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SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY By JOHN CHOPORES Soteriology (Salvation) Conditional
or unconditional Salvation? ““Then
I never can be saved; for I can perform no conditions; for I can do nothing.”
No, nor I, nor any man under heaven, — without the grace of God. “But I can do
all things through Christ strengthening me.” So can you; so can
every believer. And he has strengthened, and will strengthen, you more and
more, if you do not willfully resist till you quench his Spirit.” [JOHN
WESLEY]. “From
hence arise justification and sanctification through the blood of Christ and
his Spirit, and from them the existence of all good works.” [ARMINIUS]. “1.
But do I hear you say, "Once a son, always a son. He may be disobedient,
yet he is a son"? This sounds nice, but is a false analogy and untrue to
fact. Let us see! When he was first born, he had no choice as to time or place;
he became a son without his knowledge or volition. Net so when he was born
again. Then he voluntarily chose to enter the family of God; and since he did
not lose the right of choice, he could, like Demas, leave as he entered (2 Tim.
2.
"I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of
my hand" (John cause another to be lost. But, on the other hand, let Adam Clarke speak:
"They who continue to hear Christ's voice, and to
follow Him, shall never perish. Now it is evident that only those who have
Christ living in and governing their souls, so that they possess the mind that
was in Him, are His sheep; these shall never perish. Therefore to talk of a
man's being one of the elect, one that shall never perish or be plucked out of
the hand of God while he lives in sin, is as contrary to common sense as it is
to the nature ... and testimonies of the Most High. Final perseverance implies
final faithfulness -- 'He that endureth to the end
shall be saved'; 'He that is faithful unto death shall have a crown of life.'
And will any man attempt to say that he who does not endure to the end, and is
unfaithful, shall ever enter into life?" How absurd! 3.
"Abide in me, and I in you. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are
burned" (John 15:4, 6). Mark! This branch was not tied on, but had living
connection and for a while was fruitful. Then, for some reason Christ declared it "withered" and it ceased to bear;
hence it was cut off and burned, rather than let the blight spread to other branches. If language means
anything, this lesson teaches the
sad possibility of final apostasy. 4.
The author of Hebrews must have believed in falling away, for the epistle
abounds with such terms as, "Let us fear"; "Take heed";
"Consider!" We read, "It is impossible for those who were once
enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of
the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the
world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance:
seeing [while] they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to
an open shame" (Heb. 6:4-6). Peter
fell, but Jesus caught him, as He does many today. Judas fell, not only on
deck, but overboard, and plunged so far that his recovery became impossible (1 John "But
when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness,
and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All
his righteousness that he
hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and
in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die" (Ezek. saying this is from the Old Testament; or by asserting that King Saul, Judas
and others lost their lives, but not their souls.” [ETERNAL SECURITY TRUE AND FALSE (A Tract) By Rev. E. E. Shelhamer ]. Healing is part of the Atonement; Aaron was sent out into the midst of the
congregation to make atonement for the people, and the
plague was stopped! (Numbers
16:47-48 ASV) (47) And
Aaron took as Moses spake, and ran into the midst of
the assembly; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on
the incense, and made atonement for the people. (48) And he stood
between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. Aaron was a
type of Christ cf. (Hebrews 5:4-5 KJV) (4) And no
man taketh this honour unto
himself, but he that is called of God, as {was} Aaron. (5) So also Christ
glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but
he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. To help
sickness, a ranson is needed, Christ is our ranson GAL (1Peter (18)
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things,
{as} silver and gold, from your vain conversation {received} by tradition from
your fathers; (19) But with the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: David had to
pay a price, to stop a plague of sickness cf. (2Samuel 24:21-25 KJV) (21) And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord
the king come to his servant? And David said, To
buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar
unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people. (22) And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and
offer up what {seemeth} good unto him: behold, {here
be} oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and {other}
instruments of the oxen for wood. (23) All these {things} did Araunah, {as} a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee.
