The Most Important Passage in the Whole of Scripture

[irosie91]

when did that happen-------where are the non middle eastern religions that lack a
creator in human form?

Before the inquisition, colonialism/missionaryism, tribal societies. Humans have been on the planet long before Christ and these male dominator god aunthoritarian peceptual realities were spread through violence and war.

so? can you name the belief systems that DID NOT include the "male" denominator?

There are plenty, the belief system that was here on this land mass before the euros brought theirs along to eradicate and genocide out of functional existence what was here when they arrived for example.

FULL of male creator symbols and GODS

How about everyone getting back on topic? This is not about other religions. It is about what the Bible teaches. If you cannot limit yourself to intelligent, rational discussion about what was posted, then you really need to leave.

oh----sorry------WHOLE OF SCRIPTURE in my understanding refers to all
scriptural texts including the BAGHAVAD GITA. Are you referring to only
that which is commonly called "the new testament"?

 

[ding]

by Michael J. Kruger

I have been teaching a weekly Bible study on the book of Romans to women in the Charlotte community. For the last several months, we have been plodding our way through the first three chapters as Paul has laid out his case that all mankind—Jew and Gentile—are sinful and rightly under the judgment of God. Paul finishes this section of his letter with this monumental statement: “For by works of the Law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Rom 3:20).

You can almost hear the gavel fall with a boom.

Thankfully, Paul does not end his letter here. This morning, in the last installment of the women’s study for the Fall term (we will resume in the new year), we will move onto to 3:21 and following. There Paul utters two of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture, “But now….” These two little words provide a great sigh of relief for any sin-wracked soul wondering about his fate.

“But now” tells us that something has been done to solve the problem of our sins.

What is it that solves the problem of our sins? “A righteousness of (from) God has been manifested apart from the law… through faith in Jesus Christ” (3:21–22). Luther referred to these verses as “the center of the whole Bible.” Martin Lloyd Jones called it “the most important and crucial passage in the whole of Scripture.” Leon Morris said it is “possibly the most important single paragraph ever written.”

This passage is the basis for the great Reformation doctrine of sola fide—the idea that we are saved by faith alone and not by the works of the law.

But Paul makes a critical clarification here. He makes it clear that the righteous status we so desperately need comes through faith (v.22), but it is not the faith itself that is the grounds of our justification. The grounds of our justification—the reason God can declare us sinners to be righteous—is because of the righteousness of Christ given to us. He can regard us as righteous because a righteous status has been granted to us.




Thus, faith is merely the instrument or the means by which that righteous status is attained.

This is a critical reminder for Christians today. Whenever our world discusses religion, they will praise the merits of “faith” and laud people who possess it (think Oprah Winfrey). But notice the world never praises the merits of the object of that faith. It doesn’t matter what you believe in (after all, all religions are the same), what matters is that you are sincerely committed.

For our world, then, faith is its own object.

Contrast that to what Paul is saying in Rom 3:21–22. Paul is saying that you are not saved because of faith (as if it were meritorious in itself), but you are saved through and by faith in Christ. The object of the faith is what is definitive.

So, the Reformed doctrine of sola fide does not mean what the world might think it means. For the world, it simply means that all you need is faith. For the Reformers, it meant faith is the sole instrument by which you acquire a righteous status in Christ (and thus not by works).

For those who doubt their faith and find their faith to be weak, this is a great encouragement. Our hope is not in how strong our faith is, but in how strong and righteous our Savior is.

The most powerful verses are the two shortest; Jesus cried and come and see.

 

[RWNJ]

Before the inquisition, colonialism/missionaryism, tribal societies. Humans have been on the planet long before Christ and these male dominator god aunthoritarian peceptual realities were spread through violence and war.

so? can you name the belief systems that DID NOT include the "male" denominator?

There are plenty, the belief system that was here on this land mass before the euros brought theirs along to eradicate and genocide out of functional existence what was here when they arrived for example.

