VT 29

1	Forums / Main Forum / Re: Evolution vs Intelligent Design - In Search of the Black Cat	on: July 17, 2012, 03:34:02 PM
The teaching of creation is the back bone of society. Look at our society today since the teaching of creation has been replaced about 35 yrs ago. Just look at the generational decline in normal communication between husband and wife ..i mean in a patriarchal structure. My point is there really is not communication outside of a religious structure. And creation teaches men the truth about origins. If we get the causes wrong then any kind of societal structure is acceptable and that means a confusion of respect...of kindness...and the basic ideas of value. We always understand the quality of our lives to be according to our inward convictions of value. If the society communicates in a twisted value system then it creates all kinds of pain and confusion in our minds and hearts. So we can measure our love and hate by unraveling the truth about real causes. We do not need to compromise our values to suit the mixed up communication of a godless society. How do we develop these convictions? By thinking thoughts after God. Its terribly important on what road we are walking on in this life. I think that in proverbs where Solomon is warned about going down a road in which there is not turning back. There is no response from the Lord.. there is no available remedy is in the context of moving up the scale of power in a society. This is what is so deceptive about self confidence. Success in this world can be a road to destruction. It can lead a man to compromise so much that he ends up destroying a lot of lives. And i do not think this is a controllable downward spiral but its the natural course of a man who does not have God in all his thoughts. This is why we strive to enter into heaven. Because God has His hand on the lever of our lives. He is gonna let us go the way we desire. He is gonna allow us to fulfill our wicked desires. I do not mean this for a man who is delivered from sin. But as ive been saying all men no matter secular or religious. No matter what system we are participating in there still is a difference between our hearts and what looks religious. And so we must understand that the gospel that will save is to be focused on.. meditated upon.. applied moment by moment.. and it starts with creation so that we can have a foundation to trust in Gods word when the whole world turns against us.
Reply Quote Notify

1022  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: 100 Bible facts on Sabbath and sunday on: July 17, 2012, 12:08:27 PM Acts 13:22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’  I memorized the book of Acts in my thirties. lol The law actually was gifted to Israel to rule the nations. Because it taught them to live at peace.. to seek peace with one another. A lawless people seek to destroy one another. They have war on their lips. And you see this with those nations who did not have the law of God. I think Reagan had the principle rite.. peace through strength. The reason the law was so important was that it could not condemn a covenant member. I mean God was very lenient to His people ..allowing these unsaved circumcised reprobates to prosper within the covenant community. He even allowed them to do worse than the nations around them. Why did God give this as a gift ...part of His decreeing whatsoever comes to pass and yet the people not living in craven fear that the law would condemn them? Because God gave a remedy for law breakers. But God not only dealt with the sin but He also was concerned for th health of the nations. So the law was not just to show the people how to live but it was to protect the less fortunate of the people. And so you see there were stipulations in the law according to ones social status. What we need to understand was that the law brought a clear mind... gave the people the freedom by protection.. and was used to declare war and bring victory over the nations. What we must understand is that law really is a friend of law breakers. Because it determines the outcome of abuse and destructive behavior. The law is really a help from the bottom up and not from the top down. The law protects poor and helpless.. widows and orphans. How does the law protect?  It curses law breakers. The law is not really for the powerful but its for God to hold men in authority to judgment on the exercise of their power over others. God enacts punishment through His wise understanding from His view. Man thinks they understand but man always uses the law over the weak and helpless. Man makes the law a system to extort money from the less powerful. And so God makes war with high places.. and the spiritual forces in the heavenlies.  God uses the law to curse abusive authority and render them helpless. So the law is the handle that God uses to protect the helpless and to end a nations rule. The law is the friend of the helpless because we appeal to God on the basis of experiencing abuse. Some people think the law stands in between God and His elect. This is from the pit of hell and smells like smoke. When you believe this your cursing yourself. Your like the vampire who drives a stake into his own heart. lol   Reply Quote Notify

1023  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Noah and the law on: July 17, 2012, 11:09:18 AM The position of a saint in the ot was one of a soldier. And you will see that even tho we have these earthly wars and our purpose in the fight yet these saints prayed as if God had His war machine and they longed for God to act on their behalf. So you see David calling God his King. You see David who enjoyed complete success over his enemies extolling God for Gods successful victories over these same enemies. lol And this was more than just a worship of the glory of God in a general sense. But David actually commanded God with strategy as if David was in need of Gods ordered chain of command from heaven. Reminding God of His angels and His ability to send confusion to his enemies. Commanding God to send out the angel of vengeance.. the angel with the sword and cause his enemies to be cursed directly... some kind of malady that would render them powerless. And you see this in Davids description of Gods armies coming to his rescue in the heat of the battle. You have this picture of the Lord of Glory coming on a chariot from heaven .. with all of His valiant angels... and this word from heaven.. the Father of lights.. is Gods hand reaching down and rescuing David at the most heated part of the battle. So we see the working of the word does not bring God down to man but it exalts God as He is and raises man up to praise and glory. David was a skilled warrior but there is no glory in his ability but the secret was to lay down his arms of self glory and thats where he found his happiness. He extolled God. So this is always how we see the cause and effect of Gods successful word. Now God delivers us from something and we easily forget. But this is so important. We fail to respond to God for His special favor. A lot of people have heads like nuts. They live as if God is always searching them out to bring pain and misery. Through self talk they live a very rough life in misery they bring on themselves. But we really have a promise that God will always listen to us and we always have a party when He responds. See now doctrine is so important. It leads us to a life of praise and glory if we understand our purpose. When God responds there are Psalms that absolutely send me to heaven. lol    Reply Quote Notify