(24) And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will
surely buy {it} of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto
the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
(25) And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt
offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated
for the land, and the plague was stayed from EXO 30:12
When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel,
according to those that are numbered of them, then shall they give every man a
ransom for his soul unto Jehovah, when thou numberest
them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest
them. (ASV) EXO 30:15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give
less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Jehovah, to make
atonement for your souls. (ASV) The great Atonement chapter (Isaiah
53:4-5 KJV) (4)
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried
our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
(5) But he {was} wounded for our transgressions, {he was} bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace {was} upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed. When Jesus healed sick people, He was fulfilling the
Atonement chapter, Isa. 53. (16)
When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with
devils: and he cast out the spirits with {his} word, and healed all that
were sick: (17) That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, [a] Himself took our
infirmities, and bare {our} sicknesses. Jesus made the connection between forgiveness and
healing (Mark 2:9-12
KJV) (9)
Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, {Thy} sins be
forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? (10) But
that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,
(he saith to the sick of the palsy,) (11) I say unto
thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine
house. (12) And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before
them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and
glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion. Righteousness and body healing are both through
faith in the Atonement of Christ Cf. (Romans (22) Even the
righteousness of God {which is} by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe: for there is no difference: (23) For all have sinned, and
come short of the glory of God; (24) Being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (25) Whom God hath set forth
{to be} a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (26)
To declare, {I say}, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and
the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (1Corinthians
(23) For I
have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the {same} night in which he was betrayed
took bread: (24) And when he had given thanks, he brake {it}, and said, Take,
eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance
of me. (25) After the same manner also {he took} the cup, when he had
supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my
blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink {it}, in remembrance of me. (26) For as
often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew
the Lord's death till he come. (27) Wherefore whosoever shall eat this
bread, and drink {this} cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the
body and blood of the Lord. (28) But let a man examine himself, and so let
him eat of {that} bread, and drink of {that} cup. (29) For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to
himself, not discerning the Lord's body. (30) For this cause many {are} weak
and sickly among you, and many sleep. The name of Jesus is given to us to use for healing
the sick (Mark
16:17-18 KJV) (17) And
these signs shall follow them that believe; In
my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; (18)
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not
hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. To do
something in the name of Jesus, is to do it in the
light of what He has already done! That is the light of the Atonement! JOH (James
5:14-15 KJV) (14) Is any
sick among you? let him call for the elders of the
church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of
the Lord: (15) And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord
shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. ACT Faith is also
needed for soul healing cf. ROM You will note
that soul life is by faith, healing is life to the body! Can a Christian, go
so far from the Faith, so as not to be able to come back? (Hebrews 6:4-6 KJV) (4) For {it is}[1]
impossible for those who were[2] once enlightened, and have[3] tasted of the[4]
heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, (5) And have tasted
the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, (6) If they shall
fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to
themselves the Son of God afresh, and put {him} to an open shame. [1] adunatos,
"deficient in strength ot power; act., infirm, weak, feeble; neut. and pass., impossible,
unable"[BULLINGER. PAGE. 402.],
"from a, negative, and dunatos,
"able, strong," " [VINE. PAGE.
321.], "pass. impossible"
[B.A.G. PAGE. 18.] [2] hapaz,
"once, one time, once for all" [BULLINGER. PAGE.
552.], "as an actual numer.
concept ... once"
B.A.G. PAGE. 80.], "adv., once, one
time ... used of what is so done as to be of perpetual validity and never
need repetition, once for all"
[THAYER. PAGE. 54.] [3] geuomai,
"to taste; metaph., experience, partake of"
[BULLINGER. PAGE. 761.] [4]
epouranios,
(ouranios, with epi),
"upon, in, heavenly, what pertains to, or
is in heaven" [BULLINGER. PAGE.
