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HOW TO BE BLESSED?

Anguspure

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So you agree your love lacks redemptive power? How then can it be not less that Christ's love which contains redemptive power? Can 1+1 equal 1?
Love is not like some chemical solution that is poured on someone.
It is an act of will that bestows benefit on the recipient.
That I might lay down my life for another person is the same act of Love, in so far as I am doing so to the maximum ability to give benefit to another, is no less an act of Love than for anybody else.
That Yeshua's act of laying down His life was redemptive is a factor of the eternal reources available to Him and by the fact that He was completely sinless from conception.
If your love lacks redemptive power how will you be admonished to love with redemptive power?
I am not being asked to Love with redemptive power. I am being admonished to Love to the same extent, that of laying down my life for my family in Him.
Doesn't perfect love refer to Christ's love which has redemptive power?
No, it refers to the complete act of laying down ones life for another.
If so, how can the death of the apostles be considered as perfect love?
It is perfect because they lay down their lives for others.
If you can be perfect as the Father, why should Christ display perfect love on the cross in order to reconcile you to the Father?
There is no "should" about it. He did it because He Loves us and wanted to as a voluntary act. We do not deserve any of His Love and there is no obligation for Him to have anything to do with us.
Are you justifying Catholics who are impressed with the sincerity of mary, saints & the Popes?
People who claim the RC Church are justified through faith in Yeshua just the same as the rest of us.
Is this your emotional opinion or biblical proof that the gospel came to us because they died as martyrs?
Their martyrdom in the face of the opportunity to recant supplies a strong apologetic for the authenticity of what they proclaimed. That generation alone new whether or not what they were saying was true because it was their personal experience. The same cannot be said for subsequent martyrdom as admirable as that may be.
Certainly their willingness to lay down their lives for the truth of the gospel has been an inspiration for many.
Doesn't the first 3 commandments in the law tell you to love the Father & the rest tells you to love your neighbor? So how is the law different from your stipulation to love the Father?
As far as the 10 commandments are concerned, the first 5 concern vertical relationship and the second 5 concern horizontal relationships in ways that relate to the first.
So they are written on 2 tablets, Love YHWH and Love your neighbour.
So the commandments are not different rather they are, as read, a baseline that reflects our sin.
But the standard of YHWH is even more stringent than the written Law. Yeshua expands on this in the Sermon on the Mount where He says:

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, a and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.....
“You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5

So we do not live by the Law, rather it is by tje Law that we know by how far we have missed the mark.

Did God give the knowledge of good and evil to Adam and Eve?
The knowledge of good and evil came from eating from the tree, and they were cut off from the tree of life because of it.

But now once again we have acess to our tree of life and we can live according to Him, Loving one another simply because it pleases our Father.
 
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Si_monfaith

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Love is not like some chemical solution that is poured on someone.
It is an act of will that bestows benefit on the recipient.
That I might lay down my life for another person is the same act of Love, in so far as I am doing so to the maximum ability to give benefit to another, is no less an act of Love than for anybody else.
That Yeshua's act of laying down His life was redemptive is a factor of the eternal reources available to Him and by the fact that He was completely sinless from conception.

I am not being asked to Love with redemptive power. I am being admonished to Love to the same extent, that of laying down my life for my family in Him.

No, it refers to the complete act of laying down ones life for another.

It is perfect because they lay down their lives for others.

There is no "should" about it. He did it because He Loves us and wanted to as a voluntary act. We do not deserve any of His Love and there is no obligation for Him to have anything to do with us.

People who claim the RC Church are justified through faith in Yeshua just the same as the rest of us.

Their martyrdom in the face of the opportunity to recant supplies a strong apologetic for the authenticity of what they proclaimed. That generation alone new whether or not what they were saying was true because it was their personal experience. The same cannot be said for subsequent martyrdom as admirable as that may be.
Certainly their willingness to lay down their lives for the truth of the gospel has been an inspiration for many.

As far as the 10 commandments are concerned, the first 5 concern vertical relationship and the second 5 concern horizontal relationships in ways that relate to the first.
So they are written on 2 tablets, Love YHWH and Love your neighbour.
So the commandments are not different rather they are, as read, a baseline that reflects our sin.
But the standard of YHWH is even more stringent than the written Law. Yeshua expands on this in the Sermon on the Mount where He says:

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, a and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.....
“You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5

So we do not live by the Law, rather it is by tje Law that we know by how far we have missed the mark.


The knowledge of good and evil came from eating from the tree, and they were cut off from the tree of life because of it.

But now once again we have acess to our tree of life and we can live according to Him, Loving one another simply because it pleases our Father.

That I might lay down my life for another person is the same act of Love, in so far as I am doing so to the maximum ability to give benefit to another,

What benefit do you give to another by your death?

I am being admonished to Love to the same extent, that of laying down my life for my family in Him.

What is the purpose of laying down your life for your family in Him?

No, it refers to the complete act of laying down ones life for another.

If your death for others but without redemptive power is named as perfect love, how to name Christ's death which has redemptive power?

It is perfect because they lay down their lives for others.

Doesn't Bible say Christ's blood is without blemish & spot? Were the apostles' blood without blemish & spot? Where does Bible say the love of apostles is the same perfect love of Christ?

There is no "should" about it. He did it because He Loves us and wanted to as a voluntary act

So Christ's love through His death was only voluntary & wasn't necessary? Wasn't only His blood without blemish & spot making it necessary for Him to love & die in order to redeem & reconcile us to God?

Can you be perfect as God & bypass Christ's love in order to be reconciled with God?

People who claim the RC Church are justified through faith in Yeshua

Why are you evasive to explain the difference between God justifying you & being pleased with you? If your love through your death for others can't justify you, how can it make you pleasing to God?

How do you say you can make God be pleased with you by your death for others if your death can't make God justify you?

Their martyrdom in the face of the opportunity to recant supplies a strong apologetic for the authenticity

Is there biblical proof to claim gospel can't have been given to us apart from the death of the apostles?

So we do not live by the Law, rather it is by tje Law that we know by how far we have missed the mark.

Did Jesus present the fullest Moral Law of God in comparison to Moses's incomplete presentation of it, in order to show that faith in Jesus's works of love alone can make God be pleased with us?

Does the Law communicate the impossibility of making God be pleased with us through our works of love?

So how do you think you can make God be pleased with you through your works of love?

The knowledge of good and evil came from eating from the tree

Why did God prohibit them from possessing the knowledge of good & evil?
 
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Anguspure

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What benefit do you give to another by your death?
In a situation where the circumstances of my death were to give life to another then they would benefit from my death. Were I to voluntarily put myself in those circumstances, for no other reason than their benefit, then this would be an act Love.
upload_2019-11-2_12-34-30.jpeg


What is the purpose of laying down your life for your family in Him?
This purpose is what we are created for, in His image.

If your death for others but without redemptive power is named as perfect love, how to name Christ's death which has redemptive power?
Yes it is unique, It is an act of Love that results in the salvation of all who receive Him.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3

Doesn't Bible say Christ's blood is without blemish & spot?
Yes, He is our Passover Lamb
Were the apostles' blood without blemish & spot?
Yes, they were the righteousness of God in Christ.
Where does Bible say the love of apostles is the same perfect love of Christ?
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15
So Christ's love through His death was only voluntary & wasn't necessary?
Necessary for you and I, but a voluntary act of Love for Him.
Wasn't only His blood without blemish & spot making it necessary for Him to love & die in order to redeem & reconcile us to God?
Yes, without His death and resurrection every single person that has ever lived is justly condemned to eternal death. But in the event that He chose not to go through with it (as He was on the verge of doing in the garden), then the fault would lie with us, not with Him.

He was never ever at any point under any obligation to give anything, far less His life for any of us!

Can you be perfect as God & bypass Christ's love in order to be reconciled with God?
No.

Why are you evasive to explain the difference between God justifying you & being pleased with you?
I thought I was being clear. They are two different things. Justification and righteousness are about repairing our relationship with YHWH. A relationship that is irreparably damaged except for the Love and Grace of Yeshua. Justification gives us the right to become children of God.

Pleasing Him on the other hand is about the furtherance of a secure and healthy familial relationship between Father and child. He Loves us, we Love Him all is happy between us.

If your love through your death for others can't justify you, how can it make you pleasing to God?
Because if I am doing so because of Love, and more particularly in response to His Love, then I am doing what He created me to do.
How do you say you can make God be pleased with you by your death for others if your death can't make God justify you?
Here is what I'm hearing from you: Why do you think you would be pleased with your child if they brought you a gift that that was unable to buy them your fatherhood?

When my child gives me a gift of themselves the question of paternity never enters my mind, they remain my child irrespective of whether they bring me a gift or not. Nevertheless the gift pleases me greatly, more particularly because it is from my child who I value and Love.

Is there biblical proof to claim gospel can't have been given to us apart from the death of the apostles?
I have not claimed this. I claimed that their devotion and perseverance even to the point of death provides compelling evidence for the veracity of their claims and that this evidence has supplied reason for many to take their claims more seriously than what they might otherwise have done, perhaps leading many to salvation.

Did Jesus present the fullest Moral Law of God in comparison to Moses's incomplete presentation of it,
Moses presentation is prophetic of the person of Yeshua. For the Jewish people before Yeshua was the Torah, after Yeshua He is our Torah.
in order to show that faith in Jesus's works of love alone can make God be pleased with us?
Faith in Yeshua has always been the work of justification.
Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15
The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Romans 4

Does the Law communicate the impossibility of making God be pleased with us through our works of love?
No. It does however communicate the impossibility of being justified by works of the Law.

So how do you think you can make God be pleased with you through your works of love?
In the same way that my children know that their acts of Love please me. When my daughter cheerfully splits up her little bit of chocolate to share around the large family my heart swells with pleasure and I just know that I will give her an even bigger bit next time.
Why did God prohibit them from possessing the knowledge of good & evil?
Because one who does not know the difference can not be lead to sin. That is why the evil one tempted them with the one thing they did know not to do.
All of the other things he could have tempted them with, and that he tempts us with, would have been very unattractive to them in their innocence. The fruit on the other hand looked good to eat.

So now we do not eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now we eat from the fruit of the tree of life, listening to His Spirit, and He teaches us to do the things that are pleasing to our Father, as He is pleasing to Him.
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” Matthew 3
 
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Si_monfaith

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In a situation where the circumstances of my death were to give life to another then they would benefit from my death. Were I to voluntarily put myself in those circumstances, for no other reason than their benefit, then this would be an act Love.



This purpose is what we are created for, in His image.


Yes it is unique, It is an act of Love that results in the salvation of all who receive Him.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3

Yes, He is our Passover Lamb

Yes, they were the righteousness of God in Christ.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15

Necessary for you and I, but a voluntary act of Love for Him.

