Don't mind if I ask you this;

Why can't the catholics just give all (and I mean ALL) attention to God?

I personally think there's really no need to venerate people or saints, I don't see the purpose.

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Well, we have yet to hear of sick and/or dying Wuhan-virus/Covid-19 patients being healed by Jesus Christ through Christian pastors or priests. So far, many thousands have died in USA and Italy/Spain where many pastors and priests are based. In Malaysia, 53 have died.

Even if there are such miraculous healings, we should be wary based on 2THESS.2:1-9

We need to know the difference between Jesus Christ as God-in-the-flesh on the mission and as the Lamb of God on the Cross wrt forgiveness of unintentional sins vs intentional sins and the removal of their consequences/curses.

Good day.
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A description is introduced of the Justification of the impious, and of the Manner thereof under the law of grace.

By which words, a description of the Justification of the impious is indicated,-as being a translation, from that state wherein man is born a child of the first Adam, to the state of grace, and of the adoption of the sons of God, through the second Adam, Jesus Christ, our Saviour. And this translation, since the promulgation of the Gospel, cannot be effected, without the laver of regeneration, or the desire thereof, as it is written; unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. -- Council of Trent Session VI CHAPTER IV.

Regeneration is a Biblico-dogmatic term closely connected with the ideas of justification, Divine sonship, and the deification of the soul through grace. Confining ourselves first to the Biblical use of this term, we find regeneration from God used in indissoluble connection with baptism, which St. Paul expressly calls "the laver of regeneration" (Titus 3:5). In His discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:5), the Saviour declares: "Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." In this passage Christianity from its earliest days has found the proof that baptism may not be repeated, since a repeated regeneration from God is no less a contradiction than repeated physical birth from a mother. The idea of "birth from God" enjoys a special favour in the Joannine theology. Outside the Fourth Gospel (1:12 sq.; 3:5), the Apostle uses the term in a variety of ways, treating "birth of God" as synonymous now with the "doing of justice" (1 John 5:1, 4 sq.), and elsewhere deducing from it a certain "sinlessness" of the just (1 John 3:9; 5:18), which, however, does not necessarily exclude from the state of justification the possibility of sinning (cf. Bellarmine, "De justificatione", III, xv). It is true that in all these passages there is no reference to baptism nor is there any reference to a real "regeneration"; nevertheless, "generation from God", like baptismal "regeneration", must be referred to justification as its cause. Both terms effectually refute the Protestant notion that there is in justification not a true annihilation, but merely a covering up of the sins which still continue (covering-up theory), or that the holiness won is simply the imputation of the external holiness of God or Christ (imputation theory). -- Catholic Encyclopedia on Regeneration

Can I share something with you?

As Christian, we should know, physical death is certain but immediately after that, you are more alive than anybody in Heaven compared to those on Earth.

If it's time, it's time, does not matter if due to corona virus or by whatever means.

But that does not mean, we go look for death, No. We need to watch our tongue what we say because the power of LIFE n DEATH is in the tongue (proverbs 18:21).

What's important during this downtime, we all get CLOSE to God.

And that involves spending quiet time with the Lord privately.

I can assure you, it is VERY VERY rewarding. VERY VERY. There will be divine experience affecting this life.

Bro., thank you very much for bravery to stand up and correct me for in that way, we build each other up in the faith. Sincerely although I don't fully understand much of what was written after the 1st paragraph, I will try my best. It does appear much more harder to understand than the Holy Bible I love.

Q : Why is there nothing indicated about doing the will of our Father ? If memory serves me right, our Lord Jesus tells us also that only those who does the will of our Father in heaven, gets to enter the kingdom of heaven right ?

So with my limited understanding these are the 3 conditions to fulfill to enter into the kingdom of heaven ie 1. Baptized 2. Born again & 3. Doing our Father's will.

