the first century christians were god's children before they even read the "new testament"
(because those words weren't even written down yet)
abraham never read the bible and he was god's friend
people just love each other and hope for the best
The Greatest Christian Doctrine
by Sea Breeze 16 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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FragrantAddendum
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Sea Breeze
I agree. Most first century Christians couldn't even read, but they believed God when he said to listen to his Son. They believed Jesus when he said "Come to me and I will give you rest". They believed Jesus when he offered the New Testament symbolized in the bread and the wine "for the forgiveness of sins", They believed he resurrected himself from the dead. And most importantly, they believed Jesus would resurrect them as he had done himself and others.
Like Abraham, the father of faith, they "believed God and it was counted unto them as righteousness".
Good works, including love (and Salvation) are a result of believing God, not the cause. -
Sea Breeze
our being "saved" has to do with his actions, not ours
we only have to choose to accept that free giftThe will of God and the will of man are both involved in Salvation, like a marriage. Two wills become one. Your two statements above seem contradictory. Choosing to accept is an action. But the real work on our part is simply to believe. Once a person believes (which is an internal artifact of our will) then the outward manifestation follows.
It is really important to get it right, in this order. The danger is that a person might put trust in their works instead of Jesus. And scripture warns: "by the works of the law shall no flesh be Justified". -
Sea Breeze
we just can't live forever unless we "plug in" to the source of life
That's not a term in the bible. How do you "plug in" with your theology? Good works, like loving others? Scriptue says that's not good enough. Jesus is the source of life. He claimed "I am the Life". Cf. John 4 - "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life".
god provided another older brother to stand in for adam and take his place
Jesus takes our place, not Adam. Adam gave everyone death. Jesus give life to those who agree to allow Jesus to trade places with him. Only in this was is he a type of 'second Adam". Jesus switching places with us, is the point of this post. It is the central doctrine of the Christian faith.
Did you see the video in the OP?
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Q: Are you denying the doctrine of Substitution like Watchtower does?
he said he'd be with us all the days until the conclusion of this difficult time
We are not in a "difficult time". There is more comparative peace now than ever. The context of Jesus' statement here is the Great Tribulation. The Jews will be the object of extermination during the latter half of the GT. Christians already have Jesus living inside of them.
he meant what he said
he is "plugged in" to the source of lifeJesus is the Source. He lives inside of believers which is the true temple of God. This is another core Christian doctrine:
1. Romans 8:10—“Christ is in you”
“But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.”
We human beings were made by God with three distinct parts: body, soul, and spirit. Our human spirit is our deepest part, created with the ability to contact and receive the Spirit of God. When we received Jesus as our Savior, He came into our spirit. Now He’s in us, so our “spirit is life.”
2. Second Corinthians 4:6-7—“This treasure in earthen vessels”
“Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us.”
In verse 7, the apostle Paul describes the believers as earthen vessels that contain this treasure. What is this treasure? In verse 6 we see the treasure is Jesus Christ, in whose face we see the glory of God. Christ lives in us earthen vessels as a precious treasure, revealing the glory of God to us from within.
3. Galatians 1:15-16—“His Son in me”
“But when it pleased God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called by His grace, to reveal His Son in me.”
We might think this verse should read, “It pleased God…to reveal His Son to me.” But in Greek, the original language of the New Testament, the preposition is unmistakably in, so the verse reads “to reveal His Son in me.” God’s plan is to reveal His Son in us, from within, rather than to us, from without. From within us, God is pleased to reveal more of the wonderful Person of Christ.
4. Galatians 2:20—“It is Christ who lives in me”
“I am crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.”
Here, Paul did not say, “I live in a Christ-like way,” or, “I glorify Christ through my behavior.” No, he said, “Christ…lives in me,” clearly showing us that Christ lives in His believers. Because He lives in us, the Christian life is not a matter of trying to behave like Christ, but of allowing Him to live in and through us.
5. Galatians 4:19—“Christ is formed in you”
“My children, with whom I travail again in birth until Christ is formed in you.”
Just as a woman travails, or labors, in childbirth to bring forth a child, Paul said he travailed in birth to bring forth the believers in Galatia as his spiritual children. This travail began when he preached the gospel to them, helping them be born anew with the life of God by receiving the Lord Jesus as their Savior. Then in this verse, Paul says that he continued to labor on them so that the Christ they received would be fully formed in them. Christ lives in us from the time we’re saved, but He wants to be formed in us in a definite way by growing in us. Day by day, we need to give Him the opportunity to grow and be formed in us. As we do, Christ will be able to express Himself more fully through us in our daily life.
6. Ephesians 3:17—“Christ may make His home in your hearts”
“That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love.”
Jesus Christ is living in our spirit. But from there, He wants to spread into the rest of our inward being, that is, into our heart. Our heart includes our mind, emotion, will, and conscience. The Lord doesn’t want to just visit our heart, like a guest visits a hotel. He wants our heart to be His home, where He has the permission and freedom to live and move.
7. Colossians 1:27—“Christ in you”
“To whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
This verse shows us not only that Christ is in us, but that He’s in us as our hope of glory. When we believed in Him, Christ came to live in our spirit. Now He’s moving into our heart to make it His home. In the future, when He returns, He will even spread into our body so that God’s glory can shine through our entire being. The One who lives in us is our hope of such glory.
8. Second Thessalonians 1:10—“Glorified in His saints”
“When He comes to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at in all those who have believed.”
Christ’s second coming will surely be a marvel. And according to this verse, a most wonderful thing will happen: His glory will be revealed from within His believers. The Christ in us, who is living in us, being formed in us, making His home in our hearts, and who is our hope of glory, will be revealed from within us.
What a glory to God, a marvel to man, and a shame to the devil, that there are people on this earth who would choose to receive Christ and allow Him to grow in them and be glorified in them for all to see!
In other words, unlike adam, jesus has an intact relationship with god
That's quite an understatement, since Jesus is "God Manifest in the flesh" and "the exact representation of his being", has "ALL authority in heaven and earth", and "in whom the fulness of deity dwells bodily".
Q: Have you asked Jesus to come live in your heart F.A.?
If not, what's preventing you? -
Sea Breeze
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. - Romans 8:9
Well, at least now you know what Jesus is asking of you. He created you. There is nothing to be afraid of.
You might change your mind someday after you do the math.
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Pronger1
Sorry, but John MacArthur is trash. He’s just as bad about JWs in bringing his own presuppositions to the text, devoid of historical and culture references of the time periods the texts were written in.
it’s better to read actual Biblical scholars, not some multi-millionaire mega church preacher.
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Sea Breeze
@Pronger1
Calling people ignorant and trash is well... ignorant and trashy. Please comment on the topic of Substitution or shut the hell up.