@MTMattie
I only personally know
@Jim by interacting with him since I have with you for the past fifteen years or so, and have great respect for him and his zeal and fear of God. I know little of
@synergy, this name said it all for me, and so does his post;
@civic seem to love and fear God what I have read from his posts, even though we strongly disagree on doctrine~after all Nora,
birds of a feather flock together, so, I would expect you to support them, to a great degree, by so doing,
you are supporting your own beliefs, that are dear to you. Never forget:
Truth is in the small minority/remnant,
always has been so, and
always will be so, regardless where you go, even on forums around this world, truth will be with the minority. Popularity with other folks
could be a warning sign that truth is not with that person.
Luke 16:15
“And he said unto them,
Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which
is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”
We just got through witnessing this with the death of one of the men of sin~Pope Francis.
Nora, I do not seek personal justification/approval from men, never have, never will, and will not start doing so today, etc. One day, it will be just you and myself,
each standing before God to give account of our stewardship, I desire to be found unashamed in that day, I will not be able to lean upon any brother or sister to come to my witness of what I have done for the Lord Jesus, for God's records
are perfect, each will receive
his due rewards, as you well know.
No error on my part Nora, God is the
first cause of any good deed done by us.
1st John 4:19
“We love him, because he
first loved us.”
Our glorious GOD Jehovah is the
First Cause of all things, including the chain of love. You and I are
nothing, have
nothing, and will achieve
nothing without His love from eternity for us. God has provided, and freely given to us everything we need to love Him and love others.
I agree, where God has first quicken a sinner to life, that person
will display faith and other fruits of the indwelling Spirit of God, but the Spirit must be in that person before they are able to have any fruits coming forth from them, impossible to be otherwise.
Romans 8:8,9
“So then they that are in the flesh
cannot please God.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
Read my post again~#8740 You said:
"You saying one should not glory in their seeking and searching and studying and reading and listening in their personal relationship with God..." We have nothing to glory in, our very best efforts are mixed with sin and does not even deserve any recognition by the God of heaven, and even if he did acknowledged our works, he does so through Christ's perfect work for our eternal salvation and consider our weakness in even considering our works.
Nora, yes we should and will do those things mentioned by you, and they are our reasonable service back to our God.
Romans 12:1
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,
which is your
reasonable service.”
And yes, we must ever be thankful for God's great love that he hath bestowed upon us.
1 John 3:1
“
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”
Nora, you keep using the word
privilege, and I do not oppose you doing so, but do you truly understand the ramification of that word?
Priviledge: a
special right, advantage, or
immunity granted or available
only to a particular person or group, and not to all.
1st Peter 2:9
“But ye
are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,
a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”
So, do you accept the meaning of
privilege as only referring to God's elect?
So do I.
That is a
work gospel, pure and simple! The scriptures reject
any and all works of the flesh as having any input into one's legal salvation from sin and condemnation! That's another gospel that Paul declares a curse upon in Galatians one~and goes on to define what another gospel is in 2:16-5:4. The more you talk, the more you reveal your gospel that you are trusting in.
Nora, you lost with these words, not so sure what you are talking about. Nevertheless, I hold to Ephesians 2:8,9 as having to do with
Christ's faith as the gift provided for his people, nothing coming from us personally, and my understanding is not the same as other men who are Calvinist in their teachings concerning Eph. 2:8,9. I believe and teach:
In
Ephesians 2:8 we have a classic example of an
metonymy. The
only faith that saves us
legally is the faith of Christ, for no man can have faith in God, the faith that meets the requirement of a Royal law, a faith that
is produce by perfect obedience to its laws! Jesus Christ
alone had the faith that honoured God's law in all points, from conception, to death, in thoughts, words, and deeds ~ and
this faith alone is the means of man's free justification.
This faith is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God
secured for God's elect by our surety, Jesus Christ. This faith is given to us in regeneration when the Spirit of God creates a new man within us after the image of his Son, Jesus Christ.
When a man hears and believes, it is not the old man (
for that is impossible) but his new man that is a creative work in God's elect by the almighty power of God~this birth happens to a child of God sometimes
after conception and
before death, and is evidenced by faith and obedience to the word of God. Two prime examples of this is John the the Baptist and the thief on the cross.
I could spend more time proving the metonymy in Ephesians 2:8 by the context in just before verse 8, in verses: 4-6..."
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:"
We were IN CHRIST from all eternity, even while he lived in this world and in his death and resurrection, which secured our redemption for us.
What he did, it was as though we did it, what happen to Christ happened to us
legally speaking two thousand years ago.
Complaining? Have no clue what you are talking about.