FULL of male creator symbols and GODS

How about everyone getting back on topic? This is not about other religions. It is about what the Bible teaches. If you cannot limit yourself to intelligent, rational discussion about what was posted, then you really need to leave.

oh----sorry------WHOLE OF SCRIPTURE in my understanding refers to all
scriptural texts including the BAGHAVAD GITA. Are you referring to only
that which is commonly called "the new testament"?

A pagan manuscript has nothing to do with this discussion. Try again. And try to stay on topic. We are discussing a passage of Scripture from the Bible.

 

[Meriweather]

Contrast that to what Paul is saying in Rom 3:21–22. Paul is saying that you are not saved because of faith (as if it were meritorious in itself), but you are saved through and by faith in Christ. The object of the faith is what is definitive.

So, the Reformed doctrine of sola fide does not mean what the world might think it means. For the world, it simply means that all you need is faith. For the Reformers, it meant faith is the sole instrument by which you acquire a righteous status in Christ (and thus not by works).

For those who doubt their faith and find their faith to be weak, this is a great encouragement. Our hope is not in how strong our faith is, but in how strong and righteous our Savior is.

What do you mean by "saved"?

 

[Fenton Lum]

All of the male dominator god religions vomited up in the middle east are authoritarian systems. Humankind really went off in an unhealthy direction once it attached itself to this notion of the creator in human form.

when did that happen-------where are the non middle eastern religions that lack a
creator in human form?

Before the inquisition, colonialism/missionaryism, tribal societies. Humans have been on the planet long before Christ and these male dominator god aunthoritarian peceptual realities were spread through violence and war.

You cannot include Christianity in that lot. The Bible teaches things that are contrary to human nature. Like love your neighbor. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Christianity is the opposite of authoritarian. It is a person placing their faith in a risen Savior. How is that authoritarian?

It ain't what they say, it's what they do son. In america for example? Genocide, slavery, colonialism all over the planet that continues today.

Wrong. It is what God says that matters. Anyone who does the opposite of what God tells us to do is not a Christian. Plain and simple.

No one knows what the hell your god says son, including you.

 

[Fenton Lum]

so? can you name the belief systems that DID NOT include the "male" denominator?

There are plenty, the belief system that was here on this land mass before the euros brought theirs along to eradicate and genocide out of functional existence what was here when they arrived for example.

FULL of male creator symbols and GODS

How about everyone getting back on topic? This is not about other religions. It is about what the Bible teaches. If you cannot limit yourself to intelligent, rational discussion about what was posted, then you really need to leave.

oh----sorry------WHOLE OF SCRIPTURE in my understanding refers to all
scriptural texts including the BAGHAVAD GITA. Are you referring to only
that which is commonly called "the new testament"?

A pagan manuscript has nothing to do with this discussion. Try again. And try to stay on topic. We are discussing a passage of Scripture from the Bible.

The bible is fiction, and your religious perceptual reality was/is merely a tool of colonialism, oppression and wealth extraction.

 

[Fenton Lum]

All of the male dominator god religions vomited up in the middle east are authoritarian systems. Humankind really went off in an unhealthy direction once it attached itself to this notion of the creator in human form.

when did that happen-------where are the non middle eastern religions that lack a
creator in human form?

Before the inquisition, colonialism/missionaryism, tribal societies. Humans have been on the planet long before Christ and these male dominator god aunthoritarian peceptual realities were spread through violence and war.

You cannot include Christianity in that lot. The Bible teaches things that are contrary to human nature. Like love your neighbor. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Christianity is the opposite of authoritarian. It is a person placing their faith in a risen Savior. How is that authoritarian?

NO one would call the protestant Christian JUDGE, JOHN HATHORNE anything
like "authoritarian"

The religious system is all about authoritarianism and conquest. See the Papal Bulls of the 1500s, they flat out called for the extermination of the native peoples of the americas.

 

[Care4all]

"Faith, without works, is dead."

What does this Scripture mean in relation to the op and the thread?

 

[Fenton Lum]

All of the male dominator god religions vomited up in the middle east are authoritarian systems. Humankind really went off in an unhealthy direction once it attached itself to this notion of the creator in human form.

when did that happen-------where are the non middle eastern religions that lack a
creator in human form?

