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I have heard it said in various ways by well meaning christians that there's nothing that we can do to make God LOVE us more or please him. In other words, for God so loved us that he gave his only begotten son so that is the end of the story. For many of these people, grace is emphasized sometimes to mean that we can do pretty much whatever we want, that God loves us anyway, UNCONDITIONALLY (we could do nothing wrong to fall out of his favor). Any mention of obedience is usually mistaken for “legalism.” It's all about love and grace.
I have believed this to be the wrong attitude, that while God loves us and we cannot earn our salvation, godly obedience ranks high on God's list. In fact, he expects and demands it. What are others views?
Jhn 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
Hi Cubes,
The yoke of Jesus is easy and the burden is light but we do need to come to the Employer each day seeking that work appointed to us.
We must work out our salvation with fear and trembling because the Gardener checks the tree and the branches for fruit.
Those that produce no profit from the investment made in us receive the fate of the godless.
There are many places at the wedding feast left empty so that the angels are sent out to collect the poor to fill them.Hi cubes,
As you say the love of God HAS ALREADY been expressed for us by His sending His beloved only begotten Son from heaven. It is a popular myth that God loves everyone so much that He will not allow any to be lost and particularly not nice people like you and me and that fellow over there.God is love, and mercy triumphs over judgement, but God has already specified those to whom He will show mercy and who do not heed the message to all to repent and to be reborn into the Son. He will not likely break His own Word.
That mercy, as shown in the sheep and goat judgement in Matt 25 to those who rise in the second resurrection is only towards those who have shown their allegiance to Him, by helping those who are in Jesus.
“Whoever gives you a cup of water because you belong to me will not lose his reward”
Quote (Cubes @ June 30 2006,18:36) I have heard it said in various ways by well meaning christians that there's nothing that we can do to make God LOVE us more or please him. In other words, for God so loved us that he gave his only begotten son so that is the end of the story. For many of these people, grace is emphasized sometimes to mean that we can do pretty much whatever we want, that God loves us anyway, UNCONDITIONALLY (we could do nothing wrong to fall out of his favor). Any mention of obedience is usually mistaken for “legalism.” It's all about love and grace. I have believed this to be the wrong attitude, that while God loves us and we cannot earn our salvation, godly obedience ranks high on God's list. In fact, he expects and demands it. What are others views?
Jhn 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
We better please him:John 15
1″I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Hi MS,
So abiding in the teachings of scripture is the safe place in Christ, and then we fellowship with him and his God, our Father.Hi Cubes. Yes, God will save all mankind. 1 Timothy 4:9-11…that we rely on the living God, Who is the saviour of all mankind, especially of believers. (thou not exclusively) God is perfecting all mankind during this creative era, See Eph.2:10… For His achievment are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them. In Genesis 1:27 …And creating is the Alueim (God) humanity in His image… (Concordant Version of the Old Testament). Notice that most translations erroneously translate “creating” as “created”. Creation will not be completed until the “Consummation”, when God will be All in all.
Blessings.Quote (Nick Hassan @ Mar. 31 2007,22:16) Hi co,
So sit back and put your feet up?
Hi Nick, your understanding of God must be that of a very weak God, He can't do what He would like to do. “God wills ALL mankind to be saved”, but you say He can't accomplish that? Can He only save a few? How sad. He did His best.Blessings.
Quote Hi Nick, your understanding of God must be that of a very weak God,
I'm not sure what Nick's understanding is. But to believe that God will not save all of mankind is not to say that God is weak. God's power is not in question. But he is also wise and just.Let's first look at the scriptures:
(Titus 2:11) “For the undeserved kindness of God which brings salvation to all sorts of men has been manifested,”(John 12:32) “And yet I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw men of all sorts to me.””
(Romans 5:18) “So, then, as through one trespass the result to men of all sorts was condemnation, likewise also through one act of justification the result to men of all sorts is a declaring of them righteous for life.”
(1 Timothy 2:3-4) “This is fine and acceptable in the sight of our Savior, God, 4 whose will is that all sorts of men should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth.”
The Greek expressions rendered “all” and “everyone” in these verses are inflected forms of the word pas.
As shown in Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (London, 1962, Vol. I, p. 46), pas can also mean “every kind or variety.” So, in the above verses, instead of “all,” the expression “every kind of” could be used; or “all sorts of,” as in the Bible translation above.Which is correct—“all” or the thought conveyed by “all sorts of”? Well, which rendering is also harmonious with the rest of the Bible? The latter one is. Consider:
(Acts 10:34-35) “At this Peter opened his mouth and said: “For a certainty I perceive that God is not partial, 35 but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.”
(Revelation 7:9-10) “After these things I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. 10 And they keep on crying with a loud voice, saying: “Salvation [we owe] to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.””
(2 Thessalonians 1:9) “These very ones will undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction from before the Lord and from the glory of his strength,”
Other translators also recognize this sense of the Greek word, as is shown by their renderings of it at Matthew 5:11—“all kinds of,” RS, TEV; “every kind of,” NE; “all manner of,” KJ.
Quote (david @ April 01 2007,05:28) Quote Hi Nick, your understanding of God must be that of a very weak God,
I'm not sure what Nick's understanding is. But to believe that God will not save all of mankind is not to say that God is weak. God's power is not in question. But he is also wise and just.Let's first look at the scriptures:
(Titus 2:11) “For the undeserved kindness of God which brings salvation to all sorts of men has been manifested,”(John 12:32) “And yet I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw men of all sorts to me.””
