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Warn them of the wrath to come ?????????? since when has this been the gospel(the good news).
Go tell your friends what great things God has done for you.
You will be judged with the commandment breakers too,believing the way you do, because everything you are saying is from a man who is still under the law.
You are conveniently forgetting that it was God through tolerance and patience and in revealing his kindness to you that brought you to repentance.You did not choose to repent no matter how much you tell yourself you did, it was granted to you.
Romans verse 4
Yes, warn them. WARN THEM!! "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
Yes, warn them. WARN THEM!! "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
You are quoting scripture without thinking. You too was the person described above in your post and you would still be in that same state today if God was not patient and tolerant while the kindness he showed you brought you to repentance. You really need to rebuild your foundation upon Christ and him bringing you to repentance, you will then go and tell your friends what great things that He has done for you, rather than warning them what you think he's going to do to them if they don't believe.
If you could only see the mercy God is showing you right now, your message would change.
Romans 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
God is the one who grants and leads people to repent; faith ties into it, and faith is also a gift from God.
So we see yet again it is all of God. Pride 0. Humbling 1.
In pride we fall for The Lie
There is no God.
OK There is a God but He lets most people suffer for ever.
God can't save all men.
God needs us to do something.
Man's alleged "free will" is impenetrable - it can even thwart God's desire.
If only we would make a wise choice God would be able to save us.
God's only option is to let people burn forever if we don't make the wise choice.
In humility we discover the truth
God will save all men and bring them to a full knowledge of the truth.
This will happen according to God's timetable, not man's.
This is probably the important bit: God doesn't intend for everyone to realize this right now.
He does this so we will all learn and experience the true meaning of humility.
He also does this so we eventually can learn and experience what LOVE is.
He is doing all this for our benefit and growth. God needs nothing from us.
There's the basics of our situation - the basics of our existence.
To take a cue from Jack Nicholson:
Can you handle the truth?
In pride we fall for the lie was once my testimony. I am ashamed to admit i believed and thought that way more than any sin i have ever committed, because in my pride i was blind to my own self righteousness.
Allow me to suggest that it appears that very few here have learned what love is. Jesus said that the greatest love is to lay one's life down for another. Now presumably, this applies not just to man, but to God also. That the greatest love God can express is to lay His life down for another. And that my friend is precisely what He did. Jesus laid His life down on behalf of the human race. The ultimate expression of love. Self-sacrifice. There is no greater love than this, proving that God is love. God, because He is love, does nothing except it comes from a heart of love. Everything He does is based on His love. Particularly His plan of salvation. Most especially His plan of salvation.
Now let me ask you a question. If God is determined to exercise His will over mankind regardless of man's thoughts or feelings on the matter,and regardless of whether or not you or I consider it to be beneficial to man, is that self-sacrificial love? Is imposing our will on another, say for example our spouse, regardless of whether or not it is beneficial or not, is that self sacrificial love? The answer is a resounding no. And God is incapable of any other kind of love.
I am sure all the atheists, agnostics, wicca and new age people on this forum would be delighted to hear that regardless of their thoughts and feelings, regardless that right now the very last thing they desire is to be in the company of Christians hearing them singing praises to their Saviour, and regardless the fact that they have no desire to live righteous holy lives according to the commandments of God, you would have them doing those very things for all eternity, despite the fact that they would be hating every minute of it, and in their unrighteousness would not be able to abide the presence of God anyway. That my friend is precisely why they will not be there. Because they don't want to be and would hate it if they were.
God, in His love, is merely giving to them what they truly want, and not forcing upon them that which they despise.
That said, God will not allow them to perish without giving them an opportunity to know Him. But ultimately, it is their decision. Self-sacrificial love on the part of God demands that be so.
Self will, which is exactly what universalists and hard core Calvinists promote, is in fact the opposite of love, the opposite of self-sacrifice, and precisely the spirit that God requires that we die from.
History is replete with all manner of gods and goddesses and sundry deities all fighting one another for pre-eminence in the minds and hearts of men. Raping, killing, and threatening one another to maintain power and influence. It was this pagan philosophy of self willed idolatry which Jesus came to denounce and reveal the true nature of the Creator God. Sad that so many Christians characterise God in the same way that pagans have been characterising their gods for millennia. A self-willed tyrant bent on having His own way. That is not love. It is spiritual rape.
Hi brakelite You like so many other don't seem to understand. Your right God will not force anyone to repent and change. When you and everyone else does, and we all will, it will be our idea. God is so much smarter than we are and knows our heart. Don't you think he can bring about the circumstances that make you want to repent and change. When we are judged and we reap what we have sown and we have been chastised by it we will want to repent and change. God is love and will not let any of his children be lost, he will save us all. He will do it by working through us not by forcing us. God knows exactly what we need to bring about this change and he will provide it ti each of us. Will it be painless? NO there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth when we relize how lost we are but God will find and bring home all his lost sheep.
Yes, warn them. WARN THEM!! "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.
Hi Hot,
I don't know how you see the verses you just quoted, but I see them as absolutely wonderful good news for all sinners! I'm being very honest; to me, the "wrath of God" is completely Good, and nothing like the wrath of man, which is bad.
He is truly a Good God! He has been good to me, and I know He will be good to everyone else.
"His name is Wonderful Counsellor."
Hi Hot,
I don't know how you see the verses you just quoted, but I see them as absolutely wonderful good news for all sinners! I'm being very honest; to me, the "wrath of God" is completely Good, and nothing like the wrath of man, which is bad.
He is truly a Good God! He has been good to me, and I know He will be good to everyone else.
"His name is Wonderful Counsellor."
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men
Its revealed against the unrighteousness of men. It is the unrighteousness and ungodliness in us that will be burned away by God's wrath. And yes that is good news! Because when that is finished, men will be godly and righteous!
Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
Ok, let's go with that. How do we get a pure heart of love?
Ok, let's go with that. How do we get a pure heart of love?
Good question. Got an answer? I shall reserve mine until I see yours.
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