Results 281 - 300 of 1928
|
||||||
Results from: Notes Author: Reformer Joe Ordered by Verse |
||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
281 | need for a bible-anyone | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 50579 | ||
You wrote: "But is this person Peter speaks of really a Christian or an imposter?" Now that is the key question, isn't it? First of all, let's see who Peter is referring to in his own words: 'It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."' --2 Peter 2:22 We see that the false brethren were "dogs" and "sows" all along. For a time they acted otherwise, but their true natures came out in the end. Or do you think that the dog actually became a "non-dog" and then a dog again? The whole of the chapter refers to those who are BY nature not truly the children of God. Peter is right to warn them, as he does in the previous chapter, to make one's calling and election sure by obedience (not to EARN one's election, but to provide ASSURANCE of the already-present reality), because only those indwelt by the Spirit of God can truly obey Him (Romans 8:7-9). Our obedience and our suffering is affirmation of what God has already done. You wrote, regarding James: "It is pretty clear that God means to tell us that it is our brethren, Christians, who we must help turn back if they stray from the truth." Agreed. Is this a "falling away" or a straying, however? If they are indeed our brethren, they will be turned back to the truth from their straying. Regarding Hebrews, the visible church is made up of the elect and the non-elect, both who are partakers of grace, just as the nation of Israel was. The fact that some live in the covenant community of the church and continue to reject the truth brings greater condemnation upon them. Just as there was a "spiritual Israel" within the physical nation of Israel, there is also among the visible church both wheat and tares. Again, we do not have people changing from one "species of vegetation" to another, back and forth, over and over. We have both the elect and the reprobate among the visible church, and it is by their works that we come to find out what they were in the first place. Regarding Jude, did you miss this part? "For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." These people: 1. Crept in unnoticed (from the outside) 2. Were marked our long beforehand for condemnation (i.e. not true Christians) 3. Ungodly (i.e. the reprobate -- false Christians) Romans 11 speaks of the unbelief of the non-elect Jews and the grafting in of the Gentiles. Just like all those who were part of Israel the nation were not the Israel of God (Romans 9:6), all of those among the Gentile covenant community will not show themselves to be true children of God. Obedience does not MAKE us children of God, but rather shows that we are. --Joe! |
||||||
282 | need for a bible-anyone | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 50781 | ||
You wrote: "Christians have walked the earth since Christ formed the church. They just have not named themselves, written a book about their history, bought public church property, advertised for new members or registered with governments for tax exempt status." Sure they have. You just don;t recognize them as Christians. By the way, we call advertising for new members "evangelism" where I come from. Speaking of which, if this phantom "true church" was around all this time without a peep for a miliennium and a half, their missionary efforts certainly were not much to speak of. So, assuming for amusement that the "Church of Christ" was truly around all of that time in stealth mode, what prompted you guys to suddenly start naming yourselves and writing books and buying church property and advertising for new members and registering with governments for text-exempt status? Why didn't this "true church" do all of these things all along, since obviously such efforts have brought you guys out of the shadows of history. :) --Joe! |
||||||
283 | "need" for baptiam | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 50795 | ||
No one was EVER forgiven by ANY law, TOFT: "nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified." --Galatians 2:16 "Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law." --Galatians 3:21 The Covenant between God and Israel did not add any conditions to salvation (Galatians 3:17), and neither did the covenant that God in Christ established with the church. Salvation has always been by God's grace alone through faith alone in God's redemption (Christ) alone. --Joe! |
||||||
284 | need for a bible-anyone | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 50810 | ||
No matter how you slice it, in Acts 15 you have elders from Jerusalem and apostles to the Gentiles making a judgment that is considered to be binding for the Gentile churches. James was involved in a decision, having the final say in a matter that you claim would be "out of his jurisdiction." --Joe! |
||||||
285 | need for a bible-anyone | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 50846 | ||