364.], ""heavenly." what pertains to, or is in, heaven (epi, in the sense
of "pertaining to," not here, "above") [VINE. PAGE. 298.] The answer would seem to be, yes! Eschatology (last things) The rapture: Of the four most popular
views, I believe that the "Prewrath" and
the "Midtriblational" views are the most
Biblical! For one thing, the Church is not going to go through the Wrath of
God! cf. 1TH 1TH 5:9 For God hath not
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, (KJV) REV 11:18 And the nations
were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they
should be judged, and that thou shouldest give
reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that
fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy
them which destroy the earth. (KJV) REV 15:7 And
one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of
the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. (KJV) 2. However, Christians are
told to expect (look for} persecution from the World cf. MAT 5:44 But I say
unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
(KJV) MAT MAT 24:9 Then shall they
deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of
all nations for my name's sake. (KJV) (John 15:18-20 KJV) (18) If the world hate you,
ye know that it hated me before {it hated} you. (19) If ye were of the world,
the world would love his own: but because ye are not
of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (20) Remember the word
that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have
persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they
will keep yours also. 3. The wrath of God seems to
be poured out after the sixth seal is opened cf.(Revelation
(12)
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a
great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon
became as blood; (13) And the stars of heaven fell
unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. (14) And the heaven departed
as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were
moved out of their places. (15) And the kings of the earth, and the great men,
and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every
bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the
mountains; (16) And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us
from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and
from the wrath of the Lamb: (17) For the great day of his wrath is
come; and who shall be able to stand? cf. with (Matthew 24:29-31 KJV) (29)
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and
the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and
the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: (30) And then shall appear the sign
of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory. (31) And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet,
and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other. You
will notice that, God's wrath is on anyone who has the mark of the beast cf.
REV 16:2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there
fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast,
and {upon} them which worshipped his image. (KJV) 4. After the beast starts
killing the saints, God pours out His wrath cf.(Daniel
(21)
I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against
them; (22) Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the
saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the
kingdom. REV 13:3 And I saw one of
his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all
the world wondered after the beast. (KJV) REV 13:7 And
it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and
power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues,
and nations. (KJV) REV
15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous,
seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath
of God. (KJV) REV
15:4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy
name? for {thou} only {art} holy: for all nations
shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.
(KJV) (Revelation 15:6-16:2 KJV) (6)
And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed
in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.
(7) And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials
full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever
and ever. (8) And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and
from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven
plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. (Revelation 16) (1)
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your
ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. (2) And
the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a
noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and {upon} them which worshipped his image. [ please note that the wrath seems to be poured out on all
the earth] Also,
the first place that the wrath of God is memtion in
the book of Revelation is Rev.6:16. Which is after the sixth
seal is opened! It is also a day of wrath [cf. Rev.6:16&17], and
Christian is not to go through the wrath of God cf.1TH REV
11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the
dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest
give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and
them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest
destroy them which destroy the earth. (KJV) The Church is to be taken
out of this World at the "last" Trumpet cf.(1Corinthians
(51) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not
all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) In a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1Thessalonians (16) For the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and
with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17) Then we
which are alive {and} remain shall be caught up together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
(18) Wherefore comfort one another with these words. You will notice that the
last trump mentioned in the Bible is the seven trumpet cf. REV 8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to
them were given seven trumpets. (KJV) REV 8:6 And
the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
(KJV) REV 10:7
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to
sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his
servants the prophets. (KJV) I believe that the Rapture of
the Church, will not happen until the "man of sin" appears in the
temple in (1) Now we beseech you,
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and {by} our gathering
together unto him, (2) That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled,
neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of
Christ is at hand. (3) Let no man deceive you by any means: for {that day
shall not come}, except there come a falling away first, and that man of
sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (4) Who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or
that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in
the temple of God, shewing himself that he is
God. You will notice that the temple is mentioned in Rev.11 a little before the
coming of Second Christ cf.REV 11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks
standing before the God of the earth. (KJV) cf. with Also the Bible seems to teach only two comings
of Christ, not three! Cf. MAT 24:3 And
as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately,
saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what
{shall be} the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? (KJV) MAT 24:27 For
as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even
unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (KJV) MAT 24:37 But
as the days of Noe {were}, so shall also the
coming of the Son of man be. (KJV) The Apostle John seem to believe
in one more coming of Jesus! cf. 1JO
My List of Links to more Bible studies by John ChoporesApostles and prophets:The spirit world: How to deal with lust: Different kinds of prayer: Bible prophecy:
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