So, what does God expect of us?

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bbyrd009

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Windmillcharge

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imo not if we do it right, and take Christ's words literally, like we are so quick to take the parts we like

As you say, in your opinion, if we do it right.

I know from bitter experience that I cannot 'do it right', I depend on Jesus's grace and mercy every day to continue following him.

I know of no Christians who would claim anything else.
 
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brakelite

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We can be perfect in our own sphere of existence...just as God is perfect in His sphere. Noah was said to perfect before God...doesn't mean he was like God in every respect, but it means that in his desires, hopes, and Godly ambitions, he was single minded...as Jesus said, his eye was single, focused, not allowing the world's evils and violence to corrupt him, or to divert his focus away from God. Such a man God can and does work with. A perfect candidate for God to do His work in, and through. A perfect vessel and instrument in the hands of a guiding Saviour.
 
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farouk

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We can be perfect in our own sphere of existence...just as God is perfect in His sphere. Noah was said to perfect before God...doesn't mean he was like God in every respect, but it means that in his desires, hopes, and Godly ambitions, he was single minded...as Jesus said, his eye was single, focused, not allowing the world's evils and violence to corrupt him, or to divert his focus away from God. Such a man God can and does work with. A perfect candidate for God to do His work in, and through. A perfect vessel and instrument in the hands of a guiding Saviour.
I like the word perfect as applied to the Saviour in Hebrews, in His Person and titles and offices.
 

bbyrd009

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As you say, in your opinion, if we do it right.

I know from bitter experience that I cannot 'do it right', I depend on Jesus's grace and mercy every day to continue following him.

I know of no Christians who would claim anything else.
Of course, bc that is a subjective statement that means absolutely nothing, as opposed to confessing what you have not done right and working on that imo. Wadr this "I know I can't do it" is the complaining of a child who has given up. Jesus says you can do it wadr, but it is just easier to get more pious I guess, not meaning you specifically.

Not being able to do it "perfectly" is completely irrelevant, and imo it is even counterproductive, a way to excuse ourselves and others who don't wanna self-examine and change.

What specifically can you "not do?"
Bc everyone's sins are forgiven, ok, so see how this Special Position you imagine yourself to be in is not Supported

See bc "from bitter experience" is telling me that there was no confession made, wadr, this is like Frank syndrome imo, which I'm struggling with even posting here let alone his thread, ah the piousnes, the false humility, the self-flagellation! Not saying he isn't a good person, not at all, and same with you tho ok.

If you are seeking to save your lives you are going to lose them, I guess is what I'm trying to get at here
 
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bbyrd009

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And I could point out signs that will be evident, ships in harbor--more like dry-dock lol--lots of "when we all get to heaven" stuff, lots of the commending ourselves to each other, "I'm not long for this earth" yack, may as well be following Jim Jones lol
 

mjrhealth

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Love. What is the essential and intrinsic nature and characteristic of love? The world today is immensely confused over the meaning of love. That half the marriages celebrated today (including within the church) end up in divorce bears testimony to this confusion. The fact that an institution supposedly based on love has a 50% chance of ending up in acrimony, bitterness and estrangement shows clearly that the ‘love’ for a great many of those marrying couples was temporary, conditional, and limited in it’s enduring quality and considering the glittering career today of marriage counsellors I would suggest the quality of the remaining marriages leaves much to be desired also. Is that real love? Something that is temporary? Something dependant on circumstances? Is love ‘true’ when times are good but fades away like a fleeting shadow at the first sign of trouble?

Even in the spiritual world of Christianity, there is a great misapprehension of the nature of love. A great variety and confusion exists in doctrinal belief because so many do not understand the true nature of God, Who the scriptures tell us, is Love.

A correct understanding of the nature of God would afford us a correct understanding of the nature of love. (And vice-versa). So let us look to the scriptures, and in particular Jesus, to find out what God is like.

