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Veddy long, but veddy good!

Thanks for the post!

Going to pass this on to my son. He's 20. If he reads half (he probably will), he'll profit thereby.

Sauron

John the Baptist proclaimed in the wilderness to " REPENT " for the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Why tell already moral people who were keeping the law to repent ?
The Greek meaning of repent far from what we have been indoctrinated by the so called " religious " community is actually translated to mean, to have to change of mind.
The litteral meaning of the Greek word metanoia is to have a change of one's mind.
Some would go on and say it means to repent from sin and keep God's law, to have a change of mind of one's own sins.
However ? The nation of Israel already had God's laws and know what is required of them concerning sin.
Repentance is also taught in the Old Testament.
So ? what was John the Baptist getting at ? his total message ? for it was a new kind of message shouted in the wilderness.
John's message perhaps meant to turn from one's attitude towards their own self efforts, one's self reasoning, one's self striving to justify themselves before God.
For by the law no man can ever be made justified before God.
Change your thinking, attitude that you can save yourself by keeping the law for the Kingdom of God was at hand and the Savoir is coming with Salvation in his wings.
Have a change of one's mind of how we related to God now, now we have a mediator, a go between between man and God.
Have a change of one's mind that you can try to save your self and rely on God's perfect plan of Salvation only in Christ Jesus Yeshua.
One must be born again to enter into the Kingdom of God, a new birth not made by human hands, or not made by human self efforts, not made by the arm of the flesh, but reborn of the spirit of God.
Jesus said what is of the flesh is of the flesh, what is of the spirit is of the spirit, and no, Jesus was not saying the the flesh here means, sin, sin, sin.
What Jesus was talking about here is that a new birth is by the holy spirit, a new birth by God.
Salvation is not in the arm of the flesh, nor is the new birth in the arm of the flesh, i.e. human efforts of keeping the law, it's by God's grace and God's grace alone in Jesus Christ Yeshua.
That is the truth of the Gospel, and for those who do not accept it, not believe it are blinded to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the the god of this world, the prince of this world the devil.

A lot of discussion about what it would mean for Nicodemus to visit Jesus at night. I’m curious where Jesus would have been at night. Was He camping out? Was He staying with friends? Was John there listening? At any rate, that divinely arranged visit gave us the famous John 3:16.

The message of the Gospel ? Gods saves sinners through Jesus Christ.