This post has been edited by Roman Catholic: Apr 4 2020, 05:32 PM

Actually, we do. We also ask for intercession from others as well. In fact, if I asked some friends to pray for me, not one of them will refuse my request telling me just to take it directly to God. They will all gladly intercede for me. This is sort of how it is with Catholics and prayers to the saints. When a Catholic says he or she is praying to a saint, what they really mean is they are asking for intercession from that saint. They are basically saying “St. So-and-So, pray for me”. Even in the Rosary, we ask Mary to “pray for us sinners”. This practice of asking for their intercession dates back to the earliest days of the Christian Church. Just as an aside, the word “saint” can mean different things to different people. In the Old Testament, King David used this word to refer to the Jews. In the New Testament, Paul uses it to refer to believers. Catholics also use the term “saint” to refer to Christians who have run the race and achieved the crown of heaven.

But isn’t Christ supposed to be our “one mediator”? (1 Tim. 2:5) Absolutely! I don’t think I need to convince anyone here that in asking my friends to pray for me, they are not detracting in any way from Christ’s unique role as mediator between God and man. I also don’t think I need to convince anyone that having others pray for us is good and right. Paul exhorts us to intercede for one another:

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ” 1 Timothy2:1-4

Saints in heaven are praying. We are told that in Scripture:

“And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” Rev. 5:8

“And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God.” Rev. 8:3-4

And also in writings from the Early Church Fathers:

“But those who are weak and slothful in prayer, hesitate to ask anything from the Lord; but the Lord is full of compassion, and gives without fail to all who ask him. But you, [Hermas,] having been strengthened by the holy angel [you saw], and having obtained from him such intercession, and not being slothful, why do not you ask of the Lord understanding, and receive it from him?” Hermas, A.D. 80

“But not the high priest alone prays for those who pray sincerely, but also the angels…as also the souls of the saints who have already fallen asleep.” Origen, A.D. 233

That those in heaven pray is supported in scripture and by the Early Church Fathers. The choice to invoke them or not is completely mine. There is no mandate of the Church to seek the intercession of the departed. However, since I know this is true:

“The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.” James 5:16 …and since I need all the help I can get, then I say why not?

In the Apostles' Creed, it mentions belief in the communion of saints. And this communion we believe exists between those on earth (Church Militant), those who have won the race (Church Triumphant), and those suffering in purgatory (Church Suffering). Only those of us here on earth and purgatory still needs help, thus intercession and prayers for one another are still needed.

This post has been edited by yeeck: Apr 4 2020, 05:29 PM

Amen.

Truly, truly, the prayers of a Catholic priest Clement Bala S. who is in heaven now, whom everyone here loved so much and still loves, has great power in its effects.

This post has been edited by Roman Catholic: Apr 4 2020, 08:04 PM

Q : To those who has been born again, tell me what is like to walk being led by the Spirit ?

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https://www.newsweek.com/virginia-pastor-di...andemic-1494702 - Virginia Pastor Dies From Coronavirus After Previously Saying 'Media Is Pumping Out Fear' About Pandemic - By Ewan Palmer On 3/27/20

What happened to him.?
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Good day.
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You won't feel at home or at ease sinning, that's a sign you're born again.

Don't really know, perhap it's the pastor time up on Earth.

Psalms 139:6 (NIV) - Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

Hebrews 7: 11-25

Jesus Like Melchizedek

11 If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood—and indeed the law given to the people established that priesthood—why was there still need for another priest to come, one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? 12 For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also. 13H e of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 14 For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. 15 And what we have said is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as to his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. 17 For it is declared:

“You are a priest forever,

in the order of Melchizedek.” a

18 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless 19 (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

20And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, 21 but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him:

“The Lord has sworn

and will not change his mind:

‘You are a priest forever.’ ” b

22 Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.

23 Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; 24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.


==========================

Because Jesus Christ is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek, We have unshakble HOPE! What God has Promised, He will do it. You have Salvation, You are saved! Take Heart fellow Believers!

This post has been edited by unknown warrior: Apr 4 2020, 11:05 PM

That is so true, not feeling at home.

