Wrote Elder C.H. Cayce:
"Our escaping eternal condemnation does not, in any sense, depend upon what we do or fail to do. This depends altogether upon the mercy and grace of God, and what Christ has done for us." (Editorial Writings, 1908 - see here)
Questions:
1. Is "coming" to Christ something the sinner does? Yes. Thus, by Cayce's man made proposition, coming to Christ is not necessary for being saved.
2. Is "believing" and "repenting" something the sinner does? Yes. But, Cayce's proposition makes faith and repentance unnecessary for being saved.
Of course, we could add to this list. But, this is sufficient.
During Cayce's day the Hardshells came up with these unscriptural propositions and then made the bible to square with them.
Another one of Cayce's invented propositions was this:
"He does not tell us to do what He has promised to do for us, and He does not promise to do for us what He commands us to do."
See this posting where we wrote against this - Cayce's Theological Blunder.
Friday, February 7, 2020
Demons Today
Where are the demons today? Are they only a phenomenon of ancient times? Have all the demons been cast out of our world?
Recognizing the presence of demonic spirits would be easy if each demonized person had symptoms that were as dramatic as those we saw in movies like The Exorcist, where the demon possessed spewed out vomit, and the head spins, and the body levitates, and where there is a sudden drop in room temperature, and where there is a total distortion of physical appearance, and a guttural voice, and where there are objects flying about the room. Nor do we need to go to the place where the criminally insane are confined.
In ancient societies, like Greece, demons were not viewed as necessarily bad. In fact, Socrates claimed to have his demon. Today, to get possessed of a spirit is called "channeling."
Wrote one writer (here):
"The practice of channeling — a person's body being taken over by a spirit for the purpose of communication — has been around for millennia. There are countless stories of shamen, witch doctors, prophets and others who claim to hear voices or receive some supernatural knowledge from the spirit world. Channelers, also sometimes known as psychic mediums, often use what are called "spirit guides," friendly spirits who give them knowledge and help them on their spiritual journeys.
According to Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer, authors of "Opening to Channel: How to Connect With Your Guide," "channeling is a powerful means of spiritual unfoldment and conscious transformation. As you channel you build a bridge to the higher realms — a loving, caring, purposeful collective higher consciousness that has been called God, the All-that-Is, or the Universal Mind...Channeling involves consciously shifting your mind and mental space in order to achieve an expanded state of consciousness.
To achieve this expanded state of consciousness, channelers usually meditate, trying to break free of worldly influences and tune in to a higher consciousness. They may imagine themselves seeking out specific spirits of the dead, or they may be contacted, apparently unbidden, by some unknown force that wishes to communicate."
J. Z. Knight is one who years ago (and even now) professed to "channel" an ancient spirit named "Ramtha."
If you want to find demons, look to those with wealth and power, those in "high places." Look for them in politics, in Hollywood's actors, in religious cults, and such like. In religions like Hinduism and Voodism, demons are worshiped and many are possessed by them. The many "gods" and "goddesses" in Hinduism are nothing but demons. (See I Cor. 10:20)
To my thinking, demons have with subtilty adapted themselves to our times. They know how to keep themselves hidden. Some even possess animals, though they prefer human bodies to possess.
The only sure protection against demon possession is to be possessed of God's Spirit.
Recognizing the presence of demonic spirits would be easy if each demonized person had symptoms that were as dramatic as those we saw in movies like The Exorcist, where the demon possessed spewed out vomit, and the head spins, and the body levitates, and where there is a sudden drop in room temperature, and where there is a total distortion of physical appearance, and a guttural voice, and where there are objects flying about the room. Nor do we need to go to the place where the criminally insane are confined.
In ancient societies, like Greece, demons were not viewed as necessarily bad. In fact, Socrates claimed to have his demon. Today, to get possessed of a spirit is called "channeling."
Wrote one writer (here):
"The practice of channeling — a person's body being taken over by a spirit for the purpose of communication — has been around for millennia. There are countless stories of shamen, witch doctors, prophets and others who claim to hear voices or receive some supernatural knowledge from the spirit world. Channelers, also sometimes known as psychic mediums, often use what are called "spirit guides," friendly spirits who give them knowledge and help them on their spiritual journeys.
