Works-based salvation – what is that?

Jan2

“Salvation by works” – good or bad?

Since you will not find the term “works-based salvation” in the Bible, the phrase must be explained by the one who have chosen to use it. If it means something along the lines of “a requirement to work/show good fruit in order to be saved”, you will find that this in fact is what is taught in the Bible. James explains that faith without works is dead:

Jas. 214 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? —17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is DEAD, being alone. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD?21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.24 Ye see then how that BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFIED, and NOT BY FAITH ONLY.  

This is more than enough to show that faith+works is the formula to get saved. Not as in Islam where you can only hope that your good deeds will outrun the bad deeds, but still: faith alone will not save, and works alone will not save. A normal Christian life style will include both of these ingredients. 

Matt. 5:16 Let YOUR light so shine before men, that they may see YOUR good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

But is it not a bad thing to be “legalistic” or “pharisaical”? The problem with the Pharisees was not that they were too obedient to the law and too faithful to God, but that they added their own laws to God’s law and they focused on their appearance rather than their inside. They exalted themselves and they wanted to be seen as masters above the common man. They were also hypocrites!

Matt. 23:2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. —13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. —23 — ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. —25 — for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter,  but within they are full of extortion and excess. —-27 — for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

It is a common misunderstanding that the Pharisees focused too much on being overly obedient to all of God’s laws when in reality they were sinners. We can for example read about them “within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity”. Jesus warned his listeners to not become like the Pharisees but to have a righteousness that exceeded the one of the Pharisees. Jesus even taught us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect!

Matt. 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.—48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Believe in Jesus!

Believing in Jesus is of course the foundation of salvation, but we must not forget that also demons believe in tremble (Jas. 2:19). They are fully aware of that Jesus is the son of God and the Messiah. The point James is making is that faith without works is dead and he provides some examples of good deeds that a Christian can do – as in walk the talk. If we truly believe and also love Jesus, we will obey his commandments. 

John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

It is also important to be ready to “confess” Jesus before men, and the famous example is Peter who did the opposite by denying Jesus before men. Jesus had explained shortly before this happened (when conversing with Peter and the other disciples):

Matt. 10:33 — But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Luke 12:8 Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God:9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.

It does not sound like someone can be saved if Jesus denies this person before his Father in heaven! This includes Peter and the other disciples and Jesus was speaking precisely to Peter when he said: .

Matt. 26:34  — Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.35 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. — 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Still, Peter did deny Jesus. Fortunately there is always a possibility to repent and to leave the sins behind, which was an offer applicable also for Peter. Taking up the cross and follow Jesus does not mean that you can combine this with sins. It is not possible to “repent daily” since this means that you sin daily, and daily repentance is no true repentance. Christians are expected to live in the light. A very fresh child of God (of “milk“) might have a lot to learn in the beginning, especially if this person has previously lived in much darkness, but there is no way we can be saved as “filthy rags” when we combine righteousness with unrighteousness. Our conscience will reveal our true intentions before God (Rom. 2) who always knows our predicaments and exactly what we are capable of. God is always willing to forgive a truly repentant heart, but there is no way we can continue in sin at the same time as being covered by the blood of Jesus!

But does not Paul teach that we are saved by faith alone in Eph. 2:8-9? Paul says that we are saved by grace but he does not say that we are saved unconditionally, nor that we can never lose our salvation no matter our conduct. He is trying to get the Jews to understand that we are not saved by obeying the many Jewish laws (613 in all) but that we are rather saved by faith in Jesus Christ. As we have learned; if we believe and love Jesus we obey his commandments. 

Using the phrase “Jesus paid it all in full” is perhaps true depending on what is meant by this phrase (which is not found in the Bible). Jesus definitely paid a big price for us since he offered his own life, but the focus is on the majestic offer he made for all mankind rather than being an analogy of a money transaction. 

What does grace mean? Among other things to live righteously here and now:

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this PRESENT world

Some might suggest that a true born again Christian WILL show good fruit! Yes, so if that is a fact then it is indeed true that doing good works is needed for salvation, just like James says. This does not mean that we can save ourselves because we do not have the authority to forgive sins. Only God does. 

Other examples 

 Jesus:

Matt. 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Matt. 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

John 15:6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. —10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. —14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 

Paul:

Rom. 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.—15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? —23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom. 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. —4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace —13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Gal. 516 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

John:

1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that DOETH righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

Peter:

Acts 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

1 Pet. 417 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Hebrews:

Hebr. 59 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him 

119 thoughts on “Works-based salvation – what is that?”

  1. EWTN
    11 m ·
    The feast day of Our Lady, Mother of Divine Grace, is July 23. There are many titles for our Blessed Mother Mary, and many prayers we can pray to ask for her intercession:
    //////////
    Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!
    Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
    6 tim ·
    Sunday Readings- Went with the Epistle today about prayer!
    Praying As We Ought
    Posted byValerie Parisi July 22, 2023
    Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures
    Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
    Praying As We Ought
    Meanwhile, doubts greatly disturbed my soul and I could not free myself of my depressing spiritual torments. I am the foolish victim of my own imagination. (Elizabeth) (October 23-24, 1963)
    Today’s Readings: Brothers and sisters: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.. (Romans 😎
    Prayer Meditation- Lord sometimes it can be so hard to pray- we feel dry or we can be in desolation and despair. A heart full of sadness can crush our spirit (Proverbs 15). We often do not know where these moods come from- sometimes it is unconfessed sin, sometimes it is fatigue or stress, sometimes it is the alternating lightness and darkness that You send us so that we will grow spiritually. But Lord we know that Your Holy Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness- even when we cannot pray as we ought, Your Spirit intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings! You never leave us alone! So Lord, help us to persist in prayer no matter what it feels like! Let us examine our consciences to see if we need correction and repentance and let us trust that the Teacher is always quiet during the test! Thank You Lord for helping us not to give up- we trust in Your Goodness Lord always!

    DEN HELIGA BIRGITTAS ”SJU FADER VÅR” TILL JESU HELIGA BLODS ÄRA
    FÖRBÖN
    Jesus, jag vill nu be sju Fader vår i förening med den kärlek med vilken Du i Ditt Hjärta har helgat och upphöjt denna bön. Ta emot den från mina läppar i Ditt Gudomliga Hjärta. Förbättra och fullkomna den, så att den skänker den Allraheligaste Treenigheten lika mycket ära och glädje som Du visade denna bön på jorden. Låt mina ”Fader vår” få kraft av Ditt Människoblivande till förhärligande av Dina Heliga Sår och det Dyrbara Blod som utgjutits från dessa Sår.
    DET FÖRSTA FADER VÅR
    1 Fader vår…
    (Fader vår, som är i Himmelen. Helgat varde Ditt Namn. Tillkomme Ditt Rike, ske Din vilja, såsom i Himmelen, så ock på jorden. Vårt dagliga bröd giv oss idag, och förlåt oss våra skulder såsom ock vi förlåta dem oss skyldiga äro, och inled oss icke i frestelse, utan fräls oss ifrån ondo. Amen.)
    1 Hell dig Maria…
    (Hell dig, Maria, full av nåd; Herren är med dig; välsignad är du ibland kvinnor, och välsignad är din Livsfrukt, Jesus. Heliga Maria, Guds Moder, bed för oss syndare, nu och i vår dödsstund. Amen.)
    För att ära det Blod som vår Herre utgöt vid omskärelsen: Helige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och genom Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig Jesu första Sår, de första smärtorna och den första blodsutgjutelsen till försoning för mina och alla människors ungdomssynder och som skydd mot dödssynden, särskilt i min familj och släkt.
    DET ANDRA FADER VÅR
    1 Fader vår…
    1 Hell dig Maria…
    För att ära Jesu lidande genom det Blod Han svettades i Getsemane: Evige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig Jesu Hjärtas fruktansvärda lidanden i Getsemane örtagård och varje droppe av Hans blodssvett till försoning för mina och alla människors synder i sina hjärtan, som skydd mot hjärtats synder och för att kärleken till Gud och vår nästa ska växa i oss.
    DET TREDJE FADER VÅR
    1 Fader vår…
    1 Hell dig Maria…
    För att ära Jesu Blod, som Han utgöt vid gisslingen: Evige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig de många tusen sår, de grymma smärtorna och Jesu Dyrbara Blod, som Han fick lida genom tortyren till försoning för mina och alla människors synder mot kyskheten och som skydd för renheten, särskilt i min familj och släkt.
    DET FJÄRDE FADER VÅR
    1 Fader vår…
    1 Hell dig Maria…
    För att ära Jesu lidande vid kröningen med törnen: Evige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig Hans Sår, smärtor och Dyrbara Blod från Hans Heliga Huvud vid törnekröningen till försoning för mina och alla människors syndiga intentioner som skydd för dessa synder och för utbredandet av Kristi Rike på jorden.
    DET FEMTE FADER VÅR
    1 Fader vår…
    1 Hell dig Maria…
    För att ära Jesu lidande då Han bar Korset: Evige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig Jesu lidande på korsvägen, särskilt Hans Heliga Sår på skuldran och Hans Dyrbara Blod till försoning för mig och alla människor som avvisar Korset och är emot Din Heliga Vilja och allt missbruk av talförmågan. Som skydd mot dessa synder och för att vi må få en sann kärlek till Korset.
    DET SJÄTTE FADER VÅR
    1 Fader vår…
    1 Hell dig Maria…
    För att ära Jesu lidande då Han korsfästes: Evige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig Din Gudomlige Son på Korset, Jesu fastnaglande och upphöjning på Korset, Jesu Sår på händer och fötter och de tre strömmar av Jesu Heliga Blod, som utgjutits för oss, Jesu yttersta fattigdom, Jesu totala lydnad, alla lidanden till kropp och själ, Jesu Dyrbara död och dess förnyelse i alla Heliga Mässor på jorden: till försoning för alla kränkningar av de Heliga Ordenslöftena, till bot för mina och världens synder, för de sjuka och döende, för fromma präster och lekmän, för den Helige Faderns intentioner för att återställa den kristna familjen, för styrka i tron, för vårt land och folkets enhet i Kristus och Hans Kyrka.
    DET SJUNDE FADER VÅR
    1 Fader vår…
    1 Hell dig Maria…
    För att ära öppnandet av Kristi heliga sida. Evige Fader, vi ber Dig för den Heliga Moder Kyrkans behov och att som försoning för alla människors synder ta emot det Dyrbara Blod och Vatten som strömmade ur Såret vid Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta. Var oss nådig och barmhärtig. Kristi Blod, det sista dyrbara innehållet av Ditt Heliga Hjärta, rena mig från all synd och allt orent, som skiljer mig från Dig. Vattnet från Jesu sida, befria mig från det straff som jag har förtjänat för mina synders skull och släck Skärseldens lågor för mig och för alla de själar som renas i Skärselden. Amen.

    Tomas Jarvid
    Vandra Vägen • 17 april 2015 • Lästid 2 minuter
    bön
    ,
    Dagens Kyrka
    Fredagsbön med den heliga Birgitta
    Den ryske författaren Tolstoy till fots som pilgrim.
    Den ryske författaren Tolstoy till fots som pilgrim.

    Så var det fredag igen och jag har valt ut ännu en bön till bloggen. Den här bönen är egentligen väldigt grundläggande i i pilgrimsrörelsen men oftast är den mycket nedskakad. Bönen är skriven av den heliga Birgitta och oftast ber vi bara

    Visa mig vägen och gör mig villig att vandra den. Amen

    Här är annars den långa versionen av ”Birgittas bön”. Jag har också varit med om att sjunga den på gregorianskt vis, väldigt lämpad för aftonbön. Hoppas du har glädje av den vare sig den är en gammal eller ny bekantskap. Låt oss be:

    Herre, kom snart och upplys natten

    Såsom döende längtar så längtar jag efter dig.

    Säg min själ att intet händer utan att du tillåter det

    och att intet som du tillåter är tröstlöst

    O Jesus, Guds son, du som stod tyst
    inför dem som dömde dig

    håll tillbaka min tunga
    till dess jag fått besinna
    vad och hur jag ska tala.

    Visa mig vägen och gör mig villig att vandra den

    Vådligt är att dröja och farligt att gå vidare

    Så uppfyll då min åstundan och visa mig vägen

    Jag kommer till dig
    såsom den sårade kommer till läkaren

    Giv, o Herre, mitt hjärta ro.

    Amen

    17 april, 2015

    Dela inlägg
    Kommentarer
    4 svar till ”Fredagsbön med den heliga Birgitta”
    Profilbild för Lena P
    Lena P
    17 april, 2015
    En jättefin bön i sin helhet!

    Svara
    Profilbild för Tomas Jarvid
    Tomas Jarvid
    17 april, 2015
    Det tycker jag också!

    Svara
    Profilbild för Torsten Lundborg
    Torsten Lundborg
    17 april, 2015
    Giv mitt hjärta ro! God natt och sov gott

    Svara
    Profilbild för Simon
    Simon
    17 april, 2015
    Amen

    EWTN 11 m · The feast day of Our Lady, Mother of Divine Grace, is July 23. There are many titles for our Blessed Mother Mary, and many prayers we can pray to ask for her intercession: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/marian-prayers-72 Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us! Flame of Love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary 6 tim · Sunday Readings- Went with the Epistle today about prayer! Praying As We Ought Posted byValerie Parisi July 22, 2023 Today’s Consuming Fire Meditation- – A Daily Dose of the Flame of Love Diary Served Up with Today’s Scriptures Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time Praying As We Ought Meanwhile, doubts greatly disturbed my soul and I could not free myself of my depressing spiritual torments. I am the foolish victim of my own imagination. (Elizabeth) (October 23-24, 1963) Today’s Readings: Brothers and sisters: The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.. (Romans 😎 Prayer Meditation- Lord sometimes it can be so hard to pray- we feel dry or we can be in desolation and despair. A heart full of sadness can crush our spirit (Proverbs 15). We often do not know where these moods come from- sometimes it is unconfessed sin, sometimes it is fatigue or stress, sometimes it is the alternating lightness and darkness that You send us so that we will grow spiritually. But Lord we know that Your Holy Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness- even when we cannot pray as we ought, Your Spirit intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings! You never leave us alone! So Lord, help us to persist in prayer no matter what it feels like! Let us examine our consciences to see if we need correction and repentance and let us trust that the Teacher is always quiet during the test! Thank You Lord for helping us not to give up- we trust in Your Goodness Lord always! DEN HELIGA BIRGITTAS ”SJU FADER VÅR” TILL JESU HELIGA BLODS ÄRA FÖRBÖN Jesus, jag vill nu be sju Fader vår i förening med den kärlek med vilken Du i Ditt Hjärta har helgat och upphöjt denna bön. Ta emot den från mina läppar i Ditt Gudomliga Hjärta. Förbättra och fullkomna den, så att den skänker den Allraheligaste Treenigheten lika mycket ära och glädje som Du visade denna bön på jorden. Låt mina ”Fader vår” få kraft av Ditt Människoblivande till förhärligande av Dina Heliga Sår och det Dyrbara Blod som utgjutits från dessa Sår. DET FÖRSTA FADER VÅR 1 Fader vår… (Fader vår, som är i Himmelen. Helgat varde Ditt Namn. Tillkomme Ditt Rike, ske Din vilja, såsom i Himmelen, så ock på jorden. Vårt dagliga bröd giv oss idag, och förlåt oss våra skulder såsom ock vi förlåta dem oss skyldiga äro, och inled oss icke i frestelse, utan fräls oss ifrån ondo. Amen.) 1 Hell dig Maria… (Hell dig, Maria, full av nåd; Herren är med dig; välsignad är du ibland kvinnor, och välsignad är din Livsfrukt, Jesus. Heliga Maria, Guds Moder, bed för oss syndare, nu och i vår dödsstund. Amen.) För att ära det Blod som vår Herre utgöt vid omskärelsen: Helige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och genom Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig Jesu första Sår, de första smärtorna och den första blodsutgjutelsen till försoning för mina och alla människors ungdomssynder och som skydd mot dödssynden, särskilt i min familj och släkt. DET ANDRA FADER VÅR 1 Fader vår… 1 Hell dig Maria… För att ära Jesu lidande genom det Blod Han svettades i Getsemane: Evige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig Jesu Hjärtas fruktansvärda lidanden i Getsemane örtagård och varje droppe av Hans blodssvett till försoning för mina och alla människors synder i sina hjärtan, som skydd mot hjärtats synder och för att kärleken till Gud och vår nästa ska växa i oss. DET TREDJE FADER VÅR 1 Fader vår… 1 Hell dig Maria… För att ära Jesu Blod, som Han utgöt vid gisslingen: Evige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig de många tusen sår, de grymma smärtorna och Jesu Dyrbara Blod, som Han fick lida genom tortyren till försoning för mina och alla människors synder mot kyskheten och som skydd för renheten, särskilt i min familj och släkt. DET FJÄRDE FADER VÅR 1 Fader vår… 1 Hell dig Maria… För att ära Jesu lidande vid kröningen med törnen: Evige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig Hans Sår, smärtor och Dyrbara Blod från Hans Heliga Huvud vid törnekröningen till försoning för mina och alla människors syndiga intentioner som skydd för dessa synder och för utbredandet av Kristi Rike på jorden. DET FEMTE FADER VÅR 1 Fader vår… 1 Hell dig Maria… För att ära Jesu lidande då Han bar Korset: Evige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig Jesu lidande på korsvägen, särskilt Hans Heliga Sår på skuldran och Hans Dyrbara Blod till försoning för mig och alla människor som avvisar Korset och är emot Din Heliga Vilja och allt missbruk av talförmågan. Som skydd mot dessa synder och för att vi må få en sann kärlek till Korset. DET SJÄTTE FADER VÅR 1 Fader vår… 1 Hell dig Maria… För att ära Jesu lidande då Han korsfästes: Evige Fader, genom Jungfru Marias Obefläckade händer och Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta offrar jag till Dig Din Gudomlige Son på Korset, Jesu fastnaglande och upphöjning på Korset, Jesu Sår på händer och fötter och de tre strömmar av Jesu Heliga Blod, som utgjutits för oss, Jesu yttersta fattigdom, Jesu totala lydnad, alla lidanden till kropp och själ, Jesu Dyrbara död och dess förnyelse i alla Heliga Mässor på jorden: till försoning för alla kränkningar av de Heliga Ordenslöftena, till bot för mina och världens synder, för de sjuka och döende, för fromma präster och lekmän, för den Helige Faderns intentioner för att återställa den kristna familjen, för styrka i tron, för vårt land och folkets enhet i Kristus och Hans Kyrka. DET SJUNDE FADER VÅR 1 Fader vår… 1 Hell dig Maria… För att ära öppnandet av Kristi heliga sida. Evige Fader, vi ber Dig för den Heliga Moder Kyrkans behov och att som försoning för alla människors synder ta emot det Dyrbara Blod och Vatten som strömmade ur Såret vid Jesu Gudomliga Hjärta. Var oss nådig och barmhärtig. Kristi Blod, det sista dyrbara innehållet av Ditt Heliga Hjärta, rena mig från all synd och allt orent, som skiljer mig från Dig. Vattnet från Jesu sida, befria mig från det straff som jag har förtjänat för mina synders skull och släck Skärseldens lågor för mig och för alla de själar som renas i Skärselden. Amen.