Before the inquisition, colonialism/missionaryism, tribal societies. Humans have been on the planet long before Christ and these male dominator god aunthoritarian peceptual realities were spread through violence and war.

so? can you name the belief systems that DID NOT include the "male" denominator?

There are plenty, the belief system that was here on this land mass before the euros brought theirs along to eradicate and genocide out of functional existence what was here when they arrived for example.

FULL of male creator symbols and GODS

Nope, sorry, and it was the same for the tribes of europe before the 500 year period of the inquisition. The spirituality of these belief systems was connected to ancestors, descendants, the natural world, and often these were matriarchal systems, especially in the americas. Christianity “waged war for the souls of the heathens”. It was very brutal stuff and they killed as efficiently as they could given the technology of the time.

These were spiritual belief systems based upon responsibility wereas religion is about guilt, sin and blame.

Perhaps you’re thinking of norse and greek gods?

 

[Fenton Lum]

when did that happen-------where are the non middle eastern religions that lack a
creator in human form?

Before the inquisition, colonialism/missionaryism, tribal societies. Humans have been on the planet long before Christ and these male dominator god aunthoritarian peceptual realities were spread through violence and war.

so? can you name the belief systems that DID NOT include the "male" denominator?

There are plenty, the belief system that was here on this land mass before the euros brought theirs along to eradicate and genocide out of functional existence what was here when they arrived for example.

FULL of male creator symbols and GODS

How about everyone getting back on topic? This is not about other religions. It is about what the Bible teaches. If you cannot limit yourself to intelligent, rational discussion about what was posted, then you really need to leave.

If you cannot limit yourself to intelligent, rational discussion rather than preaching and pontfications my guess is you will continue to be disappointed.

 

[Fenton Lum]

so? can you name the belief systems that DID NOT include the "male" denominator?

There are plenty, the belief system that was here on this land mass before the euros brought theirs along to eradicate and genocide out of functional existence what was here when they arrived for example.

FULL of male creator symbols and GODS

How about everyone getting back on topic? This is not about other religions. It is about what the Bible teaches. If you cannot limit yourself to intelligent, rational discussion about what was posted, then you really need to leave.

oh----sorry------WHOLE OF SCRIPTURE in my understanding refers to all
scriptural texts including the BAGHAVAD GITA. Are you referring to only
that which is commonly called "the new testament"?

A pagan manuscript has nothing to do with this discussion. Try again. And try to stay on topic. We are discussing a passage of Scripture from the Bible.

Fuck the bible.

 

[danielpalos]

by Michael J. Kruger

I have been teaching a weekly Bible study on the book of Romans to women in the Charlotte community. For the last several months, we have been plodding our way through the first three chapters as Paul has laid out his case that all mankind—Jew and Gentile—are sinful and rightly under the judgment of God. Paul finishes this section of his letter with this monumental statement: “For by works of the Law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Rom 3:20).

You can almost hear the gavel fall with a boom.

Thankfully, Paul does not end his letter here. This morning, in the last installment of the women’s study for the Fall term (we will resume in the new year), we will move onto to 3:21 and following. There Paul utters two of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture, “But now….” These two little words provide a great sigh of relief for any sin-wracked soul wondering about his fate.

“But now” tells us that something has been done to solve the problem of our sins.

What is it that solves the problem of our sins? “A righteousness of (from) God has been manifested apart from the law… through faith in Jesus Christ” (3:21–22). Luther referred to these verses as “the center of the whole Bible.” Martin Lloyd Jones called it “the most important and crucial passage in the whole of Scripture.” Leon Morris said it is “possibly the most important single paragraph ever written.”

This passage is the basis for the great Reformation doctrine of sola fide—the idea that we are saved by faith alone and not by the works of the law.

But Paul makes a critical clarification here. He makes it clear that the righteous status we so desperately need comes through faith (v.22), but it is not the faith itself that is the grounds of our justification. The grounds of our justification—the reason God can declare us sinners to be righteous—is because of the righteousness of Christ given to us. He can regard us as righteous because a righteous status has been granted to us.




