41

 
Christ moved with compassion on behalf of a person who, from the world's viewpoint, was repulsive and undesirable, totally unappealing in any situation. Jesus did not cleanse him because he was nice-looking or wealthy. Similarly, God does not choose to call us into His church due to our good works, beauty, or money; in us is nothing spiritually appealing. Spiritually, we are like the leper was physically—repulsive and undesirable in terms of holiness. We can thank God that His grace "brings salvation" (Titus 2:11) and "by grace we are saved" (Ephesians 2:8). God does not call us to salvation because of what we are but because of what He is. According to His mercy, God decides on whom to have compassion (Psalm 86:15; Romans 9:15-16).

charles spurgeon

A mouse was caught by its tail in a trap the other day - and the poor creature went on eating the cheese!

Many people are doing the same. They know that they are guilty before God, and they dread their punishment - but they go on nibbling at their beloved sins!

Do not be decieved: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows!
Galatians 6:7

to my friend Beowulf

Hi Beowulf 
I did want to post that I did receive your blasphemous posts
to the articles I posted by St Augustine.
I am not ignoring them however my wife
and I have just been Graced by God with a third
beautiful girl and I have been taking some time
off to care for them both. So I will, in due time, give
adequate reflection to your comments and try to honestly
and Biblically respond to them.

If I have your complaints correct the issues 
that infuriated you were these:
1st you reject the authority of the Bible,
2nd you reject Paul as an Apostle,
3rd you reject the way Paul (like other ancient writers)
quote from other texts (like the OT),
and finally 4th you called me a Pelagian,
even though my entire blog is in direct oppostition
to his heretical doctrines of Free-will and Salvation by Man's Works. 

I did want to say thank you for taking the time to post 
on the articles and that for all the other readers I appreciate any posts; 
even those left by Satan, Bob Rell, Rick Warren, 
Genghis Khan, Patricia King, Joel Osteen, Hitler or anyone from either 
the Republican or Democratic parties. Thank you.


It doesn't matter if you vote for  
Jesus as Sovereign God of the Universe in 2012 - 
He still is; He doesn't need your affirmation!

The same theme pursued - St Augustine

The same theme pursued

Finally, after the redemption from all corruption, what remains but the crown of righteousness? This at least remains, but even here, under the crown, do not let your head be swollen, in case it fails to receive the crown! Listen, mark well the psalm, how that crown will not rest on a swollen head. After the psalmist had said, ‘Who redeems your life from corruption,’ he says, ‘Who crowns you’ (Ps.103:4). Here you were ready at once to say, ‘The phrase “Crowns you” is an acknowledgment of my virtues; my own excellence has done it; it is the payment of a debt, not a gift.’ Listen rather to the psalm. For it is you again that say this; and ‘all men are liars’ (Ps.116:11)!

Hear what God says: ‘Who crowns you with mercy and pity’ (Ps.103:4). From His mercy He crowns you, from His pity He crowns you. For you had no worthiness that He should call you to Himself; or being called, no worthiness that He should justify you; or being justified, no worthiness that He should glorify you. ‘The remnant is saved by the election of grace. But if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works; otherwise grace is no more grace’ (Rom.11:5-6). ‘For to him who works, the reward shall not be reckoned according to grace, but according to debt’ (Rom.4:4). The apostle says, ‘Not according to grace, but according to debt.’ But ‘He crowns you with pity and mercy.’ If your own virtues have gone before, God says to you, ‘Examine well your virtues, and you shall see that they are My gifts.’

This then is ‘the righteousness of God’ (Rom.1:17). It is like the phrase, ‘the Lord’s salvation’ (Ex.14:13) — not that by which the Lord is saved, but which He gives to those whom He saves. So too the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord is called ‘the righteousness of God’ — not that by which the Lord is righteous, but by which He justifies those ungodly people whom He makes righteous.