According to Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer, authors of "Opening to Channel: How to Connect With Your Guide," "channeling is a powerful means of spiritual unfoldment and conscious transformation. As you channel you build a bridge to the higher realms — a loving, caring, purposeful collective higher consciousness that has been called God, the All-that-Is, or the Universal Mind...Channeling involves consciously shifting your mind and mental space in order to achieve an expanded state of consciousness.
To achieve this expanded state of consciousness, channelers usually meditate, trying to break free of worldly influences and tune in to a higher consciousness. They may imagine themselves seeking out specific spirits of the dead, or they may be contacted, apparently unbidden, by some unknown force that wishes to communicate."
J. Z. Knight is one who years ago (and even now) professed to "channel" an ancient spirit named "Ramtha."
If you want to find demons, look to those with wealth and power, those in "high places." Look for them in politics, in Hollywood's actors, in religious cults, and such like. In religions like Hinduism and Voodism, demons are worshiped and many are possessed by them. The many "gods" and "goddesses" in Hinduism are nothing but demons. (See I Cor. 10:20)
To my thinking, demons have with subtilty adapted themselves to our times. They know how to keep themselves hidden. Some even possess animals, though they prefer human bodies to possess.
The only sure protection against demon possession is to be possessed of God's Spirit.
Extremes In Worship
I am glad that many of our Hardshell brothers are doing more "expository" preaching, or at least making the attempt. This is the kind of preaching you will find in many Baptist churches, especially in the "Reformed" Baptist churches. This is good, but to limit worship to this kind of preaching is going to an extreme in my opinion.
I have already written several times on this topic, and have criticized the total abandonment of topical or textual preaching.
One of the other things that strictly lecture type of preaching is often guilty of, is that it does not lift the spirits, as does the former type, and leaves many church services simply dry and emotionless. There are extremes on either side on this issue. Church services can become too emotional, but they can become stoical also.
For my own part I love to go to church where one has both good teaching and also much exhortation and witnessing. I want to hear the saints shout amen and hallelujah, seeing them raising their hands, and just plain getting happy.
Some churches offer opportunity for any brother to give testimony at the end of services. This is good and my personal experience has been to be greatly uplifted by the personal testimonies and exhortation from the lay people.
I have often said that in regard to how to rejoice and be glad in church service that I am more "Bapticostal." Thankfully many country Baptist churches have not become stoic in their worship and are not afraid to praise!
Many times while I was with the Hardshells they had services where sisters shouted and people were expressing their joy in bursts of enthusiasm.
I simply want to praise God when I go to church as well as learn something.
I have already written several times on this topic, and have criticized the total abandonment of topical or textual preaching.
One of the other things that strictly lecture type of preaching is often guilty of, is that it does not lift the spirits, as does the former type, and leaves many church services simply dry and emotionless. There are extremes on either side on this issue. Church services can become too emotional, but they can become stoical also.
For my own part I love to go to church where one has both good teaching and also much exhortation and witnessing. I want to hear the saints shout amen and hallelujah, seeing them raising their hands, and just plain getting happy.
Some churches offer opportunity for any brother to give testimony at the end of services. This is good and my personal experience has been to be greatly uplifted by the personal testimonies and exhortation from the lay people.
I have often said that in regard to how to rejoice and be glad in church service that I am more "Bapticostal." Thankfully many country Baptist churches have not become stoic in their worship and are not afraid to praise!
Many times while I was with the Hardshells they had services where sisters shouted and people were expressing their joy in bursts of enthusiasm.
I simply want to praise God when I go to church as well as learn something.
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
Is the Hardshell Apologetic Against the Necessity of Faith Evolving?
During the years I was
among the Primitive Baptists the default explanation for those passages
which marry faith in Christ with eternal life was that seed
faith was under consideration. In other words, all the
biblical passages (and there are many) where faith is set forth as a necessity
or condition in order to have eternal life were not asserting that a cognitive
trust in the Lord produced by gospel revelation was essential to being saved,
as the average Bible reader would conclude. Rather, the passages had
in mind a faith below the level of consciousness; in a “seed”
form so to speak.
I’m convinced this idea
was invented from recognizing that the scriptures so obviously set forth faith
in Christ as a condition, but it could not be tolerated that faith cometh by
hearing (Rom. 10:17). The proponents of anti-means were left with
figuring out how to get faith to the elect, but bypass the gospel as the
vehicle.
