Posted on 07/19/2018 7:39:46 AM PDT by Salvation
It is more than obvious that the true body and bride of Christ is that SPIRITUAL temple of which each and every born again believer is a member. These members, though maybe attending different worship services and fellowshipping with different congregations under different names, are ALL building blocks of the true CHURCH. It is faith in the Gospel that unites us.
Yep. It’s not rocket science, but if someone is a 1st Corinthians 2:14 type person, they are devoid of any spiritual understanding at all, so I can see why they don’t understand the concept.
As you know, I live in the belly of the beast. I attend a Saturday morning prayer/breakfast meeting. Usually, there are about 30 people there. I don’t hardly know what denomination any of them attend, but I know that about two thirds of them are ex Catholics, like me. It is a mission field here. 👍 Many are called, and some are being chosen. 😇
From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy and you are that temple.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy and you are that temple.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
‘Defending YOUR religion! Yes, you try to defend Catholicism, but not Christianity since you are still clueless.
It is THAT body, the body of believers born again, from above, who Paul cited as the ‘one’ not discerned by those who take communion unworthily. We are in THAT body by ONLY the Grace of God in Christ our Lord.
All sin has the same consequence and same penalty and the important thing is NOT how offensive the sin is, but that it's disobedience to God.
Yes, all sin is disobedience to God. This does not in any way mean that all disobedience is equivalent. Think about anyone you know and imagine how warped your relationship with them would be if treated them in this odd way.
James has this to say and he's talking about playing favorites.
None of which in anyway makes the case for the false equivalency you keep advocating. Sin and all other offenses vary in scope, effect, and consequence.
Did you ever see some of the sins God lumps together? Things that we don't consider very serious, HE takes VERY seriously indeed, because God looks at the intent of the heart.
Aggregation is not equivocation and it is logically erroneous to say they are the same. A quarter, a dime, a nickel, and a penny are all coins and all have monetary worth, but they do not have the same size, weight, or value.
The issue isn't the offensiveness of the sin
It is if we love Him. We may be doomed to offend Him in this life because of our sinful natures, but that doesn't mean that we can't offend Him less. We should try to offend those we love as little as possible and to the smallest degree possible.
...ALL sin is offensive to God as all of it violates His holy character.
Sure it does, but you err in saying that this means that all sins are all equal before Him. There is a clear mistake in the logic you are using.
WE'RE the ones who categorize sin.
We do if we care about sinning less and in less severe ways. Just like physicians need to categorize and classify diseases in order to effectively treat and cure them, we need to do the same with our sins if we are to have any hope of overcoming them. We may still be sinners, but as our sins become smaller and less destructive we are able to grow closer to Him.
Again, nothing you have written has made the case for your false equivocation of sin and your oversimplification of God's ability to distinguish between sins. As a fellow Christian (whether or not you happen to think that Catholics are Christian) I hope that you can see past this misconception. Mistakenly thinking that all offenses against our earthly fathers are equivalent would ultimately lead to distant and even hostile relationships within our immediate families. The same holds true if we think about our relationship with God in the same distorted way.
HOWEVER,.....
Sure it does, but you err in saying that this means that all sins are all equal before Him. There is a clear mistake in the logic you are using.
I have to disagree with you here because of this.....
Matthew 5:21-26 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
James 2:8-11 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
In these places, Jesus and John equate the intent or the thought with the action and James lumps in playing favorites with murder and adultery.
And what we read in Scripture in regard to sin, is GOD'S perspective.
And this......
Proverbs 6:16-19 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
All but one are sins that we would not consider biggies.
Jesus clearly raised the bar in terms of what constituted sin and certainly any sin no matter how small merits eternal separation from Him. However, none of this means that all sins have equal gravity before God. There is a disconnect in your logic here. You conclusion is not justified by any of the scripture you have quoted. This one logical error leads to an entirely incorrect collusion.
And what we read in Scripture in regard to sin, is GOD'S perspective.
What we have in scripture is His message for us. He has very high standards for us, but that doesn't mean he can't differentiate between our levels of failure. Mistakenly thinking that He can't causes us to falsely equates all sin and leads us to a legalistic hopelessness. We need to always try our best to sin as infrequently as possible and as in as small a way as possible. Surely you agree with this?
And this...All but one are sins that we would not consider biggies.
God hates all sin, there is no doubt about this. However, this in no way means that He hates all sin equally. He never said that all sins are equal. To the contrary, Jesus did say that some particular sins "cry out to Heaven for vengeance". Therefore, Jesus Himself did make distinctions about the seriousness of certain sins. The problem with the error of mistakenly thinking the God doesn't distinguish between sins is that it makes God into an institution instead of a person and distorts our relationship with Him.
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