1024  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Noah and the law on: July 17, 2012, 10:42:07 AM Man received a sinful nature ..which in the nt is a figure of speech... metonymy .....that being a thinking entity like a person...which infects the entire person. Sin is missing the mark...rebellion against lawful authority...willful disobedience...to conspire or plot harm...etc. People sin because they are sinners. Cause and effect. Its just like God created the world. Nothing cannot cause something. Obviously God caused the creation. Let me talk about the curse after the fall because it not only went to the first man but it ended in God only saving 8 people.("The ground the Lord has cursed") And i think this is just like Sinai because God deals with man not through law but confronting them face to face. That is the judgement or curse of sin that man flees from the presence of God. Man will see the one who sits and the rite hand of God and will hide in the caves and the rocks of the mountains...they will call for the rocks to fall on them. Because they know they will be judged. But the righteous man seeks the face of God. "Your face i will seek." So the curse brings man into being at odds with God. The curse produces the realism that there is no hope for mankind outside of Gods redeeming them. How did the first sin end? It ended in hopelessness for the whole earth. God pronounced a curse upon the whole earth and just like He judged Israel for the worship of the Calf so He judges Adams sin ending in the flood. How did God resolve the curse after the flood? Through the covenant of grace. Before this God spoke to our fathers and they passed it down to their children. "We have heard with our ears and our fathers have told us what you did in their day." This is kind of a doctrine of inspiration where Gods word is not necessarily written down but its a spoken word. Now this is the blessed state of a righteous man. That the word of God is efficient and successful. So the goal of a life lived in hope is a longing for the word of salvation. And i do not think they had in their minds a separation from the word written down and the word spoken directly from heaven. Because in their minds this was one and the same. They did not believe in a God who put things in order and left us a book.  So the word of God speaks into all eternity. It is the created word because it judges instantly. It curses some men and blesses others. God pronounced a curse for sin and the whole earth was destroyed by a flood. They heard from their fathers... or the faithful remnant about Gods works through His spoken word." It was not by their sword that they won the land but it was Your hand and the light from Your eyes." The spoken word is from heaven and its a figure of speech of Gods human parts acting on behalf of His saints. So we never separate Gods spoken word from His acts. This is how we should pray. We want a spoken word or a word of illumination. Not only do we seek wisdom but this wisdom is from above coming down.. coming down from the Father of lights. Or its the spoken word of wisdom from heaven that sets everything in order.     Reply Quote Notify

1025  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: 100 Bible facts on Sabbath and sunday on: July 16, 2012, 06:09:29 PM Quote from: THOR on July 16, 2012, 06:02:48 PM Quote The Ten commandments came after God covenanted with Abraham. Genesis 26:5 says that God did give Abraham His Torah (Law) and Commandments: Speaking to Isaac…   Quote Gen 26:2  And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Gen 26:3  Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; Gen 26:4  And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Gen 26:5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Not only did Abraham have the commandments but God said he “Obeyed” His voice! Too bad your Bible understanding is driven 100% by denominationalism otherwise you would see Scripture differently and understand more. The Ten Commandments existed before the Covenant at Sinai but were made “part of the Covenant” at that time. Key words “made PART OF the covenant” which made Israel a nation. That was what happened there. God didn’t just invent the 10 at that time making the people so astonished because they never heard anything like it before. Abraham linked faith with obedience…he offered his son, he left his home in the Ur etc. Faith in Jesus is the same. When we actually truly believe and personally receive Him then we are born again and God puts His spirit in us so we can obey Him.  How do you know you belong to Jesus (?), because you want to obey Him! Obeying is the same thing as following Him. Faith and obedience is like yin and yang. Thor This is not correct. Gods righteousness is the foresight of keeping His commandments. The law was given at Mount Sinai but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Just look at the NT description of David. Talking about real righteousness God attributes to David that "he does everything i want him to do." So did David actually do everything God wanted him to do? If adultery and murder is Gods will then your precise personal righteousness being a correct translation. But we see that it was Davids heart that God was looking at not necessarily his actions. In the beginning society was evolving. I would be impossible to establish the moral law .    Reply Quote Notify

1026  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: 100 Bible facts on Sabbath and sunday on: July 16, 2012, 04:59:25 PM Yes but your only showing one side of the law being established. It was established to show man that he could not gain righteousness through the law. And in fact you left out the whole position of the apostle about his separating law from grace. The ot position on obedience was as i have stated above. It was a sinner being made righteous in the covenant of grace. And upon walking on that rode as being righteous having a number of titles and all overlapping the other.. that is the total obedience described as taking refuge in God ... described as one who calls on God as the same person as one who has trouble but the Lord delivers him from them all... the same person as the one who the Lord delivers in the time of battle...the same person as the one who is poor and helpless.. the same person as the one whos sins are more than the numbers of his hair.. the same person as the one whos sins have overtaken him... the same person as having all his sins atoned for....etc. And so any one of these is part of the description of the righteous man.. not one of them completely perfected...but the description is in the context of the need at the time of the experience. Of course your probably going to blow this off but i remind you that your talking to someone who has meditated on the ot worship book more than you will do in three life times. lol So that righteousness is according to acceptance as the ability in relationship. Reply Quote Notify

1027  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Free grace versus wrathful punishment on: July 16, 2012, 03:03:00 PM This is a very confusing world because there are a lot of half truths spoken by religious people. When you have a world that is as confusing as this present world is then Gods word is just like any other word. But we know that Gods word is exalted and tried 7 times in the fire. The word of God is Christ who rules over all kingdoms of this earth because He has seven horns. And Gods word is Christ acting as our high priest as He orders all things for our good by the seven spirits who are sent out into all the earth. Christ is our Representative and there is no other substitute. Christ rules over all authorities and principalities. He is the Shepherd who leads us to streams of water. This Shepherd is the Lamb of God who has purchased His elect from every nation, tribe language and people. He has purchased us with the price of His valuable blood. Peter says this blood is set apart from any other earthly value. So that it proves that Christ will avenge our blood. We will stand at the gates of the daughters of Zion and there remember our salvation. Because Christ has purchased us to make us a kingdom of priest to serve our God. And we will rule on the earth. We are kings and priest of the most high. The Lord most High who is exalted far above all kingdoms and authority. Our Lord protects us from the fatal blow to the head in the day of our battle. That is we are protected by the word of deliverance that He speaks to us in His time. This word of deliverance is His promise never to turn away from those who call on Him. Because this Lamb has signed His promise to never forsake us in blood. And so this is our confession that we will never be shaken. Because the more we focus on Christ the more we long for the word of deliverance and the more we long for the word of deliverance the more He promises to speak it loud and clear. So we only focus on one thing. We only seek one thing. That we may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our lives to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord to seek Him in His temple. All of His promises to us are yea and amen. He has provided for us the success of kings who come as beggars. lol Now how can we fail? He has taken the responsibility for our success that is greater than we could imagine and all He wants is for us to come with nothing except our need. lol He has promised to always take up our cause as a king .. respond to our cries...give us convictions that we will never be shaken and heal all of our pains... bring us out of all of our problems... destroy all of our enemies...and give us rewards as if we deserved what only He has a riteful possession of that good. He has also asked us to command the Lord Most High. He has provided for us a heavenly court to hear all of our complaints and provide us a defense as He is our complete substitute. He has sent His Spirit into our hearts to rule and reign so that we are filled with praise and power ... supernatural power. We are given all wisdom. With all of the promises.. riches.. glory.. power ... wisdom...honor we can rest in the abundance of His glorious infusions and effervescent presence. We live before the throne of God who receives praise from every created thing day and nite. With His promise to never ignore our cries and to always attend to our troubles how can we ever think we are paupers? We are sons of the Most High Lord. His servants who have full protection under His wings.       Reply Quote Notify

