Posted on 01/16/2015 5:56:35 AM PST by metmom
CLASSIFICATION IS ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT of all tasks. Even in the realm of religion there are enough lights and shades to make it injudicious to draw too fine a line between men and men. If the religious world were composed of squares of solid black and solid white classification would be easy; but unfortunately it is not.
It is a grave error for us evangelicals to assume that the children of God are all in our communion and that all who are not associated with us are ipso facto enemies of the Lord. The Pharisees made that mistake and crucified Christ as a consequence.
With all this in mind, and leaning over backwards to be fair and charitable, there is yet one distinction which we dare make, which indeed we must make if we are to think the thoughts of God after Him and bring our beliefs into harmony with the Holy Scriptures. That distinction is the one which exists between two classes of human beings, the once-born and the twice-born.
That such a distinction does in fact exist was taught by our Lord with great plainness of speech, in contexts which preclude the possibility that He was merely speaking figuratively. "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God," He said, and the whole chapter where these words are found confirms that He was speaking precisely, setting forth meanings as blunt and downright as it is possible for language to convey.
"Ye must be born again," said Christ. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." This clear line of demarcation runs through the entire New Testament, quite literally dividing one human being from another and making a distinction as sharp as that which exists between different genera of the animal kingdom.
Just who belongs to one class and who to the other it is not always possible to judge, though the two kinds of life ordinarily separate from each other. Those who are twice-born crystallize around the Person of Christ and cluster together in companies, while the once-born are held together only by the ties of nature, aided by the ties of race or by common political and social interests.
Our Lord warned His disciples that they would be persecuted. "In the world ye shall have tribulation," He said, and "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."
These are only two of many passages of the New Testament warning of persecution or recording the fact of harassment and attack suffered by the followers of the Lord. This same idea runs through the entire Bible from the once-born Cain who slew the twice-born Abel to the Book of the Revelation where the end of human history comes in a burst of blood and fire.
That hostility exists between the once-born and the twice-born is known to every student of the Bible; the reason for it was stated by Christ when He said, "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." The rule was laid down by the apostle Paul when he wrote, "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now."
Difference of moral standards between the onceborn and the twice-born, and their opposite ways of life, may be contributing causes of this hostility; but the real cause lies deeper. There are two spirits abroad in the earth: the spirit that works in the children of disobedience and the Spirit of God. These two can never be reconciled in time or in eternity. The spirit that dwells in the once-born is forever opposed to the Spirit that inhabits the heart of the twice-born. This hostility began somewhere in the remote past before the creation of man and continues to this day. The modern effort to bring peace between these two spirits is not only futile but contrary to the moral laws of the universe.
To teach that the spirit of the once-born is at enmity with the Spirit of the twice-born is to bring down upon one's head every kind of violent abuse. No language is too bitter to hurl against the conceited bigot who would dare to draw such a line of distinction between men. Such malignant ideas are at odds with the brotherhood of man, says the once-born, and are held only by the apostles of disunity and hate. This mighty rage against the twice-born only serves to confirm the truth they teach. But this no one seems to notice.
What we need to restore power to the Christian testimony is not soft talk about brotherhood but an honest recognition that two human races occupy the earth simultaneously: a fallen race that sprang from the loins of Adam and a regenerate race that is born of the Spirit through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
To accept this truth requires a tough-mindedness and a spiritual maturity that modern Christians simply do not possess. To face up to it hardly contributes to that "peace of mind" after which our religious weaklings bleat so plaintively.
For myself, I long ago decided that I would rather know the truth than be happy in ignorance. If I cannot have both truth and happiness, give me truth. We'll have a long time to be happy in heaven.
Could you post the passage that tells us the Jesus instituted baptism that eh Jordan River and told people that it forgives their sin and saves them?
Getting wet doesn't save anyone because it's not the shedding of blood because without the shedding of blood, there is NO forgiveness of sins.
Since water isn't blood, it CAN'T save.
IOW, NOT water baptism.
But faith negates the necessity of baptism.
Abraham BELIEVED God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
No, you make the claim, you provide the substantiation.
If you don't, it can be safely presumed you can't.
If you want to be taken seriously, you need to give people more than your say so. Anyone who simply takes the word of an anonymous internet poster as truth is a fool.
Don't be lazy. Don't send someone off to do your work for you. Provide the reference yourself.
Jesus called the cup, *the fruit of the vine*.
The Catholic church claims it’s blood in violation of the entire weight of Scripture.
So who’s making Jesus out to be a liar there?
I absolutely reject men like this who CLAIM they are stand in's for Jesus.
I reject the corruption and immorality within the ranks of Catholicism.
I reject the downplay of Scripture and the elevation of tradition above it.
I reject the teaching of man-made doctrines that are passed off as truth.
I reject that salvation is by works and not by faith.
Or do you mean to say that all that represents Jesus?
Or men like this? rejecting them is rejecting Jesus? Would Jesus do what these men did?