This novelty, though an
error, met the demands of their soteriological grid. It was an
anti-means interpretation first and foremost (which was the ultimate goal) which gave an answer to all the faith texts in the Bible. And much to the
satisfaction of those who wished to pine for the salvation of the heathen, it
allowed room for many of the unevangelized to yet make it to heaven, as it
could be said of the elect among them that were in fact “believers” in some
sense. Outwardly and cognitively, they were unbelievers having not
been exposed to the gospel. Yet below their consciousness lied
a seed faith imparted in the new birth, of which they
were not aware. And this constituted them “believers”. And
so the anti-gospel, anti-means mind had an answer for the claim of mainstream
Christianity that men must hear the gospel in order to receive
faith and be thus saved. God gives faith directly to the elect in the new birth, but it’s a
different “kind” of faith than that imparted by the gospel, which they may or
may not receive at some point in the future.
I believe that my friend and colleague Brother Garrett will agree with me that seed faith was
the default PB apologetic against the necessity of gospel faith for
the bulk of the 20th century.
However, in the last few
years that I was with the Hardshells I began to notice an increasing number
begin to set forth the idea that the faith Christ had in God was
what was under consideration in the faith texts of the scriptures. This often
left me puzzled as I had always held to seed faith as the
default explanation. Who was right?
Not long ago I followed
a conversation on Facebook between several Primitive Baptists in which the
faith of Ephesians 2:8 was being debated. It was extremely sad to
read the various opinions which were set forth. Some claimed that
this great regeneration passage was not talking about eternal salvation at
all! Rather, it too was a reference to a time salvation,
a novelty I never heard any Hardshell set forth in the 10 years I was with
them! Why, this is one of the most treasured verses among
Christians, and one of the most treasured among the Primitive Baptists, for it
trumpets forth the wonderful declaration that salvation is of the Lord and by
His grace! Why, this was the very first passage I learned and
rejoiced in when I came to understand the doctrines of grace. And I can’t even begin to recall how many
Sundays I heard this passage quoted from the pulpits!
Things are getting
pretty sad if one of the most classic “salvation by grace” passages in the
Hardshell arsenal is itself being turned into a proof text for time
salvation!
But others were atleast claiming
that eternal salvation was under consideration, only that we are saved
through Christ’s faith. I was not surprised by this
fanciful interpretation. What I was shocked to see was that not one stood up in
defense of Ephesians 2:8 as referencing eternal salvation with the “traditional”
PB response to the faith under consideration.
And by traditional, I mean the one used for the past 100 years. Certainly not before that. I was utterly
amazed that not one stood up in defense of the salvation here as eternal,
only with the caveat that we are saved by grace thru seed faith! It
was what I did for 10 years, and what I always heard every other elder always
propose! If it were not for the fact that it would have been about ten
against one, I would have entered the discussion and stated the
obvious:
“Guys, you’ve had a rebuttal to the necessity of faith argument for about 100 years. Two kinds of faith, remember? To go along with the two kinds of salvation, two kinds of having peace with God, two kinds of knowing God, two kinds of following Christ, two kinds of being delivered from darkness, two kinds of having your eyes opened, etc. that your paradigm demands. Do you no longer believe in that? Is there no kind of faith at all imparted to the elect in regeneration? Conscious or subconscious?"
“Guys, you’ve had a rebuttal to the necessity of faith argument for about 100 years. Two kinds of faith, remember? To go along with the two kinds of salvation, two kinds of having peace with God, two kinds of knowing God, two kinds of following Christ, two kinds of being delivered from darkness, two kinds of having your eyes opened, etc. that your paradigm demands. Do you no longer believe in that? Is there no kind of faith at all imparted to the elect in regeneration? Conscious or subconscious?"
Is the Hardshell
doctrine continuing to evolve? Is seed faith no
longer the default answer as to what kind of faith is
essential to being saved?
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
"Redeeming The Time"
“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Eph. 5:15–16 kjv)
“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” (Colossians 4:5)
Time is a gift from God, and none of us know how much of it we are allotted. We all have a scarcity of time. We should therefore "make the most of the time" we have, and be wise enough to know what it means to "make the most of time."
Living in worldly and carnal pleasures, in sin, is not making the most of one's time! Living the kind of life that the Creator has prescribed is the only way to make the best use of our time.
