I don't know you at all, but simply from your post here, it seems like you could be focusing on the external too much. Buying things, looking shiny, etc. Try focusing on getting to know them, and on being a likable person. Don't expect anything from them.
So if David would not have repented of his sin, he still would have been saved? If you're preaching "once saved, always saved", then I definitely think you are incorrect.
Matthew 18:21
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Matthew 25
34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Luke 13
6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
Romans 11:17
17And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. 24For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?
I think we're getting a little off topic though, are we at least agreed that sin is the transgression of the law?
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
All sins can be forgiven except for blasphemy against the holy spirit, but sins are not forgiven unless they are repented of.
"But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
It just seems like using your logic, we can murder, but we can't say murder is right. I just don't think that is the case. We're supposed to be new creatures, dead to sin, no longer living in sin, bringing our bodies into subjection. Jesus compared two extremes, either dying for our sin, or cutting off our hand if it causes us to sin, that is how abhorrent sin should be to us, especially for the believers. I'm not saying that we need to be a pharisee to keep the law, I'm saying that if we're new creatures, if we're born again, if we love God and our fellow man, we will not only abhor sin, we will try to stop sinning, and since sin is only known by the law, we will desire to keep the law naturally with our new natures that we receive from the new birth. "The law will be written on their hearts and minds". None of that is possible without Christ, but with Him, we can have victory. If you say "no, we can't", then I think the bible is speaking about you here:
"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
God is calling us to stop sinning, not apart from Him, but with His power. Since we only know sin because of the law, when we flee from sin, we will be keeping the law. And just to be clear, I'm not speaking about the ordinances of the temple, or circumcision, etc. Those were all pointing to Christ. We are the temple now, we are the "circumcision" of the spirit. For many of these things, we have moved out of the shadow, and into the light that Christ revealed, but we still are not supposed to commit adultery, steal, murder, covet, dishonor our parents, blaspheme God, etc. Those are all thorns, we're supposed to bear fruit.
So, are you saying that we cannot and should not obey the commandments of God?
Jesus died to forgive our sins, not to absolve us from following Him or God. I also never said we must follow the commandments perfectly. I'm saying that as a new creature changed by Christ's sacrifice and striving to follow and become like Him, obeying the commandments are the fruits of new heart. If we willfully rebel against the commandments of God, then we do not love Him or our fellow man.
Here is what I think the commandments look like under Christ/Grace. They are still valid and meant to be followed, except that instead of trying to please God like the Pharisees did, we follow them out of love for God and love for our fellow man. Having love as the motivation for following the commands of God/Jesus makes them all spiritual commandments.
1 If we love God, we will not worship false gods.
2 If we love God, we will not make images to worship the creation instead of the creator.
3 If we love God, we will not claim to be following God and then bring reproach to His name by living a life of rebellion against Him.
4 If we love God, we will recognize His role as Creator by following His command to cease from our worldly pursuits.
5 If we love our godly father and mother, we will not bring dishonor to them.
6 If we love our neighbor, we will not murder them.
7 If we love our neighbor, we will not tear apart their family.
8 If we love our neighbor, we will not steal from them.
9 If we love our neighbor, we will not willfully misrepresent them.
10 If we love our neighbor, we will not lust after their possessions or families.
Can you tell me which physical or spiritual commandments you consider to be legalism if they're followed, or which commandments you think it's ok not to obey anymore?
Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Rom 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Matthew 22
36Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
You're absolutely right, and love is supposed to be the motivation for all that we do for our fellow man and for God. If we do any of it for any other reason, to earn our way to heaven, or to impress God, then we have fallen into the same trap as the pharisees. The caveat is that love propels us to do things for people, to show our love. Simply saying that we love someone is worthless without the actions to back it up. We cannot simply tell someone who is starving to be filled. We would not want to commit adultery against someone we truly love. We would not want to murder someone that we love. And also, if someone we love asks us for something, surely we would desire to do that for them if it was in their best interest. In the context of the fourth commandment, God gave that to man as a gift, a shining symbol of equality and love. In asking us to obey Him, all He asked was for us to take a break, and let others take a break as well, to reflect on and enjoy our relationship with Him as our creator. The jews built a lot of rules around that commandment, and while Jesus was here, He cleared up what the Sabbath was about. It's about helping and healing and resting, not about stressful gain-seeking, or hiding in a house for fear of moving a stick. God instituted this as a blessing, and commanded us to obey. We will not want to disobey Him if we love Him, we will at least attempt to follow His commands in whatever fashion He's convicting us to follow them. His commands though, not a tradition of man. I'm not sure what ways God would accept obedience to the 4th commandment. It could be argued that we can choose 1 day in the week to observe as our Sabbath. It also doesn't have to be the day we go to church on. I'm more inclined to stick with the 7th day of the week though, it's probably the most uninterrupted measure of time since creation. Even changing dates doesn't affect the weekly cycle, calendar dates don't change the order of the days of the week. While there are recorded historical date changes, it's always something like "Monday, December 13 to Tuesday, December 19", not two Mondays in a row. I don't think it is a coincidence that the 7 day cycle has survived. If it did not survive, then God could not have honestly expected us to obey the commandment like He asked, so He has protected the weekly cycle through the ages. That's a pretty major argument in favor of the Sabbath. Also, it's proudly proclaimed by the Catholic church that they moved the solemnity of the Sabbath to the first day of the week, and they use that as proof that the Catholic Church had the power of God on earth, to change a commandment of God and set up a tradition of man in it's place.
http://www.british-israel.ca/weekly_cycle.htm
In An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine,
Q. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
A. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
Q. How prove you that?
A. Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the church�s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin; and by not keeping the rest [of the feasts] by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.
