God's Way's

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Episkopos

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Now with everyone doing their own paintings...no two are alike. This tends to separate people based on style, opinions, inclinations etc...

But this is not God's will.

God wants us to all come to Him to be in His canvas. It is there that we become one....that we become members one of another. How can we be "devoted one to another in love"...while glorying in our differences and holding firmly to our own private and personal beliefs?

Of course children like to draw and paint. But they are innocent in the ways of evil. Children can still play together even if their perceptions of life are different. I think it is this aspect of what it means to be children that Jesus said...unless you be as these little children, you shall not enter into My (canvas.)

God is inviting us into His world...His kingdom. To enter in means to leave behind our concepts and opinions...and join with God's people where He is. In His world there is love and a unity unseen in this world except among children. Their love is innocent. They know how to melt into love.

So then sin enters into "the picture" we are drawing as it divides us from being one with others. Even when we agree to join with a schism or clique of people who kind of think as we do...this is also sin. We have no right to decide who is in and who is out of the picture.

Only God can judge that. If we cut others off...then we risk also being cut off. We will be judged as we have judged. We will reap what we have sown.
 
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101G

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Galatians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Galatians 2:17 "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, [is] therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
Galatians 2:18 "For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
Galatians 2:19 "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:21 "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [come] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.


PICJAG.
 

Episkopos

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Then there is the "foreignness" of God's character to consider. He is not like us. As His friends...or as we are learning to develop friendship with God.... He gets us into situations where we have real trouble with His ways. Are we sacrificial in our love? He is. And He wants us to learn from Him and do as He does. This is difficult indeed.

But if we want to be with God..we will have to change our ways to suit His. Too often we make God's ways to suit our own. Hence all the divisions...everyone claiming God for their own personal use. Like fleas arguing who owns the dog. (a poor analogy but it gets the point across).

It is like God is saying to us..."You want to be close to Me???...this is how I am" Go and do likewise.

Are we as God is in this world?


The bible says...As He is so are we in this world. But this is among people who have entered into God's canvas. A saying like that is not meant to be divorced from it's context and just added into a personal painting so it can be claimed in a delusional thinking.


We tend to deceive ourselves and listen to they who deceive us. This is comfortable, easy....fitting in with a mature sin nature that wants what the devil wants. To be like god. Away from the "confines" of His will and His ways. Away from the "limitations" of being in His canvas.
 
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Episkopos

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If we take a look at God's canvas we can see that there are things put together that seem to cancel each other out. But in God's world BOTH fit together. (Hence the importance of not trying to understand God's ways with the carnal mind)

For example...

Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

When people read the verse they....with the carnal mind...can only grasp one of the ideas while leaving the other out. So the reasoning is...."IF the gift of God is eternal life THEN the wages of sin is no longer death."

So when that idea is transferred from God's canvas to our own...we leave the "wages of sin is death" part behind so we can get to "the gift of God" part.

But God's ways are not our ways. Interpreting the bible for ourselves leaves out half the truth.

So we can "faithfully" produce a half-truth using our limited abilities to reason with the carnal mind.

Is it any wonder that God will reject half of us? What we do to His word, He will do to us. God's ways are equal. righteous, and fair.

Much to our chagrin.
 
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D

Dave L

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Jesus was without sin and yet he knew God.
How can mercy exists apart from sin and wrath? Jesus is God and sinless, but we understand his mercy through him taking his own wrath for sin upon himself in the place of those whom he saves.
 

H. Richard

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There are those who think that they have the power to sin or not to sin. But according to Paul that is placing faith in their works of the flesh and that is sinful.

Paul did not place any confidence in his flesh and said so in this verse.

Phil 3:1-3
3 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.
2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!
3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,
NKJV

Prov 3:5
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
NKJV

Put your trust, faith, in what Jesus did for you on the cross and you will be saved, according to the scriptures.
 

bbyrd009

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Way to totally whack another interp HR, ty
faith implies works, no matter how much you dislike that I guess.
Mis-defining "flesh" is not going to change how your works are judged either, ok,
at least I'm pretty sure. Maybe you won't get as many stripes? At best

Paul did not place any confidence in flesh reasoning, but I guess it is written like that precisely so that hypocrites can infer what suits them

Ps, fwiw Niebuhr wrote this too,
"However, in The Kingdom of God in America (1937), he also criticized the liberal social gospel, describing its message as, "A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross."[2][3]
maybe you should have read a little deeper?

"Conversionists live somewhat less "between the times" and somewhat more in the divine "now" than do the followers listed above. Eternity, to the conversionist, focuses less on the action of God before time or life with God after time, and more on the presence of God in time. Hence the conversionist is more concerned with the divine possibility of a present renewal than with conservation of what has been given in creation or preparing for what will be given in a final redemption..."

this your pov too HR? I don't think so, huh? So you just cherry picked ol' Niebuhr too I guess?
 
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bbyrd009

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There are those who think that they have the power to sin or not to sin
You have not yet shed any blood in your struggle against sin

which is not even for you I guess HR
right?