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    • “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!”

      We are not requested in the Bible to let deceased people pray for us. We can pray directly to God ourselves, just like Jesus taught us.

      Like

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  2. Till helvetet och tillbaka – Vad Rebbe lärde mig – Parshah (chabad.org)

    Till helvetet och tillbaka

    Dygden av dåligt samvete
    Av Mendel Kalmenson
    Konst av Rivka Korf Studio

    Tre rabbiner talade om liv och död när frågan kom upp: “När du ligger i din kista och vänner och församlingar sörjer över dig, vad vill du att de ska säga?”

    Den första rabbinen sa: “Jag skulle vilja att de sa att jag var en underbar make, en fin andlig ledare och en stor familjefar.”

    Den andra kommenterade: “Jag skulle vilja att de sa att jag var en underbar lärare och tjänare till G-d som gjorde en enorm skillnad i människors liv.”

    Den tredje rabbinen tänkte ett ögonblick och anmärkte: “Jag skulle vilja att de sa: ‘Se, han rör sig!'”

    Att överleva oddsen

    Det finns en vers i Fjärde Moseboken som vid första anblicken verkar enkel nog, om än något slumpmässig, men vid närmare analys visar sig förbryllande.

    Toran återger släktforskningen för Rubens stam och nämner i förbigående det ökända paret bibliska bråkmakare, Dathan och Abiram, barnbarnsbarn till Ruben. Deras omnämnande sätter igång Toran på en tangent:1

    Dathan och Abiram, samma Dathan och Abiram som kallades av församlingen, som kämpade mot Mose och Aron bland Korachs församling när de kämpade mot G-d. Sedan öppnade jorden sin mun och slukade dem och Korach med församlingens död, när elden förtärde tvåhundrafemtio män – och de blev ett tecken. Men Korachs söner dog inte.

    Den sista versen är versen i fråga, eftersom den faktiskt motsäger en tidigare vers: “Jorden öppnade sin mun och slukade dem och deras hushåll och alla människor som var med Korach.” 2

    Denna redogörelse säger otvetydigt att alla i Korachs läger svaldes levande, inklusive Korachs söner. Om det inte finns ett sätt att förbli vid liv även efter att ha sugits in i jorden, presenterar Bibeln oss två oförsonliga rapporter. Lyckligtvis för oss skildrar den klassiska bibelkommentatorn Rashi,3 just ett sådant scenario:

    [Korachs söner] var de första som engagerade sig i konspirationen, men under dispyten hade de tankar på teshuvah [omvändelse] i sina hjärtan. Därför avskildes ett säkert och upphöjt område för dem i Gehinnom [skärselden], och de bosatte sig där.

    Nachalat Yaakov4, en kommentator på Rashi, fyller i en viktig detalj, nämligen att “bosättningen” av Korachs barn i Gehinnom var tillfällig. De levde inte resten av sina liv under jorden, men kom så småningom ut för att återförenas med samhället en tid efter att uppståndelsen hade lagt sig och deras kamrater dog ut.5

    Inte rättvist

    Även om det är trevligt att veta att vissa människor överlevde den omvälvande uppgörelsen mellan Moses och Korach, undrar vi varför Försynen valde specifikt Korachs söner att överleva sina medmyterister.

    “[Korachs söner] var de första som engagerade sig i konspirationen”, säger Talmud. 6 Det visar sig att dessa män inte bara anslöt sig till ett existerande uppror mot Mose. De var dess skapare. Och inom judendomen är den ultimata syndaren den som anstiftar gemensam synd.

    Ja, enligt Maimonides,7 denna typ av syndare “som får de många att synda … har inte en del i den kommande världen; snarare är deras [själar] avskurna och de döms för sin stora ondska och sina synder, för evigt . . .

    Hur går det ihop med det lyckliga slutet på historien om Korachs barn? De undkom inte bara andlig död, utan de levde för att berätta historien!

    Faktum är att enligt de vise männen fortsatte att ha familjer vars ättlingar skröt med sådana andliga jättar som profeten Samuel och tjugofyra klockor av leviter i templet. 8

    Och det är inte allt. Enligt Talmud,9 medan Korachs söner satt på den “speciella plats i helvetet” som var reserverad för dem, “satt och sjöng lovsånger [till G-d]”, som förvånansvärt nog inkluderades och förevigades i kung Davids psalmer. 10

    Ta till exempel den inledande versen till Psalm 87: “Av Korachs söner, en sång med musikaliskt ackompanjemang, vars grund ligger i de heliga bergen.”

    Vilken förtjänst förde judendomens ärkeöverträdare ut ur helvetets djup för att pryda topparna på “heliga berg”?

    Judisk skuld

    Trots omfattningen av sin orättfärdighet lyckades Korachs söner, i motsats till sina medkonspiratörer, ändå behålla en dygd: “Under tvisten hade de tankar på teshuvah [omvändelse] i sina hjärtan.”

    Där är den, deras frälsande nåd: ett dåligt samvete.

    Nu är det sant att judendomen i allmänhet har föga tålamod för orealiserade upphöjda tankar och känslor, och ännu mindre för tomma känslor av ånger. 11 “Handling är av största vikt”12 är en grundläggande judisk lära. Och det är också sant att inget praktiskt kom av de ångerfulla känslor som Korachs söner hade.

    Men det är just lärdomen här: Underskatta inte kraften i att känna ånger. 13 Förringar inte dessa känslor, även om de inte fungerar, för de är den enda verkliga länken mellan överträdelse och omvändelse. Utan dem har syndaren ingen chans att reformeras. Med våra vise mäns ord14: “När en person väl har vant sig vid en viss överträdelse blir det tillåtet för honom.”

    Samvetet är skyddet för ett korrekt mänskligt beteende.

    Tänk på följande avslöjande citat från Adolf Hitler, må hans namn raderas, utan tvekan det mest avskyvärda mänskliga monster som någonsin har levt:

    Försynen har bestämt att jag ska vara mänsklighetens störste befriare. Jag befriar människan från begränsningarna av en intelligens som har tagit ansvaret, från den smutsiga och förnedrande självförödmjukelsen av en falsk vision som kallas samvete och moral, och från kraven på en frihet och självständighet som bara mycket få kan bära. 15

    “De tio budorden har förlorat sin giltighet. Samvetet är en judisk uppfinning; Det är en fläckliknande omskärelse.” 16

    “De hänvisar till mig som en outbildad barbar. Ja, vi är barbarer. Vi vill vara barbarer, det är en hedrad titel för oss. Vi ska föryngra världen.” 17

    Och så finns det den här strofen av en sång som sjöngs av Hitlerjugend:

    “Vi är den glada Hitlerjugend,
    Vi behöver ingen kristen dygd
    Vår ledare är vår frälsare
    Påven och rabbinen ska vara borta
    Vi vill vara hedningar igen.”

    Tyvärr behöver vi inte leta länge efter exempel på vad som händer med människor utan samvete. . .

    Det var den fungerande inre moraliska kompassen som Korachs söner hade som skilde dem från de andra och gjorde dem bara värda att återlösas. De andra hade helt identifierat sig med upproret mot G-d och Mose, i handling och hjärta.

    Korachs söner, å andra sidan, förblev i kontakt, om än tillfälligt inte i linje, med rätt och fel. Vad de saknade vid kristiden var mod, inte övertygelse, vilket innebar att de åtminstone i hjärtat aldrig hade lämnat rättfärdighetens famn.

    Vad tjänar jag på det?

    En judisk lära18 säger att “det finns inte en rättfärdig man på jorden som gör vad som är rätt och aldrig syndar.” Brister är alltså bara mänskliga. Hur vi reagerar på olyckliga flingor med synd är en annan sak.

    Även om våra ångerfulla känslor ständigt visar sig oförmögna att producera handling, måste vi hålla fast vid dessa känslor för kära liv, så att vi inte blir desensibiliserade eller immuna mot fel och så småningom börjar identifiera oss med vårt dumma beteende.

    I en av sina föreläsningar målar grundaren av Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman från Liadi, den tragiska scenen med en man vars infekterade arm just amputerats och som bryter ihop i bittra tårar. Varför gråter mannen? Rabbi Schneur Zalman frågar. Han känner inte längre sin skadade arm! Ah, men det är just därför han gråter; eftersom han inte känner sin skadade arm . . .

    Att skada är ett tecken på anslutning; Att släppa smärtan av frånkoppling, hur obekvämt det än gör vårt liv, betyder tyvärr att släppa anslutningen.

    Baserat på ett tal av Lubavitcher Rebbe, Shabbat Parshat Pinchas 5737 (1977)19

    FOTNOTER
    1.

    Fjärde Moseboken 26:9–12.

    2.

    Samma som 16:32.

    3.

    Ad loc. Hans kommentar är baserad på Talmud, Sanhedrin 110a.

    4.

    Ad loc.

    5.

    Se Rebbes tal för en vidareutveckling av denna idé.

    6.

    Talmud, Sanhedrin 110a.

    7.

    Mishneh Torah, Teshuvahs lagar 3:6.

    8.

    Se Rashi till Fjärde Moseboken 16:7.

    9.

    Sanhedrin loc. cit.

    10.

    Se Talmud, Bava Batra 15a.

    11.

    Tänk på dessa ord av Maimonides i hans omvändelselagar (2:1): “[Vem har nått] fullständig teshuvah? En person som konfronterar samma situation som han syndade i, när han har potential att begå [synden igen], och ändå avstår och inte begår den på grund av sin teshuvah ensam, och inte på grund av rädsla eller brist på styrka.

    12.

    Se Fädernas etik 1:17.

    13.

    Så effektiva var Korachs söners ångerfulla känslor att de trotsade en annan lära att “den som leder massorna på den rätta vägen kommer inte att synda, men den som leder massorna vilse kommer inte att kunna omvända sig för allt fel han begår” (Fädernas etik 5:18).

    14.

    Talmud, Sotah 22a.

    15.

    Rauschning, Hitler talar, s. 222.

    16.

    Ibidem, s. 220.

    17.

    Ibidem, s. 87.

    18.

    Predikaren 7:20.

    19.

    Publicerad i Likkutei Sichot, vol. 33, s. 170–175.

    Av Mendel Kalmenson
    Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson är rabbin i Beit Baruch och verkställande direktör för Chabad i Belgravia, London, där han bor med sin fru, Chana, och barn.
    Mendel var redaktör på Judaism Website-Chabad.org, och är också författare till de populära böckerna Seeds of Wisdom, A Time to Heal och Positivity Bias.
    Mer från Mendel Kalmenson | .RSS
    © Upphovsrätt, alla rättigheter förbehållna. Om du gillade den här artikeln uppmuntrar vi dig att distribuera den vidare, förutsatt att du följer Chabad.org: s upphovsrättspolicy.

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    Gå med i diskussionen

    SORTERA EFTER:
    NyasteÄldsta
    17 Kommentarer
     
    Anonym Albany, NY, USAden 24 juli 2019

    FrågaOm Korachs söner var “Rubens barnbarnsbarn”, hur var de då också förfäder till några “leviter i templet”? Eller var deras reubenitiska härkomst bara på deras mors sida?Svar

    GL Skokie via skokiechabad.orgden 26 juli 2019
    som svar till Anonymous:

    Dathan & Aviram var från Reuben, Korach är från Levi, Kehat-familjen.Svar

    Anonym Albany, NY, USAden 28 juli 2019
    som svar till GL:

    Tack för att förklara!Svar

     
    David R. Silver den 27 juli 2016

    SkuldSkuld är en dålig känsla, men det betyder åtminstone att du är orolig för vad du gjorde. Ibland känner vi oss skyldiga eftersom vi tror att vi kunde ha gjort mer. En rabbin sa till mig en gång att vi alla är på en gigantisk trappa, varje steg har vi mer förståelse. Vi bedöms efter vad vi gör med det steg vi är på.Svar

     
    Anonym Chicago, ILden 18 juli 2011

    TshuvahTack för er uppmuntran.Svar

     
    Anonym den 17 juli 2011

    Tshuva – 17 juli 2011Var inte så hård mot dig själv. Du syndade inte. I värsta fall föll du tillbaka ett steg. Ni tar till er ” överenskommelse ” till ert hjärta. Du hade modet att göra ett undantag för fred och kärleksfull vänlighet. Bara den tanken hörs av Hashem. Familjefrågor står högt upp på listan över betydelse i Hashems ögon. Jag tror inte att Tshuva ska gottgöra en enda synd. Det är en annan religion där bikt eller en ” Hail Mary ” gör susen.

    Om jag bryter mot regeln för goda syften på en Sabbat, skulle jag bli förskräckt över att min religion behandlar mig som en syndare. Du är mycket högre upp på stegen än jag någonsin kommer att bli. Som du påpekar är din biatchon/tillit och Emunah/tro på Hashem i stort sett intakt. Du får G-d ‘ skratta ‘ / imponerad / nöjd med din känslighet och mod.Svar

     
    Anonym Mladen 17 juli 2011

    På TshuvahBortsett från ens egna svagheter har familje- och grupptryck ett starkt inflytande i våra liv. Kom ihåg berättelsen om Joseph och hans bröder. Medvetenhet om ens misslyckanden är bara utgångspunkten för att återvända. Överdrivna skuldkänslor är inte hälsosamma för någon. Men att förstå hur och varför våra handlingar gör det möjligt för oss att se saker klart. På så sätt kommer vi att kunna göra “justeringar” på ett rimligt sätt. Ha tålamod med dig själv och med andra. Och om vi inte får det rätt ibland, behöver man inte förtvivlan så länge vi lär oss. Kom ihåg: “Ty en rättfärdig människa faller sju gånger och reser sig igen, men de ogudaktiga skall falla i ondska.” (Ordspråksboken/Mishlei 24:16).Svar

     
    Anonym Chicago, ILden 17 juli 2011

    TshuvahDen här artikeln hjälpte mig att se min egen andliga koppling till Korachs söner. Idag tillät jag en familjemedlem att pressa mig att bryta sabbaten. Först motsatte jag mig passivt genom att bryta en “överenskommelse” som jag kände mig pressad att göra. När familjemedlemmen blev arg gav jag till slut efter. Med artikelns ord saknar jag mod men inte övertygelse. G-d vet att jag är en syndare, men Han vet också att jag vill göra Teshuvah för denna synd, men jag vet inte hur.Svar

     
    Anonym den 15 juli 2011

    Resonsibility juli 15, 2011 Mia PhilDu slog huvudet på spiken eller åtminstone gjorde Eziekel det.
    Bravo!Svar

     
    Anonym Mla, Philden 15 juli 2011

    Ansvar för sina egna handlingarTanakh är full av berättelser om dysfunktionalitet, vare sig föräldrar, barn eller relationer. Vi måste alltid vara medvetna om Försynens hand i våra egna liv. Men vi måste också komma ihåg att var och en är ansvarig för sina egna handlingar. Ett jiddisch-ordspråk säger på detta sätt, “Alla knådas ur samma deg men bakas i en annan ugn. Men vi får höra: “Den själ som syndar skall dö. Sonen skall inte bära faderns missgärning, inte heller skall fadern bära sonens missgärning. De rättfärdigas rättfärdighet skall vara över honom, och de ogudaktigas ogudaktighet skall vara över honom. (Hesekiel 18:20)Svar

     
    Yaakov Palo Alto, Kalifornienden 13 juli 2011

    Koras sönerOm dessa två inte var överens med sin far och skilde sig från Korah -huset och sedan inte återvände för att göra ont nästa dag. Varför skulle de vara i fara? Varför skulle vi anta att de skulle ha förstörts med sin Fader?

