Off topic from: God's Sovereign Choice

[discipler777]

4 hours ago, George said:

I always wonder how it is that God says ... a place of REST is from CEASING from their own works?

Heb 4:1  Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 
Heb 4:2  For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 
Heb 4:3  For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 
Heb 4:4  For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 
Heb 4:5  And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” 
Heb 4:6  Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 
Heb 4:7  again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 
Heb 4:8  For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 
Heb 4:9  So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 
Heb 4:10  for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 
Heb 4:11  Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 

There is a place of REST for the people of God ... I believe this is a blessing from God with the absolute assurance of one's salvation!  I do believe many do not "strive to enter that rest" and fail to comprehend what that truly means ... but there is also that place where we can simply REST IN HIM!  

So my encouragement to all those who are reading ... strive and enter into that rest ... for there is a promise of rest given by God!

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Like I said before, the above post is about the elementary principles of Christ,(HEBREWS.6:1-8) ie Christians should not rely on their own good works of the Law in order to be saved from hell (like what the Jews of today are still doing) but to rest and rely only on the fulfilled/completed good works of Christ on the Cross. Mature Christians should move on to more advanced or solid stuffs/foods, eg ...

.... are Christians who go and willingly commit sins/evil-works/Law-breaking unrepentantly will still be saved or "once saved always saved" or "once saved is not always saved.?  This is a very important issue. Martin Luther had even said, "Be a sinner and sin boldly". Was he right or correct, according to the Word of God.?

[Blood Bought 1953]

 

Luther was making a point.....if you do not understand it, it can not be explained .....you either understand it or you don’t .......kinda like “ Love God and live as you please”

OSAS is the narrow gate.......  “He That hearth my word, and believes on the One who sent me ,H A T H  everlasting life and SHALL NOT come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”

I was saved purely by Grace......I do what I want to do every day......I left no sins behind....sins left me.....some never understand that Grace does not stir up sin— it stirs up love and an obedience that springs from that love.Legalists love to stress the Law. God knows that Law stirs up sin.One of the reasons God gave the Law was so that “ sin might increase”.Some never understand that either.

One additional note ......willful sins are on the Cross

[George]

3 hours ago, discipler777 said:

... are Christians who go and willingly commit sins/evil-works/Law-breaking unrepentantly will still be saved or "once saved always saved" or "once saved is not always saved.?  This is a very important issue. Martin Luther had even said, "Be a sinner and sin boldly". Was he right or correct, according to the Word of God.?

I was never aware of such a claim made by Luther.  I'll have to research it.  But obviously, we're called to live a life of holiness and righteousness. 

But this the reality that we face ... a very harsh reality mind you ... the closer we get to God ... to the very awesome and holy God in our alone time ... the more we realize how wretched we truly are.  We become like the prophet Isaiah when we're in the sudden reality ... woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips.  While the world may look upon us and see our love, patience, joy and see the fruit of our lives ... we who strive for that very intimacy with God come to Paul's reality of Romans 7  -- O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Romans 7:24

Once we've come to this harsh reality, then we're ministering not in spiritual pride ... or driven by religiosity ... but by love because we're in awe of how much God truly loves us!

[George]

I did do a bit of research and I found this article insightful about Luther's claim.  Read it for what it is.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/ryan-reeves/did-luther-really-tell-us-to-love-god-and-sin-boldly/

[Blood Bought 1953]

 

Luther said this in a letter to a friend named Melanchthon......easy to find in a google search..... he said  a lot worse than that if one has a shallow understanding of things....... “ No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day.Its ridiculous to think that Luther was really promoting these things.....he was not bragging about sin —— he was bragging about GRACE! Exaggerating to make a point . It goes right over the heads of some.

[discipler777]

1 hour ago, George said:

I did do a bit of research and I found this article insightful about Luther's claim.  Read it for what it is.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/ryan-reeves/did-luther-really-tell-us-to-love-god-and-sin-boldly/

"Action speaks louder than words". Martin Luther's actions after being freed from the powerful tentacles of the Roman Popes and Emperors by the protection of his German rulers, spoke volumes about his words or sayings/teachings. Read his biographies.

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Quote

INTOLERANCE OF OTHER CHRISTIANS

"That seditious articles of doctrine should be punished by the sword needed no further proof. For the rest, the Anabaptists hold tenets relating to infant baptism, original sin, and inspiration, which have no connection with the Word of God, and are indeed opposed to it. ... Secular authorities are also bound to restrain and punish avowedly false doctrine ... For think what disaster would ensue if children were not baptized? ... Besides this the Anabaptists separate themselves from the churches ... and they set up a ministry and congregation of their own, which is also contrary to the command of God. From all this it becomes clear that the secular authorities are bound ... to inflict corporal punishment on the offenders ... Also when it is a case of only upholding some spiritual tenet, such as infant baptism, original sin, and unnecessary separation, then ... we conclude that ... the stubborn sectaries must be put to death."

Source: Dave Armstrong.  "Pamphlet of 1536" in Martin Luther and The Protestant Inquisition
            (Janssen, X, 222-223; pamphlet of 1536)

http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Religion/Martin Luther.htm

.

Quote

The Lutheran, Melanchthon, believed that all Anabaptists be executed, taking Luther’s evaluation to the next step. Another Lutheran, Menius, “hated the Anabaptists and thought their leaders should be executed”. Despite initially resisting the use of force, Luther came to believe that “hell was sufficient punishment for the Anabaptists”. While the Catholics demanded the death penalty for Anabaptists, being the major instigators of execution, all Protestant groups demanded expulsion, imprisonment and occasionally execution. Luther believed them to be “not mere heretics but open blasphemers; are rulers are in duty bound to punish blasphemers”

https://thoughtsofalivingchristian.wordpress.com/2010/11/21/the-persecution-of-anabaptism-16th-century-catholic-lutheran-and-calvinist-perspectives-2/

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I believe the following Scripture/Word of God likely applies to Martin Luther and other "Christians" of his ilk who, once saved, go and willfully/intentionally sin or do evil-works of Lawlessness and unrighteousness unrepentantly = may become unsaved, .......