Thus, faith is merely the instrument or the means by which that righteous status is attained.

This is a critical reminder for Christians today. Whenever our world discusses religion, they will praise the merits of “faith” and laud people who possess it (think Oprah Winfrey). But notice the world never praises the merits of the object of that faith. It doesn’t matter what you believe in (after all, all religions are the same), what matters is that you are sincerely committed.

For our world, then, faith is its own object.

Contrast that to what Paul is saying in Rom 3:21–22. Paul is saying that you are not saved because of faith (as if it were meritorious in itself), but you are saved through and by faith in Christ. The object of the faith is what is definitive.

So, the Reformed doctrine of sola fide does not mean what the world might think it means. For the world, it simply means that all you need is faith. For the Reformers, it meant faith is the sole instrument by which you acquire a righteous status in Christ (and thus not by works).

For those who doubt their faith and find their faith to be weak, this is a great encouragement. Our hope is not in how strong our faith is, but in how strong and righteous our Savior is.

Job 34:30 That the hypocrite reign not, lest the people be ensnared.

 

[Mudda]

The most important part of the bible, the gospels that talks about aliens, were removed.

 

[ding]

No one knows what the hell your god says son, including you.

The bible is fiction, and your religious perceptual reality was/is merely a tool of colonialism, oppression and wealth extraction.

The religious system is all about authoritarianism and conquest. See the Papal Bulls of the 1500s, they flat out called for the extermination of the native peoples of the americas.

Fuck the bible.

The most important part of the bible, the gospels that talks about aliens, were removed.

I sympathize with both of you.

 

[Mudda]

No one knows what the hell your god says son, including you.

The bible is fiction, and your religious perceptual reality was/is merely a tool of colonialism, oppression and wealth extraction.

The religious system is all about authoritarianism and conquest. See the Papal Bulls of the 1500s, they flat out called for the extermination of the native peoples of the americas.

Fuck the bible.

The most important part of the bible, the gospels that talks about aliens, were removed.

I sympathize with both of you.

So why did they take out the gospel with the aliens? No true stuff allowed in the bible?

 

[ding]

No one knows what the hell your god says son, including you.

The bible is fiction, and your religious perceptual reality was/is merely a tool of colonialism, oppression and wealth extraction.

The religious system is all about authoritarianism and conquest. See the Papal Bulls of the 1500s, they flat out called for the extermination of the native peoples of the americas.

Fuck the bible.

The most important part of the bible, the gospels that talks about aliens, were removed.

I sympathize with both of you.

So why did they take out the gospel with the aliens? No true stuff allowed in the bible?

What are you yammering about now?

 

[Fenton Lum]

No one knows what the hell your god says son, including you.

The bible is fiction, and your religious perceptual reality was/is merely a tool of colonialism, oppression and wealth extraction.

The religious system is all about authoritarianism and conquest. See the Papal Bulls of the 1500s, they flat out called for the extermination of the native peoples of the americas.

Fuck the bible.

The most important part of the bible, the gospels that talks about aliens, were removed.

I sympathize with both of you.

That means soooooooooo much to me.

 

[ding]

No one knows what the hell your god says son, including you.

The bible is fiction, and your religious perceptual reality was/is merely a tool of colonialism, oppression and wealth extraction.

The religious system is all about authoritarianism and conquest. See the Papal Bulls of the 1500s, they flat out called for the extermination of the native peoples of the americas.

Fuck the bible.

The most important part of the bible, the gospels that talks about aliens, were removed.

I sympathize with both of you.

That means soooooooooo much to me.

It means that I am suffering with you.

 

[BULLDOG]

All of the male dominator god religions vomited up in the middle east are authoritarian systems. Humankind really went off in an unhealthy direction once it attached itself to this notion of the creator in human form.

when did that happen-------where are the non middle eastern religions that lack a
creator in human form?

Before the inquisition, colonialism/missionaryism, tribal societies. Humans have been on the planet long before Christ and these male dominator god aunthoritarian peceptual realities were spread through violence and war.

