Reviving Biblical Christianity (The Way) Part 2

[Laurina]

I read it when I was very young and puffed up with knowledge. It only served to puff me up more. However, for the right person...at the right time...it can be very helpful

Here it is: The Spiritual Guide which Disentangles the Soul

Thank-you!! :)

 

[Lizbeth]

I was confused earlier but it’s my normal state so I just let it lay, but I’ll bite now. How do these 2 statements NOT line up?

#1 Leaning on our own understanding causes us to not be able to understand or resolve apparent contradictions in scripture.

#2 Lean not on your own understanding, commit all your ways to Him and He will guide your steps.

They appear to line up to me. (I’ll admit that when she said it I had my same earlier reaction of needing to get my hearing checked because she said something true but couldn’t stop to think that her never ending quest to line things up might in fact be caused BY leaning on her own understanding or the understanding of other men who made a doctrine and it sounded good to her.)

Well I'm glad we sorted that out. Sometimes we just need to take a break and then come back to look at something with fresh eyes as it were. I know I need to do that at times.

The bible says to test all things, and that is what I try to do. It just happens that I don't like loose ends for some reason, maybe it's just a stubbornness in me, I dont' know. Jesus said to ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. And if any lack wisdom we are told to ask the Lord who will give it liberally. But I know this isn't an exact science, it is a faith walk, and we need to remain open to the Lord correcting or tweeking or enlarging a thing as we have need, or as time goes on.

 

[Lizbeth]

For sure, there are things that we mourn but one of the many things Christ came to do was to give us a clear conscience from sin.

We have a clear conscience because Christ freed us from the law and all things are lawful for us. Those who accept that liberty usually don’t sin much any way because they have the fruits of the spirit, a new nature. But if they slip up, they ask for forgiveness and move on, they don’t dwell on it.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with this subject still. But maybe if we tackle it a bit a time.

We need to look at the whole counsel of God, taking all the scriptures in balance with one another, rather than isolating one verse.

Where it says All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient/helpful. We have to balance that with where it is also warning in that very same 1 Cor 6 passage of scripture, part of the context of that verse, that people who are living in sin will not inherit the kingdom of God. If we come to faith in Christ and keep living or go back to living in sin as we were before knowing the Lord we will disqualify ourselves. Pig returning to the mire, dog returning to its vomit.

1Co 6:9-10
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,[fn] nor sodomites,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

And the bible says this:

Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, ( I understand the grammatical tense there as being "if we keep on wilfully sinning...")

Says elsewhere that God is not mocked.....there are so many warnings in scripture not to abuse God's grace essentially. A three-fold cord is not easily broken, but it certainly can be. We will prove or disprove our faith by how we live.

 

[MostlyConfused]

Yeah, I misread it. In my head, how I understood what she had said and what it actually said, it was opposite. My bad! It was me who misread it, and I jumped on it!

You mean, for once, I am/was NOT the confused one…??! It’s a miracle Irene!
I fully expected you would come in and explain to me what I was missing!

I just yesterday sometime began a thread on Fenelon in devotions section and I posted a quote by him that sort of relates to this. Because with things like this, after the initial blush of oh my gosh what have I done and the dash to apologize, we are pleased that we have obtained more proof!

 

[ProDeo]

To this we must take heed

2 Co 5:10-11 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences.

The religious dogma of the Babylonian system tells us we have nothing to fear. The bible says otherwise. This is why we must be lowly and humble and not assume we are something we are not. Nor should we deal with matters that are over our head:

Ps 131:1 Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.

Also -

1Joh 4:16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
1Joh 4:17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
1Joh 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
1Joh 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

Don't forget the balance friend.

 

[IndianaRob]

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with this subject still. But maybe if we tackle it a bit a time.

We need to look at the whole counsel of God, taking all the scriptures in balance with one another, rather than isolating one verse.

Where it says All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient/helpful. We have to balance that with where it is also warning in that very same 1 Cor 6 passage of scripture, part of the context of that verse, that people who are living in sin will not inherit the kingdom of God. If we come to faith in Christ and keep living or go back to living in sin as we were before knowing the Lord we will disqualify ourselves. Pig returning to the mire, dog returning to its vomit.

1Co 6:9-10
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,[fn] nor sodomites,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

And the bible says this:

Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, ( I understand the grammatical tense there as being "if we keep on wilfully sinning...")

Says elsewhere that God is not mocked.....there are so many warnings in scripture not to abuse God's grace essentially. A three-fold cord is not easily broken, but it certainly can be. We will prove or disprove our faith by how we live.

A bit at a time is the way to go. So before we move to other verses we have have to figure out out what “all things are lawful to me” means.

So it can me a exactly what it says ALL things are lawful or it can mean that Paul really didn’t mean what he said. For example what he really meant was some things are lawful for me.

Which of those does he mean in your opinion? You already know that I think he meant exactly what he said.

 

[MostlyConfused]

I read it when I was very young and puffed up with knowledge. It only served to puff me up more. However, for the right person...at the right time...it can be very helpful

Here it is: The Spiritual Guide which Disentangles the Soul

I began to read it and he had me from the first sentence of his prologue - a general and confused knowledge. I know this. It’s what I’ve experienced. (I’m literally MostlyConfused!) And being in a state of prayer but only seeing that you don’t pray (he says for months but it went on for years with me). He didn’t mention the next thing I was almost certain he would - having even the reading of my Bible taken from me. That will make pious men balk but it’s only because they don’t understand WHY He would mostly take that from someone.

I think I will get more proofs of my condition or state and will thereby be helped to read him.