Yes, without His death and resurrection every single person that has ever lived is justly condemned to eternal death. But in the event that He chose not to go through with it (as He was on the verge of doing in the garden), then the fault would lie with us, not with Him.

He was never ever at any point under any obligation to give anything, far less His life for any of us!


No.


I thought I was being clear. They are two different things. Justification and righteousness are about repairing our relationship with YHWH. A relationship that is irreparably damaged except for the Love and Grace of Yeshua. Justification gives us the right to become children of God.

Pleasing Him on the other hand is about the furtherance of a secure and healthy familial relationship between Father and child. He Loves us, we Love Him all is happy between us.


Because if I am doing so because of Love, and more particularly in response to His Love, then I am doing what He created me to do.

Here is what I'm hearing from you: Why do you think you would be pleased with your child if they brought you a gift that that was unable to buy them your fatherhood?

When my child gives me a gift of themselves the question of paternity never enters my mind, they remain my child irrespective of whether they bring me a gift or not. Nevertheless the gift pleases me greatly, more particularly because it is from my child who I value and Love.


I have not claimed this. I claimed that their devotion and perseverance even to the point of death provides compelling evidence for the veracity of their claims and that this evidence has supplied reason for many to take their claims more seriously than what they might otherwise have done, perhaps leading many to salvation.


Moses presentation is prophetic of the person of Yeshua. For the Jewish people before Yeshua was the Torah, after Yeshua He is our Torah.

Faith in Yeshua has always been the work of justification.
Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. Genesis 15
The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Romans 4


No. It does however communicate the impossibility of being justified by works of the Law.


In the same way that my children know that their acts of Love please me. When my daughter cheerfully splits up her little bit of chocolate to share around the large family my heart swells with pleasure and I just know that I will give her an even bigger bit next time.

Because one who does not know the difference can not be lead to sin. That is why the evil one tempted them with the one thing they did know not to do.
All of the other things he could have tempted them with, and that he tempts us with, would have been very unattractive to them in their innocence. The fruit on the other hand looked good to eat.

So now we do not eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now we eat from the fruit of the tree of life, listening to His Spirit, and He teaches us to do the things that are pleasing to our Father, as He is pleasing to Him.
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” Matthew 3

In a situation where the circumstances of my death were to give life to another then they would benefit from my death

Do you have a scriptural quote which states the benefit you give others by your dying for them?

This purpose

Laying down your life is the act. Do you have a scriptural quote stating the purpose of your act of laying down your life for your family?

Yes it is unique

I am yet to see a quote which says apostle's love through death is perfect love & Christ's love isn't greater but only unique.


Yes, they were the righteousness of God in Christ.

If their blood is without blemish & spot, do you mean it can earn redemption for others? If not, why?

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s

Where does this verse say greater love refers to the apostles death? Couldn't it refer to Christ's death?

Necessary for you and I, but a voluntary act of Love for Him.

If you can't be perfect as God in order to bypass Christ's perfect love to make God be pleased with you, why did you quote the verse "Be ye perfect as God is perfect".


Were the love of apostles perfect as God is perfect, enough to bypass the love of Christ & make God be pleased with them?

Pleasing Him on the other hand is about the furtherance of a secure and healthy familial relationship between Father and child.

Bible says, "without faith it's impossible to please God". Does Bible say so about works of love?

Because if I am doing so because of Love, and more particularly in response to His Love, then I am doing what He created me to do.

Are works of love done in order to remember His Son's perfect works of love on the cross or to make God be pleased with you. Is God pleased with the apostle's blood which isn't intrinsically without blemish & spot?

Nevertheless the gift pleases me greatly, more particularly because it is from my child who I value and Love

You value your child's gift but doesn't the Father say He values our faith in the perfect love of His Son on the cross?

Moses presentation is prophetic of the person of Yeshua.

So moses didn't present the moral law? If he did, did it represent God's moral law 100%?

Faith in Yeshua has always been the work of justification.

If so, why does Bible say "without faith it's impossible to please God"?

No. It does however communicate the impossibility of being justified by works of the Law.

If humans could please God by the works of love as defined in the law, why does Romans 3:23 say "all have sinned" & Rom3:12 say "there is none that doeth good, no, not one"?

my heart swells with pleasure

Is that because you don't have a son who died & saved the rest of your children from eternal death & on whom you could glory upon?

Because one who does not know the difference can not be lead to sin

So in Christ, has God redeemed His people from the knowledge of good & evil in order to prevent them from knowing the difference & thus be led to sin? Were Adam & Eve allowed to eat the fruit of life while yet possessing the knowledge of good and evil?
 
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Anguspure

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Do you have a scriptural quote which states the benefit you give others by your dying for them?
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15

Laying down your life is the act. Do you have a scriptural quote stating the purpose of your act of laying down your life for your family?
"If you love me, keep my commands. John 14 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you....This is my command: Love each other. John 15

I am yet to see a quote which says apostle's love through death is perfect love & Christ's love isn't greater but only unique.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15

If their blood is without blemish & spot, do you mean it can earn redemption for others? If not, why?
Our death, as those who live by Yeshua, does not earn redemption because the price has already been paid. There is no longer anything to be paid for. If a person wishes to be redeemed they need to look to the one who paid the price.

Where does this verse say greater love refers to the apostles death? Couldn't it refer to Christ's death?
It refers to the person who lays down their life. He is applying this principle to himself in this passage, but the general principle stands for all people. The act of Love is not measured by its efficacy but by the sacrifice that is made. Nobody whether Yeshua or anybody else has anything more valuable to sacrifice for the benefit of another than their own life.

If you can't be perfect as God in order to bypass Christ's perfect love to make God be pleased with you, why did you quote the verse "Be ye perfect as God is perfect".
Because sin, any sin has an infinite consequence and any act of love that we commit apart from Yeshua is only of finite value. The infinite can never be balanced by adding up finite things. So Yeshua's sacrifice carried the infinite value needed to pay the infinite cost of redemption of all of us.

But the point where we are free from sin, because of Him, and moving forward in Love then we are perfect. Perfection is indeed possible and desirable. For how long before we stumble, is the question.

Were the love of apostles perfect as God is perfect, enough to bypass the love of Christ & make God be pleased with them?
Not perfect enough to bypass the redemption of Christ because this is impossible, but perfect enough to please their heavenly Father.

Bible says, "without faith it's impossible to please God". Does Bible say so about works of love?
if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing....
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13
For in Christ Jesus...The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5
Are works of love done in order to remember His Son's perfect works of love on the cross or to make God be pleased with you.
The works of love are done in response to His Son's perfect works of Love on the cross and to please our Father who we Love.
Is God pleased with the apostle's blood which isn't intrinsically without blemish & spot?
The Father was not pleased with their blood spilt and justice will be served for that sin. But He is pleased with the Love of His children when they nevertheless choose to lay down their lives for the lives of others.

You value your child's gift but doesn't the Father say He values our faith in the perfect love of His Son on the cross?
I value the trust of my children and without their trust our relationship would be broken. But I also value the things that they do as people who Love YHWH, Love others and Love me.

So moses didn't present the moral law?
He presented a written form of what finds its fulfillment in Yeshua.
If he did, did it represent God's moral law 100%?
Not 100%. Yeshua Himself is the Word, the written word is only a representation of the truth that is in Him.

If so, why does Bible say "without faith it's impossible to please God"?
Because faith is the foundation of all good relationship. If we do not trust the other person, to a given degree, then our relationship is broken.

If humans could please God by the works of love as defined in the law, why does Romans 3:23 say "all have sinned" & Rom3:12 say "there is none that doeth good, no, not one"?
Paul is referring to the natural state of mankind apart from Yeshua. When we are in Yeshua our works of Love are pleasing to our Father who says (through Yeshua): If you love me, keep my commands. John 14 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you....This is my command: Love each other. John 15
Is that because you don't have a son who died & saved the rest of your children from eternal death & on whom you could glory upon?
Yeshua is the son of YHWH only by analogy. He is in fact the very image of YHWH on Earth, and yes all glory belongs to Him.
So He says: “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. John 14
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other. John 15

So in Christ, has God redeemed His people from the knowledge of good & evil in order to prevent them from knowing the difference & thus be led to sin?
He has redeemed us but we must also choose to follow Him and discard the knowledge of good and evil. He does not prevent anything, He only leads us forward if we will follow. The direction He leads us is in Love and He is pleased when we follow His lead.
Were Adam & Eve allowed to eat the fruit of life while yet possessing the knowledge of good and evil?
They were prevented from eating in order to limit the length of their earthly lives, but they were also promised a redeemer even while they were in sin.
 
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Si_monfaith

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Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15


"If you love me, keep my commands. John 14 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you....This is my command: Love each other. John 15


Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15


Our death, as those who live by Yeshua, does not earn redemption because the price has already been paid. There is no longer anything to be paid for. If a person wishes to be redeemed they need to look to the one who paid the price.


It refers to the person who lays down their life. He is applying this principle to himself in this passage, but the general principle stands for all people. The act of Love is not measured by its efficacy but by the sacrifice that is made. Nobody whether Yeshua or anybody else has anything more valuable to sacrifice for the benefit of another than their own life.


Because sin, any sin has an infinite consequence and any act of love that we commit apart from Yeshua is only of finite value. The infinite can never be balanced by adding up finite things. So Yeshua's sacrifice carried the infinite value needed to pay the infinite cost of redemption of all of us.

But the point where we are free from sin, because of Him, and moving forward in Love then we are perfect. Perfection is indeed possible and desirable. For how long before we stumble, is the question.


Not perfect enough to bypass the redemption of Christ because this is impossible, but perfect enough to please their heavenly Father.


if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing....
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13
For in Christ Jesus...The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5

The works of love are done in response to His Son's perfect works of Love on the cross and to please our Father who we Love.

The Father was not pleased with their blood spilt and justice will be served for that sin. But He is pleased with the Love of His children when they nevertheless choose to lay down their lives for the lives of others.


I value the trust of my children and without their trust our relationship would be broken. But I also value the things that they do as people who Love YHWH, Love others and Love me.

He presented a written form of what finds its fulfillment in Yeshua.
Not 100%. Yeshua Himself is the Word, the written word is only a representation of the truth that is in Him.


Because faith is the foundation of all good relationship. If we do not trust the other person, to a given degree, then our relationship is broken.


