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straykat

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Sorry for jumping the gun. Really.. I'll go back and re-read.
 
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BukiRob

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2 Peter 3:15 Also, regard the patience of our Lord as an opportunity for salvation, just as our dear brother Paul has written to you according to the wisdom given to him. 16 He speaks about these things in all his letters in which there are some matters that are hard to understand. The untaught and unstable twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.

If those learning directly from Paul who were almost CERTAIN speaking Greek (in other words their level of understanding of Greek was that of a near-native speaker) and Paul was still GREATLY misunderstood at the time of his teaching then it is sheer FOLLY to assume that we have a better grasp today!

Paul was a student of Gamaliel who was the grandson of Hillel arguably the greatest Jewish sage of all time... (clearly in the top with scholars like Rashid, Maimonides etc)
Paul would be the equivalent of a leading PhD scholar teaching at a graduate level. Paul is almost all of his writings is assuming you already KNOW the basics concerning Torah.

This confusion was so great that we see right before his arrest that James and the elders say to Paul “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, 21 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs."

Notice that if you read the entire comments of James that NOWHERE does even suggest that those that are "Zealous for Torah" are in ANY WAY wrong!

Confusion regarding Pauls teachings was present DURING Pauls ministry how much so more today!

then James says: SO THEY MAY KNOW THAT THESE THINGS ARE NOT TRUE... he then commands Paul to take the vow of the Nazarene along with 2 other men who had dedicated themselves to do so and then make SACRIFICE in the Temple after becoming ritually pure.

Now you are left with 1 of only 2 options. A) Paul and James are concocting a deception and acting out a lie... or B) Paul was a Torah observant believer and taught others to do so likewise but as a matter of walking on obedience and that Salvation comes by faith and not by works.
 
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straykat

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So by default, since much/most of the "church" teaches that the Torah is done away with, the Observant Jew will NEVER accept "jesus"

OK... Apologies again, but I hear you on the above. I actually just posted something recently addressing that in another thread. I think it comes from a misreading of Paul..where some people equate his use with "works" with ALL kinds of ethical teachings. When he was concerned with racially significant works. Things that said in the flesh/material sense, "I am a Jew". Like circumcision. In Paul's teaching, this was not going to save anyone. In Christ, the racial divides no longer existed. And as John the Baptist said, "God could make children of Abraham from these stones." It was no longer the dividing line. Christ is the dividing line. "There is no longer Jew or Gentile". But that didn't mean we drop works in the sense of "morality"!

That said, even when the Church teached this before Protestantism, many Jews rejected them anyhow. So there's something else at work here as well.

Barring some exceptions at least. I'm not a Catholic, but one of my favorite Catholic saints is without a doubt St. Teresa of Avila -- a Jew. Or rather, from a family of conversos. Same with St. John of the Cross.
 
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John tower

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He was talking about his spiritual word : These words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life and being born again by the word of God : the flesh profits nothing He was not talking about a physical meal !
 
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W2L

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He was talking about his spiritual word : These words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life and being born again by the word of God : the flesh profits nothing He was not talking about a physical meal !
I agree.
 
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BukiRob

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I think that we are missing what Paul is saying. Again when we fail to look at it from the perspective of the Israelite, we MISS what he is saying.

Prior to G-d directly working in the lives of Gentiles (redemptive) G-d ONLY had a covenant with Israel. The Goy (Nations) COULD NOT be saved. They first had to convert and if male, become circumcised, begin walking in Torah, belief in the promise of Messiah.

This is exactly what led to the Acts 15 debate which is NOT doing away with the Commandments. In verse 1 we are clearly told what the debate is about... WHO CAN BE SAVED?
1But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

circumcised= converting to become a Jew.

Almost ALL of Pauls teachings surrounding the Jew/Gentile issue were centered in the fact that one did not need to convert to be saved... hence there is now NO DISTICITION... meaning G-d no longer only interacted with the Jew.
 
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Righttruth

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So, it is like a majority group among children deciding on the sex of an animal in a zoo during a visit! It is also like a lone baby crying out that king is naked in a public parade!
 
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Righttruth

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My choice is crying in the wilderness even it amounts to that. I am least bothered about the reactions based on man-made rules. Nevertheless, I have never been offending or insulting to anybody.
 
