Small minority of the Elect make it to Heaven

[Robban]

It is a parable meaning: "Let the spiritually dead bury their dead."

"Let me first bury my father."

"Let the dead bury their dead".

 

[CherubRam]

"Let me first bury my father."

"Let the dead bury their dead".

Matthew 23
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

 

[Robban]

Matthew 23
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

Whoever wrote that must have been having a really bad day.

But then, no surprise, the NT has more holes than a Swiss cheese.

 

[Robban]

Whoever wrote that must have been having a really bad day.

But then, no surprise, the NT has more holes than a Swiss cheese.

Before that long rant in chap 23,
22:41_46.

There is a quote from Psalms 110.

"The Lord said to my master......"
This is Abrahams servant Eliezer,s response when asked how Abraham managed to defeat the four Kings.


The entire Psalm refers to Abraham,
he merited prominence for recognizing God in his youth.

 

[Arthra]

Our scriptures say the dead know nothing, and also there is a judgement where the dammed are cut off from the living. What book do you study from?

Thanks for your post Cherub!

I've cited both quotes in my post above. God bless you!

- Art

 

[Robban]

The mainstream does not make it to Heaven in the first resurrection.

Matthew 7:14
But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

The true Elect are a small minority.

2 Timothy 4:3
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

So who or what is "mainstream?"

Mainstream,
could well be, less effort, easy way, natural.
Go with the flow.

Water does not flow up the side of a mountain and down the other side and up the side of the next mountain and so on.

It takes the easiest way,

It may be transported up a mountain side and down the other by building locks, but it requires effort.

Something like that maybe.

 

[CherubRam]

Have you?

Yes I have.

 

[CherubRam]

Mainstream,
could well be, less effort, easy way, natural.
Go with the flow.

Water does not flow up the side of a mountain and down the other side and up the side of the next mountain and so on.

It takes the easiest way,

It may be transported up a mountain side and down the other by building locks, but it requires effort.

Something like that maybe.

Sorry it took so long to answer you. I was on a forced vacation, if you know what I mean.

Finding the truth does require a lot of study. And beside that you have to be a VERY honest person. I find that human beings are very dishonest. I do not know what could be done to fix that, since the change needs to come from the person.

 

[CherubRam]

In the Baha'i view the soul has an eternity to progress and come into the presence of the Divine. Some will come into a state of heavenly grace earlier than others:

"In the human plane and kingdom man is a captive of nature and ignorant of the divine world until born of the breaths of the Holy Spirit out of physical conditions of limitation and deprivation. Then he beholds the reality of the spiritual realm and kingdom, realizes the narrow restrictions of the mere human world of existence and becomes conscious of the unlimited and infinite glories of the world of God. Therefore no matter how man may advance upon the physical and intellectual plane he is ever in need of the boundless virtues of divinity, the protection of the Holy Spirit and the face of God."

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 58


"We are able to reflect divine attributes to the extent that we cleanse the mirrors of our hearts and minds through prayer, the study and application of the Sacred Scriptures, the acquisition of knowledge, efforts to improve our conduct and to overcome tests and difficulties, and service to humanity. When death occurs in this world, the soul is separated from the body, and continues to progress in an eternal journey towards perfection."

The Human Soul | What Bahá’ís Believe

My scriptures say the dead know nothing. They also say that immortality is an act of God.

 

[Robban]

Sorry it took so long to answer you. I was on a forced vacation, if you know what I mean.

Finding the truth does require a lot of study. And beside that you have to be a VERY honest person. I find that human beings are very dishonest. I do not know what could be done to fix that, since the change needs to come from the person.

Was wondering where you had gone.

When I grew up I was told the world is full of sharks,

Therefore,
Contemplate three things, and you will not come to the hands of transgression:
Know what is above you:
A seeing eye, a listening ear,
and all your deeds being inscribed in a book.


(Ethics of the fathers 2:1b

 

[CherubRam]

Was wondering where you had gone.

When I grew up I was told the world is full of sharks,

Therefore,
Contemplate three things, and you will not come to the hands of transgression:
Know what is above you:
A seeing eye, a listening ear,
and all your deeds being inscribed in a book.


(Ethics of the fathers 2:1b

Ethics of the Fathers
I like a lot of them, you should post more of them.

 

[ViaCrucis]

I don't know who is the elect is but I pray that I am one that He is looking for in these last days.

You can be assured that God's election includes you because God's election is not some invisible, hidden thing, it is found int he manifest and visible works of God. Namely His Word and Sacraments. You have been baptized, you have heard the Gospel, you partake of Christ's Table--you can be confident that you belong to Jesus Christ, that God is your Father, that the Spirit is yours.

The doctrine of Election is not a doctrine of despair and hopelessness, but a doctrine of comfort. It's not about God going around saying "you, you, but not you", it's about God gracious condescension to encounter and rescue you, which He has done, truly and faithfully, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who suffered, died, was buried, and is risen from the dead.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[dlamberth]

I'm unable to grasp a God who is not all inclusive of everyone and everything in this Creation. An exclusive God, for what every reason, just doesn't work for me.

 

[CherubRam]

I'm unable to grasp a God who is not all inclusive of everyone and everything in this Creation. An exclusive God, for what every reason, just doesn't work for me.

A GOD WHO IS ALL INCLUSIVE!
If that were true, then there would be no consequence.

 

[dlamberth]

A GOD WHO IS ALL INCLUSIVE!
If that were true, then there would be no consequence.

Consequences are of kinds of things that ancient Greek Pagan Gods do.

 

[CherubRam]

Consequences are of kinds of things that ancient Greek Pagan Gods do.

I do not think so scooter.

 

[dlamberth]

I do not think so scooter.

Consequences very much ARE the kind of things that ancient Greek Pagan God's do.

Another option, one where consequences are not in the picture is where God is inherent within life itSelf. It's experiencing God as the Life Force of everything. I don't know how to get any more inclusive than that.

 

[Eyes wide Open]

A GOD WHO IS ALL INCLUSIVE!
If that were true, then there would be no consequence.

If after death you became fully aware of your creative capabilities, or how you could have created in life, matched against what you actually did create with, then I would imagine for some that would be a confronting process.
That"s consequence for action.
That is a process that can happen in life to. It's all inclusive because we are all part of it.

 

[Robban]

s are of kinds of things that ancient Greek Pagan Gods do.[/QUOTE]

Consequences very much ARE the kind of things that ancient Greek Pagan God's do.

Another option, one where consequences are not in the picture is where God is inherent within life itSelf. It's experiencing God as the Life Force of everything. I don't know how to get any more inclusive than that.

If there is nowhere He is not, there is nowhere to hide either.

A murderer who thinks he has got away with it,
will at some point have to bear the consequence of his actions.

What goes around comes around.

 

[dlamberth]

If there is nowhere He is not, there is nowhere to hide either.

I kind of look at it like this: If you do not see God everywhere, you see God nowhere. That includes the murderer.

A murderer who thinks he has got away with it,
will at some point have to bear the consequence of his actions.

If your referring to God in the analogy, isn't that making God in the image of man?