1028  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Noah and the law on: July 16, 2012, 01:36:48 PM Quote from: Lone Arranger on July 16, 2012, 01:09:12 PM "For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law," Romans 5:14." Not so fast MBG.  SIN IS NOT IMPUTED WHEN THERE IS NO LAW.  You can't get around that by talking about conscience.  The scriptures are plain that even with conscience,  "SIN IS NOT IMPUTED WHEN THERE IS NO LAW."  So the pre-Noah flood civilization could not be condemned as sinners - when there was no law.    As far as your question, "If they had no law prior to Moses then how did Abram know that circumcision was a requirement?"  The answer is God told them.  This has nothing to do with anything.  God's talking to Abraham about circumcision, a sign between Him and Abraham, didn't condemn the pre-Noah flood civilization.  One has nothing to do with the other.  Sir what your saying is a contradiction. You cant have a relationship of individuals without some kind of law because no one lives completely independent another person.What one person does affects the quality of the life of another person. And if there is any reaction good or bad its a standard of some kind as a measurement of what is praise worthy or deserving of punishment. No one could exist without a sense of rite and wrong. You cant take one verse apart from scripture and build a case when there are other scriptures that put that scripture in context. This is the logical inference in interpreting scripture in its near context and far. How is any man who has never heard the gospel responsible for his sin? Because God has made Himself plain by the creation. How does a man understand the moral component by looking at creation in order for God to be just in judgement of that person? Because a man reasons that if God created the complex nature of all things then the man is morally responsible to this God. How does the man conclude this? If there is no teaching of the ten commandments then obviously by nature that man has a moral compass. If a man has a conscience dont you think that if that man did not have the law written on his heart that his conscience would not accuse him?Obviously if his conscience is accusing him and he has never read the ten commandments then it shows by nature that he has a standard. Thats just common sense. But i dont want to keep this disjointed. Because this is how we understand not only sin but how a man develops his entire world view. And this is how we understand the truth about society and culture. We understand that even tho man has a moral compass from creation that he suppresses it. How does he suppress it? By thinking according to his own corruption. By planning according to his desire to rebel from the authority of God. A man devises schemes by rejecting Gods word. Why do men avoid Gods word? Because they are born with a heart of rebellion against God. They refuse to have God in all their thoughts. So they devise successful ways to advance themselves as they plot on their beds at nite. But in devising their own ways they actually set a trap for their neighbors. Man in his natural state of mind is destructive to society. He advances his own agenda by destroying his neighbor. But God is not mocked or surprised because God decrees whatsoever comes to pass. God takes the wisdom of man and brings it to foolishness. While at the same time God takes the foolishness of man and makes it wise. The only way that God can do this is to use mans schemes against himself. lol What is Gods purpose in this judgement? He rules every inch of this universe. He actually takes His rite ful possessions and gifts them to according to His design and His justice. God turns this world upside down so that He alone gets the glory.        Reply Quote Notify

1029  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Noah and the law on: July 16, 2012, 12:26:35 PM Quote from: Lone Arranger on July 16, 2012, 12:18:33 PM To quote Paul once again, "For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law," Romans 5:14." So if the pre-Noah flood civilization was not judged according to their sins, which is exactly what the above verse says, then on what basis were they judged?  This was my original question as yet unanswered by any of you.  If they were not being judged for their sins, on what basis were they being judged - if indeed that was the purpose of the flood (for those of you who reject the genetic pollution theory)? Because the law was written on their hearts. Rom. 2 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. It was also passed down by word of mouth. And yet not only was the law understood but from the beginning all the culture ..the different trades and family origins was established as well. These people had a philosophy as well. Rom 4 9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. If they had no law prior to Moses then how did Abram know that circumcision was a requirement? By word of mouth. Reply Quote Notify

1030  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Noah and the law on: July 16, 2012, 11:13:40 AM When the law from mount Sinai was spoken it was destructive. Because thou shalt not was followed by cursed is anyone who has other gods before Me. What was the curse? It was a pronouncement of death to the law breaker. And so God commanded those who did not agree to kill their fellow countrymen and family who thought they could approach God based upon their claiming ability to be accepted in themselves. Because the law already declared them guilty and hopelessly cursed. (I am speaking about the event at Mount Sinai.) What does the apostle say? He says anyone who mixes law and grace are under a curse. Either the person is completely righteous through grace or that person is condemned under the law. There is not other option. And what is our response to the apostle closing the door on any other salvation than grace? "We say amen so be it." Why do we say this? Because we do not make solidarity with those who believe that they can offer God something to be saved. Why do we live under the warning of those who believe in a works salvation? Because they are infected with a spirit of rebellion. We are not just obligated to disagree with the wrong confession but we also must test the spirits to see if the solidarity is with those who believe in real grace. In other words when we are talking about religious activities its very easy for us to confuse grace with works. We always accept the positive affirmation of grace but we seldom seek to disentangle ourselves with trusting in other things as idols. We also are required to denounce the importance of our own righteousness. Its hard to hold onto the pure gospel.   Reply Quote Notify

1031  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: 100 Bible facts on Sabbath and sunday on: July 16, 2012, 10:25:26 AM God did not come to Abraham with the Ten Commandments but with a covenant of grace. The Ten commandments came after God covenanted with Abraham. This is why Law and grace are not mixed. The reason is that God brought Abraham to Himself through a promise. There was no time where Abraham came to God through the law. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. If the righteousness came through the law then salvation by grace is of no effect. What is the purpose of the Law? It was to show the ot saint that he could not be accepted based upon his works.. his sacrifices.. his national identity or anything other than the free mercy of God through Christ. The law covenant given at Mt Sinai was purposed to work so that man in approaching God could only bring his sin and nothing else. The law covenant gave man the proper attitude as a sinner deserving nothing other than wrath and punishment. So there was no time where a saint lived his life based upon the acceptance of his bringing a sacrifice. But God only accepted those who came to him with their sins. Any time we see a confession of an ot saint it is that if God were to count that mans sins... judge that man according to the law covenant that no man could stand. What was the only hope for those who were under not only the ten commandments but the ceremonial laws? What was their only plea for acceptance and confidence in Gods gifts? It was Gods unfailing love!!In other words they had to look away from the ceremonial laws.. the daily reciting of the Torah and come to God through the covenant of grace given to Abram. In order for any person to be saved he must declare himself wicked in order to be righteous.     Reply Quote Notify