We should ever be aware that our days are few and that we may not have another day. Rather than waste our days on frivolous pursuits, the word of God instructs us to be diligent about doing good (Titus 3:8). The way we "spend our time" defines and reveals who we are, our priorities, our values.
A fool makes unwise choices with his time. We need to live in such a way that we get the most for our time. We are to live as if every minute counts. We can always make more money, but we cannot make more time.
Time Lost vs. Time Redeemed
We all, to one degree or another, have wasted time. We have "lost" time and ought to be interested in redeeming it, or buying it back. In other words, to use a common saying, we need to "make up for lost time." We all have lost time when it comes to pleasing God and doing those things that he has ordained. In some respects, we cannot make up for those lost days. Yet, in other respects we can "buy back" those lost days.
I think of how we often "lose time" in fulfilling our plans for the day or week. When a traveler gets behind schedule, he will speed up his walk, or his automobile, in order to "make up for lost time." Many Christians, especially when they are first saved, look upon their former years as "lost time" when it comes to their relationship with God. They often work hard in attempts to make up for all that lost time in sin.
We are in a race as Christians. (See I Cor. 9: 24-27; Gal. 5:7; Heb. 12:1) One thing that slows us down (losing time) are running with weights, with those "besetting sins." To run faster, and to gain time, we should get rid of the burdens and the wrong activities.
Sinners, and even many professing Christians, are "killing time," wasting time, but we should be rather redeeming it. People in Hell at this moment are suffering the bitter anguish of wasted time. Instead of men "killing time," time is killing men. Instead of killing time, redeem it. Instead of counting the days, make your days count.
Men don't generally procrastinate when it comes to doing those things that please the flesh, or "living in pleasure," but they most certainly procrastinate in the things of God.
Don’t put off until tomorrow what should be done today, because procrastination is the thief of time. In other words "make time!" And, "get around to it." Retrieve the misspent past by the right improvement of the present.
Time A Commodity
“Time is money.” That is true, yet time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. Time is a strange commodity; we can't save it, retrieve it, relive it, stretch it, borrow it, loan it, stop it nor store it, but can only use it or lose it.
Not only do we "kill time," but we work hard to "save time." We both rob time and get robbed of time. Though we hear people say that they "have all the time in the world" to get right with God, or to do good, they really do not. We should learn therefore to invest time and not just to spend it. Good stewards of our time as well as our money and exertions is what God calls us to be. Stop saying, “If I had time.” You do have time. Take advantage of every opportunity.
Yesterday is but a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is all of the cash that you have. Spend it wisely.
Stewards Of Time
In the day of judgment all will have to "give account" of how they spent their time.
With all our modern conveniences and technological advances we should have more leisure time than any period in history, but the opposite is really the case. Men simply choose to spend their leisure time in unholy pursuits rather than to do as the song exhorts, i.e., "take time to be holy."
"For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing." (Acts 17: 21)
The words "spent their time" is from the singular Greek word εὐκαιρέω (eukairéō) and means, according to Strong, "to have good time, i.e. opportunity or leisure:—have leisure (convenient time), spend time." They spent their time in getting the latest news, the gossip, and in activities that please the flesh, rather than in truly seeking God.
"Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." (Isa. 55:2 KJV)
For the word "money" in the above text insert the word "time." How many spend their time in things which do not really satisfy and make spiritually healthy?
If you knew you were going to die soon, how would you spend your time?
Concluding Thoughts
carpe diem - seize the day
"...no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries..." (I Peter 4:2-3)
If one has been saved, there should be a drastic change in how he spends his time. How are you spending your time?
“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” (Colossians 4:5)
Time is a gift from God, and none of us know how much of it we are allotted. We all have a scarcity of time. We should therefore "make the most of the time" we have, and be wise enough to know what it means to "make the most of time."
Living in worldly and carnal pleasures, in sin, is not making the most of one's time! Living the kind of life that the Creator has prescribed is the only way to make the best use of our time.
We should ever be aware that our days are few and that we may not have another day. Rather than waste our days on frivolous pursuits, the word of God instructs us to be diligent about doing good (Titus 3:8). The way we "spend our time" defines and reveals who we are, our priorities, our values.
A fool makes unwise choices with his time. We need to live in such a way that we get the most for our time. We are to live as if every minute counts. We can always make more money, but we cannot make more time.
