That’s how liberals think. Honest disputation is not HATE. Liberals throw out the word HATE to shut down debate.
Anyone with any knowledge of both the Bible and the history of Western Civilization should know there could be nothing more divisive than an open thread on the way of salvation. The Reformers might have continued fighting from within to reform the RCC church if their disagreements were merely over secondary issues. Sadly, the core of the disagreement—and it remains true to this day—concerned the gospel itself. Since the two groups did not agree on the way of salvation, a split was right and necessary. It wasn’t a schism as they did not share a common faith. There is simply no common ground here. And because there is no common ground, posting an article on this particular subject on a discussion website is inevitably going to generate discussion and it is silly to cry foul and act shocked when people discuss and debate vigorously. This particular topic is more important than any other we might discuss, including the dissolution of the USA. Anyone getting the gospel wrong is in grave eternal danger.
Also, I know what, why, and WHOM I believe. There is nothing that could be said here to challenge that or rattle me, so I just don’t let it bother me. I routinely gain new insight and refine my understanding, but I will never change my understanding of the gospel because that lies at the heart of my very being. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. And because of my absolute certainty, nothing said here has much of an impact on me. I can be mocked and ridiculed. I can be told I’m not a Christian and I’m hell-bound, which happens from time to time. None of that matters and it certainly doesn’t upset me or impact my faith. I suspect some are so touchy because of their lack of certainty and confidence in their church and her systems. I won’t presume that of you, but it seems clear to me that some here cannot handle it when they make an assertion that is immediately challenged with Scripture by someone who might have more knowledge and understanding.
I’ll finish by explaining something of myself. I was raised in church and I was saved as a boy. However, I was also raised to believe a number of sub-biblical things. Whether or not they were heretical ideas is open for debate. We had the gospel right, but there was an awful lot of silliness and unbiblical tradition in what I was taught. I continued on that path until I was in my thirties when I was challenged by a friend who cared enough to tell me I was wrong. Of course I didn’t like being challenged and we had some heated debates and I didn’t like him very much. In an attempt to prove my beliefs, I dove in and studied my Bible with renewed vigor, but I also cried out to the Lord to teach me the truth and show me if I was in error. I did not want to believe a lie just because it was comfortable or because my parents had believed it. It didn’t take long for the Lord to send the truth my way. My eyes were opened and I discovered an entire world of theology that I barely knew existed and it changed the entire course of my life. I could write an entire book on that experience and how it changed me and my family. My point in telling you this is that sometimes the Lord sends messengers who relay hard truths you need to hear. Their willingness to tell the hard truths isn’t hate, it’s love. I am eternally grateful for my friend who loved me enough to risk our friendship to tell me the truth. Actually, he risked much more than friendship. He also risked his job because I had the power to have him fired. My friend didn’t worry about hurting my feelings. In fact, he bluntly told me I was wrong and that I didn’t know the Scriptures as well as I thought I did. And you know what, when he told me I was wrong he was following the biblical example. If you read the New Testament, you find Christ bluntly telling the Scribes and Pharisees they were wrong and that they did not understand the Scriptures.
I’m about to leave so I won’t be around to discuss any of this, but I wish you nothing but grace and peace.
.....And I thought that Jim called for an end to the inter-Christian bashing a few days ago.
“This particular topic is more important than any other we might discuss, including the dissolution of the USA. Anyone getting the gospel wrong is in grave eternal danger.”
Nice to find some agreement on this point. Perhaps that’s why some influence exists to shut it all down? I’ve run into the “shutdown” most of my Christian life. Most people, in general, do not want to be disturbed by the Gospel as it is DEATH to life as they know it (which they think is going just fine at the moment, thank you!).
Men intuitively know—per Romans—that God exists, but are suppressing that knowledge. Bring in eternal truths and they reflexively recoil. We’ve all been there, on both sides. “Polite conversation” is a gambit man uses to hide from God in everyday life.
There’s shut a great group of folks here on FR! I learn so much from all of you.