The depiction of God, and morals

[Strivax]

Which should be our ultimate foundation - God's revelation or our own minds?

A vexed question. But since it is our own minds that tell us to trust either them or God's revelations, either way, it is our own minds we trust.

Best wishes, Strivax.

 

[Emli]

Counterintuitively, perhaps, I find the less I believe, the stronger my faith.

So, for example, the fact that I do not have to defend creationism against the scientific consensus in respect of evolution does not diminish my faith, just leaves it untarnished by the dubious tactics of the intelligent design contingent.

All one really needs to believe is that God exists, and is perfect, and that we all should try to our utmost to get as close to that perfection as possible. Jesus told us to do that by loving God, and loving each other. And all the rest is detail.

Best wishes, Strivax.

That is twisting Scripture. He requires so much more from us than that.

You need to read the whole Bible. Cover to cover. Take in every single word, and trust in them.

 

[Emli]

A vexed question. But since it is our own minds that tell us to trust either them or God's revelations, either way, it is our own minds we trust.

Best wishes, Strivax.

No. It's God who tells us to trust God. All wisdom and understanding comes from above, all faith comes from God.

Trusting in our own minds, is what Satan tells us to do.

I'm worried about you now. I have never said this to anyone before, but I don't think you are saved. I will pray for God to open your eyes.

 

[Left]

I'm worried about you now. I have never said this to anyone before, but I don't think you are saved. I will pray for God to open your eyes.

Without going into the rule-breaking category of calling him a nonChristian, I'm concerned too. His intial posts in this thread were great, but his later posts are revealing a fallen nature that I am very susceptible to as well (no offense).

 

[RascaLinFaith]

but I don't think you are saved

That's an unnecessary and unhelpful conclusion.

since it is our own minds that tell us to trust either them or God's revelations, either way, it is our own minds we trust.

I think I get what you are saying, that without our minds we wouldn't be able to process the revelation in the first place. I agree with that. But beyond that, are we trusting in our own "autonomous rationality" in order to reason our way to God and the things about this world? Or is God's revelation the basis for all of our predication? I would argue the latter.

If you think you know something, but you aren't sure, do you really know anything at all? On the other hand, if the one who knows everything reveals something to you, you have assurance.

In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3)

Does that make sense?

 

[Left]

That's an unnecessary and unhelpful conclusion.

I know Emli. She meant that statement in love - it just came off wrong .

 

[david.d]

Uh huh. Are you happy then, with the way you are? With the way the rest of humanity is? If you are, then good luck and bon voyage. If you aren't, I could not advocate a better role model than Jesus of Nazareth, known to us Christians as Christ.

Best wishes, Strivax.

I'm happy to be on the right path, but I am by no means perfect and I know that as long as we have a sinful nature we can not be perfect, but our spiritual nature gives us the eyes and ears of truth to embrace the will of God. God didn't ordain us to be gods, he ordained us to be servants and the body of Christ. Jesus came to do the will of His Father, our Father, not to show how to obtain divinity, but righteousness in the eyes of the Lord and to show us the mysteries of things since the foundation of the world. Being a disciple of Christ is not an emulation of God but living as a servant to God. A servant can only have one master, which means we have to even give up ourselves to serve the Master.

 

[Strivax]

I'm worried about you now. I have never said this to anyone before, but I don't think you are saved. I will pray for God to open your eyes.

Oh dear. If you think I care whether I am 'saved' or not, you are entirely misguided. All I care about is the wellbeing of humanity, and of God (best served in our context by the wellbeing of humanity, since He loves us all), and if that condemns me to eternal damnation, then I am entirely prepared to go there, consenting.

But somehow, I suspect those with more selfish concerns will precede me in the queue.

Best wishes, Strivax.

 

[Left]

Oh dear. If you think I care whether I am 'saved' or not, you are entirely misguided. All I care about is the wellbeing of humanity, and of God (best served by the wellbeing of humanity, since He loves us all), and if that condemns me to eternal damnation, then I am entirely prepared to go there, consenting.

But somehow, I suspect those with more selfish concerns will precede me in the queue.

Best wishes, Strivax.

You're being a bit defensive. Take a deep breath and open your heart. There are people who really care about you here. What do you have to be afraid of?

 

[david.d]

Oh dear. If you think I care whether I am 'saved' or not, you are entirely misguided. All I care about is the wellbeing of humanity, and of God (best served by the wellbeing of humanity, since He loves us all), and if that condemns me to eternal damnation, then I am entirely prepared to go there, consenting.

But somehow, I suspect those with more selfish concerns will precede me in the queue.

Best wishes, Strivax.

You remind me of a general I know. You are probably rather abrasive and have a certain "leader of men" character (hidden or not), which I respect with neither envy nor pitty, just respect. I feel we are looking at the same battlefield from different angles, perception is truth to the seer.

 

[Emli]

Oh dear. If you think I care whether I am 'saved' or not, you are entirely misguided. All I care about is the wellbeing of humanity, and of God (best served in our context by the wellbeing of humanity, since He loves us all), and if that condemns me to eternal damnation, then I am entirely prepared to go there, consenting.

But somehow, I suspect those with more selfish concerns will precede me in the queue.

Best wishes, Strivax.

It doesn't matter whether we are selfish or not, or how much we care about humanity. All that matters is our faith in God, and our surrender to His will. We shouldn't try to make ourselves look good in our own eyes. That only leads us to pride and deception.
Whoever wants to be the first, will be the last.

And if you really care about the well-being of humanity and of God, why are you not adhering to God's plan of salvation?

 

[Strivax]

That is twisting Scripture. He requires so much more from us than that.

Like what? I do not think I am twisting scripture, at all. Just extracting from it its most vital points.

Best wishes, Strivax.

 

[Emli]

Like what? I do not think I am twisting scripture, at all. Just extracting from it it's most vital points.

Best wishes, Strivax.

That is twisting Scripture. And you are setting yourself up above God. Who are you to decide what are the most vital points of Scripture? Do you not believe that God is the one to judge that, and has a reason for every word that He has given us?

 

[Strivax]

It doesn't matter whether we are selfish or not, or how much we care about humanity...

And that is the substance of our disagreement. I think this entirely wrong, morally, and scripturally.

Best wishes, Strivax.

 

[Emli]

And that is the substance of our disagreement. I think this entirely wrong, morally, and scripturally.

Best wishes, Strivax.

If you take that one sentence out of context, yes. You do this often, don't you? Just pick and choose what to take in and what to leave out?

 

[Strivax]

That is twisting Scripture. And you are setting yourself up above God. Who are you to decide what are the most vital points of Scripture? Do you not believe that God is the one to judge that, and has a reason for every word that He has given us?

You are perfectly entitled to abstract your own most vital points, and argue why they should be so. If you can.

Best wishes, Strivax.

 

[Emli]

You are perfectly entitled to abstract your own most vital points, and argue why they should be so. If you can.

Best wishes, Strivax.

No. I'm not at all entitled to abstract my own vital points. According to Satan, yes (read Genesis 3), but not according to God.

 

[Strivax]

If you take that one sentence out of context, yes. You do this often, don't you? Just pick and choose what to take in and what to leave out?

Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Otherwise, don't be surprised if I assume that is what you are doing.

Best wishes, Strivax.

 

[PropheticTimes]

Emli, you have wisdom beyond your years. I am learning a lot from this thread.

 

[Strivax]

No. I'm not at all entitled to abstract my own vital points. According to Satan, yes (read Genesis 3), but not according to God.

Of course you are. You clearly have a mind, and an intellect. Use it. It is what God gave it to you for. Genesis is irrelevant to this discussion.

Best wishes, Strivax.