You wrote: 'Why are you assuming the "Church of Christ" is the true church?' You need to re-read my posts. I am not assuming it as a belief of my own. In fact, I deny it. I said "let's assume" for the sake of argument, to show that the logical conclusion of such a statement results in nonsense. You wrote: "Where, for that matter, does God say you can choose the church of your choice?" Who said I am merely "choosing the church of my choice." The church I attend holds to what I believe to be the closest and most correct interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. And that is why I attend it, not because it is my favorite flavor. I hold other Christian churches to be in error on certain teachings, but not all error is damnably wrong. If that were the case, then I think we would all be in trouble, because chances are that no one is right about EVERYTHING, no matter how carefully one studies God's word. You wrote: "Why do you believe you can worship God in any manner you chose rather than worshiping as the Creator has directed?" I don't believe that at all. What I disagree with is the assessment that the Church of Christ has made regarding how the Creator is to be worshipped. I find certain prohibitions and commandments to be extrabiblical or unbiblical, along with many of their doctrines. You wrote: "Nadab and Abihu made that mistake and received the punishment for their error" Now wait a second. Are you trying to convince us that every aspect of the worship of God is mapped out to the letter like the Levitical laws regarding temple work? Yes, God has instituted the ministry of the word, and baptism and the Lord's Supper, as well as singing hymns. There are a whole host of practices that are in churches today that are dishonoring to God, I will agree. But we do not wear uniforms like the priests do. We are not commanded where to sit, when to stand, what words to say, whether to wear a suit or not, what order should be followed in engaging in worshipful activities, etc. We are certainly not forbidden the use of musical instruments. So I would disagree that worship has been clearly laid out in as uniform a pattern as the ministry of the priests in the temple. The New Testament looks very little like Leviticus, in other words. I do agree that the circus routines and rock operas that pass for "worship" in many churches today do indeed dishonor God, and anyone with any sense of God's holiness would be best to avoid such theatrics. Lastly, you wrote: "God is very explicit in how He desires to be worshiped." Yes, He is explicit in how he is to be worshiped. And much of what I have seen in this thread are commandments of men that are anything but explicitly commanded by God. --Joe! |
||||||
286 | need for a bible-anyone | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 50893 | ||
You wrote: "The problem with that is the thief on the cross was still under the old covenant. The new covenant did not take effect until after the death of Christ (Heb 9:15-17)." Please show me where the Old Covenant was a covenant by which anyone was ever justified. You keep saying this, but Paul makes it quote clear that people have only been saved in one way at any point in human history. "For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance." --Hebrews 9:15 I do not see how this verse supports your view, since this verse is saying that Christ's death was for redemption of sins committed under the first covenant as well. The new covenant in Christ's blood is the one that has always been the means of redemption. Christ's death paid for Abraham's sin, for Moses' sin, and my sin. Completely and totally. Therefore, we can say that while Israel lived under the Old Covenant, they were justified through the sacrifice in the New. Abraham, Moses, and I were saved by Jesus Christ's substitutionary death, not by any external rituals. "The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting." --Psalm 119:160 Wow...what a misuse of a verse! So now we should conclude that the "faith, NOT works" passages plus the "works" passages, equals faith plus works! Something there just doesn't seem to add up. Let me go get my calculator... --Joe! |
||||||
287 | Most accurate Bible? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 50897 | ||
Hank: In case you haven't heard, you can now leave your comments on the TNIV Response Center. Many respected Christian pastors and teachers already have: http://www.no-tniv.com/ --Joe! |
||||||
288 | Mark 16:16 what does it say? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 50908 | ||
Hi, Steve. You wrote: "But according to Paul, it was not baptism that saved them, rather it was God's gracious response to their faith." And, of course, some of us say that faith is our response to God's grace. :) One advantage, coming from a Reformed perspective, is that we do not even entertain the argument that baptism precedes regeneration, because we hold that the Bible teaches that God's regenerative grace precedes faith as well. The belief that God acts singlehandedly to both initiate and secure the salvation of individuals leaves no room for the question of regeneration by baptism. Now back to our regularly scheduled debate! :) --Joe! P.S. I sure wish one of these C of C people would address my comments regarding baptism and Galatians 3:15-17. |
