What "the groups that make up Christianity" claim is irrelevant here. What we as individuals claim is relevant. You claim that Jesus in the flesh is not God, therefore by your own words you are outside of Christianity.
Was Judas Iscariot saved, or was he not?
- Thread starter Godsgood
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If somebody is truly a Christian, it will show, even though imperfectly, in the way they live their lives, If somebody claims to be a Christian, and their lives remain exactly as they were before, then it is very doubtful if they really are Christian.
This is what the lives of true Christians look like. They are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Because you understand the Word of God in a literal sense.
I don’t know if you understand its true meaning based on the Lord’s illustration.
MATTHEW 5:13-16
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
That is why I keep telling you that you do not know what is in my heart.
What you’re saying is true.
If it were left to me alone, I truly would not know what is in your heart.
That is why I tell you that God is the One who knows.
However, for those of us who have come to know the one true God, He reveals to us what is in a person’s heart based on the words they speak in the Word of God.
Yes, I know that God knows my heart better than I know it. God has not promised to reveal to Christians what is in other Christians' hearts. You do not know my heart, just as I don't know yours.
Why? Haven’t you read how the Lord Jesus revealed to the 11 apostles what was in Judas’s heart?
MATTHEW 26:20-23
20 Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
21 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
22 And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?
23 And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
Yes, He revealed to them that Judas would betray Him. But John's account makes clear that they didn't understand:
Jhn 13:27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."
Jhn 13:28 But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him.
Jhn 13:29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, "Buy those things we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor.
Understanding the literal meaning of the text does not preclude understanding the illustration as well. Did Jesus Himself only understand one but not the other?
Judas wasn't a Christian. That blows your entire thesis out of the water.
It is confirmed in 1 Corinthians 14 where the secrets of an UNBELIEVER's heart are revealed through prophecy.
You have nothing. Stop arguing.
We cannot disregard what the Lord instructed Matthew to write.
The Lord reveals the contents of a person’s heart to His chosen ones.
MATTHEW 26:20-23
20 Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
21 And as they did eat, he said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.
22 And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?
23 And he answered and said, He that dippeth his hand with me in the dish, the same shall betray me.
Whatever you believe about this, I will respect your belief and leave you to it.
That's not what the text says. It says that in one specific case, the Lord revealed to His small band of specially-called disciples (there were many more believers at the time) one specific thing that was in one unbeliever's heart.
It does not say that "The Lord reveals the contents of a person’s heart to His chosen ones." Your extrapolation does not have textual support, and it contradicts what the text does say.
As I said, you have no argument. It's time to drop the matter.