1JOHN.3:13-15 (NKJV) = 13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

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Edited December 21, 2018 by discipler777

[George]

1 minute ago, discipler777 said:

I believe the following Scripture/Word of God likely applies to Martin Luther and other "Christians" of his ilk who, once saved, go and willfully/intentionally sin or do evil-works of Lawlessness and unrighteousness unrepentantly = may become unsaved, .......

I don't have time now, but I'm posting this ... to remind myself to post to this comment.

[Montana Marv]

Now is God's power to save greater than man's power to sin.  Or is man's power to sin greater than God's power to save.  Who is Greater?  Man or God.  Salvation is a Gift from God.  One can either accept this free Gift or Not Accept it.

In Christ

Montana Marv

[Blood Bought 1953]

1 hour ago, Montana Marv said:

Now is God's power to save greater than man's power to sin.  Or is man's power to sin greater than God's power to save.  Who is Greater?  Man or God.  Salvation is a Gift from God.  One can either accept this free Gift or Not Accept it.

In Christ

Montana Marv

 

“ Where sin abounds, grace abounds that much more”.  This drives the Judaizer nuts.They don’t understand it and i’m sick of trying to explain it.......Law stirs up sin......Grace stirs up love and obedience.....they don’t trust the very Grace that saves them......they do not understand it...

[1to3]

If we look at the stories in the old and new testament , All those who finally came to find Gods Mercy and Grace where first sinners, they did change as they found
God's Grace. They no longer were the same sinners as before they found God. They were called and heard His calling,His voice.

Matthew 22:14 Christ Jesus said:

¹⁴ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

 

Rest in God, His Peace He gives us. He is gentle and His yoke is easy.

Matthew 11:28-30 Christ Jesus Said:

²⁸ "Come to  Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am  gentle and  lowly in heart, _f and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

John 14:27 Christ Jesus said:

 

²⁷ Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 

But also God declares many will come and say did we not cast out demons in Your name... And God will say: depart from Me , I never knew you.

I Never Knew You

Matthew 7:21-23 Christ Jesus said:

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

 

 

God wants from each of us a relationship with Him. A daily relationship with Him, by seeking Him in prayer and through His Word.

So He can become Our Father who is in heaven

So that He can give us His rest, His peace.

How do we get to know God?

We seek Him with ALL our heart and soul everyday.

We repent of our sins and Ask God to come make His home in our hearts

We keep seeking Him daily, looking to align our lives with His Words found in the Holy Bible.

To become His new creation where our old self has been crucified to the cross.

When we truly seek to have a daily relationship with God, our old self slowly dies away and changes into His new creation. If we are not changing into His New creation through repentance, something in us is amiss and we need to ask god to help us SEE what going wrong about what we are doing

Through a daily relationship with God turning our will over to Him, He then can begin to work in us, circumcise our hearts, convict our spirits and guide us towards His ways and not our ways.

That is how we become more and more Christ like, more and more his shinning lights.

By seeking a daily relationship with Him and aligning our lives with His Word.

Then we will find rest

Then we with receive His peace from within.

If we don't seek God so to find a daily personal relationship with Him, He will not be able to help salvage us and free us from sin.

And so it is important not to fool ourselves that we are aligned with God when in truth our lifestyle shows contrary to being in alignment with His Word.

Yes poor wretched sinner that we are, But with God, All things become new and possible, and change of heart takes place. We become His children and good children obey their parents. and when we stumble, God is there to help us get back on track and keep following His way.

Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall ^[a]direct your paths.

 

When His Holy spirit is ALIVE and working in US, nothing can snatch us away from Him.

For He promises to never abandon His children.

He IS the good shepherd John: 10:10.

But do we hear His voice?

Are we His sheep?

That is the real question.

If we are truly His sheep, we will SEEK to follow Him, align ourselves and our lives with Him, and through Him working in us, our hearts change more and more day by day( our behaviors through Him working in us) to become more and more like Him. Amen! Amen! Amen!

Then we become a new creation in Him, (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

we become His shining lights, shinning brightly unto this dark world .

and who knows, how our little light can shine and brighten another lost sheep to find once again their TRUE Shepherd.

If His light does not shine in us, and reflect His image in us, then we most likely do not know Him -Yet- as there is always hope as long as we breathe.

Look to parable of the sower:

 

Matthew 13

The Parable of the Sower

13 On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. ² And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

³ Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. ⁶ But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. ⁷ And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. ⁸ But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The Purpose of Parables

¹⁰ And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

¹¹ He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the ^[a]mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹² For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:

‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
¹⁵ For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I ^[b]should heal them.’

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; ¹⁷ for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Parable of the Sower Explained

¹⁸ “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. ²⁰ But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. ²² Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. ²³ But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

²⁴ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵ but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. ²⁶ But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. ²⁷ So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

³¹ Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, ³² which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

The Parable of the Leaven

³³ Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three ^[c]measures of meal till it was all leavened.”

Prophecy and the Parables

³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, ³⁵ that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

“I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

The Parable of the Tares Explained

³⁶ Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”

³⁷ He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. ³⁹ The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. ⁴⁰ Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, ⁴² and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, ⁴⁶ who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The Parable of the Dragnet

⁴⁷ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, ⁴⁸ which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, ⁵⁰ and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

^51 [d]Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”

They said to Him, “Yes, ^[e]Lord.”

⁵² Then He said to them, “Therefore every ^[f]scribe instructed ^[g]concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”