BobRyan said:

Rom 2:13 speaks of 'will be justified' - as the one who having been born again - follows Christ. The good fruit of the good tree in Matt 7

Rom 5:1-2 speaks of having been justified - at the one who has come to Christ , is born again etc.

===================

Rom 2:13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the Law who will be justified.

Rom 5:Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God.

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"A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God." Romans 2:28-29

timewerx said:

When you said none. UV radiation is mentioned in one. UV radiation can cause mutation in living cells which can lead to cancer.

This article mentions solar wind particles contribute to ozone loss (perhaps, temporarily). And that is with our geomagnetic field at healthy levels. Imagine what would happen if geomagnetic field is a lot weaker or even gone.

Less ozone means more UV rays making it to the ground.

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That is true -- it causes skin cancer. (It's not true that UV radiation causes germ-line mutations in organisms like us, so it will have little effect on our mutation rate). However, the accelerated evolution you're proposing was supposed to have occurred 590 million years ago, when the life in question was mostly on the sea floor -- where little to no UV penetrates. There were also probably extended periods of low oxygen throughout the Ediacaran, when there would have been little ozone to screen out UV.

Mr. M said:

Are there eternal homes without foundation for those who heard and believed, and did not obey?

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Well what our Lord is referring to is how those who reject the Gospel and hate God and insist upon resisting the love of God will not have a part in the life of the world to come, because such close proximity to God would be unbearable for them, and as a result, as a mercy, God will consign them to the outer darkness. The weeping and gnashing of teeth was interpreted by the Early Church Fathers as being chiefly the result of missing out on the joys of everlasting life in the light of the World to Come, illuminated as it were by the direct presence of God - that missing out on that would be the worst possible fate imaginable. But we are warned there are people who will choose that, despite being given every chance to receive God’s love.

I rather like what CS Lewis had to say on the subject, “the gates of Hell are locked on the inside.” It is the hardness of the hearts of men that condemn them to suffering, both in this life and in the next.

Der Alte said:

It is my understanding that IVF means In Vitro Fertilization. This procedure is used when a couple cannot have children then a physician places a viable sperm from a donor into the womb. It has nothing to do with abortion.

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What it entails is taking sperm and combining it with a harvested ova in vitro, that is, in a glass “test tube”, and then taking the fertilized embryo and implanting it.

One problem with this is that it can result in the destruction of fertilized embryos, and other religious objections have been raised as well by Catholics.

I myself would not object provided no fertilized embryos were destroyed in the process.

ADMIN HAT ON

5 pages on an intro thread is a lot, this thread has strayed into Theological topics from the start, which is largely OK but not really the subject of this forum. This particular forum is intended for introductions.

I would advise new threads on the topics in this thread to be posted in these forums:
Messianic Judaism
General Theology
Denomination Specific Theology
Christian History
Creation & Theistic Evolution

As such, this thread is going to be closed now.

ADMIN HAT OFF

Yeshua is both a man and a lamb? Does Judaism accept sacrifacing a man's blood?

Have a blessed trip, Rabbi.

2 Peter 3:18 NIV: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

If we are going to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we must first of all know Christ intimately and be in relationship with him via God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in the Lord Jesus. And God, in his grace to us, persuades us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with him to sin and to be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

He, in his love and grace to us, persuades us to leave our lives of sin behind us and to now to walk with him in obedience to his commands in holy living, free from slavery to sin. He persuades us to honor and revere him as the holy God that he is. And he convinces us to walk with him and to follow him in all that he has planned for our lives. And that is what faith is, the faith that comes from God, and is persuaded of God, and is gifted to us by God, and which is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of man.

So, the ability to live the Christian life also comes from and is empowered by God, in his righteousness and holiness. Not one of us can live the Christian life – that God had planned for us to walk in before he laid the foundation of the earth – in our own flesh, apart from God. We can only be pleasing to God via his power and strength at work within us, by his Spirit living within us. And we can only do this in his power and strength as we cooperate fully with his work of grace in our lives via obedience to his commands.