    Hes 18:4 Se, alla själar är Mina; som Faderns själ, så är också sonens själ Min; själen som syndar, den skall dö.

    Jag förstår att överföringen av skuld till de tre och fjärde generationerna är, att vi kan säga inte agera på ett visst sätt som “Stjäl”, men om föräldrarna är tjuvar lär deras handlingar barnen att bete sig som tjuvar. Barnet är inte skyldigt att göra som fadern gör, därför kan alla förändra och rädda sin själ, det är att det är ovanligt för den första generationen att göra det.Svar

     
    Anonym Var som helst, på jordenden 12 juli 2011

    Förr i tiden var det judiska folket “ett som hörde och såg”; ett slags delat erfarenhetssätt att vara i kontakt med den Allsmäktige.
    Om man var “utesluten” från denna upplevelse, skulle det verka som att sväljas hel in i den köttsliga världen. För dem och de andra som observerade denna upplevelse skulle det vara något lämpligt att säga att de dog.
    Men att vissa judar straffades betyder inte att de aldrig mer skulle kunna återinsättas i dessa delade erfarenheter.
    Dessa dagar kommer att komma igen till folket i L-rd. Det kommer att se och höra unisont vad L-rd säger och gör.Svar

     
    Anonym den 12 juli 2011

    Anslutning – frånkopplingAv någon anledning förstår jag inte det sista stycket.

    Om du blir sårad/misshandlad/förnedrad, ska vi då hålla fast vid denna förbindelse/relation, fast hur sorgligt det än är?

    Eller betyder det att vi i den sårande förbindelsen ska släppa taget/koppla bort, vilket är sorgligt men nödvändigt för att avsluta smärtan.

    Eller tillämpas betydelsen på andra saker än relationer?Svar

    Anonym Los Angelesden 26 juli 2019
    som svar till Anonymous:

    Jag tror att det syftar på ens förhållande till G-d. När en person syndar och sedan mår dåligt över den synden, känner de smärtan av att vara separerad från G-d. Det faktum att det finns smärta från att separeras indikerar att det finns en bättre chans att återansluta.
    När den mannens arm hade ont hade han fortfarande hopp om att armen skulle återhämta sig. När den avbröts upphörde smärtan, men möjligheten till återhämtning blev svårare (han skulle ha en protesarm istället för en riktig).
    Att känna ånger innebär en lättare väg tillbaka till G-d.Svar

     
    Fernando Yaakov Lalana, läkare Manila, Filippinernaden 12 juli 2011

    Insiktsfull artikelFörutom syften för min egen reflektion behandlar denna uppsats en grundläggande fråga i självkänsla och beteende som ett resultat av ens egen teshuvah. Som läkare som har arbetat inom området substansberoende intervention har jag varit tvungen att underlätta individer i processen att hantera skuld och avslag från samhället. Det är en lång väg med upp- och nedgångar i självvärde. Denna artikel beskriver tydligt grunden för hälsosam introspektion och den optimism som krävs för teshuvah och långsiktig inre läkning. Tack.Svar

     
    SeeKr Schaumburg, ILden 11 juli 2011

    ÅterställningOm någon börjar förlora samvetet, kan det återställas?Svar

     
    Jennifer LA, Sverige via chabadlosfeliz.orgden 11 juli 2011

    Denna artikel kan tillämpas på narkotikamissbruk ..?Överdosering..

    Till helvetet och tillbaka – Vad Rebbe lärde mig – Parshah (chabad.org)

    @jmrebueno

    för 5 månader sedan
    Thank you, Fr Chris! Henceforth I will always ask for the grace to reverently appreciate the Holy Eucharist and express this in my daily participation during Holy Mass. Thank you and God bless you for all that you do

    /////

    Like

    Reply

  3. Rise and Walk
    4h sedan
    Forgiveness
    humility
    Justified
    Pride Fall

    Palma il Giovane – 1542 – Healing of Paralytic
    Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
    in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

    A few days ago a reader emailed me and asked me to write about what to do after a Pride Fall? The reader stated that after a fall like this, it is hard to keep up hope. She wanted me to try to put into words what could be done, besides the obvious of Mass and the Sacraments, as many don’t have Spiritual Directors to speak to.

    I have probably written about this in various ways in the past, but I am going to try to assemble all of it here for clarity’s sake because I do think it’s important and because I do think we all need the reinforcement of one another when we are suffering. I know I needed it. My friend Ashley simply said to me, “you can do this, God is in this with you, his grace is sufficient,” multiple times last year. Those words kept the flame of hope alive in me. So I write this for anyone who is suffering and not understanding the ways of God. I know I felt paralyzed at times. God wants us to rise and walk.

    It is extremely humbling and often humiliating when we fall in Pride. When we think we know the right course of action and everything comes crumbling down, it is often hard to recover, especially if you are sincerely trying to do God’s will, as Peter was. I remember struggling so much with what God was allowing to happen to me over the last year. I will also state, I know there were people actively cursing me and God was allowing it. I didn’t understand. It seemed God was taking everything away from me. Hadn’t I been faithful was the question I kept asking? God was silent a lot. In the middle of it, it is hard to bear. I remember simply praying for mercy and grace and clinging to belief. Looking back from the other side now, I see no other way to perfection in love. Even today, my areas of pride are pointed out daily. I recognize them quickly because of the ordeal of the last year. I was doing everything the laws of God asked, and I loved God, but I was relying a lot on myself. God wants us to lean on Him, letting Him guide when to act and when to wait. When to speak and when to just pray. God desired to draw me closer. He desires this for you too. Most of us are too afraid to get this close because it hurts so bad as it involves in letting go of many things that comfort us and just accepting the situation that is. Sometimes it involves money, sometimes it’s health, sometimes it’s relationships, the humbling can come from any myriad of things. All the time God is revealing, if you look. It unites you to His cross and reveals the things hidden in your heart that keep you away from Him. He wants to draw you inside the gate, where the innermost depth of your heart lay so His Divine Love can pour into it. We have to keep this in perspective otherwise our human ways draw us further from him.

    You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! 2The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so much for nothing?—if it really was for nothing. Galatians 3:1-4

    From here, I will outline step by step what I would do after a Pride Fall.

    Remember that God loves you no matter what. He never stops loving you. You don’t have to earn his love.
    “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

    2. Do not try to justify yourself. When you try to explain or defend what you did God cannot come in and be your justification. Satan will try to convince you to explain yourself, much the way Adam explained to God that the woman given to him made him do it, rather than just saying sorry.

    Much more surely, therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God Romans 5:9

    3. Do not stuff your emotions. Emotions are a gift from God that help you to process when something happens. Be totally open with God about your emotions. He can handle them. He can reveal truth through them. Do not try to be “good enough”, just honest with God about exactly where you are. The most healing can take place when your heart is poured out and nothing is held back. Satan wants you ruled by emotions. God wants to reveal the wound using emotions. One way is out of control, the other is to place you on firm ground.

    Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8

    4. Ask the Lord what it is He wants you to face? What is it he wants you to stare at in order to convert and change? What is your serpent on the staff? Satan wants all things hidden, God wants to reveal the hidden things with love.

    if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

    5. Be open to what He tells you and reveals to you. He does not condemn, but convicts you to change. He never shows you something to get you stuck in shame, only to widen your view to a God’s eye view. Satan is the accuser. God is the healer.

    “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:17

    6. Forgive anyone who needs forgiving; that includes yourself, and even God. God hasn’t done anything wrong, but from our skewed perspective it can sometimes seem that way, forgiving God allows us to let go so he can heal us. Forgiveness is truly freeing. Satan wants you bound in the chains of unforgiveness, God wants to free you.

    Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. James 5:16

    7. Wait on the Lord. Do not expect everything to be fixed and for suffering to go away. Fixes are short term and don’t address the core of what needs healing. Healing is a long term process and the Lord walks you there. The goal is to love even though you’re suffering and the grace from that love will spill into your world and healing will begin. Chances are it took time to get where you are, it will take time to walk out of it too. Satan tries to distract and rush things. God moves with slowly in a distinct direction that will produce what is best for you.

    but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

    8. Don’t lose hope in the Lord. His promises are true and He does work all things for the good of those who love Him. Satan wants you to despair so he can send a spirit of murder to attack you with horrible thoughts. God wants you thinking bigger of who He is and for you to know He is way stronger than Satan.

    Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

    9. Pray without ceasing. Pray prayer from your heart and the Spirit will intercede. Satan fears those who pray. God moves you towards union with Him when you pray.

    Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

    That about sums up how to handle a Pride Fall. I believe Saint Peter did all of these things in between the time he denied Jesus and wept, to the day of Pentecost. By the time He got to Pentecost his heart was totally ready for the Spirit to descend because of the walk He had already been on.

    I hope this is able to help anyone out there who is suffering with why something happened. I don’t think God wants us stuck in the why, but he wants us to look at the Who. To look at the one who can heal and in whose image He is trying to form us in perfection. Anything not of Him we should desire to go, even if it hurts. And if you’re in a place where you don’t desire what keeps you from God to go, pray then to desire that.

    May God bless you all this Father’s Day. Remember the heavenly Father who loves you so much he sent His only Son to die for you.

    In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10

    Thank you Veronica, so so needed when one is suffering.

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  4. Readers,

    If someone supports Satan’s “Surely you shall not die teaching”, and promote the idea that Christians cannot lose their salvation unless they belong to the group who are too faithful to Jesus and teach others that you can and should be faithful to him, you know it’s a false gospel.

    We are asked to repent in order to be saved, and in order to do so one must naturally first BELIEVE. Repenting means to have a change of mind, and leave the old sinful life style behind. Not dragging it with us in the new born life. The Bible says that if we love Jesus, we obey his commandments.

    The apostle Paul WAS the chief of sinners in the right context (1 Tim. 1:13), but later on he called himself perfect.

    1 Thess. 2:10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how HOLILY and JUSTLY and UNBLAMEABLY WE BEHAVED OURSELVES —-

    Romans 6:16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of SIN UNTO DEATH, or of obedience unto righteousness?

    2 Tim. 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with PURE CONSCIENCE, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day

    Of course, Paul W and Lennart would of course immediately call him a self-righteous, arrogant Pharisee who is just boasting about himself.

    Below is my copied comment about the “seed” in 1 John 3:9. When I made this post Lennart immediately said goodbye and weaseled out, only to again 1-2 days later bring up the same subject again. This is a common pattern from Lennart and Paul W: ignoring comments they don’t want to hear. I’ve written articles about every single one of the common pro-sin verses which are often used out of context to promote sin (and often used by Calvinists). It’s impossible to have a discussion if one part decides to ignore arguments and just repeat the same old debunked arguments all over again. This is why they are no longer able to comment in this thread. FYI I have already prevented many posts with more ad hominem attacks and false accusations to be seen here.

    Copied:
    ………………….

    So which one is it? :

    “We can’t sin no more”
    or
    “We are following the Law as good as we can”.

    The two claims seem contradictory.
    My view is that everyone *can” choose to sin, including Jesus Christ (who never chose sin) and angels. I also believe that God has created us in a way so that we CAN obey him and also that he expects us to do so. I believe that we won’t only get one single chance to do right but he is willing to forgive a truly repentant heart. We can read that his commandments are NOT too grievous to follow and we are told to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. We can read that our righteousness but exceed the one of the pharisees or else we won’t get into heaven.

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  5. Thank you for your answer.
    Can you now please answer this two questions I give you again:

    First Question:
    1 Pet 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
    There is not a single word in this verse or the next verse that you should train to be a pastor knowing better then a newborn in Christ Or……. ????
    Heb. 7:28 For the law is ordained of men who have the weakness of high priests;

    Answer the Second question now:
    I demand you to answer, is there a lie in the Bible ? Lies the Bible when it when it says that a “born again” can not sin! You are “educated” as you claim and then you are equal to the Pharisees. They had education unlike us Gentiles.

    1 Joh. 3: 9 Whosoever is born of God sinneth not: for the seed of God abideth in him. And he can not sin, because he is born of God.

    Here comes the truth and I have not invented it myself, everyone can read in the Bible, whether they are trained pastors or not.

    The truth is the following:
    In the Old Testament, no human could be born again. That’s the good news. The whole New Testament is based on this fact. Faith is what we talk about. He who speaks of anything else is a liar.
    Amen

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    • Lennart I’ve told you before

      Gal 5:18 But IF IF IF IF IF ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

      So how do we behave if we are led by the Spirit? Well, we LOVE Jesus, and if we love Jesus we obey his commandments.

      Naturally Paul was addressing the Jews in his phrase above since some of them still thought in terms of the 613 Jewish laws such as circumcision, but the phrase applies to all of us.

      We are not living under the 613 Jewish laws, but we are certainly NOT living in lawlessness.

      We can read “the one who is born of God sinneth not”, etc but that concerns those who are led by the Spirit (which is linked to the “seed” argument). You simply cannot sin if you choose to abide with the Spirit and walk in the light. You seem to interpret this differently. Do you interpret it as saying:

      Christians have ceased sinning and cannot sin even if they try
      or perhaps:
      Christians continue to sin, but the sins are not regarded as sins any more because we’re always covered by the blood of Jesus no matter our conduct?

      You wrote: ” –In the Old Testament, no human could be born again. That’s the good news.”

      Eh? It sounds strange to read that it’s “good news” to not be able to be born again. The “born again” part is of course tied to the NT, but people have naturally been able to be saved during all times in history. We have always been separated by God due to sin, so the solution is always to not sin.

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      • Okay Evan
        Now we talking.
        We cant Sin no more because Sin is against the Law.
        I will speak simple: The Jews have not the Spirit okey. Not now or then. They are earthly as Adam.
        If you not know our earthly Laws in our society, how can you then follow them ?
        Of course we have sin but that’s in our body. We don’t own our body, it belongs to our Father.
        Read this verses and then you know who the Laws are mentioned for. They are not addressed to the righteousness.
        Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
        1 John 3: 4-5
        4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 5 And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. 6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. 7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
        Conclusion:: We have to know what is Sin. Are we talking about if a Jew breaks HIS LAW or is it our daily transgressions we make as living sinners ? Well that´s what we heathen are doing, and that will make every Law supporter angry. Don´t use Sin against the Law in wrong place.
        Let us continue talking and not arguing……
        Sorry for spelling bad but its from KVJ1611
        Lennart
        GB

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      • <<<Let us continue talking and not arguing…

        Said someone who called the opponents stupid for no reason?

        <<The Jews have not the Spirit okey. Not now or then. They are earthly as Adam.
        *
        This sounds as though the Jews are different than everybody else? They are like you and me.

        <<If you not know our earthly Laws in our society, how can you then follow them ?

        Exactly, if you believe we're living in some type of lawlessness, how do you know which laws to follow? If any? If we can be saved without having to obey any laws at all, what does it matter?

        <<Of course we have sin but that’s in our body. We don’t own our body, it belongs to our Father.

        Aha, so we can blame the Father? Can a man engage in adultery and lies and tell his wife "that's not me but only my body who does this, so don't blame me". This sound like Gnosticism which the first disciples of the Church vehemently argued against. The idea of Dualism, and that we cannot be blamed for what our bodies are out doing …

        <<They are not addressed to the righteousness.
        *
        Who are the righteous ones? They are the ones who obey the commandments of God. The commandments of God is also "the law", and we have always had commandments/laws since the time of Adam and Eve. They have not always looked the same, but we have never lived in lawlessness. It has always been a commandment to not kill, steal, lie, etc.

        <<<1 John 3: 4-5
        4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

        Exactly, sin is when we disobey the law. Yet you seem to believe we're living in lawlessness and can afford to sin.

        <<<Conclusion:: Are we talking about if a Jew breaks HIS LAW or is it our daily transgressions we make as living sinners ?

        What kind of "daily transgressions" are you talking about? If you mean "sin", then say "sin". What is sin? Let's ask Jesus:

        In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus lists the following things which we must do to get eternal life:

        not murder
        not commit adultery
        not steal
        not bear false witness
        honour your father and mother
        love your neighbour as yourself

        In short: Love God with all your heart. If you do, you will obey his commandments.

        You can read more here:

        Which laws / commandments must we obey according to Jesus / New Testament?

