We must do the commandments in 1John 3:20-24 to bear fruit

fhansen said:

Well, I'm sure not going to interpret that in some wooden fashion as if Paul was meaning to state more than the goal or purpose and hope for the young man. Or maybe Paul had some specific foreknowledge about that individual but either way there are far too many passages in Scripture warning believers that anyone doing such things will not enter heaven, or warning that there's no repentance for those who've tasted of the heavenly gift and then rejected it, or for those who've escaped the pollution of the world by the knowledge of Chrsit and then returned to their pigsty- to think that believers are somehow forced to ultimately obey or are immunized from turning back away from God. But:

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." Rev 14-15

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I didn't think with your doctrine that you could explain that event. You do not believe the you man was saved at the time Paul wrote the epistle.

Acts 18:9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city." 11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. NKJV

Above is what Jesus told Paul when he first started the church in Corinth. God had many people in that city. The church had many true believers.

Acts 15:23-29

23 They wrote this, letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "You must be circumcised and keep the law" — to whom we gave no such commandment — 25 it seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who will also report the same things by word of mouth. 28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell. NKJV

I have included the letter that the Jerusalem council sent to the Churches informing them they did not have to be circumcised. I included this letter so you could see that the church was established after the council informed the churches of the things they wanted them to do. Paul would have told the Corinthian Church of what the council expected of the churches when he established the church.

In addition to them not being circumcised they included a list of items from the law that they wanted the Churches to observe. Please note that the council said the Church would do well if they kept themselves from those things. They wanted the Church to avoid eating meat sacrificed to idols, avoid eating blood, avoid eating meat from strangled animals and abstain from sexual immorality.

These are thing the Jews found offensive. I know that you will believe that the churches had to obey in order to prove they were saved. But the fact that the council told them to abstain from doing those things means God does not enable and make true believers do those things in order to be justified.

1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. NKJV

I have included the above to once again say that Paul was writing to true believers who were called by God. They were called because they were of the elect. In addition, Paul states the church was well gifted with the gifts supplied by the Holy Spirit to ensure the church thrive and glorify God.

Now ask yourself just why did God, who had supplied the gifts to ensure the church would grow and thrive, let the church act as it did? Because God wanted to provide His church, later churches, with a bible to help us understand and interpret a correct doctrine. Just like the OT helps us understand what we are to do, so also the events in Corinth. The Corinthian epistles are important to help us understand and form correct doctrine.

I think your doctrine is a doctrine of death. You had better start to believe and try to understand what Paul wrote in the epistles. God does not force us to obey. God let's each of us determine just how we will glorify God and how many crowns we are to earn. The greater our effort to glorify God, the more God will trust to do important work in heaven.