Paul is referring to the natural state of mankind apart from Yeshua. When we are in Yeshua our works of Love are pleasing to our Father who says (through Yeshua): If you love me, keep my commands. John 14 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you....This is my command: Love each other. John 15

Yeshua is the son of YHWH only by analogy. He is in fact the very image of YHWH on Earth, and yes all glory belongs to Him.
So He says: “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. John 14
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other. John 15


He has redeemed us but we must also choose to follow Him and discard the knowledge of good and evil. He does not prevent anything, He only leads us forward if we will follow. The direction He leads us is in Love and He is pleased when we follow His lead.

They were prevented from eating in order to limit the length of their earthly lives, but they were also promised a redeemer even while they were in sin.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15

Does this verse talk about the benefit you give others by trying to show your love through your death? Why not quote relevant verses or plainly admit you don't have a quote?

"If you love me, keep my commands. John 14

What is the purpose of your obedience to His command by dying for your family? Again, why not understand the question & quote relevant verses?

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. John 15

Again, where does this refer to the love of the apostles? It could very well refer to the Lord's love. Moreover, does it say the apostles' love was perfect? Irrelevant verse.

Our death, as those who live by Yeshua, does not earn redemption because the price has already been paid

Though apostles' blood is without blemish & spot, it can't earn redemption for others because the price has already been paid OR because the purity of apostles' blood is neither intrinsic to them nor earned by them by their works but rather a free gift from Jesus & could accomplish nothing?

Nobody whether Yeshua or anybody else has anything more valuable to sacrifice for the benefit of another than their own life.

Where does Bible say apostles died for the benefit of others? Do you have a quote?

Perfection is indeed possible and desirable. For how long before we stumble, is the question.

Is your perfection a gift same as a beggar's gift from the Master? Is your perfection worthless in comparison to the Lord's perfection, as yours can't accomplish anything?

but perfect enough to please their heavenly Father.

Can a beggar freely gifted with money for the sake of the hard work of the master's son, use the money to please the master OR the master is pleased by the beggar's confidence in the master's gift of his son & the son's hard work? Again no quote to prove apostle's perfection to be enough to please God.

But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13

Another irrelevant qoute which doesn't say the apostles had the kind of love in 1 Corinthians 13 & thus pleased the Father. I would love to hear relevant verses rather than Maxim's & opinions.

The works of love are done in response to His Son's perfect works of Love on the cross and to please our Father who we Love.

When God is already pleased by the continual faith in His Son's perfect love, where does He say He is not yet pleased without works?

when they nevertheless choose to lay down their lives for the lives of others.

Do you mean to say your love can't be perfect unless you die for others?

But I also value the things that they do as people who Love YHWH, Love others and Love me.

Do you value it because you have no sovereign control over your child's will?

Not 100%. Yeshua Himself is the Word, the written word is only a representation of the truth that is in Him.

Do you see the difference between God's word of grace given through Jesus & the written word of moral law given through Moses? Did moses present the moral law?

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you....This is my command: Love each other. John 15

Did Jesus give this command to please God because faith in Him doesn't please God enough?

Yeshua is the son of YHWH only by analogy.

So you deny the truth of Trinity thus deny God glorying in & pleased perfectly in His Son?

so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you

So you earn blessings from God through your works of love?

discard the knowledge of good and evil

Do you mean to say Jesus didn't deliver you from the knowledge of good & evil through His perfect sacrifice on the cross?

They were prevented from eating in order to limit the length of their earthly lives

Did they have life after they started to possess the knowledge of good & evil?
 
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Anguspure

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Does this verse talk about the benefit you give others by trying to show your love through your death? Why not quote relevant verses or plainly admit you don't have a quote?
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13

Yeshua loved us by laying down His and so we should do the same for others.

Love is a benefit bestowed upon another, laying down ones life to the point of death bestows the ultimate benefit that anyone can bestow upon another (although not the maximum benefit which, for those of in Yeshua, is the day to day dying to oneself for the benefit of others over a lifetime i.e. Mother Teressa).

Here is another passage that makes the connection.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...Ephesians 5

It is curious that you have difficulty with the idea of a person laying down their life so as to benefit others. I was watching an interview with Ravi Zacharius last night and during the interview he made a reference to Thomas the disciple where Yeshua said to him (and the other disciples) " Because I live, you also will live." John 14. Thomas took this word and eventually ended up loosing his life bringing the gospel to India.


The comment is at 10:00. Clearly the preaching of the gospel that he was willing to do even to death brought great benefit to your people and people all over the world, whether at the time he died or in the modern era where he provided such great inspiration for this man of God.

What is the purpose of your obedience to His command by dying for your family? Again, why not understand the question & quote relevant verses?
If I die, and I sincerely hope I do not find myself in that situation, I do not do it out of obedience to a command, I do it because I Love my family in imitation of Him, and I know that is good and right because that's what He did for me.

Again, where does this refer to the love of the apostles? It could very well refer to the Lord's love. Moreover, does it say the apostles' love was perfect? Irrelevant verse.
It is a general statement and refers to Love as a general principle. As such it refers to the Love fruit that we all bear in response to the Love bestowed upon us.

Though apostles' blood is without blemish & spot, it can't earn redemption for others because the price has already been paid OR because the purity of apostles' blood is neither intrinsic to them nor earned by them by their works but rather a free gift from Jesus & could accomplish nothing?
If Christ is living in a person, it is no longer they who live but Christ who lives within them. Paul writes: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2

So if a person who lives this new life, Loves to the point of death who's life is being poured out? It cannot be their own because that has been crucified and is dead. It must therefore be the life of Yeshua.

It's just a thought and in terms of redemptive value irrelevant anyway because the price of redemption has already been paid.

Where does Bible say apostles died for the benefit of others? Do you have a quote?
Who do you think they died for? Themselves? It is well known that they were martyred for proclaiming the truth about Yeshua in the face of murderous opposition.

Is your perfection a gift same as a beggar's gift from the Master? Is your perfection worthless in comparison to the Lord's perfection, as yours can't accomplish anything?
Now I see a part of your problem.
We are not beggars in Him. We are friends and we are children.

Can a beggar freely gifted with money for the sake of the hard work of the master's son, use the money to please the master OR the master is pleased by the beggar's confidence in the master's gift of his son & the son's hard work? Again no quote to prove apostle's perfection to be enough to please God.
A beggar and a servant probably cannot because he only does what his Master tells him to do. But a friend who has freely been given a gift, or a child who benefits from his Father can certainly use what he has been given to please his Dad.

Do you think that when my children please me by using the things that they have to Love others, including myself, that they paid for any of it? I can tell you (except for the older ones) that they did not. It is my money, the money I earned by laying down my life for them, that they are using.
But I am pleased because of the nature of their hearts.

Another irrelevant qoute which doesn't say the apostles had the kind of love in 1 Corinthians 13 & thus pleased the Father. I would love to hear relevant verses rather than Maxim's & opinions.
Are you claiming that the Apostles were impatient and unkind, boastful and envious, proud and dishonorable, etc? Certainly they lacked faith on a regular basis but there is no reason to suppose that they were less Loving because of it. What is your gripe with these people who gave up their lives to live and proclaim the gospel?

When God is already pleased by the continual faith in His Son's perfect love, where does He say He is not yet pleased without works?
I did not claim that He was not. I claimed that He is pleased with the Love of His children.
Do you mean to say your love can't be perfect unless you die for others?
No. Love is perfect when the most loving thing in the given circumstances is done, and it is a matter of the heart, not necessarily a matter of what is enacted.
Do you value it because you have no sovereign control over your child's will?
Yes. They are free to act, just as you and I are free to act before YHWH.

Do you see the difference between God's word of grace given through Jesus & the written word of moral law given through Moses? Did moses present the moral law?
The more I understand the actual nature of what YHWH intended by the Torah the less I see a difference.
It seems that righteousness has always been attained by faith, and it was always a twisting of the written word to turn it into the Law as practiced by the Temple in the 1st century. The Law was always powerless to make a person righteous.
Did Jesus give this command to please God because faith in Him doesn't please God enough?
No. The truth is that "faith" that is not expressed through Love is dead and worthless. the 2 go hand in hand.
James makes this clear:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. James 2

So you deny the truth of Trinity thus deny God glorying in & pleased perfectly in His Son?
No I do not. A son is the offspring of a husband and a wife and is younger then the Father. Clearly this not the case with the Word.

So you earn blessings from God through your works of love?
Not earn. They would not be works of Love if I expected to earn anything. Nevertheless I know that I please my Father when I Love.

Do you mean to say Jesus didn't deliver you from the knowledge of good & evil through His perfect sacrifice on the cross?
He delivered me from the curse of the Law. But if (as the Galatians were at risk of doing) I desert the Gospel of grace and return to the attempt to earn righteousness by works of the Law then that is what I would be doing; eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

As it is I choose not to and instead trust in His grace without concerning myself with the rights and wrongs of the law in my day to day life.

Did they have life after they started to possess the knowledge of good & evil?
They did not have new life once they had been removed from the garden and from access to the tree of life. From that point on it was only a matter of time before they were dead. On the day that they ate they died.
 
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Si_monfaith

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A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13

Yeshua loved us by laying down His and so we should do the same for others.

Love is a benefit bestowed upon another, laying down ones life to the point of death bestows the ultimate benefit that anyone can bestow upon another (although not the maximum benefit which, for those of in Yeshua, is the day to day dying to oneself for the benefit of others over a lifetime i.e. Mother Teressa).

Here is another passage that makes the connection.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...Ephesians 5

It is curious that you have difficulty with the idea of a person laying down their life so as to benefit others. I was watching an interview with Ravi Zacharius last night and during the interview he made a reference to Thomas the disciple where Yeshua said to him (and the other disciples) " Because I live, you also will live." John 14. Thomas took this word and eventually ended up loosing his life bringing the gospel to India.


The comment is at 10:00. Clearly the preaching of the gospel that he was willing to do even to death brought great benefit to your people and people all over the world, whether at the time he died or in the modern era where he provided such great inspiration for this man of God.


If I die, and I sincerely hope I do not find myself in that situation, I do not do it out of obedience to a command, I do it because I Love my family in imitation of Him, and I know that is good and right because that's what He did for me.


It is a general statement and refers to Love as a general principle. As such it refers to the Love fruit that we all bear in response to the Love bestowed upon us.


If Christ is living in a person, it is no longer they who live but Christ who lives within them. Paul writes: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2

So if a person who lives this new life, Loves to the point of death who's life is being poured out? It cannot be their own because that has been crucified and is dead. It must therefore be the life of Yeshua.

It's just a thought and in terms of redemptive value irrelevant anyway because the price of redemption has already been paid.


Who do you think they died for? Themselves? It is well known that they were martyred for proclaiming the truth about Yeshua in the face of murderous opposition.


Now I see a part of your problem.
We are not beggars in Him. We are friends and we are children.


