This has been bothering me lately, some theological questions.

[pescador]

That is not a distinction between the wicked vs the believers... it is a distinction between Apostles and other believers.

1 John 1:1
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands

It is a distinction between John the Apostle and other believers in his group and unbelievers, i.e., non-Christians. Why would John write (1 John 1:3) "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ."? If they already have fellowship with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, there is no point in inviting them.

As a believing Christian, if somebody wanted to share the Gospel with me I would tell them that I was already a believer.

 

[BobRyan]

It is a distinction between John the Apostle and other believers in his group and unbelievers, i.e., non-Christians. Why would John write (1 John 1:3) "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ."? If they already have fellowship with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, there is no point in inviting them.

As a believing Christian, if somebody wanted to share the Gospel with me I would tell them that I was already a believer.

He was very specific about "seen and handled" which was only true of the Apostles - they visibly saw Christ and walked with Him. The Letter was not read in the market place - but rather in the churches.

 

[pescador]

He was very specific about "seen and handled" which was only true of the Apostles - they visibly saw Christ and walked with Him. The Letter was not read in the market place - but rather in the churches.

Believe what you want, but Scripture is plain. The first part of 1 John was written to unbelievers. I won't discuss it with you further.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

Questions of the day, is repentance required for salvation or is repentance a part of true saving faith in Jesus Christ?

Let me put it this way, are we saved so that we can continue in our sins until Jesus Christ removes them on the last day? Or do we crucify ourselves daily, putting to death the sins that ensnare us with the leading of Jesus Christ? Obviously, the second one is the truth because the second one is what the Bible says. But yet, many of us don't do that and could care less about what the Bible says. Why?

When John said confess your sins to Jesus what did he mean? Most Christians ignore this verse and just go through daily life without much repentance at all. We feel guilty inwardly but we don't actually come out with "God, forgive us." I'm guilty of it myself. I very rarely confess my sins and rely on Jesus to cleanse me from them. If this is what we are supposed to do, why do many of us ignore these verses?

What about when Jesus said not to worry? Oh how that's a big challenge for me and God knows that is one of my ultimate weaknesses, having mental health issues and naturally questioning everything it is extremely hard for me to just trust God! If only I would just trust God! And then my life would be so much easier!

I know deep down in my soul that it's true that God can be trusted. I know about his complete sovreignty and sovreignty over my life. I know that all things will work together for good. I know those things but yet, I have distress in my outward actions? Why?

God said that he would take care of us and our entire lives and that we should never worry, but why do we worry? Why... do we ignore so many parts of the Bible and why is sola scriptura such a controversial and misunderstood piece of theology? Jesus believed in using the word of God and the word of God alone in his daily life, he obeyed ALL of the Bible and God's rules and statues. We are called to do the same as well but yet, why do we ignore so many verses and yet pick the verses that sound good to us and ignore the rest because they're offensive? Again, I'm guilty of this as well.

Yet for some of us, it's clear that we're Christians because God is growing us in other areas. For others of us it's clear that we do not belong to him by the way we live. Why? If God said it, it SHOULD be done shouldn't it? We struggle so much with doing what is right and holy, and instead we do the things that keep us in the darkness. Why?

Why are we such horrible sinners who cannot follow what we are called as Christians to do? We are NOT called to live in our sins and live like the devil. We are called to be the holiness of God and not only children of God, but SLAVES of God! But yet, to tell someone the truth that if they follow God, they are a slave of God it's immensely offensive. So, why?

The use of slave is derogatory and franky I have never heard any Christian describe their relationship with Jesus Christ of Nazareth in this way. Those who are filled with His Holy Spirit are in the Body of Christ. Those who are in the Body SERVE not only the Father but each other with love. As far as sin is concerned, this is where slavery can be used. Some are a slave to sin. True repentance takes place when a Christisn submits to the Father who in turn changes the mind of the believer. Be blessed.

 

[Neostarwcc]

The use of slave is derogatory and franky I have never heard any Christian describe their relationship with Jesus Christ of Nazareth in this way. Those who are filled with His Holy Spirit are in the Body of Christ. Those who are in the Body SERVE not only the Father but each other with love. As far as sin is concerned, this is where slavery can be used. Some are a slave to sin. True repentance takes place when a Christisn submits to the Father who in turn changes the mind of the believer. Be blessed.

Ephesians 6:6

not a new concept, not derogatory. Paul used the same figure of speech.

