Quote:
Originally Posted by MORebelWoman
When a Christian preacher tells people unless one believes and accepts the Lord Jesus as his personal savior he cannot be part of His body, the preacher is in fact telling non-Christians they are not part of the body of Christ. And if not part of His body, what then?
Our Savior says, separate from him man can do NOTHING:
NAS John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.
So if man can do NOTHING while separate from Christ, how can he do the good acts of believing and accepting the Lord?
NAS Jeremiah 13:23 "Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil.
If a person CAN believe and accept the Lord, isn't that proof he is already part of the body of Christ?
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Dear MO,
Your position seems to be on par with the virgins who went to the wedding feast and found out they couldn't get in because they didn't have oil for their lamps (Mt 25:11-12)
The demons "believe" "and shudder". (James 2:19)
The "false prophet" of Mt 7:15-23 says he prophesized in his name and performed many miracles, but Yeshua said he will tell the miracle worker, who called on the Lord, that "I never knew you".
It is possible that without the oil, one does not enter into the kingdom of heaven, and as shown by Yeshua in Mt 7:14, "few are those who find it"? One must seek the Lord while he may be found Isaiah 55:6. Making falsehoods and deceptions a refuge, is a bad choice.
There is good fruit and bad fruit. The tree with the bad fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire (Mt 7:19). As shown in Mt 7:23, it is not enough to call on the "Lord". The poor guy who was given and Talent, and hid it under a rock, was "cast out into the outer darkness" Mt 25:29-30.
Isaiah 28:15-18
15Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we have made a pact.
The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by,
For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”
16Therefore thus says the Lord G[SIZE=1]OD[/SIZE],
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
A costly cornerstone
for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who believes
in it will not be disturbed.
17“I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.
18“Your covenant with death will be canceled,
And your pact with Sheol will not stand;
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
Then you become its trampling
place.
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