A beggar and a servant probably cannot because he only does what his Master tells him to do. But a friend who has freely been given a gift, or a child who benefits from his Father can certainly use what he has been given to please his Dad.

Do you think that when my children please me by using the things that they have to Love others, including myself, that they paid for any of it? I can tell you (except for the older ones) that they did not. It is my money, the money I earned by laying down my life for them, that they are using.
But I am pleased because of the nature of their hearts.


Are you claiming that the Apostles were impatient and unkind, boastful and envious, proud and dishonorable, etc? Certainly they lacked faith on a regular basis but there is no reason to suppose that they were less Loving because of it. What is your gripe with these people who gave up their lives to live and proclaim the gospel?


I did not claim that He was not. I claimed that He is pleased with the Love of His children.

No. Love is perfect when the most loving thing in the given circumstances is done, and it is a matter of the heart, not necessarily a matter of what is enacted.

Yes. They are free to act, just as you and I are free to act before YHWH.


The more I understand the actual nature of what YHWH intended by the Torah the less I see a difference.
It seems that righteousness has always been attained by faith, and it was always a twisting of the written word to turn it into the Law as practiced by the Temple in the 1st century. The Law was always powerless to make a person righteous.

No. The truth is that "faith" that is not expressed through Love is dead and worthless. the 2 go hand in hand.
James makes this clear:
What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. James 2


No I do not. A son is the offspring of a husband and a wife and is younger then the Father. Clearly this not the case with the Word.


Not earn. They would not be works of Love if I expected to earn anything. Nevertheless I know that I please my Father when I Love.


He delivered me from the curse of the Law. But if (as the Galatians were at risk of doing) I desert the Gospel of grace and return to the attempt to earn righteousness by works of the Law then that is what I would be doing; eating from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

As it is I choose not to and instead trust in His grace without concerning myself with the rights and wrongs of the law in my day to day life.


They did not have new life once they had been removed from the garden and from access to the tree of life. From that point on it was only a matter of time before they were dead. On the day that they ate they died.

the point of death bestows the ultimate benefit that anyone can bestow upon another (although not the maximum benefit which, for those of in Yeshua, is the day to day dying to oneself for the benefit of others over a lifetime i.e. Mother Teressa).

Does faith in Christ's perfect sacrifice OR the self of a Christian drive the works of love?

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13

This command doesn't say the apostles loved as perfectly as Jesus on the cross.

to death brought great benefit to your people and people all over the world

Do you evade the comparison of the benefit of the apostle's love & death which is as negligent to the point of nothing & worthless before Jesus's love & death? Is it because you haven't yet comprehended the love of Jesus reasonably?

It is a general statement and refers to Love as a general principle

I am looking for specific quotes & not general statements or principles, to see whether the love of apostles was as perfect as Jesus's love? I haven't yet seen any.

So if a person who lives this new life, Loves to the point of death who's life is being poured out?

Does Bible say Jesus pours out His life again after accomplishing everything the first time, through the apostles, when moses wasn't expected to strike the Rock the second time?

were martyred for proclaiming the truth about Yeshua

Isn't dying during proclaiming the truth different from benefitting the prospective recipients of the gospel? Is seeing their death as beneficial, born out of a pure ignorance of the magnitude of Jesus's love?

We are not beggars in Him. We are friends and we are children.

When one deserves hell, can he be a child & friend of God? Isn't one without faith in Jesus's perfect sacrifice, greatly worse than a beggar who simply & only lacks money? Wasn't perfection given when you were in such a state?

But I am pleased because of the nature of their hearts.

Can works of love with no faith that Christ's death & resurrection alone has benefitted the family & others, please God?

were impatient and unkind, boastful and envious, proud and dishonorable, etc?

2Corinthians11:17: "That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting".

What is your gripe against faith in Christ's work of love to be considered intrinsically perfect & infinitely greater than the apostles perfection which isn't intrinsic to them as in the above quote?

I claimed that He is pleased with the Love of His children

I am yet to see relevant quotes to substantiate your claim apart from maxims & personal opinions.

and it is a matter of the heart, not necessarily a matter of what is enacted

Christ's perfection wasn't only a matter of His heart but enacted as well.

as you and I are free to act before YHWH.

Did Jesus say only the sheep could believe in John 10:26?

When we are in Yeshua our works of Love are pleasing to our Father

If your works of love could please God only in Yeshua, why did God tell the Israelites who weren't in Yeshua, through moses, to do works of love?

The truth is that "faith" that is not expressed through Love is dead and worthless

Earlier you seemed to admit your works was far from perfection. So is your faith dead & worthless? Do you help all the poor always? Does James command to help some poor people sometimes or all poor people at all times?

A son is the offspring of a husband and a wife and is younger then the Father

Do you believe in One God existing in Three Eternal Persons?

so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you

Does it mean without loving others Father won't bless? What does "so that" mean? Does Jesus talk about pleasing God from the old covenant based on works of love rather than from the new covenant of grace based on His blood?

He delivered me from the curse of the Law

Ephesians 2:15: "... abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees". By His death, He only delivered from the curse of the law or from the law itself?

without concerning myself with the rights and wrongs

If you don't concern yourself with rights & wrongs, how do you know whether your works are good or evil, let alone they please God?

On the day that they ate they died.

So having lost their spiritual life which is separation from God by starting to have the knowledge of good and evil, can they be reunited with God until they were freed from the knowledge of good and evil through Christ's death on the cross?
 
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Anguspure

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Does faith in Christ's perfect sacrifice OR the self of a Christian drive the works of love?

1 John 3:14 NIV
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
1 John 3:16 NIV
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
1 John 4:9-11 NIV
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
This command doesn't say the apostles loved as perfectly as Jesus on the cross.
They gave up their lives and Yeshua says:
John 15:13 NIV
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

Do you evade the comparison of the benefit of the apostle's love & death which is as negligent to the point of nothing & worthless before Jesus's love & death? Is it because you haven't yet comprehended the love of Jesus reasonably?
The efficacy of the Love of Yeshua is a given and yes on a level that makes anything we can do with the resources He has given us look paltry and insignificant. But that Love is an expression of the infinite resources of YHWH.
But perfection of the Love is not a measured by size. It is a matter the heart of the person giving Love.
Yeshua explains it like this:
Luke 21:1-4 NIV
As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Of course we know that Yeshua gave all of himself and so His Love is perfect, but this does not preclude others from following his example with the paltry resources they have at their disposal.
Does Bible say Jesus pours out His life again after accomplishing everything the first time, through the apostles, when Moses wasn't expected to strike the Rock the second time?
Not for the purpose of redemption He does not, the perfect sacrifice has been made. Nevertheless He continues to lay down His life in Love through His body that is the Church forever.
Isn't dying during proclaiming the truth different from benefiting the prospective recipients of the gospel? Is seeing their death as beneficial, born out of a pure ignorance of the magnitude of Jesus's love?
Here is Pauls take on the subject:
Colossians 1:24-26 NIV
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--- the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people.

When one deserves hell, can he be a child & friend of God? Isn't one without faith in Jesus's perfect sacrifice, greatly worse than a beggar who simply & only lacks money?
1 John 3:1-2 NIV
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Wasn't perfection given when you were in such a state¿
Perfection is a given at the moment of righteousness and for as long as we do not stumble.
Can works of love with no faith that Christ's death & resurrection alone has benefited the family & others, please God?
Yeshua's death and Resurrection is indeed the central fact and benefit of creation, more so even than the act of creation itself.
This however does not preclude the ability of the children of YHWH benefiting the world.
Matthew 5:13-16 NIV
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
2Corinthians11:17: "That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting".
Conversely to Timothy he writes:
2 Timothy 4:6-8 NIV
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day---and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
What is your gripe against faith in Christ's work of love to be considered intrinsically perfect & infinitely greater than the apostles perfection which isn't intrinsic to them as in the above quote?
Life and the very foundation of creation itself has no intrinsic worth apart from the benevolence of the Creator, far less our ability to act in Love.
Nevertheless He has given us a choice as to how we use the benefit He has bestowed upon us and it pleases Him when we use it according to His Will.
Christ's perfection wasn't only a matter of His heart but enacted as well.
The truth about the heart is revealed in action. This is a general principle for all people. Yeshua demonstrated the truth about His heart by laying down His life for us. The truth about our hearts in relation to Him is revealed by our actions towards others.
Did Jesus say only the sheep could believe in John 10:26?
His sheep hear His voice, yes.
If your works of love could please God only in Yeshua, why did God tell the Israelites who weren't in Yeshua, through Moses, to do works of love?
Because the Israelites under Moses were looking forward to Him and His act of Love. They were also expected to live from faith expressing itself in Love. That they did not and instead lived as if the Law could save them is a tragedy.
Earlier you seemed to admit your works was far from perfection. So is your faith dead & worthless?
Not dead and worthless, I do act according to His Spirit. But I am not yet perfect and my faith leaves a lot to be desired.
1 John 2:1-2 NIV
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father---Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 3:19-22 NIV
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
Do you help all the poor always? Does James command to help some poor people sometimes or all poor people at all times?
James does not command anybody. According to the Spirit is how we live, and according to the Spirit we should act.
I always help a poor person, according to the resources available to me and according to His leading and wisdom when they come within my sphere of influence.

But to temper this, Yeshua did not instantly heal all of the people of the world when He was here, although He was perfectly aware of their suffering. Neither does He expect us to do anything apart from the leading and wisdom of the Spirit.
Do you believe in One God existing in Three Eternal Persons?
Yes, Shema y Israel, Adoni elohenu, Adoni echad.
YHWH entered our world as Yeshua, our salvation, and relates to us by His Spirit.
Does it mean without loving others Father won't bless?
Matthew 5:44-45 NIV
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Further to this, Love is always a free gift. If an act is carried out from ulterior motive or from obligation it is not Love. Acting because we might receive a blessing is not Love.
What does "so that" mean?
It means that because of the way we act, He sees that He can entrust us with more blessings with which He knows we will bless others.
Does Jesus talk about pleasing God from the old covenant based on works of love rather than from the new covenant of grace based on His blood?
I doubt that the old covenant was based on works of the Law. It seems to me that, properly understood, the prerequisite for the covenant of Moses was faith in the salvation of YHWH just as much as it is for those of us to whom Yeshua has been revealed.
So the foundation of righteousness and Love has always been faith in the grace of Yeshua.

Ephesians 2:15: "... abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees". By His death, He only delivered from the curse of the law or from the law itself?
And so we live according to the Law of the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-17 NIV
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation---but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs---heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.


If you don't concern yourself with rights & wrongs, how do you know whether your works are good or evil, let alone they please God?
We know what is good because He has lead the way of Love so we live according to the Spirit of Love.
Once we have agreed with Him about what is wrong and received His Spirit we should not be setting our eyes on those works of the flesh. Rather we should have our minds firmly set on Him and His Spirit.

