Results 721 - 729 of 729
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Results from: Notes Author: charis Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
721 | Is there no volition? | John 15:4 | charis | 579 | ||
Dear fellow, Please understand that I mean dear, and I mean fellow. I am in no way being condescending. I don't know your name, your gender, your age, or your place of domicile. I know you only as a Christian. You are apparently well-read and fervent in your faith in Christ Jesus. I injected irony into my comments, and I did say, "...you believe...," which was inappropriate. You are correct in stating that you never mentioned the word election. For these I humbly apologize. This forum is for the benefit of all who read, of the many-membered body of Christ. It seems to me that your answers tend to be more theological or philosophical. I can see that you have spent a great deal of time studying the Bible and the works of others (dead and alive) that dedicated themselves to the study of the Bible. Though I also study, my calling leads me to be more concerned with the application of faith in everyday terms dealing with common folk. Very few people understand (or care) about how Hebrew and Greek applies to them. Few people really grasp the difference between 'produce' and 'bear' fruit. Even I know that my good works do not purchase my salvation, and I think that anybody who has come to a personal relationship with Jesus understands this. "Credit for us?"(scoff) Yes, I think we do participate in the battle against sin. I do understand that "all praise is God's," but we also enter the fray. Maybe you live in an environment with little temptation or trial. Where I live there are less than 1 percent professing Christians. Theoretical faith has little use. When someone asks me, "How do I abide in Christ?" I have to give them some practical direction, not a theological discourse. Winning arguments doesn't win souls here. It only further alienates those who are already convinced that all Christian are pedantic and arrogant. Please understand my point of view, and I will try to reciprocate. Back to this forum, I am under the impression that many who participate are searching for practical means of serving God. I hope be share with them, giving and receiving as we work out our salvation. Peace to you, in Jesus' name. |
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722 | Is there no volition? | John 15:4 | charis | 562 | ||
"...work out your salvation with fear and trembling;" PHI 2:12 "...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us," HEB 12:1. Dear fellow, these are not intellectual exercises or academic processes. Let me explain: The original question was 'How do you abide in Christ?' (not, "what is the theory behind abiding?") My answer was that various willing actions of faith (submitting to the commands of Christ) would produce (sorry, bear) fruit. Your note indicated that faith, obedience, fellowship and sharing the gospel were fruit of the Holy Spirit, that we had no volition in the matter. Your above answer makes it clear that you believe salvation has little to do with life on earth. All our works are only a result of God's election. We indeed become merely puppets. This sounds so much like 'karma' that it is eerie. Are we simply products of the 'fate' that God decided. In the same way we credit Adam with willful sin (or was he just a tool to bring sin to mankind), give us all a little credit for abstaining from sin after we come to know Jesus (post-salvation grace and works). Apparently, 'proper understanding" of James is that he was wrong, works are not essential. I keep talking about how to serve Jesus here, now, in our present state, in the world we now occupy, and you keep answering in nebulous, prehistoric, and eschatological terminology, quoting dead people that agree with your doctrinal leanings. "To abide in Christ...is to have no known sin unjudged and unconfessed..." Does this mean that if you don't know it, it's not sin? Do you actually know anyone who has correctly judged and confessed every one of his sins? I haven't yet met such a person (except maybe in his own mind). Again, God initiated our walk in Christ by sending the gift of faith, but desires that we choose to continue that walk from our volition. He sent His Spirit to help us, and comfort us, and encourage us. Thank You, Jesus! | ||||||
723 | Why did God put us on earth with satin? | Genesis | charis | 531 | ||
Possibly God wants to test and perfect the faith of those who would serve Him. The Bible has a lot to say about discipline and not succumbing to temptation. | ||||||
724 | Is repentance required? | Ex 20:13 | charis | 528 | ||
Thanks! My return compliments. I have been looking over some of your questions-answers-notes and must say they are challenging, thought-provoking, and show common sense. Gambatte, ne! (Japanese for keep up the good work!) | ||||||
