many or few?
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JerryfromMass
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The act of reconciliation is an act of taking responsibility. We reconcile ourselves to God as an act of taking responsibility for our sins. God reconciled HIMSELF to humanity in order to take responsibility for sinful man that HE created.
God tried over and over to reconcile humanity to HIM through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and through all of HIS prophets that HE sent. However, man rebelled time and time again. Man failed. So God had a plan that would not fail, namely: God would become a human being and reconcile HIMSELF to humanity in order to provoke man to reconcile themselves to God.
The only way God could reconcile HIMSELF to humanity was for HIMSELF to become human. God became a human embryo in order to be born as we are born, to grow in time and space as we do, to live and breathe as we live and breathe, to experience all the bumps and bruises and scraped knees of childhood, to feel as we feel, to hunger and thirst as we hunger and thirst, to work and play and form bonds of friendship as we do, to suffer and mourn as we do, to feel pain as we do, to be accused and accursed as we are, to experience death as a human just as all of us will one day experience death, and to be tempted by evil and the devil just as we are tempted. And through it all, he reconciled HIMSELF to us by showing us that we are overcomers, thst even though we fall and die, we have HIM to show us that thete is life after our bodies die. He showed us this by his death, burial, and resuurection. HE reconciled HIMSELF to all who believe in HIM by becoming our living hope.
And, finally, God reconciled HIMSELF to sinful humanity by becoming sin for all of us while hanging on that tree. God reconciled himself to sinful humanity as a perfectly sinless unblemished sacrifice who took on HIMSELF the sins of the entire world, HE became the final scapegoat for you and me and for everyone else who believes in HIM.
That is how and why God reconciled HIMSELF to humanity. HE did so to show us that there is a God of salvation. No longer did God need a nation to be the light because HE became that LIGHT - HE is that LIGHT and HIS LIGHT lives in each of us that are HIS. Now we are that LIGHT proclaiming HIS good news to a lost and fallen world in the hope that some may come to repentance and faith and be reconciled to the God of Salvation. HE is Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God.
Beetow
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God's word is available in a variety of forms. Two listed below are the most
common.
1» His audible expression, i.e. utterance; the supreme being's actual
voice, viz: speech that can be heard coming directly from His lips in real
time, e.g. Gen 1:3, Gen 1:6, Gen 1:9, Gen 1:11, Gen 1:14, Gen 1:20, Gen
1:22, Gen 1:24, Gen 1:26, and Gen 1:29.
2» Transcriptions, i.e. print media, e.g. Bibles.
Of those two forms; only the first is the logos that John wrote about in the first
chapter of his gospel; and I should think it would go without saying, that only the
first can be trusted to be 110% reliable because God's speech is Himself whereas
transcriptions are produced by human artifice and thus vulnerable to error; both
inadvertent and deliberate.
Have you tried Webster's? It's not someone's name.
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B-A-C
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and yet "the Word" is God and became flesh and dwelt among us.
John 1:14; And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Rev 19:13; He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
John 1:14; And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Rev 19:13; He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
Beetow
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Lyrics from the holiday classic: Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.
You better watch out, you better not cry,
Better not pout, I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list, and checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice:
Santa Claus is coming to town.
He sees you when you're sleeping,
He knows when you're awake,
He knows if you've been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake!
There's no graciousness in that song-- none at all --no generosity, no altruism, no
kindness, no charity, no love, no peace, no understanding, no sympathy, no
patience, no tolerance, no courtesy, no compassion, no forgiveness, i.e. there are
no gifts in Santa's bag; only merit awards for those who prove themselves worthy
enough to deserve them.
Now compare Santa to Christ.
• Rom 5:6-9 . . Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a
righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall
we be saved from God's wrath through him!
NOTE: The Greek word translated "justified" means acquittal; which is actually
much better than a pardon because an acquittal is an adjudication of innocence due
to insufficient evidence to convict, i.e. an acquittal leaves nothing on one's record
with which they might be accused later.
UPDATE: 233 days have elapsed since my first comment. If the figures in post No.5
are in the ball park, then something like 14,474,892 new arrivals have checked into
the fiery sector of Hades since Oct 08, 2020.
_
You better watch out, you better not cry,
Better not pout, I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list, and checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice:
Santa Claus is coming to town.
He sees you when you're sleeping,
He knows when you're awake,
He knows if you've been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake!
There's no graciousness in that song-- none at all --no generosity, no altruism, no
kindness, no charity, no love, no peace, no understanding, no sympathy, no
patience, no tolerance, no courtesy, no compassion, no forgiveness, i.e. there are
no gifts in Santa's bag; only merit awards for those who prove themselves worthy
enough to deserve them.
Now compare Santa to Christ.