Time Lost vs. Time Redeemed
We all, to one degree or another, have wasted time. We have "lost" time and ought to be interested in redeeming it, or buying it back. In other words, to use a common saying, we need to "make up for lost time." We all have lost time when it comes to pleasing God and doing those things that he has ordained. In some respects, we cannot make up for those lost days. Yet, in other respects we can "buy back" those lost days.
I think of how we often "lose time" in fulfilling our plans for the day or week. When a traveler gets behind schedule, he will speed up his walk, or his automobile, in order to "make up for lost time." Many Christians, especially when they are first saved, look upon their former years as "lost time" when it comes to their relationship with God. They often work hard in attempts to make up for all that lost time in sin.
We are in a race as Christians. (See I Cor. 9: 24-27; Gal. 5:7; Heb. 12:1) One thing that slows us down (losing time) are running with weights, with those "besetting sins." To run faster, and to gain time, we should get rid of the burdens and the wrong activities.
Sinners, and even many professing Christians, are "killing time," wasting time, but we should be rather redeeming it. People in Hell at this moment are suffering the bitter anguish of wasted time. Instead of men "killing time," time is killing men. Instead of killing time, redeem it. Instead of counting the days, make your days count.
Men don't generally procrastinate when it comes to doing those things that please the flesh, or "living in pleasure," but they most certainly procrastinate in the things of God.
Don’t put off until tomorrow what should be done today, because procrastination is the thief of time. In other words "make time!" And, "get around to it." Retrieve the misspent past by the right improvement of the present.
Time A Commodity
“Time is money.” That is true, yet time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. Time is a strange commodity; we can't save it, retrieve it, relive it, stretch it, borrow it, loan it, stop it nor store it, but can only use it or lose it.
Not only do we "kill time," but we work hard to "save time." We both rob time and get robbed of time. Though we hear people say that they "have all the time in the world" to get right with God, or to do good, they really do not. We should learn therefore to invest time and not just to spend it. Good stewards of our time as well as our money and exertions is what God calls us to be. Stop saying, “If I had time.” You do have time. Take advantage of every opportunity.
Yesterday is but a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is all of the cash that you have. Spend it wisely.
Stewards Of Time
In the day of judgment all will have to "give account" of how they spent their time.
With all our modern conveniences and technological advances we should have more leisure time than any period in history, but the opposite is really the case. Men simply choose to spend their leisure time in unholy pursuits rather than to do as the song exhorts, i.e., "take time to be holy."
"For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing." (Acts 17: 21)
The words "spent their time" is from the singular Greek word εὐκαιρέω (eukairéō) and means, according to Strong, "to have good time, i.e. opportunity or leisure:—have leisure (convenient time), spend time." They spent their time in getting the latest news, the gossip, and in activities that please the flesh, rather than in truly seeking God.
"Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." (Isa. 55:2 KJV)
For the word "money" in the above text insert the word "time." How many spend their time in things which do not really satisfy and make spiritually healthy?
If you knew you were going to die soon, how would you spend your time?
Concluding Thoughts
carpe diem - seize the day
"...no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries..." (I Peter 4:2-3)
If one has been saved, there should be a drastic change in how he spends his time. How are you spending your time?
One Word Prayers
In the following one word prayers, which I often communicate to the Lord, the words "Lord" and "me" are implied in the one word prayers. So, the sentence is "Lord ______ me."
1. Help
2. Save
3. Sanctify
4. Renew (or change)
5. Forgive
6. Mercy
7. Humble
6. Instruct
7. Keep
8. Uphold
9. Draw
10. Comfort
11. Heal
12. Hear
13. Favor
14. Bless
15. Control
16. Correct
17. Lead
18. Give
19. Lift (or raise)
20. Know (or search)
21. Defend (or protect)
22. Prosper
23. Strengthen (or enable)
24. Convert
25. Redeem
26. Cleanse
27. Free (or liberate)
28. Transform (or conform)
29. Seal
30. Content
31. Quiet (or still)
32. Make (or create)
33. Feed
34. Sustain
35. Clothe
36. Quicken
37. Rework
38. Acquit (or justify)
39. Advocate (or plead)
40. Intercede
41. Send
42. Illumine (or enlighten)
43. Give (or increase)
44. Answer
45. Use
46. Enter
47. Satisfy
48. Quench
49. Equip
50. Alert
51. Warn
52. Perfect
53. Plant (or not uproot)
54. Move (or translate)
55. Reconcile
56. Convict
57. Persuade
58. Grace
59. Fix (or repair)
60. Restore
61. Turn (or return)
62. Sweeten
63. Accept (or receive)
64. Unite (or reunite)
Now, there are no doubt many other words that could be added to this list.
