Correct, you're not saying it outright. You're just persistently sheepishly implying it.
Question: If it is true that I don't believe in reading the Bible and learning anything from it, why do you think I knew which Scriptures to reference in my earlier post to you?
Don't you find it, perhaps, a little strange that those with whom you have chosen to go on the attack with find it no problem to back ourselves up with plenty of Scripture, and yet you are providing merely your own opinions and are unable to back it up with a thorough treatment of Scripture.
You quoted, for example, 1 John 2:27 seemingly without having read anything else John wrote surrounding that verse.
"
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life.
I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him." - 1 John 2:18-27
Because had you done so, you'd see that John, as quoted above, is addressing those whom he is confident already know the truth, the truth which they had received the truth from the beginning. When the Gospel was preached to them, "let what you heard from the beginning abide in you". That is the anointing John speaks about, they have received, in faith, what they heard from the beginning. I think it worth, on this point, also taking a look at Paul in the first chapter of Ephesians,
"In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit," - Ephesians 1:13
It would appear, then, that believers who have been properly instructed and received, in faith, the word which they have heard, are anointed. And for this reason they can rely on the teaching they received, and which abides in them by the Holy Spirit, so that when they hear a false teacher spouting nonsense, they can recognize it for the nonsense that it is.
You know, kind of like what Paul said in his letters to Timothy, that there would be many who will not abide in faithful teaching, but will seek for themselves teachers who will tickle their ears. And so a central role of a good preacher is faithful preaching and teaching, to equip the Faithful with the word of God, that when they hear false teachers spouting nonsense, they will recognize it for the nonsense it is. They will, not by their own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, abide in the truth; the truth which they received from the beginning.
Which, and there's no nice way to say this, I don't--and indeed can't--take you seriously. You are one of those who will not abide in the truth, and have sought out for yourself false teachers, and now you presume to teach false teaching here. You do not have the Scriptures to back yourself up, and so you have to resort to anger, personal attacks, and threats.
You threatened me with hell, perhaps you thought I was a weak and gullible person who would be swayed by such empty threats. The problem, however, is that I know to Whom I belong, His name is Jesus Christ the Son of God, and He says that where He is I will be also. So why should I care what empty threats the devil has fed you to repeat. I know Who my righteousness is, and it's not me, it's Jesus Christ.
And so not only have you failed, you have been as clear an example of precisely the kind of problems I was talking about earlier. The problem with the failure of good preaching, and the problem of not listening to good preaching at all and instead relying entirely on oneself.
It's funny how that works. But I give thanks to God for this opportunity.
With that said, I was very clearly being quite sarcastic in my initial response to you. Sarcasm runs deep in my way of being humorous, but it has also been a constant trap that I easily fall into. And if in that I have stumbled, and I suspect I most certainly have, then I apologize.
And so I will speak completely straight with you. I invite you to go and find repentance, find a faithful church which abides and preaches faithfully from the word of God. That not only may you be reconciled to the Church, but that you return to faithfulness by abiding in Christ and His word, that you may hear and read the Scriptures afresh, and be comforted and instructed in them and by them. That the Scriptures might soak and saturate you, that you not merely read the Bible, but that the Bible reads you.
And in this, that the Holy Spirit continually renew you, comfort you, aid you, support you, and daily draw you to the Fount, that you might daily abide at the foot of the cross. Daily find repentance and forgiveness and healing for your mind, heart, and soul. And that you be raised up as a faithful servant of Christ, taking up your cross. And though you will stumble, as we all do; and though you will daily sin a thousand sins, as we all do; and as you struggle through the daily trials of life and the temptations of the world and of your own flesh, God shall keep you and hold you, preserving you in all things until the final day.
That you stand amidst the great cloud of witnesses, and you yourself cheer on those who remain here fighting the fight, running the race; and that you receive your reward as a faithful servant and hear "Well done." Not because I believe you are in danger of hellfire, but because I love you and desire that our one and same Jesus Christ bless you, keep you, and hold you in Himself. Because of the great and limitlessly deep love of God which He has for you, and indeed for all of us sinners.
May God, who is unfailing in mercy, grant you peace, life, freedom, and comfort as you navigate life's many waterways.
-CryptoLutheran