• Rom 5:6-9 . . Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a
righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall
we be saved from God's wrath through him!
NOTE: The Greek word translated "justified" means acquittal; which is actually
much better than a pardon because an acquittal is an adjudication of innocence due
to insufficient evidence to convict, i.e. an acquittal leaves nothing on one's record
with which they might be accused later.
UPDATE: 233 days have elapsed since my first comment. If the figures in post No.5
are in the ball park, then something like 14,474,892 new arrivals have checked into
the fiery sector of Hades since Oct 08, 2020.
_
JerryfromMass
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Actually, I would argue that pardon is much more appropriate.
An acquittal is based on facts and evidence, or the lack thereof necessary to convict. Acquital is never a finding of innocence, but a finding that there was insufficient evidence to convict. We are all guilty because of sin, and the facts and evidence is stacked up against each and every one of us. Any reasonable fact-finder would drop the gavel and proclaim us GUILTY!
We are all guilty because we all fall short of God's standard of moral excellence. We are justified not because we are innocent, but because someone else paid our fine. Jesus took the punishment we all deserved and paid the full price for our freedom. Our guilt is covered by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.
With a pardon, the person offered a pardon must admit his guilt for the crime from which he is being pardoned in order for the gift of a pardon to be effective. Accordingly, we must admit our own guilt when we accept God's pardon: the gift of Salvation through faith.
Beetow
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My version of Christianity held me guilty only up to a point; from thence God
not only stopped building an indictment against me; but also started seeing me in a
different light.
• 2Cor 5:19 . . God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their
trespasses against them
• Heb 10:16-17 . .This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write
them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
The day I approached God to tell Him that I would like to take advantage of His
son's death; He accredited me with the righteousness of Christ. Well; Jesus never
committed any sins of his own to account for. In other words; he was 100%
innocent. So then, that's how God sees me now, i.e. 100% innocent. (Rom 6:1-11)
Folks who've only managed to obtained a pardon from God are not innocent; all
their sins, every one of them from the first to the last, are still on the books; God
hasn't expunged even one; not one, and they are in grave danger of the sum of all
fears because in the economy of God, a pardon is merely a reprieve; defined as: to
delay punishment, viz: postpone it.
This was one of the major shortcomings of the Old Testament sacrifices. They could
only obtain a pardon for offenders; never innocence. (Ex 34:6-7)
In other words: the forgiveness they obtained by means of the sacrifices was
merely a reprieve. Christ's sacrifice of himself made it possible to expunge their
records so that when the books are opened down at the end, there will be nothing
listed with which to prosecute folks. It will appear on the books that they have
never been anything but innocent their entire lives from first to last.
Were I required to give a thumb-nail reason for Jesus' crucifixion it would be the
satisfaction of justice. In other words; every sin I ever committed, every sin I am
now committing, and every sin I will ever commit has already been punished. That
being the case, then it would be a waste of pen and paper for God to keep track of
my sins now. He would just have to throw them all out as inadmissible because to
prosecute them all over again would amount to double jeopardy.
The Catholic clergy constantly made me feel guilty. Well Christ has made it possible
for that constant feeling of guilt to stop. He does not require me to feel guilty like
the Jews were made to feel guilty on the day of Yom Kippur. (Heb 10:1-3)
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So you believe that God created sinful mankind? God Knew that Adam and Eve would take of the fruit and that sin Would enter the world. They had freedom of choice.
God also knew that Lucifer would rebel and that there would be lots of angels rebelling with him and be thrown out of heaven. Lucifer was responsible for being prideful . He wasn't satisfied by being God's right-hand man. He wanted it All. God wasn't going to share His glory with Anyone.
That is God's omniscience -- having all knowledge.
God the Father had / still has the Master Plan. Jesus Christ the Son of God /God in the flesh, yes. We are reconciled To God through the death, burial and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. The cross is the bridge between God and us.
And, yes, as born again believers -- we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us and we can be over-comers. We have the power within us To be over comers.
Jesus Christ took upon Himself the sins of the world. He was the Final sacrifice -- the Perfect Lamb of God who take away the sins of the world. But the individual needs to acknowledge their person need For that.
It's a cute kid's song. So please don't compare Santa Claus to Jesus Christ.
BTW--Santa Claus is the American version of Old Saint Nicholas from olden times in Turkey. Googled that a long time ago. Saint Nicholas felt sorry for the the poor kids back then who didn't have any thing nice , new for Christmas. He made sure they all had something. And that they'd better have been / being good kids for Mom and Dad so that they would get 'something'.
Beetow
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Caveat Lector isn't somebody's name. It's a Latin expression that means: Let The
Reader Beware.
_
B-A-C
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I'm not sure what this has to do with the price of eggs in China.
