Posted on 03/30/2002 7:53:37 PM PST by malakhi
| Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue. - John Adams |
Sure, but then you have to live in Oklahoma. ;o)
Just kidding. Does Oklahoma have a "car tax", state income tax, personal property tax, or any other way to pry large sums of money out of your wallet?
Hey, I'm not greedy, I'll share. ;o)
Either salvation is pure grace, or it is not.
By "pure grace" I mean that it is 100% God's action.
And if it is 100% God's action, then it is 0% man's action.
(Aside - It is hard to type when you have a cat sitting on the desk rubbing its head on your hand.)
"Accepting the gift of salvation" is an act. It may be man's only action involved in his salvation, but it is still an act - a man chooses to accept it of his own free will.
If man accepts the gift of salvation as a free will act, then salvation is not pure grace.
If we hold that salvation is pure grace, then there are two logical possibilities: either God chooses some to be saved and some to be damned, or God chooses all to be saved.
This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
So God does not choose that any person be damned.
The only possible conclusions are that either A) all are saved or B) salvation is not by pure grace.
Yes, housing costs must be much higher here. Our house is 2400 square feet, and we beat the builder down to $200K when we bought it three years ago. Although we have some big houses a half mile or so to the east of us, our neighborhood is a mix of two stories and ranches -- a nice neighborhood, but nothing pretentious.
I'm sure we have extra costs due to insulation and different construction required to withstand the winters here. Also, almost all the houses around here have basements, something that I've heard is not common in other parts of the country.
I don't think it was exactly what he had in mind :')
Sounds nice, though! But where do the kids stay when they visit?
Sounds good. 'Night!
Good job on the other threads today, BTW. I agree with you wholeheartedly.
I'm not sure. This is a friend of a friend ... not someone I know personally so I don't have any more information than I've already given. When I find out any more details I'll post 'em.
Something very familiar about that comment. ;o)
I wouldn't want to appear disrespectful to one of my elders or anything, but hey stupid! You're sitting at a computer and there are various online flower vendors including 1800flowers.com.
SD
Can I sue for plagerizing:)?
Becky
Get in line, I'm pretty sure we got you beat. We pay property taxes primarily to pay for the schools, not for the local government. That is usually paid for by a wage tax. My modest house (under $100,000) has taxes of around $1000.
But this is low for several reasons, one being that my sprawling township does not have its own police force. Also, there are numerous malls and stores in the township that account for revenue (we benefit from the flight of shoppers from the cities and towns).
Also, my house is appraised at something like $17,000. There has not been a general re-assessment in my county since the early 70s. And the county in which Pittsburgh is located has gone through a horrible court-appointed re-assessment process in the lst few years which makes the very mention of the idea political suicide in the surrounding counties.
(The poor schmucks in Allegheny County now face yearly re-assessments, with an arduous appeals process. You can appeal your assessment only after having paid your taxes on the new value. And if you happen to win your case and get a lower assessment, a few months later you get a new annual assessment and get on the merry-go-round again.)
We also have a state income tax that is around 3 percent, with no real deductions possible. And such pleasures as annual local per capita taxes, and the annual tax for the "privlege" of working in a community.
And let us not forget the 18 per cent "emergency" tax on liquor which was imposed after the Johnstown flood. Not the 1976 one, but the 1930s one.
SD
The only possible conclusions are that either A) all are saved or B) salvation is not by pure grace.
Using your definition of "grace" it is hard to argue with your conclusion.
SD
Isn't even the ability to believe a grace itself -- the gift of faith?
There does seem to be a distinction between belief and the acceptance of the gift of salvation ("even the demons believe -- and shudder").
So maybe it goes something like this. Belief is pure grace. Acceptance is an act of man's free will (acting on this belief). And the salvation itself is again pure grace. Does that sound right?
Can one truly accept the gift of salvation if one doesn't truly believe?
Faith is taking God at His Word and acting upon it.
Belief is what you know.
So, are you sayign then that salvation is by "belief" alone, or by faith?
SD
I like this definition.
Belief is what you know.
Would you agree that it is also the conviction or certainty that what you believe in is true?
Call someone else. They've dropped the ball for me more than a few times ... late deliveries, mixed up orders, etc.
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