Prayers do not have to be long as sermons to be heard. Thank God!
1. Help
2. Save
3. Sanctify
4. Renew (or change)
5. Forgive
6. Mercy
7. Humble
6. Instruct
7. Keep
8. Uphold
9. Draw
10. Comfort
11. Heal
12. Hear
13. Favor
14. Bless
15. Control
16. Correct
17. Lead
18. Give
19. Lift (or raise)
20. Know (or search)
21. Defend (or protect)
22. Prosper
23. Strengthen (or enable)
24. Convert
25. Redeem
26. Cleanse
27. Free (or liberate)
28. Transform (or conform)
29. Seal
30. Content
31. Quiet (or still)
32. Make (or create)
33. Feed
34. Sustain
35. Clothe
36. Quicken
37. Rework
38. Acquit (or justify)
39. Advocate (or plead)
40. Intercede
41. Send
42. Illumine (or enlighten)
43. Give (or increase)
44. Answer
45. Use
46. Enter
47. Satisfy
48. Quench
49. Equip
50. Alert
51. Warn
52. Perfect
53. Plant (or not uproot)
54. Move (or translate)
55. Reconcile
56. Convict
57. Persuade
58. Grace
59. Fix (or repair)
60. Restore
61. Turn (or return)
62. Sweeten
63. Accept (or receive)
64. Unite (or reunite)
Now, there are no doubt many other words that could be added to this list.
Prayers do not have to be long as sermons to be heard. Thank God!
Bunyan On Wanting Salvation
1628-1688
Bunyan wrote (emphasis mine):
"...there is not only in carnal men a will to be vile, but there is in them a will to be saved also, a will to go to heaven also: But this it will not do, it will not privilege a man in the things of the kingdom of God; natural desires after the things of another world, they are not an argument to prove a man shall go to heaven whenever he dies; I am not a free-willer, I do abhor it, yet there is not the wickedst man, but he desires some time or other to be saved; he will read some time or other, or it may be pray; but this will not do, It is not in him that wills nor in him that runs, but in God that shews mercy; there is willing and running, and yet to no purpose, Rom. 9. 16." (Justification - here)
Thus, the Hardshell idea that the want for salvation is proof of actual salvation, leads to Universalism.
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Bunyan on Col. 2:13
The following is a reprint from The Baptist Gadfly for Dec. 11, 2008 - See here.
If I understand Bunyan correctly, he taught that faith was the means of becoming united to Christ. Then, being united to Christ, one is then justified and forgiven. Then, based upon this union and justification, the grace of regeneration and salvation are conferred.
Bunyan wrote:
"We received, by our thus being counted in him, that benefit which did precede his rising from the dead; and what was that but the forgiveness of sins? For this stands clear to reason, that if Christ had our sins charged upon him at his death, he then must be discharged of them in order to his resurrection. Now, though it is not proper to say they were forgiven to him, because they were purged from him by merit, yet they may be said to be forgiven us, because we receive this benefit by grace."
"And this, I say, was done precedent to his resurrection from the dead: "He hath quickened us together with him, having forgiven us all trespasses." He could not be "quickened" till we were "discharged"; because it was not for himself, but for us, that he died. Hence we are said to be at that time, as to our own personal estate, dead in our sins, even when we are "quickened together with him," Col. 2:13.
Therefore both the "quickening" and "forgiveness" too, so far as we are in this text concerned, is to him, as we are considered in him or to him, with respect to us.
Having forgiven you all trespasses. For necessity so required; because else how was it possible that the pains of death should be loosed in order to his rising, so long as one sin stood still charged to him, as that for the commission of which God had not received a plenary satisfaction? As therefore we suffered, died, and rose again by him; so, in order to his so rising, he, as presenting of us in his person and suffering, received for us remission of all our trespasses. A full discharge therefore was, in and by Christ, received of God of all our sins before he arose from the dead; as his resurrection truly declared; for "he was delivered for our offences,and was raised again for our justification," Rom. 4:25."
"Wherefore, hence it is that in time they partake of quickening grace from this their head, to the making of them also live by faith, in order to their living hereafter with him in glory; for if Christ lives, they cannot die that were sharers with him in his resurrection."
