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To: Dutchboy88

If he had nothing to do with them, why was he writing them a pastoral letter?


73 posted on 10/26/2011 2:11:32 PM PDT by BenKenobi (Honkeys for Herman! 10 percent is enough for God; 9 percent is enough for government)
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To: BenKenobi
"If he had nothing to do with them, why was he writing them a pastoral letter?"

According to the letter, he noticed some strife amongst the Jewish and non-Jewish believers, part of which arose due to a misunderstanding of the deterministic character of the Gospel. Jews often had a residual self-righteous attitude derived from years of thinking they were pleasing God by their actions under the Mosaic Law. Paul goes to great lengths to correct this misunderstanding and remind them that no one sought God, no one obeyed, none were righteous.

He then went on to explain grace was a non-transactional gift from God given to those whom He chose...not determined by the man himself. "So then, it does not depend upon the man who runs (acts) or upon the man who wills (chooses), but upon God...and He will have mercy upon whom He will and He will harden whom He will."

This kind of utter control by God is precisely why He does not need denominations or organizations to manage His congregations world wide. Those who are not enslaved to a particular organization simply gather per the clear, unambiguous instructions of the Scriptures.

And, I suspect God abhors abortion. But, what do you believe about obesity?

75 posted on 10/26/2011 2:52:54 PM PDT by Dutchboy88
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