Results 41 - 60 of 69
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: ChristLifer2001 Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
41 | What is the new self? | Rom 4:6 | ChristLifer2001 | 52910 | ||
Joe, !Hm...seems that righteousness is in view here. He is talking about attaining physical resurrection - the entire being being righteous - spirit, soul, and body. !It is quite clear that the pressing on in this life is to become more perfect (as we see the goal is throughout the Scriptures for this life). Then you are striving to become more perfect than Heb 10:14 says you are. More power to ya, bro. You are going to need it. According to 1 Thess 5:23, God sanctifies us 1) in spirit 2) in soul and 3) in body. Our spirit is ALREADY sanctified. Our soul is being sanctified and our body will one day be (not this one but) a sanctified one. When Paul talks about the "new self" that is created (not an act of process, bro, an act of God) in God's likeness - in righteousness and holiness - in Eph 4:24, what part of you is that? Can you answer this question? Will you? Paul says to put on (the greek stipulates a one-time act) the new self. What part of you is this, Joe? Paul says that 1) it is created 2) it is created in God's likeness (so it looks like Him but it is NOT Him) 3) it is righteous 4) it is holy and 5) this is truth. Can you define what this "new self", this "new man" is? I would like to hear your explanation. Your bro in Christ, ChristLifer2001 |
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42 | What is the new self? | Rom 4:6 | ChristLifer2001 | 52912 | ||
Joe, The only thing that you said about Eph 4:24 is this: 2. The new self is to be put on, which assumes that it hasn't been already. I am left to conclude then that you think that the new self gets put on when we die. The greek supports that this is a one-time act, not a process of sanctification. Seems funny that Paul would tell us to do this one time act but we have no choice over when we do it. Why would Paul tell us to do something that we cannot do? If it is a one-time act that we put on the new self sometime during our physical life, when do we do this? When we become righteous and holy enough? You still have not addressed my questions concerning this verse. Do you agree that the new self is created (not being created) in God's likeness and that it is righteous and holy? Your bro, ChristLifer2001 |
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43 | Imputed Righteousness | Rom 4:6 | ChristLifer2001 | 52931 | ||
Joe, I've tried to offer my thoughts concerning the "apparent" discrepancies between past, present, and future sanctification by demonstrating that there is biblical justification for examining man's components - spirit, soul, and body. The same analogy would apply to the righteousness that we have as Christians. Our new spirit is righteous, our soul is being made righteous, and we will one day have a righteous body to indwell. However, you will not hear or consider any of this, despite the cited scriptures. You obviously feel that it is the teachings of "the greatest teachers of evangelical Christianity over the past 500 years" that is the standard and revealer of all truth although the Holy Spirit makes it explicit that that is what He does in us. The majority vote does not determine truth. Neither does the minority vote. Truth is determined by what God says. Period. Concerning Romans 8:30, you wrote: "Traditionally, the church has understood that the past tense of "glorify" is more or less a past tense demonstrating the certainty of a future event." This demonstrates the type of interpretation twisting that "tradition" does to nullify the Word of God. God's Word says in Romans 8:10 that we HAVE BEEN justified, that we HAVE BEEN glorified. Even when it is there before your eyes in black and white that this is glorification is past tense, you deny it. You cry "foul" and must resort to the teachings of the church or to commentaries because you obviously feel that God's Word cannot be understood apart from the illuminating work of the church. The difference between my approach and yours is that I am just naive enough to take God at His Word and say, "Lord, You say that I have been glorified, would You teach me what this means." Tradition says, "Impossible! Despite the text, this cannot be true. My experience is the standard of truth and I have not yet experienced this. Therefore, God cannot possibly mean what He says and I must seek the hidden meaning." And for some reason you feel that you must resort to undue sarcasm of me and my simple faith in taking God at His Word. That is your choice. But I will not engage you further in exchange. There are many people who come to this forum seeking the truth of God's Word not the "teachings of the church". Probably an overwhelming majority are here because the church offers no real answers and it is the church that causes the confusion in the first place. All it can offer is denominationalism and self-righteous attitudes that condemn anyone who does not agree with their traditions and teachings. It is quite obvious that you have set up yourself and your "traditions" as the standard of truth here on this forum and woe be to anyone who does not agree with you. They are categorized, labeled, and demeaned in front of the whole forum. All in the name of Christ. How sad. ChristLifer2001 |
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44 | Imputed Righteousness | Rom 4:6 | ChristLifer2001 | 52942 | ||
