The written word: Could we survive as Christians without it?

Also hes Italian and white according to those renaissance paintings.

Oh and the the guy adam, he was some kind of body builder who was always pointing his finger. There was no eve shes not even in the picture. Dont know where people think she came from.

We dug up some fossils and believe Eve was actually an ape. We must be descended from apes cos they look like us but it must have been millions of years ago.

The Bible? Never heard of it. Whats that?

Matt 11:25 - Jesus says that God made the scriptures a mystery to dumbfound the wise and revealed them unto babes. Jesus also said that when he goes to his Father, that he will send another comforter, which is the Holy Spirit and he will bring to your memory all things whatsoever I have taught you. I am under the impression that if we think that we are intelligent enough of our own intellect to understand the scriptures, without having the Holy Spirits revelation he will not reveal the understanding to us.

Before we continue, I want to be VERY CLEAR on your position.


Are you asserting that a Christian should NOT study?

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The salvation by works teaching certainly does project that, yes.
I see it like the pro-choice movement protestations for the right to kill a child even after birth. Notice? They're all already alive?
That's how the works salvation doctrinaire's come across. They teach we must work to stay saved and all the while they're certain they are.
Jesus made it all so simple after making that horrifically pain filled sacrifice on the cross. Those who believe are saved.
Leave it to the pride and ego of human's to interject a complex formula that imparts they want to insure not everyone is saved that easily.
Why?
"Cui Bono" , "Who Benefits?"

This actually resonates a lot with how some view women in the church...

This is just Pantheistic nonsense, and you will not find any Scripture to support it. In fact, you did not provide any.

1. The life of God is eternal life, and that is given as a gift through Jesus Christ our Lord to those who obey the Gospel: For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 6:23).

2. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is Eternal Life, and He is given as a gift only to those who believe: For the Life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that Eternal Life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us (1 Jn 1:2)

Jesus said unto her, I am The Resurrection, and the Life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (Jn 11:25,26)

All living creatures on earth have life and breath given by God, but not all have "the Life of God Himself". But that is what Pantheistic Eastern Religions teach.

'Question: "What is pantheism?"

Answer: Pantheism is the view that God is everything and everyone and that everyone and everything is God. Pantheism is similar to polytheism (the belief in many gods), but goes beyond polytheism to teach that everything is God. A tree is God, a rock is God, an animal is God, the sky is God, the sun is God, you are God, etc. Pantheism is the supposition behind many cults and false religions (e.g., Hinduism and Buddhism to an extent, the various unity and unification cults, and “mother nature” worshippers).

Does the Bible teach pantheism? No, it does not. What many people confuse as pantheism is the doctrine of God's omnipresence. Psalm 139:7-8 declares, “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” God's omnipresence means He is present everywhere. There is no place in the universe where God is not present. This is not the same thing as pantheism. God is everywhere, but He is not everything. Yes, God is “present” inside a tree and inside a person, but that does not make that tree or person God. Pantheism is not at all a biblical belief...'

https://www.gotquestions.org/pantheism.html

Don't be discouraged by naysayers. When God is all and the one God and there is none other than He and no Savior but He,as our Father tells us, then there can be no thing created by the Father that does not have the essence of the Father within it.
Where did he go to create things if he did not create from Himself? Walmart? All things happen according to the time our Father sets for the awakening.
Have you ever sought the search criteria, the origins of Christian "Pantheism", as that word is offered very often in rebuttal of scriptures here? Pan Theism. Pan from the Greek meaning, all. Theism from the Greek, Theos, Gods, or Theo, God.
Pantheism = All God.
I used that search criterion because I'd not heard of the word before this thread. You may enjoy this. https://www.pantheism.net/paul/history/gospel.htm

"For by him all things were created … He is before all things and in him all things hold together." The Book of Colossians chapter 1 & verses 16&17
"Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?" The Book of 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5
"But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you." [Romans 8.9]

"And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor, to be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you." The Book of John chapter 14 verses 15 & 16 "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. " Verse 23

Hello ForestGreenCook, I said that "eternal life is found in ~knowing~ Him" (not in what we "do" for Him), so I'm not sure how you could have reached the conclusion that, "eternal salvation is gained by the work of man", from what I said

In fact, if you have the time, please tell me what I said (in my copied post just above) that led you to conclude what you did (I ask because I would love to learn how to better communicate my thoughts on CChat in the future, so thank you for your help with that )

That said, I'll try again.

Christians "do the will of the Father" ~because~ we are Christians (not to become or to remain Christians). God gave us new hearts and new spirits, caused us to be born again, and justified us by grace through faith (on the sole basis of Jesus' meritorious works, done on our behalf when He lived among us as a man).

When we are born again and then justified by Him, we are given the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, as well the mind of Christ, and He makes us into wholly new creatures as His workmanship. He quickens us from the dead, He causes us to be born again, He declares us just, He sanctifies us, and He glorifies us (though He does enable us to come alongside of Him and participate with Him in our sanctification, as much as we are able to anyway .. Philippians 1:6, 2:12-13).

Put most simply, we are saved from God, by God, for God. Even the saving faith that we exercise to believe is a gift to us from God .. Ephesians 2:8-9, so nothing that 'we' do in regards to our salvation is meritorious. I hope that explains where I'm coming from (in regard to our salvation) a little more clearly. If not, please let me know and I'll try again

~Deut

Not at all. Study to show yourselves approved, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15.

Well, we cannot study without using our minds.

So you agree it's fine for a Christian to use his mind?

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I believe that where we are seeing things differently is that I am believing "The kingdom of heaven" is one of the names that the scriptures use to describe the church that Jesus set up. And if I not misreading your understanding, is that you believe "The kingdom of heaven" is referring to eternal heaven. Is this right,or am I missing what you are saying? Sorry that I seem to be hard to communicate with. I apologies for the mix up.

Yes I do, as long as he does not think that he is intelligent enough to understand the scriptures without the revelation of The Holy Spirit opening his mind to understand them. What do you think Jesus meant when he said "deny yourselves, and take up your cross, and follow me"?

Matt 11:12 - And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence. Does this sound like eternal heaven?

"pantheism" Someone made up a word and is trying to make a religion out of it.

When I became born again everything in my life changed. Colors became more vivid, priorities changed, the souls of people became very precious, everything changed.
Jesus ,by whom all things exists and without Him nothing that exists would exist , imparted to all who are born again, Himself.
We ,who are born again, are born of His Spirit. You cannot have one without the other.
It is strange to me that we find it so hard to believe this union has benefit not written on paper. Albert Einsteins theory of relativity
is not ,per say , written in scripture, nevertheless to deny its truth would put you among those who still do not believe man walked on the moon.
A born again believer does not have to understand how Devin power holds the universe together but a born-again believer would never deny it is Devin power that holds it together.
How is it we know the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now with earnest expectation as it waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
I have decided a new definition for "pantheism" is in order. From this time forward the definition shall be "THE DEVINE PRESENCE OF GOD'. ......from a single living atom of a mountain to the mountain its self.......to any other object these living atoms form.....air....water...
flesh....each atom is a part of God. One day all of these atoms ,which make up the entire universe, will be summed back to Him to be.....
I AM.

God is spirit, not physical matter.

Yes, we simply do not know God eternal Spirit as the things as rudiments of this world. No need for microscopes or telescopes.

Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

That should have been "Don't persist in erroneous beliefs derived from Eastern religions".