Hebrews 12:4 Lexicon: You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
not James or anything lol
sorry, HR

and look I hope you understand that I torture you bc you are a hypocrite who is not even trying, not bc I don't love you, ok. You have a Dirty Little Secret, but you still want to Go Up to Heaven and become an Immortal after you have literally died, HR.

if any part of that last sentence is off, even by a single word, lemme know ok?
Bc there is no reason for you to be in hell for another day imo, unless you want to be
 
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H. Richard

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My posted reply did not list that it was to anyone personally. But it got the same reaction that any of my posts get from the religious want-a-bees.

They never reveal that they have any fruits of the Spirit it only shows the work of their father who was a liar from the beginning.

To who ever, if the shoe fits, wear it.
 

friend of

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Uh, so you're saying that Christians who endeavor to stop sinning are actually deceived by Satan?
 
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friend of

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Romans 6:6

Romans 6:12-23

Romans 3:8
Why not say--as some slanderously claim that we say--"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is just!

@H. Richard
 

H. Richard

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Romans 6:6

Romans 6:12-23

Romans 3:8
Why not say--as some slanderously claim that we say--"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is just!

@H. Richard


Why did you put my names at the end of your reply I will assume that you said this to claim I am saying "let us do evil"

Why do you slander me as if I have said that???

People say that about me as if it is what I am saying and that is telling a lie.

I have only said what the scriptures say. Today God does not impute sins of the flesh to the children of God. They were paid for by His Son Jesus on the cross. Many slander me because I believe in what Jesus did for me and the world.

Only those who sit back and ignore the work of God on the cross and put their faith in their works of the flesh do evil and think they are not sinning; just as the Pharisees did.
 

H. Richard

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Uh, so you're saying that Christians who endeavor to stop sinning are actually deceived by Satan?

SHOW ME WHERE I SAID THAT?????

You are trying to put words in my mouth as if I am saying them. That is the work of Satan. He told lies about Jesus.

You have certainly not made me a friend. Posters beware, there is now another hungry wolf at the door. If he will do it to me, he will do it to you.
 
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H. Richard

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All are under sin:

It was asked by someone “would God ask us to do what we couldn’t do?“

The answer is yes, He asked the Jews to keep the Law of Moses. However, when they, the Jews, killed their Messiah (Jesus) He concluded that no man could keep the Law of Moses and He had another plan to save sinful men, a plan to shed the blood of His righteous Son on the cross to pay for the sins of mankind.

Romans 3:9-10
9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;
NKJV

Galatians 3:21-26
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.
22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
NKJV

In this age of God’s grace salvation in not obtained by “not sinning in the flesh.” It is only obtained by a person placing their belief in the work of God on the cross. That means for a person to deny that they can do anything righteous to save him/her self and to simply place all their faith, trust, confidence and hope in what Jesus did on the cross. To claim His work on our behalf is our salvation. Jesus (God) gets all the glory and praise.

In this age of God’s grace all God asks a person to do is trust in His plan of salvation by placing their faith in His Son’s work on the cross. It is the only way that a person can be saved and yet many do not believe it is that simple.

2 Corinthians 11:3
3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
NKJV

NO WHERE IN THIS WRITING HAVE I TOLD ANYONE TO SIN ALL THEY WANT TOO. THAT IS BETWEEN THE PERSON AND GOD.

Rom 14:4
4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
KJV
 
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quietthinker

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According to Paul they learn about God by watching the church. They see all of his attributes and wisdom against the backdrop of sin in the world.
could you fill me in on that reference please?
 

friend of

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I was just asking a question... @H. Richard no need to go ballistic.

Jesus said to be holy as he is holy. Striving to overcome sin in my life out of love for God is a good thing, and I'm not doing it in order to obtain justification before God in my own merit. Self-righteous has nothing to do with that.
 

Nancy

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Enter free will and mankind who doesn't necessarily care to be subject to God the great Artist...and who see themselves as artists in their own right.

When we spill paint on our canvas...it is just a mess. But God knows how to weave our spills into His masterpiece. He knows how to make ALL things work together for good. His artistry is on a level whereby our chaos does not deter God's abilities as an Artist in the slightest way. He weaves every blot and stroke into a wonderful mosaic of colour and beauty.

Now set before His laws He paints in grace as the skies....but without covering up His laws. How does He do this? When many of us try to paint grace onto our canvases...it covers up the laws so as to make them disappear. But not God. His ways are not our ways.

Set in the foreground...before the gaze of the mountains of law and under the skies of grace... is where God has purposed for us to live and walk before Him.

There are many walks of life to be seen as one looks from end to end of His painting. They are as varied as the possibilities of form and colour.

But always with the same background of law and the same atmosphere of grace. And all of this on a canvas of love.

"When we spill paint on our canvas...it is just a mess. But God knows how to weave our spills into His masterpiece. He knows how to make ALL things work together for good. His artistry is on a level whereby our chaos does not deter God's abilities as an Artist in the slightest way. He weaves every blot and stroke into a wonderful mosaic of colour and beauty."

Beautiful. He has pulled me from my own un-wise choices countless times, it is surreal. He finds a way every time, no matter our choices...He just uses every single bad choice, sin, even self induced trials...IF, we only will submit to Him and humble ourselves ♥ That is how awesome He is.