You cannot include Christianity in that lot. The Bible teaches things that are contrary to human nature. Like love your neighbor. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Christianity is the opposite of authoritarian. It is a person placing their faith in a risen Savior. How is that authoritarian?

How are those things contrary to human nature? Is treating someone fairly contrary to human nature? No. It's a good moral practice that many decent people of all faiths, or of no faith find to be a good way to live. Perhaps the people of your church need the threat of hell to behave as a mature adult, but millions of people throughout history have been able to do it on their own. Yes, I know there are plenty of people that don't do that, but that doesn't mean they couldn't if they wanted to.

 

[emilynghiem]

by Michael J. Kruger

I have been teaching a weekly Bible study on the book of Romans to women in the Charlotte community. For the last several months, we have been plodding our way through the first three chapters as Paul has laid out his case that all mankind—Jew and Gentile—are sinful and rightly under the judgment of God. Paul finishes this section of his letter with this monumental statement: “For by works of the Law no human being will be justified in his sight” (Rom 3:20).

You can almost hear the gavel fall with a boom.

Thankfully, Paul does not end his letter here. This morning, in the last installment of the women’s study for the Fall term (we will resume in the new year), we will move onto to 3:21 and following. There Paul utters two of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture, “But now….” These two little words provide a great sigh of relief for any sin-wracked soul wondering about his fate.

“But now” tells us that something has been done to solve the problem of our sins.

What is it that solves the problem of our sins? “A righteousness of (from) God has been manifested apart from the law… through faith in Jesus Christ” (3:21–22). Luther referred to these verses as “the center of the whole Bible.” Martin Lloyd Jones called it “the most important and crucial passage in the whole of Scripture.” Leon Morris said it is “possibly the most important single paragraph ever written.”

This passage is the basis for the great Reformation doctrine of sola fide—the idea that we are saved by faith alone and not by the works of the law.

But Paul makes a critical clarification here. He makes it clear that the righteous status we so desperately need comes through faith (v.22), but it is not the faith itself that is the grounds of our justification. The grounds of our justification—the reason God can declare us sinners to be righteous—is because of the righteousness of Christ given to us. He can regard us as righteous because a righteous status has been granted to us.




Thus, faith is merely the instrument or the means by which that righteous status is attained.

This is a critical reminder for Christians today. Whenever our world discusses religion, they will praise the merits of “faith” and laud people who possess it (think Oprah Winfrey). But notice the world never praises the merits of the object of that faith. It doesn’t matter what you believe in (after all, all religions are the same), what matters is that you are sincerely committed.

For our world, then, faith is its own object.

Contrast that to what Paul is saying in Rom 3:21–22. Paul is saying that you are not saved because of faith (as if it were meritorious in itself), but you are saved through and by faith in Christ. The object of the faith is what is definitive.

So, the Reformed doctrine of sola fide does not mean what the world might think it means. For the world, it simply means that all you need is faith. For the Reformers, it meant faith is the sole instrument by which you acquire a righteous status in Christ (and thus not by works).

For those who doubt their faith and find their faith to be weak, this is a great encouragement. Our hope is not in how strong our faith is, but in how strong and righteous our Savior is.

Dear RWNJ
Perhaps each person has their own "most vital" key scripture.
For one of my friends, it's John 3:16
For another it is God is Love, anything that says that,
and everything else follows from LOVE.

I'd say it's FORGIVENESS.
The greatest act of CHARITY that can ever be given.
And more valued the LESS it is deserved!

For sake of human sanity, forgiveness makes the difference.
For understanding truth and meaning, forgiveness makes the difference.

If we don't have that, not only do we get stuck in conflict,
we cannot even THINK straight.
We cannot see, or understand, or speak clearly
as when we are forgiving and can speak with compassion
and see with clear vision and wisdom.

So i'd say the passages on
* forgiving so that God may forgive us
* John 13:34 love one another as Christ loves us
ie unconditionally with mercy and forgiveness ie divine GRACE
* charity being the love that is greatest of all
and where forgiveness is understood as an act of charity

If we can understand that, that is the crux of Christianity