So having lost their spiritual life which is separation from God by starting to have the knowledge of good and evil, can they be reunited with God until they were freed from the knowledge of good and evil through Christ's death on the cross?
Yes, by trusting in His salvation and in His grace they can. But it is not the way it should be, and we need to learn to hear His voice.
 
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1 John 3:14 NIV
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
1 John 3:16 NIV
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
1 John 4:9-11 NIV
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

They gave up their lives and Yeshua says:
John 15:13 NIV
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.


The efficacy of the Love of Yeshua is a given and yes on a level that makes anything we can do with the resources He has given us look paltry and insignificant. But that Love is an expression of the infinite resources of YHWH.
But perfection of the Love is not a measured by size. It is a matter the heart of the person giving Love.
Yeshua explains it like this:
Luke 21:1-4 NIV
As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Of course we know that Yeshua gave all of himself and so His Love is perfect, but this does not preclude others from following his example with the paltry resources they have at their disposal.

Not for the purpose of redemption He does not, the perfect sacrifice has been made. Nevertheless He continues to lay down His life in Love through His body that is the Church forever.

Here is Pauls take on the subject:
Colossians 1:24-26 NIV
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness--- the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord's people.


1 John 3:1-2 NIV
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Perfection is a given at the moment of righteousness and for as long as we do not stumble.

Yeshua's death and Resurrection is indeed the central fact and benefit of creation, more so even than the act of creation itself.
This however does not preclude the ability of the children of YHWH benefiting the world.
Matthew 5:13-16 NIV
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Conversely to Timothy he writes:
2 Timothy 4:6-8 NIV
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day---and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Life and the very foundation of creation itself has no intrinsic worth apart from the benevolence of the Creator, far less our ability to act in Love.
Nevertheless He has given us a choice as to how we use the benefit He has bestowed upon us and it pleases Him when we use it according to His Will.

The truth about the heart is revealed in action. This is a general principle for all people. Yeshua demonstrated the truth about His heart by laying down His life for us. The truth about our hearts in relation to Him is revealed by our actions towards others.

His sheep hear His voice, yes.

Because the Israelites under Moses were looking forward to Him and His act of Love. They were also expected to live from faith expressing itself in Love. That they did not and instead lived as if the Law could save them is a tragedy.

Not dead and worthless, I do act according to His Spirit. But I am not yet perfect and my faith leaves a lot to be desired.
1 John 2:1-2 NIV
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father---Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 3:19-22 NIV
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.

James does not command anybody. According to the Spirit is how we live, and according to the Spirit we should act.
I always help a poor person, according to the resources available to me and according to His leading and wisdom when they come within my sphere of influence.

But to temper this, Yeshua did not instantly heal all of the people of the world when He was here, although He was perfectly aware of their suffering. Neither does He expect us to do anything apart from the leading and wisdom of the Spirit.

Yes, Shema y Israel, Adoni elohenu, Adoni echad.
YHWH entered our world as Yeshua, our salvation, and relates to us by His Spirit.

Matthew 5:44-45 NIV
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Further to this, Love is always a free gift. If an act is carried out from ulterior motive or from obligation it is not Love. Acting because we might receive a blessing is not Love.

It means that because of the way we act, He sees that He can entrust us with more blessings with which He knows we will bless others.

I doubt that the old covenant was based on works of the Law. It seems to me that, properly understood, the prerequisite for the covenant of Moses was faith in the salvation of YHWH just as much as it is for those of us to whom Yeshua has been revealed.
So the foundation of righteousness and Love has always been faith in the grace of Yeshua.


And so we live according to the Law of the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-17 NIV
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation---but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs---heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.



We know what is good because He has lead the way of Love so we live according to the Spirit of Love.
Once we have agreed with Him about what is wrong and received His Spirit we should not be setting our eyes on those works of the flesh. Rather we should have our minds firmly set on Him and His Spirit.


Yes, by trusting in His salvation and in His grace they can. But it is not the way it should be, and we need to learn to hear His voice.

we also ought to love one another.

So you drive your actions not faith?

They gave up their lives and Yeshua says:
John 15:13 NIV
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.

Did Jesus call them friends? So He could've been talking about His love for His friends which is greater. Your point gets too flimsy. Secondly, isn't drawing inferences from general statements with no specifics miserable?

Yes, by trusting in His salvation and in His grace they can

Salvation from the knowledge of good and evil? Ravi Zacharias is an ardent promoter of God as a moral law Giver but when God created man, He created without the knowledge of good & evil. Is he leading you away from a walk of faith towards a life lived with a moral compass?

Once we have agreed with Him about what is wrong

So has God given you a list of rights & wrongs? So you don't live by faith?

And so we live according to the Law of the Spirit.

What is the law of the Spirit? Is it another list of rights & wrongs apart from the law of moses?

So the foundation of righteousness and Love has always been faith in the grace of Yeshua.

Galatians 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Does this verse say law stipulates works for eternal life & not faith for eternal life?

ulterior motive

Does mathew 5:44,45 have ulterior motive, when it tells to love enemies (work as a condition) that you "may" be (in the future) children of God (blessing)? So without fulfilling the condition there is no blessing? Under the covenant of grace, His people are "already" (past) blessed by faith in His blood.

YHWH entered our world as Yeshua

Did Father enter the world as Yeshua or the Son of the Father enter the world as Yeshua?

receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.

Is this old covenant based on "be blessed because of your obedience to commands" OR new covenant based on "are blessed because of Christ's obedience to commands"? Are you confusing between covenants?

I do act according to His Spirit. But I am not yet perfect

If you are not yet perfect, how do you say you act according to His Spirit?

They were also expected to live from faith expressing itself in Love

If the old covenant was based on faith why did God give the new covenant through Christ's blood?


His sheep hear His voice, yes.

In John10:26, is Jesus giving the reason why many couldn't believe, the reason being they weren't chosen as sheep? Do you have such a sovereign control over the will of your children?

The truth about our hearts in relation to Him is revealed by our actions towards others

Doesn't God see the heart rather than the externals? Moreover didn't Lord exhort to keep good works in secret (Mathew 6:3) & Galatians 6:14 exhort to boast only about the cross in public?

it pleases Him when we use it according to His Will

Is "works pleases Him" defines law & "faith in Christ's intrinsic perfect works has pleased God" defines grace?

Are you claiming that the Apostles were impatient and unkind, boastful and envious, proud and dishonorable, etc?

In light of 2 Corinthians 11:17, do you understand the apostles were also boastful, spoke foolishly etc & Jesus alone displayed perfect works?

This however does not preclude the ability of the children of YHWH benefiting the world.

Is the benefit of works of God's children nothing compared to the works of God's Son? One who has seen the sun's rays can't see anything else. Is it because you haven't seen the Son's glory from His works properly, you haven't yet been blinded to see the works of His children?

1 John 3:1-2 NIV
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Didn't you once deserve hell & wasn't a child & friend of God? Weren't you once without faith in Jesus's perfect sacrifice, & thereby greatly worse than a beggar who simply & only lacks money?

Here is Pauls take on the subject:

2 Corinthians 12:7: "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure".

Does God send satan to afflict those who sometimes try to exalt themselves rather than exalt the magnitude of Christ's love before which everything else is dung (Philippians 3:8)?

He continues to lay down His life in Love through His body

He is kicked as Saul kicked against the goad & when moses struck the second time due to lack of faith. But He informs Saul the goad will prick him back & moses lost Canaan! Lord suffers that not with love but with pain seeing unbelief.

“this poor widow has put in more than all the others

Old covenant. Nothing pleases God except faith in Son's giving on the cross?
 
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Anguspure

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So you drive your actions not faith?
I drive my actions based on the faith that I have in YHWH.
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. Galatians 5

Did Jesus call them friends? So He could've been talking about His love for His friends which is greater. Your point gets too flimsy. Secondly, isn't drawing inferences from general statements with no specifics miserable?
Even more than friends, we are children:
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. 1 John 3

Salvation from the knowledge of good and evil? Ravi Zacharias is an ardent promoter of God as a moral law Giver but when God created man, He created without the knowledge of good & evil. Is he leading you away from a walk of faith towards a life lived with a moral compass?
YHWH sets the boundaries according to His character. It is irrelevant whether mankind is aware of them. Clearly if we are living according to the Spirit the boundaries of Law are irrelevant and we focus on the well spring of life.

So has God given you a list of rights & wrongs? So you don't live by faith?
YHWH has given us the commandments so that we know where we are wrong, so that we may recognize our poverty of spirit. When we agree with Him in sorrow and meekly seek righteousness through Yeshua, then we no longer have need for the written list, rather we live according to the Law of the Spirit. His sheep hear His voice and follow Him.
What is the law of the Spirit? Is it another list of rights & wrongs apart from the law of moses?
The Law of the Spirit is whatever the Spirit tells us. It does not disagree with the written Law. The Spirit agrees and fulfills the Law but also brings us closer to Him.

Galatians 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Does this verse say law stipulates works for eternal life & not faith for eternal life?
Clearly trust in Yeshua is required.

Does mathew 5:44,45 have ulterior motive, when it tells to love enemies (work as a condition) that you "may" be (in the future) children of God (blessing)? So without fulfilling the condition there is no blessing? Under the covenant of grace, His people are "already" (past) blessed by faith in His blood.
It admonishes us to be like our Father. Nothing ulterior about that. We were created in His image and it is our purpose to reflect Him.

Did Father enter the world as Yeshua or the Son of the Father enter the world as Yeshua?
They are one and the same...Pauls turn: The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1

Is this old covenant based on "be blessed because of your obedience to commands" OR new covenant based on "are blessed because of Christ's obedience to commands"? Are you confusing between covenants?
Take it up with the Apostle John who was writing this towards the end of the 1st century and had a better understanding of it than either of us. Clearly however he was writing from the point of view and towards people who were in Yeshua.

If you are not yet perfect, how do you say you act according to His Spirit?
It is my hearing that isn't so good sometimes, or perhaps He tells me to do something that I baulk at. Nevertheless when I hear his voice and act according to it then I am acting according to His Spirit.

If the old covenant was based on faith why did God give the new covenant through Christ's blood?
The covenants given to Adam, Abraham and Moses all looked forward, in faith, to the coming Messiah. They were all based on this promise, and all found their fulfillment in the shedding of His blood.