1032  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Noah and the law on: July 16, 2012, 08:36:11 AM But the law of God is written on the heart so that men are without excuse. This does not save a man tho. But it gives men the rope to hang themselves because they take the law of God and make it a law unto themselves. And so the first treachery on this earth is against Christ who demands absolute obedience. So the law does not work righteousness but it makes a man responsible for his own eternal punishment. The law does not create righteousness in the heart but it brings judgment upon all men. The law curses men who are born under its power. But to say that the power of law works injustice is not correct either. Because the law is spiritual. So the law is not really a written code but it brings a man to see himself before God. The law defines man as he is related to God. So we see that to reject God is to turn from what God says. And really this relationship is not an eternal punishment equal crimes for equal punishment. But what we must see is that integrity in the moral sense is to walk in the path of life. So treachery is to walk in a path of destruction. The path of life is a path of blessing and the path of destruction is the path of cursing. So it is clearly spelled out as according to how one is related to God Himself. God cannot allow a man to come on his own through the law. Because man naturally devises his own schemes from the law written on his heart. A man always approaches his own success in this world in a religious zeal. There is no man who can say that he is ritely related to other men by his position in society. But all men must be reduced to powerlessness in order to turn to God. There is no man who is righteous by His behavioral integrity. A man is righteous because he has been given new life by grace. This man has ceased to try to be righteous in himself. God must regenerate a man by His eternal promise of deliverance. God implants His word in the mans heart. The implanted word is Gods implanting His fleshly heart in place of mans stony heart. This implantation is not through reciting creeds or praying the Lords prayer or through baptism but its having a new understanding. This is a totally new spiritual transformation. So its not a moral determination to obey the law but its being placed in the path of life  which is the same thing as taking refuge in God. When a man is regenerated by the Spirit then He is a man of integrity. This makes all the difference in the world in light of our understanding how we are related to God through Christ. When God saves a man He not only destroys his old will but He places that man in a family so that God becomes his Father. So the relationship is secure only because the man has a new identity. Its not because a man can recite creeds or claim righteousness through baptism. But to accept sovereign grace and to understand saving faith we must start with God. The new will is a call of God where a man knows that his salvation is secure because He is represented by the name or authority of God. This puts a man in rite relationship with God so that he is a servant of God. A servant of God is simply a man who holds to his confession and will not abandon his confidence that salvation is in God alone. We must understand that salvation is believing that God not only saves a man at a point and time but that salvation is secured in God alone from beginning to end. This is the only genuine call that God gives when He saves a man.       Reply Quote Notify

1033  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Noah and the law on: July 14, 2012, 06:53:40 PM The book of Genesis as well as the other books in the ot are written to show Gods dealing with men. They are not written as an historical account of all that went on. And so the wisdom of this is to understand the Theological point the author.. Moses is trying to get across. As you see man was enjoying something that we could not imagine in the beginning of creation. I do not think that man was neurotic in the sense that he experienced destructive impulses prior to the fall. And so man had not understanding of the curses of the law. Ive read some theological books about the point of one small sin growing into the whole earth falling into re probation and thus God brought about the flood as a judgement. But i do not believe that sin alone was so powerful after the fall to bring man into this rapid decline. I think that a society that is in some way restrained either by desire or law ...when the restraint is lifted has no experience of sin and its consequences and so because there is no danger in their foresight they have a sense of freedom to sin. You see this in societies that go from a dictatorship to a democracy. You also saw this when Luther freed the bible from the lectern of the catholic church and the people did not have experience of dealing with temptation because of the restraints put on them prior to the reformation. So there is more than just the sin and temptation in the mix of why a society falls rapidly into vile sins. Its really the relationship to the law. And this is where we get into the curses and the blessings. Because in our natural resistance to sin we blindly borrow cursing ..the cursed dispositions.....in order to feel powerful enough to overcome temptation. This is why people sort of miss apply grace and through their lack of understanding never develop a check in their reactions to sin and temptation. Brothers it is not natural for us to always apply the gospel to our downward spirals. And this is what makes us trust in powers that are phantom powers. You see Adam who experienced a dramatic change. One moment he is enjoying pure blessing and joy .. and then the next moment he has a different desire that entered. The desire to destroy not only others but himself. And this is very important. Because sin had not been practiced enough for man to know the real danger of its effects. This is why i believe that man had a better understanding of cursing and blessing even tho sin was not completely understood. God even had to remind Cain that sin was crouching at the door so to speak. But man enjoyed the freedom from experiencing the curses and thus was more logical in his attempt to bring blessing into his life. But the problem was that man in this early confidence was actually practicing more destruction than he imagined. And this is what the gospel does to us. It creates the need to see the potential of destruction that sin has brought. It reminds us that we are hopeless unless we apply Christ to our sin and weaknesses. The gospel through desperate measures brings us to experience freedom through blessing so that we avoid the destructive impulses of the curses of the law. But man in those early days was like the leper who could not feel his limbs so that without pain he was blind to the potential of danger to them.       Reply Quote Notify

1034  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: The coming of the great Apocalypse on: July 14, 2012, 02:02:25 PM Im still working on this....been very busy... Remove Reply Quote Notify

