Not By Works

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.
May 23, 2020
1,558
313
83
I believe each one of us that believes in the finished work of the Cross of Jesus the Messiah would never stray because we are His work. And we have unity in the foundation. That’s the new birth. Born from above, citizens now of heaven. We say the same thing. Obviously, His work for man can never be fully unified unless placed “in Him”.

That should be the measuring stick.
He never guarantees you cannot stray because He is at work. No one is hog tied to Him. You assume that which he NEVER promised without conditions.
 
May 23, 2020
1,558
313
83
Translation: you have no treasures to share. You’re simply a tare who’s sole purpose is to sow discord among Christian brethren. Even Jackie sees this, and that says a lot.
If you see no value in what I share then That is your choice. Others do see value and have said so. You are not one of them.
 
May 23, 2020
1,558
313
83
Thanks for stating what EH posted. I’ll have to check it out for I sense a ring of truth there and want to know more.
You swallow the idea that if a person survives the GT, easiest way is to take the mark of the beast, they won’t die afterwards!!!!

But since you admit you don’t have an explanation you obviously were not telling the truth earlier!

And this by people who insist Jesus is leading them into all truth!!
 
May 23, 2020
1,558
313
83
I admit I have been rude...sorry about that...God did point that out to me....my emotions take over and I react.....so I’m praying about it....asking God to humble me more......but I’m still saved DorothyMae.
Never said you weren’t. You are just easily fooled.
 
E

EleventhHour

Guest
You swallow the idea that if a person survives the GT, easiest way is to take the mark of the beast, they won’t die afterwards!!!!

But since you admit you don’t have an explanation you obviously were not telling the truth earlier!

And this by people who insist Jesus is leading them into all truth!!

People survive without taking the mark.

He forces them so that they can buy and sell, it does not state everyone does... and those who are prepared endure and survive until the end of the tribulation.

This is the correct understanding.

Against the fullness of the cross ... a debt paid in full.................. your lose-able/earn-able salvation fails every time.
 
May 23, 2020
1,558
313
83
I never studied any language either in school. But, in the Spirit, I have that roll of the tongue come naturally that sounds a bit like I would think is Spanish. There’s so many different languages and sounds that God has given, it could be anything. I don’t concern myself what it is. Plus it changes as I pray for longer periods. But, it’s pure power. Nothing like it.

All of us who are born of the Spirit of God, IMO, has this. Faith unlocks though.
Does the Spirit pray better through you when you are drunk like JR? Does anyone else who knows Spanish say it is? That would be impressive but I notice your posts and views are likely too ethereal to touch the real world. All fluff and smoke with lofty claims of greatness.
 
May 23, 2020
1,558
313
83
no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus JR. Ever! Put on your armor girl and rise up. Mistakes don’t matter. A heart forvJesus does!
Especially in your own eyes. So what if you say lies! Just call ‘em “mistakes” and look on how you feel about Him instead. He doesn’t care if you lie about others, just how you feel matters.
 

Rosemaryx

Senior Member
May 3, 2017
3,758
4,120
113
63
would that everyone in this thread would also abound in patience and love.
that all our faith would be expressed in this way - in gentleness, in wisdom and compassion towards one another -- that Christ would be glorified through our conversations with one another here


:)
Amen...
...xox...
 

mailmandan

Senior Member
Apr 7, 2014
25,563
13,547
113
58
During my reading of scripture today these words in the second letter to the Thessalonians immediately reminded me of the absurdity of Once Saved Always Saved.
God preserves His saints forever (Psalm 37:28); Jesus' sheep will never perish or be snatched from His hand (John 10:27-28); Those whom God justified He also glorified (Romans 8:30); Believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the redemption of the purchased possession/unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 1:13-14) Does that sound absurd to you?

2 Thessalonians 1:4-5
[4] So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: [5] Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer
So in what sense are we "counted worthy"? In Luke 20:35, we read - but those who are considered/counted/accounted worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage.

Just as in Romans 4:5-6, we read that faith is counted/accounted for/credited as righteousness and God imputes/credits/reckons righteousness "apart from works" so we are not righteous or worthy "in of ourselves." Enduring confirms genuine conversion and divides the wheat from the tares.

What is striking about the above scripture is that it ties in perfectly with these scriptures:

Matthew 24:13
[13] But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Ephesians 4:1
[1] I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called

2 Thessalonians 1:11
[11] Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling

Why would Paul have to pray for them to be counted worthy if their worthiness is guaranteed and secure?
We must not confuse descriptive passages of scripture with prescriptive passages of scripture and you need to understand that Paul is addressing groups of people who profess to be Christians, without being able to infallibly know the actual state of every person's heart. How can Paul avoid giving them false assurance of salvation when in fact they may not be saved? Paul knows that faith which is firmly rooted and established in the gospel from the start will endure and is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)

*Those who endure demonstrate that they are genuine believers. But those who do not endure show that their temporary, spurious faith was not firmly rooted and established from the start.

Matthew 20:16
[16] ...for many be called, but few chosen.
Do you understand the difference between the general call (Matthew 20:16) and the effectual call? (Romans 8:30) This is where you need to rightly divide the word of truth.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,937
13,612
113
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14
[13] But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: [14] Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
thanks!
this reinforces what i was pointing out in chapter 1, that 3-5 & 11-12 are two different prayers, one glorifying God in thanksgiving for the manifest salvation of the people he's writing to, and the other a supplication for them that God work through their faith in power, to His glory. His power - which is made perfect in our weakness through the fellowship of His suffering.

yes i agree that if Paul is confident they have been chosen and called to salvation, 1:10-12 seems unlikely to be praying for what he already is sure is the case and is rejoicing over in 1:3-5 and also 2:13-14.

when chapter 1 was what you wanted to talk about it didn't occur to me to go to chapter 2 before i talked about chapter 1.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
37,937
13,612
113
And in you is fulfilled this scripture:

Matthew 13:13-15
[13] Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. [14] And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: [15] For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Carry on.
do you mean by quoting this, assurance of double-predestination?
 
Feb 29, 2020
1,563
571
113
But those who do not endure show that their temporary, spurious faith was not firmly rooted and established from the start.
I don’t agree with this statement, mailmandan.

This is where the divide lies.

One who falls away fell away from being in the faith.

One who was never in the faith cannot fall away from something he was never in.
 
May 23, 2020
1,558
313
83
No one here will ever visit you and try to seduce you. This is a reportable offense.


What Dot has done is to judge without evidence.
You got to be joking! You think that’s what that means or what I meant??!!

You who make every scripture super spiritual now see this one as physically literal!!!