In John10:26, is Jesus giving the reason why many couldn't believe, the reason being they weren't chosen as sheep? Do you have such a sovereign control over the will of your children?
When they are young certainly! As they get older, and as I teach them, I hope that they will mature in Love and so I can relinquish my control over them.
Doesn't God see the heart rather than the externals? Moreover didn't Lord exhort to keep good works in secret (Mathew 6:3) & Galatians 6:14 exhort to boast only about the cross in public?
Yes, as far as possible we do things on confidence, allowing Him only to see them. it is Him we seek to please after all. But not all work is done in the closet. Often the good work that we do is very public because of it's nature. Very hard to do landscaping in secret.
Is "works pleases Him" defines law & "faith in Christ's intrinsic perfect works has pleased God" defines grace?
Not at all. I think you misunderstand what it means to please a person. What I mean by pleasing a person is that they are happy that I have done a thing for them.
What I mean is that YHWH is made happy when we Love people for His sake, and on His behalf.
In light of 2 Corinthians 11:17, do you understand the apostles were also boastful, spoke foolishly etc & Jesus alone displayed perfect works?
In this respect the Apostles were imperfect, yes. But when we live under grace our sin is not our own, it belongs on the cross. So we do not count the wrongs of a person against them. The only thing that counts is the right thing that they do. Each act of Love they did is what counts, and when they acted out of completely selfless Love then they are perfect.

Is the benefit of works of God's children nothing compared to the works of God's Son? One who has seen the sun's rays can't see anything else. Is it because you haven't seen the Son's glory from His works properly, you haven't yet been blinded to see the works of His children?
Not at all. He is indeed as bright as the sun, and it is by His light that we see all of the good things that His children do.
Didn't you once deserve hell & wasn't a child & friend of God? Weren't you once without faith in Jesus's perfect sacrifice, & thereby greatly worse than a beggar who simply & only lacks money?
Yes! I was. but no I am not. Now I have been given the right to be a child of YHWH, and now He is my friend.

2 Corinthians 12:7: "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure".

Does God send satan to afflict those who sometimes try to exalt themselves rather than exalt the magnitude of Christ's love before which everything else is dung (Philippians 3:8)?
I doubt it.
The thorn was more likely a person who followed Paul around preaching salvation through works of the Law.

He is kicked as Saul kicked against the goad & when moses struck the second time due to lack of faith. But He informs Saul the goad will prick him back & moses lost Canaan! Lord suffers that not with love but with pain seeing unbelief.
The Apostles voluntarily entered into the affliction for the sake of the Gospel.
Old covenant. Nothing pleases God except faith in Son's giving on the cross?
The story of the widows mite is one that Yeshua told his disciples in order to demonstrate a principle of His Kingdom. It is neither Old nor New Covenant. It stands as a principle for all who make Him their King.
 
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If you are not yet perfect, how do you say you act according to His Spirit?

Didn't you once deserve hell & wasn't a child & friend of God? Weren't you once without faith in Jesus's perfect sacrifice, & thereby greatly worse than a beggar who simply & only lacks money?
Do You Know Him? by @Christsfreeservant
"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2 NIV

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, even though we die with Christ to sin that we might live with him to his righteousness, that does not mean we will never sin again. For, we still live in flesh bodies, and we are still tempted to sin, and we still have the propensity to sin.

Yet, we do not come back under condemnation every time we sin. For, if we are in Christ, by faith in Him, then Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins makes amends for our sins. And so he exhorts us, and he intercedes for us. And, he counsels us, and he corrects us. He leads us to repentance, and then he restores us, and he shows us the way in which we should walk.

He is gentle with us, too, when we slip. He is not standing there with a hammer waiting to hit us over the head every time we sin. He tenderly corrects us, although sometimes he rebukes and even chastises and disciplines us for our good, so that we will be holy as he is holy. But, he does not remove his love from us or reject us or forsake us, if we are truly His.

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. 1 John 2:3-6 NIV

Nonetheless, not everyone who claims to know Jesus really knows him. Not everyone who says he is in Christ is truly “in Christ.” For, knowing Jesus means we keep (obey) his commands. Yet, obviously this is not saying we will keep them perfectly or that we don’t know him, otherwise Jesus wouldn’t have had to die for our sins, and we wouldn’t be comforted in knowing he is our advocate when we do sin.

So, what this really comes down to is a matter of what we practice. And, this is consistent throughout the New Testament. We must walk in the light as he is in the light, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin. We must walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh if we want to have eternal life with God. For, if we walk according to the flesh, we will die in our sins (1 Jn. 1:5-9; Rom. 8:1-17).

So, either we are walking according to the Spirit or we are walking according to the flesh. If according to the Spirit, then we do know God, because obedience to God and to His Word is what we practice. But, if we don’t obey God as a matter of practice, then we don’t know God. So, if we say we do, then we are lying. For, to know God is to obey him. And, to know God is to love him, and to love him is to obey him, in practice.

As Jesus Did

The way that we know that we are in Christ is that we must walk (in practice) in like manner as what Jesus walked; in agreement with the way in which he walked. It doesn’t mean we will be sinless like him, or even that we will do all the same things that he did, but it means that our regular conduct, the consistent way in which we live our lives, should be in agreement with him and with his Word.

We should be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Christ. So, we should not live like the world does. We shouldn’t be thinking, behaving or talking like the world, nor should we be adopting the world’s attitudes, philosophies, character, morals, and values. But many who profess Christ do live just like this world.

Thus, lying, thieving, deceiving, conniving, gossiping, stealing, and cheating should not be what we practice. This should not be how we live our lives day in and day out. Instead, what we normally practice should be love, compassion, generosity, purity, honesty, faithfulness and the like. We should live holy and godly lives, pleasing to God.

Also, walking like Jesus walked, in like manner, means talking like he talked, too. And, it means having the heart that he had/has for humankind, too. So, we should care about the hurting, the lonely and the afflicted. We should care about the needy. And, we should be ministering to those who are in need and who are suffering, as Jesus did.

But, this also means that we should be about the Father’s business, too, which is getting out the message of the gospel of our salvation to people so that they can know him, too, and so that they can have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But, this means telling them the same truth that Jesus told them, and not watering it down to appease human flesh.

So, we need to be those who speak the truth in love, as Jesus did, not only to those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but to those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, too, for not everyone who professes to know Jesus truly does, for many have been deceived, and they have believed the lies, and they have bought into the cheap grace gospel, because it makes them feel better about themselves while they engage in sinful practices.

So, we have to tell them the truth that if we walk according to the flesh, we are going to die in our sins. And, if sin is what we practice, we don’t have eternal life with God. And, if we don’t practice obedience to Jesus Christ, as our normal course of life, then we don’t really know God, and we don’t have forgiveness of sins or the hope of eternal life with God.

In Summary

So, although faith in Jesus Christ doesn’t mean we will never sin, and even though when we do sin we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, this is not free license to continue in willful sinful practices claiming God’s grace covers it all. For, many people profess faith in Jesus Christ but they just use him as an out for their continued willful sinful practices against God.

So, just because you profess to know Christ doesn’t mean you do. And, just because you believe in Jesus Christ doesn’t mean you will never sin again. But, faith in Jesus Christ does mean that we should be those who practice what is right, what is what is godly, and what is holy and pure.

So, if you say you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and yet you think that means you can now sin as much as you want without guilt, then you don’t really know Him. For, if sin is what you practice, you will die in your sins, not have eternal life with God. And, this is so critical that we get this, for so many people think they have heaven secured, but while they are living like hell. And, the two don’t mix!

But, it is not hard for the one believing in Jesus Christ to walk in obedience to him. For, Jesus set us free from our yokes of slavery to sin, and he empowers us to live holy and godly lives. So, in the power of God, and by God’s grace, and because of Jesus’ sacrifice on a cross for our sins, we who are in Christ by faith in Him can walk in obedience to our Lord.

But, if we do fail occasionally, Jesus’s sacrifice for our sins is enough to satisfy the debt that we owe so that we can still have that hope of eternal life with God. We just have to daily, by the Spirit, be putting to death the deeds of the flesh, and daily we have to be taking up our cross and following Jesus Christ with our lives, surrendering our lives over to Him.

Then, the peace of God will rule in our hearts and lives, and God will give us all that we need to live godly and holy lives pleasing unto Him. Amen!

Unshakably

An Original Work / November 29, 2018
Based off various scriptures


Cast your cares upon your Lord.

Come to Him
All you who’re weary.
Know that He will
Give you rest.

Take His yoke upon you
And learn from Him
And you’ll find your rest.

For His yoke is easy
And His burden’s light.
It’s His to bear.

Find the peace of Christ in heart.

Let the peace of Christ
Rule in your hearts,
And be then
So thankful.

And, the peace of God
Which is beyond all
We can comprehend

Will guard your hearts
And your minds in Christ,
For He is Lord of all.

Hope in God will not betray.

Let us hold
Unshakably to
The hope that
We now profess.

For the One
Who promised hope
Is faithful to
His ev’ry word.

Therefore, with minds
That are sober,
Set your hope
On Christ’s return.
 
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Si_monfaith

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I always help a poor person, according to the resources available to me and according to His leading and wisdom when they come within my sphere of influence.

Does James say one is allowed to excuse himself from helping the poor claiming non-availability of resources? When you say love through dying for others does benefit others, how can you claim non-availability of resources? Shouldn't you have worked hard to the point of your death, earn the resources & helped the poor? Aren't you found wanting before the throne of God?

Yeshua did not instantly heal all of the people of the world when He was here, although He was perfectly aware of their suffering. Neither does He expect us to do anything apart from the leading and wisdom of the Spirit.

Did Yeshua heal everyone who asked Him with faith? Is it your lame excuse to refuse to help all claiming leading of the Spirit & at the same time think you have proved your faith?

But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh

Were Adam & Eve using their freedom to indulge in flesh when they remained naked in Eden?

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Doesn't greater love refers to Christ's love just as the great love of the Father, who called the apostles as His friends? Yet you have no Biblical evidence of greater love being the love of the apostle's martyrdom.

the boundaries of Law are irrelevant

Isn't Ravi Zacharias clinging & promoting the moral law (boundary) for dear life, in his pursuit of an apologetic for God's existence?

YHWH has given us the commandments so that we know where we are wrong, so that we may recognize our poverty of spirit. When we agree with Him in sorrow and meekly seek righteousness

So you keep seeking righteousness through works as if you were not yet righteous through faith in His works? So you lose righteousness if you do wrong by violating God's commandments? Are you still under the law& not under grace?

The Law of the Spirit is whatever the Spirit tells us. It does not disagree with the written Law

So the law of the Spirit disagree with the moral law of God & tells you to violate the moral law of God given through moses?

Clearly trust in Yeshua is required.

Galatians 3:12: "And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them". According to this verse, where does moral law given through moses require trust in Christ's death & resurrection? Doesn't moral law stipulate works for eternal life & not faith for eternal life?