As I said earlier, God is Love. (1 Jn 4:8) Coll. 1:19 tells us that “it pleased the Father that in Him (Jesus) should all fullness dwell”. Later in Coll. 2:9 it says “in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”. Jesus said Himself to Phillip, “Have I been so long with you Phillip, and yet thou hast not known Me? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father…” (Jn 14:9) And again in Collosians, it says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. (1:15)

So if we desire to know what true love is, because God is love and Jesus is the image of God, then all we need do is look to see how Jesus loved. A great place to start I think is Pauls letter to the Philippians. Chapter 2 begins with Paul exhorting his readers to be united in their walk of discipleship, and that the prime factor that unites them is love. He then exhorts us all that we ought to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus, and proceeds to give us a brilliantly simple summary of the gospel (Phil.2:1-11) in which he explains that the mind of love that belongs to God was expressed through His Son by an act of self sacrificial humility culminating in His death. In fact, Paul says that God loves us so much that as far as Jesus was concerned, being in the form of God was not worthwhile so long as we were lost!!

He laid aside His omnipotence for us, yet we with-hold our means to help one another! Jesus laid aside His omnipresence for us yet we balk at walking over the road to help our neighbour! Jesus laid aside His omniscience yet we are reluctant to share with those who don’t know Him how He has saved us! Reputation and honour are relegated to the bottom of the ladder and serving others raised to the top of those virtues best cherished by the Son of man, and man instituted slavery! Man’s natural inclination is not to love, but to serve self.

To achieve His aim of saving us, Jesus stepped down from His throne of honour, glory, majesty and power where He rightly received the due worship and adoration from countless numbers of heavenly creatures to become a helpless baby in the womb of an unmarried teen-ager in an occupied country where He was completely dependant upon the whims , fancies, loves, hates, and the myriad of emotions, dreams, ambitions, hopes, and all the hang-ups of human sin and degeneracy, in order to live out His mission. His purpose was so steadfast, His faithfulness so enduring, His grace and love so sure, that He endured everything that degeneracy could throw at Him. Insult, hatred, antipathy, disbelief, persecution, mocking, torture and finally death.

My friends, that is Love. That is real Love. It is the very same love in fact , and no lesser version of it, that Paul exhorts us to emulate when he says “Let this mind be in you which also was in Christ Jesus”. It is the very same love that Paul extols in Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it”. It is the very same love that is listed in the fruit of the Spirit. Selfless, sacrificial, benevolent, kind-hearted, gentle and truthful. A far cry from the emotional counterfeit that the world offers and so many practice. The love that God offers you through Jesus is the real thing. And He would have us share that very same love with others. Our wives, our children, our brothers and sisters and our neighbours. It is the love that world, now dying in sin and despair, needs so desperately.

It is a love that endures hardship, spurns hatred, and overcomes unbelief. It never fails, never gives up, never lets go, yet allows the freedom for those to whom it is directed to choose whether to accept and return it, or reject it and resist it. Amazing love!!! Yet we persecute those who disagree with us over doctrine and use the name of God to pronounce them heretics and then kill them! A writer of the late 18th century had these wise words to say regarding freedom.” There can be no more conclusive evidence that we possess the spirit of Satan (as opposed to the Spirit of God’s love) than the disposition to hurt and destroy those who do not appreciate our work, or who act contrary to our ideas.”

Can we love like that? Can man, or woman, love so selflessly that he/she would give their life for his enemy? Ordinarily, the answer would have to be no. Man is not capable of such love. While on rare occasions we may see and witness wonderful expressions of self sacrificial heroism for strangers by people in emergency situations like firemen etc., but is it love that motivates such acts, or is it duty or patriotism or something else? Sin and the human condition caused by 1000’s of years of moral compromise and degeneracy and selfish gratification has distorted man’s moral reasoning to such an extent that even our prayers need ‘cleaning up’ by our Mediator in heaven.

Yet Jesus Himself, when challenged with the question “What is the greatest commandment”? replied “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind and soul. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”. (Math 22:34-40). Elsewhere He gave as the 11th commandment: “A new commandment I give unto you, ‘that ye love one another as I have loved you, that ye also love one another’. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples.”

