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What i would like to know is , did whatever form of universalism you was mixed up with when you renounced it and turned to whatever you are now professing ,did it change you as a person or just change your belief system ?.
God is not impressed by what we believe but who we believe in and whatsmore truth is not some set of doctrines we mentally give our assent to, it's the reality of His life evident in ours.
Rev 22:10 And he said to me, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.
Rev 22:10 And he is saying to me, "You should not be sealing the sayings of the prophecy of this scroll, for the era (kairos) is near."
"Time" is "chronos." "Era" and "time" are not the same. "Era" and "season" use the same Greek word and is "a distince **portion of time** having special characteristics" (Concordant Keyword Concordance) whereas "time" chronos, is just "duration."
Dan 7:27 "And the kingdom and the jurisdiction and the majesty of the kingdom under the entire heavens will be granted to the people of the saints of the supremacies. Their kingdom is an eonian kingdom, and all other authorities shall serve and hearken to them."
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Eternal kingdom....forever.
Unless you believe it is a age lasting kingdom LOL
The Bible only knows of an "aionios basiliah" which is the kingdom pertaining to the eons.
What i would like to know is , did whatever form of universalism you was mixed up with when you renounced it and turned to whatever you are now professing ,did it change you as a person or just change your belief system ?.
God is not impressed by what we believe but who we believe in and whatsmore truth is not some set of doctrines we mentally give our assent to, it's the reality of His life evident in ours.
Actually it more convinced me of a need for Jesus. And I would assert God is not a respecter of persons, and all the more reason for needing Jesus. Im unsure why the word doctrine is used as I only subscribe to basic christian doctrine is my core belief. Or are you talking of denomination? There is a difference between those two words.
Similarities do not make two things the same.
Differences make two things different.
For example
1. You believe Christ is God's Son, died and rose again
2. You believe not all will be saved.
So do Jehovah's Witnesses. See the differences are key.
Yet you referred to that time that as "...my life before Christ...". So now we're down to one core belief in common.
I didn't say you were a Unitarian and now that you have spelled it out, I do not believe that you were. I said your beliefs were more like a Unitarian than like us. Lots of people confuse the two because of the label, so from you OP I thought maybe you were a Unitarian Universalist.
By your assertion then I can logically make a difference between being a Christian and being a Universalist as it has a clear difference of thought. If there is a difference between the two and a similarity which do I go with. Jesus clearly spoke more on hell and eternal seperation, but Universalist disclaim it where Christians accept it. Not to spin the pot a bit, but which do you judge by differences or similarities?
But then someone pointed out in your OP that you said this:
and then went on to list all the erroneous beliefs you had as a universalist quote "BEFORE CHRIST".
So now we have a major dilemma. How can one be a "repentant, born again, washed in the blood, Spirit filled, baptized into the death of Jesus Christ, raised into newness of life, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, holy and without blame before Him in love, overcoming Child of God" "BEFORE CHRIST"???
Please explain this.
Your Universalist view of Christ is not mine. No error there. I thought I was in the correct view. I can see how this would not make sense, but again I do not see your views on Christ the same is mine.
By your assertion then I can logically make a difference between being a Christian and being a Universalist as it has a clear difference of thought.
Yes, you could if you believe that believing God will save all denies a central tenant of being a Christian. But I think you should ask the person in question if they actually deny that tenant rather than deducing that they must deny that tenant.
For example, many people deduce that a universalist must believe that God will save some people apart from faith in Christ. But the fact is, I believe that nobody was or will ever be saved apart from faith in Christ.
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Not to spin the pot a bit, but which do you judge by differences or similarities?
Not sure what you mean by judge in the context of what we are discussing.
My concern was with effective communication, not with judging. Readers might well come away from your OP with the idea that "universalism" means all the beliefs you described. They might believe that all us who believe God will save all hold to those same beliefs. So they end up believing something that is not true. That was my concern.
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If there is a difference between the two and a similarity which do I go with.
Words and labels are not exact, they're fuzzy. We should try to choose the closest word we can find to represent the idea we are trying to convey. "universalist" conveys the idea of a person who believes God will save all people. It is not tied to the belief that the bible is myth, that man is inherantly good, etc. even though some universalists believe that. Most every universalist you will have a discussion with on a Christain forum will likely believe that the scriptures are God-breathed, that "there is none good", etc.
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Jesus clearly spoke more on hell and eternal seperation, but Universalist disclaim it where Christians accept it.
More on hell than what? Love? It's not a matter of unwillingness to accept it. I actually went and got a count from www.blueletterbible.com and it came out with "love" winning, and it was around 6:1 if I recall. Sure some descriptions of gehenna/hades/sheol/lake of fire will not contain the word "hell" so I missed some. But the sames goves for "love".
By your assertion then I can logically make a difference between being a Christian and being a Universalist as it has a clear difference of thought. If there is a difference between the two and a similarity which do I go with. Jesus clearly spoke more on hell and eternal seperation, but Universalist disclaim it where Christians accept it. Not to spin the pot a bit, but which do you judge by differences or similarities?
You said ...
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Jesus clearly spoke more on hell and eternal separation, but Universalist disclaim it where Christians accept it.
You did not finish the sentence. What did Jesus clearly speak on concerning hell and eternal damnation more than ?
You said Christ clearly spoke of hell and eternal separation more than ... ? What?
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