Joe, Concerning Rom 8:30 - and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also GLORIFIED - past tense." You wrote: "Traditionally, the church has understood that the past tense of "glorify" is more or less a past tense demonstrating the certainty of a future event." If the "church" takes this interpretation, then it must use the same hermeneutic to translate the past tense of our predestination, calling and justification. I.e. if the past tense reference to our glorification refers to the future then, by the same standard, the past tense reference to our justification and calling would refer to our future justification and calling also. This violates everything that scripture teaches about our predestination, calling and justification. Scripture supports that these are done - accomplished. But it accurately demonstrates the folly and human predilection of twisting the meaning of God's Word to attempt to make it fit one's private theology. "Traditionally, the church has understood that the past tense of "glorify" is more or less a past tense demonstrating the certainty of a future event." One does not even need to be a biblical scholar to see the oxymoronic interpretation that is being pushed here as truth. "And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition." ChristLifer2001 |
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45 | What is imputed righteousness? | Rom 4:6 | ChristLifer2001 | 52950 | ||
Steve, Under the Old Covenant, righteousness was only credited. Generally speaking, people received forgiveness through the OT sacrificial system. But they were declared or credited righteousness by their faith in whatever God's Word to them was - Heb 11. But righteousness could only be credited, it could not be given as a gift becauses sins were not permanently dealt with until Christ's blood was shed on the cross. Under the New Covenant, we are made righteous through our union with Jesus Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. The key verse for this in found in Roman 5:17,19 - "For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of rigtheousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous." Fundamental to understanding this verse is the question "when"? So let's ask that question. When where all men made sinners? When Adam fell. Therefore, when we are born into this world, we are already sinners through our identification with Adam before we ever commit a sin. It is birth, not performance, that establishes identity. Now, when are the many made righteous? When they die? No. The death of your body does not affect your spiritual state. Spiritual identity is determined by birth, not death. We don't become spiritual dead when we physically die. Whatever our spiritual state is when these bodies die is what we will remain. We are sinners because we are born in Adam. So when to we become righteous? When we are born into Christ. When we are united with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection, we become the righteousness of God in Him. It is then that we receive the gift of righteousness. Just like the abundance of grace, we receive the gift of righteousness here and now, in this life. It is not the death of our body that makes us righteous, it is the birth of our new spirit joined to the Spirit of Jesus Christ that makes us righteous in God's sight. This does not mean that we are sinless. We still live in a fallen body and a fallen world. We still occasionally give in to sin. But we are as righteous in God's eyes as His precious Son because we have been joined to Him forever - 1 Cor 6:17. He will never leave us or forsake us. When God sees me, He sees me clothed in Christ - Gal 3:27. He sees in me the righteousness of His Son, not because of my works, but because of my identity with Christ. I am no longer a sinner in Adam. I am a saint in Christ. I hope this helps. Righteous in Christ, ChristLifer2001 |
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46 | Help. Someone's testamony has me upset | Rom 6:23 | ChristLifer2001 | 45257 | ||
Chynna, Our faith does not rely upon the "things that brought us to God", dear sister. In fact, it isn't even faith that saves you. It is your faith IN CHRIST ALONE that saves you. Our salvation rests upon Christ's redeeming work on our behalf - He was crucified to provide us with forgiveness, He was buried, and He was raised again to provide us with eternal life. This are all historical facts in the Bible and it is the Person and work of Jesus Christ that saves us, NOT our experiences. All of us have different experiences. All of us are drawn to God through difference paths. But it is God Himself who has saved us - freely by the gift of eternal life. The beauty and bane of the internet is that anybody can say anything they want to and people are susceptible to believing it as truth. However, as Christians, we believe that the Word of God (Jesus Christ and His revelation - the Bible) is truth. Anyone can claim visions, dear sister, but Christ alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The beauty of the gospel is not that men are caught up to heaven, it is that heaven now indwells us. If we are going to judge our beliefs by other's beliefs and experiences, our's will usually be different. We must judge our beliefs according to the scriptures, not experiences. I don't believe that God ever "tempts" anyone to become a Christian by the impartation of divine knowledge. We are not saved by what we COULD know if we accept. We are saved by what we DO know according to the scriptures. The free gift of God (salvation) is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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47 | i am confused about Romans.7:15-20 | Rom 7:14 | ChristLifer2001 | 47845 | ||
