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4. Son:
God the eternal Son became incarnate in Jesus Christ. Through Him all things were created, the character of God is revealed, the salvation of humanity is accomplished, and the world is judged. Forever truly God, He became also truly man, Jesus the Christ. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived and experienced temptation as a human being, but perfectly exemplified the righteousness and love of God. By His miracles He manifested God's power and was attested as God's promised Messiah. He suffered and died voluntarily on the cross for our sins and in our place, was raised from the dead, and ascended to minister in the heavenly sanctuary in our behalf. He will come again in glory for the final deliverance of His people and the restoration of all things. (John 1:1-3, 14; Col. 1:15-19; John 10:30; 14:9; Rom. 6:23; 2 Cor. 5:17-19; John 5:22; Luke 1:35; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 2:9-18; 1 Cor. 15:3, 4; Heb. 8:1, 2; John 14:1-3.)
Originally posted by 3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by NOTurTypical
I guess they thought the best way to avoid being punished was by rejecting his offer? I would think that rejecting an offer from god would make him even madder.
I think it would help if you defined further what you mean by faith. As I mentioned in my last post, true faith is based in a heart-feeling response when there is recognition of Truth. Some of the disciples upon seeing Jesus simply dropped their worldliness because their hearts awakened in faith based on a tacit heart-recognition of Jesus as the Divine. This capacity is inherent in the feeling heart.
Originally posted by 3NL1GHT3N3D1
So my question is this: why do Christians believe that faith is what saves when Jesus clearly says keeping the Law is what saves?
Paul did not "reinvent" Christianity.
Paul re-invented Christianity into such a belief system and told people to simply have faith in that system - a system that includes various beliefs that Jesus' sacrifice was also the believer's salvation and therefore did not require the believer to also transcend the separate self in love; and other presumptions by Paul, e.g., that everyone is inherently separate from God and would only be re-unified some time down the line.
No, you guessed right, I didn't see it.
Perhaps you didn't see my response to you on the "Paul" thread the other day here:
No, by my logic, no one was ever saved by the keeping of the law. The result of the law is death but the result of grace is salvation. Prior to the death of Christ, no person ever kept the law in it's entirety. That is why it was necessary for the high priests to perform sacrifices for the redemption of sins. It has always been the sacrifice that has brought salvation. The sacrifice of Christ is the final sacrifice for the salvation of all who accept it as such.
Matthew 5
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
21 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
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33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
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48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Originally posted by 3NL1GHT3N3D1
reply to post by NOTurTypical
So what's your explanation? Why would the Hebrews refuse gods offer? If their mission was to bring people closer to god, they would have said yes to his offer, plain and simple.
Their decision to reject a personal relationship distanced them from god. How did they plan on bringing people closer to god if they kept distancing themselves from him?
The People's Fear Deut. 5.22-33
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. Heb. 12.18, 19 20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
21 ¶ And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away… See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.
If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.
But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish…I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live…. (Deut. 30:11–19)
Your post on the other thread seems to be a longer version of what you said here.
Jesus offered an immediacy to the Divine if his any follower maintained their love relationship with him as the Divine and practiced as he instructed them - while Paul only promised a re-union down the line and only if one believed in Jesus. This is a huge difference. Really, its a re-invention of Christianity from what Jesus was originally offering.
Right. And those commandments would only be fulfilled moment to moment when one utterly resorts to the Divine and recognizes one's inherent unity. How else could one love one's neighbor as oneself except by recognizing one's inherent non-separation from God and everyone? Jesus offered the relationship to him, his example, and his teaching, in this life - all that made this most essential recognition obvious.
Originally posted by Akragon
reply to post by windword
His law was love... two commandments which all the law and the prophets hang on