 

[BobRyan]

Believe what you want, .

thanks.

I prefer the Bible.

 

[chad kincham]

This is what the Apostle Paul taught to both Israelites and Gentiles, according to his testimony to King Agrippa regarding his vision of Christ:

Acts of the Apostles 26:19-20 NIV


Faith/repentance/works all go hand in hand.

faith produces repentance which produces works.

Repentance isn’t included in having faith.

Paul taught that both are needed:

Act 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE toward God, AND faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentance and faith are needed.

And Acts 3:19 states repentance is needed as part of conversion and having our sins forgiven.

Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

 

[Jesse Dornfeld]

Hi. I'm going to get a bit personal in this post, just so you are aware.

In 2007 I was diagnosed with a severe and fairly rare mental illness called Schizoaffective Disorder. It is basically a mix between Schizophrenia and Bipolar without it being a dual diagnosis.

Paranoia is something I have to struggle with from time to time. I struggled with this asking why God would allow me to be afraid for no reasons. I saw this as part of God's plan for my life, not knowing why God had done this to me in His Sovereignty. It was not until I stopped to think that perhaps I was the cause of my mental illness. This has actually been encouraging for me rather than discouraging to me as I now see God as my healer and provider. It was thought on the onset of my mental illness that there would be MANY things I would never be able to do. I was catatonic for at least 2 weeks of my life. My mental illness was brought on by sin. Let that be a lessen in what you do and what you expose yourself to as a believer.

But there is Grace for someone even like me who has completely screwed up their life by doing stupid things. My brain is healing by the Grace of God and I am doing many things that the doctors never thought I would be able to do like living on my own. In part, this is because I have immersed myself in the Word. Psalm 107:20 "He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction."

Blessings.

 

[Jonaitis]

Questions of the day, is repentance required for salvation or is repentance a part of true saving faith in Jesus Christ?

In removing all trust in your own righteousness and placing it in Christ is an act of repentance. Now, this isn't to say that repentance is a single act, but that it begins with turning to Christ and progresses throughout your life.

 

[Dkh587]

Repentance isn’t included in having faith.

Paul taught that both are needed:

Act 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE toward God, AND faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Repentance and faith are needed.

And Acts 3:19 states repentance is needed as part of conversion and having our sins forgiven.

Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

You can’t have 1 without the other. They work together, which was my point.

 

[hedrick]

It is a distinction between John the Apostle and other believers in his group and unbelievers, i.e., non-Christians. Why would John write (1 John 1:3) "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ."? If they already have fellowship with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, there is no point in inviting them.

As a believing Christian, if somebody wanted to share the Gospel with me I would tell them that I was already a believer.

Because there are different understandings of the Gospel. The main point of chapter 1 seems to be 1:8-10. He might have thought that the recipients had the wrong attitude towards sin. Indeed 2:1 suggests that. 2:1 is clearly written to Christians, because that's what "little children" meant in that context.

 

[chad kincham]

Hi. I'm going to get a bit personal in this post, just so you are aware.

In 2007 I was diagnosed with a severe and fairly rare mental illness called Schizoaffective Disorder. It is basically a mix between Schizophrenia and Bipolar without it being a dual diagnosis.

Paranoia is something I have to struggle with from time to time. I struggled with this asking why God would allow me to be afraid for no reasons. I saw this as part of God's plan for my life, not knowing why God had done this to me in His Sovereignty. It was not until I stopped to think that perhaps I was the cause of my mental illness. This has actually been encouraging for me rather than discouraging to me as I now see God as my healer and provider. It was thought on the onset of my mental illness that there would be MANY things I would never be able to do. I was catatonic for at least 2 weeks of my life. My mental illness was brought on by sin. Let that be a lessen in what you do and what you expose yourself to as a believer.

But there is Grace for someone even like me who has completely screwed up their life by doing stupid things. My brain is healing by the Grace of God and I am doing many things that the doctors never thought I would be able to do like living on my own. In part, this is because I have immersed myself in the Word. Psalm 107:20 "He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction."

Blessings.

Please realize that God doesn’t put sickness of any kind on anyone. It’s Satan, god of this world, that seeks to steal, kill and destroy.

You do need to put on spiritual armor to protect yourself from his attacks, per Ephesians 6:12.

And you don't have accept fear, panic, or anxiety attacks.

If you feel fear, panic, or anxiety coming on, the first thing to do is speak to it, by saying, “fear, panic, and anxiety attack, I resist, rebuke and bind you from attacking me, in the name of Jesus”.

