Jesus also gave us shepherds - another thing you think was a pointless act of Jesus.
Excuse me?
How would you know when you're wrong?
When I learn a more reasonable answer or is somehow convinced/convicted of something else.
Logic would dictate that what you believe to be true you believe to be true.
I regard logic highly, yes, but I don't let logic solely decide what I believe about spiritual things.
I don't believe Jesus ever lead us to be reliant solely on our own capacities.
Me neither
That's why it's so good that we have the Spirit, the bible, each other, and so forth. I think that ultimately, we are to rely on Him. Unless God Himself reveals anything to us, we don't have true knowledge about it. We could read the bible back and forth and be members of the most traditional church in the world and be the smartest people who ever lived - we wouldn't know God unless He chose to reveal Himself.
I didn't discard them. If anyone Jesus did. I follow Jesus. You've not said anything about the long hair biz except what you personally think.
Just like you, then. You personally think that the hair length stuff should be taken literally and personally. Because the church tells you so, I presume, and because you personally believe the church must be right. Correct?
I interpret the bible. You interpret the bible. The only difference is
how we interpret it.
After Pentecost there is no end-date on teachings.
Where does that idea come from?
Like your mistake about slavery, the Bible doesn't teach that the earth is flat.
Well, it does speak about the earth being flat, as in having corners and such. And that it stands on poles. Well, the bible may not "preach" that the earth is flat, but at least some of the writers of the bible assumed that it is. Honest mistake, could happen to anybody. Does happen to anybody.
Then you're back to this individualism that Paul warns us about.
Which individualism does Paul warn about?
It seems very close to the sin Adam committed.
No, Adam's sin was to fall for the temptation to know good from evil. To see the law, you might say. People are still extremely tempted by that. You see christians everywhere munching away on the forbidden fruit, trying to gain even more knowledge of good and evil - just look at all the "is this sin, is that OK?" type questions people are asking around here. And look at all the definitions of sin that the churches are spewing out continually. Eating, eating, eating on the same fruit that made Adam and Eve fall...
They're missing the point of it all, IMO.
By believing you're already saved 'in the spirit' you can then, in theory, do anything.
Yep. Just like Adam and Eve before they fell. I'm not under the law, I'm dead to it. All things are lawful to me, but not all things are beneficial. I do exactly as I please. And thanks to God, I'm a new creation who only wants to do good. In all honesty, sometimes I do what I
don't want to do, like Paul, because I forget who I am. But I'm always getting back on track
In the issue of faith -v- faith and works those that deny works therefore are free to do anything as long as they have 'faith' in God.
Well, I wouldn't be one of those people who are denying works. I have lots of works in my life (and much much more now than back when I tried keeping the law, which contrary to popular belief is the power
of sin, not
against it). I love works
They are a result and a consequence of my faith in Christ - and even my faith is a gift, so all the godly works I do are actually
His works that He prepared beforehand so that I may simply walk in them.
This clever Scotsman* lampoons that by showing that once you declare you have 'faith' you could then be a murderer and still be justified.
Yes you can, like the thief on the cross, or like Paul himself. He used to persecute christians! Thankfully, salvation is by grace, not by grace plus refraining from murder, or by grace plus feeling a certain amount of regret, or by grace plus anything at all. And this grace changes people! It's just that we often deny each other this grace. That's why we still struggle so much with sin.
Objectivists believe that whatever conclusion they come to logically is valid.
Then I'm not an objectivist
You seem to go down that path, and it still presents the problem when two of us use that method and disagree.
Maybe none of us have got it right. Maybe we don't have to get absolutely everything right. Maybe the answer is somewhere inbetween.
try CARM when you know what things
