What is : The Meat of the word

[BloodBought 1953]

God is not interested in Spiritual “ Imitation”......He is interested in Spiritual “ FRUITION”....

The first is religion.....the Second is Christianity.....

 

[justbyfaith]

You are to follow the Apostle to the gentiles as Christ gave him all the rules.
Paul is the rule book.
Paul is the teacher.

2Pe 3:15, And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16, As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17, Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

Actually thats not the case, Ferris

"Living like Christ" is not spiritual maturity, Ferris.

Let me show you..

"But Lord we have cast out devil's in thy name".

"depart from me, i never KNEW YOU".

No, living like Christ is not a reference to your ministerial service for Christ (any unbeliever can do that, and many do). Living like Christ means literally acting in obedience to the commands of God like Christ did. The group of do-gooders that Christ will turn away will be turned away because they did not put Christ's words into practice. They had lot's of ministry boasts, but they were hypocrites and did not live in obedience to the Christ they proclaimed in their various ministries.

To prove to you this matter of maturity, Paul scolds the Corinthians for their lack of maturity because they are combative and jealous and divisive (1 Corinthians 3:1-4), despite the fact that he commends them for their spiritual gifts and the desire to use them (1 Corinthians 1:7, 1 Corinthians 14:12).

1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready, 3 for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? 4For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?​

See? If they acted like Christ in their character they would be considered mature. But as it is, they are not godly in character, and so are considered immature, despite their gifts. Maturity is measured by your obedience to godly character, not your service in the church according to the operation of your gift. You show you know God, or rather are known by him, by how you live, not by how you serve in your spiritual gift. Big, big lesson for me. It put me on the path of maturity and toward what really counts, and into that which gives true peace and assurance of salvation. And being ready to meet Christ when he returns.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

So, ... religion, in many cases is an attempt to be a "holy person", and this is usually related to an idea of being like Jesus.

Hmm......then John must have been one of those religionists. He used that phrase to describe living in obedience to God and being ready for the judgment......

Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 1 John 4:16-17​

Confidence that you are ready to enter into judgment at the end of the age comes from being like Jesus in this world. You call that a works gospel of religionists. It's not. As we can see above, that's Biblical truth. Being like Jesus in this life, and deriving assurance of salvation from that is not a works gospel. That lie can only be pawned off on people who don't read the Bible for themselves and instead rely on others to tell them what the Bible says.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

And to answer your question, its Paul who says..>"be a follower of ME"...

...as he follows Christ. You left that part off. You keep asserting that Paul's teachings are somehow different and even opposed to the rest of the Bible. That's not even remotely true.

1Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1
​

You leaving off the part about him following Christ is a glaring example of un-rightly dividing the word of God and how it leads to false teachings.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

Paul is the rule book.
Paul is the teacher.
You follow Him as he instructed you to do, to understand perfectly how to follow CHRIST.

Now you have never been told this before, till you met me, which is obvious by how you try to explain your Theology.

So, if you want to exit in that deeper spirituality, then thats what you do.
There is no other way to find it and become it.

You have Paul inventing another Jesus to follow. What is different about what Paul taught about following Jesus that is somehow different than what Jesus himself said about following him?

21 ...depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’
26 ...everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!” Matthew 7:21-27​

They both teach the same obedience of godly character. 'Deeper spirituality' is not knowledge of a Pauline Jesus different than what Jesus himself and the disciples taught. 'Deeper spirituality' is actually doing what Jesus and the apostles and Paul said to do. You show your spirituality by how you act, not by what you know, and certainly not what you know about a different Jesus that Paul supposedly followed and instructed others to follow.

 

[Behold]

2Pe 3:16, As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
.

Congratulations.
You just quoted the very verse in the NT that speaks of you and what you do on this forum.
You are the person, in the verse.

 

[Behold]

The group of do-gooders that Christ will turn away will be turned away because they did not put Christ's words into practice. .

No, thats not it, Ferris.

Christ does not turn anyone away for being a "do gooder" and Christ does not keep you because you held unto your faith.

Anyone and everyone who ends up in hell, the "do gooders" the "commandment keepers".. the "water baptized"...end up there because they are not BORN AGAIN.

See, the only reason you will not go to Hell, is by being born again.

 

[Behold]

Confidence that you are ready to enter into judgment at the end of the age comes from being like Jesus in this world.

You actually believe that you can be as good as Jesus, because you may not sin as much this week as you did last week?

Thats pretty funny.

Its actually hilarious to hear such a self righteous statement on a public forum.

Let me bring you up to speed.
Your good works, are as filthy in the eyes of God, TODAY and TOMORROW< as they were before you were born again.., if that is the case.

Think on that.

 

[Behold]

.

​

You leaving off the part about him following Christ is a glaring example of un-rightly dividing the word of God and how it leads to false teachings.

Following Jesus is something you can do and never be born again.

So, its not by "works of righteousness" , Ferris, but it's only by God's Mercy", that we end up in heaven.

Get off the works Train, as that one never departs for Glory.

 

[Behold]

You have Paul inventing another Jesus to follow..