�Rev. Henry Tuberville, D.D. (R.C.), (1833), page 58.
In A Doctrinal Catechism,
Q. Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her. She could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
�Rev. Stephen Keenan, (1851), p. 174.
In the Catechism of the Council of Trent,
The Church of God has thought it well to transfer the celebration and observance of the Sabbath to Sunday!
�p 402, second revised edition (English), 1937. (First published in 1566)
In the Augsburg Confession,
They [the Catholics] allege the Sabbath changed into Sunday, the Lord�s day, contrary to the decalogue, as it appears; neither is there any example more boasted of than the changing of the Sabbath day. Great, they say, is the power and authority of the church, since it dispensed with one of the ten commandments.
�Art. 28.
�For centuries millions of Christians have gathered to worship God on the first day of the week. Graciously He has accepted this worship. He has poured out His blessings upon Christian people as they have sought to serve Him. However, as one searches the Scriptures, he is forced to recognize that Sunday is not a day of God�s appointment� It has no foundation in Scripture, but has arisen entirely as a result of custom,� says Frank H. Yost, Ph.D. in The Early Christian Sabbath.
~The Mark of the Beast has nothing to do with a specific commandment of God, it has to do with every commandment from God. The Mark of the Beast in the last days will be put on anyone who is obedient to anything that clearly supersedes ANY command of God, making it of no effect. It could be argued that it will be the Catholic treatment of the 2nd commandment not to make or bow to idols, but the point is, it "could be" any of them. If we yield ourselves to serve God, we will follow Him and keep His commandments. If we yield ourselves to follow men, or to follow Satan, in clear revolt against scripture, then we receive the mark of the beast.
Mark 7
9And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. 10For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 11But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. 12And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 13Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
~I personally believe that it will come down to the 4th commandment, seeing as how it is really the only one where the majority of Protestant and Catholic Christians put man-made traditions in the place of God's commandment. I don't think it's any coincidence that in the last days, the Angel in revelation is calling us to worship God, our Creator, and the 4th commandment is almost quoted word for word. God instituted the 4th commandment as a memorial of His creation.
Revelation 14
6And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, 7Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Exodus 20
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Revelation 14
11And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 12Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
~The verse in James is not talking about the old covenant laws like circumcision, and I'm sure Gracenotworks would not say that adultery or murder is no longer sin, or that if we follow those commandments we're committing legalism, but I'll let him clarify his position. I just assume that Gracenotworks does not murder people. Sin is the transgression of the law, and as new creatures in Christ, we are not supposed to sin...thank God for His grace given thru Christ, or we'd all be lost...
James 2
8If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 12So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
1 John 2
1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 3And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 7Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
1 John 3
4Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
John 5:14
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
John 8:11
She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Romans 6
1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7For he that is dead is freed from sin. 8Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
~Jesus saves and transforms us. In order to be made acceptable to God, we must bear the fruits of a changed life. Obedience to God is the most important thing.
~Now, as a disclaimer, I do not think it is currently, or was historically, a test for Christians(protestant or catholic) to perfectly follow God in all things. We're expected to be striving toward that goal, but we "only know in part", and "knowledge passes away", knowing and following all truth is not required for salvation. A person like the thief on the cross can be accepted by God with only the realization that Jesus is Lord and He was sacrificed for his sins. I fully believe that heaven will be filled with people who did not follow God perfectly in all things(David is a great example). However, if God brings knowledge to a person(i.e, the knowledge God sent to David thru Nathan the prophet), and that person rejects the light, they are held accountable and are considered disobedient. So, in the last days, if the distinction between a saint and sinner is that one accepts the light from God to keep every commandment, and one rejects the light to keep every commandment, the rebellious person will not be accepted. There are other "commandment" tests as well. If a person accepts that every commandment should be kept, but relies on their own righteousness, or is unmerciful to other people, they will also not be accepted. So it's not just one commandment, it's really a humble attitude of obedience toward the leadership of God that will keep us sealed. If we rebel against the leadership of God in any way, we will not be accepted and we will receive the mark of the beast.
People can sense frustration and desperation, I don't know the specifics of your case, but you might need to become more comfortable with being by yourself, especially if you want to find a mature/stable relationship. One of the most attractive things to people is a person who has their life together and who has confidence in themselves, hopefully thru Christ in their life.
The Word proves that some of these women on here are heretics because they do not obey the Word of God.
Posted : 6 Aug, 2014 10:57 AM
Paul and the Apostles were quick to correct errors in the church in a loving fashion. They also advised the believers to be gentle with people who are double-minded in case they can be brought to repentance. So, persistent and patient correction of error is biblical. That is what they're doing, maybe you should try it. Give a defense of you position, try to gently correct whatever error you think they have. If your position does not stand against criticism, then...maybe you're wrong or you need a better defense, but there really is no need to complain, it just makes you look weak.