Sermons on the Gospels, 81:8-9

When God crowns our virtues, grace is crowning its own gifts - St Augustine

When God crowns our virtues, grace is crowning its own gifts

The Pelagians say that the only grace that is not given according to our virtues is the grace by which a person’s sins are forgiven, but that the final grace of eternal life is given as a reward to our preceding virtues (works done by a Free Will not by force, influence or necessity of God). They must not be allowed to go without an answer. If, indeed, they understand and acknowledge our virtues to be the gifts of God too, then their opinion would not deserve condemnation. But since they preach human virtues by declaring that a person has them from his own self, then most rightly the apostle replies: ‘Who makes you to differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now, if thou received it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?’ (1 Cor.4:7) To a person who holds such views, it is perfect truth to say: It is His own gifts that God crowns, not your virtues. If your virtues come from your own self, not from God, then they are evil, and God does not crown them. But if they are good, they are God’s gifts, because, as the Apostle James says, ‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights’ (Jam.1:17). In accordance with this John the Lord’s forerunner also declares: ‘A man can receive nothing unless it is given to him from heaven’ (Jn.3:27) — from heaven, of course, because from there came also the Holy Spirit, when Jesus ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. If, then, your good virtues are God’s gifts, God does not crown them as your virtues, but as His own gifts.

On Grace and Free Will, 15

Grace is the death of pride - St Augustine

Grace is the death of pride

Beware, O Christian, beware of pride. Even though you are a disciple of the saints, ascribe it always and wholly to grace. It was not brought about by what you did or deserve, but by the grace of God, that there is any ‘remnant’ in you. For the prophet Isaiah, having this remnant in view, had already said, ‘Unless the Lord of Hosts had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and would have been like Gomorrah’ (Isa.1:9, Rom.9:29). ‘So then,’ says the apostle, ‘at this present time also a remnant is saved through the election of grace. But if it is by grace,’ he says, ‘then it is no longer by works’ (that is, ‘do not be puffed up any longer on what you did or deserved’); ‘otherwise grace is no longer grace’ (Rom.11:5-6). For if you build on your own work; then a reward (or wage) is rendered to you, rather than grace freely bestowed. But if it is grace, it is gratuitously given (not of works).

I ask you, then, O sinner, ‘Do you believe in Christ?’ You say, ‘I do believe.’ ‘What do you believe? Do you believe that all your sins can be forgiven freely through Him?’ Then you have what you have believed. O grace gratuitously given! And you, righteous soul, what do you believe? Do you believe that you cannot keep your righteousness without God? If you are righteous, then, impute it wholly to His mercy; but if you are a sinner, ascribe it to your own iniquity. Be your own accuser, and He will be your gracious Deliverer. For every crime, wickedness, or sin comes from our own negligence, but all virtue and holiness come from God’s gracious goodness.

Sermons on the Gospels, 50:4

A quote for the false teachers of Free Will.

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Repentance is the gift of God - St Augustine

Repentance is the gift of God

The mercy of God is necessary not only when a person repents, but even to lead him to repent. How else can we explain what the apostle says of certain people: ‘if perhaps God may give them repentance’ (2 Tim.2:25)? And before Peter wept bitterly, we are told by the gospel-writer, ‘The Lord turned, and looked upon him’ (Lk.22:61).

Enchiridion, 82

The same theme pursued - St Augustine

The same theme pursued

Now if faith comes simply from free will, and is not given by God, why do we pray for unbelievers that they may believe? This it would be absolutely useless, unless we believe (quite correctly) that almighty God is able to take wills that are perverse and opposed to faith, and turn them to faith. Human free will is addressed when it is said, ‘Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts’ (Ps.95:7-8). But if God were not able to remove from the human heart even its obstinacy and hardness, He would not say, through the prophet, ‘I will take from them their heart of stone, and will give them a heart of flesh’ (Ezek.11:19). All this was foretold in reference to the New Testament, as is shown clearly enough by the apostle when he says, ‘You are our epistle, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart’ (2 Cor.3:2-3).