Shirleytys, Great question, sis. Paul is describing his struggle to live under the Law as a system of gaining God's acceptance. Trying to live under Law is always going to result in self-defeat and self-condemnation because we can't do it. Paul makes reference here in this passage that though he wants to do the right things, there is a power within him called "indwelling sin" that will use the Law (which is holy, righteous, and good - verse 12) to commit sin. Paul says that this "power of indwelling sin" is within him, but it is not him i.e. it is not his identity. Notice some of the statements he makes: "I am doing the very thing I hate." "I do the very thing I do not wish to do." "For the good that I wish, I do not do." "I joyfully concur with the Law of God." And yet, there was something in Paul, that was not Paul, causing him to sin. "No longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me." - vs 17 "But if I am doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me." - vs 20. This "power of indwelling sin" dwells in what Paul calls the flesh - not that the body is inherently evil, but the the power of indwelling sin will use the Law to cause the flesh to sin. Everyone still has what the Bible calls "the flesh" - the tendency to get our needs met apart from God, the desire to edify self. This is the part of us that we war against - the Spirit against the flesh. Though this power of indwelling sin is in us, it is not us. We are new Christians in Christ - 2 Cor 5:17 - with a new spirit and heart. It is only as we walk in the Spirit - appropriating our union with God's Spirit, then we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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48 | Possible definition for 'Flesh'? | Rom 7:14 | ChristLifer2001 | 47865 | ||
Evan, I'm not here to shoot anything down, brother. Just to point to the Word, written and Living. :) Yes, Jesus did come in the flesh. But there is more that one definition of "flesh" in the scriptures just as there is more than one definition of spirit. Spirit is used of the essence of God - God is Spirit i.e. He is not primaryly of the physical universe (in fact, He made it out of nothing). The word "spirit" is also used of man's immaterial part. It can also mean an attitude or an emotion. Even evil demons are known as spirits. So how do we know which spirit is which? We must look at the context to see what is being spoken of. Flesh likewise has different definitions. Sometimes "flesh" means the physical body. When the Bible states that Christ came in the flesh, this is what it means. But in many of Paul's writings, "flesh" has a different connotation. Most of the time "flesh" means a condition where man operates out of his own resources, doing things his way. Proof? Consider Gal 3:3, Paul asked them if they thought that they could be perfected by the flesh (self-effort to keep the Law). Phil 3:4-6 - Paul talks about whether or not he could put confidence in his flesh. Look at what he lists there as "flesh": circumcision, a Jew, a Benjamite, a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee, zealous for the Law, blameless in the Law. These traits all spring from Paul's indentity apart from Christ - his natural "self". But he said he put no confidence in all these qualifications - vs 3. Paul says in Rom 8:9 that the believer is no longer "in the flesh." Is he speaking of an out-of-body experience here? I would think not. Rather, he is saying that the believer now draws his identity from being in Christ, not from self-effort. Paul says in 2 Cor 5:16 that we no longer estimate people according to the "flesh" - self-accomplishments. Why? Because according to vs 17, the believer is a new creation. As far as flesh and Spirit refering to ages, I haven't seen that for myself in the scriptures. So I'm not sure what you mean by that statement. But I do feel that in Rom 7, Paul is making reference to flesh as self-effort. He says that no good thing dwells in his flesh - vs. 18. The human body is not inherently sinful but the power of indwelling sin causes the "flesh" to use the body as an instrument of sin. So self-sufficiency "flesh" can be either good looking (like Paul's qualifications) or it can be bad like the works of the "flesh" as in Gal 5:19. Either way, good flesh or bad flesh, it is getting our self-needs met apart from God's provision. Therefore both are unacceptable to God. Our standing with Him is never based upon self-effort to make ourselves holy or self-effort to avoid sin. It is based upon the finished work of Christ. He is our identity. And it is only as we walk in the Spirit in that identity that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh - be they "good" or "bad." Hope this helps, brother. ChristLifer2001 |
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49 | Looking for verses regarding addiction? | Rom 11:32 | ChristLifer2001 | 45043 | ||
Jewel, As Searcher56 has said, wise biblical counsel should be sought out. You don't need to be told to continually "repent" and you don't need to be Romans 8:28'ed to death. What you need is someone who is trained in the area of biblical Christian psychology. Exchanged Life Ministries excels in this area and through biblical counseling, they can help you along with the Holy Spirit to understand addictions - what they are, where they come from, and how to have victory over them. As to the answer to your question, Paul talks about addiction in Romans chapter 6. He lays out the fact that Christians are now dead to sin and alive to God. Christ has set us free from the penalty and power of sin. But this does not mean that we can't persist in sin. Therefore, in verse 16 he says that if we go on presenting ourselves to sin, we will become slaves to it. Sin