It admonishes us to be like our Father. Nothing ulterior about that. We were created in His image and it is our purpose to reflect Him

Are you purposely evading to see the admonishment to be like the Father but with a condition in order to be blessed ("may be children of the Father")? Do you understand that under grace which is the law of the Spirit, blessings are unconditional or you want to evade that also?

They are one and the same...Pauls turn: The Son is the image of the invisible God

So you say it was the Father & not His Son who entered the world as Yeshua? So you are a oneness Christian in the cloak of a Trinitarian? Now I understand?

Take it up with the Apostle John who was writing this towards the end of the 1st century and had a better understanding of it than either of us

You mean to say apostle John was denying the new covenant of grace based on Christ's blood and teaching the old covenant of pleasing God through works? If so why would He teach forgiveness not through works but only through faith in Christ's blood? Is this your oneness theology which denies the distinct Personhood of the Father & the Son?

It is my hearing that isn't so good sometimes, or perhaps He tells me to do something that I baulk at. Nevertheless when I hear his voice and act according to it then I am acting according to His Spirit

So you are not the sheep who knows & hears His voice? If your hearing is not good & you are not acting according to His Spirit always, how do you claim you have proved the genuinity of your faith? Why don't you admit your faith is dead & worthless sometimes?

The covenants given to Adam, Abraham and Moses all looked forward, in faith, to the coming Messiah. They were all based on this promise, and all found their fulfillment in the shedding of His blood

If the old covenant required faith to be blessed & enter Canaan (heaven), why does it say "obey to be blessed & disobey to be cursed"? Under grace, do you understand blessings & entry to heaven is given only through faith in Christ's perfect workson the cross?
Are you confusing between "faith to be blessed & enter Canaan (heaven)" to "waiting in faith for the Messiah"?

so I can relinquish my control over them

Does God relinquish His sovereign control over human history and leave human history to drift without an eternal plan & purpose?

Yes, as far as possible we do things on confidence, allowing Him only to see them. it is Him we seek to please after all. But not all work is done in the closet. Often the good work that we do is very public because of it's nature. Very hard to do landscaping in secret.

Are you pleasing God by your works of love or are giving lame excuses citing non-availability of resources in helping the poor, when you have breath in you by which to work hard till you dieout of sheer exhaustion,earn resources to help the poor? Isn't your trust in you to please God, born out of ignorance of Christ's magnitude of love which pleased God?

What I mean by pleasing a person is that they are happy that I have done a thing for them.
What I mean is that YHWH is made happy when we Love people for His sake, and on His behalf.

Aren't you suffering from ignorance when you think God is happy over your works which are worthless in comparison to Christ's, rather than happy about your faith in the infinitely worthy works of His Son?

Are you thinking God to be a human simply because you saw humans pleased by your works of love? Are you projecting your experience with humans onto God when trying to understand Him?

In this respect the Apostles were imperfect, yes. But when we live under grace our sin is not our own, it belongs on the cross. So we do not count the wrongs of a person against them. The only thing that counts is the right thing that they do. Each act of Love they did is what counts, and when they acted out of completely selfless Love then they are perfect

Did God not count the boasting & foolishness of the apostle which was contrary to faith in His Son's works? Did He allow satan & not stop satan from afflicting the apostle to the point he prayed thrice? Do you even read the passage before you post?

He is indeed as bright as the sun, and it is by His light that we see all of the good things that His children do

So you haven't yet seen (comprehended) the magnitude of the sun's rays (glory of Son's works) but rather keep seeing objects (human works) using the sun's rays (glory of Son's works)? Does that explain your basic problem of not yet being blinded?

Compared to the glory of Son's works, is there anything good worthy of thinking & speaking? Until you be blinded as above, can God use you for the glory of His Son?

Yes! I was. but no I am not. Now I have been given the right to be a child of YHWH, and now He is my friend

So is your problem one of forgetting you once deserved hell & wasn't a child & friend of God & weren't once without faith in Jesus's perfect sacrifice, & thereby greatly worse than a beggar who simply & only lacks money? Does remembrance of our past help us to appreciate the magnitude of Christ's love?

In light of Revelations 5:4, is anyone worthy apart from Christ?

I doubt it.
The thorn was more likely a person who followed Paul around preaching salvation through works of the Law.

You doubt God's word which says it was the work of satan & his messenger? So why the mention of satan in that verse? Why didn't God disallow that thorn?

The Apostles voluntarily entered into the affliction for the sake of the Gospel.

The question is whether Jesus suffered with love or pain over the unbelief of the church? Wasn't He kicked as Saul kicked against the goad & when moses struck the second time due to lack of faith? Didn't He inform Saul the goad will prick him back & moses lost Canaan!

The story of the widows mite is one that Yeshua told his disciples in order to demonstrate a principle of His Kingdom. It is neither Old nor New Covenant. It stands as a principle for all who make Him their King.

Did the widow offer the mite to make Him their king? Doesn't He expect faith He is already the King of kings? Wasn't the Lord stating the greatness of the widow's mite to them because they didn't know the infinite greatness of His sacrifice on the cross?
 
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Si_monfaith

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Do You Know Him? by @Christsfreeservant
"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2 NIV

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, even though we die with Christ to sin that we might live with him to his righteousness, that does not mean we will never sin again. For, we still live in flesh bodies, and we are still tempted to sin, and we still have the propensity to sin.

Yet, we do not come back under condemnation every time we sin. For, if we are in Christ, by faith in Him, then Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins makes amends for our sins. And so he exhorts us, and he intercedes for us. And, he counsels us, and he corrects us. He leads us to repentance, and then he restores us, and he shows us the way in which we should walk.

He is gentle with us, too, when we slip. He is not standing there with a hammer waiting to hit us over the head every time we sin. He tenderly corrects us, although sometimes he rebukes and even chastises and disciplines us for our good, so that we will be holy as he is holy. But, he does not remove his love from us or reject us or forsake us, if we are truly His.

We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. 1 John 2:3-6 NIV

Nonetheless, not everyone who claims to know Jesus really knows him. Not everyone who says he is in Christ is truly “in Christ.” For, knowing Jesus means we keep (obey) his commands. Yet, obviously this is not saying we will keep them perfectly or that we don’t know him, otherwise Jesus wouldn’t have had to die for our sins, and we wouldn’t be comforted in knowing he is our advocate when we do sin.

So, what this really comes down to is a matter of what we practice. And, this is consistent throughout the New Testament. We must walk in the light as he is in the light, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin. We must walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh if we want to have eternal life with God. For, if we walk according to the flesh, we will die in our sins (1 Jn. 1:5-9; Rom. 8:1-17).

So, either we are walking according to the Spirit or we are walking according to the flesh. If according to the Spirit, then we do know God, because obedience to God and to His Word is what we practice. But, if we don’t obey God as a matter of practice, then we don’t know God. So, if we say we do, then we are lying. For, to know God is to obey him. And, to know God is to love him, and to love him is to obey him, in practice.

As Jesus Did

The way that we know that we are in Christ is that we must walk (in practice) in like manner as what Jesus walked; in agreement with the way in which he walked. It doesn’t mean we will be sinless like him, or even that we will do all the same things that he did, but it means that our regular conduct, the consistent way in which we live our lives, should be in agreement with him and with his Word.

We should be separate (unlike, different) from the world because we are being conformed to the likeness of Christ. So, we should not live like the world does. We shouldn’t be thinking, behaving or talking like the world, nor should we be adopting the world’s attitudes, philosophies, character, morals, and values. But many who profess Christ do live just like this world.

Thus, lying, thieving, deceiving, conniving, gossiping, stealing, and cheating should not be what we practice. This should not be how we live our lives day in and day out. Instead, what we normally practice should be love, compassion, generosity, purity, honesty, faithfulness and the like. We should live holy and godly lives, pleasing to God.

Also, walking like Jesus walked, in like manner, means talking like he talked, too. And, it means having the heart that he had/has for humankind, too. So, we should care about the hurting, the lonely and the afflicted. We should care about the needy. And, we should be ministering to those who are in need and who are suffering, as Jesus did.

But, this also means that we should be about the Father’s business, too, which is getting out the message of the gospel of our salvation to people so that they can know him, too, and so that they can have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But, this means telling them the same truth that Jesus told them, and not watering it down to appease human flesh.

So, we need to be those who speak the truth in love, as Jesus did, not only to those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but to those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, too, for not everyone who professes to know Jesus truly does, for many have been deceived, and they have believed the lies, and they have bought into the cheap grace gospel, because it makes them feel better about themselves while they engage in sinful practices.

So, we have to tell them the truth that if we walk according to the flesh, we are going to die in our sins. And, if sin is what we practice, we don’t have eternal life with God. And, if we don’t practice obedience to Jesus Christ, as our normal course of life, then we don’t really know God, and we don’t have forgiveness of sins or the hope of eternal life with God.

In Summary

So, although faith in Jesus Christ doesn’t mean we will never sin, and even though when we do sin we have an advocate, Jesus Christ, this is not free license to continue in willful sinful practices claiming God’s grace covers it all. For, many people profess faith in Jesus Christ but they just use him as an out for their continued willful sinful practices against God.

So, just because you profess to know Christ doesn’t mean you do. And, just because you believe in Jesus Christ doesn’t mean you will never sin again. But, faith in Jesus Christ does mean that we should be those who practice what is right, what is what is godly, and what is holy and pure.

So, if you say you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and yet you think that means you can now sin as much as you want without guilt, then you don’t really know Him. For, if sin is what you practice, you will die in your sins, not have eternal life with God. And, this is so critical that we get this, for so many people think they have heaven secured, but while they are living like hell. And, the two don’t mix!

But, it is not hard for the one believing in Jesus Christ to walk in obedience to him. For, Jesus set us free from our yokes of slavery to sin, and he empowers us to live holy and godly lives. So, in the power of God, and by God’s grace, and because of Jesus’ sacrifice on a cross for our sins, we who are in Christ by faith in Him can walk in obedience to our Lord.

But, if we do fail occasionally, Jesus’s sacrifice for our sins is enough to satisfy the debt that we owe so that we can still have that hope of eternal life with God. We just have to daily, by the Spirit, be putting to death the deeds of the flesh, and daily we have to be taking up our cross and following Jesus Christ with our lives, surrendering our lives over to Him.

Then, the peace of God will rule in our hearts and lives, and God will give us all that we need to live godly and holy lives pleasing unto Him. Amen!

Unshakably

An Original Work / November 29, 2018
Based off various scriptures


Cast your cares upon your Lord.

Come to Him
All you who’re weary.
Know that He will
Give you rest.

Take His yoke upon you
And learn from Him
And you’ll find your rest.