Then you can stand on scripture and pray, “Father God, thank you for giving me the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind, to counter the spirit of fear, which comes from the enemy, per 2 Timothy 1:7”

And can pray, “Father, thank you that Jesus gives me rest for my soul, per Matthew 11:28-29, which counters completely fear, panic, and anxiety, because when there is fear, panic or anxiety, my soul is the opposite of at rest - it’s in turmoil - so Jesus giving me rest for my soul, counters that completely”

You also can read the scriptures I’m giving you, and meditate on them, when needed.

God bless.

Peace, joy, rest, sound mind:


Isa 26:3    Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.


Php 4:6    do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Php 4:7    And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.


Psa 34:4    I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.


Isa 41:10    fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.


Joh 14:27    Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.


Joh 16:33    I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."


Mat 11:28    Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.


Mat 11:29    Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.


Rom 14:17    For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.


(And we’re in His kingdom right now)


Col 1:13    Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:


Rom 15:13    Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.


2Ti 1:7    For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.


Rom 8:15    For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"


Isa 53:4    Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.


1Pe 5:6    Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

1Pet 5:7    casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.


Psa 91:14    Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

Psa 91:15    He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

Psa 91:16    With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.


Joh 10:10    The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

 

[chad kincham]

Hi. I'm going to get a bit personal in this post, just so you are aware.

In 2007 I was diagnosed with a severe and fairly rare mental illness called Schizoaffective Disorder. It is basically a mix between Schizophrenia and Bipolar without it being a dual diagnosis.

Paranoia is something I have to struggle with from time to time. I struggled with this asking why God would allow me to be afraid for no reasons. I saw this as part of God's plan for my life, not knowing why God had done this to me in His Sovereignty. It was not until I stopped to think that perhaps I was the cause of my mental illness. This has actually been encouraging for me rather than discouraging to me as I now see God as my healer and provider. It was thought on the onset of my mental illness that there would be MANY things I would never be able to do. I was catatonic for at least 2 weeks of my life. My mental illness was brought on by sin. Let that be a lessen in what you do and what you expose yourself to as a believer.

But there is Grace for someone even like me who has completely screwed up their life by doing stupid things. My brain is healing by the Grace of God and I am doing many things that the doctors never thought I would be able to do like living on my own. In part, this is because I have immersed myself in the Word. Psalm 107:20 "He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction."

Blessings.

Please realize that God doesn’t put sickness of any kind on anyone. It’s Satan, god of this world, that seeks to steal, kill and destroy.

You do need to put on spiritual armor to protect yourself from his attacks, per Ephesians 6:12.

And you don't have accept fear, panic, or anxiety attacks.

If you feel fear, panic, or anxiety coming on, the first thing to do is speak to it, by saying, “fear, panic, and anxiety attack, I resist, rebuke and bind you from attacking me, in the name of Jesus”.

Then you can stand on scripture and pray, “Father God, thank you for giving me the spirit of power, love, and a sound mind, to counter the spirit of fear, which comes from the enemy, per 2 Timothy 1:7”

And can pray, “Father, thank you that Jesus gives me rest for my soul, per Matthew 11:28-29, which counters completely fear, panic, and anxiety, because when there is fear, panic or anxiety, my soul is the opposite of at rest - it’s in turmoil - thus being given rest by Jesus, counters that, completely.

And you can read and meditate on these scriptures, when needed:


Peace, joy, rest, sound mind:


Isa 26:3    Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.


Php 4:6    do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Php 4:7    And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.


Psa 34:4    I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.


Isa 41:10    fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.


Joh 14:27    Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.


Joh 16:33    I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."


Mat 11:28    Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.


Mat 11:29    Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.


Rom 14:17    For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.


(And we’re in His kingdom right now)


Col 1:13    Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:


Rom 15:13    Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.


2Ti 1:7    For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.


Rom 8:15    For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"


Isa 53:4    Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.


1Pe 5:6    Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

1Pet 5:7    casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.


Psa 91:14    Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

Psa 91:15    He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

Psa 91:16    With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.


Joh 10:10    The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

You can’t have 1 without the other. They work together, which was my point.

I agree both are needed to be saved - but repentance isn’t automatically included in having faith - you can believe but have no repentance at all.

And that was MY point.

Hyper-grace false teaching claims repentance is inherent within believing in Jesus - it is not.

 

[chad kincham]

You can’t have 1 without the other. They work together, which was my point.