1035	Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Called to Suffer:	on: July 13, 2012, 02:24:36 AM
Been very busy....lol Buddism is simply embracing a contradiction. Its the quest to give up everything including the thinking process in order to find oneself. But how can you give up the process of thinking unless you can determine that youve given up everything? But we know that in order for us to give up ourselves we must embrace Christ. So we are actually seeking someone who is revealed in the flesh and who determines the substance of all reality from the beginning to the end. Just because we cannot understand God in a physical sense in how He relates to us on a daily basis other than His word does not mean there is a practical replacement in the experience of being unburdened of these different weights that we get burdened by. Because we cannot divorce experience from revelation. So that all truth is revealed truth. This includes the truth about oneself. I mean the truth given not just through revelation but also through daily wisdom. Christ is the revelation of God so that in seeking Him we find ourselves. Karma is a belief that through chance good becomes personal. Because karma simply is a golden rule. Its an assumption that a person deserves good in return for good exercised. Its a philosophy of very small and narrow view of reality. Because it assumes that we can determine all of the circumstances that determine our present experience. But good things can come to us from very small mistakes. We can face bad circumstances because someone else was helped. So in a sense we are envisioning something in the future that may or may not happen but according to the golden rule it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. lol But we know that when we experience bad we are to think on things that are good for the purpose of them becoming good. And we know that when good things happen to us we cannot truly enjoy them unless our hearts are enlarged to give glory to God for them.      036  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Extremism of Touching the Unclean Thing on: July 09, 2012, 09:55:36 AM Early on in my church experience i was given some very important lessons about extremism. Having escaped an armininist church that had become extreme in going charismatic i was fortunate to be under a pastor who in my opinion..because of my gifts of discernment from a young age ... who was beyond his years of maturity in the Calvinistic tradition. But ive always been very cautious and suspicious of the political groups in the church setting. I believe that i was taught real Calvinism in an environment of many gifted people who i suspect have become seasoned Calvinist to this day. But i have always believed that prayer was the way that i was introduced to the most gifted environment. Youve got to understand that i do not believe in my heart that any of this worship is automatic. And I am scary dogmatic. Ive been in churches that actually taught absolution of sins from the confession in a public sense. And yet these people think they are orthodox. They pride themselves being balanced Calvinist who use missionary teachings that give them authority to accept other doctrinal positions in defending that persons rite to be heard in the church. And yet these same people will argue for the WCF and against extremism. Go figure. lol This is why Calvinism is really not equal with any denomination. Because ive always watched the system that a person adheres too and how he reasons it out to its logical end. And after seeing the problems of extremism in any denomination i believe that the focus of worship is geared toward militant desires. I have never been a person who just repeats creeds. I do not believe that church is necessary for just people who struggle with sin and need forgiveness. But its for people who are totally desperate. Who are suffering abuse in some ways and need a place of refuge to argue their personal case to God in this special time. And so ive always believed that being engaged in church is focused on the personal struggles in a private desire and prayer focus. I really fear taking these things for granted like they did in the ot. Regulating to me is going to church and coming out believing that things will change the next day and week. lol Early on in my growth i had a gift of discernment that saved me from most of the political factions in most of american religious culture. Ive always believed that sunday was the easiest day because i believed that the activity of prayer determined my life being qualified. So ive always placed more trust in what i learn from prayer because i believe it created the church environment. Ive always put very little trust in public prayers.. public creeds.. confessional dogma.. and political and social groups.Early on in my experience with Calvinistic worship together with my private prayer and meditation i experienced the highest form of worship that any one will experience on this earth. After that all these other services are child's play.lol  In fact as time has gone on i have more and more distrusted the hymns because of using the Psalms so much in my life.. they seem to me to be mystical and emotional. Its taken me a long time to became this dogmatic and square and be comfortable talking like this. I feel like ive accomplished a lot.          Remove Reply Quote Notify 1037  Forums / Theology Forum / Extremism of Touching the Unclean Thing on: July 09, 2012, 08:25:08 AM Extremism is simply using a system of belief and taking it to its logical end. But grace cannot be systemically explained. So that the unclean thing is any idea that is presented that is not entirely correct and if taken to its logical end would be extreme. In the christian apologetic we are arguing about dispositional qualities and not systems. One is secularism and the other is personal ism. This is why the bible does not produce an argument against another argument but the bible assumes that the truth is contained in its own evidence so that all other systems are corrupted. We call this the difference between blessing and cursing. So that truth also produces a quality of life and not just a system to adhere to. This is why presenting ideas is the same thing as describing aggression as opposed to grace. We can actually touch an unclean dispositional quality from believing an idea that is not entirely correct. And this is why we always look at the system that is presented so that we can reason in a holistic way. And there is only one blessed teaching that brings us to a comparison with all systems of belief and that is the sovereign grace teaching. This is exactly why we only look at those ideas that God has said He has blessed. And so we are really trying to avoid extremes by examining a system to see if that logical end of that system has become extreme. A lot of people say that extremism is holding to an extreme position of scripture. And they argue that these things are regulated by the word of God. And in this argument is a presupposition that a system of belief is that by which we determine what is to be regulated. What i am saying is that we need to regulate the system and thus avoid extremes. lol In this section i am going to describe the problems that arise from a system of belief. I am using the wisdom books to prove my point.       Reply Quote Notify 1038  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Prayer - why bother on: July 08, 2012, 09:49:08 PM http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/living-grace/player/the-father-of-glory-287100.html the weight of this sermon .. i cant put into words ...Martyn Martyn Martyn wow. Reply Quote Notify 1039  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Christ in us Scriptures on: July 07, 2012, 10:03:33 PM The word Holy in scripture is more than the ten commandments or a set of principles.But holy is other. Or its God set apart from all the creation. There is God behind the door that leads to the throne. And so holy is the mysterious unfathomable power and glory that is hidden behind the door. And this power or glory is evidenced in Gods creation. The very complicated structures of life and yet the relative ease in which they work in unison. Together with this view we enjoy the pleasure we receive when we ponder all of Gods works. So holy leads us to worship beyond something naturally created by man.  It is power in the smallest event or created thing. Just look at the praying mantis and observe the movement of his parts that are like a hair and yet they move with precision. And look at the waves of the ocean. You hear a distinct majestic sound of the waves as they make a loud thundering and yet they fall on the water in the pearl sound. An amazing display of the mind and character of a holy God who shows forth this beauty that mesmerizes us and causes our hearts to melt with wonder and praise.   