And Jesus did not die on that cross merely to forgive us of our sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven and not to hell. He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, by his grace. He died to make us new creatures in Christ Jesus, not to leave us still floundering in our sins. But we have to be willing recipients of his grace who follow him in wherever he leads us. For God’s grace to us is not free license to continue living in sin without feelings of guilt or fear of punishment.

Rather, God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce (say ‘No!’ to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

[Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10; Romans 3:23-25; Romans 5:1-2; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 2 Corinthians 6:1-2; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Ephesians 6:24; Hebrews 10:26-31; Hebrews 12:12-17; 1 Peter 2:24]

Day by day and step by step we follow the Lord Jesus in walks of obedience to his commands. For he said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

Video Talk
Step by Step

November 19, 2021

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RileyG said:

Feelings come and go.

God is still there.

His word endures forever.

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And God is unchanging - we are promised in Scripture that Christ is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow!

Now, this was all in a letter which Paul wrote to the beloved of God in Rome, although there were parts of it which took a much different tone than this, and those words were addressed to those who were not following the Lord Jesus with their lives. But these words were obviously expressed to those who were following Jesus with their lives, but even there Paul was having to correct them in some areas, which is what he meant when he said that on some points he wrote to them very boldly by way of reminder as to where they were going wrong and as to how they needed to make that right.

Now, from the beginning of this letter he commended the Christians for their faith in the Lord Jesus. But then he moved from that to talking about how there were those among them, or in the same city, who by their ungodliness and unrighteousness were suppressing the truth about God which God had revealed to them via his created works. And they were worshiping the created and not the Creator, and they were engaged in sexual immorality and all sorts of evils, plus they were acting hypocritically towards others. So Paul told them they would all be judged according to their works.

Then, for several chapters, he spoke on the issue of law and grace and he explained that they were not under the Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial laws nor were they required any longer to circumcise all males, but they were now under the law of grace. But he made clear that grace was not free license to keep on in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, and if they obeyed sin, and not obedience to God, that for them it would end in death, not in life eternal. So, they still had to obey God and his commandments under the New Covenant, and they still had to forsake sin.

And then Paul spent chapters 9-11 talking mainly about his fellow Jews who had not yet believed in Jesus Christ and who had not yet surrendered their hearts and lives to the Lord to follow him in obedience to his commands. And he corrected some faulty thinking about the Gentile Christians with regard to where the Jewish people stood before God. For all who rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah, were cut out of Israel. They were cut out of a relationship with God. And the believing Gentiles were grafted into Israel, the Israel of God and are now heirs to the promise God made with Abraham.

And then in chapter 12 were instructions in what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ and how we are to live if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine faith which is of God, and is gifted to us by God. We are to present our bodies to the Lord as living sacrifices, and we are no longer to be conformed to the ways of this sinful world. And we are to love one another and do good to each other, and we are even to bless those who persecute us. And we are not to get even with our enemies, for that is God’s job.

Then we had lessons in submission to those who are in authority over us within our governments, and I shared how there are exceptions to that rule, such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Jesus Christ, and his NT apostles, who all resisted those in authority over them if those in authority over them were demanding that they disobey the Lord. And then we were taught to love one another and not sin against each other. And we were warned of the nearness of our Lord’s return and the importance that we cease from all sinful practices and that we obey our Lord in practice.

And then they had the issue that some of them accepted the New Covenant and the removal of the Old Covenant with all its liturgical and ceremonial and dietary laws, but others were still holding on to some of those. And so they were all being instructed in not judging one another and living at peace with each other, for these were not matters of sin or not sin. What they ate or didn’t eat, or what days in the week were more special to them than others were a matter of personal conscience, and so they were to get along with one another and not fight over such things as this.

