What matters in the church is not religion but the form of Christ, and its taking form amidst a band of men. DIETRICH BONHOEFFER
Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And according to Pauls custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women.
Acts 17:1-4 NASB
The Apostle Paul reasoned with the Jews of Thessalonica. Just a short time before this Paul had been at the city of Philippi and found that he could not reason with the Jews there. As a matter of fact they stirred up the people and had Paul and Silas beat and thrown in jail. This was against their rights as Roman Citizens. When they were released they though it best to leave the area and went to Thessalonica. There they found Jews that they could reason with.
What exactly is this thing called reason? This morning I went to Websters Dictionary and have come up with some definitions. Share this with me:
1. An explanation or justification of an act, idea, etc.
2. A cause or motive
3. The ability to think, form judgments, draw conclusions, etc.
4. Sound thought or judgment; good sense
5. Normal mental powers; a sound mind; sanity
Also I found this:
1. To think coherently and logically; draw inferences or conclusions from facts known or assumed
2. To argue or talk in a logical way
So here are some definitions of what we call reason. I am so grateful that I am able to read the Word of God and to draw conclusions of it on my own. I can reason through it. I can see and reason with the fact that over a period of fifteen hundred years, and scores of different writers, how the Word of God is knit together to form one continuous plan of redemption. From the first thoughts of the Word to the last word in Revelation, Jesus Christ can be seen and reasoned. Thanks be to the Holy Spirit which has softened and opened the eyes of my heart to allow reason to become a way of life. I dont want to go back to the way I used to be. Hail Reason, God is doing for me what I could not do for myself ..JRE
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The demand that God should forgive such a [sinful] man while he remains what he is, is based on a confusion between condoning and forgiving. To condone an evil is simply to ignore it, to treat it as if it were good. But forgiveness needs to be accepted as well as offered if it is to be complete: and a man who admits no guilt can accept no forgiveness.
In the long run the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell, is itself a question: What are you asking God to do? To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But He has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what He does.
C.S. LEWIS
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Man is suppose to think and act. He wasnt made in Gods image to be an automaton.
BILL W. As Bill sees it. The AA Way of Life
Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And according to Pauls custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women.
Acts 17:1-4 NASB
The Apostle Paul reasoned with the Jews of Thessalonica. Just a short time before this Paul had been at the city of Philippi and found that he could not reason with the Jews there. As a matter of fact they stirred up the people and had Paul and Silas beat and thrown in jail. This was against their rights as Roman Citizens. When they were released they though it best to leave the area and went to Thessalonica. There they found Jews that they could reason with.
What exactly is this thing called reason? This morning I went to Websters Dictionary and have come up with some definitions. Share this with me:
1. An explanation or justification of an act, idea, etc.
2. A cause or motive
3. The ability to think, form judgments, draw conclusions, etc.
4. Sound thought or judgment; good sense
5. Normal mental powers; a sound mind; sanity
Also I found this:
1. To think coherently and logically; draw inferences or conclusions from facts known or assumed
2. To argue or talk in a logical way
So here are some definitions of what we call reason. I am so grateful that I am able to read the Word of God and to draw conclusions of it on my own. I can reason through it. I can see and reason with the fact that over a period of fifteen hundred years, and scores of different writers, how the Word of God is knit together to form one continuous plan of redemption. From the first thoughts of the Word to the last word in Revelation, Jesus Christ can be seen and reasoned. Thanks be to the Holy Spirit which has softened and opened the eyes of my heart to allow reason to become a way of life. I dont want to go back to the way I used to be. Hail Reason, God is doing for me what I could not do for myself ..JRE
********************
The demand that God should forgive such a [sinful] man while he remains what he is, is based on a confusion between condoning and forgiving. To condone an evil is simply to ignore it, to treat it as if it were good. But forgiveness needs to be accepted as well as offered if it is to be complete: and a man who admits no guilt can accept no forgiveness.
In the long run the answer to all those who object to the doctrine of hell, is itself a question: What are you asking God to do? To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But He has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what He does.
C.S. LEWIS
********************
Man is suppose to think and act. He wasnt made in Gods image to be an automaton.
BILL W. As Bill sees it. The AA Way of Life
