Posted on 01/14/2011 5:57:52 PM PST by topcat54
Evangelical book catalogs promote books such as Planet Earth: The Final Chapter, The Great Escape, and the Left Behind series. Bumper stickers warn us that the vehicle’s occupants may disappear at any moment. It is clear that there is a preoccupation with the idea of a secret rapture. Perhaps this has become more pronounced recently due to the expectation of a new millennium and the fears regarding potential Y2K problems. Perhaps psychologically people are especially receptive to the idea of an imminent, secret rapture at the present time. Additionally, many Christians are not aware that any other position relative to the second coming of Jesus Christ exists. Even in Reformed circles there are numerous people reading these books. Many of these people are unaware that this viewpoint conflicts with Scripture and Reformed Theology.
(Excerpt) Read more at reformed.org ...
“But there’s always been only ONE people of God - those who have been saved by grace through faith in either the coming of or the arrival of Jesus Christ.”
Absolutely. My view entirely. We will all be one people. But the promises yet to be fulfilled for the Jewish people remain.
“God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” Numbers 23:19
So say you. I do not believe that. Anyone can claim anything on the internet.
But regeneration does precede faith (in the ordo salutis), otherwise saving faith would be impossible (it’s a gift, you know). You have to be made alive before you can hear Christ’s words and walk out of the tomb. Only the (regenerating) power of the Holy Spirit can make (spiritually) dead men alive.
“I do not believe that. Anyone can claim anything on the internet.”
These life-long ex-Catholics are remarkably ignorant about Catholicism.
Ditto.
All my extended family is Catholic.
Ditto.
I’m anti-Catholicism. I oppose the telling of false doctrine as truth that the Catholic church engages in.
Sure, but stretching the truth?
I still do not understand how, in your world, drinking and smoking get written up alongside adultery and sodomy as great sins of Roman Catholicism. Why not add j-walking?
A drunkard cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Let alone be shepherds. Smoking is a drug addiction.
All the promises to the Jewish people involve salvation in Jesus Christ and inclusion in His one true body, the Church. They will return to the faith of their father Abraham. There is no greater blessing awaiting any people, Jewish or otherwise, than recognizing Messiah and shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' Hosanna in the highest!" It’s been going on now for 2000 years.
And it won’t take a “rapture” to make it all happen.
Abuse of anything, including sex and food, is always to be avoided. But merely engaging in an otherwise adiaphora activity is not sin. Smoking (moderate tobacco use) is no more of a “drug addiction” than eating a slice of peach pie. Just ask the Pharisees who were condemned by Jesus for this sort of legalistic view.
Mixing truth and error will never get you to where you need to be.
right, if it’s not an addiction, try quitting
No, that event will be the fulfillment of Zech. 12 & 13, and Rev. 1:7, when the hardness & blindness is removed from the Jews, they recognize their Messiah Jesus, repent and are re-grafted into the vine.
Yes. And? Moderate use of all things not condemned by God can be a great blessing, and honoring to God. Binding one’s conscience to the non-biblical restrictions of others is problematic.
So far, they're amateur ex-Catholics. None that I see good enough to be a pro.
You mean as opposed to the “run-of-the-mill” Jews that this happens to every day? Some special time … another day of salvation … after the rapture … of the Church … with all these other “run-of-the-mill” Jews?
If it’s not an addiction why would you need to quit?
I consider myself a moderate tobacco user. On occasion I smoke pipes, cigars, and cigarettes. I sometimes go weeks even months without using any of these things. (I went about 20 years at one stretch without using any tobacco.)
One cigar or 2-3 cigarettes a day is my usual practice. In fact right now I haven’t had a smoke since early Fall. I’ll probably start up again when the weather breaks. I enjoy it. It’s one of God’s blessings.
Is that an “addiction” in your world?
I am also a moderate tobacco user. I smoke between 5-10 cigarettes per day, except when I’m busy, or if it’s inconvenient. No doctor has ever suggested I quit.
“You mean as opposed to the “run-of-the-mill” Jews that this happens to every day? Some special time … another day of salvation … after the rapture … of the Church … with all these other “run-of-the-mill” Jews?”
Yes.......that’s what it says in..........the Bible.
Interesting.
Does God consider one sin worse than another?
Who made up the artificial designations of categories of sins?
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