Sinning cannot even exist in the same dimension when one is led by the Spirit.

Anyone else ?

That ... is not an easy topic to describe ... just like it is hard to describe what human life is. Also, I am still failing and lacking in this matter of living Christ and of being led by the Spirit in our daily life.

The matter of the leading in Romans 8 is so crucial because it help to show the composition of the Spirit’s residing (divine person), God’s life giving (divine life and its divine laws), and our putting to death. As long as you experience these three things, you are being led by the Spirit of God.

The Christian life is not a story of a single person. The Christian life is a story of two persons living together. This is marvelous! These two live not only by coexistence but by coinherence.

As a person who has been regenerated and saved, you have the Spirit of God residing in you. This is basic. The is the base for God to give His divine life to your mortal body. Even the matter of giving life to your mortal body is an issue of the giving life into our spirit and the giving life into our mind. The giving life to our mortal body includes the giving life to our spirit and our mind. This means that God is giving life to our entire being, not only to the spirit and not only to our mind but also to our body. God is giving life; He is supplying you with the life essence into your entire being. Every life has its substance, its nature, its tastes, its tendencies, its likes, and its dislikes. This is why to follow the leading of the Spirit is not so easy for us, because we were born of and with the human life. But now another life is within us to be an element of our daily living, and this life is absolutely different from our natural life in its substance, in its nature, in its taste, in its tendency, in its likes, and in its dislikes. So it is not so easy for us to follow this leading.

What then is our responsibility? Our responsibility is just to cooperate by putting to death the practices of our body. To put to death the practices of the body means to put our natural living to death. A person who has been regenerated and who has the residing Spirit within him giving life should not live any longer in a natural way. The way to put the practices of the body to death is simply not to live in a natural way. If naturally you like to talk, put that to death. If naturally you like to eat a lot of dessert, put that to death. If naturally you love sports, put that to death. To put to death all the natural living is to put to death the practices of the body. It does not mean that you don't eat dessert, do sports or talk .... but the source of the person behind all these actions is not longer natural.

When you have the residing of the Spirit, the life giving of God, and your putting to death, you will have the leading of the Spirit. At that time it will be so easy for you to set your mind on the spirit and to walk according to the spirit. Within, you will have a lot of life supply; without, you will have the righteousness of the law. When you walk according to the spirit, the righteousness of God will be fulfilled in you. You do not need to fulfill it; it will be fulfilled in you. Within, you have the life supply, and without, you have the life expression. The life supply within you is the Spirit, and the life expression without is righteousness. According to 2 Corinthians 3:6 and 9, this is the ministry that ministers the Spirit and righteousness to people, so it is the ministry of the Spirit as well as of righteousness. This is the new testament ministry. This is the new covenant ministry, ministering the Spirit within and righteousness without. Within, you will be filled with life supply, and without, you will have a full expression of righteousness.

Er.. more can be said on the divine life with its divine law but also a divine person within us.

This is why there is such a term: the law of the Spirit of life. The leading of the Spirit is composed of these elements. It is composed with the divine life and with the divine life’s law and with the divine person, the Spirit. These three things began to be within us at the time when we believed in the Lord Jesus.

Among the three, the law is the easiest one for us to follow because it is a kind of automatic power. It really regulates. Sometimes it constrains you. Not only does it forbid you, but it also sometimes constrains you and restricts you. Sometimes it just would not let you go. All of us have experienced that when we were intending to do certain things, there was a strong automatic forbidding within us. There was a strong automatic restriction within us. Something within us restricted us from doing the thing we intended to do. So even though we were not willing to follow, we had no way, no alternative, but to follow, because there was a kind of constraining power within us. That is the law. Our desire and our preference may be so strong that temporarily they conquer the law of the Spirit of life. But eventually the law of the Spirit of life will overcome.

The person is even harder to describe.