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      • Well I hope you are in the right place. You have a list of things we must “do” to come to heaven. Sorry my friend. All doctors I know here in Sweden including me are then not ready to enter heaven because we are murderer. We have taken lives. Before and after we got “saved”. I know other workers who have the same problems. Do You have something to tell them ?? “Repent” lol…… Yes it I have heard people talking about “easy believeing” My simple and humble advice is don’t be an soldier or doctor, rather an priest. Don’t be mad again, but shall I advice you to vaccinate for Covid 19 or not……:-))

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      • Lennart

        You wrote: “You have a list of things we must “do” to come to heaven.”

        Here are 150 things you must DO to be saved. This is according to the BIBLE:

        150 things we must DO to get saved, and the myth of salvation by FAITH ALONE

        << All doctors I know here in Sweden including me are then not ready to enter heaven because we are murderer. We have taken lives.

        More confusing statements. I understand every single one of Evan's comments, but you're just confusing.

        << Do You have something to tell them ?? "Repent" lol……

        It's like you're laughing in the face of Jesus who came to earth and taught "Repentance".

        <<My simple and humble advice is don't be an soldier or doctor, rather an priest. Don't be mad again, but shall I advice you to vaccinate for Covid 19 or not……:-))

        Ehh? Sorry, this is totally confusing.

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      • Well as I mentioned before
        I have to stop here because this is just words. I will not confuse you more. Take care
        Lennart

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  6. Evan
    I will tell you that you can insult a man with words from the Bible. I have not named “licens to sin” or I have not “teached” anyone anything. But you and your friend have bullied me all the time.against my will to not be a teacher or a man who have “licens to Sin”. If you like this words well you are a partner to Annika and can’t have your own opinion. You are then the “bullie” Sorry to say so.
    But answer my two questions would be better. You know Herodes killed Johannes brother with sword for he preached the gospel, and should even kill Peter. And I think it was not for to continuing use the Law. That’s what Annika and you are doing currently here in this blogg.
    Or…….

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    • Lennart,
      If Jesus himself is telling you that it’s wrong call people “raca” for no reason, then you should not argue with him and telling him he is is in error.

      I have several times asked you if you believe in a license to sin, and also told you that this is the only outcome I get from your posts. How can this be compared with you calling two people raca for no reason at all?

      I suspected that you would bring up the “Jesus used bad words, and so I can I – argument”. Jesus called the pharisees (people who disobeyed the laws despite adding more laws …) “white washed tombs”, but that was during perfect circumstances and he also offered a logical explanation what he meant with it. He didn’t just spurt out “stupid” to an educated person who has used logic in his arguments.

      Alright,so you’re accusing us of continuing using the law. Which laws? Are we living in lawlessness? (A situation which the Bible warns us about.) I quote the Bible which shows that we are not based on faith alone. Is this why you accuse me of being legalistic and might lose my salvation?

      I have no idea what your point is about Herodes. How does this change that a branch can be cut off the vine due to lack of fruit, as Jesus taught?

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  7. I don’t have to know your background in order to ascertain that your interpretations and opinions are questionable, just based upon the way in which you engage in character assassination by calling someone who doesn’t agree with you “stupid.” How does name-calling strengthen your argument? I did not see any apology from you nor any repentance. Is that how someone who claims to be a Christian, engages in discussion? Or perhaps you don’t have to repent because you believe you are saved no matter what and have already purchased your one-way ticket to heaven.

    If you were not such a bully, I would have no difficulty responding to your “demands,” but I find your manner of relating to others to be distasteful – to put it politely. We could have held on to our respective views and have agreed to disagree politely, but you chose not to go that route. Thus, suffice to say, I don’t think your demands deserve any answers from me as I refrain from playing with bullies in the sandbox.

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  8. To Evan for Answer:

    Okay then Evan

    Now you have to answer this question in your turn, and let me not hear the babble from the blog owner.

    First: Your pastoral education.
    Tell us listener why you went it when the Bible says you do not have to. I call it theft. You emphasize that you are a pastor. You have no idea what the background of the people writing here is, so speak in small words about your education. You can NEVER gain knowledge of anything without it being GIVEN to you from our Lord.

    1 Pet 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

    There is not a single word in this verse that you should train to be a pastor knowing better.

    Heb. 7:28 For the law is ordained of men who have the weakness of high priests;

    Answer the Second question now:
    I demand you to answer, is there a lie in the Bible ? Lies it when it says that a “born again” can not sin ! You are “educated” as you claim and then you are equal to the Pharisees. They had education unlike us Gentiles.

    1 Joh. 3: 9 Whosoever is born of God sinneth not: for the seed of God abideth in him. And he can not sin, because he is born of God.

    Here comes the truth and I have not invented it, everyone can read in the Bible, whether they are trained pastors or not.

    The truth is the following:
    In the Old Testament, no human could be born again. That’s the good news. The whole New Testament is based on this fact. Faith is what we talk about. He who speaks of anything else is a liar.
    Amen

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    • <<Tell us listener why you went it when the Bible says you do not have to. I call it theft.

      << <<Tell us listener why you went it when the Bible says you do not have to. I call it theft.

      Eh? So if I made mashed potatoes without the Bible telling me I have to, then it's a theft? You express yourself in a very strange way in your posts and maybe only other "pro-saved in your sins people" will follow you.

      <<You emphasize that you are a pastor.

      No he didn't emphasize it but merely explained it to make a point, and to me it sounds even more ridiculous that you included him as being "stupid" with his type of background and despite that he expresses perfect logic in his posts. I do have a problem understanding your back-and-forth logic though.

      << You have no idea what the background of the people writing here is,

      Why must he know that? He knows that it's a sin for someone to say raca for no cause and he doesn't have to know your background for doing that.

      <<You can NEVER gain knowledge of anything without it being GIVEN to you from our Lord.

      So it's a sin to set aside time to study the Bible? Which is done in a Bible seminary?

      <<1 Pet 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

      <<There is not a single word in this verse that you should train to be a pastor knowing better.

      So if there is no mention of something in ONE particular verse in the Bible, it's wrong? Show me the verse which says that it's wrong to set aside time to study the Bible together with others. Is it a sin to be a pastor?

      <<Heb. 7:28 For the law is ordained of men who have the weakness of high priests;

      Evan will say Amen to every single verse you say, so you have to explain how you understand it (or twist it) in order for him to understand your point.

      <<I demand you to answer, is there a lie in the Bible ? Lies it when it says that a “born again” can not sin ! You are “educated” as you claim and then you are equal to the Pharisees. They had education unlike us Gentiles.

      Aha, so education, as in setting aside time to study the Bible is always a sin? God is particularly upset with people who dares to do so? God is more pleased with people who do not study that Bible that much? If this is not what you're saying, why are you saying it? The problem with the Pharisees was not their education level but that they were sinners. They disobeyed God's commandments. They should have obeyed God MORE. Jesus also says that unless OUR righteousness (not his) exceeds the one of the Pharisees we will not enter his kingdom.

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    • Amen Lennart,

      My dad was a pastor my brother is a pastor I grew up as a PK and I’ve heard it all from the vast majority of the self-aggrandizing clergy. By what they say they think because they bought the books and attended classes at bibe college that they are the anointed ones. (Don’t touch gods announced”) They are blinded with their puffed up “status”. Evan accused me of being oblivious to using and knowing what hermeneutics is. Yet I can guarantee you he has used this verse to control the people and have no accountability. If he knew, what he accuses me of not knowing, he would know that he and 99% of the clergy take that scripture completely out of context just as he does with his false gospel message. That was referring to the old testament Prophets when the Holy Spirit came upon them as they spoke. If the Prophets weren’t 100% right in their prophesy the penalty was death. Truu prophets were being put to death by for speaking the truth. There’s your hermeneutics Evan, they were not to touch Gods anointed.

      Bible colleges across the world have pumped out pharisaical educated yet stupid people for decades. They have the audacity to think that they are special, that curtain was rent from top to bottom for them and just part for us, “unenlightened laypeople”. When in fact they are just one part of the bod with a different gift. No different than you and me. We are all priests under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit lives inside every believer, scripture is very clear that He is our teacher.

      Evan and his c9lleagues can’t stand people like you and me that they can’t control, like good little sheeple. Most of the time they have the accolades and praise of men.

      After I retired from the fire service, I enrolled in Bible college but quiet in the early part of the first year, thank God. I felt dirty when would go home, and it had nothing to do with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. It was the self-righteous grime that was beginning to rub off on me. The false doctrines and regurgitated crap are boundless in those rooms.

      Keep strong in the faith, thanks for your great comments.

      Paul

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      • Than you my new and dear friend.
        We have to look on the bright side here.
        We can use their platform and meet each other open and they can’t do anything about it. :-))
        Yes that was our purpose from the beginning. You se here in Sweden they don’t want people like you and me to meet each other. They cant control them. Thanks heaven that we still can reach each other. As a doc I can tell you some bad secrets about some sort of people, but I think you can imagine yourself. You are also well experienced in the real world, contradicting the puppets. Well let’s be happy for our meeting. After all when people ask how I feel I always says “well I’m okey today, and perhaps it disturb any person :-))
        Take care my friend, sharpen your sword,
        GB

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      • Again

        Birds of feather flock together. Since you both support a License to sin naturally you feel fine together. One blind leads another blind.

        I assume you now feel stronger in your aim to help Satan out with his gospel that “Ye shall not surely die”, and when you warn people against the teaching of the apostle Paul who taught the opposite from Satan:

        Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is DEATH

        Rom. 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

        So the Bible teaches that if we will die if we live by the flesh (sin) and you argue with him and say no way.

        Btw, I recognize this type of discussion with the ones I used to have with Calvinists, but at least they tried to use Bible verses (even if they failed). Paul W has another tactics where he just ignores Bible verses which don’t suit him.

        You wrote: “We can use their platform and meet each other open and they can’t do anything about it. :-))”

        Maybe you mean you can use the internet as a platform? You’re very confusing. Of course you cannot freely use other people’s blogs freely since they can choose to prevent it. I have chosen to accept your posts and keep them as evidence of that people do in fact teach a License to sin and falsely believe they are still accepted by God. People might not believe me, but your posts speak for themselves.

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  9. Okay, one last comment for you 21st century Pharisees.

    Here’s how I know you believe a false gospel. As I’m sure you know gospel means good news.

    For the Calvinistic view, “perseverance of the saints” that is where your works salvation, false doctrine stems from. It’s from the pit of hell because it’s exactly what satan wants in your life. It minimize the cross of Jesus and exalts the self-righteous “Filthy rags” works doctrines of men.

    There is no good news for you who have to perform good works to get to heaven, you’ll never know if it was enough until the day you die. There can be no assurance of salvation and rightfully so, because there is no salvation in works.

    All that took was a little God given comom sense.

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    • I see that I’ve missed several posts but I caught this.

      You wrote: <<There is no good news for you who have to perform good works to get to heaven

      Why are you arguing with Jesus who explained in John 15 that we can be cut off the vine due to lack of fruit (works)?

      If the Bible says that faith without works is dead, how come this is so difficult to accept?

      Is the biggest sin under the sun really the crime of teaching that we must be faithful to God? Not murder, pedophilia, etc but obedience to God?

      It's not a sin to be faithful to God.

      Satan taught that we will not die if we sin, but he lied. The truth is the opposite.

      You wrote: There can be no assurance of salvation and rightfully so

      Feels good to know that we have a license to sin …

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    • Thank you again Paul.
      Calvin was an indirect murderer and that’s not a good way to solve problems.
      False doctrine can be dangerous for listener.
      I hope you got my mail.
      GB
      Lennart

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    • I guess you’re not aware Paul that resorting to an ad hominem attack only serves to further weaken your position. You continue to refuse to address the scriptures and instead merely voice your opinion. I prefer to heed the Apostle Paul instead of your personal opinion as after all, Paul was was the greatest evangelist in the NT. Let’s allow Paul to define for us the gospel message that he preached and see how it lines up with your personal opinion.

      “On the contrary, first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem and throughout the whole country of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached the need to repent and turn to God, and to DO WORKS GIVING EVIDENCE OF REPENTANCE. Acts 26:20

      Paul stated 3 things contained in his preaching the gospel:
      1. Need to repent.
      2. Turn to God.
      3. Do WORKS that evidence repentance.

      You prefer to omit #3 which is of course your prerogative, but it exposes the inadequacy of your belief in direct opposition to this scripture.

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      • Evan
        Read Apg 26:18 first.
        There you can read that Our God says First believe and then comes “remission of Sins”. I presume you can read. I think you are Naiv like your stupid friend. Well tell me what you can read about the missing verse in the Swedish Bible then. Apg 8:37.And then we can speak.

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      • I have again missed lots of posts but caught this.

        I’ve noticed that Evan, despite being attacked by two rude individuals, continues quoting the Bible and keeping his calm. It also amazes me how much time and effort Lennart and Paul use to promote the idea that we can be saved IN our sins and that we will never lose our salvation no matter our conduct. Do you honestly believe God is pleased with that?

        Remember James saying that also demons believe in tremble, making the point that faith alone isn’t enough. If we TRULY believe and also LOVE Jesus, we will keep his commandments. Jesus said “If ye love me, keep my commandments”. But you’re saying Jesus is wrong and that not a day goes by before we must sin and repent, sin and repent? At least your friend Paul claims we must repent daily (meaning we sin daily, which isn’t a big deal anyway for him since we’re saved anyway and can never lose our salvation …)

        When do we get remission of sins? First we must believe of course, but we must also love confess sins and repent. The Bible is never about one single verse.

        Acts. 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, REPENT, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost

        Luke 3:3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of REPENTANCE for the remission of sins;

        Luke 24:47 And that REPENTANCE and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

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      • I don’t argue with you.
        By the way. The word idiot (idios) is an objektiv word and not an insult.
        You are insulting people with your chosen word “rude”
        Take care because you are at the portal.
        GB

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      • It is quite obvious that Lennart also resorts to ad hominem attacks and is either unaware or ignores Jesus’ command to stop doing doing so.
        “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, “Raca,” is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, “You fool!” will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Matthew 5:22
        Jesus’ warning applies to ANYONE including you and me. Since you Lennart, do not believe that you can lose your salvation and thus be in danger of the fire of hell, feel free to ignore Jesus’ warning.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Your problem is that you stamp your fellow human beings.
        You do not know if I’m angry or not. This is the end of the story.

        Liked by 1 person

      • “correct”
        As I told you before it’s very hard to be stupid those days, because the competition is overwhelmingly hard :-))

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      • Instead of repenting for your sin, you continue making the same insults. I’m not surprised. You have shown your true colors in every post.

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      • It’s ironic that you got it wrong when it comes to this verse as well. It’s not a sin to be angry, but it’s a sin to be angry *without a cause* (Matt. 5:22). It’s a sin to call someone the equivalent of raca without a cause. One day you will be judged for every such word that you say.

        Matt. 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

        Raca is on par with “stupid”, and you and Paul have without a cause called two people insulting names despite that we have done nothing but quoting scriptures and telling you about our views. A true born again Christian should be able to handle a Bible discussion without resorting to ad hominem attacks.

        I wonder if it’s your “I can be saved in my sins – gospel” which makes you behave the way you do.

        You seem to believe that you can sin because you’re not bound by any laws, such as living in lawlessness. But you are only off the hook IF you are lead by the Spirit (which means loving Jesus and obeying his commandments).

        Gal. 5:18 But IF ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

        The apostle Paul also promises you that you can live in righteousness:

        Gal. 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

        But you and Paul seem to vehemently disagree because you’re sure of that it’s not possible to obey the commandments successfully, and it doesn’t matter anyway because you’re saved no matter your conduct?

        Liked by 1 person

      • *Galatians 2:16
        *Galatians 3:2-3
        *Galatians 2:21
        *Romans11:6

        You can call it whatever you want, I stand on the word of God not my opinion. Romans 3:4 You can trust in your wrong iteprattion of James, all the way to hell by way of Jesus first, and hearing those dreadful words, “depart from me for I never knew you”. Funny I never heard of the cross and resurrection of James.

        “Faith without works is dead” does not not imply for a second that if we don’t have enough good works that we are not saved. It starts with the premise that there is faith, faith by which we are saved. Satan has no faith, it’s why he trembles becaus he knows his end. You have no faith, all you need is to perform enough good works. Without fsith, it is impossible to please God.

        Your false works belief is to the gosel, what heliocentrism is to God’s Geocentric creation. The truth is in black and white staring you in the face. But you are blinded by your need to be self-righteous. Just as the Pharisees rejected Jesus as their Massiah you and your followers reject the complete work of Jesus on the cross. And the worst part is that it’s so suttle and cunning. You twist scripture taking it out of context to tickle the ear’s of those that don’t have a good foundation in the word of God in their personal study. 2nd Timothy, 2:15 Depending on people like you that lead them astray. We’ve all done it to a degree (depending on the pastor/teacher). I’ve learned more in he last few years than a lifetime as a faithful churchgoer. And a message such as yours is simply regurgitated crap from another false teacher you got it from. Just as heliocentrism you could never come away with reading the bible and believe such self-righteous garbage, as works salvation without having your interpretation bing formed by man..
        The total irony of your false gospel is, that Mormons put the vast majority of Christians to shame with their good works, and you think they’re going to hell.