is addicting. And it is pleasurable - for a season. This is not God's design for our lives but it does happen. There are answers for you, Jewel, it is not God's will that you remain addicted. But it is a complex series of events that have led you where you are and quoting a verse or two will not, in itself, set you free. It is the truth behind God's words that set us free, not the words themselves. So please seek out some solid biblical counseling that can help you discover the roots of your addictions i.e. why you first turned to these things for comfort, escape, dependence, etc. Until you and the Holy Spirit get to the root, you will be forever trying to stop the action without changing the errors in your belief system that causes the action. Jesus said that the truth would set us free. The inverse of that is that error will bind you. He is the truth, He desires to set you free, and when He does it (as opposed to your doing it), you will be free indeed. If you check this website www.aelm.org you will find a list of ministries in different states that can help you. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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50 | Self control and Spirit controlled? | 1 Cor 9:25 | ChristLifer2001 | 49953 | ||
Living in Christ, The apostle Paul makes it clear that our old self was crucified with Christ (Rom 6:6 and Gal 2:20) and that we have "put on" a new self which has been created in righteousness and holiness (Eph 4:24). This new self is a new spirit that God creates in us when we are born again of His Spirit (John 3:6) and is united forever with the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:17). What does this mean in practical terms? This means that we are now a new "self" that has been joined (or indwelt) by God. Man was never meant to be autominous and function apart from Him. He is our source and He is united with us so that He can manifest His life through us. Our old self functioned as "flesh". Our new self needs to be controlled by the Spirit. The self is always controlled by something. As Bob Dylan says, "Ya gotta serve somebody." We are designed to be under the control of the Spirit of God just as Jesus abided in His Father while on earth. His "self" always looked to the Father as His source. We, as new creations in Christ, look to Him and should abide in Him. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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51 | God forgive no matter what | 2 Cor 5:8 | ChristLifer2001 | 44364 | ||
ChristianLuv, There is only one thing in this universe that provides the forgiveness of sins - the blood of Jesus Christ - Heb 9:22. Repentance does not obtain forgiveness, confession does not obtain forgiveness, asking God to forgive does not obtain forgiveness. Sounds heretical doesn't it? As Christians, we receive the forgiveness provided by Christ's blood when we accept Him as our Savior. The problem lies with folks misunderstanding of what repentance is and what provides forgiveness. Repentance means changing your mind about God and how you can have a relationship with Him. It does not mean "to stop sinning." If repentance meant the cessation of sin, none of us have ever or could ever truly repent down here on earth because we all still do sin. There are basically two ways people try to get to God. For Gentiles, if they are even concious of God, they try to get to Him by being good i.e. religion. For Jews, they try to get to God by keeping the Law. Neither way will suffice. Christ alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to God (or stays in a relationship with God) except through Him and what He has done. So any other way of getting to God needs to be repented of. We need to change our minds about how a sinful man can be justified before a holy God. There is only one way. And, as I said, it is the blood of Christ alone that provides the forgiveness of sins. Period. It is our faith in that blood - not our actions - that avails us of that forgiveness when we receive Christ. Therefore, the issue really is, not will God forgive, but has the person who keeps on practicing his sins really placed his faith in Christ? Only God and that person knows the heart. But if a person continues to enjoy sinning and persisting in that life-style, then there is serious reason to question what they understood the gospel to be. The Holy Spirit indwells all true believers and sin grieves Him. It is inconsistent with His nature and it is inconsistent with our new natures as Christians. A true Christian who continues to willfully sin will be miserable in doing so. It goes against the new creation that he is in Christ (2 Cor 5:17) and he will reap consequences of his sin (or he will hurt others with it). So it is not a question of repentance or forgiveness, it is a question of does this person understand what happened to him when he received Christ? Christ's presence in us will set us free from sin's power as we realize that we died to it - Rom 6. But most Christians only know of Christ's death only. They don't know that they were crucified, buried, and risen with Christ. They don't know that they are now seated in heavenly places with Him. They think that the gospel is a self-improvement program when it is really a self-denial program so that Christ may be all-in-all. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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52 | God forgive no matter what | 2 Cor 5:8 | ChristLifer2001 | 44401 | ||
