Missing the Point

Monna

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I believe heaven is what our lives turn in to when we repent of our sin, and yes, life is eternal.

If heaven is a place without pain or suffering, then something in this quote doesn't ring true. Didn't Jesus promise persecution, suffering, even death at the hands of those who hate his followers just as they hated him?
 
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Monna

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Is there a difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God?

If you go by the implication in the Lord's prayer, the kingdom of heaven is where God's will is done - so perhaps obedience is a prerequisite of experiencing the kingdom of heaven in your life. ? ? ?
 
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mukk_in

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From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt 4:17 RSV

I think most people miss the point of what Jesus is saying here. I believe he’s telling us that heaven comes to us the moment we repent of our sin.
Amen :). I couldn't agree more :).
 
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JacksBratt

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From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt 4:17 RSV

I think most people miss the point of what Jesus is saying here. I believe he’s telling us that heaven comes to us the moment we repent of our sin.
I believe that, in true facts, our eternal life begins the moment we accept Christ as our savior.

If that is what you mean by heaven coming to us, well, I guess.....But, I don't believe we are in paradise. We just begin our time of eternal life. Nothing can take it away or snatch us from His hand.
 
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dqhall

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From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt 4:17 RSV

I think most people miss the point of what Jesus is saying here. I believe he’s telling us that heaven comes to us the moment we repent of our sin.
If I repent of lack of knowledge, that may require study and access to good sources of information. It could take years of hard work to realize the fruits of wisdom. A grain of wheat does not bear fruit the same week it is planted. A fruit tree from a nursery (grafted) might take four years to bear a small crop. It takes more years before the fullness of production is realized.

Some times the results of repentance are quickly realized like when the tax collector Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10) repented of his overcharging tax payers and returned funds to them.

I remember the example of a drunken thief who got sober. While the thief had repented of his drunkenness, the thief had not yet repented of stealing. A little repentance is not the same as becoming righteous.

I repented of having too much salt in my diet and my blood pressure was lowered. I read more books about nutrition and became healthier yet.
 
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dreadnought

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I see then we will just have to beg to disagree then. I believe in a new heaven and new earth personally but that's me. I believe now upon repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost reception we simply enter a spiritual kingdom on Earth that Jesus has set for us. But yeah tons of different views on this verse when you think about it and what it implies
Certainly repentance gives us a new life.
 
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dreadnought

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I believe that, in true facts, our eternal life begins the moment we accept Christ as our savior.

If that is what you mean by heaven coming to us, well, I guess.....But, I don't believe we are in paradise. We just begin our time of eternal life. Nothing can take it away or snatch us from His hand.
But there comes the time the Lord asks us to repent of our sin, and if we do ...
 
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JacksBratt

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But there comes the time the Lord asks us to repent of our sin, and if we do ...
I have come to realize that repenting of our sins and being born again......will save you and give you eternal life but does not always open your eyes to your faults and/or keep you from behaving in a manner that you have done since your childhood....Some saved people are more Christ like than others.... saved but not so obvious to the world.

As is the case with strong willed people, like my wife. A true saved person, yet blind to (or refusing to accept) things that are bible based that she is not following.
 
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Halbhh

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From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt 4:17 RSV

I think most people miss the point of what Jesus is saying here. I believe he’s telling us that heaven comes to us the moment we repent of our sin.

The veil, which separated God from the people, was torn. Now we can directly come to God, through Jesus Christ.

33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,
and they will be my people.

34 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.

“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
 
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JESUS=G.O.A.T

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Certainly repentance gives us a new life.
i wouldn't say after repentance alone I would say after being saved. Like once you're born again fully then you truly have that new life. That's also how you enter the kingdom
 
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JacksBratt

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But there comes the time the Lord asks us to repent of our sin, and if we do ...
Is that not part of accepting Christ as our savior? When we are saved? We accept we are sinners, confess to Christ, ask for forgiveness and repent.... all as part of attaining eternal life?

At that point.
 
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dreadnought

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I have come to realize that repenting of our sins and being born again......will save you and give you eternal life but does not always open your eyes to your faults and/or keep you from behaving in a manner that you have done since your childhood....Some saved people are more Christ like than others.... saved but not so obvious to the world.

As is the case with strong willed people, like my wife. A true saved person, yet blind to (or refusing to accept) things that are bible based that she is not following.
It doesn't sound to me like your wife has repented of all her sin.
 
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dreadnought

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i wouldn't say after repentance alone I would say after being saved. Like once you're born again fully then you truly have that new life. That's also how you enter the kingdom
Saved or not, when we sin, we bring fear into our lives. Repentance removes fear from our lives.
 
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JESUS=G.O.A.T

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Saved or not, when we sin, we bring fear into our lives. Repentance removes fear from our lives.
That's my point reprence is just a change of heart.. repentance alone is just a means of having a change of heart aka mind on sin. Baptism washes the sins away, and then the Holy Spirit enables an indidivual to resist sin. There's a reason peter pushes all 3 they all together save one without the other isn't enough. As we see with anything determination alone isn't enough but it's a start. Sure you may end up sinning a few times after that still but then you just can yeah repent.
 
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dreadnought

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Is that not part of accepting Christ as our savior? When we are saved? We accept we are sinners, confess to Christ, ask for forgiveness and repent.... all as part of attaining eternal life?

At that point.
When we first accept the Lord as our Savior, we don't know yet exactly what sin is. The Lord, over a period of time, will show us what changes we need to make in our lives.
 
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dreadnought

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That's my point reprence is just a change of heart.. repentance alone is just a means of having a change of hear of sin. Baptism washes the sins away, and then the Holy Spirit enables an indidivual to resist sin. There's a reason peter pushes all 3 they all together save. Sure you may end up sinning a few times after that still but then you just can yeah repent.
No, repentance is not just a change of heart. The Lord isn't telling us to change our heart. He's telling us to stop sinning.
 
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JESUS=G.O.A.T

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No, repentance is not just a change of heart. The Lord isn't telling us to change our heart. He's telling us to stop sinning.
If you have a changed hear aka mind you will strive to stop sinning but not be able to do that much until you have sins washed away through baptism and Receive the Holy Ghost on the inside to help you resist sin. I mean they just had repentance in the OT and look where that got them. But in the NT we also have The Holy Ghost and baptism. Repentance is a change of mind.. its determination and an established FEar of God... determination and a changed mindset does something.. but only so much it's 1/3rd of the salvation process.
 
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JacksBratt

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When we first accept the Lord as our Savior, we don't know yet exactly what sin is. The Lord, over a period of time, will show us what changes we need to make in our lives.
I disagree.

I was well aware of what sin was and that I was a sinner. That is exactly why I knew I needed Christ's forgiveness and salvation.

If I was unaware of what sin was, I would have had no reason to turn to Christ.
 
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JacksBratt

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No, repentance is not just a change of heart. The Lord isn't telling us to change our heart. He's telling us to stop sinning.
We can never "stop sinning"

To tell people that they must do this... puts them in a situation that they, instinctively know, is impossible.

You cannot tell me that you never sin.
 
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