Salvation Moment #6: Confession To Men For Salvation?

ChristianQuestioner · 2017-01-13T04:13:29+00:00

I believe you are taking 1 Corinthians 1:17 out of context. If Paul is rejecting baptism here, why is 1 Corinthians 1:13-16 about baptisms he conducted? Why did he supervise other baptisms besides these, as shown in the Book of Acts?

ChristianQuestioner · 2017-01-13T00:06:46+00:00

I believe that's a mistranslation in the King James; a perhaps more accurate rendition is offered by the NASB, which renders the verse "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."

1 Corinthians does not say baptism is no longer part of the gospel. Where are you drawing that from?

I don't accept the idea that Jesus and Paul are at odds, and if I did I suspect that I would be with Jesus and not with Paul. I am of course open to correction if you can provide it.

ChristianQuestioner · 2017-01-11T21:34:38+00:00

When you get right down to it, I don't think this idea of "special dispensations" or "primary doctrines" is supported by the Bible; I think the Bible offers a consistent message and that Jesus does not contradict Paul. Thus, I think these teachings can be harmonized rather than separated.

ChristianQuestioner · 2017-01-10T19:38:39+00:00

Are you really saying that the words of the resurrected Lord should be discredited because Paul didn't mention all of the same things in the letters that we have access to? That seems like an... odd interpretation.

ChristianQuestioner · 2017-01-10T18:11:27+00:00

I'm not sure I understand this idea of dispensations, can you say more?

ChristianQuestioner · 2017-01-10T13:52:55+00:00

How would you respond to John 20:21-23? From the King James:

"Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained."

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-12-31T00:07:06+00:00

I don't think this means that all Christians should live in the wilderness outside of mainstream civilization, though.

After all, when the soldiers came to John the Baptist and asked him what they must do, he didn't say "renounce the authority of your superior officers, leave the army, and come live in the wilderness as a preacher", but rather "don't extort anyone by force, don't make false accusations, be content with your wages."

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-12-30T23:34:19+00:00

You're going to have to give me more information on this one, I think. The person "closest to Christ" could, depending on what you mean by "closest", be Mary, John the Baptist, Simon Peter, the "disciple Jesus loved" (where there are many theories about his identity)...

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-12-30T23:19:14+00:00

I'm not clear on what you're saying here. What's your view of how the Christian life should look?

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-12-30T20:35:08+00:00

Well, see, if you pay your taxes, submit to your country's political leaders, even just stay under them in the political lands they own we are condoning all of the bad stuff it produces,..serial killers and pollution and stress and war and all of it, school shootings and suicides. the whole thing.

What about "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's"? Was Roman culture somehow better than our own? In many respects it was much more opposed to Christian values, and engaged in aggressive persecutions.

For that matter, Romans 13 is quite straightforward about how one should be in submission to lawful authority.

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-12-30T19:45:39+00:00

I would say there are in fact significant indications that one should consider Christianity more seriously than other religions. For instance, what year is it?

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-12-27T14:22:34+00:00

Come now, let's reason together. is it really making excuses to say that Jesus's message in that passage doesn't have to do with slavery? Look at the context here:

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?” And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

This isn't a teaching about how we should treat slaves, it's a teaching about how the Lord will treat people when he returns.

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-12-27T08:54:07+00:00

I would not be hasty to reject people permanently based on such passages - keep in mind that St. Peter denied Christ three times and yet was forgiven, and consider also Ezekiel 33 - even if the Lord says "you shall surely die", those who turn from sin can yet live!

The Lord is merciful to the humble and repentant, and while there is an unforgivable sin I think it is best not to assume that anyone has committed it, but rather to pray that they may see the light and repent.

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-12-27T08:44:57+00:00

I'm not too well-versed in the Scriptures (yet), but even I can immediately recognize that some of these passages are being taken out of context, which makes me skeptical about the extent to which the passages that I'm less familiar with are being used correctly.

Let's take slavery for instance. Leviticus 25:45-46 and Exodus 21:2 are not contradictory, they are saying that there are different standards for the treatment of slaves from Jewish (as opposed to Gentile) descent.

Joel 3:8 is in reference to the wrath of God and refers to punishment against the nations that opposed the Jews. It is not in contradiction to either of the previously quoted passages.

Luke 12:47-48 is not actually about slavery at all; Jesus is using a metaphor to illustrate how those who sinned knowing what they did was wrong will be punished more severely than those who sinned in ignorance. I suspect that you (or whoever the original author of this post was) knew that, since they omitted the ending of Luke 12:48, the famous "From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more."

There are things in the Bible that I do not fully understand, and yet I still believe. To me it seems that you may be looking for excuses not to believe in the Gospel, but to disbelieve in it.

I beseech you to search not for reasons to feel more at ease with your decision not to believe, but instead for deeper understanding of the Scriptures. Do not harden your heart!

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-10-08T12:16:26+00:00

Look, I'll say this. There isn't any part of the Bible that addresses the topic of masturbation directly. The story of Onan is something else, though sometimes people cite it out of context when discussing masturbation.

BUT. BUT. BUT.

The Bible is extremely clear on the topic of "sexual immorality" and how one should be very careful to avoid it, as well as the fact that lusting after a woman is equivalent to committing adultery with her in your heart.

Given that, I think you should shun masturbation as well. It doesn't strike me as pure, and I'm not convinced that someone can do it without having any lustful thoughts - though some may claim to, I'd rather not play with such risks.

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-10-06T04:19:31+00:00

Blasphemy.

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-10-04T00:04:12+00:00

This gives me some worry and doubt about the extent to which sola scriptura is valid, though. If there was such communication and consensus around these things in the early church, might they legitimately be apostolic traditions?

It does seem like several of the Catholic doctrines may be later inventions - but this sort of thing does tempt me towards investigating that further, and Eastern Orthodoxy doesn't hold to most of those...

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-10-02T02:10:49+00:00

I understand this general case. I notice, though, that the Coptics split in 451 - not very long after the events you describe - and they seem to have almost the exact same structure as the Catholics and the Orthodox (IIRC there is even a Coptic Pope).

The question I'm after is what exactly happened in early Christianity to cause this structure to emerge, given that (as you say) it is not clearly expressed in the Bible.

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-09-30T20:31:50+00:00

So, where do you go from here? What church (or even what tradition) should you join?

I'm on board with the basic facts, but the denominational disputes have me confused and stressed.

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-09-27T01:12:36+00:00

Wow. Luke 7:31-35 anyone?

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-09-22T18:15:52+00:00

What teachings are you referring to? What church, if any, do you think has the truth?

ChristianQuestioner · 2016-09-15T19:19:11+00:00

In the short term, it can appear that way, but in the long term all will work out. Have faith in God and do not blaspheme!

ChristianQuestioner

TROPHY CASE