Posted on 08/08/2006 1:06:47 PM PDT by Gamecock
I love you, Clay! (And I got to do it again, to two at once, yesterday!)
Romans 10:4 (in the Amplified)
For Christ is the end of the Law [the limit at which it ceases to be, for the Law leads up to Him Who is the fulfillment of its types, and in Him the purpose which it was designed to accomplish is fulfilled. That is, the purpose of the Law is fulfilled in Him] as the means of righteousness (right relationship to God) for everyone who trusts in and adheres to and relies on Him.Using your example from the Scripture of the two thieves on their crosses next to Jesus, I ask, once Jesus discoursed with him who recognized the Lord (Luke 23:42-43)...
Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come in Your kingly glory!"...did the repentant man , believe and rejoice, or failing to believe the Word spoken to him did he take up a lament?And He answered him, "Truly I tell you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise."
How much lamenting over past sin, once forgiveness is granted, is enough? From the other Scripture passage you cite:
"I tell you, this man went down to his home justified (forgiven and made upright and in right standing with God), rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted [will EXALT]."
Another passage of Scripture comes to mind (Hebrews 10:16-39):
For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was [indeed] sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, The LORD will judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.The joy of the Lord is my strength!But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward! For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
For yet a little while,But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
Now the just
[that is, those who are justified, see Romans 3:26 and 8:32-34]
shall live!
by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.
Colossians 2:6-10As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up! in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
A reminder to any heart willing to receive the Truth:
The ground is level at the foot of the cross.
PS - You post: "Let me elaborate a little by relaying a story about John Newton. That great Calvinist..."
John Newton was a Christian - that is, he was looking to Christ for his salvation, not Calvin. I state publicly and boldly that he (and every saint!) would choose the name Christian before, above and even excluding if necessary the name "Calvinist." He wrote songs blessing the God of his salvation, not man. The epitaph which he wrote with his own hand:
CC&E
CC&E
CC&E (only watched because my sister loves that guy)
"Christianity is not a religion; its the proclamation of the end of religion. Religion is a human activity dedicated to the job of reconciling God to humanity and humanity to itself. The Gospel, however - the Good News of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - is the astonishing announcement that God has done the whole work of reconciliation without a scrap of human assistance. It is the bizarre proclamation that religion is over, period. All the efforts of the human race to straighten up the mess of history by plausible religious devices - all the chicken sacrifices, all the fasts, all the mysticism, all the moral exhortations, all the threats - have been canceled by God for lack of saving interest. More astonishingly still, their purpose has been fulfilled, once for all and free for nothing, by the totally non-religious death and resurrection of a Galilean nobody. Admittedly, Christians may use the forms of religion - but only because the church is the sign to the world of Gods accomplishment of what religion tried (and failed) to do, not because any of the churchs devices can actually get the job done. The church, therefore, must always be on its guard against giving the impression that its rites, ceremonies, and requirements have any religious efficacy in and of themselves. All such things are simply sacraments - real presences under particular signs - of the indiscriminate gift of grace that God in Christ has given everybody." -Robert Capon
I thank you so much .30Carbine for that loving response and love you too! God "called" and you answered by laying down your own life. You belong to Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. He's doing the work through you:
Jhn 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Jhn 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
1Pet 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, [see that ye] love one another with a pure heart fervently:
May God be the Glory
He already is...and I may steal that for a tagline! (;
Thank you, dear Clay. Be immensely blessed, as thou hast immensely blessed me this day.
bump
I always heard it as,
"We don't drink, smoke, cuss, or chew, or run around with them that do"
As a Baptist, I take issue with what you said about Baptists. Baptists do not hate everything. In fact, Baptists don’t agree on everything. Some Baptists are theologically liberal; others are theologically conservative. Some are amillennial. Some are premillennial. Some are postmillennial. And on and on I could go.
Amen. Jesus said that He came seeking the lost. The lost didn’t go all over the countryside seeking Him.
What is a “christian”.. ?
The hidden treasure is not Christ. The field is the world. Christ is not hidden in the world. Lost people are the ones hidden in the world. Christ is not hidden in a field. He does not hide somewhere and expect us to go and find Him. Nor does the sinner find Christ and then hide Him again. The sinner doesn’t sell anything to buy the world (which the field represents), in order to gain Christ. The sinner must forsake the world to gain Christ. Furthermore, the sinner cannot buy Christ.
The sinner is therefore not the buyer of the field, nor is Christ the hidden treasure. Jesus is the buyer of the field, and saved people are the treasure for whose sake Christ bought the field.
The kingdom of heaven is what is hidden. That’s obvious from the post and the scripture. However, “unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom...”
I’ll throw in my usual disclaimer that I don’t have much use for Rick Warren et al, but I always find it interesting to note that MANY folks who rail about “megachurches” come from megachurches (i.e, denominations that numerically dwarf the so-called “megachurches”).
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