I love posts like yours because I enjoy answering well set out questions instead of trying to make sense of a whole mish-mash of ideas.
Thanks brother, I enjoyed reading your post responses. In this post I will add your replies for reference and also add my answers underneath. The answers provided to the questions below are a response to your earlier post in
post #285 linked (added for reference and ease of referral)
1, What makes a Christian a Christian?
A genuine Christian convert is one who knows how sinful he (both genders included) is and how totally deserving of hell. Then he abandons all confidence and hope that he can make himself acceptable to God and falls totally on the grace and mercy of God through faith in Christ as his total Saviour. Jesus can only be a Saviour if the sinner knows what horrible future he has been saved from. Then he lives his life for the glory of Christ and the common good of all.
I like this answer brother as it discribes the process of becoming a Christian and the role that God's LAW (10 Commandments) has in Grace. I will only add a simplified version of your answer and that is FAITH makes a Christian *JOHN 3:16-21. Faith is when we solely rely on the WORD of GOD alone to do what it says it will do. A Christian therefore is someone that BELIEVES and FOLLOWS God's WORD *ROMANS 3:4.
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2, God's people are in EVERY Church living up to all the light that God has revealed to them. JESUS says many sheep I have from other folds and he must bring them and that the hour is coming and now is that all those who wish to worship God must worship him in Spirit and in truth *JOHN 10:16; JOHN 4:23. JESUS also says that all those why follow the teachings and traditions of men are not following God *MATTHEW 15:3-9. Where is God calling His people back to?
Jesus spoke those words to the Samaritan woman in around 30-odd AD. This was fulfilled after His death, resurrection, ascension, and the Day of Pentecost. As Christian believers, we are now worshiping God in Spirit and in truth. A person can belong to a church and still worship God in Spirit and in truth regardless of the traditions that church may have. But a person who puts his church tradition as a prominent part of the foundation of his religious observance may not be worshiping Christ in Spirit and in truth. He may be worshiping his church instead.
Jesus was alluding to the Gentiles who were to come to Christ, as the sheep from other folds. Remember that He was talking to a Samaritan woman who did not include Gentiles in the family of faith as she saw them. The Jews believed that in order to be right with God Gentiles had to adopt Judaism. But after Pentecost, it was demonstrated that the Holy Spirit fell on Gentile believers the same as Jewish ones. That was Peter's account to the Apostles in Jerusalem. Also, Paul testified the same to the Apostles when he went to confer with them over the conflict in the Gentile churches with Jewish believers trying to teach a mixture of Judaism and Christianity.
The difference between a believer worshiping a church or worshiping Christ is that if something goes wrong with their church, the church worshipers tend to lose their faith and many times leave the church and Christ as well. The Christ worshipers maintain their faith in Christ regardless of what happens in their church.
I guess a lot of Catholics might lose confidence in the Church and depart from the faith because of the conviction of Cardinal Pell. But the Christ worshipers in the Catholic church will maintain their faith in Christ and see that the fault is in the man and not the Church.
I am answering this section here with these scriptures in mind *1 CORINTHIANS 10:11; ECCLESIASTES 1:9; MATTHEW 4:4; 2 TIMOTHY 3:16; JOHN 10:16; JOHN 4:23.*MATTHEW 15:3-9 in relation to the question where is God calling his people where ever they may be back to? This questions follows on from the earlier question on what makes a Christian which we answered FAITH alone in God's WORD. A Christian being all those who BELIEVE and FOLLOW God's WORD.
It is interesting if you look at the days of JESUS the religeous teachers of the day were also many. The same and more so today within Christianity. There are so many different Christian religions today all proclaiming they have the truth and everyone else is wrong. In the days of JESUS and the Apostles there was also different religous groups professing different things within the JEWISH teachings of the OLD Covenant. We read that the main JEWISH sects making up ISRAEL at the time of JESUS included; the Chief Priests and Levites, the Pharisees, the Saducees, the Samaritans, the Essenes, the Herodians, the Zealots and the Nazarenes and other miscelaeous splinter groups. *MATTHEW 2:4; MATTHEW 5:20; MATTHEW 7:29; MATTHEW 9:3; MATTHEW 15:1; MATTHEW 3:7; MATTHEW 16:1; MATTHEW 16:11; ACTS 4:1; ACTS 5:17; JOHN 8:48; LUKE 17:16; MATTEW 22:16; MARK 3:6; MARK 12:13; MATTHEW 10:4; MARK 3:18; LUKE 6:15; ACT 1:13; ACT 24:5. (other sources;
1;
2;
3)
The point here is that all the different sects and teachings within the JEWISH religion in the time of JESUS as parrallel to Christianity today. Just like it was in the days of JESUS so it is today. ALL these things are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world have come *1 CORINTHIANS 10:11.
JESUS says Go first to the lost sheep of the house of ISRAEL *MATTHEW 10:6; MATTHEW 15:24; JESUS says; Many sheep have I that are not of
this fold (referring to the disciples of Jesus), them I must also bring (where?) so there will be one shepard and one fold * JOHN 10:16. WHY? *JOHN 4:23-24 For the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
The parallel today is that God's people are in EVERY CHURCH. As long we we are living up to all the KNOWLEDGE of God's WORD that he has revealed to us then we are a part of God's Church. God's Church are all those who BELIEVE and FOLLOW God's WORD.
God is calling his people out from following the teachings and traditions of men that break the commandments of GOD to whorship Him in Spirit and in TRUTH according to his WORD. The one Shepard is JESUS (the WORD of GOD) and he is calling his Sheep
back to the WORD of GOD to worship God according to his WORD in SPIRIT and in truth *MATTHEW 15:3-9; REVELATION 18:1-5.
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3, Who are the lost and why are they lost?