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Righttruth

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No I don't, because Scripture doesn't. The Spirit is the Spirit, the Word is the Word.
The Word became flesh - Jesus, conceived by, and filled with, the Holy Spirit.
But that doesn't mean Word = Jesus. Your Scripture doesn't say that.
 
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Righttruth

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A humble disciple of Jesus will not even think of using the word 'boast'. Paul goes off limits in his self assessments!
 
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Righttruth

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Does it mean Paul knew more about God than Jesus? Don't you think we should give utmost importance to Jesus' words? Only the Son of God has seen the God the Father. At best people can only speculate like four blind men with an elephant!
 
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BNR32FAN

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Does it mean Paul knew more about God than Jesus? Don't you think we should give utmost importance to Jesus' words? Only the Son of God has seen the God the Father. At best people can only speculate like four blind men with an elephant!

Your mistake is thinking that they are contradicting each other. God’s Word never contradicts itself. Therefore if your beliefs don’t coincide with ALL of the scriptures they are wrong.
 
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Righttruth

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Your mistake is thinking that they are contradicting each other. God’s Word never contradicts itself. Therefore if your beliefs don’t coincide with ALL of the scriptures they are wrong.

2 Corinthians 3
6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Many wacky and convenient concepts and theologies have been developed solely based on Paul with misinterpretations. No wonder Martin Luther wanted James, Hebrews and Revelation to be removed from the canon.
 
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Righttruth

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James is more reliable than Paul since he associated with Jerusalem church right from the beginning and headed that. Paul was a rank outsider who took short cuts against the directive of Jesus.
Salvation is from the Jews.

I believe in many cases when the word 'work/s' is mentioned in the NT,it refers to the OT rituals, and it doesn't forbid good works and charity.
 
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Strong in Him

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So, it is like a majority group among children deciding on the sex of an animal in a zoo during a visit! It is also like a lone baby crying out that king is naked in a public parade!

If by "majority group" you mean all the mainstream Christian churches - Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, URC etc etc,AND the moderators of these Christian forums, and possibly others; then, yes.
If by "lone baby" you mean the early church, who decided to draw up this creed so that they, and others, would know what they stood for in a world of unbelief and false teaching, then yes.

Personally, I'm not confident, or arrogant, enough to stand on my own against a sea of Scriptural Christian teaching and tradition and say "MY interpretation of Scripture, alone, is correct - all you many many clergy, theologians and fellow Christians are wrong."

Like I say, choosing to ignore the facts doesn't change them, or mean they are incorrect - only that you choose not to believe them.
 
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Strong in Him

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But that doesn't mean Word = Jesus. Your Scripture doesn't say that.

"The Word became flesh and dwelt among us", John 1:14.
If this wasn't Jesus, who was it?

John the Baptist testifies to Jesus. Peter says that he is the Lamb "chosen from before the foundation of the world", 1 Peter 1:19-20. John says that the Word was with God in the beginning and was God, John 1:1-3. Jesus said that he shared the Father's glory before the world began, John 17:5. He also said, "Before Abraham was, I AM, John 8:58 - and the Jews picked up stones to stone him for blasphemy.

Even if you don't trust Paul, that's 4 other witnesses to Jesus' divinity and eternal nature - 5 if you include the Holy Spirit who inspired these things to be written.
 
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Micah888

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...I was told by Catholics that Protestants don't actually partake of the real Lords supper. If this is true then doesn't that mean that protestants are dead, according to John 6:53?
The Roman Catholic Mass is clearly not the Lord's Supper so there is no reason why Catholics (or to be more precise the RCC) would accept the Lord's Supper as valid, just as Protestants and non-Catholics do not accept the Mass as valid.

As to Protestants being "dead" in the eyes of the RCC that pretty much is summed up in Roman Catholic doctrine. Protestant beliefs were deemed heretical by the RCC and nothing has changed.
 
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Righttruth

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I believe in Jesus and His words. Rest is of no consequence. You seem to ignore the long history of how people side tracked the words of Jesus for convenience. It happens in all religions, Christianity is no exception.
 
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Righttruth

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Can Son can be the same as the Father? I think you are missing out the concept of incarnation or manifestation of the great God. The divinity of Jesus is not disputed. God cannot die. Whereas the Son did to raise again.
 
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W2L

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Thanks for the reply.
 
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