Though in and of ourselves we are incapable of such love, God does not command us to do anything without also giving us the means by which to obey. It is up to us whether we desire to love as He loves and surrender ourselves to the Holy Spirit that He may empower us. Thus the degree of love He calls us to transcends any emotional level and becomes a matter of choice. We choose to obey, He empowers us. We choose to love, He fills us with His Spirit and we become partakers of His divine nature. And the world is fed by the food we share. Prisoners are visited. Our homes become sanctuaries. the sick are visited and encouraged. We clothe and shelter those who are cold, homeless, poor and in need.

As the world witnesses and benefits from our love, two things happen. First and foremost, the world, perhaps for the first time, sees God. We, through our love, destroy Satan’s sophistries and lies regarding the nature and character of God. Much of the world believe God to be capricious, judgmental, cruel, despotic, legalistsic, demanding and spiteful. But through love, not only do you prove Satan a liar, and lead people to the truth, but you also vindicate the true nature and character of God to the universe and when this age closes, all will agree and testify with you, throughout the ceaseless ages, that God is love.

The second thing that happens as we express the love of God for humanity, is that by so doing we secure our salvation, for when Jesus comes He will say to you, “Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...for inasmuch as ye have (loved) one of these the least of My brethren, ye have done it unto Me.”
Mathew 25:31-46.

Regards and love to all
BL
You speak of love, than in your next post you ask people to follow after the law, and in doing so reject grace, you speak of God not being legalistic but follow after the law which is legalism , when will the deceit end.
 
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brakelite

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You speak of love, than in your next post you ask people to follow after the law, and in doing so reject grace, you speak of God not being legalistic but follow after the law which is legalism , when will the deceit end.
And ask perhaps, as honestly as possible, what do our friends see when they look at us? Do they see a compromising friend who meekly does as they do without thought to the consequences? Or do they see someone who is willing to stand up for what is right, though the heavens fall? Will our friends come to us at the end of time and demand...why didn't you tell us?

We can be perfect in our own sphere of existence...just as God is perfect in His sphere. Noah was said to perfect before God...doesn't mean he was like God in every respect, but it means that in his desires, hopes, and Godly ambitions, he was single minded...as Jesus said, his eye was single, focused, not allowing the world's evils and violence to corrupt him, or to divert his focus away from God. Such a man God can and does work with. A perfect candidate for God to do His work in, and through. A perfect vessel and instrument in the hands of a guiding Saviour.

????????????????
 
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quietthinker

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You speak of love, than in your next post you ask people to follow after the law, and in doing so reject grace, you speak of God not being legalistic but follow after the law which is legalism , when will the deceit end.
Your lack of insight mjrhealth and your twisting approach witnesses against you.
 

mjrhealth

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imo the deceit will end when the diff in "under the law" and "obey the law" is understood
Oh you mean those who say they do but dont, that is a hypocrite. And no one does.

Joh_7:19 Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?

Liars and boasters of self.
 

mjrhealth

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no, the subject was not about people at all mjr, that was not meant to be another opp for you to condemn everyone who isn't you, sorry. And as past experience assures me you will not engage on the actual subject, goodbye
It is, all about people " what dopes God expect of Us" is the topic, Faith" is the answer, and all the lawyers dont have faith, And condemned its because they dont believe, this part

Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Joh 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

Men love to boast, about how good they are.


And you dont believe, that you have clearly repeated over and over.
 

bbyrd009

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What importance does Aramaic have to living for Jesus today?
Well, if you aren't able to access a lexicon a scribe could basically insert any term they like and you would have no means of verifying a translation. We get an impression of like a team of the Dedicated Faithful gathering together prayerfully to render a new tranny, but I guess it doesn't really work like that, note "Easter" in the KJV, etc, not even trying to stay true to the orig iow. Regardless of your position on Easter ok. Hmm, I guess actually not regardless of it huh lol