The first thing I have to say is that it does trouble me greatly that you talk of part of this discussion as sidetracking and going into esoteric points. It is nothing of the sort. It all relates directly to salvation, and if there really is a Heaven and a Hell and all that the Bible says is true, then this is all that matters, and that’s the message that Jesus Himself preached to people.
We also have to be very careful to let God speak to us. Our rebellious natures can deceive us. What the Lord says is true is reality, and we are infinitely better off to accept that and whatever He says. We need to be getting closer all the time to His will, and to ask Him to change us however we need to be changed. (cont’d)
>>>The first thing I have to say is that it does trouble me greatly that you talk of part of this discussion as sidetracking and going into esoteric points. It is nothing of the sort.<<<
That is a very strange comment, indeed. Do you not recall what you have written? I recommend you can go back to my original post #305 and analyze how the conversation went from my simple comments, to your accusatory statements about “works of the law” and your rambling lectures about things that (certainly) only you understand.
Philip
I wasn’t able to finish my reply last night and can’t right now, either, but we are not justified through works. Jesus spoke of giving alms, prayer, and fasting, and spoke of doing them “in secret” so as to not lose one’s reward. But even there, He wasn’t creating a new rule but instructing that the motive of the heart was what mattered to God. And the point on love was that you said anyone can simply follow the “new law of love,” and then you said “love is love” and pointed to a statement Jesus made on it (the Good Samaritan parable). So you either couldn’t define it or needed Jesus to, but that’s only a start because, going by feeling and their deceptive hearts, people can say things are “love” that aren’t. Love has to agree with truth, and that is the truth of Lord Jesus.