        Get over yourself, and understand that there is nothing good in you apart from the cross, that your self-righteousness is as filthy rags to God. To hold your false view on salvation you can only look at the “sinner” and as the phrase, think you are better than they, but only the person who knows that it’s by grace through faith that we are saved, that not of ourselves lest any man should boast, looks at the “sinner” and says, “except for the grace of God there go I.”

        Like

      • Paul, let me put it succinctly. Why don’t you learn how to properly exegete the scriptures by attending seminary as I did, graduating with honors, and become a pastor as I was. I’m certainly not the smartest or most qualified person around, but at least I know hermeneutical principles that judging by your comments — you are oblivious to.

        Like

      • You just made my point exactly! The Pharisees were educated idiots too. I could not be more grateful that I didn’t get brainwashed in “higher” education of this world. Yes, Bible college for the most part. I’ll put my knowledge of the scriptures that is measured with God’s wisdom against yours any day of the week. I was just waiting for you to drop that “bomb”. I knew you would, it’s what you boast in and makes you self-righteous and prideful in your” good works”.

        Here are my credentials:
        I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, saved by Grave through faith, that not of my self lest I should boast. There is nothing good in me apart from the cross and the shed blood of Jesus that covers me and makes me in right standing with the Father. “Any good works” in my life are ONLY an extension of God through me and are NOT my self-righteousness or what God sees as filthy rags. It is through Him that live and move and have my being. I walk free live free and stay free, and most certainly free from the heresy of your false Gospel. And not because of one single thing that I do That’s what I boast in! Your message of a false gospel only kept me bound for decades. Your prideful arrogance could never allow you to utter a testimony such as this.

        Reply if you like this is it for me. This is far more for those following, so they hear the truth. I’m not suffering from Pollyanna syndrome in thinking that your hard heart will hear the truth.

        Paul wright

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      • The problem remains Paul, that whether formally educated or not, you have failed to respond to the scriptures I offered as support for my belief. You failed to deal with any of the host of scriptures I cited which commend works of righteousness as necessary to the Christian lifestyle. Why is that?
        I never mentioned anything about “self-righteousness”, so you commit another logical fallacy known as a red herring which is typical of the weakness in the way you frame your arguments.
        Good works are the result of being saved and has nothing to do with self-righteousness but that concept appears foreign to you.

        Liked by 1 person

      • You contradict yourself at every turn. You make it self righteousness by your words, “to be saved you must have works with faith to be saved.” I gave you a list of scriptures you completely ignored, that you were asking for. You had to because you have no argument in the light of them. And I have addressed what you asked for, but you continue to blindly proclaim the lie.

        I spent well over an hour with a very lengthy and very detailed comment, addressing all your scripture taken out of context with no real understanding of hermonutics. I shared very personal things in my life. When I was ready to send it I accidentally lost it somehow,. At first, I was quite upset, but then realized you didn’t deserve to hear those things I said, leaving myself vulnerable to your self-righteous arrogance. I very shortly had much relief and peace knowing I hadn’t cast peral before swine.

        Paul

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      • Paul

        <<My dad was a pastor my brother is a pastor—-

        So are they sinners due to being pastors? Lennart seems to think that way.

        << Evan accused me of being oblivious to using and knowing what hermeneutics is.

        And he backed it up with evidence.

        << Yet I can guarantee you he has used this verse to control the people and have no accountability.

        So you judge a fellow man by ascribing sins to him (using verses with the aim to control people)? What does the Bible say about judging people unrighteously? Maybe it doesn't matter to you that you sin in this way because you believe you're saved anyway?

        <<Bible colleges across the world have pumped out pharisaical educated yet stupid people for decades.—-

        So you make the judgment here that this goes for Evan as well? Do you equal Pharisaism with the teaching that we can and should be faithful to Jesus?

        << They have the audacity to think that they are special,

        If a Christian believes he is special, is he risking losing his salvation for this sin? If yes, then you believe we can lose our salvation after all? If no, then what does it matter if the Christian believes he is special?

        << We are all priests under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit lives inside every believer, scripture is very clear that He is our teacher.

        So ever since Jesus died it was a sin to be a pastor?

        <<Evan and his c9lleagues can't stand people like you and me that they can't control, like good little sheeple. Most of the time they have the accolades and praise of men.

        More false judgment to a fellow man who have done nothing but quoting scriptures and telling you about this thoughts. He has not sinned in anything he has said but YOU sin by falsely judging a fellow man. But again, maybe it doesn't concern you that you fail to treat others the way you would like to be treated since you can sin all you want and still be covered by the blood of Jesus?

        <<< It was the self-righteous grime that was beginning to rub off on me. The false doctrines and regurgitated crap are boundless in those rooms.

        And this makes Evan a sinner due to your experiences? Are you trying to ascribe views to him and then use "Guilt by association"?

        <<Keep strong in the faith, thanks for your great comments.

        "Birds of feather flock together". You and Lennart have in post after post promoted a License to sin gospel, and the idea that we can serve two masters and still be saved. You have both resorted to ad hominem attacks and called people "stupid", "idiots", "self righteous", judged other falsely, etc. Since the Bible teaches that we can know someone by his/her fruit, it makes sense that the two individuals who have consistently promoted sin also have resorted to name callings.

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      • You wrote:

        <You contradict yourself at every turn

        You have not provided any evidence of that.

        <You make it self righteousness by your words, “to be saved you must have works with faith to be saved.”

        You mean JAMES said that right, and I quoted him?

        Jam. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

        <<gave you a list of scriptures you completely ignored, that you were asking for.

        I have spoken to lots of pro-sin Calvinists in my day and I have written blog posts about every single out-of-context verse they have used to support sin. There is not ONE verse in the entire Bible with teaches a License to sin and that we can serve two masters and still be saved.

        <<And I have addressed what you asked for, but you continue to blindly proclaim the lie.

        The lie that we can and should be faithful to Jesus? That lie?

        << At first, I was quite upset—-

        Maybe it was a gift from above. You planned to make yet another pro-sin be saved in your sins, post, and you failed.

        <<<leaving myself vulnerable to your self-righteous arrogance.

        Oh, so you're a victim when I quote Jesus who tells us that we can be cut off the vine due to lack of fruit? Is it self-righteous and arrogant to quote the Bible and to teach that we must be faithful to Jesus? And it's not arrogant to teach a License to sin like you do? You teach that God is happy with sinners and unhappy with the righteous.

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      • First. James did not say that in your context or lack thereof. Second, “dead” for lack of works has nothing to do with salvation. You would know that if you preached the full council of the word of God, not making a false doctrine out of one passage of scripture. I wish I had a dollar do every time you invoke the name of James. And just like you, the cults of Mormonism and the Jehovah’s witness, and the Calvinists “teach” the Bible.

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      • Paul

        Yes, James said exactly what he said and the context is clear. We are NOT saved by faith alone. He emphasizes in Jam. 2:2 that also demons believe in tremble, so clearly we need works (good fruit) as well, which explains why Jesus taught us that we risk to be cut off the vine due to lack of fruit. Of course this has everything to do with salvation!

        It seems like the letter of James is really bothering you. The same goes for Martin Luther who also didn’t like James due to the clear message that we are not saved by faith alone. For the pro-sinners, the Bible is not a good source.

        Be not deceived, you readers, but a man who claim you cannot be righteous and/or that someone else can be righteous for you so that you don’t have to.

        1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that DOETH righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

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      • Hello
        I would not answer but now you have crossed the line of decency.
        If you are Annika, start involving Dr. Martin Luther in this because then you are a deceived Jew or something worse. If you do not have the sense to understand that if Luther had not done his work you would not be able to sit here and spread yourself in your own language as you do. Then you would have been allowed to speak Latin, or Old Swedish. It makes me wonder if you really do not do this blog on commission. My ancestors flew this country Sweden for people like your type and so far we can speak fairly freely, but you do not make it easier. It was an abominable objection you made to withdraw Luther and you should be ashamed.
        You probably do not have enough empathy to do that. When you go so far as to accuse Luther of racism, you are not a freedom lover but something else
        Goodbye

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      • Lennart

        You are again listing “Jews” as something negative. I’m hoping you’re not a racist?

        Is it wrong to criticize Luther? In your previous posts you lashed out against pastors/priests, and Paul W joined you in your criticism against them. Now it’s suddenly ok to be a priest at least if you’re Martin Luther? So why so much disdain about pastors since this isn’t necessarily a bad thing?

        Martin Luther is not Jesus Christ but a person like you and me. Just because Luther has done some good things, it doesn’t mean that all he did was good. He lashed out against the Jews, for instance.

        You said: “My ancestors flew this country Sweden for people like your type and so far we can speak fairly freely, but you do not make it easier.”

        People like my type? Who say that Luther wasn’t happy about the letter of James? I can prove that this was his view and I even think I have written about him here on my blog with the proof included.

        << It was an abominable objection you made to withdraw Luther and you should be ashamed.

        You call an innocent person "stupid", and you're not the least sorry for this sin. I say that Luther was displeased about the letter of James, and I can prove it. Why have I sinned when I can back up my statement? Do you feel that certain people are like "catholic saints" and should never be criticized due to the big names?

        I'm sorry but what you write is still confusing.

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      • ye ye
        I’m not interested to talk with people with no shame. Go for your Chatolik friends and have fun.

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      • This is my last comment on this thread. I have a simple solution for those who believe that they can’t lose their salvation and do not need to demonstrate works of obedience in their lives in order to reman saved. It’s irrefutable in my opinion but not surprisingly, I’ve still encountered stubborn individuals who try to squirm out of it as it poses a problematic scenario for their intractable doctrinal belief. The question is:

        If you were faced one day with having to decide whether to take the mark of the beast, would you take it or not?
        Your options would be:
        #1 Take it as your behavior has nothing to do with maintaining or keeping your salvific status as a believer. As you know if you choose this option, you would be ignoring the consequences spelled out in Rev 14:9-11.
        #2 Take it as your behavior evidences that you were never a believer in the first place. This would be difficult for you to reconcile as you are convinced that you are a genuine believer.
        #3 Refuse it as you know that your behavior of accepting the mark will result in your condemnation as specified in Rev 14. This however creates a conflict in your belief that God’s grace covers all of our sins in spite of our actions.

        Don’t say you were never warned. You have been warned not by me, but by Scripture.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Than you Evan
        You made it easy for me.
        That’s not a problem for me because you forgot the Bibels most important claim.
        You know what I mean and if you don’t, you have to study the Bibel more carefully.
        We True believers are not on this earth when this selection is an actuality.
        Maybe you are and then you have to take it or leave it. Up to you.
        God luck and my best wishes
        God Bless you
        Lennart

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      • Than you Evan
        You made it easy for me.
        That’s not a problem for me because you forgot the Bibels most important claim.
        You know what I mean and if you don’t, you have to study the Bibel more carefully.
        We True believers are not on this earth when this “thing”is an actuality.
        Maybe you are and then you have to take it or leave it. Up to you.
        God luck and my best regards
        God Bless you
        Lennart

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      • Lennart, I suggest you study your Bible. Otherwise, you continually contradict Jesus.
        Rev 16:15-16.
        “15Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” 16And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.”
        In v.15 Jesus stated that he’s coming as a thief which refers to the rapture. In the very next verse, v16. he refers to the battle of Armageddon which takes place at the very end of the great tribulation. Thus Jesus taught that the rapture occurs at the end of the tribulation period and not before as many are falsely taught. Believers are around during the tribulation and will not be raptured before it. Prepare accordingly.

        Liked by 1 person

      • You really have no understanding of the word of God and who He is. It’s such an ignorant or blind question, one of the two. To take the “mark” is to choose Satan and reject God. There is no comparison, for you not to see that is profound, and shows how wrapped up you are in yourself to think that Almighty God needs your help so you can be saved. “Faith without works is dead” its not, faith without works, not saved. You’re the “educated one” the “scholar”. Try doing a study on the Greek word sozo and you will see as I mentioned that it’s meaning is multifaceted and does not always refer to salvation. So as I also said before the verse starts out with the premise of faith and the context is grace, saving faith. So, “dead” can’t possibly be referring to salvation. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Not your self-righteous works that God calls filthy rags. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence if things not seen. It is impossible to please God without faith. The day you understand what faith is you might get passed yourself, and see the truth. Now we’re done.

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      • Paul

        Evan asked a very logical question, and you failed to answer it. This should tell you something.

        <<“Faith without works is dead” its not, faith without works, not saved.

        Eh? If we are saved by works and NOT by faith only, then it follows that faith without works is dead, just like James says. The fact that you must twist scriptures around to make it fit your pro-sin-license-to-sin-gospel should make you think.

        << –and does not always refer to salvation.

        Maybe it's you who prefer that it doesn't refer to salvation, because then you must accept that faith without works is dead and you seem reluctant to so do.

        << the context is grace, saving faith.

        Grace means to avoid sinning here and now (Titus 2_11-12), and it also means that that God has graciously offered a salvation plan for us. Repentance is key and just because we're saved by grace doesn't mean we are saved unconditionally without risking losing our grip in the vine due to lack of works. And the context on James 2 isn't grace but works/fruit and that we are not saved by faith alone.

        <<— to think that Almighty God needs your help so you can be saved.

        That is the way a Calvinist speaks! Calvinists believe that God alone is the one who plants faith in people (and not all people) , and we can't even repent without him helping us to do so, or else it would be "helping God". You have also professed to believe in unconditional eternal security just like Calvinists. You have MORE than the average Calvinist eagerly sided with Satan's "Ye shall surely not die" gospel. Do you honestly believe God is pleased with you?! You should be ashamed of yourself dragging God's name in the mud.

        <<So, “dead” can’t possibly be referring to salvation.

        We will all die physically, so clearly the "dead" here concerns the other type of death, namely the spirit death. That means salvation.

        <<Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Not your self-righteous works that God calls filthy rags.

        I've told you multiple times that the "filthy rags" verse concerns a situation where people mixed sins with righteousness. In such cases also their good deeds are like filthy rags. The solution is to avoid sin. Why is it that you don't read what we write to you and respond accordingly, rather than repeating old refuted ideas? Since when is it self-righteous to be faithful to Jesus?

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      • Bjorkbloggen How long will you argue ?
        You can’t answer a real question ? Where can you read about works in this verses. Foundation !

        Hebrew 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
        12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
        Please concentrate on 11. to 12.

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      • Lennart

        You wrote: “Bjorkbloggen How long will you argue ?”

        How long will YOU argue? You have told us multiple times that you would end the discussion but you keep continue.

        <<You can’t answer a real question ? Where can you read about works in this verses.

        I've asked you before how it would be possible to include all the Biblical truths in one single verse (or a small section). Should we be reading all verses and shouldn't all the verses support each other?

        You quote Hebr. 8 and I say Amen to all verses. You fail to mention what point you are making or how you have twisted the verse to make it say what you want. I hope you don't interpret the verses as Calvinists do, namely that God selects who to save by giving them faith while he withholds faith to others. Zoom out and start to think when this "covenant" has or will take place.

        Here is more on Hebrews:

        Hebr. 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that OBEY him

        Note; "OBEY HIM".

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      • Lol
        You are refering to the book Luther didn’t like as you said ……..
        I will stop arguing soon but you tempted me to answer.
        If you had started this topic with the headline Works is necessary for to be saved had been better. You are not interested in a real discussion on biblical basis. I have many Chatolik friends and they are at least honest. You can be sure they are talking what they think is the truth. The Swedish churches are a mess and where you stand is an open question. maybe you have your own church ??

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      • You said: “You are refering to the book Luther didn’t like as you said ……..”

        ????? More totally confusing comments.

        <<If you had started this topic with the headline Works is necessary for to be saved had been better.

        I'm very pleased with my title and the article is replete with Bible verses which say that faith without works is dead. I'm sorry that the Bible doesn't appeal to you.

        <<You are not interested in a real discussion on biblical basis. I have many Chatolik friends and they are at least honest.

        Where have I been dishonest? Just more unfounded ad hominem attacks from your side.

        << The Swedish churches are a mess and where you stand is an open question.

        Why are churches are mess? Many churches unfortunately teach "Jesus loves you as you are" gospel. I have felt for a long time that many churches are sugar-coating the Gospel presenting it as though the cross that we must carry is light as a feather. But compared with the "Serve two masters and continue to be saved Gospel" that you and Paul stand for, the churches aren't that bad after all. You take the cake with your License to sin idea.

