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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: emmanuel_will_return Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | question about salvation | Phil 4:6 | emmanuel_will_return | 21490 | ||
Wendy, I know very well what you are going through with your friend, because I am experiencing the same thing with one of mine. Stjones is right - your friend's salvation is only known to your friend and God. However, I definitely think that you should not be disheartened - continue to ask your friend to attend church with you. And if you think that your friend is doing the motions out of feelings of obligation (to you, that is), then it would be a good idea for you to sit down and just talk to him/her about what kind of reservations he/she might have about Church or Christianity in general. Talk to your pastor about how you can be most effective as far as communicating the Law and Gospel goes (remember that without the Law, there is no need for Gospel, but don't throw fire and brimstone). Maybe invite your Pastor to your home and your friend can ask any questions he/she wants without feeling the pressure of strangers around. It would also be a good idea for you to emphasize our need as Christians for a community of support - which we recieve from the Church. Remind your friend of the importance of attending both for worshipping and learning purposes. "There is no such thing as a lone ranger Christian." We can't walk the narrow road all alone; we need help, especially in the beginning. Repeating some mantra prayer will not gain us salvation if we are doing nothing else to truly seek Christ. The most important thing is for you to allow God to continue to work through you to reach your friend, so that any questions or problems or obstacles your friend has can be cleared. And remember that ultimately, it is the providence of the Holy Spirit to give faith, so don't be discouraged. God's Will will be done. And if your friend never does come to the faith, take this as a learning experience which will make your faith even stronger than it is now. May God bless you for being such a good friend, Wendy. |
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2 | healing | Ps 103:3 | emmanuel_will_return | 19876 | ||
This goes back to the basic questions: "Why does God permit evil?" or "Why do bad things happen to good people?" We know that God is both just and merciful in giving us His Son to die for us. However, the natural order of things in this fallen world are not perfect and God does not promise us, as Christians, every physical benefit. We may not be of this world, but for the time being, we have to live in it. And God is wise in using the perils of this world to draw those He choses closer to Him, as the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 5:3-5, 8:22-23: "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perserverance; perserverance, character; and character, hope... We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." That is the hope we have - not that all our physical ailments will be healed according to our will, but that all things be according to God's good and gracious Will, until the day of Judgement when our bodies are raised up as our Lord's and glorified. |
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