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Hello, you might describe me as an "originalist" I believe that the Words of Jesus must come before the words of Paul. I know this will ruffle Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox feathers but I will take the podium to point out that Jesus meant his teachings to be used by his disciples and anyone who would follow Him. His teaching in Matthew 25 pushes false doctrines out of the way and makes it clear that Jesus wants our FAITH to be followed by RIGHTEOUS ACTION. Now before you call me a terrorist (I know you will) I want to point out that I said RIGHTEOUS ACTION not unrighteous action. Many in the Church are led away from even reading the Gospels. Why? Probably because it IS the Gospel. John 3:16 does not sum up the Gospel in any way, it is a "snapshot" of Jesus's teaching to a Pharisee. Jesus had to go pretty deep into Old Testament doctrine in order to show the Religious Ruling class that He was indeed Messiah AND the Son of God. (The two terms are not the same, Moses was also a Messiah but he was born of human parents and awaits the Resurrection) The Son of God IS God in the Flesh and that only happened ONCE in human history. Martin Luther and a great many other misled men got it 100% wrong. Why? Because they were not BORN AGAIN according to ACTS. I was. There are a few others like me whose eyes have been fully opened. The BEST way to HIDE a fact is to put it RIGHT in FRONT of everyone's eyes and that is the case regarding who will be saved and why. If we were to suppose that salvation was of "faith only" (using the modern definition of faith, not the original definition of faith) then Jesus would have said "You are judged by your intentions, not by your works" But repeatedly He preaches that a human is only justified if He or she obeys God. Remember Abraham obeyed God and that was credited to him! So obedience IS a credit and not a "passive negative" that is preached (tragically) behind the pulpits today. Is obedience a work? You better believe it! Remember the NT is NOT understandable unless you read the OT and actually understand what God is trying to point out. I think the summary of the OT can be put in these few words: "Mankind is foolish to worship HIM in mankind's own way" The OT itself can be a muddle unless you are reading it with the Spirit of God guiding you. You CANNOT understand Scripture unless you are saved according to ACTS.
I'll wrap it up there, this is now open to your debate. I know that many of you will automatically have issues with this but had I run into the SAME line of reasoning 15 years ago I would have disputed it too because I was blind as well. Hint: The reason why so many "Christians" fail at everything is because they fail to use reasoning and rationality in their research and they fail to ask the LORD for the interpretation of the Scripture. Yes, I know I'll probably be banned from this forum but then again truth tellers are always hated by the entrenched religious establishment.
I'll wrap it up there, this is now open to your debate. I know that many of you will automatically have issues with this but had I run into the SAME line of reasoning 15 years ago I would have disputed it too because I was blind as well. Hint: The reason why so many "Christians" fail at everything is because they fail to use reasoning and rationality in their research and they fail to ask the LORD for the interpretation of the Scripture. Yes, I know I'll probably be banned from this forum but then again truth tellers are always hated by the entrenched religious establishment.