New Creature, Your sins cannot separate you from God. Because He has forgiven them according to His blood shed under the New Covenant, as a barrier between you and God, He remembers them no more - Heb 10:17,18. While Isaiah 59:2 was true under the Old Covenant (that is why the sacrifices had to be made continually), it is not true under the New Covenant where God says He will never leave us nor forsake us. What will separate us from the love of Christ? The Holy Spirit indwells believers forever (even when they sin). This is because of the forgiveness which Christ's precious blood secured on our behalf. The same apostle who wrote 1 John 1:9 also wrote a few verses later in 1 John 2:12, "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven (past tense - not get forgiven) you for His name's sake." Col 2:13 - "When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us ALL our transgressions." May I ask, how many times can you be forgiven ALL your transgressions? If you keep going back for more forgiveness, then you have only been forgiven SOME of your transgressions, not ALL. Consider again 1 John 1:7, "...and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from ALL sin." May I ask, how many times can you be cleansed of ALL sin? If you go back for more cleansing, then you have only been cleansed of SOME of you sin, not ALL. Heb 9:22 makes it clear that if you require more forgiveness than what Christ provided 2000 years ago at Calvary, He would have to come and shed more blood. He is not going to do that. He did it once and it was sufficient to take away the sins of the world. Also please consider in 1 John 1:3 that John states that "indeed (surely, without a doubt ) our fellowship IS with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. John was not sinless and this point and if he truly held to the "bouncing" fellowship view, he would have said, "Sometimes I'm in fellowship with God, and sometimes I'm not - it depends on if I have unconfessed sin or not. To the contrary, John makes it clear that the condition for fellowship is accepting the gospel that he was proclaiming - 1 John 1:1-3. Praying that you will rest in the finished work of our Lord. ChristLifer2001 |
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53 | God forgive no matter what | 2 Cor 5:8 | ChristLifer2001 | 44494 | ||
New Creature, You've misunderstood what I was saying, my friend. Confession is an attitude that the Holy Spirit fosters in every believer. But confession is not asking for forgiveness. To confess means to "agree with". Even in our court systems, a criminal may confess to a crime and never seek forgiveness or have a contrite spirit about his actions. I was simply stating that it is not our confession of sin that avails us of forgiveness. It is solely in Christ's blood - Heb 9:22. While I respect Dr. Zodhiates work and have his commentaries myself along with the Greek-Hebrew study Bible, commentaries are exactly that - comments from men - and are not inspired the way the scriptures are. I do consult commentaries AFTER I have studied the scriptures, letting scripture interpret scripture, but they are not the standard of truth - God's Word is. Did you consider my questions to you? How many times can you be forgiven and cleansed of ALL sin. "All" in the Greek means "All" :). And, finally, of course OT saints continually asked for forgiveness of sins. The price had not yet been fully paid for our sins by our Savior at Calvary. The OT sacrificial system prevailed until Jerusalem was burned in AD 70. We are, in a sense, better than David and the other OT saints. Not because of anything in ourselves but because we enjoy total forgiveness. Remember how David begged the Lord not to take the Holy Spirit from him after he sinned with Bathsheba? He knew that was a distinct possibility. He knew that God's Spirit left Saul after Saul disobeyed the Lord. We, as NT believers, do not need to pray that prayer. I already cited why in my last post. One final question, New Creature: How many sins had you committed when Christ forgave them on the cross 2000 years ago? Be blessed and rest in the total forgiveness you have in Christ, brother. Please read Heb 10:17,18 when you have time. There is no more sacrifice (shedding of blood) to provide more forgiveness that what Christ's has done. It is truly finished - paid in full! ChristLifer2001 |
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54 | How to receive God's blessings he gives | 2 Cor 5:8 | ChristLifer2001 | 44497 | ||
ChristianLuv, If you have received Christ, you have already received God's blessings. Everything we need is found in Him. Please consider these verses: Rom 8:32 - He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Eph 1:3 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Phil 4:19 - And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 2 Pet 1:3 - seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. Peter makes it clear that knowing Christ in His fullness gives us everything we need for life and godliness. What more could God give you than Himself? ChristLifer2001 |
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55 | God forgive no matter what | 2 Cor 5:8 | ChristLifer2001 | 44503 | ||
New Creature, Okay, brother. Be blessed in Christ and may you grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. ChristLifer2001 |
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56 | God forgive no matter what | 2 Cor 5:8 | ChristLifer2001 | 44563 | ||