For His yoke is easy
And His burden’s light.
It’s His to bear.

Find the peace of Christ in heart.

Let the peace of Christ
Rule in your hearts,
And be then
So thankful.

And, the peace of God
Which is beyond all
We can comprehend

Will guard your hearts
And your minds in Christ,
For He is Lord of all.

Hope in God will not betray.

Let us hold
Unshakably to
The hope that
We now profess.

For the One
Who promised hope
Is faithful to
His ev’ry word.

Therefore, with minds
That are sober,
Set your hope
On Christ’s return.


In your daily Christian walk, when you cannot even earn forgiveness by your works of love shown through your martyrdom, & instead have to seek His blood for forgiveness, isn’t it a great pity to think you could please God & enter heaven by your works of love?


If you do not exercise a continual faith in the forgiveness offered through His blood, & instead trust in your works of love which you imagine pleases God, will you not be condemned?


Do you define sin as violating the moral law? Are you evading the sin of unbelief according to John 16: 9 & Hebrews 10:38, 39? Is He correcting so you might continue to exercise faith in His grace or correcting you to make you obey the moral law?


Are you promoting the moral law & the knowledge of good & evil in the name of “law of the Spirit”?


What is His command under the new covenant? John 6: 28, 29 – To believe Him?


Where does guilt come from? Through an act or through the knowledge of good & evil?
 
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Anguspure

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Does James say one is allowed to excuse himself from helping the poor claiming non-availability of resources? When you say love through dying for others does benefit others, how can you claim non-availability of resources? Shouldn't you have worked hard to the point of your death, earn the resources & helped the poor? Aren't you found wanting before the throne of God?
This is what the accuser would say, to which I would reply: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set us free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8

Did Yeshua heal everyone who asked Him with faith? Is it your lame excuse to refuse to help all claiming leading of the Spirit & at the same time think you have proved your faith?
There is no refusal, only what I am lead towards by the Spirit. Even Yeshua observed: The poor you will always have with you, Matthew 26. He made this statement in the face of similar indignation from His disciples while He was having a vial of perfume poured over His feet that was worth about a years wages.
Were Adam & Eve using their freedom to indulge in flesh when they remained naked in Eden?
Their flesh was governed by the Spirit and so whatever they did in the flesh was according to His will.
Doesn't greater love refers to Christ's love just as the great love of the Father, who called the apostles as His friends? Yet you have no Biblical evidence of greater love being the love of the apostle's martyrdom.
Basic hermenuetics. The statement is a general statement.
Isn't Ravi Zacharias clinging & promoting the moral law (boundary) for dear life, in his pursuit of an apologetic for God's existence?
Objective moral values and duties are predicated upon the existence of a moral law giver.
So you keep seeking righteousness through works as if you were not yet righteous through faith in His works?
No.
So you lose righteousness if you do wrong by violating God's commandments?
No.
Are you still under the law& not under grace?
No.
So the law of the Spirit disagree with the moral law of God & tells you to violate the moral law of God given through moses?
The Law of the Spirit fulfills and exceeds the Law of Moses.
Galatians 3:12: "And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them". According to this verse, where does moral law given through moses require trust in Christ's death & resurrection? Doesn't moral law stipulate works for eternal life & not faith for eternal life?
The writer of Hebrews provides some explanation here: The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Hebrews 10

Are you purposely evading to see the admonishment to be like the Father but with a condition in order to be blessed ("may be children of the Father")?
No, I agree that YHWH blesses whom He chooses to bless, as in the parable of the workers in the Vineyard Matthew 20
Nevertheless some actions of His children please Him more than others, and the consequence of other actions will be destruction.
Do you understand that under grace which is the law of the Spirit, blessings are unconditional or you want to evade that also?
Paul writes: By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. 1 Corinthians 3
So you say it was the Father & not His Son who entered the world as Yeshua? So you are a oneness Christian in the cloak of a Trinitarian? Now I understand?
Not I but Paul: The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. Colossians 1
Trinity, involving concepts beyond our 3 physical dimensions is a complex issue and only referenced by analogy. If any of us think that we understand the nature of Elohim with our little understanding then we are in error. We should not be too hasty to condemn those who appear to hold a different perspective.
You mean to say apostle John was denying the new covenant of grace based on Christ's blood and teaching the old covenant of pleasing God through works?
No
If so why would He teach forgiveness not through works but only through faith in Christ's blood?
It is not so.
Is this your oneness theology which denies the distinct Personhood of the Father & the Son?
YHWH is 1 person manifest in 3 people.
So you are not the sheep who knows & hears His voice?
Like all sheep, sometimes my hearing isn't so good, or perhaps I am willful at times. Nevertheless I will fear no evil, for He is with me; His rod and His staff, they comfort me.
If your hearing is not good & you are not acting according to His Spirit always, how do you claim you have proved the genuinity of your faith? Why don't you admit your faith is dead & worthless sometimes?
I do not deny it. At times my faith leads a lot to be desired. But your language is the language of an accuser, and I only have one reply:
He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.
If the old covenant required faith to be blessed & enter Canaan (heaven), why does it say "obey to be blessed & disobey to be cursed"?
The consequence of disobeying the Law is still a curse.
Under grace, do you understand blessings & entry to heaven is given only through faith in Christ's perfect workson the cross?
Righteousness is given through Yeshuas perfect work on the cross and He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. So blessing is not predicated upon a person being in Yeshua, but upon the sovereign will of YHWH.
Are you confusing between "faith to be blessed & enter Canaan (heaven)" to "waiting in faith for the Messiah"?
Properly understood Yeshua is the promised land. The land of Canaan is prophetic of Him.
Does God relinquish His sovereign control over human history and leave human history to drift without an eternal plan & purpose?
No. Nevertheless He created His children to be free. It is by His middle knowledge that He maintains sovereign control.
Are you pleasing God by your works of love or are giving lame excuses citing non-availability of resources in helping the poor, when you have breath in you by which to work hard till you dieout of sheer exhaustion,earn resources to help the poor? Isn't your trust in you to please God, born out of ignorance of Christ's magnitude of love which pleased God?
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. Matthew 7
Aren't you suffering from ignorance when you think God is happy over your works which are worthless in comparison to Christ's, rather than happy about your faith in the infinitely worthy works of His Son?
He is pleased with all good things that His children do.
Are you thinking God to be a human simply because you saw humans pleased by your works of love? Are you projecting your experience with humans onto God when trying to understand Him?
We are created in His image and He is Love, do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13
Did God not count the boasting & foolishness of the apostle which was contrary to faith in His Son's works?
The sins of the Apostle are not counted against him.
Did He allow satan & not stop satan from afflicting the apostle to the point he prayed thrice? Do you even read the passage before you post?
The Apostle made his decision and denied His Lord, for which he is forgiven.
He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103
So you haven't yet seen (comprehended) the magnitude of the sun's rays (glory of Son's works) but rather keep seeing objects (human works) using the sun's rays (glory of Son's works)? Does that explain your basic problem of not yet being blinded?
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. John 3
Compared to the glory of Son's works, is there anything good worthy of thinking & speaking? Until you be blinded as above, can God use you for the glory of His Son?
Comparably, yes. In terms of recognizing and Loving our neighbor, no. People who are in Him are capable of Love and admonished to Love. The good Loving things that they do pleases their Father.
So is your problem one of forgetting you once deserved hell & wasn't a child & friend of God & weren't once without faith in Jesus's perfect sacrifice, & thereby greatly worse than a beggar who simply & only lacks money? Does remembrance of our past help us to appreciate the magnitude of Christ's love?
No. My past no longer belongs to me and I do not have a right to dwell on it since it belongs to Him who took it. The way into Yeshua is the contemplation and emulation of Him by His Spirit.
In light of Revelations 5:4, is anyone worthy apart from Christ?
We are not worthy except that He makes us worthy. We are the righteousness of God in Christ and in Him we are worthy and we are children of the most High.
You doubt God's word which says it was the work of satan & his messenger? So why the mention of satan in that verse?
The messenger of the adversary is an accuser.
Why didn't God disallow that thorn?
Why does YHWH allow any evil or suffering?
The question is whether Jesus suffered with love or pain over the unbelief of the church? Wasn't He kicked as Saul kicked against the goad & when moses struck the second time due to lack of faith? Didn't He inform Saul the goad will prick him back & moses lost Canaan!
He is displeased with unbelief. Moses failed to recognize the prophetic nature of speaking to the rock the second time.
But you will have to clarify yourself a bit better here, I'm afraid.
Did the widow offer the mite to make Him their king? Doesn't He expect faith He is already the King of kings? Wasn't the Lord stating the greatness of the widow's mite to them because they didn't know the infinite greatness of His sacrifice on the cross?
The widows mite was in comparison to the large amount that the rich man offered. The widow gave everything she had, whereas the rich man gave only a small portion.
In the Kingdom Love is measured by how much is sacrificed. The one who has much to offer but only gives a portion does not Love as much as the one who has little but gives all of it.
Greater Love has no man that he lays down his life for his friends. Even though our little lives are comparatively insignificant (The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. Psalm 103), if we offer ourselves completely, there is no greater Love.
 
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yeshuaslavejeff

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in order to approach the Father & be blessed
Doesn't Jesus ,
and generally Scripture,
tell (many times throughout OT and NT, TORAH, PROPHETS, PSALMS....)

who is blessed and who is not ?

I don't think it is ever written "approach the Father and be blessed", is it ? (as if a man should or could try to get a blessing or even make that his goal)
 
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now faith

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Do you encourage them to question your lack of perfect compliance in love?



When in your flesh, you cannot see perfect compliance happening in this earth, are you supply a false hope to others by exhorting them that they will one day reach perfect compliance?

Who is to judge the flesh in their Brethern?
We are commanded to love one another,why would it be our concern?
 
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Si_monfaith

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Who is to judge the flesh in their Brethern?
We are commanded to love one another,why would it be our concern?
If yes, do we necessarily need Christ's holy deeds who got 100% marks according to the law, in order to approach the Father & be blessed (John 14:6: "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”)?
 
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Si_monfaith

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Doesn't Jesus ,
and generally Scripture,
tell (many times throughout OT and NT, TORAH, PROPHETS, PSALMS....)

who is blessed and who is not ?

I don't think it is ever written "approach the Father and be blessed", is it ? (as if a man should or could try to get a blessing or even make that his goal)

Is eternal life a blessing?

Why did God bless in Genesis 1:28?
 
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hhodgson

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Is eternal life a blessing?

Why did God bless in Genesis 1:28?

Is eternal life a blessing? Wouldn't that depend on where your eternal life will be?

And why did God bless in Genesis 1:28? Read the rest of the verse. "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

Very weird questions...[/QUOTE]
 
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