I won't buy into your assumptions as to what I believe exactly.
No need; It looks like my assumptions were correct. I already figured out what you believe by searching the forums. You believe that there are two different gospels.
You stated elsewhere on the forums,
“Lord Jesus did not preach a gospel of personal salvation. He preached the Kingdom of God.”
by: ~ Aussie Pete.
Source:
The will of God and the will of man.
You said:
I will repeat what the Lord Jesus said about the scriptures, all that was available at the time. The principle still applies right this moment.
John 5:
39“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
40and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.
How ironic. The very Scripture you quote is the solution to your properly understanding “
the gospel of the kingdom of God” that Jesus had His disciples preach.
The Kingdom of God is Jesus:
In other words, John the baptist said, "repent" (seek forgiveness with God by way of prayer), for the Kingdom of God (JESUS) was at hand (near, or coming).
We can read about how the disciples preached the kingdom of God before the cross:
"And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick." (Luke 9:2).
Yet, the kingdom of God was preached after the cross, too:
"Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him." (Acts of the Apostles 28:31).
Kingdoms are made up of people.
Jesus is the head of the Kingdom.
For you cannot have a Kingdom without a King, and Jesus is the King of Kings.
The Kingdom of God is Jesus.
For the Kingdom can be within a person.
"Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21).
Jesus says, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." (John 15:7). Jesus stands at the door of men's hearts and knocks to come inside them: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20). "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love," (Ephesians 3:17).
Jesus identifies Himself as the Kingdom of God when He says,
"But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you." (Luke 11:20).
When Jesus told His disciples that when they healed the sick, they are to say to them that the Kingdom of God has come near to them.
"And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’" (Luke 10:9).
This again is Jesus healing them. Jesus is the Kingdom of God. He is the One who heals.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised," (Luke 4:18).
Jesus is the One who lives in all believers thereby making up the Kingdom of God's people. It's why we are the body of Christ.
"So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." (Romans 12:5).
In other words, read the Scriptures on the NT gospels again; For it appears that you have missed that it was about Jesus and in having life by abiding in Him.
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:39-40).
Some think that Jesus came to preach His return with the setting up of His Millennial Kingdom, and that is the kingdom that was at hand. But this is not the case. For Jesus said, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:17).
“When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.” (John 6:15).
Jesus came to save mankind with His death, burial, and resurrection.
For a big part of Christ's second coming is judgment so as to bring in His Millennial Kingdom.
This was not a part of Christ's plan with the Jews with His 1st coming to Earth.
His purpose in coming was for the salvation of mankind.
You said:
I know the Bible reasonably well.
You did not appear to know the truth within 2 Timothy 3:16 which talks about how all Scripture is profitable for instruction in righteousness; Neither did you appear to know about the truth in 2 Timothy 2:25 whereby Paul talks about how he instructed those who opposed themselves. In other words, the Bible talks about instruction. Thus, this makes the Bible an instruction manual. For if a person does not receive their instructions in coming to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation (seeking His forgiveness and believing the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4), and they do not obey the Lord Jesus, they will not be saved.
You said:
I also know full well that knowing the Bible is not the same as knowing Christ (John 17:3).
How can we have an assurance that we truly know Christ?
“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” (1 John 2:3).
“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:4).
You said:
'But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.…"
This is a major problem here. You are quoting 1 John 1:8 from the slanted wrong interpretation made by the majority of believers today who believe they can commit mortal sin and still be saved. For if we were to take your interpretation on 1 John 1:8 as being true here, then you cannot believe verses 7, and 9. For 1 John 1:7 basically says if we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. See, you don't really believe that. You really don't believe it is possible to walk in the light in order for the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse you from all sin because you believe that a believer must always admit that they sin as per 1 John 1:8. You also do not believe 1 John 1:9 if you hold to the popular OSAS interpretation on 1 John 1:8, as well. How so? Well, because if you were to actually read and believe the last part of 1 John 1:9, it says that the end goal is to be cleansed from all unrighteousness (Which is by confessing sin).
You said:
That was written to Christians. Christians can and do sin. Those who believe otherwise are deceived.
What is helpful in understanding 1 John 1:8 is looking at its immediate context. 1 John 1:10 says if we say we have not sinned. 1 John 1:10 switches gears from 1 John 1:8 in regards to time; John talks about the declaration on committing sin in verse 8 (which is present tense) to a declaration on committing sin being a past declaration (with verse 10). Verse 10 is saying there are people who said they have not sinned (past tense). This is clearly a gnostic belief. Why? Well, most believers today hold to the idea that they have sinned as a part of their old life before coming to Christ (Regardless of whether they are “OSAS,” a “Sin and still be saved” type believer, or a “Conditional Salvationist”). So this clearly is a “gnostic belief” that John was warning the brethren about (See 1 John 2:26). 1 John 1:8 is a present declaration of sin. It is saying if we say we have no sin when we do sin (present tense). This has to be the interpretative understanding of this verse because 1 John 2:4 says if we say we know Him and do not keep His commandments we are a liar and the truth is not in us. The OSAS's interpretation on 1 John 1:8 does not work because it conflicts with a normal reading on 1 John 2:3-4. You cannot always be in sin (breaking God's commands) as a part of 1 John 1:8 and yet also fulfill 1 John 2:3 that says we can have an assurance of knowing Him if we keep His commandments. Especially when 1 John 2:4 says we are a liar and the truth is not in us if we break his commandments. In other words, if the OSAS interpretation on 1 John 1:8 was true, then I would be damned if I do by obeying God's commands (1 John 1:8) and yet I would be damned if I don't by not obeying God's commands (1 John 2:4).
In fact, the New English Translation says this for 1 John 1:8,
"If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8 NET).
In other words, this verse is saying that if a person sins and says they do not bear the guilt of sin (in the sense that they will not have to face any wrath or Judgment from God over their sin) then they would be deceiving themselves and the truth would not be in them. This is exactly what the Eternal Security proposes. They are saying that they do not bear the guilt of any sin (destruction of their soul and body in hell fire) if they do sin because they believe their future sins are paid for by Jesus. They are saying, they do not bear the guilt or the punishment of sin at the final Judgment because of their belief on Jesus. In short, 1 John 1:8 is a denial of the existence of sin on some level. “If we say we have no sin (in the sense that it does not exist) we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8). Christian Scientists think sin is an illusion and does not exist at all. So this verse would apply to them. Eternal Security Proponents and those who deny that “Sin Can Separate a Believer from God” deny the existence of sin partially. They believe sin exists physically but they do not believe sin exists for them on a spiritual level because Jesus has forgiven them of all their sin by their belief on Jesus. In fact, to see just how silly your argument actually is for 1 John 1:8, you would have to believe that you are sinning right now at this very moment in order for such a verse to be true because 1 John 1:8 is speaking in the present tense.
John prescribes that we do not think that sin is an illusion, and we are automatically saved, but John is telling us to "sin not" and go to our advocate Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1), and confess our sins so as to be forgiven of sin and to be cleansed of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). How can you confess and be forgiven of sin if all your future sin is paid for? It makes no sense.
You can say that John is talking about a break of fellowship by one's sins and not a loss of salvation, but that would not be consistent with Scripture. 1 John 5:12 says he that has the Son has life, and he that does not have the Son does not have life.