||||||
289 | "need" for baptiam | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 50982 | ||
You can keep posting this all you want, but that still does not change the reality expressed in Galatians 3:15-17 which says that no conditions have ever been added to the covenant of salvation which God established with Abraham. Baptism was not required for Abraham's justification; neither was the Law. The same holds true for today, because the covenant by which Abraham was declared righteous is the same covenant by which all who believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation are declared righteous. It is very simple: 1. You say that baptism is a condition for our justification. 2. Galatians 3 teaches that NO conditions can be added to the covenant once it is ratified. 3. Baptism was not a condition for Abraham. 4. Therefore, baptism is not a condition for us. All you "Church of Christ" people have done is ignore God's clear revelation that I have posted here a half-dozen times. No response? --Joe! |
||||||
290 | Mark 16:16 what does it say? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 51025 | ||
You wrote: 'If we go only with Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved" then the above scriptures would contradict because they show that works are needed.' Interesting that you mention Ephesians 2:8 alone, since it is the next verse that says ""not of works." Then the following verse says that we are God's workmanship FOR good works, not BY good works. Taking the whole paragraph makes everything crystal clear. It also makes it coincide perfectly with Romans 4 and James 2 fits perfectly into the "Ephsians 2:8-10" mix when understanding that the faith by which we are saved will be supplemented by good works which bear evidence that our faith is genuine. This sentence puzzles me: "Not works as doing good deeds but obedient works that submit to the gospel." So submitting to the gospel is not a good work? Of course it is. Are there any truly good works that do not involve submitting oneself to God's law? Name me one if one exists. You are trying to make a distinction here that does not exist. Lastly, you wrote: "But to do that we must answer,we must submit in the obedience to the faith by being baptized for remission of sins." How does a person still "according to the flesh" submit himself to God's commandments? Romans 8:6-8 tells us that it is impossible for the unregenerate to do ANYTHING that pleases God. Until we are saved, we are God's enemies and CANNOT submit. So either Romans 8 is wrong and the person can please God and sumbit to Him before they are saved, or people who voluntarily submit to baptism are already saved, or the conversion is a spurious one. Which one describes your experience? --Joe! |
||||||
291 | Mark 16:16 what does it say? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 51027 | ||
You wrote: "So basically what you are saying is God owes it to us to save us?" I do not see how in the slightest you could get that out of what Tim said. God doesn't owe us salvation. That is the very meaning of the concept of GRACE. When God saves sinners, we get the exact opposite of what we are owed. "My friend I am not trying to twist your words but you make it sound like before you do anything for the Lord He's going to have to save you first. Friend it never has worked this way and never will. God has given to us all He is going to." My friend, that is the only way it CAN work. "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." --Romans 5:6-8 "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." --Romans 8:6-9 What in there gives you the idea that the unsaved can or want to do anything for the Lord before we are saved (including baptism)? And is that all God is going to do? He is just waiting, standing by to see what we will do? Is that really Scriptural? If you think so, we can deflate that, too. --Joe! |
||||||
292 | "need" for baptiam | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 51028 | ||
So you have no answer to the Galatians passage. I have been baptized :) --Joe! |
||||||
293 | "need" for baptiam | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 51030 | ||
and yet no comment on Galatians --Joe! |
||||||
294 | Mark 16:16 what does it say? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 51051 | ||
Oh, do let's not open up the whole election can of worms right now. That would be very distracting to the matter at hand. Go to quick search and type in "elect" or look at the notes for the verses you included. All of them have been addressed from both the election and free-will side for anyone to see. I find it interesting that you have finally visited John 3:16, however. What if someone believes in Jesus but has not been baptized yet, according to this verse? "WHOEVER," as you put it. Repentance is an aspect of saving faith. Both are mental attitudes or dispositions. Neither are outward works we do. Romans 10:17...faith again. I do not see baptism mentioned....so many times it is left out of the "justification mix"... Many come to faith by hearing His word proclaimed, rather than reading it for themselves. How does this eliminate the Holy Spirit's active work in inwardly calling the sinner to repentance? The Holy Spirit works through His word. --Joe! |