Paul said we are to "follow Him as He follows Christ".

Paul is our discipleship example, while Jesus is our Living Lord.

This works hand in hand.
What you are not seeing is that Paul is the "Christian Example' of how you work out your salvation.

Do you have any skills?
Can you play a guitar, or a piano, or a Violin, or do bodywork on a Car, or Paint on a Canvas?
Did you ever learn a foreign language, .
Are you able to perform any type skill, to a professional level?

If So, you were TAUGHT how to do it.

Paul is your Original Teacher, He is your spiritual model, that is the living guide regarding how to perfect your DISCIPLESHIP.

We are to be like Christ, as a discipleship by following Paul's Example, as Paul explains.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

Paul said we are to "follow Him as He follows Christ".

Paul is our discipleship example, while Jesus is our Living Lord.

This works hand in hand.
What you are not seeing is that Paul is the "Christian Example' of how you work out your salvation.

Do you have any skills?
Can you play a guitar, or a piano, or a Violin, or do bodywork on a Car, or Paint on a Canvas?
Did you ever learn a foreign language, .
Are you able to perform any type skill, to a professional level?

If So, you were TAUGHT how to do it.

Paul is your Original Teacher, He is your spiritual model, that is the living guide regarding how to perfect your DISCIPLESHIP.

We are to be like Christ, as a discipleship by following Paul's Example, as Paul explains.

Paul does not teach anything different about discipleship than what Jesus taught.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

Following Jesus is something you can do and never be born again.

Then nobody needs to be born again to be justified. If I could follow Jesus I would have had no need to be born again. I don't know what you think is different and harder about following Paul, and therefore requires the Spirit, than following Jesus in the flesh.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

You actually believe that you can be as good as Jesus, because you may not sin as much this week as you did last week?

Thats pretty funny.

Its actually hilarious to hear such a self righteous statement on a public forum.

Let me bring you up to speed.
Your good works, are as filthy in the eyes of God, TODAY and TOMORROW< as they were before you were born again.., if that is the case.

Think on that.

Think on this: Being like Jesus in this world (1 John 4:17) does not mean earning your own salvation. It means you are already saved and, therefore, ready to stand before Christ at the judgment. I can hear the whooshing sound as that goes right over your head....again.

 

[Mayflower]

Why such a long and verbose post? Hebrews tells us exactly what is elementary milk knowledge and what is meat....

Hebrews 5:8-14 , Hebrews 6:1-2
8Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word (vs.8-10) all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk (vs.8-10), being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

1Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, a and of faith in God, 2instruction about cleansing rites, b the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ​

Milk - the elementary truths of God's word - Christ's ministry, repentance, faith in God, cleansing rites, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment. IOW, the basic facts of the Christian faith.

Meat - "the teaching about righteousness...distinguish(ing) good from evil" (vs.13-14). IOW, the teachings of how to actually LIVE the Christians faith, as opposed to just knowing the hard facts about the Christian faith.

Most Christians major in milk knowledge, the facts, of the Christian faith. And they think that their understanding and learning in these areas shows them to be a mature believer. They do not know that the maturing believer moves away from the milk and consumes the meat of the word, the constant use of which teaches them to actually live in holiness and righteousness. When you do that you show that you are a growing believer eating the meat of the word, growing up into the image and stature of Christ, and not just still a baby drinking the milk of the word.

Thanks so much for these definitions. This discussion as a whole has been great. I was always thinking meat was like deeper theologies or something. my pastor actually taught on this today.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

Thanks so much for these definitions. This discussion as a whole has been great. I was always thinking meat was like deeper theologies or something. my pastor actually taught on this today.

You are blessed. You have a good pastor that might actually know something most pastors don't. I'm happy with you!

 

[Ferris Bueller]

So, its not by "works of righteousness" , Ferris, but it's only by God's Mercy", that we end up in heaven.

Get off the works Train, as that one never departs for Glory.

As a believer, I've never been on the works train. Works count nothing toward justification. Only the forgiveness of God received by faith can justify and sanctify a person and make them fit to reside in the coming kingdom, and land, and city of righteousness. And we know that we have received that justification and sanctification by if we have become a new creation growing up into ever increasing deeds of righteousness into the image and stature of Christ. For born again people do not continue in the sin of their old lives (1 John 3:8-9). That's how we know we really are a child of God and not still a child of the devil (1 John 3:10). Every professing Christian should seek to have that assurance of salvation in their lives if they do not have it in apparent measure now (2 Peter 1:5-10).

 

[Ferris Bueller]

See, the only reason you will not go to Hell, is by being born again.

....your works being the evidence that you really are born again.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

No, thats not it, Ferris.

Christ does not turn anyone away for being a "do gooder"...

Christ said he will turn away the person who does good in the area of spiritual gifts, but who does not put his words into practice.

 

[Ferris Bueller]

and Christ does not keep you because you held unto your faith.

24 As for you, let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If it does, you will also remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life.26 I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 1 John 2:24-25​

I'm sharing the truth of vs. 24. The teachers of your theology are the deceivers of vs.25 trying to say otherwise.