We must not, of course, suppose that this phrase is used as if those who ought to live spiritually might live in a fleshly way. But a stone, with which the hard human heart is compared, has no feeling. What was there left for God to compare the wise human heart with, but the flesh which possesses feeling? For this is what is said by the prophet Ezekiel: ‘I will give them another heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh, so that they may walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances, and do them: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, says the Lord’ (Ezek.11:19-29). Can we possibly, without utter absurdity, maintain that there first existed in anyone the good virtue of a good will, to entitle him to the removal of his heart of stone? How can we say this, when all the time this heart of stone itself signifies precisely a will of the hardest kind, a will that is absolutely inflexible against God? For if a good will comes first, there is obviously no longer a heart of stone.

On Grace and Free Will, 29

Why pray that God will give faith to unbelievers, if faith is not a gracious gift? - St Augustine

Why pray that God will give faith to unbelievers, if faith is not a gracious gift?

If God does not make people willing who were not willing, on what principle does the Church pray, according to the Lord’s commandment, for her persecutors?…. For what do we pray for on behalf of those who are unwilling to believe, except that God would work in them to make them willing? Certainly the apostle says, ‘Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation’ (Rom.10:1). He prays for those who do not believe — for what, except that they may believe? For they will obtain salvation in no other way. If, then, the faith of those praying precedes the grace of God [in converting unbelievers], what about the faith of those for whom prayer is offered that they may come to faith? Does their faith precede the grace of God? How can it, since this is the very thing that we seek for them, that on those who do not believe— that is, who have no faith — faith itself may be bestowed?

On the Predestination of the Saints, 15

The example of Lydia - St Augustine

The example of Lydia

For what is the meaning of, ‘praying also for us that God would open to us a door of the word’ (Col.4:3), unless it is a most manifest demonstration that even the very beginning of faith is the gift of God? For faith would not be sought from God in prayer, unless it were believed to be given by Him. This gift of heavenly grace had descended to that seller of purple for whom, as Scripture says in the Acts of the Apostles, ‘The Lord opened her heart, and she gave heed to the things spoken by Paul’ (Acts 16:14). For she was called so that she might believe. For God does what He wills in human hearts, either by His assistance or by His judgment, so that through
their means may be fulfilled what His hand and counsel have predestined to be done.

On the Predestination of the Saints, 41

Giving thanks to God for faith proves that faith is His doing - St Augustine

Giving thanks to God for faith proves that faith is His doing

The apostle gives thanks to God for those who have believed — not, clearly, because the gospel has been declared to them, but because they have believed. For he says, ‘in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation — in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is a pledge of our inheritance, for the redemption of God’s own possession, for the
praise of his glory. For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus and with reference to all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you’ (Ephesians 1:13-16). Their faith was new and recent, following on the preaching of the gospel to them. When the apostle hears of this faith of theirs, he gives thanks to God for them. If he were to give thanks to someone for what he might think or know that person had not given, it would be called a flattery or a mockery, rather than a giving of thanks. ‘Do not be deceived, for God is not mocked’ (Gal.6:7); for the beginning of faith is also His gift, unless we rightly judge the apostolic giving of thanks to be either mistaken or fallacious! What then? Does that not stand forth as the beginning of the faith of the Thessalonians, for which the same apostle gives thanks to God when he says, ‘Forthis reason also we thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works in you, and which you believed’ (1 Thess.2:13)? What does Paul gives thanks to God for here? Surely it is a vain and idle thing if He to whom Paul gives thanks did not Himself do the thing! But, since this is not a vain and idle thing, certainly God, to whom Paul gave thanks for this work, Himself did it, so that when they had received the word of God which they heard, they received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. God, therefore, works in human hearts with that ‘calling according to His purpose’ (Rom.8:28), of which we have spoken a great deal, in order that people should not hear the gospel in vain, but when they hear it, should be converted and believe, receiving it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God.

On the Predestination of the Saints, 39

Such I may have been, but for Free & Sovereign Grace! James Smith

But by the grace of God I am what I am! 1 Cor 15:10

Consider what you were - before saved by Sovereign Grace. Your heart was
enmity against God, deceitful above all things, desperately wicked!
You did not have one pure desire, one holy thought, or one feeling
of love to God.

Further, what would you have been - but for the Sovereign Grace of God?
Look at the vilest, the most debased, the most debauched of our Race -
and you may truly say,
"Such I may have been - but for Free & Sovereign Grace!"