"This general offer of righteousness, of the righteousness of God, declares that it is in vain for men to think to be set just and righteous before God by any other means."
"There is here also insinuated, that for him that thinks himself the worst, God has prepared a righteousness, and therefore would not have him despair of life that sees himself far from righteousness. From all these scriptures, therefore, it is manifestthat "men must be justified from the curse of the law in the sight of God while sinners in themselves."
"Sixthly , "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," Matt. 11:28.
Here we have a labouring people, a people labouring for life; but by all their labour, you see, they cannot ease themselves; their burden still remains upon them; they yet are heavy laden. The load here is, doubtless guilt of sin, such as David had when he said by reason thereof "he was not able to look up"; Psal. 38:3...wherefore "men must be justified from the curse in the sight of God while sinners in themselves."
"Sanctification (including regeneration - SG), then, is consequential, justification goes before the Holy Ghost by this scripture setteth forth to the life, free grace to the sons of men while they themselves are sinners. I say, while they are unwashed, unswaddled, unsalted, but bloody sinners; for by these words, "not washed, not salted, not swaddled," he setteth forth their unsanctified state; yea, they were not only unsanctified, but also cast out, without pity, to the loathing of their persons; yea, "no eye pitied them,to do any of these things for them"; no eye but his whose glorious grace isunsearchable; no eye but his who could look and love; all others looked and loathed; but blessed be God that hath passed by us in that day that we wallowed in our own blood; and blessed be God for the skirt of his glorious righteousness wherewith hecovered us when we lay before him naked in blood. It was when we were in our blood that he loved us; when we were in our blood he said, Live. Therefore, "men are justified from the curse in the sight of God while sinners in themselves."
"Thus Christ saveth from present condemnation those that be still in their sin and blood."
"But is he now quit? No; he standeth yet in filthy garments; neither can he, by aught that is in him, or done by him, clear himself from him. How then? Why, the Lord clothes him with change of raiment: the iniquities were his own, the raiment was the Lord's."
"When he saw Jesus, the devil in him, as being lord and governor there, cried out against the Lord Jesus. In all this what qualification shews itself as precedent to justification? None but such as devils work, or as rank Bedlams have." (he clearly could not put regeneration before justification - SG)
"I come now to the second use, Have faith in Christ. But what are we to understand by faith?
Answer: Faith importeth as much as to say, receive, embrace, accept of, or trust in, the benefit offered. All which are, by holy men of God, words used on purpose to shew that the mercy of God, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life, are not to be had by doing or by the law; but by receiving, embracing, accepting, or trusting to the mercy of God through Christ "We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they," John 1:12; 2 Cor. 4:1; 11:4;Col. 2:6; Heb. 11:13; 1 Tim. 1:15; Ephes. 1:12, 13; Acts 15:11. Thus you see what the gospel is, and what faith doth do in the salvation of the soul."
It seems clear to me, from the above citations, that Bunyan put faith before justification (union with Christ) and regeneration after justification.
Bunyan said:
"Now faith is the eye of the godly man..."
If Bunyan were a Hyper Calvinist, and believed that regeneration preceded faith, then he would not speak of faith being the eye. The Hyperist says that God must give one a spiritual "eye" before he can have faith. But, such an idea makes the eye something other than faith itself.
(Justification By An Imputed RIGHTEOUSNESS OR No Way to Heaven but by JESUS CHRIST)
See here
If I understand Bunyan correctly, he taught that faith was the means of becoming united to Christ. Then, being united to Christ, one is then justified and forgiven. Then, based upon this union and justification, the grace of regeneration and salvation are conferred.
Bunyan wrote:
"We received, by our thus being counted in him, that benefit which did precede his rising from the dead; and what was that but the forgiveness of sins? For this stands clear to reason, that if Christ had our sins charged upon him at his death, he then must be discharged of them in order to his resurrection. Now, though it is not proper to say they were forgiven to him, because they were purged from him by merit, yet they may be said to be forgiven us, because we receive this benefit by grace."
"And this, I say, was done precedent to his resurrection from the dead: "He hath quickened us together with him, having forgiven us all trespasses." He could not be "quickened" till we were "discharged"; because it was not for himself, but for us, that he died. Hence we are said to be at that time, as to our own personal estate, dead in our sins, even when we are "quickened together with him," Col. 2:13.