Reply Quote Notify 1040  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Prayer - why bother on: July 07, 2012, 09:29:57 PM A god who is reactionary is a very small god. And if you have that disease then there are always gonna be more reason why you cant pray than you could imagine. This is why the bible talks about a course of life. You have this teaching in the wisdom books. There really is no discussion of how sin and trouble gets in between God and you. But the course is very distinct. Those who do not have God in all their thoughts are going on a course in life. Those people who do not have a desire to seek God are the ones who do not call on the name of the Lord. This relationship is God centered. Because God demands a goodness that no one can attain to. So God acts according to His gift of ability that He gives by grace. So the relationship is not trying to figure out what God wants in a particular situation. Because God does not tell us exactly what to do all the time. If God reacts to us then how do we know what His behavior is gonna be without reading into it in a given situation? Obviously most of what we think about God is like those who worship trees.. or the created things. They read the danger or pleasure from these things and create their own god by the power and pleasure they experience from these things. In other words their whole doctrinal system is based upon the immediate reaction in the natural realm. This is simply something that goes on in their own minds. But Gods ways are not mans ways. God leads men down two separate roads. The humble road and the proud or arrogant road. A man who has received salvation is always accepted in a refuge doctrine. This refuge doctrine is all the behaviors as a character of the person who has an ability to depend upon God in a real relationship. And so one behavior over laps the other behavior. Each behavior is the holistic character of all the behaviors. So a person who calls on God is said to be humble... righteous.. one who thinks thoughts after God. And then you can say a righteous person is one who has these other behaviors implanted in his new birth. As i have said we either got the whole enchilada or we get nothing. lol What we are talking about here is a healthy consistent view of the christian life where we more and more are enabled to draw near to Christ. God is not an alcoholic God who reacts according to our struggles but rather God gifts us with all things... desires...physical needs... having a proper identity....and everything we need in life. God has gifted us with all these things so that we might experience His unfailing love. The more we experience His gifts the more we will be enabled to seek Him and the more we will become like Him. The more we become like Him the more we will enjoy Him. So that our lives will be marked by joy..peace.. patience.. kindness...etc. Because as we walk in the Spirit these are the fruit that we will experience. And we will have high experiences when we worship God according to His Spirit. This in turn will give us an ability of transparency and a life where we go from one conversion to another. As we experience these things our faith will be strengthened like a muscle. This view is Christ centered. Because righteousness always goes out before us in our particular path. And faithfulness is always behind us. Christ is our beginning and ending of our salvation. So we are always looking at this road as needing to have it made flat for us to walk on. This is accomplished by our one desire to glorify God by enjoying Him forever. This one desire is the hope in His word .. or future deliverance that is planned for us. This word is all of our salvation in one focus or hope. But the wicked are like the chaff that the wind blows away. Their lives are shallow and so they are weightless.         Reply Quote Notify 1041  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Prayer - why bother on: July 07, 2012, 04:34:05 PM Prayer is carrying on a personal relationship with our Father. So there is no boundaries that are forbidden to cross for us to seek God so that we act as if we are trying to be something we are not. Nor is prayer just a spiritual exercise. David said that he sought God with all his might. That means that he took the time to praise God with all of his might and to seek God with such focus that he was physically exhausted. People talk about praying according to Gods word. So they talk about  our desires on the one hand and Gods will on the other hand. And a lot of people divide their prayers into different categories .. like petition.. confession.. etc. So because we make prayer like going through certain rituals we never get to the bottom of our anxieties, fears, anger, or experiencing a new spiritual conversion through Gods personal touch as if He was put His hand on the leper and healed him. Some people assume that God is like them.. He is like the relationships they encounter in their lives.  This is a big problem with us because we are what we think and what we think is how we adapt to the culture and religious circumstances that we face. Its very difficult for us to go outside the box and imagine that God is saying something we have heard taught to us and we just assume that God speaks like we have been taught. Its hard for ua to imagine that maybe that person who is teaching does not really understand what he is teaching in an experiential way. Maybe God wants to speak to us as if we heard a distinct voice. Maybe what we think God wants is not really what He does in a real relationship. Is it possible for us to go through years and years of talking to God in an orthodox way and yet never experience fellow shipping with Him? I mean if God is so much greater than we could imagine hows come we talk like he is just another authority figure? Maybe we do not intend to know God like an authority figure but we just assume that He is a basic high priest who says yes to some things we ask for and no to other things. lol We think prayer is getting acceptance from God because we confess our sins. But how do we know that God is mad at this particular sin and not another one we dont really understand about ourselves? So we say because God knows all of this mysterious things about us then it doesnt matter how we talk to Him because obviously He is set in His ways and He never changes so He has very little emotion because Hes gonna do what Hes gonna do. lol And then some of us think that God is working with us like an accountant. He knows we would be spoiled if He gave us what we wanted so obviously because He hasnt given us those things we ask for then He knows what is best for us. But how do we know that God is thinking like someone who wants us to be responsible and thats why they know best? When did God tell us what He was thinking about a particular circumstance in our lives so that we were sure that we crossed the line of asking?  Maybe God is looking at us and saying.." Boy... these people think so small." lol How do we know anything about God if we just talk like He is our authority figure? If God is greater than we could ever imagine... more generous than any father on this earth.... more able than any ruler on this earth... more compassionate than the most mature saint that ever walked this earth.. then why are we not experiencing something greater so that we find it is impossible to put it into words? Maybe we really never have met this God.       Reply Quote Notify 1042  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Prayer - why bother on: July 06, 2012, 03:58:20 PM Prayer is the only free acceptance that we experience in this world that is fully and entirely free. I mean just think of it this way. Prayer is a gift of God to us so that He would provide our daily needs.. keep us from the whiles of the Devil...protect us from trouble.. that promise to bring us out of all our troubles.. subdue all our fears through the free gospel alone.. leading us to green pastures...because in prayer we experience the healing hand of a Shepherd who guards the general welfare of the sheep that are under his care. Because prayer is an extension of Gods unfailing covenant love through experiencing God. There is nothing in this world that is more able to lead us to understand our purpose than Gods grace provided to us through His unfailing love. I just do not understand how people can look for freedom any where else. Because prayer is accessing all answers to our needs that are gifted to us. lol No matter what we are struggling with.. no matter how deep our sin is.. no matter how much rejection we experience.. no matter how we experience abuse and neglect in prayer we are made completely  whole. Why is this? Because there is nothing equal with Gods word. If any person.. thing.. word.. promise.. threat.. was equal with Gods grace then Gods grace would cease to always be available to us in which we could always go to. Now listen.. we would never have a real refuge. It would just be an imaginary one. And so we would not be bold in our approach for God not only to lead us out of temptation but to subdue all the forces that stand against our one desire. Because grace surrounds our one desire to glorify God by enjoying  Him forever. The problem is not that we are lacking something or we need something in order to be accepted enough to be bold enough to ask.. but the problem is that we do not believe grace is really grace. That its for obtaining the opposite of what we know we deserve. Grace is free.. Gods purpose in our lives and the success we experience is free. And in fact even our areas where we struggle will be made rite as experienced to us as a free gift  according to Gods timetable. God will not fail us.       