"By the Grace of God - I am what I am!" 1 Cor 15:10 

If faith is not God’s gift, salvation is no longer by grace - St Augustine

If faith is not God’s gift, salvation is no longer by grace

It follows, therefore, that without any virtue of our own, we receive the gift of faith, from which the rest of salvation flows — although according to the Pelagians, we obtain salvation because of our virtue. If, however, they insist on denying that faith is freely given to us, what is the meaning of the apostle’s words: ‘According as God has dealt to everyone a measure of faith’ (Rom.12:3)? And if they argue that faith is bestowed as a reward for virtue, not as a free gift, what then becomes of another saying of the apostle: ‘To you it is given on the behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake’ (Phil.1:29)? The apostle’s testimony makes each of these a gift — both that a person believes in Christ, and that he suffers for Christ’s sake. These Pelagians, however, attribute faith to free will, in such a way as to make it seem that grace is given to faith not as a gratuitous gift, but as a debt. Thus grace ceases to be grace any longer. How can something be grace if it is not gratuitous?

On the Grace of Christ and Original Sin, 1:34

Faith is part of our re-creation in Christ - St Augustine

Faith is part of our re-creation in Christ

And in case people should arrogate to themselves the merit at least of their own faith, not understanding that this too is the gift of God, this same apostle, who says in another place that he had ‘obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful’ (1 Cor.7:25), here also adds: ‘and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, in case anyone should boast’ (Eph.2:8). And in case it should be thought that good works will be lacking in those who believe, he adds further: ‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them’ (Eph.2:10). We shall be made truly free, then, when God fashions us, that is, forms and creates us anew, not as human beings — for He has done that already — but as good people. His grace is now doing this, so that we may be a new creation in Christ Jesus, according as it is said: ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God’ (Ps.51:10). For God had already created David’s heart, so far as the physical structure of the human heart is concerned; but the psalmist prays for the renewal of the life which was still lingering in his heart.

Enchiridion, 31

Faith itself is God’s gift - St Augustine

Faith itself is God’s gift

Paul’s last statement here is, ‘I have kept the faith’ (2 Tim.4:7). But the man who says this is the same man who declares in another passage, ‘I have obtained mercy that I might be faithful’ (1 Cor.7:25). He does not say, ‘I obtained mercy because I was faithful,’ but ‘in order that I might be faithful.’ This shows that even faith itself cannot be had without God’s mercy, and that it is the gift of God. Paul very expressly teaches us this when he says, ‘For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God’ (Eph.2:8). The Pelagians might possibly say, ‘We received grace because we believed.’ as if they would attribute the faith to themselves, and the grace to God. Therefore the apostle, having said, ‘You are saved through faith,’ added, ‘And that not of yourselves, but it is the gift of God.’ And again, in case they say they deserved so great a gift by their works, he immediately added, ‘Not of works, in case anyone should boast.’ Not that Paul denied good works, or emptied them of their value, for he says that God renders to everyone according to his works (Rom.2:6); but works proceed from faith, not faith from works. Therefore it is from God that we have works of righteousness, as it is from Him that faith, concerning which it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’ (Rom.1:17).

On Grace and Free Will, 17

Is faith itself the gift of God? - St Augustine

Is faith itself the gift of God?

We must still try to answer briefly this question: Is the will by which we believe itself the gift of God, or does it arise from that free will which is naturally implanted in us? If we say that faith is not the gift of God, we must then fear that we have discovered some answer to the apostle’s reproachful appeal: ‘What do you have that you did not receive? Now, if you received it, why do you boast, as if you had not received it ?’ (1 Cor.4:7) If the will to believe is not God’s gift, we could reply: ‘See, we have the will to believe, which we did not receive. See what we boast about — even something we did not receive!’ However, we were to say that this kind of will is entirely the gift of God, we would then have to fear that unbelieving and ungodly people might unreasonably seem to have a fair excuse for their unbelief, in the fact that God had refused to give them the will to believe.

On the Spirit and the Letter, 57