Therefore both the "quickening" and "forgiveness" too, so far as we are in this text concerned, is to him, as we are considered in him or to him, with respect to us.
Having forgiven you all trespasses. For necessity so required; because else how was it possible that the pains of death should be loosed in order to his rising, so long as one sin stood still charged to him, as that for the commission of which God had not received a plenary satisfaction? As therefore we suffered, died, and rose again by him; so, in order to his so rising, he, as presenting of us in his person and suffering, received for us remission of all our trespasses. A full discharge therefore was, in and by Christ, received of God of all our sins before he arose from the dead; as his resurrection truly declared; for "he was delivered for our offences,and was raised again for our justification," Rom. 4:25."
"Wherefore, hence it is that in time they partake of quickening grace from this their head, to the making of them also live by faith, in order to their living hereafter with him in glory; for if Christ lives, they cannot die that were sharers with him in his resurrection."
"This general offer of righteousness, of the righteousness of God, declares that it is in vain for men to think to be set just and righteous before God by any other means."
"There is here also insinuated, that for him that thinks himself the worst, God has prepared a righteousness, and therefore would not have him despair of life that sees himself far from righteousness. From all these scriptures, therefore, it is manifestthat "men must be justified from the curse of the law in the sight of God while sinners in themselves."
"Sixthly , "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," Matt. 11:28.
Here we have a labouring people, a people labouring for life; but by all their labour, you see, they cannot ease themselves; their burden still remains upon them; they yet are heavy laden. The load here is, doubtless guilt of sin, such as David had when he said by reason thereof "he was not able to look up"; Psal. 38:3...wherefore "men must be justified from the curse in the sight of God while sinners in themselves."
"Sanctification (including regeneration - SG), then, is consequential, justification goes before the Holy Ghost by this scripture setteth forth to the life, free grace to the sons of men while they themselves are sinners. I say, while they are unwashed, unswaddled, unsalted, but bloody sinners; for by these words, "not washed, not salted, not swaddled," he setteth forth their unsanctified state; yea, they were not only unsanctified, but also cast out, without pity, to the loathing of their persons; yea, "no eye pitied them,to do any of these things for them"; no eye but his whose glorious grace isunsearchable; no eye but his who could look and love; all others looked and loathed; but blessed be God that hath passed by us in that day that we wallowed in our own blood; and blessed be God for the skirt of his glorious righteousness wherewith hecovered us when we lay before him naked in blood. It was when we were in our blood that he loved us; when we were in our blood he said, Live. Therefore, "men are justified from the curse in the sight of God while sinners in themselves."
"Thus Christ saveth from present condemnation those that be still in their sin and blood."
"But is he now quit? No; he standeth yet in filthy garments; neither can he, by aught that is in him, or done by him, clear himself from him. How then? Why, the Lord clothes him with change of raiment: the iniquities were his own, the raiment was the Lord's."
"When he saw Jesus, the devil in him, as being lord and governor there, cried out against the Lord Jesus. In all this what qualification shews itself as precedent to justification? None but such as devils work, or as rank Bedlams have." (he clearly could not put regeneration before justification - SG)
"I come now to the second use, Have faith in Christ. But what are we to understand by faith?
Answer: Faith importeth as much as to say, receive, embrace, accept of, or trust in, the benefit offered. All which are, by holy men of God, words used on purpose to shew that the mercy of God, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life, are not to be had by doing or by the law; but by receiving, embracing, accepting, or trusting to the mercy of God through Christ "We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they," John 1:12; 2 Cor. 4:1; 11:4;Col. 2:6; Heb. 11:13; 1 Tim. 1:15; Ephes. 1:12, 13; Acts 15:11. Thus you see what the gospel is, and what faith doth do in the salvation of the soul."
It seems clear to me, from the above citations, that Bunyan put faith before justification (union with Christ) and regeneration after justification.
Bunyan said:
"Now faith is the eye of the godly man..."
If Bunyan were a Hyper Calvinist, and believed that regeneration preceded faith, then he would not speak of faith being the eye. The Hyperist says that God must give one a spiritual "eye" before he can have faith. But, such an idea makes the eye something other than faith itself.
(Justification By An Imputed RIGHTEOUSNESS OR No Way to Heaven but by JESUS CHRIST)
See here
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