I agree both are needed to be saved - but repentance isn’t automatically included in having faith - you can believe but have no repentance at all.

And that was MY point.

Hyper-grace false teaching claims repentance is inherent within believing in Jesus - it is not.

 

[chad kincham]

In removing all trust in your own righteousness and placing it in Christ is an act of repentance. Now, this isn't to say that repentance is a single act, but that it begins with turning to Christ and progresses throughout your life.

Repentance is separate from faith in Jesus.

Paul clearly taught faith AND repentance, not that repentance is inherently part of faith.

Act 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE toward God, AND faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

‘And’ means plus, or in addition to - ergo, Paul preached repentance PLUS faith is necessary.

BTW hyper-grace claims repentance is not needed after salvation, which is also wrong.

Jesus tells entire churches in Revelation, that they’d better repent.

 

[chad kincham]

Believe what you want, but Scripture is plain. The first part of 1 John was written to unbelievers. I won't discuss it with you further.

I’d say it’s evident 1 John is a testimony and encouragement to believers who weren’t eyewitness of Jesus, as the writer was, as is evident by verse 3:

1Jn 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have FELLOWSHIP with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

 

[bigo1984]

Questions of the day, is repentance required for salvation or is repentance a part of true saving faith in Jesus Christ?

Let me put it this way, are we saved so that we can continue in our sins until Jesus Christ removes them on the last day? Or do we crucify ourselves daily, putting to death the sins that ensnare us with the leading of Jesus Christ? Obviously, the second one is the truth because the second one is what the Bible says. But yet, many of us don't do that and could care less about what the Bible says. Why?

When John said confess your sins to Jesus what did he mean? Most Christians ignore this verse and just go through daily life without much repentance at all. We feel guilty inwardly but we don't actually come out with "God, forgive us." I'm guilty of it myself. I very rarely confess my sins and rely on Jesus to cleanse me from them. If this is what we are supposed to do, why do many of us ignore these verses?

What about when Jesus said not to worry? Oh how that's a big challenge for me and God knows that is one of my ultimate weaknesses, having mental health issues and naturally questioning everything it is extremely hard for me to just trust God! If only I would just trust God! And then my life would be so much easier!

I know deep down in my soul that it's true that God can be trusted. I know about his complete sovreignty and sovreignty over my life. I know that all things will work together for good. I know those things but yet, I have distress in my outward actions? Why?

God said that he would take care of us and our entire lives and that we should never worry, but why do we worry? Why... do we ignore so many parts of the Bible and why is sola scriptura such a controversial and misunderstood piece of theology? Jesus believed in using the word of God and the word of God alone in his daily life, he obeyed ALL of the Bible and God's rules and statues. We are called to do the same as well but yet, why do we ignore so many verses and yet pick the verses that sound good to us and ignore the rest because they're offensive? Again, I'm guilty of this as well.

Yet for some of us, it's clear that we're Christians because God is growing us in other areas. For others of us it's clear that we do not belong to him by the way we live. Why? If God said it, it SHOULD be done shouldn't it? We struggle so much with doing what is right and holy, and instead we do the things that keep us in the darkness. Why?

Why are we such horrible sinners who cannot follow what we are called as Christians to do? We are NOT called to live in our sins and live like the devil. We are called to be the holiness of God and not only children of God, but SLAVES of God! But yet, to tell someone the truth that if they follow God, they are a slave of God it's immensely offensive. So, why?

Sounds like you are being too hard on yourself. Also sounds like you feel we almost need to be perfect in order to please God. God understands that we are humans and we have weaknesses and we all fail from time to time. Don't listen to people that tell you you need to clean up or you're not going to get to heaven. They are sinners too.

 

[bigo1984]

Repentance is separate from faith in Jesus.

Paul clearly taught faith AND repentance, not that repentance is inherently part of faith.

Act 20:21 Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, REPENTANCE toward God, AND faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

‘And’ means plus, or in addition to - ergo, Paul preached repentance PLUS faith is necessary.

BTW hyper-grace claims repentance is not needed after salvation, which is also wrong.

Jesus tells entire churches in Revelation, that they’d better repent.

I'm a big believer in hyper-grace I don't trust myself to be able to make it to heaven but I can trust in my Lord not to let me go

 

[chad kincham]

I'm a big believer in hyper-grace I don't trust myself to be able to make it to heaven but I can trust in my Lord not to let me go

Except Jesus spews out of His mouth, lukewarm Christians.