725 | Just as if I had never sinned? | 1 Cor 6:11 | charis | 377 | ||
Dear JVH0212, My, I can feel the heat! I do not mean in any way that I have earned my reward. By reward I do not mean payment. I understand imputation. Your 8 points are correct. However, I note that you do not address the issue of real sin in the church today. My friend, I really do understand that God sees us as righteous, just as Balaam blessed Israel because he was shown Israel as God sees them in the eternal sense. But today, now, we must continually pursue that righteousness, and as James so aptly spoke, "You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected;" JAM 2:22. Frankly, I find this to be a matter of semantics. I think that 'load' was asking if we are suddenly perfect after we accept Jesus, that we are no longer affected by sin. My answer to him (or her) was that we are still affected and often swayed by sin even after salvation. Is it not true that even the 'converted' can sin? Peace unto you, in Jesus' name. |
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726 | Does Jesus' name satisfy Matt 28:19? | Acts 2:38 | charis | 374 | ||
Dear JVH0212 (again), Though I agree that Jesus Himself commanded that we baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, this command was pre-church. The church was created when the Holy Spirit was poured upon the gathered believers in Acts 2. Thereafter, I find no reference to any act being done in any other name than that of the Lord Jesus, the Christ. I find no action 'in the name of God,' or 'in the name of the Holy Spirit.' (Rom 2:24 is OT quote) Rather, I find that the name of Jesus (or Christ Jesus, or the Lord, etc.) is used extensively. I can't think of this as a 'formula.' Was Luke being brief or flippant? Were the apostles being disobedient to Jesus' command? I find it interesting to note that on TV we often hear 'in the name of God' or in a wedding scene 'in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost,' but never hear 'in the name of Jesus.' Is this because Jesus is a 'rock of offense' as the Bible (OT and NT) so clearly states? I well understand that abusing the name of Jesus by heartless and mindless utterance or meaningless repetition is not holy. However, the simplicity of His name should not be underestimated, nor should we become too 'religious' in our interpretation of scripture. I am not 'Jesus only' and I believe strongly in the Trinity, or triune nature of God. But that cannot negate the authority and the power of the name of Jesus, in fact it bolsters and confirms it. | ||||||
727 | Just as if I had never sinned? | 1 Cor 6:11 | charis | 365 | ||
Dear JVH0212, No misunderstanding. I was also referring to righteousness meaning no sin. The OT is our teacher, and Balaam was told by God that Israel was blameless, even though the other prophets proclaimed Israel's guilt. We of the NT can claim righteousness as an eternal reward of our faith, but in practice we have not yet achieved it. Please look at the note that I posted to the original questioner, 'load.' | ||||||
728 | Just as if I had never sinned? | 1 Cor 6:11 | charis | 357 | ||
Dear brother or sister JVH0212, I well understand the point of your answer. However, I am not sure if that was the question. I have asked load to clarify if he or she was asking about the future or the present. I am aware that Balaam could not curse Israel because they were righteous in God's sight. However, God Himself spoke through the prophets of Israel's constant sin and faithlessness. Perhaps if we call sin sin, we can be more effective in battling against it. As one saved by grace through faith, I hope fervently for His coming to complete salvation and resurrection. In the meantime, I will continue to run the race, embracing the ongoing grace to repent and the everyday cleansing power of the Holy Spirit. | ||||||
729 | Just as if I had never sinned? | 1 Cor 6:11 | charis | 304 | ||
Though I concur with JVH0212 that Jesus has declared the believer righteous, I must add that this 'point of salvation' sinlessness is academic. We are not free from self, sin, temptation or the 'spirit of the age' until the Lord returns and restores us to a pre-Adam state through resurrection. You might say that we have won the (eternal) war, but the (present) battles rage on daily. Except Jesus, no one I am aware of is without sin. Even the patriarchs and the apostles had their failures. We are to pursue righeousness, and hope in it, not claim it falsely. If the church were truly made up of sinless people, there would be no divisions, no 'backsliders,' no problems at all. If we say, "Those troublemakers are not counted as righteous, they are hell-bound," there wouldn't be anybody in the church at all. I know that I won't 'cast the first stone.' This said, I stand by my first answer. For the present time, there is no sinlessness. Anyone who lays claim to present perfection is living in denial. | ||||||
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