Sad News About Charles Stanley’s In Touch Magazine

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=12341 ^ | July 25th, 2013 | Ligthouse Trails Editors

[GeronL]

Well, why would adults waste their time with you?

Were Noah a Protestant he would probably sit and wait till God delivered the boat.

Very childish. The Catholic Church didn't exist at that time either. Very petty.

[annalex]

I illustrated “faith alone”, the cornerstone Protestant heresy.

[GeronL]

I illustrated absurdity

[boatbums]

“Born of water and spirit” is a reference to baptism, same as in 1 Peter 3:21. If Christ wanted to say “born of womb and spirit”, He would have said so. This is typical Protestant twisting of the Holy Scripture, to the point that words don’t mean anything to a Protestant “reader”.

More like typical Roman Catholic twisting and perversion of Holy Scripture to the point that the VERY NEXT WORDS are ignored. Read on...

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. (John 3:5,6)

Jesus, Himself, explains that the "born of water" is "flesh gives birth to flesh" and "born of the Spirit" is "Spirit gives birth to spirit.". It's really not all that hard to figure out when one reads passages IN their context.

[boatbums]

Christ’s works are imputed to the believer

They are "imputed" -- here's a Protestant weasel word -- if the believer does them, and not if he doesn't.

A Protestant "weasel word"??? Guess Paul and James were "Protestants", then. Perhaps you can show us where the Catholic weasel word of "infused" is found anywhere in Holy Scripture? Imputed is a word used both in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. In the Greek it's "logizomai" and means to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over, to pass to one's account (i.e.; a thing is reckoned as or to be something, as availing for or equivalent to something, as having the like force and weight). For example:

Leviticus 7:18
And if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings be eaten at all on the third day, it shall not be accepted, neither shall it be imputed unto him that offereth it: it shall be an abomination, and the soul that eateth of it shall bear his iniquity.

Psalm 32:2
Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

Romans 4:6
Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

Romans 4:8
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Romans 4:11
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also

Romans 4:22-24
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

Romans 5:13
(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

James 2:23
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

When Scripture speaks of the righteousness of God being IMPUTED to the one who has faith in Him, it is NOT the believers' righteousness but God's. There is NO other way that we can have the righteousness required to be in the presence of the all holy God. It is HIS righteousness imputed to our account BY faith. Why doubt God?

[boatbums]

You are trying. Try harder.

You aren't trying hard enough.

[boatbums]

A good illustration of what a flight of fancy Mormonism is compared to Catholic Christianity.

Are you under the mistaken impression that Elsie is a Mormon? Someone's not paying attention.

[boatbums]

My thoughts on this subject relate to what Scripture tells us is important to our spiritual lives. We are told to not forsake the assembly of ourselves together, but not on what day nor how often. We are told that when we do participate in the Lord's Supper ordinance, how to prepare our hearts for this remembrance and why we do it. We have the written traditions of how the early church conducted themselves through the writings of ancient church leaders, but no clear cut commands for them in Scripture. I would expect that the Apostles would not have failed to mention them had they been essential aspects of the rule of faith. As such, I repeat, there is a "liberty" we have in areas where Scripture is not perspicuous. I do not begrudge traditions of various churches and feel these are things each believer should determine for himself between him and God. Where I do object is when particular religious organizations try to impose their rules on all other Christians and insist that ONLY their way is "correct" and those who do not do it as they do it are condemned by God. They presume too much.

Thanks for your graceful teaching spirit.

[boatbums]

God simply adds it to our account, declaring us righteous in His eyes with NO contribution on our part.

That is the ONLY way we can be declared as righteous as God - He IMPUTES His righteousness to our account. There IS no other way!

[boatbums]

No you don’t. You read the Bible and imagine things not in it. I read the Bible and see my Church in every verse.

Try to read other's minds much??? I notice you doing that a lot. How come?

Because other Christians reject the Roman Catholic worldview doesn't mean they are incapable of understanding Holy Scripture or pretend and imagine things are there when they are not. That is more up the Catholic road of operation. Entire dogmas got created by woulda, coulda and shoulda or vain imaginings. The Bible is not a code book needing a magesterial cypher to get to the meaning God intended to communicate. He DID, however, tell us that the "natural" man (non-Spirit filled) cannot understand it and it will sound foolish to him because it can only be "Spiritually" discerned to ones' heart BY the Holy Spirit.

[imardmd1]

I also appreciate your thoughtful and detailed comments on topical discussions that are often tumultuous and sometimes abrasive.

I wish there was less divisive comments from the Romanists, but maybe it is to warn us to always have donned the Spiritual armor and stand our ground against malice toward the Gospel we promote. God knows.

[imardmd1]

Dumb or not, St. Peter made it. If you find the Holy Bible dumb, why do you pretend to argue from it?

No the dumbness is not Peter', it's your catechistical interpretation that doesn't make grammatical sense.

Maybe you could study it out a bit?

[imardmd1]

your problem is the classical problem of those requiring water for a spiritual event. Of course, the blindness and groping for hermeneutical straws is the fixation of the natural mind, the power behind the control of simpletons. Baptismal regeneration is not agreeable with Noah’s story or Peter’s.

[imardmd1]

If He meant birth by womb and birth by spirit He could say so plainly, since Nicodemus' reference was to the "womb" and not to "amneotic fluid".

Jesus did answer plainly. What makes his answer a riddle? Jesus' answer to the womb question, the container in which the babe floats for months in the amniotic (check your spelling) fluid, which, when the mother is announcing the babe's coming emergence shouts, "My water broke!"

Are you getting this?

[imardmd1]

I read the Bible and see my Church in every verse.

I read my Bible and see Jesus in every verse. Hmmm . . .

[imardmd1]

Were Noah a Protestant he would probably sit and wait till God delivered the boat.

Noah waited until . . . ah, who was it, now, that delivered the water? and kept Noah out of it?

[Elsie]

...and whether or not the assembly has been ordered to...

I like orders!

They are something you HAVE to do!

[Elsie]

...Himself was baptized in water...

Why?

[Elsie]

You read the Bible and imagine things not in it.

Catholics read the bible and say, "Dang! There has GOT to be more than THIS!"

[Elsie]

Apples and oranges.