1. The trouble with the crucifixion image is that Jesus was crucified and the nails did not come out of His hands automatically when He was done dying.
2. Repentance is metanoia - change of thoughts, not of actions. That is the Greek definition. Your whole argument is that it means change of actions. Hence your whole argument is based on a mistranslation. You are correct, there is sorrow according to God and sorrow according to the world, and it is this distinction that is worded into the Didache, and the other early writings you are quoting from. One does not know God enough to change his actions upon accepting Jesus. That's why Rom. 12:2, we need to be transformed by the renewal of mind. More in #9. [Where does the Bible teach that salvation is wrought by ACCEPTING JESUS????? Where does the Bible teach that one does not know God enough to change one's deeds???????? The Bible plainly teaches REPENTANCE PROVEN BY DEEDS. This does not mean one becomes perfect, it means the KNOWN WRONG CONDUCT ceases.]
3. I'm not implying that. The pastors I have worked with over 30 years in such ministries are saying it flat out. You CANNOT get the change in behavior without external help to renew the mind. This is not a one day operation, and is seldom something one can do on his own. [Who is denying the external help????? God's Spirit in the world brings conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment through the preaching of repentance, through the testimony of the scriptures, through the witness of one's conscience. God initiates all that yet that does not mean one has to be saved BEFORE the conviction which brings repentance and conversion can occur. Human reason and rhetoric cannot be used to cancel out the plain teachings of the Bible.]
4. Only Jeremiah mentions actions. And he mentions it second, after the mind is repaired. Jesus' teachings, unless you find one I missed, are for metanoia, the mental change. Only Jeremiah mentions actions???????? All the prophets speak of actions. John the Baptist even spoke of actions when he preached...
Mat 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Mat 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Mat 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Mat 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
In Acts it says...
Act 26:20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
How can you possibly claim that only Jeremiah mentions actions??? I really cannot conceive in my mind why people are so rigid in teaching that the conduct does not have to change BEFORE God will grant mercy and forgiveness. The Bible plainly states it from cover to cover.
5. Of course, just like He will heal all our illnesses, some today, some tomorrow, and some in the Thousand Year Reign. [If your consistent with your belief then you would have to say that a Serial Killer does not have to stop murdering people in order to enter the kingdom. In fact he can be struggling with his murderous habit and giving in from time to time and yet be in Christ. If the murderer has to stop then so does the liar, thief, porn watcher, drunkard, idolator etc. The rebellion to God either has to cease or it does not have to cease. Your teaching that it doesn't have to cease which means you are teaching that YOU CAN SIN AND NOT SURELY DIE. The Bible teaches that those who are Christ's HAVE crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:24) thus the liar, thief, porn watcher, drunkard, idolator, murderer, fornicator, adulterer, homosexual, etc. does not yield to the fleshly desires which drawn them into sinful deeds because those fleshly desires have been crucified once and for all through a broken repentance before God. That is what the Bible PLAINLY teaches.
6. You are attempting to apply vs. 5 to those who say, from experience, that some healings take time and help from the outside. You cannot do this, as this is not listed in the verses around it. Vs. 3 specifically lists false accusers, and that is what someone who says "you are doing things you say you do not want to do solely because your repentance is defective." I am speaking of those who teach that you can willfully engage in the sins of the flesh and yet be saved and in in a justified state, reconciled to God. The people who teach that are preaching Satan's message of "ye can sin and not surely die" and these people DENY the power of God in regards to the ability to live a pure holy life. They speak of this "time" and "help from the outside" and thus coddle those who are still in bondage to their sin instead of teaching them that godly sorrow works a repentance UNTO salvation not to be repented of. They don't preach that the sinner is to DIE WITH CHRIST. They don't preach that the grain of wheat MUST DIE before it can born anew. Instead we see a vast array of self help books, DVD's, conferences, etc. all of which is built upon the foundation that the Old Man DOES NOT DIE but is rather REFORMED GRADUALLY. It is all a lie that is leading millions upon millions of professing Christian's into this...
Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
These people NEVER DIED WITH CHRIST in repentance because they were taught that they did not have to.
7. You have yet to quote a Scripture that in the original language supports this. As I said, you are misinterpreting metanoia, and that changes the statement of pretty much every Scripture you are using. [You appeal to the original languages a lot as if it somehow cancels out what the Bible plainly teaches in English in regards to forsaking sin being a mandatory condition that must be met before God will grant forgiveness. It is pure foolishness to isolate the strict definition of Metanoia (change of mind) and imply that the "changing of actions" is disconnected. Repentance is PROVEN by deeds in the same way the faith is PROVEN by deeds. If the deeds do not change then the mind did not change either. If a professing Christian does not exhibit the deeds of faith in their life (obedient and righteous conduct) then their faith is not Biblical faith. This is all basic stuff, it takes theologians with all their fancy rhetoric to convolute the truth in order to present a lie.
8. This is completety correct. Metanoia implies a choice to let Jesus continue to heal you and a choice to accept every grace He presents. It does not imply that someone other than Jesus can judge when the graces have been sufficient. [As this is a response to my point on the doctrine of the "transfer of Jesus obedience to you" and you affirming that you believe in this doctrine this makes me very upset. So many people believe in this lie and yet they cannot find a single scripture which plainly teaches it. There is not a single place in all the four Gospels where Jesus taught that His obedient track record was going to be transferred to your account so that when God sees you He sees the obedience of Jesus.
It must be a case that this doctrine is so pleasing to the carnal mind that people are so willing to swallow it hook, line and sinker.
9.I'm glad you brought up the Didache. Let's read it all. Where is your baptism sponsors, the prophetic discernment, and the fasting for each person, before he accepts salvation? Where is the wandering prophet and apostle? We have destroyed the early church and their prophetic and apostolic structure of power. Our churches today are mostly weekly repeats of the same non-participational presentation (that's what #6 really applies to). Are you willing to make the commitment to live as the First Century Church? You have put yourself in a position of insisting on the miracles they lived by, without the structure to permit them, and then blaming innocent people who set forth to follow God with the only structure we have, and need help they cannot receive. And please try to understand that thousands of people have started with all the enthusiasm for the word of God, read in English, that you have now, and matured the hard way. You are also in a position of blaming the ministers with lifetimes of experience, who took a step out of the structure to try to get the healings, and matured also, all of whom can quote all your Scriptures by the page. [I still have much to learn and God is teaching me in leaps and bounds. There are many things I do not understand and the preponderance of miracles in the early church is one of these. I have not seen anything that I would call miraculous in the sense of suspending the laws of nature yet I am very open to it and if God so reveals that to me then I am willing. Yet the teachings on repentance and faith, the forsaking of rebellion and yielding to God are SO CLEARLY laid out in Scripture. Just because I have a lot to learn does not mean I am going to buy into the lie of the sin gospel preached almost universally today.]
It's terribly hard to answer walls of text, and to select significant portions to try to highlight the differences in our points of view. I have tried to do so, and hope I did not miss anything important to you. You don't have to for you have answered already. You believe in a gradual crucifixion of the flesh where one rebels less and less yet is covered by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. Thus you deny the scriptures I brought up in my opening post even though you will say all those scriptures are true. The modern gospel preached today is full of contradictions and those who promote it do a great disservice to the actual truth.
So many in the world look at Christianity as a religion of hypocrisy because the purported Christian's sin just as much as they do. The purpoted Christian's just have made the deal and received the magic transfer which covers their ongoing state of rebellion.
The religious system today is just apostate Israel. and the apostate Pharisees dressed up in modern clothing. It is an abomination. Come out of her my people says the Lord.