Because Adam disobeyed God, sin came into the world and the spirits of his descendants died, and their hearts were changed to choose sinful practices instead of godly ones. This is because when the spirit of the person died, their fellowship with God died with it. Therefore, every single human being after Adam was subject to condemnation, the wrath of God against sin, and totally deserving of hell. But, as we see in the Biblical account, there was a thread of people who looked to God in faith, and received grace. Abraham believed God and he was declared righteous. All those who had faith in God were looking forward to the Redeemer who was going to appear in the future. Therefore, a lost person is one who chooses sin rather than having faith in Christ. It is natural for a person to choose sin, therefore it needs for the Holy Spirit to intervene and show them their total sinfulness and that they are on the road to hell. When they are convicted of their sin and choose to start praying and crying out to God, the Holy Spirit shows them the gospel and opens their hearts to it and leads them to Christ. Once they exercise faith in Christ, they are no longer lost.
This is just a simplified answer to the question who are the lost. The lost are the opposite of those who are Christians and that is all those who do not know or BELIEVE and FOLLOW God's WORD *JOHN 3:16-21.
This raises an interesting question. Can we be in God's Church wherever that may be and be lost? Listen to the words of JESUS;
MATTHEW 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
MATTHEW 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
These scriptures tie in with the earlier discussion in questions 1-3. If we are given a KNOWLEDGE of the truth of God's WORD and we reject it or choose not to follow it, are we in a saved state before God or an unsaved state before God *JAMES 4:17; ACT 17:30-31? Only God's WORD is true and we should BELIEVE and FOLLOW it *ROMANS 3:4 over the teachings and traditions of men that break the commandments of God. JESUS says that all those who KNOWINGLY follow the teachings and traditions of men that break the commandments of God are not following God *MATTHEW 15:3-9. The hour is coming and now is when those who worship God must worship him in Spirit and in truth. God is calling his Sheep wherever they may be back to the WORD of GOD to the true Shepards calling *JOHN 10:16 JOHN 4:23.
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4, Who is God's ISRAEL in the NEW COVENANT?
Simple. Every person who is genuinely converted to Christ, both Jew and Gentile. Believing Jew and Gentile are merged to make up the one spiritual Israel.
Correct brother I will not add more to this one accept to add that everything we are talking about now is applicable to God's Church today (all those who BELIEVE and FOLLOW God's WORD) where ever they may be.
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5, Who are the lost sheep of the house of ISRAEL and does God want us to save them through his Word *MATTHEW 10:6?
They are the Jews who do not yet believe in Christ as their Saviour and Lord.
Remember God' ISRAEL today are all those who BELIEVE and FOLLOW God's WORD. A JEW is not one outwardly but he is a JEW which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God *ROMANS 2:28-29.
As shown through the scriptures above already the LOST SHEEP are all those who JESUS is seeking to save also within ISRAEL (His Church). All these things are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world have come. Please do not misunderstand this post brother. It means we should be seeking the to save the lost where ever they may be both inside and outside the Church to all those who do not KNOW God's WORD and to those who have rejected it.
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6, What part of God's WORD is not important and what is it that we need to be converted to *MATTHEW 13:13-16?
All of God's Word has importance. But we need to determine which parts of it are written FOR us and which are written TO us. Those parts that are written FOR us are there for our learning and education to see how God works with people and how people are blessed when they have faith in God and how they get into problems when they walk away from God. But many of the promises of God to His people may be FOR us, but we can take them as if they are TO us because they are effective for anyone who has faith in God. Much of the life and teaching of Christ is written FOR us and not necessarily directly TO us, although we can take the teaching on board as the standards of holiness that God expects of His children. Most of what Paul has written is TO us, because they provide direct instructions to the churches that he visited and wrote to. Anything that Paul has written to the churches must apply to us because we are members of the same body of Christ as they were. We see the standards of holiness in the teaching of Jesus, and we then see how we apply those standards to our lives through the teaching of Paul.
As stated correctly in the beginning of your post ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of GOD and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness *2 TIMOTHY 3:16, just as ALL THESE THINGS in are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the WORLD have come 1 CORINTHIANS 10:11 and we are to live by EVERY WORD of it *MATTHEW 4:4. Only God's WORD is true and we should BELIEVE and FOLLOW it over the teachings and traditions of men that break the commandments of God. JESUS says that all those who KNOWINGLY follow the teachings and traditions of men that break the commandments of God are not following God *MATTHEW 15:3-9. God is a Spirit and those who worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth according to his WORD. This is where God is calling his people where ever they may be.
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7, If we knowingly follow the teachings and traditions of men that lead others to break the commandments of God are we in a saved state before God or an unsaved state before God?
Jesus said in
Mark 7:13 that the traditions the Jews followed made the Word of God of no effect to them. He implied that those who put the traditions of men first cannot be saved. I agree. We cannot have Christ as Lord and have the traditions of men as our foundation at the same time. There is nothing wrong with tradition, but it must be kept to its right place. If it is used to strengthen our faith in Christ then it does no harm; but if if takes the place of faith in Christ where a person is taught that he cannot have faith in Christ unless he adheres strictly to the traditions, then the teaching is false and harmful. I believe that if someone is knowingly teaching and encouraging others to follow the traditions of men as a requirement for Christian faith, then they are working against the gospel instead of for it. They are, in fact, pointing others along the road to hell, and I would not be surprised if those teachers ended up in hell themselves, unless the Holy Spirit intervened and showed them the foolishness and unrighteousness of their actions.
Absolutely good reply! We cannot follow God by following the teachings and traditions of men that break the commandments of God. God is calling his people where ever they may be to worship him in Spirit and in truth according to the Word of God.
God's Sheep hear his Voice (the WORD)
Thanks for sharing and the discussion.
God bless.
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