Posted on 10/31/2010 11:59:22 AM PDT by RnMomof7
In Christ Alone lyrics
Songwriters: Getty, Julian Keith; Townend, Stuart Richard;
In Christ alone my hope is found He is my light, my strength, my song This Cornerstone, this solid ground Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are stilled, when strivings cease My Comforter, my All in All Here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone, who took on flesh Fullness of God in helpless Babe This gift of love and righteousness Scorned by the ones He came to save
?Til on that cross as Jesus died The wrath of God was satisfied For every sin on Him was laid Here in the death of Christ I live, I live
There in the ground His body lay Light of the world by darkness slain Then bursting forth in glorious Day Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory Sin?s curse has lost its grip on me For I am His and He is mine Bought with the precious blood of Christ
Perhaps you don't understand anything of consequence.
He's kind and brilliant!
Doesn't seem to take much to impress you.
Absolute criteria would be an unattainable, but approachable ideal of certainty. The greater the probability and statistical confidence, the closer you are to the ideal.
Not unlike what you referred to earlier when you stated that "our proofs must be compatible with our nature"
That's not "metaphysical." Our nature is material. Our size, and our makeup determines what we can and cannot do, what we can and cannot see, etc.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead as an event in space/time history - would that qualify as something supernatural in your mind?
Not necessarily.
“How about the World to Come and skip all the blood and guts?”
He may not eternally like all of his relatives.
God has relatives?
“God has relatives?:
Aren’t we his children?
I hope you realize that God is here speaking to the Exiles and that he is promising them that after 70 years in Babylon he will bring them back to Israel. In the meantime he devises a "plan" for them to build homes, get on the good side of the city where he sent them, have children and live in peace.
This is not the plan (of salvation) Christians are talking about.
Then it wouldn't be absolute.
The greater the probability and statistical confidence, the closer you are to the ideal.
That still doesn't explain the criteria. You have to know what the ideal IS first, not just what you think it is. It requires an objective, outside standard to which to compare and anything man sets up is philosophical in nature and therefore subjective, which makes it useless in determining anything *absolute*.
I thought we were his pots!
Okay, let's say that this time, for the sake of the argument, we are his 'relatives.' You said "He may not eternally like all of his relatives."
Don't you think he would have known that from all eternity, so why did he bother making them? Like I said, why all the blood and guts, when the ultimate goal is the world to come where everybody will mindlessly be good (incapable of sinning)!
*we*? You’re being generous....
Hebrews 11:6
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
So much for anyone who plays the heroic agnostic.
It’s just a sham that the devil uses to trap people and make them feel superior to others.
C.S. Lewis has a lot to say about that kind of thinking.
No, mom, lol, the criteria are ideal, by definition; the results are approaching it to various degree.
That still doesn't explain the criteria
You define criteria.
You have to know what the ideal IS first, not just what you think it is
Sure, absolute zero temperature is when all molecular activity stops, by definition.
It requires an objective, outside standard to which to compare and anything man sets up is philosophical in nature and therefore subjective, which makes it useless in determining anything *absolute*.
I guess science is not your bread and butter. When it comes to historical things, then the more documents from different sources, pro and con, the more complete and verifiable picture one can have. Of course, a live recording of someone's speech is approaching ideal as compared to some alleged eye-witness account 50 years later.
LOLOL. "The wrath of the Lord" per the RCC catechism, is "an afterthought?"
LOL. Yeah, right. Along those same lines according to Rome, Scripture is "an afterthought."
The whole WCF up until now has told us that the reprobate cannot avoid sin and cannot be saved.
Look up the definition of the word "reprobate," Mark. It will help prevent further errors on your part. Do you think "the reprobate" can avoid sin and be saved?
Just what is your definition of "reprobate?"
Amen. Yet God will not be mocked. Mercifully, He promises to "bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts."
lol. If only they knew as much as they think they know about what they think they know. 8~)
You know, you have done this before. You ask a question and it gets answered and then you change your original question. For example, you asked:
Where does God say "I have a reason, a purpose and a plan and you are part of it"?
I gave you the scripture passage from Jeremiah that spoke to that, but it's not acceptable because you say it was speaking to only certain people - ignoring the point that God does not only give the promise for one time only and he is no a respecter of persons, meaning he does not show favoritism towards anyone. So now you are asking for where scripture says God has a "plan for salvation"? I could give you hundreds, but tell me, do you want OT or NT, because it's in both. How many would satisfy your request? Would Paul be acceptable or is Jesus the only goto guy? I would like to know before I start feeling like that cat toy again. :o)
May I ask why you believe in some kind of "God"? On what do you base that knowledge? I would really like to know your answer.
ignoring the point that God does not only give the promise for one time only and he is no a respecter of persons, meaning he does not show favoritism towards anyone.
Sure he does, he shows favoritism to his people, meaning the Jews. He makes that perfectly clear throughout the OT. He doesn't necessarily show favoritism individually withing the Jewish community, but as far as his preference, there is no doubt about who his people are.
So now you are asking for where scripture says God has a "plan for salvation"?
Not really. The only reason I mentioned salvation is because the so-called "plan" and "purpose" (actually boule, or counsel, in Greek), is understood by the Christians as having been the Grand Plan of God's form all eternity, namely the salvation of the elect, and Jeremiah's verses definitely do not point in that direction.
I am just curious why would God create a sinless world, let it fall, just so that he can restore it again with blood an guts. Doesn't sound like a great plan to me.
At any rate I can think of a few verses, where boule occurs, such as Luke 7:30, implying that God's purpose was to baptize the Jews by John the Baptist, which is unsupported by anything in the OT= because the OT God does not require baptism but circumcision.
Or in Acts 2:23, 4:28, 20:27...a clear pattern emerges, namely that it is Luke's innovation because nothing like it prefigures such a thing in the Old Testament.
I don't discount the possibility that there is a Creator. No matter how certain or remote it may seem, the possibility is there, but I certainly don't know.
"But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." -- Titus 3:4-7"...even to morrow the LORD will shew who are His, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him." -- Numbers 16:5
That's a plan.
Yes, that would be whan many ex-Catholic say. But examine their knowledge of scripture and you get no knowledge, just the Protestant pap poorly supported by a few taken out of context Bible quotes. That is certainly the case with you. Your Bible quotes are long, but you do not seem to understand the nature of the question and what these verses actually say, and don't notice what they do not say. You -- plural -- do not have a knowledge of scripture. You have a collection of prooftexts that someone told you to shake in the air.
Thus, there's no point for purgatory
I don't think you get to decide what in the Bible has a "point" and what has no "point". Further, if you examine the scripture, you learn the point: so that a purified "building" -- the soul -- can enter Heaven: "but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire" (1 Cor 3:15).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.