Reply Quote Notify 1043  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Called to Suffer: on: July 06, 2012, 03:33:35 PM This is turning out to be a brutal world. And there have already been some significant changes from the old ways. Many people are starting to acknowledge that things are not the same culturally. So we need to apply the gospel but in a very different economy. The only steadfast solution is to focus on the gospel of grace and begin to weed out the false views. Because we are not like the old days when there was hardly any tension in the world. But now i believe that the Lord has begun to put a sword in this world. We are gonna experience more alienation.. jealousy... fear.. threats..and being tempted to be disheartened. Its not gonna be a return to the old days . lol So we need to prepare ourselves. For some people who know the old standards its like remembering Jerusalem as they sat by the rivers of Babylon and wept. There on the poplars they hung their harps. Every time they remembered the old days and the freedoms they enjoyed it just brought up a lot of sorrow. So no one wanted to sing. lol A very stark reality that is part of struggling under a system of oppression and threats. And yet their oppressors were mocking them saying "Sing us one of the songs of Zion." You know the songs of the glory of the Lord. THat great city of Zion where the Lord reigned. It was a splendid city of David where He danced down main street after subduing all of his enemies. lol Well the brutal reality is that those are old memories. lol But we see in the heart of a saint that he will refuse to be identified with the new regime. He is a very simple gospel man. This man is a square and out of touch with the world. lol All he remembers is the glory of Christ and the history of Christ rule. And in fact its like a covenant that he makes signed in his own blood. He has a conviction that is dangerous. On the one hand there are people who love that conviction but on the other hand there are people who absolutely despise that conviction.And every time this man remembers the old days he swears that if he were to forget Jerusalem that he would be taken home to the Lord. That he would forget his skill ..those gifts that brought him to experience the old ways. And there is an intense hate toward the brutality of the new world. So much that his prayers are that those daughters of Babylon would have their babies dashed against the stone like they sought to destroy the seed of God. Yes we live with real memories and real enemies who are seeking to destroy any trace of that old world. But our convictions demand that we not only be true to the glory of God but we must be true to ourselves. lol     Reply Quote Notify 1044  Forums / Main Forum / Re: Asking for forgiveness of sins. on: July 06, 2012, 03:11:59 PM This is just passive universalism. Jesus balanced out the sermon with warnings that we should hate as well. And He also warned that if we see our brothers in need and do not respond that it is a sign there is no christian love and Christ sends them into eternal punishment. Yes,... that same Christ who said for us to forgive as a general rule. But there are all kinds of reason to justly demand our rites. Look at the Grecian Jews who were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.  In fact the Grecian Jews protested.What was the apostles response? lol So the apostles set in motion the leadership of the church in which the deacons actually took care of the needs of the poor. And then you see the apostle in his sermon to the Ephesian elders just before he was taken captive. It was his last meeting face to face with these leaders. And what did he say as a command? He said at the end remember the poor. lol. This is exactly what James was saying when he said faith without works is dead. Basically James was talking about treating brothers differently based upon their social status. James was saying you have faith? Show me your works by taking care of the fatherless and widows.. the poor... a further acknowledgement of the ot covenant grace promise. lol So there are a lot of different situations that demand different responses than putting a burden on people by making a sweeping statement of unlimited forgiveness.    Reply Quote Notify 1045  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Prayer - why bother on: July 05, 2012, 04:01:12 PM The christian life according to faith is a way of thinking. Because Satan opposes words first. Satan will twist a word. But Satan also is the god of this world. He has taught His children a way of acting. A system of belief. Now a lot of people think that i am going to an extreme. And this is because they think im like the guy who reads some book and out of that learning i write. But i am not a novice at this sort of thing. I know exactly what the schemes are in a situation. Because ive spent thirty years unraveling mens schemes through the Psalms. Look.. i know the new way is to teach a system and then to back off.. then to come harder with the teaching. I know exactly what the powerful are trying to do. But they do not know me. I will overcome their schemes. And it will not be because i am strong. BUt these Psalms are creative. And they do not have a particular method but they are a wise word for the rite time. You cannot oppose something that is so ingrained in our culture now unless you oppose it with new wisdom every day. This is what they underestimate about God. I would not even oppose an armininist who chanted psalms. Thats how fearful these are to me.  Reply Quote Notify 1046  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Prayer - why bother on: July 05, 2012, 03:40:36 PM Ive been talking about this for quite awhile. Because we build a little bit at a time with our faith. So our faith is like a muscle. But how do we struggle in building our faith? This is where the ot understanding of law and grace when properly applied is the way in which we wrestle with ourselves and with our circumstances in our creative way. Because there is nothing in this life that we will not overcome. We may experience a set back but they are only humps to walk over. And let me discuss this relationship with grace and the commands. Because God also commands our salvation. And yet God does not do this outside of His promise to act according to His nature. That description being explained somewhat in the ten commandments. And yet we never deserve for God to command our salvation because we do not deserve a good return being corrupted.  And yet God commands ... gives the word of deliverance as an ongoing exercise of His attributes. This is why the ot gives us this relationship to a holy God in a covenant language. Because God cannot just have a relationship to us according to His goodness in this just way. He must be able to overlook our sin and yet command our salvation according to His standard of goodness. But yet this is how He has designed our prayers. He ask us to ask Him to command our deliverance. Now think of this. If God were to just do this Himself then how could He enter time undue the awful and intricate schemes of evil men who seek to destroy His elect? God must be in complete control in order to command the commands of men. He must be able to turn the hearts of kings whatsoever way that He wants. So we see that God wants us in our dependence to acknowledged our complete inability to change our circumstances and yet wrestle to strengthen our faith as we command Him to command mens commands. Our deliverance is both a positive and destructive ongoing struggle.     