The best example is as human beings, we all can testify that in married life there is a big problem; that is, there is always another person, sometimes praising you but often interfering with you. Sometimes not only the complaints but also even the praises of the wife are not so pleasant. On the one hand, we like to have a spouse, but on the other hand, we do not like to have someone with us all the time. There is always the bothering, telling us what to do or telling us how much to eat.

We have another person, Christ the Spirit, living in us. It is so bothersome because He, another person, takes the lead. I do not believe many Christians have realized what kind of bothering person the Holy Spirit is. He is really bothering because our intention, our preference, our desire, our aspiration, is always absolutely different from His. This may sometimes cause us to be tired of being a Christian, but we just cannot quit. Whenever we were tired or bored and wanted to quit, Someone said no. He is a real person contradicting us all the day long in the things that we do. Sometimes even in our reading of the Bible, He would not agree with the portion we want to read. He wants us to read another portion.

.... ah ... I think that is good enough.

lets worship

I have sworn not to be angry with you, learn to love

Isaiah 54:9-10 (NIV)

9 “To me this is like the days of Noah,
when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
never to rebuke you again.

10 Though the mountains be shaken
and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.



Good Day fellow believers,

Today's devotion.

Don't have this idea, God is out to get you, always angry at you. Be change in your mind (repent) that God LOVES you. That will set you free from the shackle of sin.

When a Christian have this idea, God is always angry at Him/Her, He/She in turn will get angry easily at other people, esp other Christians because of conscious condemnation.

When a believer is free from condemnation, He/She will be at peace and thus also be at peace with one another. If couple with the readiness to love others, the person will learn to Love

When a person is always angry at other, always mocking at others, always trying to put down others....This person does not have the revelation God loves him, There is this Angry God theology embedded, corrupted by Satan to think that is the default of who God is by large. If only one knows How Extremely patience God is..How Long Suffering God is.

Friends...

Meditate on the last phrase

The Lord who has compassion on you, say it out with me, verbalize it, don't just read it in your mind. Verbalize it and believe the Lord has compassion on you.

God Bless



This post has been edited by unknown warrior: Apr 5 2020, 11:16 AM

Justification by Faith Establishes the Law

Resource by John Piper
Scripture: Romans 3:27–31
Topic: Justification


Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. 31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.


Nullifying an Important Truth?


Our focus today is on verse 31, "Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law." Where did this question come from: "Do we then nullify the Law?" Why did he ask this? Someone must have been thinking that Paul was doing this - nullifying the Law.

O, how many times this happens in serious theological discussion! You take a stand on some truth and someone says, "Oh, but if you believe that, then you can't believe this. You are nullifying this truth to hold that other truth." Someone has been taught, perhaps, that if you believe in the sovereignty of God in conversion, then you must nullify human accountability to believe. So they say, "You are nullifying human accountability." Or, if you say you believe in the providence of God over all things - from the turning of hairs white or black to the fall of every bird from the sky - someone will say, "Then you are nullifying prayer - why pray if God rules all things so completely?"

But just because someone cannot see how two truths can fit together doesn't mean they may not fit together. So it is here in this text. Someone is saying, "Paul you are nullifying the Law. What you teach is abolishing the Law of God." Paul does not agree with this. But before we see why, we need to ask, What causes the question to come up? Why would anyone accuse Paul of nullifying the Law?

Why Might it Seem that Paul is Nullifying God's Law?
That is not hard to see. Let's just go back, say, to Romans 3:20 and collect a few of his statements that would possibly lead someone to this conclusion. In verse 20 he says, "By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin." So he says that no one will be justified by doing the commandments of the Law like, "Be circumcised" and "Do no work on the Sabbath" and "Don't steal or kill or lie or commit adultery." No sinner can get right with God by doing the "works of the Law."

Then in verse 21 Paul says, "Now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested." God's righteousness is given to us "freely by grace" (verse 24) through Christ apart from the law of commandments. Commandment-keeping is not how we gain a right standing with God.

Then look at verse 27, "Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a Law of faith." So again the "law of works" seems to Paul to be negative. It can't get rid of boasting. Only a "Law of faith" can get rid of boasting. So what positive role is left for the Law?