||||||
295 | need for a bible-anyone | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 51076 | ||
You wrote: "1. What does Jesus say in Luke 23:43?" NASB: 'And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."' You wrote: "2. My whole premise is that this question is irrelevant, because of the change of covenants" And I repeat what you ignored in the post to which you responded: "Please show me where the Old Covenant was a covenant by which anyone was ever justified." The Old (Mosaic) Covenant was never a means of salvation. So why do you keep repeating that the thief was saved under the Old Covenant? If the New Covenant was Jesus' last will and testament as you say, whose last will and testament was the Old Covenant? You wrote: "3. Whether the thief was or was not baptized has no bearing on our salvation, for we come after the cross. What Christ did before the cross, in no way nullifies the requirements of His will after the cross." Baptism is certainly God's will, but returning to Galatians 3:15, the covenant of our salvation had been ratified between God and Abraham. And as that verse says, no conditions can be added to a covenant once it is ratified. While baptism is a requirement of His will, it is not a means for us being declared righteous. If we must keep every last requirement of His will in order to be saved, then none of us save Christ will be in heaven, because we all still continually fall short of His righteous requirements. You wrote: "Wherein does obeying God’s commands constitute works or boasting in works?" You are kidding, right? You and your "Church of Christ" colleagues have been quoting the "works" passages non-stop for the last week! Well, let's see how obeying God constitute works. I am sure you like the first of these two verses: "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." --Philippians 2:13 Here is another one you love: "What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?" --James 2:14 And a few more, just to remind you: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." --Ephesians 2:10 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father." --John 14:12 You wrote: "Luke 24:47 says what? Repentance and forgiveness of sins. Repentance too is a requirement towards salvation." Repentance is a requirement and component of true saving faith. Biblical faith cannot happen without repentance. I have already covered that in other posts. Repentance is not a work, but "metanoia," a change in thinking. So in a broad sense, repentance and possessing faith in Christ alone can be described as two aspects of the same change of disposition. You wrote: "We must have faith to obey the Lord’s commands. Is that not the greatest manifestation of faith: obedience to His commands?" Absolutely! Obedience to his commands is the ONLY manifestation of saving faith. But it is still that: the manifestation and not the faith itself. It is how the world sees and we ourselves are assured that my faith is genuine. God, however, knows whether He has worked saving faith in me or not (1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Corinthians 4:5), and does not need the outward manifestations before he can credit me with Christ's righteousness. I do not ignore Psalm 119:160. I said you misused by alleging that "the sum" being described in the verse means that passages that say that God's people are saved through faith, specifically excluding works, can be combined with passages commanding us to obey God, to conclude that we are indeed decalred righteous on the basis of something we do (actually a LOT of somethings, according to you). I already addressed Galatians 3:24-29 in another post today. Feel free to look it up and respond! --Joe! |
||||||
296 | Mark 16:16 what does it say? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 51112 | ||
RAVEN: You wrote: "Now please tell me are you saying then that God literaly chooses certain people and others He destins to burn in Hell?" I think it is clear from the body of my "work" here that I firmly believe only those whom God chooses will be rescued from the hell we all deserve. Only they will be enabled to believe in Jesus Christ and come to Christ. Those who follow John 3:16 are those whom God has regenerated. Whoever will call on the Lord will be saved. But who are those who will call on the Lord? Again, these verses have been treated from both my perspective and yours on this forum. Look up the notes on the verses you cited and post to them rather than turning this into an even longer thread, please! :) --Joe! |
||||||
297 | Mark 16:16 what does it say? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 51113 | ||