Jesus's name is "the Word of God". Jesus is God.
JerryfromMass
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Yes, God knows everything from the beginning to the end, which obviously includes knowing that man would sin. God created man with a will to choose whether to be perfectly obedient, and knew man would rebel. God created man in HIS image and after HIS likeness, but not exactly as God is. Otherwise, man would be perfect.
B-A-C
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Indeed, if we were exactly the same as God.. we would be "God".
JerryfromMass
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Amen. We are covered by Jesus's righteousness, and when God looks at us HE sees not the sins that we've committed but the Lord Jesus who covers us. Jesus is our advocate, HE has paid the fine that allows the Judge and finder of fact to proclaim us NOT GUILTY.
I don't think it right, though, to say that being justified is to say we are "JUST-AS-IF-I-NEVER-SINNED." Rather, I find more agreeable the doctrine of justification defined by the 1647 Westminster Confession of Faith, where in chapter 11:1. It states: “Those whom God effectually calleth he also freely justifieth; not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous: not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on him and his righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.”
Blessings.
Beetow
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Your comment ties in to my response to Sue D. Here's the chain.
Your tie-in makes Caveat Lector to be a name that means "The Word of God"
_
The longer quote from 1647 Confession of Faith -- is simplified with 'justified'= just as if I'd never sinned. That's the way I learned what Justified means -- Because -- through the cross / the blood of Christ -- God sees us just as if we'd never sinned.
Beetow
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I once heard a US Navy SEAL explain how that if SEALs were to play hop scotch, it
would turn violent because they don't like to lose.
There's a humorous incident depicted in Dante's Inferno where these two guys, who
were bitter rivals in life, are quarreling over who deserves Hell more than the other.
Well; I think it goes without saying that people competitive to the bone are not the
kind of folk with whom God prefers to associates
• Matt 5:9 . . Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
UPDATE: 234 days have elapsed since my first comment. If the figures in post No.5
are in the ball park, then something like 14,537,016 new arrivals have checked into
the fiery sector of Hades since Oct 08, 2020.
_
would turn violent because they don't like to lose.
There's a humorous incident depicted in Dante's Inferno where these two guys, who
were bitter rivals in life, are quarreling over who deserves Hell more than the other.
Well; I think it goes without saying that people competitive to the bone are not the
kind of folk with whom God prefers to associates
• Matt 5:9 . . Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
UPDATE: 234 days have elapsed since my first comment. If the figures in post No.5
are in the ball park, then something like 14,537,016 new arrivals have checked into
the fiery sector of Hades since Oct 08, 2020.
_
JerryfromMass
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But what about Paul getting in Peter's face, and throughout his epistles contending for the faith, running the race, training up to be strong in Lord, putting on the whole armor of God, etc, etc.
Agreed, we need not be competitive as in fighting over hop-scotch or any worldly game or other worldly matter. Rather, we must be competitive as in rightly divinding the word of God, always contending for the faith, never giving in or goving up, never being ashamed to proclaim the good news of salvation by God's abundant grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Beetow
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To my knowledge, the apostles Peter and Paul weren't rivals, viz: they weren't
constantly trying to outdo each other.
• Phil 1:27 . .Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the
gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my
absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for
the faith of the gospel.
• Jude 1:3 . . Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our
common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend
earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
Given the peace-loving nature of true God-given Christianity, I seriously doubt
either Paul or Jude mean for Christians to get involved in inquisitions and crusades.
Instead, contending for the faith means taking a serious interest in helping to
prevent your Church from becoming infected with, and/or influenced by, godless
ideologies, e.g. liberalism and so-called political correctness.
Just metaphors; and besides, those are individual responsibilities rather than teams.
I fail to detect rivalry in that activity. In point of fact, armor is an individual
responsibility rather than teams.
• 2Tim 2:15 . . Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does
not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Some folks construe rightly dividing the word of truth as instructions to keep the
Old Testament completely separate from the New. But that's not even close to what
Paul is told his friend Timothy.
Paul was a blue collar tradesman: he fabricated portable shelters for a living (Acts
18:3). The Greek word for "rightly dividing" is orthotomeo (or-thot-om-eh'-o) which
means: to make a straight cut-- as opposed to a crooked cut --or a cut that misses
the line and yields a piece of material that's either too long, too short, or the wrong
contour; thus resulting in a tent whose pieces won't join properly when it comes
time to sew them together. The results? A distorted tent and a black mark for the
craftsman.
The intent is not one of severing the Bible in half and treating each as a separate
book, nor of breaking the New Testament in two pieces with the gospels in one and
the epistles in the other; but to be accurate in the whole's interpretations and
applications so that it all fits together perfectly from first to last, like a well made
armoire instead of a hastily constructed rabbit hutch.
_
