Read Hebrews 12. Read the whole thing, but here is a portion of it.
Heb 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”
We can go private if you want. Though I would think this would be helpful for many as others no doubt go through these things.
Does the half that works know and understand that what he is doing is sin when he is tempted? (Obviously he does. Correct?
Why does he keep doing it? Does he like the sin enough that he doesnt want to resist it to the point of sweating blood?
I think I like you!
Edited.
When I have sinned, there would be a point in the temptation where I quite calling out to the Lord, where I quit resisting. I chose to stop thinking about the Lord and did not keep His words in my mind.
I appreciate your answers, your effort and attitude.
What has been shared with you at this point is all you know. Based on this information, the question is, does God take his “half a brain” condition into consideration, IYO?
This is hypothetical, of course. WE need to do personal messaging
I am not so sure about that. Sounds like a preface to formula which you can inform people you want to grant salvation to… a salvation spell requiring belief in a set of dogmas no doubt… a Gnostic gospel of salvation by knowledge… next you are probably going to say that making some willful decision you define in this way entitles you to salvation… sounds like legalism.
But I think the ultimate test of this is found in Romans 10:
5 Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).
If you think you have some way to say who is going to heaven and who is going to hell then that is not faith but legalism. You know, saying something like this… “if you have done _______ then you are going to heaven, or if you have not done _______ then you are not going to heaven.” That is legalism and it is not the gospel of salvation by the grace of God, but a gospel of salvation by works. The word “done” is used specifically to refer to actions and not things like having faith, or loving God, but the attempt to tie these to specific actions. To be sure by the epistle of James faith requires action, and by Matthew 25 loving God also requires action. But tying them specific actions is something else entirely… like saying… “if you love God then you would not wear red socks”… or… “if you have faith then you would believe these teachings or say the words our church approves.” And that goes both for thinking that by specific actions you have done, salvation is yours, and for thinking that specific actions (or the lack of them) means someone else isn’t “written in the book of life.”
The problem with legalism is that it makes religion into a tool of power over people to tell them what to do. And we know what Jesus thought about people who did such things with religion (Matthew 23 and John 8).
Always do. But I see the first part of the chapter as the basis for understanding what comes later as Paul intended, rather than as an excuse for turning all of the teachings of Jesus and Paul on its head so that a gospel of salvation by God’s grace is changed into a legalistic Gnostic demonic gospel of salvation by works, knowledge, and black magic.
Verse 9 is not a magical spell to entitle you to salvation, but a statement of faith about the gift of salvation by the grace of God. And the meaning of faith is opposite that of entitlement where we give ourselves to doing what is right for its own sake and leave salvation entirely in the hands of God.
Difficult to answer helpfully when I don’t know what you are referring to…
But this is my best attempt without such an explanation of what you mean…
You can refuse a gift improperly offered and explained by the wrong people and still accept the true gift by the right person. Just because you refuse the “love” of a rapist doesn’t mean you don’t accept the love of someone else. Just because you refuse the offer of salvation from self-righteous religionist using religion as a tool of power and manipulation doesn’t mean you refuse the offer of salvation from God Himself.
Ooops. Sorry. I was referring back to your thoughts on why people who maintain they received the gift of salvation doesn’t work in your understanding of salvation.
I don’t recall saying any such thing. The quote function would help me understand where you are getting the impression I said such a thing and then I could explain the meaning of what I did say.
Are you claiming that everyone who says they received the gift of salvation are correct about that?
As for me, I think it is more complicated than what your words are suggesting. Salvation is a gift which keeps on giving rather than a key or membership card you can put in your pocket. As long as you have sin, then God’s work of salvation is not complete. It is more accurate to say that you accept and embrace the gift, and totally inaccurate to say that salvation is one of your accomplishments in life.
I certainly don’t believe in blood magic or indulgences.
Receiving the gift of salvation requires my willingness to accept it.
Begin at comment # 99 and read everything. You, Cody and I were having a discussion. Follow it through to the last comment on this thread that you just made. That will give you the entire background.
I don’t think that is what ambassador or this passage means.
I already said that God speaks through people. It is not the same thing as speaking for God. Often the message received is not the message the person with the mouth intends. The person speaking can even be the dregs, literally an ass.
Ambassadors almost never speak for the leaders of a country. That is why we have meetings between the actual leaders of countries. Ambassadors do not sign treaties. Presidents sign treaties when given approval by the Senate. The Greek word literally means “elder.”
Then we have a different understanding. An ambassador speaks as a representative for their government and takes action, within limits of course, for its people.
That happens when God speaks, too. That is why Jesus spoke in parables.
Of course they do. How about an ambassador to the U.N.?
I don’t believe in this God of yours which cannot speak for Himself but needs people such as you to speak for Him. This is nothing but a tool of rhetoric which people make up for the use of religion to lord it over others. I will never believe in that sort of Christianity or that sort of religion in general. The evils of religion are many and this is one of them – exactly the sort of thing which fits Steven Weinberg’s observation perfectly: “but for good people to do evil - that takes religion.” I have no interest in that sort of religion.