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Post by timothyu on Mar 31, 2018 17:08:18 GMT -5
Well it did prove God's point that mankind's ways are a rather self serving disgusting way of being. Where true GOOD is a threat to what man calls good.
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airfresh
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Post by airfresh on Mar 31, 2018 17:16:38 GMT -5
I was thinking God (Jesus being God in the flesh) did something incredibly painful and selfless... dying on a cross for our salvation (incredibly good for us)... for nothing in return... an act of mercy and grace toward humankind that didn't deserve it. A perfect example of good... for nothing.
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Post by timothyu on Mar 31, 2018 17:20:26 GMT -5
True but I think we as mankind should take responsibility for what was done.
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airfresh
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Post by airfresh on Mar 31, 2018 17:43:00 GMT -5
Jesus death provided a visa for us to emigrate from that and all other sin into the Kingdom.
John 14:6
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
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Post by timothyu on Mar 31, 2018 18:59:38 GMT -5
Yes but people confuse the opening of the Kingdom with it being a free pass for all without change. Not so. Those who remain rebellious to the will of God have their only reward here.
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airfresh
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Post by airfresh on Apr 1, 2018 7:10:52 GMT -5
True. Yet the visa is free. One must only accept it. The journey is only beginning. Some will not follow the path to the gate that comes with it. Seeds... sower... good soil... rich man...
There were many who were deceived even in the Apostles day about what that visa meant.
I've made this point before in more detail. Becoming a doctor starts with a decision but then takes many years of hard work and study then work and more study to finally be granted the title of doctor. A Christian receives the name Christian the instant he/she believes but the finished product takes a lifetime and is not finished until death in this life. There are a lot of mistakes, failures and slips along the way. None of which are counted against you as you walk with Jesus along that path. All things are possible with Jesus ... even finding and walking through that narrow gate. The eye of a needle looks as big as eternity.
Happy Easter.
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Post by guitarman on Apr 1, 2018 16:36:12 GMT -5
I was reminded of this thread during my devotional in Galatians....yes, the Born Again WILL have troubles but they are a billion miles ahead of anybody in second place!
Nothing but the Cross
6 1-3 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.
4-5 Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
6 Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience.
7-8 Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
9-10 So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.
11-13 Now, in these last sentences, I want to emphasize in the bold scrawls of my personal handwriting the immense importance of what I have written to you. These people who are attempting to force the ways of circumcision on you have only one motive: They want an easy way to look good before others, lacking the courage to live by a faith that shares Christ’s suffering and death. All their talk about the law is gas. They themselves don’t keep the law! And they are highly selective in the laws they do observe. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast of their success in recruiting you to their side. That is contemptible!
14-16 For my part, I am going to boast about nothing but the Cross of our Master, Jesus Christ. Because of that Cross, I have been crucified in relation to the world, set free from the stifling atmosphere of pleasing others and fitting into the little patterns that they dictate. Can’t you see the central issue in all this? It is not what you and I do—submit to circumcision, reject circumcision. It is what God is doing, and he is creating something totally new, a free life! All who walk by this standard are the true Israel of God—his chosen people. Peace and mercy on them!
17 Quite frankly, I don’t want to be bothered anymore by these disputes. I have far more important things to do—the serious living of this faith. I bear in my body scars from my service to Jesus.
18 May what our Master Jesus Christ gives freely be deeply and personally yours, my friends. Oh, yes!
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airfresh
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Post by airfresh on Apr 1, 2018 21:09:11 GMT -5
Great post guitarman. It brings to mind one of my favorite verses and something that is on my mind often...
Galatians 5:6
6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Our faith is in Christ. Expressing that faith in love comes in an infinite number of ways. Thank you for the contribution Gman.
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Post by borsht on Apr 2, 2018 21:09:14 GMT -5
I’m so thankful that God said (BUT) to the deceiver. He said it on the cross at Calvary..He hid my soul in the cleft of the Rock , and covered me with His hand and Love. He covered a dry thirsty land. My cold evil heart. He clothed me in His righteousness that one day I can meet Him and see Him as He is face to face. Thank you for your clear insight into the Gospel AirFresh. “I was thinking God (Jesus being God in the flesh) did something incredibly painful and selfless... dying on a cross for our salvation (incredibly good for us)... for nothing in return... an act of mercy and grace toward humankind that didn't deserve it. A perfect example of good... for nothing.”
When God says (But): To the person in Christ, He is everything all else is nothing. I love the way Paul uses BUT, to contrast the way of us Sinners and God’s WAY, which is the only way, eternally all other ways are nothing. Philippians 3:8 7 BUT whatever was an asset to me, I count as loss for the sake of Christ. 8More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.…
Another But Romans 3:20-21 (ESV) 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. The Righteousness of God Through Faith 21 BUT, now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— Love Fulfills the Law Romans 13 :8-14 8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. The Day Is Near 11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, (BUT), clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
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airfresh
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Post by airfresh on Apr 3, 2018 6:55:31 GMT -5
Love the bible study Borsht. And I'm gratified at what this topic is developing into and expanding on the original double entendre. I was hoping for that. There's a lot to be unpacked from that simple statement Christians are good for nothing. As a matter of fact the bible is full of examples and teaching on how to be that. Seeing what others see that I have not expands my own understanding. God is good. The more we become good as He is good the more greater good He can accomplish.
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Post by timothyu on Apr 3, 2018 11:30:01 GMT -5
The world man has built is good for nothing in the eyes of God as the men who built it are good for nothing in their self serving ways and can only be saved if they change their good for nothing ways to become good for nothing. Simple.
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airfresh
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Post by airfresh on Apr 3, 2018 13:11:45 GMT -5
Simple and quite true. I would only add that Jesus is the only way to bridge that good for nothing condition into the Good.... for nothing... way of life.
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Post by timothyu on Apr 3, 2018 13:34:46 GMT -5
Yes He said in a few simple words what the religion has spent thousands of years befudddling or referring to without contextual explanation. Kind of like what Jesus chastised the Sanhedrin for.
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airfresh
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Post by airfresh on Apr 4, 2018 7:15:17 GMT -5
Jesus talked in simple terms. His answer to the rich man's question was a simple answer. It was too difficult for him. Simple is not the same as easy. It's hard dying to self. In addition to our selfish nature we build entire houses of self deception to rationalize and justify that selfishness.
Becoming good for nothing requires replacing our will with His. The concept is simple. The application? Ask Paul...Romans 7:15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
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Post by timothyu on Apr 4, 2018 9:45:00 GMT -5
Agreed. Once the understanding comes, complete freedom from self will may never be achieved , but the understanding that God's will is a free remedy for the results of man's will should leave us rather unhappy about who we by by nature (pun intended) are.
My favourite example of self justification was when Truman thanked God for giving us the atomic bomb.
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