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      • Okay friend if you allow me to say so
        There is only two LAW-s in the new covenant. Do you remember ?
        I don’t deny any of them. Do you ?
        My best regard
        Lennart

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      • Ignore their wilful ignorance Lennart, the Apostle Paul said that there is no more Jew or Gentile. Not only did they reject Jesus as Messiah, but contributed His miracles to the work of the devil. They had the old testament scripture of the Prophet Isaiah that fortold of Jesus, that they would reject him and his death on the cross long before the Roman cross was even thought of. As a nation the Jews still reject Him today and most preachers believe that there is a special progsm for the Jewish people today. They actually think that God is going to have them blaspheme the Cross of Jesus and His perfect sacrifice by building a third temple having animal sacrifices. Jesus prophesied the destruction of the temple that happened in 70AD, that’s what God thinks of their animal sacrifices that they continued after the cross of Jesus. It was then that the abomination of desolation took place sacrificing a pig on the altar. The so-called scholars like Evan take what’s has already happened in Daniel and put it in Revelation claiming there will be a third temple, which the scripture speaks nothing of. They put thousands of years’ gap between a few verses in Daniel creating something God would never condone. (The Jews have animal sacrifices again). They think they know scripture and don’t have a clue. They have Christians looking for another Temple to be built and a rapture, that’s is another one of their false teachings. But that’s a subject of another time. I’ll just say this, for now, there aren’t three comings mentioned in the bible just as there is not a third temple mentioned.

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      • <I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, saved by Grave through faith, that not of my self lest I should boast

        Great, because I suppose this means you can hide behind Jesus and continue to sin, and still be saved?

        So we can serve two masters and still be saved? Where is that in the Bible?

        Jesus on the other hand (who taught the opposite message from you), told us that we're risking to be cut off the vine due to lack of fruit.

        Doesn't it bother you that you teach that it's normal for Christians to sin, and it's those who teach that we can and should be faithful to Jesus which are in danger of the health fire?

        The Bible warns true Christians from people like you:

        1 John 3:7 Little children, let no man DECEIVE you: he that DOETH righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

        This means that you deceive people with your claim that it's normal for Christians to sin and that they are saved anyway, and that it's those who teach faithfulness to Jesus who are in danger of the hell fire because of your teaching that man's righteousness always means selfrighteousness.

        Peter had another idea than you:

        Acts 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and WORKETH RIGHTEOUSNESS, is accepted with him.

        Peter does not say that we can go piggyback riding on Jesus and make use of his righteousness despite being daily sinners ourselves. WE have to walk the talk. WE have to obey his commandments, because HE told us that if we love him we obey him.

        Why are you arguing with Jesus and tell him that there is no way we can even last a day without sinning but that we're saved anyway? This has been your message in the posts that I've read so far.

        Can you also explain what the exact difference is between your teaching and the teaching of Satan? You're both teaching that we will not lose our salvation (die) even if we sin. Jesus taught the opposite.

        Also, the "filthy rages" statement (which the pro-sinners love to use) is found in Isaiah and it concerns those who try to mix sins with righteousness. As you do. Then also their good deeds are like filthy rags. NOT covered by anyone else. The solution is of course to love Jesus and obey his commandments.

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      • <<The Pharisees were educated idiots too.

        Aha, so I'm stupid and Evan is an idiot. I've spoken with many Calvinists in my days and most of them have been way more polite and logical than you. Still, just like most Calvinists you promote SIN, since you preach a license to sin in one post after the other. In your world there seems to be only ONE sin that makes God mad and that is the sin of being too faithful to him since this is selfrighteousness.

        <<

        <<< I could not be more grateful that I didn’t get brainwashed in “higher” education of this world.

        So it's always a sin to set aside time for Bible studies together with others? All such Bible studies are evil with no exception?

        << I’ll put my knowledge of the scriptures that is measured with God’s wisdom against yours any day of the week.

        Is this why you preach that we can serve two masters and still be saved?

        << it’s what you boast in and makes you self-righteous and prideful in your” good works”.

        Are you talking about James who taught that we are saved by works and not by faith only? It must be hard for you to do so much cherry picking in the Bible.

        << I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, saved by Grave through faith, that not of my self lest I should boast.

        I personally know of no Christian who claims that he is NOT saved by grace. But are we saved by grace unconditionally? Not according to the Bible. A branch can be cut off the vine.

        <<There is nothing good in me apart from the cross and the shed blood of Jesus that covers me and makes me in right standing with the Father. “

        A license to sin! How convenient that you can continue to sin and still be labelled righteous in the midst of your sins. You can afford to sin every day, and Jesus blood will automatically cover you. Yes, that is the teaching straight from hell. Satan applauds you for your help.

        <<Any good works” in my life are ONLY an extension of God through me and are NOT my self-righteousness or what God sees as filthy rags.

        No, YOU must do the good works. YOU risk of being cut off the vine due to YOUR lack of fruit. GOD cannot be blamed if YOU choose not to work. GOD will NOT do the works FOR you or INSTEAD of you. YOU will have NO excuse on judgment day when you suggest that Jesus has covered your sins all along so that it has not been important to be faithful to him.

        << I walk free live free and stay free,

        So you're free to sin? The Bible however says that if sin you're NOT free, so you're again teaching the exact opposite from the Bible. You beat most Calvinists that I've spoken to in your pro-sin easy believism goispel. You would fit well in most churches who sugar coat the gospel by suggesting that we can forget about trying to be faithful to Jesus because we can't and Jesus accepts us anyway despite our conduct.

        << And not because of one single thing that I do

        That's funny because Jesus says that you can be cut off the vine due to lack of fruit. Should Jesus repent and get his teaching from you instead?

        <<Your message of a false gospel only kept me bound for decades.

        And now you understand that you're free to sin and that you will be saved anyway?

        <<Your prideful arrogance could never allow you to utter a testimony such as this.

        So Evan and I preach that we can and should be faithful to Jesus and you call this "prideful arrogance"?

        Like

      • Paul W said: <<“depart from me for I never knew you”.

        Said Jesus to those who disobeyed him. Works …

        <<“Faith without works is dead” does not not imply for a second that if we don’t have enough good works that we are not saved.

        It says what it says even if you don't like it. The Bible warns us to not add or twist scriptures. If faith without works is dead, then faith without works is dead. Period.

        << It starts with the premise that there is faith, faith by which we are saved. Satan has no faith, it’s why he trembles becaus he knows his end.—–

        Funny that James says the opposite that demons DO have faith. His point is that someone with faith alone is not saved. Even bad demons have faith, so having faith alone is not a big deal. But do you have works to go with it? That is the question. If you lack works/fruit, you risk to be cut off the vine.

        <<But you are blinded by your need to be self-righteous.

        I thought you taught us to not judge? Yet you call me self-righteous because I quote the Bible that we are not saved by faith alone?

        << You twist scripture taking it out of context to tickle the ear’s of those that don’t have a good foundation in the word of God in their personal study.

        The Bible warns us about those who teach others that we're saved in our sins. Not about the those who teach it's important to be faithful to Jesus.

        <<Depending on people like you that lead them astray.

        Leading them astray? So they CAN lose their salvation after all? This type of contradiction is often found within Calvinism.

        << And a message such as yours is simply regurgitated crap from another false teacher you got it from.

        It's not my message but the message from the Bible. I'm sorry if you don't like Bible quotes.

        << The total irony of your false gospel is, that Mormons put the vast majority of Christians to shame with their good works, and you think they’re going to hell.

        I've never said I believe mormons go to hell because they are too faithful to God.

        <<To hold your false view on salvation you can only look at the “sinner” and as the phrase, think you are better than they, but only the person who knows that it’s by grace through faith that we are saved,—

        I wonder how many sins a person must do each day in order to be saved … If a person has not sinned in several days, then perhaps he is way too righteous to be saved? This is what is sounds like in Paul W and Lennart's twisted "sinners go to heaven and the righteous go to hell" gospel.

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      • Like I said Evan, you twist scripture or just simply deny what it says.

        Those that Jesus will say that to (depart from me for I never knew you) just got done trying to justify themselves to Him by their works.

        The fact that you don’t think you’re a sinner tells me all. Need to know about you.

        Also judging by your response I guess you think that Mormons who believe in a false gospel and anti-Christ are going to heaven because of their works.

        I have you pegged exactly right and haven’t even met you. You were a “goodie two shoes” growing up and went straight from mommy and daddy out of high school into Bible college, from there into seminary, to what ever protected environment you are in now. You have no concept of what it’s like to live in the “real world” and the struggles people face. People that literally have to trust God from day to day to make it, in some cases minute by minute. Depending on God’s mighty power to deliver, in His mercy and grace.

        I don’t judge you, as to say where you will spend eternity. But I can tell you that you are treading on thin ice as far as hearing those dreadful words someday by what you write. Jesus came to seek and save those that are lost. You would do well to figure that out.

        I was pretty disgusted with you at first, but I really do feel sorry for you. It must be a hell of life trying always to “measure up” I can’t imagine what it’s like for those that are close to you. I am praying for you.

        Judging someone in knowing their character or lack thereof, is not the kind of judgment Scripture warns against. “Judge not lest ye be judged”… That’s the kind of judgment you are guilty of when you judge someone, saying their going to hell because they aren’t performing quite enough by your standards, with enough good works.

        God’s standard is that we have all signed and come short, our righteousness is as filthy rags to Him, and the only thing that He sees is us through the blood of Jesus.

        Your self-righteousness stinks Evan, that’s what filthy rags do.

        Paul

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      • Paul,

        I’m asking you again. Why are you just repeating already debunked arguments? If you don’t feel they are debunked, why don’t you defend your case rather than just repeating yourself over and over again?

        You said: Those that Jesus will say that to (depart from me for I never knew you) just got done trying to justify themselves to Him by their works.

        How many times have we corrected you by using scripture, that those who Jesus said this to were sinners (work iniquity)?

        Matt. 7: 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that DOETH the will of my Father which is in heaven. 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that WORK INIQUITY.

        Repeat after me: DOETH; DOETH; DOETH

        <<The fact that you don’t think you’re a sinner tells me all. Need to know about you.

        What does it matter if someone is a sinner or not since you believe sins can never make one lose his salvation? Or is the case that Evan is saved ONLY if he sins? Or else he is a self-rigtheous pharisee and risking hell? How many sins must we do each day to make sure we're not self-rigtheous?

        <<Also judging by your response I guess you think that Mormons who believe in a false gospel and anti-Christ are going to heaven because of their works.

        Where does Evan say that someone who is in a false church is saved if he only has works? Do you get this idea only because Evan quote scriptures and you don't like it?

        <<I have you pegged exactly right and haven’t even met you.

        You have made several statements about Evan in this very post so you have not pegged it exactly right. I thought you boasted about not judging people? So why do you do exactly that? Isn't this hypocrisy?

        << You were a “goodie two shoes” growing up and went straight from mommy and daddy out of high school into Bible college, —

        This is enough false judgments about someone and I will not stop you from spreading your hatred and false judgments on my blog. I will remove your posts.

        <<You have no concept of what it’s like to live in the “real world” and the struggles people face.

        How in the world do you know that? Cease with your false judgments.

        << I don’t judge you, as to say where you will spend eternity.

        This means you believe narcissists, Pharisees etc will enter heaven. You're confused.

        <<But I can tell you that you are treading on thin ice as far as hearing those dreadful words someday by what you write.

        So you ARE judging him and if he doesn't bow down to you and listen to your License to sin gospel, he is in danger?

        <<Jesus came to seek and save those that are lost. You would do well to figure that out.

        Does it say unconditionally? Is Evan lost?

        <<I was pretty disgusted with you at first—

        I have seldom seen someone being so hateful and judgmental as you. Wow. Try loving your fellow man instead of spreading so much hate.

        ,<< but I really do feel sorry for you.

        Is this why you say so many filthy things about him?

        <<
        It must be a hell of life trying always to “measure up” I can’t imagine what it’s like for those that are close to you. I am praying for you.

        Please don't waste your time.

        << That’s the kind of judgment you are guilty of when you judge someone, saying their going to hell because they aren’t performing quite enough by your standards, with enough good works.

        What a hypocrite you are. You are judging your fellow man falsely. There is no way out of it.

        <<God’s standard is that we have all signed and come short, our righteousness is as filthy rags to Him, and the only thing that He sees is us through the blood of Jesus.

        I have multiple times corrected you about the filthy rags. Like five times? You just ignore it and repeat yourself.

        <<Your self-righteousness stinks Evan, that’s what filthy rags do.

        Many atheists are more loving than you. Just Wow!

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      • “Like I said Evan, you twist scripture or just simply deny what it says.

        Those that Jesus will say that to (depart from me for I never knew you) just got done trying to justify themselves to Him by their works.”

        Paul, either you can’t read, or you have a comprehension problem. Jesus never stated what you allege. Here’s what Jesus said since you’re blind to his words:
        Matt 7:23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART from Me, you who PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS!”
        They practiced lawlessness = SIN and NOT WORKS as you falsely claim.
        Why don’t you try reading the Bible for what is says and not what you think it says. Then you would be able to correct yourself instead of continuing on the road that leads to your possible destruction. Consider yourself warned and don’t ever complain that you were never told these things.

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  10. It is difficult to deal to deal with eternal security types as they are invariably intractable in their opinion and short in supply scriptural backing. When Scripture is presented to refute their position, they neglect to wrestle with the verse and address it specifically. Instead, they continue to allege that a genuine believer cannot lose salvation but only rewards, despite a plethora of scriptures that indicate otherwise. For the sake of clarity, let’s allow scripture to speak for itself.
    “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Rom 8:13
    Rom 8:13 in the Greek is what is known as a 1st class conditional sentence. The word IF in this verse is the conditional particle (ei), which introduces a protasis of a first-class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. The conditional particle ei, “if” is employed with the indicative mood of the verb zao, “you are living.” Together, they explicitly convey a protasis of a first-class condition that indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument. In other words, assuming the protasis is true [living according to the flesh], then the apodosis is also true [you will die]. Paul’s warning to the brethren thus conveys – If and let’s assume brother that it is true for the sake argument you are living in submission to the flesh, i.e. the sin nature.” The apodosis is then also true that you brother will die, i.e. spiritual death.
    The IF clause in “If you live according to the flesh, cannot apply to unbelievers as unbelievers can ONLY SIN, therefore it is not a matter of IF. They have no choice but to sin as they are unregenerated. If Paul were referring to unbelievers in this conditional clause, he who have instead chosen the word SINCE. Only genuine believers have the CHOICE IF they will choose to live according to the flesh, or to live according to the Spirit. Thus, Paul sternly warned that if a brother chooses to live according to the flesh by engaging in habitual sin, he will experience spiritual death and lose his salvation — not just loss of reward

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  11. Exactly, the Phrases thought they were going to heaven, the ones that were right and they accused Jesus of doing the work of the devil, and ultimately crucified Him. Keep it up, every time you say that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was inadequate.

    That license to in bull 💩 is your excuse to continue in a false gospel.

    The true gospel is to be free from the LAW of sin and death. That’s what the law will get you, spiritual death with no remedy out from under the blood, Gods grace.

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    • With other words Paul W is saying :”Hurray! Free to sin! Free from having to obey any commandments and free from having to be faithful to Jesus! Jesus died so that we can sin more boldly! This is what God wants to hear – that it’s impossible to obey him! Try it, or don’t try it – you’re saved anyway! The cross we must carry is light as a feather and we can serve two masters and still be saved!

      Gen. 3:4 — “Ye shall not surely die” (Satan)

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  12. Well you are not serious, or you cant follow a simple meaning. There is a difference between follow and obey. Again… take care because you are not honest and then I will stop this conversetion. If you can find the word “licens to sin” in the Bible then you have another Bible than me.
    Paul says:
    Romans 6:2 | View whole chapter | See verse in context
    God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
    Romans 6:15 | View whole chapter | See verse in context
    What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
    My best regards
    Lennart

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    • <There is a difference between follow and obey.

      What is the difference? Jesus said

      "John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

      << If you can find the word “licens to sin” in the Bible then you have another Bible than me.

      I've never claimed you can find "license to sin" in the Bible, and that is part of my point since you seem to teach it. I keep asking you if you believe in a license to sin since you believe there is no way we can lose our salvation?

      <<What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

      So does this mean that you agree with Paul and that we should cease sinning? Because we can and should be faithful to Jesus? Paul says:

      Rom. 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

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  13. Paul Wright
    Thank you so much for your thoughts. You cant imagine what we have to suffer spiritually here in Sweden now days. This kind of preaching or miss leading are heavy for all true believers.
    Thanks again and. Take care and
    GB

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    • Hey Lennart, Paul, Evan, etc …

      I’m glad to hear your thoughts and I’m sorry for not replying that fast.

      Lennart and Paul .. if I have understood you correctly you are teaching a license to sin, and that Jesus died so that we can sin freely without having to fear losing our salvation? And that the only single sin that might just make us lose our salvation, after all, is if we spread the teaching that we can and should be faithful to Jesus here and now?

      To me this sounds like sinners (if they believe in Jesus) go to heaven and the righteous go to hell?

      Is God particularly mad at people who teach that we can and should be obedient to him?

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      • Sorry to tell you but you don*t understand the gospel. We can’t sin no more. We are death with Christ in our baptism to Him.when He died at the cross. Don’t you understand that we have no licens to SIN. We are not sinning for our own will. We are not slaves under the Law no more. We are following the Law as good as we can. We have will not Sin as you say. Read Paul about this issue. Romans 6:15 | View whole chapter | See verse in context
        What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. And this one:Romans 6:2 | View whole chapter | See verse in context
        God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
        If you don’t understand this verses you have a problem…….
        Take care
        GB

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      • So which one is it? :

        “We can’t sin no more”
        or
        “We are following the Law as good as we can”.

