Posted on 05/26/2014 7:44:27 PM PDT by discipler
Well, the concrete part I know is it’s part of OT prophecy of the coming of Christ and the establishment of his kingdom; he reigns today at the right hand of God.
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
One OT prophetic verse:
Jeremiah 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And this is of course confirmed in the NT.
2 Corinthians 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
Further explained:
Romans 2
“13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)”
There are more verses in both OT and NT, of course, that I don’t have time to list.
The Law in the OT was given to the Israelites, even though it applies universally, of course. They were God’s chosen people. But by _faith_, which is where many misunderstood. One could convert to Judaism or marry in.
The nation of Israel is thus an archetype of the Church, as God’s chosen people; all who are saved by Grace through Faith in Christ. We are likened to “adopted” children of God as opposed to children by blood. Instead of God’s law being given to us in tablets of stone, it is written on the hearts of believers.
Hebrews 8
“6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
Which is referenced in the OT in the Psalms, so obviously the preferred, better arrangement is to take God’s Law to heart, not just intellectually know it - even in the OT.
Psalm 40
“1 I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.
4 Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”
But notice it does not say written. All I found is references meaning “take it to heart”, etc., not that the law was written by God on hearts in the OT.
Except for this one, where Jeremiah prophecies about Israel’s coming enslavement:
Jeremiah 17:1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;
There are more verses, of course, that was just a quick search.
A very good post, I believe, in that it follows the whole counsel of God. The only thing I really wonder about somewhat is your comment on criticisms of those who worship a little differently. What are those differences? Without them being spelled out here I feel I have to wonder if they are something of true substance or not.
Your eternal destiny in no way depends on a dunking.
Dunking is purely outward ceremony. Ceremony does not save. Jesus’ righteousness saves. If God has given you faith in that you are his child. Just as you cannot remove yourself from being the child of your earthly parent you cannot remove yourself from being god’s child. His word is much greater than your own.
'Should' goes with both verbs. If 'should' did not go with 'have', then it would say 'has' instead of 'have'.
Read it both ways. This is what you are claiming it says:
whoever believes . . . have everlasting life.
But this is what it really says:
whoever believes . . . should . . . have everlasting life.
Say it out loud. 'Whoever have' is not grammatically correct. 'Whoever should have' is grammatically correct.
Grammar is your friend.
I really hate to see people get so caught up focusing on the afterlife while completely ignoring the present one. Jesus preached for three years about the kingdom of heaven. Yet so many people miss out on that because they are stuck on John 3:16.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Matthew 6:33
"Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (Jas 5:16 KJV)
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1Jn 1:9 KJV)
But I am unable to resolve the meaning of verses like Hebrews 6:4-6:
"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." (Heb 6:4-6 KJV)
I was hoping someone could take that verse and, using the scriptures, explain how it doesn't apply to us.
Philip
I would like to know what translation you are using, because without exception, every translation I have seen uses either the subjunctive form or future tense. I have yet to see one that uses indicative present tense.
NIV: "whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life"
KJV: "whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"
CJB: "everyone who trusts in him may have eternal life, instead of being utterly destroyed"
MSG: "by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life"
RSV: "whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life"
I can not say right or wrong, all I can say is that no one knows his sheep like God does.
I might believe that the people over there at the next table are saying grace verbally in public just to show every one how sanctimonious they are, I could be wrong, maybe they do really believe.
If I am broke down along the road and no one will stop and give me a lift even though some of them have Jesus stickers on their cars I might think they are not Christians but I could be wrong because I have done the same thing while going to church.
Only God knows who is saved and who are not.
Obviously you twist scripture to get the result you want...does that make it is okay to constantly sin and believe you can go to heaven...NO< if so Jesus died in vain.
I guess you think confessing to a priest gives a person protection and absolves them until the next time they commit adultery, murder, theft, etc? No...if one intentionally sins with the belief that they can keep doing it because there is no consequence..means they now have a ‘reprobate’ mind and a false sense of Salvation.
The Scripture itself explained the circumstances in which one could lose their salvation, and that in no way eliminates the other scriptures where the security of one’s faith in Christ is secure. Evidently, you do not understand the nine gifts of the Spirit or what the Holy Bible is referring too or you would have understood the meaning.
. No you can’t take one or two ...even ten Scriptures and negate even one other Scripture with them, the Bible interprets itself and you don’t get to pick and choose what is relevant in your opinion....otherwise you trample truth.
My whole point was that there are places of faith where you will not lose your Salvation, but that does NOT negate the one place where you could? Obviously you aren’t Spirit filled and operating in the Nine Gifts of the Spirit or you would understand what I meant. Hebrews Ch Six Vs One refers to Christian maturity and leaving elementary understanding, before he explains where the one place you could lose Salvation rests.
I don’t need you to agree or disagree with me, it’s God’s Word Not yours or mine...it will defend itself or God will defend it. I won’t argue the Word, I just presented you with the truth about a blanket statement that wasn’t wholly the fullness of what God meant about Salvation.
In the Epistles, Demas walked away from Christ when he deserted Paul.
Again, if 'should' does not go with 'have', then the sentence is grammatically incorrect. Seeing how there is no other instance of a grammatical error anywhere else in the entire Bible, I find it inconceivable that they would suddenly come up with one now.
Again, it does not say 'whosoever has'. It says 'whosoever have', meaning that there is a verb that goes with 'have' just as there is one that goes with 'perish'.
First, I don't go to priests for the forgiveness of my sins. I go straight to Christ.
Next....if you think you can lose your salvation....then how do you know you have lost it? What sin(s) do you commit to lose it?
If you have lost it, and based on the reading of the section in Hebrews we're discussing, then it suggests you can't get it back....ever.....do you believe that?
The premise you suggest undermines the whole reason Christ died on the Cross as a one time final offering for ALL of our sins...past, present and future.
You are not being reasonable.
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