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Jeeyca- No one will be saved because we are 'good enough' in-and-of ourselves. We simply cannot live our lives totally free of sin. That's why God the Father laid out the plans which enabled him to save us, rather than our saving ourselves. And through his Son's successful completion of all...

Lenny3- I choose to believe that there is an afterlife following this mortal existence. But to think that we can attain that afterlife through our own efforts is to think that we can be 'good enough' in-and-of ourselves. It's been my experience that the only people who see themselves as...

VProud- We have physical evidence dating to 170 AD that the books of the New Testament were already compiled by that time, with the exception of two of them. This evidence also dates the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke), including that part of Luke which was separated later and...

Jesus Christ was human in the way that humans were originally intended to be. It is not he, but we ourselves, who are not truly human, due to our not only attaining the knowledge of good and evil, but also more often than not choosing to cling to evil rather than good. This has resulted in our...

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he...

With perversions go infectious diseases. Sodom and Gomorrah were infamous for their practice of sexual perversions. So in all likelihood they were both 'petrie dishes' full of STD's which, if not exterminated through the people's being wiped out, would have infected the other cities in that...

All too often we see Jesus only as the sacrificial lamb, instead of recognizing him as having played an active role in laying out the plan whereby we have assurance of salvation: "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep known me - just as the Father knows me and I know the...

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and...

There are two types of judgmentalism. There is the judgmentalism that is linked with elitism, and whose practitioners see themselves as superior to everyone else. Contempt for others is often seen in such people, and it has been known to cause serious dissensions and factions in churches. The...

_______________________________________________________________ First, we can determine whether the signs and dreams are from God via the motivations that those signs and dreams are attempting to encourage in us. Are those motivations to be found as 'acts of the sinful nature' or as 'the...

It is more important to read and comprehend passages of Scripture, rather than memorize 1 or 2 verses from those passages. You will also find that it is easier to remember verses from a passage if you concentrate on studying the passage itself. A word of caution: There are radical churches...

chi_cchick- Christianity is a religion in which the motivations which underlie what we say and do either confirm our sincere acceptance of God's gift of salvation, or expose us as merely 'going through the motions': So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the...

Foofy- When anyone deliberately disrespects someone else, even in jest, there is always the possibility that their words will 'hit a nerve', starting an altercation that can quickly spiral out of control. Everyone has 'off days', so words that normally might 'roll off their backs' might set...

Setyoufree- I didn't have time to read all the messages, so if I am repeating what someone else has already written, I apologize. What St. Paul described now has an official name: It's called 'paradoxical intention'. And what it refers to is a flaw in our psyche which makes it impossible...

DeanW- If the area where you live came under the control of ISIS, how long do you think that they would let you live? A fact that World War II taught us is this: Those who would kill our neighbors for one reason this morning, would kill us for another reason this afternoon. Once the desire...

DeanW- You're trying to compare apples and oranges. The laws of Torah were societal laws, not a 'roadmap to heaven'. Their purpose was to mold a people (the Hebrews) into a strong, cohesive society where everyone knew exactly what they were to do, and what they were forbidden to do. In that...

KayScarpettaFan- Christianity's behavior is based on motivations, rather than merely the letter of the law. Even if we supposedly do the right thing, if we do it with the wrong motivation as its impetus we have 'screwed up'. I like this passage for its clearly identifying which motivations...

With your background you may want to see this: www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/

Temp9- There are those who want to believe that as long as we pay lipservice to Christ's sacrifice of atonement we can do whatever our sinful nature dictates because we have a 'get out of hell free card'. However, Scripture tells us that those who have genuinely accepted Christ's sacrifice...

In National Geographic's publication of June, 2011, There is an article entitled The Birth of Religion. In this article you will find basically the same ideas which I have already written in my previous messages. You may be able to read it at www.ngm.com. If not, most libraries in the USA have...