        The two claims seem contradictory.
        My view is that everyone *can” choose to sin, including Jesus Christ (who never chose sin) and angels. I also believe that God has created us in a way so that we CAN obey him and also that he expects us to do so. I believe that we won’t only get one single chance to do right but he is willing to forgive a truly repentant heart. We can read that his commandments are NOT too grievous to follow and we are told to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. We can read that our righteousness but exceed the one of the pharisees or else we won’t get into heaven.

        Blessings

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      • You mentioned my name in your answer to Paul, Yes I have to answer.
        Anyone who does not understand what the word “ALWAYS,” means is beyond all argument. Hebrew 10:14 Says ” For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”
        And similar:
        Anyone who does not understand what the word “CAN NOT”, means is beyond all argument. 1 John 3:9 Says “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

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      • So how do you interpret that? Jesus died for everybody so all are perfect now and for ever? So a license to sin again, right?

        Please read the verse in context and please understand that we cannot read that there is something *unconditional* about it. It’s just that Jesus doesn’t have to die over and over again for the same people. One offer is enough for ever. Naturally this doesn’t mean that all are born saved and will remain saved!

        I also asked you how you interpreted the “seed” verse and you promptly bowed out and said you had enough. Now you return again without having answered my post about it!

        Sorry Lennart and Paul. I’ve given you enough time and now I will start removing new posts from you under this article since you are not able to discuss a topic without resorting to ad hominem attacks, false judgments, ignoring comments addressed to you, hypocrisy, etc. It’s sad that you hit the roof as soon as someone quotes the Bible to you with things you don’t want to hear.

        It’s still been interesting to see how two people spend so much time defending the License to sin gospel.

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      • Anyone who does not understand what the word “CAN NOT”, means is beyond all argument. 1 John 3:9 Says “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”
        Lennart,
        Beyond all argument? Before making such a bold claim perhaps you should get a better English translation, or familiarize yourself with the Greek.
        New International Version
        No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
        English Standard Version
        No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
        New American Standard Bible
        No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God.

        Do you see the difference? These English translations do not say that a believer cannot sin. Instead, they say that a person cannot practice sin, continually sin — in other words a lifestyle of sinning and yet, claim to be saved and born of God.
        That’s because the Greek word translated as “commit” is a present tense verb which is indicative on ongoing action. Thus a better translation would be “committing” sin. Thus one born of God does not keep on sinning. All Christians sin (1 Jn 1:10) but not all Christians practice sin, and that is the difference.

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    • You are welcome, this false self-righteous gospel is from the pit of hell, and is gaining traction in the church today. It’s only the self-centered, selfrightous narcissist that will say the cross of Jesus isn’t sufficient. And that is what their works salvation is all about no matter how they try to spin it.

      They know nothing of God’s grace and mercy. God is just and merciful. Micah 6:8 What does God require of you? To act justly, to love Mercy and walk humbly with your God. These people with their false works salvation, and false gospel know nothing of humility walking humbly with God. What the fool does not understand is that if we had to choose between God’s Mercy or His Justice they would likely say mercy, sounds good to the one that doesn’t know God, but trusts in their works to be saved. By what measure would mercy be given? If I committed a crime that carried the death penalty but got life in prison, we ould that not be mercy? The right choice is His Justice. God’s righteous justice that demands mercy. The kind of mercy that is complete, and forgives all our sin.

      Their message is nauseating at best, we can only pray for them, they are the toughest “nuts to crack” though, in their arrogance and self-righteousness, thinking they are right. Therefore in their hearts and minds have no need of changing from their false religion. No different than the Pharisees that Jesus called vipers and whitewashed tombs.

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      • You said: <this false self-righteous gospel is from the pit of hell–

        Is it self-righteous to obey Jesus? Please explain.

        When reading your comment it seems like we can afford sinning in all sorts of way (and still be saved) except for one single sin which can send us to hell: The horrible sin of teaching that we can and should be faithful to Jesus. THIS is by many called "self-righteousness", legalism", pharisaical, etc, and THIS is the sin that angers God?

        If this is now what you are saying, why are you saying it?

        You said: –“Their message is nauseating at best, we can only pray for them”

        How horrible to preach that we should be faithful to Jesus!? And what’s the big need of praying for people if they can never lose their salvation? Or can they lose their salvation after all, if they dare teaching that we should be faithful to Jesus?

        I know of someone else who taught “Ye shalt surely not die …”, and people fell for it.

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      • No absolutely not, and you know it! A christian struggling in there life needs no judgment from you they heap enough guilt and shame on themselves on their own.

        You have never been in a place where it was all you could do to hang on to John 8:36 He whom the Son sets free is free indeed, knowing that it was the only out of a slimy pit. A persons “fruit” or lack thereof as you would say, can be the works of voluntarily going to in-house programs, counseling sessions, reading self help books. or barely hanging on to John 8:36 but not giving up, not letting go. Your selfrightounss is nausiating at best. This conversation is pointless, you will twist scripture like a pretzel to make your false doctrine point.

        There’s not much hope for the self-righteous, you people think you are right in your false gospel, you have no reason in your mind to change. No one’s opinion means a thing to me.The only thing that matters is Romans 3:4. Get off the throne.

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      • Paul Wright this women or whatever it is have problems….. don’t argue with it. You are completely right and I so glad you joined this site. I will ask you can I come in contact with you in any way ?
        Your friend
        Lennart
        GB

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      • You wrote: “These people with their false works salvation, and false gospel know nothing of humility walking humbly with God.”

        In my article I quoted Jesus, James, Paul, etc, siding with James who taught that we are “saved by works and not by faith only”, and yet you call all this false? So should we believe you or the Bible? Do you believe God will get upset with people who teach that we can and should be faithful to him?

        You wrote: “Micah 6:8 What does God require of you? To act justly, to love Mercy and walk humbly with your God. ”

        You really puzzle me. Here you quote the Bible when it says that something is required from us, namely that we should act justly, walk humbly, etc which are something we can and should do and therefore *works*. Yet, you contradict yourself and teach a “faith + nothing” gospel, a license to sin, etc. So which one is it? Should we act justly or do we have a license to sin since we can never lose our salvation?

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      • ADDITION:

        Paul W says: “:A christian struggling in there life needs no judgment from you they heap enough guilt and shame on themselves on their own.”

        Whether or not a Christian “struggles” you still teach that he is saved anyway since we can’t lose our salvation (except if we obey God a bit too much?). So you say we shouldn’t judge people and yet YOU have judged Evan and me in post after post? You even hit the roof when he informed us that he used to be a pastor, and immediately began your ad hominem attacks on him. Do you know what this is called? Hypocrisy!

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      • Only your character I should say the last thereof.

        I don’t judge as to whether or not a person is saved like you do, I never could not would, that’s what self-righteous pharisaical narcissists do.

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      • Paul

        Am I judging who is saved by quoting the Bible? (faith alone is dead …)

        Is a self-righteous pharisaical narcissist saved? If, yes, then what does it matter if people are those things? If no, doesn’t this mean that you are judging me and declaring that I’m not saved (nor Evan). Doesn’t this mean that you are a hypocrite? As well as being those things yourself by your own standard?

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  14. Look the scriptures up they are what I speak.

    There are none righteous no not one. The righteousness of man is as filthy rags to God. The person who thinks that there is anything Good in themselves apart from the cross of Jesus is of the same mindset as that of the Pharisees. The Apostle Paul, the one we “glorify” admitted his struggle with the flesh. You show me the Christian that doesn’t need to repent often in their walk, and I’ll show you a person that has no personal relationships. Only a pharisaical mindset would would take away from Abrahams obedience concerning Isaac to mean that he was rightous and “perfect” if he were perfect he would not have died. Only the religious minded, not the “spiritually minded” could take the full council of the word of God and think that they have a part in their salvation other than accepting God’s FREE gift. What was credited to Abraham as righteousness and as perfect was entering into a covenant with God? A covenant is two-sided both must be willing to make the same sacrifice. God’s new covenant required the sacrifice of His Son and Abraham had to be willing to do the same if he was to enter into a covenant with God, had he not done so, God would have found someone else who was not perfect just as Abraham wasn’t. Our God of love, grace and mercy stopped Abraham from carrying through. This is one of many examples of God’s Justice. His Justice would require that Abraham carry out sacrificing Isaac on the alter. But in His mercy that is “new every morning” He stopped Abraham, by His grace He spared Isaacs life. When Abaham raised the knife God was satisfied with Abrahans side of the covenant. (Cntext, scripture explains scripture, the study tool of hermonutics)

    Peter:
    his story is not one of righteousness because of repentance. It’s all about restoration. “Feeding His sheep” just happened to be his occupation. After Peter denied Jesus three times as He was facing the cross to die in his place, what Jesus said to him had nothing to do with preaching or evangelism. It was all about restoration., he was forgiven and restored as though it had never happened. Sound familiar? Buried deeper than the deepest sea, separated as far as the east is from the west. Only the pharisaical heart would even think there is something they can add (works), to be saved.

    The Pharisee and the Publican, Jesus made it very clear in this example, what the Pharisees were all about. What did Jesus call the Pharisees? Vipers and whitewashed tombs, for the very act of thinking they were better than others because of their self-righteous deeds, which is exactly what people do when they claim that their righteousness (filthy rags) has anything to do with their salvation. What arrogance in the face of Jesus who paid the price in full at Calvary. What a self-righteous example given of His sacrifice on the cross, sorry, just is what it is.

    The religious (pharisaical) that have no true understanding of God’s Grace and Mercy and what righteousness means to the believer, (right standing) they don’t apply 2nd, Timothy 2:15 on this matter. They divide the word all right, but it stands to reason that if we can rightly divide the word of truth, that we can severely, wrongly divide the word, that is NOT the truth. Also, right standing comes ONLY from accepting Jesus as savior. The blood of Jesus is the only thing that covers me and will allow me to stand before God and not hear those dreadful words “…depart from me for I never knew you”. NOT ONE “FILTHY RAG” THING I DO TRYING TO LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY! And all we can dois try, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. If you think you’re “walking humbly with your God and have a Calvinistic view, think again.
    I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus PERIOD.

    With love in Christ Jesus,

    Paul

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    • To avoid much confusion, it is necessary to distinguish between works done in order to become saved, versus works done as a result of being saved. No amount of righteous works done in the flesh can cause someone to be saved. However, righteous works done as result of being saved demonstrates that a person is truly saved. That is why James wrote that faith without works is dead and one is justified by works and not by faith alone. Genuine faith is accompanied by works of righteousness. You cannot have one without the other. Believers were created to do good works (Eph 2:10); profess godliness with good works (1 Tim 2:10); have a reputation with good works (1 Tim 5:10); be rich in good works (1 Tim 6:18); be a model of good works (Titus 2:7); be zealous for good works (Titus 2:14); be devoted to good works (Titus 3:14); stir up one another to love and good works (Heb 10:24). When Jesus returns, he judges the 7 Churches according to their works, or lack thereof. Again, our works don’t cause us to become saved but instead demonstrate that we are truly saved.

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      • Evan, yes, I agree with your examples. Still, if works must be demonstrated in a Christian (or else he/she is not saved), then it follows that works cause us to be saved – naturally along with faith. Since faith without works is dead.

        On the other hand, I wouldn’t walk around phrasing myself with “works cause us to be saved” because that would certainly confuse a lot of people and a discussion would be sure to follow. It’s better to say like James does; “faith without works is dead”, or something similar. We can also be cut off the vine due to lack of fruit (works), which also supports James explanation about works.

        When it comes to the longer posts from Paul W, I’m afraid I must get back on those in 1-2 days (after I’ve read them) due to work.

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      • Yes, I agree. Cause vs. Result causes a lot of misunderstanding. Part of the problem is also the teaching that salvation is relegated to only a moment in time when one is born again — not realizing that salvation is a life-long process that requires perseverance and overcoming, demonstrated by works of obedience.

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    • For the readers.

      I’ve missed a few posts in this discussion so for the sake of the readers I will at least make another post.

      Here below is the blog post about the famous “there are none righteous” comment from Romans. 3 which Calvinists so often use. The context is the apostle Paul quoting a couple of psalms which include this expression, and when checking those psalms we can read about both none righteous (who don’t understand) but also about righteous people. If people don’t like this fact they must take it up with God. When it comes to righteousness, it’s important to note that WE are the ones who must perform the good deeds (works) which God has created for us to walk in (check Eph. 2:10). WE need to be righteous according to the Bible, and we can even read warnings to never be deceived by those (like Paul W and Lennart) who claim the opposite – that someone else can be righteous for and instead of us (1 John 3:7).

      There is none righteous who seeks after God as per Romans 3:10?

      I started my blog as a response to Calvinists, but most Calvinists that I’ve spoken to are not as pro-sin as Paul and Lennart have proven to be here. Let’s take this astonishing comment from Paul W for instance:

      Paul W: “You show me the Christian that doesn’t need to repent often in their walk, and I’ll show you a person that has no personal relationships.”

      Here Paul ” is telling us up front that the normal Christian walk is to SIN OFTEN, or why else would we need to REPENT OFTEN? An earlier post reveals that Paul W believes we must repent (thus sin) daily. He continues to tell us that if this is not so (a Christian sinning and repenting often) then he has no personal relationship, I assume with God? Not even a hard-core Calvinist would make such a pro-sin comment.

      Paul W:” Only the religious minded, not the “spiritually minded” could take the full council of the word of God and think that they have a part in their salvation other than accepting God’s FREE gift. ”

      So the idea is here that it’s bad to add anything to our salvation apart from just “accepting” the salvation. Here Paul W doesn’t even add “repentance” as being necessary and that is understandable since he is of the view that true Christians repent daily (since they sin daily), which makes the mere idea of repentance obsolete.

      Paul W is actually of the opinion that the apostle James (and all other Bible writers) is of a Pharisaical mind.

      Paul W says:”Only the pharisaical heart would even think there is something they can add (works), to be saved.”

      In the very article under which we are writing, we can read James clear message that we are “saved by works and not by faith only”, which makes him a fallen Pharisee if Paul W is right.

      Despite that I quoted the Bible about the Pharisees in my blog post (which he has either not read or ignores) Paul W adds to Scriptures by saying:

      ” What did Jesus call the Pharisees? Vipers and whitewashed tombs, for the very act of thinking they were better than others because of their self-righteous deeds, , which is exactly what people do when they claim that their righteousness (filthy rags) has anything to do with their salvation.”

      No, that is not what Jesus said. As I explained in my article (or rather quoted …) Jesus charged the Pharisees of NOT being righteous ENOUGH. I quote again:

      Matt. 5:20 That except YOUR righteousness shall EXCEED the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.—

      As I’ve said earlier, the oft mentioned (by Calvinists) “filthy rags” verse is from Isaiah and concerns those who are sinners, and since they are sinners also their good deeds are like filthy rags before God. The solution is to avoid sinning and “do righteousness” as the Bible suggests.

      Paul W: “What arrogance in the face of Jesus who paid the price in full at Calvary.

      As I’ve said earlier, Jesus paid a big price since he died for us, but we should not view it as an analogy of a money transaction/payment. It was the OFFER (dying for all mankind) that was the big price. This is important, or else we might end up believing that Jesus “paid it all so that we are now free to sin”, which is the exact trap that Paul W and Lennart have ended up in.

      Paul W: “Also, right standing comes ONLY from accepting Jesus as savior.”

      The Bible, however has another story about who is saved:

      Hebr. 5: — he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that OBEY him

      Here of course the author of Hebrews would be called a self-righteous legalistic arrogant Pharisee by Paul W since the author adds works to salvation …

      Paul W says “The blood of Jesus is the only thing that covers me and will allow me to stand before God and not hear those dreadful words “…depart from me for I never knew you”. ”

      It sounds very convenient indeed to be able to sin and always go piggyback riding on Jesus, being covered by his blood no matter your conduct. This is the Gospel of “Ye shall surely not die” from Satan. The Bible never says that we can continue to sin and always be forgiven no matter what we do.

      Paul W says: “And all we can dois try, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. ”

      What happens if a Christian ends up not trying much at all? Can he lose his salvation? No, because Paul W.s gospel is that we can’t lose our salvation, so this is a contradiction at best.

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      • Evan you’re a flat out liar!

        “Paul W said”…
        We are saved by grace trough faith, that not of ourselves lest any man should boast. I never said such garbage as “license to sin” those are your words, not mine!

        You are one sick self-righteous self-centered narcissist. FYI, Evan, you are a sinner, and the only way you’re getting to heaven is through the cross, PERIOD!

        Countless times you have lied about what I’ve said, you’re no different than the godless politicians that know If they tell a lie enough times people will believe it. Last I checked to habitually lie is sin. By you’re on self-righteousness definition of salvation you are hell-bound.

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      • Evan never says anything about that we’re not saved by grace. This doesn’t mean that we are saved unconditionally and I’ve told you this multiple times as well.

