Zone1 Have we lost The Bible Story?

[SweetSue92]

Interesting theology, new to me, but I like it. I suspect everyone immediately repents their sin. Given those circumstances, I know I would. I like that everyone winds up in heaven.

Woodznutz if your private interpretation is wrong you have sent this soul to Hell.

Do you know what the Bible says about that?

Pride is a killer

 

[SweetSue92]

Interesting theology, new to me, but I like it. I suspect everyone immediately repents their sin. Given those circumstances, I know I would. I like that everyone winds up in heaven.

It's not Christian theology

 

[alang1216]

Most won't repent until the resurrection.

I guess it is never too late. I can sin in this life and repent in the next.

 

[alang1216]

Woodznutz if your private interpretation is wrong you have sent this soul to Hell.

I like the theology of Woodznutz and, since there are an almost infinite number of theologies to choose from, it is my pick.

 

[alang1216]

The point I was making is that God has expectations of us. We are all called to do what God wants. Are we going to choose to do as God wants, or...are we going to choose to do whatever we want.

When I was training my dog, I was told that consistency is key, always us the same word for the same command. It would be easier to know what God wants if there weren't so many different religions/sects telling me what God wants. Is there one truth or are they all equally true?

 

[ding]

I guess it is never too late. I can sin in this life and repent in the next.

That sounds like a wonderful philosophy.

 

[ding]

It would be easier to know what God wants if there weren't so many different religions/sects telling me what God wants.

External locus of control much?

 

[ding]

Is there one truth or are they all equally true?

You sure do throw up a lot of roadblocks in your walk.

 

[ding]

I like the theology of Woodznutz and, since there are an almost infinite number of theologies to choose from, it is my pick.

That too sounds like a wonderful philosophy.

 

[Meriweather]

When I was training my dog, I was told that consistency is key, always us the same word for the same command. It would be easier to know what God wants if there weren't so many different religions/sects telling me what God wants. Is there one truth or are they all equally true?

Rabbi Hillel: What is hateful to you, do not do to others. That is the whole Torah, the rest is just commentary. Go and Study. Torah is Jewish laws and teachings.

I've heard it said that the entire Bible can be summed up similarly. Love God, love your neighbor. That is the whole Bible, the rest is just commentary. Go and study. Love of God and love of neighbor is the one truth God wants and the foundation on which the different religions/sects stand.

 

[Meriweather]

I agree with this and have said as much. Just as heaven has different rewards, I think hell will have different punishments.

What you describe as 'punishments', I describe as 'consequences'. In the end, the two words amount to the same thing. However, punishment has the connotation of someone else doing something to another. Consequences are what one brings down upon himself. Another way the two words amount to the same thing, is that consequences are God's design.

Touch a hot stove, burn a finger. Consequence, not punishment. Choose to live without God and his love and goodness, then live without love and with evil. Consequence, not punishment. Jesus describes what this does to a soul. It burns like the fires of Gehenna (the city dump) burn.

Also, Jesus counsels not to fear the one that can kill the body but the one who can kill both body and soul (Matthew 10:28). Notice that here Jesus does not say 'God', but 'one'. Follow a human into a life of crime and murder, that human we follow on such a path is the one who kills both the body and soul of his followers. In the end, it still comes down to personal choice, but final judgment belongs to God, where the sheep are lined up on one side, the goats on the other. Goats go to eternal doom, sheep to eternal reward.

 

[Meriweather]

How does one become saved?

Paul has interesting things to say about salvation:

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).
...if I have all the faith to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2)
... the only thing that counts is faith working through love (Galatians 5:6)

James (2:24) agrees: A person is justified by works and not through faith alone.

Martin Luther thought Paul was saying works cannot save; Martin Luther proclaimed, "Faith alone!" The only place the Bible says "faith alone" is James 2:24. Martin Luther was a Catholic priest. So what did he miss, what didn't he understand about what Paul was saying about "works"?

All through Galatians Paul is pointing to Jewish Law which he describes as "works". Circumcision cannot save. Faith saves, but not "faith alone". Read carefully, and one picks up other examples of Paul insisting it is not Jewish Laws that save but faith in Jesus, not faith in Jewish Law/works. Either Paul or James point out that Abraham through an act (work) of faith in his willingness to sacrifice his son, that he was justified before God. (An example of how faith and acts/works go together.)

 

[Woodznutz]

Pride.

Just like Lucifer

Satisfaction, that some things make sense once you understand them.

 

[Woodznutz]

Learn what sanctification means and, as ever, put yourself under the authority of a church, with pastors and elders.

But you won't

Do you really believe that God views the righteous acts of Christians today as "filthy rags"? Are you too proud to do a word study of righteousness in the NT?

 

[Woodznutz]

Woodznutz if your private interpretation is wrong you have sent this soul to Hell.

Do you know what the Bible says about that?

Pride is a killer

Didn't you note the sarcasm in his reply?
What the Bible plainly says isn't a private interpretation.

 

[Woodznutz]

I guess it is never too late. I can sin in this life and repent in the next.

This is actually true. The good news is that by doing so you acknowledge the authority of God. You just aren't being called to be under it now. While some can repent without God's calling, most cannot.

 

[Meriweather]

Do you really believe that God views the righteous acts of Christians today as "filthy rags"? Are you too proud to do a word study of righteousness in the NT?

The filthy rags passage in Isaiah is often misunderstood. The acts Isaiah was speaking of are what humans call good, but are filthy in sight of God. The best example we have today is the abortion issue. Humans call aborting millions of babies "good" while such an act is filthy in the sight of God.

Feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, taking care of widows and orphans, etc. are not only good things for individuals to do, but are also examples of goodness in the sight of God.

 

[Woodznutz]

Rabbi Hillel: What is hateful to you, do not do to others. That is the whole Torah, the rest is just commentary. Go and Study. Torah is Jewish laws and teachings.

And yet the Jews think the rest of us are subhuman.

 

[Woodznutz]

The filthy rags passage in Isaiah is often misunderstood. The acts Isaiah was speaking of are what humans call good, but are filthy in sight of God. The best example we have today is the abortion issue. Humans call aborting millions of babies "good" while such an act is filthy in the sight of God.

Feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, taking care of widows and orphans, etc. are not only good things for individuals to do, but are also examples of goodness in the sight of God.

And yet churches are still teaching this error.

 

[alang1216]

The definition of 'repentance' is having a change of heart, a change of mind, of ever again committing this sin. An attribute of sin is its power. The most difficult is to commit a sin for the first time. Once committed, it is easier to commit it again.

Faced with the certain knowledge that there is a God, repentance would be very easy.