So, this is a brief summation of the “points” that Paul wrote to them about very boldly, by way of reminder. For, no matter who we are, or how long we have been Christians, we always need reminders. For we can easily get caught up in what is going on with our lives and our families and our activities, and with what is going on in the world, and we can sometimes lose sight of the importance of why we are alive and on this earth. For Jesus died that we might die with him to sin and that we might surrender our lives to him and now walk in obedience to his commands.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Just a Closer Walk with Thee

Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown
Music by American Melody

“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).

I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

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FireDragon76 said:

"Pious" is subjective. Most were Christians, but were also educated people of their time, which meant they rejected sectarianism, and also tended to reject religious prejudice (such as anti-Semitism- Washington and Jefferson were fairly explicit in rejecting anti-Semitism, unlike England which still had anti-Jewish laws).

There weren't many Muslims or Hindus in the Colonies at the time to render anything like a consensus, but Jefferson's concept of religious tolerance explicitly applied to them, too.

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This is not in dispute, but it is spectacularly unlikely that either Jefferson or Washington would have much patience for the anti-Christian and anti-Jewish extremism we see from some segments of the Islamist and Atheist communities.

Also I will say my patience for Thomas Jefferson is limited greatly by his relative lack of piety compared to the rest (I am also suspicious of Benjamin Franklin, mainly due to his friendship with Dashwood, et cetera, although I suspect the feeling there would be mutual), and by his failure to emancipate his slaves on the occasion of his death as he had planned on doing, and as Washington did, which is further compounded by Jefferson having children by them, and thus, due to his failure to manage his own debts, creating a situation in which his own children wound up being enslaved.

That said he was a very talented architect.

Jesus Christ, He died for all,
Not so we could have a ball.
Jesus in that manger lay,
So we’d worship Him and pray.

Jesus Christ, He came to earth,
So in Him we’d have new birth.
Jesus sacrificed for sin,
So that we could live in Him.

Jesus Christ, our only Lord,
Gave us grace we can’t afford.
Gift of God, God gave His Son,
Over sin the victory won!

Jesus Christ, our Savior be,
Live with Him eternally.
Crucified with Him to sin,
Now obey Him, live for Him.

Jesus Christ, take not in jest,
In His life now do invest.
Leave your lives of sin behind,
Love your neighbors, do be kind.

Jesus Christ, of Him do tell
So that folks not go to hell.
Tell them to repent of sin,
Sacrifice their lives for Him.

Jesus Christ said “Come to me,
Die to sin, and you’ll be free,
Walk with me, go where I lead,
On my word now you should feed.”

Jesus Christ – give all to Him.
Don’t turn back and live in sin.
Holy living now embrace,
Soon you’ll see Him face to face.

An Original Work / December 25, 2021

Another variation,

"A person does not sin unless a sprit of folly, stupidity or insanity enters into him."

Yes it’s difficult to go, but worth it. Take part in it. Pray or something.

Rescued One said:

The Bible doesn't require it or even suggest it.

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The Bible talks about how our garment is to be washed and cleansed in the Blood of Jesus.

Revelation 7:14: This verse speaks of a great multitude who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” This symbolizes the cleansing and purification that comes through Jesus’ sacrifice.

Now, it is important if we can read this passage of Scripture in the context of chapter 14, for this is just a continuation from the previous chapter. Remember here that when Romans was written, it was one whole letter, and it did not have chapters and verses. And like with any letter someone might send to us, we should read the whole letter so that we get the appropriate context of what is being stated in the letter. Otherwise, if we read only parts of the letter, we might misinterpret what the writer was saying.

So, with regard to the subject of the weak and of the strong in faith, the weak in faith, in this context, were those who were not able to accept that by Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins on that cross that he did away with all the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, and dietary laws and restrictions. So some of them were holding on to the Old Covenant dietary restrictions and to the keeping of the Sabbath, and perhaps to some of the ceremonial laws. And they were these who were regarded as those who were weak in the faith.

