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NASB | Matthew 7:24 ¶ "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 7:24 ¶ "So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, will be like a wise man [a far-sighted, practical, and sensible man] who built his house on the rock. [Luke 6:47-49] |
Subject: Are the declared righteous righteous? |
Bible Note: "You did not address 2 Pet 1:4 that I recall. It says that we are partakers of the divine nature. You have admitted that you have a new nature in Christ (which, in all reality, is not part of justification). Is this new nature righteous in constitution? If it is divine (coming from God), then wouldn't it be so?" Sorry, I meant to address it, but that blasted 5000-word limit keeps on making me edit myself (for the benefit of everyone else here, I am sure they will say!). We are partakers of the divine nature. That divine nature isn;t us. We don't partake of ourselves. We are partakers of Christ's divine nature. That is what the Lord's Supper, among other things, represents. Just as we partake of the elements, that points to our partaking of Christ's Spirit. See 1 Corinthians 12:13 for a parallel illustration. Partake means to "take part in" something, not to "be" something. We will never have a divine nature. That is reserved for Deity alone. You wrote: 'It's that simple. Unfortunately, it's not "acceptable" by much of the Christian community that believes that the only difference between the Christian and the sinner is that the Christian is forgiven.' I don't believe that at all. We are different from the unregenerate. You seem to think that the only two natures we can have are "fallen/natural" and "altogether righteous and holy" or even "divine." My new nature is not righteous yet (although it is becoming so by God's grace), but it certainly isn't the same as the one I had before my conversion. --Joe! |