(Romans 5:18) “So, then, as through one trespass the result to men of all sorts was condemnation, likewise also through one act of justification the result to men of all sorts is a declaring of them righteous for life.”
(1 Timothy 2:3-4) “This is fine and acceptable in the sight of our Savior, God, 4 whose will is that all sorts of men should be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth.”
The Greek expressions rendered “all” and “everyone” in these verses are inflected forms of the word pas.
As shown in Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words (London, 1962, Vol. I, p. 46), pas can also mean “every kind or variety.” So, in the above verses, instead of “all,” the expression “every kind of” could be used; or “all sorts of,” as in the Bible translation above.Which is correct—“all” or the thought conveyed by “all sorts of”? Well, which rendering is also harmonious with the rest of the Bible? The latter one is. Consider:
(Acts 10:34-35) “At this Peter opened his mouth and said: “For a certainty I perceive that God is not partial, 35 but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.”
(Revelation 7:9-10) “After these things I saw, and, look! a great crowd, which no man was able to number, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes; and there were palm branches in their hands. 10 And they keep on crying with a loud voice, saying: “Salvation [we owe] to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb.””
(2 Thessalonians 1:9) “These very ones will undergo the judicial punishment of everlasting destruction from before the Lord and from the glory of his strength,”
Other translators also recognize this sense of the Greek word, as is shown by their renderings of it at Matthew 5:11—“all kinds of,” RS, TEV; “every kind of,” NE; “all manner of,” KJ.
David, Useing the “Interlinear Scripture Analyser”, in Ro.5:18 , in the original Greek scriptures, the word for “all” in English is the Greek word “ENOC”. And in both cases this word is used for “all”. Therefore the correct translation is: Consequently, then, as it was through one offence for all mankind for condemnation, thus also it is through one just award, for all mankind for lifes justifying. We can't use two different translations of this same Greek word. Therefore, ENOC is “all”, not “all sorts”.Blessings.
Quote (Cubes @ July 01 2006,05:36) I have heard it said in various ways by well meaning christians that there's nothing that we can do to make God LOVE us more or please him. In other words, for God so loved us that he gave his only begotten son so that is the end of the story. For many of these people, grace is emphasized sometimes to mean that we can do pretty much whatever we want, that God loves us anyway, UNCONDITIONALLY (we could do nothing wrong to fall out of his favor). Any mention of obedience is usually mistaken for “legalism.” It's all about love and grace. I have believed this to be the wrong attitude, that while God loves us and we cannot earn our salvation, godly obedience ranks high on God's list. In fact, he expects and demands it. What are others views?
Jhn 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
Hi Cubes, Yes, God loves us unconditionally. His only begotten son, Christ Jesus, died for our sins, we are now “justified” in Gods eyes, He sees our sins no more. God has “conciliated” us to Himself through His Son.
Eph.2:10 “For His achievment are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.”
Ro.8:8-9 Now those who are in the flesh are not able to please God. Yet you are not in flesh, but in spirit, if so be that God's spirit is making its home in you.
Ro.9:11-12…that the purpose of God may be remaining as a choice, not out of acts, But of HIM WHO IS CALLING.
Remember…”All is of God”.Blessings.
This theory that ALL IS FROM GOD is a puzzling one for me. Does this mean that evil is from God? Does this mean that God willed for me to be abused when I was a young girl in hands of an unsaved Uncle? And if so, does this mean God was trying to teach me something from this evil?
Just because an idea is hard to grasp or accept doesn't mean that it isn't true. But I struggle with the idea that *all* is from God – even the evil in the world. Why would God want us to experience evil? Is it God's will that evil is expressed in our lives – whether by choice or forced upon us?
Some light-hearted ponderings for our Sunday afternoon…….not.
Hi Not3in1.
Thanks for your reply. In all kindness, this is not a theory, it is the word of God (Ro. 11:36). And yes, God created evil (Isaiah 45:7), He uses evil to accomplish His purpose. God made the wicked (Prov. 16:4), & (Ro.9:18-24). I appreciate and understand your struggle with this topic, you say “why would God want us to experience 'evil'?” The answer is, if we never experiance evil, we will never understand “good”. Another example, if you were never ill, would you understand the blessings of good health? You see, all knowlege of natural law is based on opposites. Would you ever know what 'light' is if you never experienced 'darkness'?
This topic is a must to understand Gods ways, and I am not able to do this as it is a deep subject, but please look at this website that I will give you. It is a non denominational organisation that you can't join or belong to, just a great teaching source based on the literal translation of the ancient scriptures.
http://www.concordant.org/expohtml/TheProblemOfEvil/index.html
Thanks for your interest, please let me know your opinion on this, I would be very interested.Blessings.
Quote (chosenone @ April 01 2007,16:00) Quote (Nick Hassan @ Mar. 31 2007,22:16) Hi co,
So sit back and put your feet up?
Hi Nick, your understanding of God must be that of a very weak God, He can't do what He would like to do. “God wills ALL mankind to be saved”, but you say He can't accomplish that? Can He only save a few? How sad. He did His best.Blessings.
topical.Mandy……..Sis, chosenone is right we experience Evil to learn to love the Good. without experiencing it in our lives we could never come to hate Evil and love the good. The more we have been exposed to evil the more were hate it. As cruel and hateful evil is, it does serve a Godly purpose of God would have never allowed it in the first place. It takes both sides of the picture to get the balance. Love the good and Hate the Evil and you do.
It's alway good to hear from you Mandy.
peace and love to you and your Mandy……………….gene
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