Not sure

Hello,

Your purpose is not to worry about whether you are one of the elect or not, but to trust God and love Him with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Hello and welcome -- hope you find what you're looking for.

AmicusDei said:

How do I do that?

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By obeying His commands.

Hi, Sir; good to see you; God bless His Word to you.

A regular, Bible reading habit is an excellent idea; see, for example, John's Gospel and John's First Epistle.

Matthew 22:34-39 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I think the greatest two commandments were a lot easier said than done and by saying that all of the Law and the Prophets hang on those two, Jesus was saying that the rest of the laws are examples of how we are to go about obeying them and paint us a picture of what that looks like. You will find Christians who say that everything is lawful, but Paul warned us to have nothing to do with them. More likely you will find Christians who say that we should only obey the Ten Commandments, or the four laws in Acts 15:20, or a subset of laws called moral laws, but I see no good justification for that. The law was how Paul knew what sin was and Paul said that we are not permitted to sin.

Matthew 5:17-19 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Obedience to all of God's instructions is how His people should demonstrate our love and faith to Him. I'll be upfront that most Christians disagree with my view, and I used to be one of them, but my investigation into the Jewish cultural context of the Bible has forced me to change my view to this and I think more Christians need to take Jesus' warning in verse 19 more seriously. I'd be happy to discuss this with you further, but the mods prefer if introduction threads stick to being introduction threads.

In any case, the purpose of talking about election in the Bible was not to cause people to worry about whether they were one of the elect.

Welcome to CF

I think you are worrying about details best left to God himself. HE said that HE had only 2 Commandments:
Matthew {22:36} Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law? {22:37} Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. {22:38} This is the first and great commandment. {22:39} And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. {22:40} On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. and how

It is the JOURNEY of life and how much we have Loved others including God and ourselves that I believe we will be judged on. But only HE has the final word and we ourselves are poor judges of how well we have done day to day and over the years. Thank God for HIS Loving heart and merciful ways!!!!!

234wssa

Welcome to the forum

You know I think I like jsimms615's quote even better than my answer!

Angeltigerr39 said:

I think you are worrying about details best left to God himself. HE said that HE had only 2 Commandments:
Matthew {22:36} Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law? {22:37} Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. {22:38} This is the first and great commandment. {22:39} And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. {22:40} On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. and how

It is the JOURNEY of life and how much we have Loved others including God and ourselves that I believe we will be judged on. But only HE has the final word and we ourselves are poor judges of how well we have done day to day and over the years. Thank God for HIS Loving heart and merciful ways!!!!!

234wssa

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It was a common question to ask a rabbi what they thought was the greatest command because it allowed someone to get quick understanding of the rabbi's yoke. This was about showing a full understanding of the law and getting at its essence, not about saying that only the greatest commands should be followed while the rest can be ignored. Jesus said that the rest of the commandments hang on those two, so they are examples of what it looks like to obey them.

Angeltigerr39 said:

You know I think I like jsimms615's quote even better than my answer!

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There is there now no condemnation for those who are in Christ, but those who are in Christ demonstrate their love for him by obeying his commands in accordance with the law (1 John 3:4-10).

Good afternoon everyone -- please remember that this forum is for introductions only. If you'd like to continue this discussion, please start a thread in the appropriate forum

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