Top 10 Most Wicked Popes
http://listverse.com/2007/08/17/top-10-most-wicked-popes/
1. Liberius, reigned 352-66 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
2. Honorius I, reigned 625-638 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
3. Stephen VI, reigned 896-89 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
4. John XII, reigned 955-964 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
5. Benedict IX, reigned 1032-1048 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
6. Boniface VIII, reigned 1294-1303 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
7. Urban VI, reigned 1378-1389 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
8. Alexander VI, reigned 1492-1503 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
9. Leo X, reigned 1513-1521 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
10. Clement VII, reigned 1523-1524 [Catholic Encyclopaedia]
Top 10 Worst Popes in History
http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-worst-popes-in-history.php
1. Pope Alexander VI (1431 – 1503)
2. Pope John XII (c. 937 – 964)
3. Pope Benedict IX (c. 1012 – 1065/85)
4. Pope Sergius III (? – 911)
5. Pope Stephen VI (? – 897)
6. Pope Julius III (1487 – 1555)
7. Pope Urban II (ca. 1035 – 1099)
8. Pope Clement VI (1291 – 1352)
9. Pope Leo X (1475 – 1521)
10. Pope Boniface VIII (c. 1235 – 1303)
You got the wrong type of baptism here...
1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
THIS baptism is a 'like figure' of the baptism you are referring to...It doesn't 'correspond' to anything...
THIS baptism doesn't clean anyone...
THIS baptism is NOT an appeal for anything...THIS baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God...That is TOWARD GOD, NOT from God...
When you pervert the scriptures, you get a perverted interpretation...
The members of the One, True Church don't discuss scripture...Apparently they don't know any...
Naah. That’s not it in this case. She dislikes me (want to see the FR posts I’ve saved?) and wishes I would just leave Free Republic Religion Forum to her and those who agree with her.
Don’t want to be with her in a kitchen where there are knives.
Nope...
Joh 1:12 But as many as received him,
(those of the first birth)
to them gave he power to become the sons of God,
(the 2nd birth)
even to them that believe on his name:
Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Those are of the 2nd birth...
For you position to have any force, you need John 3:6 to read: “That which is born of the water is flesh....”.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
This is a reference back to John 1:13...John 1:13 is certainly not speaking of a natural birth but a spiritual birth...
Anyone who knows anything about a natural birth knows we were conceived and raised in a bag (for lack of a better term) of liquid/water...
So all that works for me...
That's pitiful...YOU look it up and show it to us...
Why did the apostles ignore that command?
Acts 8:1 says they stayed in Jerusalem.
*Look it up yourself* = It’s not in there so I can’t show it to you.
Basically, it’s trying to send someone on a fool’s errand.
Lazy at the very least. Dishonest through and through.
What a load of something. Water baptism gets you wet, nothing more. If baptism was necessary to be saved, then the thief on the cross was up the proverbial creek. What is that you say? The RCC makes an exception for him? Yeah, right. Not in this lifetime. Water baptism is nothing more than an outward sign of a changed person. I can not believe some of the stuff that tries to pass itself off as truth. My oh my. Cut me some slack.
When you reject the teachings of the Catholic Church, you reject Jesus. Look it up, it is in the Bible.
Care to share where this is found in the New Testament?
I should really make you look it up. It has been previously posted to metmom.
There are so many closed minds here that they either do not understand the words of Jesus or does not fit their self analysis intrepetation. There is so much venom posted here about the Catholic Church that it appears to be really self-hatred.
• Man’s ingenuity cannot account for this. The Church has remained one, holy, catholic, and apostolic—not through man’s effort, but because God preserves the Church he established (Matt. 16:18, 28:20).
•
• Jesus assured the apostles and their successors, the popes and the bishops, “He who listens to you listens to me, and he who rejects you rejects me” (Luke 10:16). Jesus promised to guide his Church into all truth (John 16:12–13). We can have confidence that his Church teaches only the truth
Luke 10;
16Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
Memom doesn’t believe in the Eucharist or Baptism or other teachings of the church, she doesn’t believe in the words of Jesus.
There are previous postings 55,56,43,38,33 that provide information, but it is ignored.
I really hope that all can find the salvation with the Lord that they seek, but I am not sure that they will find it if they ignore the words and intentions of Jesus.
Reset, calling it misplaced, is sugar coating it. I would say it is downright dangerous and puts one's eternal soul in a very precarious position. Hell is yawning, waiting for all who trust in questionable belief systems, and off the wall religions, and not the only begotten son of God. It's not pretty, but that is reality.
Projection is really an interesting phenomena.
It reveals what's going on in the mind of the person doing the projection.
Since it's all that they know, they presume everyone else is just like them.....
Hmmmmm......
Nowhere did Jesus say that rejecting the apostles and their successors is rejecting Jesus. He wasn't talking to just the disciples but to all believers.
Nor are we rejecting the writings of the apostles, aka Scripture.
What we do reject is the false claims of authority that the RCC is claiming for itself. We reject unbiblical and unscriptural teachings.
We are to fix our eyes on JESUS, the Author and Perfector of our faith.
Jesus called men to follow HIM, not other men.
We can have no confidence in any organization that calls itself a church is teaching the truth unless it lines up with Scripture.
The seven churches in Revelation 2&3 put that myth to rest.
Your comment: Hell is yawning, waiting for all who trust in questionable belief systems,
So you ignore the teachings of Jesus and His Church at your peril.
So you ignore the teachings of Jesus and His Church at your peril.
I used to be a catholic, so yes, I thankfully reject the catholic church as a spurious, false religious cult, no better than Mormonism, Kingdom Hall, INC or Quiboloy. If you want to remain in it, that's on you, but people have tried to point out the truth to you. I rather like my chances.
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