But, then this became an area of contention between some who felt as though they still had to obey some of the Old Covenant liturgical and ceremonial and dietary laws, while others, who were stronger in their faith, had the freedom to eat whatever they wanted to eat, and they had the freedom to regard all days alike. For now the temple of God dwelt within the followers of Christ, and the body of believers in Christ were meeting daily for prayer, fellowship, communion, the teaching of the word, and ministry.

And so the Christians were being encouraged here to not pass judgment on one another, for both groups were doing what they were doing in honor of the Lord and in thanksgiving to the Lord. And they were being encouraged to pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. They were not, for the sake of food, to destroy the work of the Lord, and they were not to put a stumbling block in one another’s pathway. So, if one who had the freedom to eat anything was with one who didn’t, he was to not eat in offense to them.

Therefore, when we then read in chapter 15 that we who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves, this is NOT speaking of those who are living righteously bearing with the sinful failings of the spiritually weak who are still regularly giving in to sin. This is not about sin! This is about what chapter 14 talks about and what I just summarized above. The “failings” being spoken of here are of those who did not yet accept the liberty that they were given related to food and days.

And this also means that this is not suggesting that we live in harmony with those who are spiritually living in open rebellion against the Lord and against his New Covenant commands. We live in harmony with other Christians in areas that are matters of differences in opinion over things that don’t matter for our salvation and our eternal life with God. But we never make compromise with the truth of the gospel and matters of righteousness, holiness, godliness, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness and obeying our Lord.

For we can truly only be one voice together if we are following after the biblical Jesus and his gospel message, which is also the message that his NT apostles taught, if taught and if understood in their appropriate context. For if you remove the Scriptures from their context, and you try to teach them out of context, you may be in danger of misinterpreting them and of teaching what is false and not the truth. And many people are doing this deliberately, for their aim is to deceive and to lead people astray.

And the gospel which was taught by Jesus and by his NT apostles had as its central focus that Jesus Christ died on that cross in putting our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we would die with him to sin and now live to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to the Lord and to his commands in holy living, and no longer in sinful practices. And that gospel also taught that if we continue living in sin, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, that we who say we believe will not inherit eternal life with God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897
Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,
This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,
Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,
Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,
Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,
Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,
Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,
Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,
Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,
Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;
Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;
Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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John was first referring to the apostles and the church.

Then testifying concerning that God responds to individual confession.

So yes - God responds to the collective Body of believers and the individual.

Jesus, you died for love of me

Let me die for love of you

Fascinating!

Sin begets sin

dzheremi said:

This is so sad. There are so many confused, hurting people in the world, and hurt people often hurt others in turn. Lord have mercy.

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Amen. Lord, have mercy.

I actually read the article. No, he shouldn’t have been on school ground, but he shouldn’t have spent 400 days in jail.

Ugh

RDKirk said:

To be honest, I believe both candidates intend to usher in administrations that will gravely damage the nation over the next four years.

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Entirely possible, if not probable. Like you, I have to vote for what I think are the lesser of two evils. We just don't agree on what that choice is.

Xi I wish you hadn’t made that corny joke

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the most
painful the most painful suffering the
Lord endured until this moment was not
the crown of thorns was not the nails in
his hands and his feet was not the the
the the whipping and the shredding of
his of his pure body was not that spear
that when in his side all these wounds
after a little while can heal and the
pain can disappear but there is one
wound cannot heal ever the wound of the
one you love the most and then he
returns that love with a a knife in the
heart when the one you love the most
turns around and hurts you the most that
wound cannot
heal Jesus loves us and we are loving s
Satan Jesus calling us and we are going
to Satan Jesus begging us and we are
begging Satan Jesus saying come to my
holy church and we're going to Satan's
house Jesus says come to the light and
we're going to Darkness Jesus says come
and praise me and we go and swear and
use foul language Jesus comes and says
let me hug you instead we hug Satan and
the
world it's extremely painful
unbearable when you love the
most and the one you love misunderstand
you completely and totally this is
unbearable

IF the wind is blowing 20km/h from the west and the roof is aligned north/south and a rooster lays an egg.

Where is the Rooster?

Clearly Australia