        Again, what does it matter if someone is a sinner in your twisted world since we have a license to sin, we can never lose our salvation, God loves sinners more than those who are faithful to him, etc? You don’t make any sense.

        Stop lying! Stop being a hypocrite! Stop judging people! Stop you ad hominem attacks!

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  15. I read some of that, Evan. Great stuff! I too believe a reduction of the earth’s population is on the agenda of the elite (“for our sake” ..), and many more support Agenda 2030 believing it’s a good thing.

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    • Thanks Annika. I started my blog as a means to inform others and protest what’s now going in this insane world. One of the surprising things to me is that the church is still asleep; not recognizing the times in which we live. The pastors who are charged with guarding their flocks do not keep watch and speak out against what is happening. I have a pastor friend who is hesitant to take a stand although he knows what is happening because many in his church have already been vaccinated. He’s tried talking to other pastors but they don’t want to talk about this. I just don’t understand it.

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      • I’m glad you started your blog!
        Yes, it’s sad when Christians jump on board the vaccination train, and I’ve been particularly discouraged each time I read from some Christians from Australia (of all countries) who endorse vaccination passports. They also say that the shots are not the mark of the beast. Correct, (not yet), but that doesn’t mean all vaccination shots offered by the government are risk free. Can they not see that it’s all about taking away our freedom and planting a great reset across the world? The situation in Austria, however, might just take the Big Brother prize.

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  16. Greetings again! A new year, same subject (which needs to be discussed) as so many are being led astray with today’s teaching from the pulpits. I just heard yesterday a radio pastor proclaim that we are on longer under the law because we now live under grace and law. He forgets that Jesus himself stated that He came not to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill them. The point of Jesus’ statement is that He came to establish the law – written in stone – into people’s hearts = fulfilling the law. Jesus fulfilled the law by making the law FULL. Thus, believers can willingly submit to God’s commands because they have the law established upon their hearts.

    Outward obedience (our works) is the evidence of true faith (inward regeneration). God’s grace enables believers to obey God’s commands and not habitually sin.
    11For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, Titus 2:11-12

    Grace enables us to say no to sin, that we might live self-controlled, upright and godly lives, so that we might work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Ironically, evangelical preachers emphasize the good news message extolling grace and love while characterizing works or works-based salvation as a bad thing – even heretical. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Apostle Paul, the greatest evangelist in the NT defines the gospel that he preached:
    “Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance” Acts:26:20. In this verse, Paul states that he preached a gospel of repentance evidenced by works = works-based salvation.

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    • Hey Evan!

      Yes, same subject, and it was more or less a response to a recent post about the subject of works based salvation.

      As usual I agree with what you write 🙂 Yes, grace is not some type of a cover or a license to sin, but (among other things) means to live righteous lives here and now. This is possible since we are IN the vine, which is Jesus Christ.

      Yes, it’s about doing works worthy of repentance!

      Being faithful to Jesus (obeying his commandments) can never be bad, or something to warn people about – legalism, works-based salvation, etc.

      More blessings and power to you in 2022 despite all the strange things that are going on right now!

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      • God’s blessings also to you this year, as you stand for the truth of the Word. “Strange things” may be an understatement given what we’ve witnessed happening in the world, and what it may portend for the future. I don’t know what your view is but this is mine.
        https://threefoldcord.life/

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    • He who does not understand that God sacrificed His Son and punished Him by taking on all our sins, and the sins of the world when He died on the cross for us, and that we would thus be free forever, must read the Bible much more. To claim that we can lose our “salvation” by sinning is the grossest insult one can give our Lord, Jesus Christ, as human beings when He sacrificed his life for us on the cross. Read Hebrews. 4: 3 and the context, the picture is completely clear. You can call yourself a “priest”, a pastor or whatever you want because you have not understood how simple it is. I feel deep sadness inside me when I read about people who do not “want” to try to understand Or as Jesus Christ said to Thomas: Joh. 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed. Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe. It is not our job to bring opinion to each other and therefore I have always tried to reach the blogs that are wrong out there, but since our spirit of the times is in the final stages, there may be some occasional newcomers I want to try to reach to evoke a hint that the law does not apply to us Gentiles according to what the Bible conveys.

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      • “To claim that we can lose our “salvation” by sinning is the grossest insult one can give our Lord, Jesus Christ, as human beings when He sacrificed his life for us on the cross.”

        You are entitled to your opinion but it must be backed by Scripture and not taken out of context which is what you have done by citing Heb 4:3. Verse 3 states that those who have believed, enter that rest which is a true statement. Belief is indeed necessary but you neglected to cite v.6 which states that obedience is also necessary to enter that rest.
        6 Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of DISOBEDIENCE. Thus both belief and obedience are requisite for salvation as cited in this passage. You have acknowledged the former but have neglected the latter, resulting in cherry-picking a single verse to suit your interpretation. That is why one chapter later in Heb 5:9 it states: “And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who OBEY him….” Both believing and obeying are thus necessary for salvation. Having one without the other results in spiritual death = loss of salvation.
        “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Rom 8:13
        “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” James 5:19-20
        Both Paul and James taught that if a brother continues in habitual sin and does not repent, such a brother is subject to the death of his soul = loss of salvation.

        As far as the law goes in being applicable to believers, Jesus himself stated that he came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it, so your claim as to the law not being applicable to believers anymore is in conflict with Jesus’ own statement. I prefer to believe Jesus. I also prefer to believe James who wrote in James 2:
        12Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
        Obeying the law brings freedom for the believer. If we fulfill the law by being merciful to others, we fulfill the law as Jesus himself fulfilled the law.

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      • Evan, what arrogance in the face of Jesus proclaiming that His complete and perfect sacrifice wasn’t enough. Any way you want to spin it that’s exactly what you are doing.

        You’re right about one thing though, I’ll go by what “Jesus said”, His words On the cross, “IT IS FINISHED”.
        ASs far as going with what James said, I’ll stick with a guy that knows God’s mercy and Grace more than most.

        The Apostle Paul was a Roman, a Jew who persecuted and murdered Christians. He was very educated and was steeped in the law., a perfect Pharisee if you will. On the road to Damascus, he was thrown off his horse blinded by the brightness of Jesus and Jesus spoke to him audibly. Then later was healed by God of his blindness. What a miraculous conversion! Paul knew God’s mercy and grace and spoke of the ongoing struggle with the battle of the flesh. That’s why he wrote that we are saved by grace through faith that NOT OF OURSELVES lest any man should boast. Paul wrote the majority of the new testament.

        On the other hand you have James and a bunch of other Jews that authored the new testament who couldn’t even get, that Jesus would rise from the dead after three days, having walked and talked with Jesus, when he told them clearly. And after witnessing all the amazing miracles Jesus did. These guys couldn’t warp their heads around Paul’s message of grace and that “there is no more Jew or Gentile.”

        There is a reason for Paul’s letter to Timothy, and anyone that has a pharisaical mindset of “Lordship” works salvation does not practice 2nd Timothy 2:15.

        Those dreadful words that many will hear someday …depart from me for I never knew you are not for those that trust in the true gospel message of Christ ALONE.

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      • Does “it is finished” mean that we can now relax because we have a license to sin?

        Is it arrogance to teach that we can and should be faithful to Jesus? Is this “sin” particularly bad? Not murder, adultery, lies, theft, etc but the horrible teaching that we can and should be faithful to Jesus? THIS is what makes God mad?

        You wrote: “—-depart from me for I never knew you are not for those that trust in the true gospel message of Christ ALONE.”

        You added to the Scriptures again. The reason for the “departing” is stated as this from Jesus himself:

        “21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that DOETH the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

        DOETH; DOETH; DOETH.

        So the Bible teach that those who are not DOING the will of God (obeying him) must depart from him, and you are teaching that it concerns those who believe in faith+works? So this means that James is is deep trouble since he is teaching exactly faith+works?

        Jam. 2:24 Ye see then how that BY WORKS a man is justified, and NOT by faith only.

        So is James hell-bound for teaching the gospel of faith+works?

        You wrote: These guys couldn’t warp their heads around Paul’s message of grace and that “there is no more Jew or Gentile.”

        You don’t seem to have any big thoughts about the Bible writers, who wrote under the inspiration of the holy Spirit. What does grace mean again according to the Bible? The means to live righteously here and now:

        Tit. 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

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      • First of all. I deliberately did not write any Bible references because you do not read them objectively. You have decided in advance what you want to perform. I write what the bible says. Here, My Bible references and they are not taken out of context.

        A. The law does not apply to us,
        B. For we have eternal life,
        C. Wrath does not affect us.

        1. The Royal Law
        2. The spiritual law

        A. 1 Tim 1: 9 (8-11) context. Ref. The Bible
        But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; 9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; 11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

        A. Rom 4:16 (13-16)
        13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. 16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
        John 3:36
        He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

        John 3:36
        He who believes in the Son has eternal life, and he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life. but the wrath of God abideth on him.
        James 2:12
        12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.

        1. James 2: 8 8
        If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
        Above you can read this old law from the Old Testament mentioned as the “Royal Law” that applies to the Jews, but which we heathen does not follow in the New Testament. The Jews are a people of property and keep to themselves.
        It is clear to all who read that this that the “Royal Law” Applies Only to the Jews as they do not regard ALL as their nearest. Understand this! We are Gentiles and do not live isolated from other groups, and according to our Bible, EVERYONE who invokes can call of The name of the Lord and be SAVED from the “CURSE OF THE LAW”
        Gal. 1: 9
        As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
        Girl. 3:10
        For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
        Girl. 3:13
        Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
        GB

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      • You wrote “because you do not read them objectively”

        How do you know that? That is not the impression I’ve got from Evan.

        But I read again what you write here, and I again feel that you are teaching that Christians have a license to sin? I’m not suggesting that you teach that Christians *should* sin, but that you still teach that they *can* without having to fear any consequences? So Jesus died because of the sins of the world, and the new outcome is that we can continue to sin freely as long as we believe in him? This doesn’t sound like a big change, just that we can sin more freely.

        You wrote: “For we have eternal life, C. Wrath does not affect us.”

        I’m sorry to be blunt, but isn’t this exactly what Satan persuaded Eve to believe? The “Ye shall not surely die”, idea? But the truth is the exact opposite, just like the apostle Paul says:

        Rom. 6: 23 For the wages of sin is DEATH, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

        So Paul is teaching here that sinning will lead to death, and you say he is wrong and that Satan is correct? I apologize for sounding blunt, but I’m just trying to make a clear point.

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      • I am not teaching something to anyone. Im correcting your miss understandings from the Bible.
        Can you please tell me where I can read “licens to Sin” in the Bible ???
        You begun this issue to tell people : ““Salvation by works” – good or bad? Since you will not find the term “works-based salvation” in the Bible, the phrase must be explained by the one who have chosen to use it.” I think you are naive, Is Licens to Sin Biblical……. ??? Wake up and be honest.
        Lennart

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      • I’m only asking you since I feel you make two contradictory claims.

        Where are vyou teaching a license to sin? In just about every other claim you make. Since you teach that we can’t lose our salvation, doesn’t this mean we have a license to sin?

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      • You says: “doesn’t this mean we have a license to sin?”
        No that’s your interpretation.
        Stop saying that I teaching. I am correcting your claims from the bible and now you are free to wright what you want.
        Good luck for your traveling and “teaching”
        Lennart

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      • I’m asking you if this is not the only conclusion one can make based on your claims. If a Christian cannot lose his/her salvation no matter the conduct, how is this not a license to sin?

        In my article I include many verses which support James in his claim that we are saved by works and not by faith only, and I haven’t see you addressing those.

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      • Okay then.
        One more answer with Bible texts, but listen carefully and stick to the Bible.
        We Christians who are saved from the law are no longer subject to it. This is not to say that we do not take into account the law in our daily lives. Paul points this out strongly in Romans.
        Romans 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
        We follow the law to the best of our ability. Obvious. What you do not understand is the following. If anyone invokes the name of God in Jesus Christ with sincere faith, he will be “Saved”, or saved. You do not have to do anything because everything is done by grace. It is up to you to receive your gift from the Lord.
        We who are saved from the law no longer obey it. We follow the law to the best of our ability, and produce the fruits of the laws of the new covenant, but NOTE, it happens AFTER our salvation. We now follow the “Spiritual Law.” and James is the only Apostle in the entire New Testament who specified it in a Bible verse.
        James 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
        This verse does not support what you call “Works”. If you read what James has written here, James is referring to the spiritual law, the law of faith, the law of freedom, or whatever you want to call it, and there is no other reasonable explanation for this than that it is “freedom from the law” he emphasizes. , unlike the “Royal Rule” of the Jews, which is based on the Law of Moses of the Old Testament.
        Mos. 19:18 Thou shalt not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against any of thy people; but shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the LORD.
        This is the law we are to follow in the New Testament:
        James 2: 8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
        More facts:
        your words:
        “In my article I include many verses which support James in his claim that we are saved by works and not by faith only, and I have not seen you addressing those.”
        Before you read this below, note that what James says here he is ALONE about in the ENTIRE Bible. James speaks of a “LAW” he specifies his statement as the Apostle and the physical brother of Jesus Christ and contributes to the complete spreading of knowledge in the New Testament.
        James 2:12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
        Romans 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
        Romans 9:31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

        If you have now read through what I have written, then you still want to claim that James says that we are “saved by works” then you are either uneducable or do not want to read as it says in the text of the Bible. It has nothing to do with “License to Sin”, or what I want to teach to do. That is only what is written in our common Bible.
        I’ll try to explain what you do not understand or do not want to understand.
        After the Lord has had mercy on you and you have received His grace and salvation from the law, your work for the Lord begins. If you want. After your “salvation”, you will produce the good fruits mentioned in the Bible. Not by being forced by the laws of Moses or by any other compulsion. You must begin to develop as a Christian on your own. You then receive the power of God and grow all the time. It’s a job YES! But you can choose not to do it if you do not want to or can not. You are still “saved” but you will lose your reward in the coming new Jerusalem. If you want to choose not to live as a Christian, it will of course have consequences, but in that case it is your business, and it will cost you all forms of rewards and trust. An example here. Your body does not annoy you. It is the temple of the Lord and if you super too much you get cirrhosis of the liver already in this life. If you stop drinking, you will be healthy again, and can maintain the temple of the Lord as He wills who is the owner. The Lord will be your Shepherd again and not Satan. It is not that you “lose” your salvation for this, but so to speak it has consequences. However, throughout the journey you are the newborn of Jesus Christ and will not be judged in the final judgment like the others.
        I can not bear to send more Bible verses on all this last and I do not want to give any more posts.
        My best regards
        Lennart

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      • < After your “salvation”, you will produce the good fruits mentioned in the Bible.

        Ok, so a Christian will absolutely show good fruit, and good fruit = works. Great, so can he be saved without good fruit (works)? No? Then James is correct for saying that we are saved by faith + works. I've shown you multiple verses which show that all of the Bible contributors believe in faith+works.

        You still cling to a License to sin also in this post. You claim that sinning will only produce less rewards in heaven, but you will still be saved. This is called a "fire insurance". With other words Christians can still afford to sin every day (if they also do some good stuff) since you claim they can never lose their salvation.

        The Bible on the other hand say that we cannot serve two masters. You say we can.

        If the Lord is a Christian's Shepherd and not Satan, then surely this person can successfully remain faithful to Jesus and avoid sinning?

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      • Okay this will end the story with you.
        You are that part of the bible who Paul Says you should be circumsised all the way in…. :-)) To all of you other who have read this dialogue. Don’t waste you time here- Sorry to say but this human are better than me, Its hard to be stupid in our days ! The concurrence is very hard.
        Phuuuu………
        GB

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      • Sorry, Lennart, but I asked you a lot of questions since you seem to have mutually exclusive ideas. Either we can serve two masters and still be saved (as filthy rags) or not . God will never be mad at a person who teaches that we can and should be faithful to him. It those who say it’s impossible who he is disappointed about.
        Blessings.

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      • Paul, you have not offered a counter-reply to any of the scriptures I cited in my replies for my belief but have merely offered your personal opinion. That is your prerogative but certainly not convincing, at least for me. Until you wrestle with the scriptures I proffered, your belief remains unsupported. And BTW, when you do cite scripture, at least quote the whole verse. Those whom Jesus commanded to depart from him, were those who practiced lawlessness; i.e. disobedience to the law.

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      • You wrote: “To claim that we can lose our “salvation” by sinning is the grossest insult one can give our Lord, Jesus Christ, as human beings when He sacrificed his life for us on the cross. ”

        So mass-murder, pedophilia, adultery, etc are valued as LESS crimes compared to the “crime of teaching that Christians cannot serve two masters and still be saved?

        I again have to choose between believing in Lennart or the Bible. To me it sounds like you are in full agreement with the devil (who of course believed in God) who taught “ye shall not surely die”. Adam and Eve believed his lie and chose to sin.

        Again, it very much sounds like the teaching that sinners go to heaven (if they believe …) and saints go to hell.

        How many souls do you believe are lost because they have been fooled by Satan, and they start to believe they can afford to live in sin and still be saved, since salvation can never be forfeited?

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