Well I see we’re off to a dandy start, Ephesians210: You begin by characterizing your “opponent” as “a subjectivist” – and I gather you do not intend that as a compliment.
I’ll be glad to tell you what some of the passages you wrote or cite mean to me (I can only get so much done on my lunch hour):
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1 Corinthians 2:15
But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
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Only God is “he who is spiritual”; Men are, with the best of will, imperfectly "spiritual": Man is weak, corrupt, prone to sin. God Is Perfect -- perfect Love, Wisdom, Will. These lines say to me that God judges all things; but no man can “rightly judge” Him. (Which I just did -- that is, I "judged Him." You can say whether I have done so "rightly" or not.)
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6"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.(Matthew 7:6)
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You wrote: “How can you follow that command unless you first determine(judge), who are dogs and swine?”
Ah, there’s the rub! How do you determine this? Do you look deeply into a man and just see that he is a dog or a swine? Do you have the infallible wisdom to know these things?
Q.: How do you know that God has already judged Joseph Smith?
A.: Because God has already said that heretics and false prophets will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
And so God has told you that Joseph Smith is a heretic and false prophet? Or was it perhaps the case that a man has told you this?
Q.: Do you understand your wisdom to be greater than the Lord's?
A.: No, I follow God's Word, which is Wisdom.
And so you are saying that your human mind knows all the things that are in the Mind of God? That your wisdom is as great as His, so much so that it enables you completely to understand His mind, His purpose, His will?
I say, leave the issue to Him;
You wrote: “God says differently. I will believe God and not you.”
Then you agree with me!!! :^)
…for Joseph Smith is as much His child as you or I….
You wrote: “No, only the elect who have trusted in Christ have the right to be called the children of God.” Well then, what am I missing here? LDS follows Christ – unless I am very much mistaken. (Though maybe they aren’t following Him the way you think they should….)
Sorry Ephesians210, but I’m running out of time to write for now. Must get back to work. Will post this “as is” – I would have liked to continue, but here is where I must leave off for now.
Perhaps I’ll have a chance to continue a little later in the day. Thank you kindly for writing!
Statements like this: I’ll be glad to tell you what some of the passages you wrote or cite mean to me...
Instead of what God said, the subjectivists says, "this is what it means to me"(which requires the subjectivist reads into God's Word want they already "feel", instead of letting the text speak itself, within the context of the entirety of Scripture.
1 Corinthians 2:
14But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?"[5] But we have the mind of Christ.
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Where you greatly err is reading into the text what your subjective feelings want to see instead of reading the text for what IT is saying.
Ah, there’s the rub! How do you determine this? Do you look deeply into a man and just see that he is a dog or a swine?
I don't have to "look into deeply into a man", Jesus said we would know them by their fruit. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Their words and deeds reveal them.
Do you have the infallible wisdom to know these things?
Yes, I do, in God's Word, as opposed to subjective feelings. But you didn't really answer the question, instead you used the old ploy of shooting off a barrage of deflective questions, which I have in intellectual and Christian love, responded to. I would ask you do the same.
Re: 6"Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.(Matthew 7:6) ===============================
You wrote: “How can you follow that command unless you first determine(judge), who are dogs and swine?”
Am I to take it from your response that you do not accept that command of Jesus seriously?
Or maybe you divert to keep from answering because the answer will contradict your feelings about "judging"?
Then you agree with me!!! :^)
No, what I'm saying, and have backed it up with God's Word, is that you are terribly wrong, and are in conflict with God's Word.
And so God has told you that Joseph Smith is a heretic and false prophet? Or was it perhaps the case that a man has told you this?
Jesus said we would know wolves in sheep's clothing by their fruit. Joseph Smith's fruit was bad, bad, bad, very, very bad. He taught a false jesus, a false gospel, and was as lewd a character as there is. I compare his teaching to that of Scripture and can clearly see that he was a false prophet. Maybe if you took God's Word more seriously you would learn these things.
Galatians 1:
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
Joseph Smith taught a false gospel and false jesus, and was under the curse of God.
LDS follows Christ – unless I am very much mistaken.
Yes, you are very much mistaken, on a lot of things. Is your jesus a created being?
Is your jesus the spirit brother of Lucifer?
Is your jesus a god who has his own planet with millions of celestial wives that he has celestial sex with?
(Though maybe they aren’t following Him the way you think they should….)
No, they are following a false jesus and a false gospel, who is not the same as the Jesus of the Bible and historic Christian faith.
I'm curious, are you LDS?
Quite the opposite, Scripture makes it VERY clear that we ARE to judge the spiritual condition of others.
Do you evangelize? How do YOU know who to present the gospel to?
2Cr 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
2Cr 6:15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
2Cr 6:16
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
2Cr 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you,
1 Corinthians 6:2-5
Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?
Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
The admonision is not to judge another when you are a servant to the same sin yourself..rather repent your sin first .
Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
Mat 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye?
Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Jhn 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
2 Timothy 4:1-3 1. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:
2. Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.
3. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
Ah, there’s the rub! How do you determine this? Do you look deeply into a man and just see that he is a dog or a swine? Do you have the infallible wisdom to know these things?
God has given us a measuring rod (canon) to use . We can determine the condition of the tree by its fruit . The word of God is our measure for judging the spiritual conditions of others as well as ourself.
And so you are saying that your human mind knows all the things that are in the Mind of God? That your wisdom is as great as His, so much so that it enables you completely to understand His mind, His purpose, His will?
The saved have the mind of Christ .
1Cr 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Cr 2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
1Cr 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.
1Cr 2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
1Cr 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
for Joseph Smith is as much His child as you or I…. You wrote: “No, only the elect who have trusted in Christ have the right to be called the children of God.” Well then, what am I missing here? LDS follows Christ – unless I am very much mistaken. (Though maybe they aren’t following Him the way you think they should….)
I would suggest a study of Mormonism to see what christ they follow and see if it is the same jesus you follow . The jesus they worship is the spirit child of the heavenly father and mother and the spirit brother of Lucifer. There is much other doctrine that shows the difference. Even the 'prophet" of the Mormons admits it is a different jesus
The Prophet Hinckley responds: "No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they [non-Mormons] speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. He together with His Father, appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in the year 1820, and when Joseph left the grove that day, he knew more of the nature of God than all the learned ministers of the gospel of the ages" (LDS Church News Week 6/20/98, p.7).
All doctrine is not equal , we are called to have the discernment as given to us at the time of Salvation to guide us into all truth
Jesus warned us
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.