Results 1 - 6 of 6
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Someone who had never heard of Jesus... | John 3:16 | justme | 87128 | ||
akeffer82: Thanks for being honest that I missed the mark. You ask the question that is a concern for most thinking Christians, and I have had much dialogue on this. I personally have devoted what I believe to be a reasonable amount of study in relation to this question. First look at some scripture. John 1:9 Every one is said to have enlightenment that there is a God. Romans 1:18-21 makes it clear mankind is held responsible for the knowledge they do have. The invisable attributes are evedent for all of mankind, for all times, and ages, past, present and future. Mankind has been given moral judgement, to desern good and bad, right and wrong, some might call this consicence. We know within ourselves some things are sin, no one has to tell us. We are assured over and over Yehweh is a loving kind God. As well, Yehweh has the knowledge of how much enlightenment each Believer in the Lord Almighty has. The ultimate judge is Yehweh. Scripture is clear NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER BUT BY JESUS CHRIST, perhaps the person who never heard of Jesus Christ, will be given the chance. Only Yehweh knows a mans heart in this situation. The Bible says that a is person held accountable by the enlightenment they have, which is like a child who is not yet able to make the choice to reject Jesus Christ. As well I do say that scripture is not completly crystal clear on this subject. What is abundantly clear that Yehewh is fair and just, and with that we leave this in the hands of a loving Father. However as this subject is such a concern of a maturing Christian, this is the reason we need to be evangelistic in our everyday traffic pattern of life. Perhaps our voice is the last one that chould share JESUS CHRIST with a person who is near the end of this time on earth. This should be a very sobering thought for us all. Just so no one misunderstands me, I believe this is not a common situation, and ONLY The Lord knows the complete answer to this perplexing question. I am not the judge of anyones eternal life, I am deeply concerned that each of us endure in our faith until the end. I welcome any thoughts or imput, blessings. justme |
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2 | God--the "loving Father" of whom? | John 3:16 | JibbyJee | 87138 | ||
Hi Justme! After reading your post and thinking a bit about your assertion that God is our "loving Father" (which I agree with you), I am curious as to whether or not you believe all people are God's children--especially in light of the words of Jesus in John 8:44. He obviously made a distinction as to who these Jews had for a father. So at what point can you say that God is our "loving Father" without disregarding Jesus' own distinction? Alive in Jesus, JibbyJee |
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3 | God--the "loving Father" of whom? | John 3:16 | justme | 87141 | ||
JibbyJee: Good question. Most clearly not everyone has the LORD Almighty as their father. I can not presume to know who is predestined to be saved. In all honesty I keep that judgement for the LORD. Election and Predestination, to me are two poles going paralel in the same direction. There are some people who are clearly the children of devil, Hitler and the like, if you understand what I mean. Therefore one is able to be as blunt as Jesus was. However, there are examples of very wicked people repenting and turning to Christ. David is one we turn to establish that all infants are innocent and under grace. This brings us to a question of are we saved and then choose to reject Jesus? Is there such a thing as Christian nurture? Thoughts? justme |
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4 | God--the "loving Father" of whom? | John 3:16 | JibbyJee | 87184 | ||
I agree with you. There is no way for our finite minds to know who the elect of God are. I guess this is one of those questions that clearly draws the dividing line in the sand between Arminians and Calvinists. It is not as much an issue of the nature of election or predestination as much as it is an issue of Biblical sequence and chronology. I believe some things have to happen before others can occur. For example, you proposed the hypethetical that asked whether or not we are born saved and then lose that status by our own actions. I don't believe anyone is born saved because that would mean that people are in Christ at birth without being spiritually born-again. To be saved one must be born again (John 3:3), which is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8-9) that does not come from the will or desire of man but purely by the will of God (Romans 9:16). To be born saved would mean you would have to be redeemed at birth (Gal. 3:13), given to the Son by the Father (John 6:37) never to be lost by Him (John 6:39-40; John 10:28-29; 1 John 5:13) thus being guaranteed of eternal life. From this, you can see that if anyone is born saved, then we should all be universalists because no one can be saved and end up in Hell. However, I think we are all born deserving of eternal punishment (Ps. 58:3; Gen. 6:5; Rom. 3:10-11). Therefore, as you and I both believe, for God to save children is not a matter of Him being just and giving them what they deserve, but rather that He has mercy upon them despite their sinful condition. Being saved for an adult is no different. We aren't saved simply because we choose to be saved. We choose to be saved because he has mercy on us and delivers us from the bondage of sin upon our entire being. That's how I see it anyway. Looking forward to hearing back from you! Alive in Jesus, JibbyJee |
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5 | God--the "loving Father" of whom? | John 3:16 | justme | 87191 | ||
JibbyJee: I agree with you completly! This is one reason I see Scripture does not allow for infant baptism. There is no way to secure a infants salvation by any other means than by the salvation through Jesus Christ. I do think there is an age of accountablity, wihch only God knows what it is for that person. What do you think? justme |
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6 | God--the "loving Father" of whom? | John 3:16 | JibbyJee | 87201 | ||
justme Thanks for responding! You're quick! LoL The paedobaptism issue is one that I am not very familiar with. I am not from the Lutheran/Presbyterian tradition so I can't say I have much experience with the reasons for infant baptism other than it's considered a covenant with God. It's easy for me to associate the practice with the Roman Catholic Church, thereby getting goosebumps and stomach cramps, but that isn't really fair. I can think of several godly men that I look up to a lot (RC Sproul for example) who practice infant baptisms because of theological reasons (Covenant Theology). But like I said, I'm mostly ignorant of the issue and will likely remain a "immersion" Baptism guy. As far as the age of accountability, I don't worry about that too much because I think it's something between God and individuals, like you said. So it's not something that can be dogmatically designated (like Mormons do). I believe God justifies and in so doing has mercy and compassion on whom He wills (Rom. 9:18). I trust that God always does what is right. See you later! Alive in Jesus, JibbyJee |
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