ChristianLuv, After the cross, there is only one sin that God will not forgive - the sin of rejecting the Son of God as your Savior. Forgiveness of sins is found in Christ and His work alone. Therefore, rejecting Him is forfeiting the forgiveness of sins that He offers. This is why Hebrews 10:26 says, "For is we go on sinning (not believing in Christ) willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth (the gospel message), there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, (though these Hebrews had the gospel preached to them, they were tempted to go back to the temple and offer their Old Covenant sacrifices to cover their sins) but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. The person who has rejected Christ has, according to verse 29, trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the (new) covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace. This is the post-cross unpardonable sin. The sin of unbelief in Christ's sacrifice cannot be forgiven, it must be repented of. If we have not accepted Him and His once-for-all sacrifice, then we must or suffer eternal separation from God. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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57 | God forgive no matter what | 2 Cor 5:8 | ChristLifer2001 | 44564 | ||
Joe, thanks for the welcome! You wrote: I see by your posts that you believe in the finality of the cross and the reality of His resurrection. The fullness of God's grace! It's all Him and His work. Indeed I do, brother! It is Finished! Our sins are forgiven (all of them) and we now have new life in Jesus - Christ's very life in us! Our salvation is by grace through faith from first to last. I'm thankful for that because I don't always perform so well :). He gave His life for us, in order that He could give His life to us, so that He could live His life through us! Enjoy your blessings in Christ! ChristLifer2001 |
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58 | after death, right then, what? | 2 Cor 5:8 | ChristLifer2001 | 47330 | ||
Farout, This is an interesting question. I think that answer may be open to a some speculation. But I also think that there are a few givens: The Bible does say that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. So the question becomes, when are we absent from the body? Does our soul sleep in our body (or it's eventual decayed remains)? I think that maybe part of the answer lies in understanding the spirit and the soul. Do this components of man remain with the body after death? Consider Acts 8:59: Stephen was being stoned and, somehow, saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God the Father. (Obviously, the crowd could not see this as they stoned him anyway.) But Stephen also cries out, "Lord Jesus, recieve my spirit." So it is implied that, at death, our spirit immediately is received by Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus cried out the same thing from the cross, "Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit." So there is pretty solid biblical evidence that our spirit goes immediately into God's presence. What about our souls? Rev 6:9 seems to speak of dis-embodied souls under the altar (in heaven) waiting to be avenged and clothed with their bodies again. There are given white robes to wear in the meantime. Well, Farout, that's just a couple of my thoughts. If we are most fundamentally spiritual beings with human experiences, instead of vice-versa, then it would seem that who we really are goes directly into God's presence at physical death. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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59 | Christians don't take Jews seriously, y? | Gal 6:15 | ChristLifer2001 | 45268 | ||
Ramy, From God's point of view, there is now no Jew or Gentile, there is no longer that circumcised/uncircumcised distinction. We are either "in Christ" or we are "in Adam". Of course the Jews would like to disregard the Christians, Jesus Christ is a stumbling block for them because they seek to be justified by the Law and attain their own righteousness apart from Christ. And there is much of Christianity that seeks to bring Judaism into the church. Paul calls this Galatianism. Paul makes it clear that the only thing that matters know is whether or not we have placed our faith and trust in Christ alone. In Christ, Jew and Gentile can become one - one new creation indwelt by Christ. Our "gospel", as Christians, should not be to preach anti-Jewish beliefs. Our responsibility, as Paul exhorts us, is to preach Christ. Preach the truth and let it dispel the darkness. Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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60 | which nation actually resembles God? | Gal 6:15 | ChristLifer2001 | 49732 | ||
Aurrance, Skin color is not an issue with God, my friend. God's essence is Spirit - John 4:24. Man looks (and often judges) by the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. When God created Adam, He did not create him to reflect God's skin-tone. "In God's image" means that Adam (and the rest of us) are eternal spirit beings, as God is a Spirit Being. Adam didn't even know he was naked until AFTER he sinned. This was when Adam and Eve became self-concious instead of God-concious. There are only two "races" now, my friend. You have either placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and are "in Christ" or you are ignorant of or reject Him and are still "in Adam." Read the books of Romans. Being "in Adam" and his image is not a good thing. Being "in Christ" and in His image by being spiritually born-again is what matters. Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God, Aurrance, only those who are born from above - see John 3:3-6. Skin tone is irrelevant according to God. What really matters is being a new creation "in Christ" - Gal 6:15. Have you placed your faith and trust in Christ alone, my friend? Hope this helps. ChristLifer2001 |
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