RAVEN: You wrote: "Now please tell me are you saying then that God literaly chooses certain people and others He destins to burn in Hell?" I think it is clear from the body of my "work" here that I firmly believe only those whom God chooses will be rescued from the hell we all deserve. Only they will be enabled to believe in Jesus Christ and come to Christ. Those who follow John 3:16 are those whom God has regenerated. Whoever will call on the Lord will be saved. But who are those who will call on the Lord? Again, these verses have been treated from both my perspective and yours on this forum. Look up the notes on the verses you cited and post to them rather than turning this into an even longer thread, please! :) --Joe! |
||||||
298 | Mark 16:16 what does it say? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 51178 | ||
Well, since you have used the caps lock and concentrates every last jumbled thought into a single paragraph, I guess that means you win! I am not wading into that mess of a post to pick out whatever you were trying to say, so take a deep breath and try again. It does seem from what I can tell that you still haven't told me what Galatians 3:15-17 IS saying, though. Don't worry, though, I have given up expecting a response. --Joe! |
||||||
299 | Mark 16:16 what does it say? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 51219 | ||
You wrote: "simply put it saying nothing would stop Christ from coming into the world, because God promise it would happen!" No it is not...the whole chapter is talking about how and why no one was ever justified by the Law (starting w/ Galatians 3:11). How were people justified before the Old Covenant was established? What about before Christ came? --Joe! |
||||||
300 | Mark 16:16 what does it say? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 51409 | ||
No...I know the promised seed is Christ. Let me address the chapter more broadly so you will get my problem with your theology. First of all, faith and the gospel are not the same thing. One is saved justified by faith IN the gospel, but faith is a response of God's people to the gospel and not the gospel itself. In verses 1-5, Paul rebukes the Galatians for being so foolish by asking, "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law or by hearing with faith?" Obviously the answer is the latter. The Galatians received the Holy Spirit by hearing with faith. Note that hearing with faith is the SOLE means that Paul mentions, which becomes important later. The works of the Law and faith are placed in direct opposition here as means to salvation. The Law isn't a means of salvation now (a point on which we agree, I know), but hearing with faith is the means. Verse 6 refers to Genesis 15, in which Abraham's faith (belief) alone is credited as righteousness. Abraham was justifed before God by means of his faith. Verses 7-9 puts us in the same category as Abraham, declaring us his sons by means of faith. Being his sons, we are heirs to the covenant promises God makes to Abraham, particularly the ones regarding "all nations" being blessed through his Seed. Faith is the means by which we become the spiritual sons of Abraham. We who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. Galatians 3:10-12 reinforces the fact that the Law does not save. It never had the power to do so. That wasn't its purpose. Even Jews were not justified by the Law, because the Law brings a curse due to the moral ability of the unregenerate to follow it in the slightest. Verse 13 says that Christ redeemed "us" from the curse of the Law. The "us" refers to the Jews, as we see back in Galatians 2:15-16, and by the fact that Gentiles were never included in the covenant made with the nation of Israel, which is in view here. Looking back at chapter 2, he reinforces the idea that no flesh will be justified by the works of the Law, but by faith, just like Abraham. In verse 15, Paul returns to discussing the covenant between God and Abraham, in which we are included as his spiritual sons through faith. He writes regarding that covenant: "when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it." What was the condition of the covenant? By what was Abraham declared righteous? By faith. Verse 16 is very important. To whom were the promises spoken? To Abraham and his Seed. The promises of salvation were made to Abraham and to Jesus Christ. So how was Isaac saved? How were the Israelites saved? How were the Jews saved during the Babylonian captivity when there was no temple in which to make sacrifices? The answer to all of these questions is the same: union with Christ by faith in God's promise. Galatians 3:18 reiterates the point. The inheritance is based on God's promise, and not on law. Our works are not the basis at all of receiving what God has promised those who are spiritual sons of Abraham through faith in Christ, any more than the Law of Moses was a means for justification. Anything else would be adding conditions to the covenant by which we are saved. --Joe! |
||||||
Result pages: << First < Prev [ 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 ] Next > Last [97] >> |