Reply Quote Notify 1047  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Protestant vs Cathloic confession? on: July 04, 2012, 04:27:09 PM THESE are the THREE people in the marriage of Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise — the actor, wife Katie Holmes and Scientology leader David Miscavige. Sources close to Cruise and Katie last night said their romance was doomed from the start because of the Hollywood hero’s intense friendship with Miscavige. The pair are so close that Miscavige, 52, is mocked as Scientologist Cruise’s “manwife”. He was the star’s best man when he wed actress Katie five years ago. And he has loomed large over their relationship ever since. Cruise and Miscavige — known to the actor as COB, standing for Chairman of the Board — are both diminutive and have been known to wear matching black silk shirts. The cult chief is said to have showered Cruise with lavish gifts including an AIRCRAFT HANGAR for his private jet and a custom-built luxury coach. An insider said: “Miscavige and Tom are joined at the hip. Tom runs every important decision in his life by him. “Tom really values his opinion and Katie often felt like she came in second place. When it became clear how much influence he had over her husband she knew she had to get away.” Katie, 33, fled the couple’s Beverly Hills mansion before filing for divorce in New York on Thursday. She is seeking sole custody of daughter Suri, six, to “save” her from Scientology. She sprung a surprise on Cruise, 50, yesterday, after she was given information about Miscavige’s grip on her family by disillusioned defectors from the sect. One insider told how Cruise distanced himself from the cult for a spell during his 11-year marriage to second wife Nicole Kidman. But Miscavige, who runs Scientology’s 500-acre “Gold Base” HQ in San Jacinto, California, allegedly obtained reports on the Hollywood hero’s activities.And he clawed Cruise back when his relationship with Nicole hit the buffers, giving him a hand-picked team of staff who catered to his every whim. In 2005, referring to Scientology’s founder L Ron Hubbard, Cruise said of Miscavige: “I have never met a more competent, more intelligent, more tolerant, more compassionate being outside of what I’ve experienced from LRH.” Marty Rathbun, a former high-ranking Church executive who quit in 2004, said: “Nicole was really sour on Scientology and kept pressing Tom to stay away. “She spotted Miscavige and didn’t like what she saw. Her big issue was that Tom was becoming like Miscavige. Nicole didn’t like the relationship that was developing between them.” Rathbun knows Cruise’s deepest secrets as he often “audited” the star, in a process similar to Catholic confession, while with the cult. He said Katie’s family are “aware of my stuff”. And he added: “There was an incredible amount of control of Tom’s life. “It was a very wise move getting her out of the Church and LA.” Katie, raised a Catholic, was also audited — but was careful not to divulge much. A source said: “She was never completely committed to Scientology but participated because she was in love with Tom and knew it meant a lot to him.” Cruise flew back to America from Iceland in the early hours yesterday after scrapping plans for an A-list party to celebrate his 50th. He has been filming sci-fi movie Oblivion there and was due to stay until Friday. But shooting in the country finished early and will now resume in California. This is a great object lesson on how religion can create a miss understanding of authority. This stuff happens all the time outside of the cult thingy. Reply Quote Notify 1048  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Gods Love on: July 04, 2012, 01:30:32 PM Gods love goes from one end of the eternal universe to the other. And so Gods love is expressed to us through His grace, according to His faithfulness, and through His being long suffering and gentle. Because God is always good. The reason that we can say that God is always good is because He has decided to fellowship with us through prayer. God has given us the power to declare His sovereign declaration of all time upon all the earth. Because He has given us the word of deliverance through a covenant signed in blood. This blood is the price of our value in this relationship. This is why no man can stand up against His children. God has not just loved us by describing this love that is from our view of the skies and imagination beyond this immediate beauty but He speaks to us so that we know how He responds to us in our troubles, in our pain and in our causes. God will not be mocked. He has established a covenant signed in His blood in which we will judge the nations. But we can defend ourselves and those who are being abused in this world through the curses of the law. Ive never seen a man stand up against the curses of the law. If men could thwart the judgement that these curses enact then God would not be able to send men to hell. But as sure as Gods covenant is forever so His promise to punish men forever is a sure declaration. We can be sure that those curses from His lips are sure and steadfast. Because God has shown us His love through His faithfulness in His eternal covenant of grace we can be guarded from the hands of the wicked man. We have an eternal promise according to Gods unfailing love that we will be gifted with His eternal justice. On the one side to us is His faithfulness, love, kindness, and patience. On the other side of the scale is His wrath toward the wicked, His promise to thwart their way , and finally His ability to stand over all His enemies on our behalf and to declare salvation for all of His elect. We can be sure that just as He has made us with an intense hatred toward abuse and evil so His punishment is greater than anything kind of hate we experience. But in His promise to give rest from the weight of this world .. He has given us the greater weight of His covenant love. He has proven it by declaring the final declaration of separating the sheep from the goats through all time in the single written curse of the law. It is His promise to destroy all evil and abuse.      Remove Reply Quote Notify 1049  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: TT.UU.LL.II.PP.s still bloom on: July 04, 2012, 01:03:33 PM Salvation is in God alone. This is why salvation is a gift of grace that gives a man full acceptance with God based upon Gods work. Salvation is simply being delivered from sin, death and ones self. It is not a partial deliverance but it is a deliverance of the whole man for the whole of life. Not only life as defined by time but life as to the fullest. So that the purpose of salvation is for Gods glory and ends when He will spread His tent over us .. no longer will we hunger .. no longer will we thirst.. no longer will sun beat upon us for He will wipe away every tear from our eyes. How can we be confident of this? Because salvation is in God alone. Before the foundation of the world God decided to save some men to show that He is good. Instead of judging the first man through eternal punishment, God decided to allow evil by decreeing whatsoever comes to pass. So God allowed the first man to be tempted enough so that he fell into sin. God established His word through His faithfulness to show through allowing man to sin that He alone deserves all the glory. If in fact God was surprised by the first sin then every event after that would be God reacting to the events of a fallen world. And Gods word could not be trusted because it was not a sovereign declaration prior to the event. If in fact any event in this world is not ordered by God then God no longer is God and man becomes a god. If God did not decide before hand to save some men then His word cannot be trusted. And if Gods saving word cannot be trusted then salvation is not in God alone. And if salvation is not in God alone then it is not by grace. Now some men spend all their lives living in unbelief as i have stated here. They use a thing, an argument , or some idol that stands in between them and God. So they are always focused on themselves. If there is anything that can prevent a man from continually enjoying salvation than that thing is stronger than grace. And if that thing is stronger than grace then it defines the relationship to God in salvation. But we know that our salvation begins in grace .. is caused by grace...grace is the only reason we can look back and enjoy our salvation. What does this mean? That no matter what happens in our lives.. no matter how much sin we struggle with.. no matter how injured we are in this world that we can look outside of those events.. outside of ourselves and declare that we are loved by God. And if we are loved by God who has decided before hand to love us then our salvation is through grace and according to Gods unfailing love. God has declared this to be so. Let God be true and every man a liar.  Reply Quote Notify 1050  Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Free grace versus wrathful punishment on: July 03, 2012, 04:38:36 AM Oh I went back and reread the thread. I understand what your saying. Ive been pretty busy later.. sorry bout that.