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 |
Not more than one (polygamy).
It's just that my preacher thinks this meant a minister could not be divorced and remarried because the first wife would still count. I'm thinking well what if this guy has a calling but had problems before he was saved or maybe he just had a slutty wife that ran off or something.
Interesting question. We don't have "divorce" so the only thing we can do is determine if the first marriage was valid or not. An interesting twist is that the marriage of two unsaved people can be voided if the one gets saved and the other does not and the unsaved is a threat to the other's faith.
Philosophically speaking, I don't think that a congregation would want as pastor a man who could not keep his vows.
SD
On the Sabbath? Have fun. Bring us back some more pagan fairy tales.
SD
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
A much better model that a bunch pius wannabees who ordain pediphiles for life if they happen to make it thru some frat party seminary.
OK
Heb 13:
9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
Can you explain to me what is meant by "we have an altar"?
Do you have an altar in your Church? What is an altar but a place of sacrifice? Do you have a sacrifice on the altar in your Church?
How do we have a sacrifice on an altar without those who serve the Lord to do so, men known as priests?
Do you have priests offering a sacrifice on an altar in your Church?
Also, just for fun, this chapter also has a counter to the oft-quoted verse that the Church will have no leaders.
7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
Remember them which have rule over you? I've been told before that God's Church does not have rulers, that it was egalitarian.
SD
Have fun!
Right. I imagine Jesus' favorite term to be "Shalom," however.
***the question is not whether eternal life is eternal, but whether we are in the set of "whosoever believeth."***
The topic is OSAS (security), you're asking about whether a person is saved or not (assurrance). Seperate yet related topic.
You can seperate them cause you buy into salvation as a one time event. I don't share that. I believe in neither "once saved" nor in "always saved." I believe in "persevere and you'll be saved."
I am unclear as to the difference between "security" and "assurance."
SD
I like this. So there is no "cure" until the body dies, and Resurrection is the body made whole? Or do you go that far?
Are there some sins that a Christian cannot commit ?
Are there limitations to the Blood of Christ? Forgiveness is guaranteed for anything we may do, as long as we turn back toward God.
You're reading the question a different way than I intended. Valid, ... but not my intent.
My question is this ...
You are a christian. You have been saved and transformed by the blood of JESUS and the Spirit of God dwells within you. We are now children of the Light. We have aligned ourselves with the forces of good in the universe against the forces of darkness.
We know that, as we are faced with temptation, the Spirit of God within us is faithful to steer us away from the commission of the sin to which the temptation draws us.
We also know that we can resist the guidance of the Spirit of God within us, so as to proceed to commit some sin.
I presume that, the more eggregious the sin, ... the more the Spirit of God strives to steer us from that sin.
My question is ... as a christian, ... saved by the blood of JESUS, ... a new creation created to perform the good works which God has already ordained for us ... aligned with the forces of good against the forces of evil in the world ... having the Spirit of God dwelling within us ...
... are there some acts of evil which, in our identity as christians, the children of God, ... we would be absolutely inhibited from taking part in ?
Oh no, God help us.
BigMack
Actually, I did understand your query.
We know that, as we are faced with temptation, the Spirit of God within us is faithful to steer us away from the commission of the sin to which the temptation draws us.
Yes, if we work with the Spirit.
We also know that we can resist the guidance of the Spirit of God within us, so as to proceed to commit some sin.
Right.
I presume that, the more eggregious the sin, ... the more the Spirit of God strives to steer us from that sin.
And the more the Evil Spirit strives to steer us toward it. Let us not forget that.
I don't see how you can argue this point. That the Spirit may let us commit small sins but will not let us commit large ones. Doesn't make sense to me. If anything I would think, at the beginning of a new Christian's journey, the small sins would be the ones easy to resist, while the strong, dark temptaions would take more time to overcome.
That's exactly the opposite of your view.
... are there some acts of evil which, in our identity as christians, the children of God, ... we would be absolutely inhibited from taking part in ?
Absolutely not. The mighty fall hard, and the powers which attempt to bring us down do not rest.
SD
Their sin may be forgiven, but they're still sinners, right? They are still capable of sin even after being saved. Just like an alcoholic is always an alcoholic, even if they've been sober for 10 years.
There is a distinction which is sometimes made.
A sinner is one who sins as a matter of course (i.e. he/she is powerless to not commit sin). It is their condition.
OTOH, a christian has been freed or, is in the process of being freed from the power of sin (i.e. the compulsion to sin). The true christian has access to the power to avoid sin and lives to minimize sin in his/her life. They ocassionally do sin, however, the occurrence of sin should decrease as they grow more and more into their christian being.
You can make a comparison to smoking.
Who are the smokers ?
Those who smoke a consistent of cigarettes a day, are content to do so, and, in no way, have any plans to quit smoking ...
... or ...
Those who have committed themselves to eventually giving up smoking completely, ... and, have availed themselves of any the various methods to stop smoking (i.e. the patch, gum, hypnosis, etc.).
Over the course of time, their smoking has decreased, to the point that some can go for substantial periods of time without smoking. However, they still feel the urge to light every now and then, though not so constant as before, ... and, perhaps they will give in and smoke a cigarette or two in their weaker moments.
I, too, recall the VileSack pushing some sort of initiative. A cursory search on the Internet turned up at least a little evidence of it: "Iowa, for example, has an aging population that is 96% white, and Governor Tom Vilsack is vigorously recruiting ethnically diverse people by creating “immigrant enterprise zones” and other incentives".
Iowa's just going to be really white for the forseeable future and people are just going to have to deal with it.
In general, that's probably true. But, given the wholesale changes in their communities over the past decade or so, many Postville and Storm Lake residents would disagree with your assessment. ;-)
Population declining
Not declining, just growing much more slowly than the rest of the nation.
It's still the best place on earth to raise a family, despite VileSack's efforts and the canker we call Iowa City.
Yes. Adn the occurence of sin should decrease as they grow.
But this is not always in a linear path, as you seem to think. Ideally, like the smoker, the frequency, duration, and magnitude of the smoking should eventually all diminish.
But we all know people who have quit for some time, only to fall back to smoking as much as they did before. The goal is indeed cessation of all smoking, and this may be acheived for some time. But as long as we are on this earth, we may always fall prey to the vices that we are specially suited for.
SD
It's the place where I am happily raising mine. The "Athens of the midwest" a canker?
So, ... in your opinion, a christian could conceivably ...
Meticulously plan for the stalking, kidnapping, molestation, and eventual murder of a young child (for instance ... 5-year- old Samantha Runnion), ... gather the information and materials necessary to carry out the deed, and, ultimately, ... carry out this evil deed to completion ?
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