Then notice verse 28, "We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law." There it is again. Paul is not satisfied to say the positive - "a man is justified by faith" - he insists on saying the negative also - "apart from works of the Law." This is what is getting his critics upset. He says the Law can't set us right with God. We get right with God by faith "apart from works of the Law."

Now, with that kind of context, when we get to verse 31 and he asks, "Do we then nullify the Law through faith?", we really are not surprised that someone pressed this question on Paul. "Paul, you keep saying that a person gets right with God - gets justified - by faith apart from 'works of the Law,' and that the 'law of works' can't overcome boasting. So it seems to us that you are virtually nullifying the Law. You are saying that all those commandments in the moral law of God have no authority and may be safely ignored by God's people. You are, it seems, calling for a lawless people."

May it Never Be!
That is what Paul is responding to here. Is it true? Paul answers, "May it never be!" Absolutely not. That is not what I am doing. You may think that, but you must think more. Don't jump to conclusions. Follow me to the end of the argument. Don't press your assumptions on my argument without hearing me out. I am not nullifying the Law when I preach justification by faith alone apart from works of the Law.

In fact, he goes on and says, "On the contrary, we establish the Law." This is remarkable. He turns the table on his critics. He says, "Not only do we not nullify the Law when we teach justification by faith alone apart from works of the Law, but we establish the Law when we teach this. Justification by faith alone, apart from works of the Law, does not knock the Law down, it stands the Law up. Getting right with God by faith, not works, establishes the Law.

Now what does that mean? I think it means that what the moral law of God requires of us, we will do, if we pursue it by faith, as those who are already justified, and not by works, in order to be justified. If we get right with God first by faith alone, and then live in that freedom of love and acceptance and justification, we will be changed from the inside out and will begin to love the very things the moral law requires so that they become established in our lives - not as works of merit, but as the fruit of faith (I Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 1:11) and the fruit of the Spirit.

Ascend the Tracks of the Roller Coaster
Now before I show you why I think this is what it means, let me put it in a picture for you. Children, you listen closely here, because you know about roller coasters better than I do. Suppose that you are standing on the tracks of a roller coaster at the very bottom of one of the deepest dips with a three-hundred-foot tall incline in front of you, almost straight up. At the top you see the roller coaster cars perched and ready to go down the other side of the incline. And suppose someone - call him Mr. Moses - says, "Ascend those tracks. Go up to the top of this roller coaster hill on these tracks." And suppose he says, "If you get in the roller coaster at the top, you will ride all afternoon with all the momentum you need to keep you going."

So you start to climb the tracks, hand over hand, plank by plank, between the rails, when suddenly you hear another man - call him Mr. Paul - saying, "Wait, don't do that. These tracks and planks aren't made for climbing like that. Come over here on the ground and listen to my advice." Now at this point, certain bystanders might interrupt and say, "Hey, Mr. Moses said they must 'ascend these tracks' - that's his law. He said, 'Go up to the top of this roller coaster hill on these tracks.' Now here you are telling them to get off the tracks and come to you on the ground. You are going to ruin their afternoon. You are nullifying Mr. Moses' law."

Be Lifted to the Top
But Mr. Paul says, "No, no. That's not what is happening. Come I will show you. We are not canceling Mr. Moses' law, we are fulfilling it - the only way it can be fulfilled." Then he points you to a crane with a long cable and a harness at the end of the cable. And he points to a man sitting way up in the cab of this crane probably 400 feet in the air. He waves and smiles. And Mr. Paul says, "Let me put this harness on you. And if you will trust the man in the cab and the cable and the harness, he will lift you all the way up and put you in the roller coaster car. I promise you it is much safer this way."

So you consider, and then you trust him and he lifts you in the harness all the way up and puts you in the roller coaster. Then the roller coaster starts to roll. As it builds speed on the descent, you feel not only the force of gravity, but a tremendous surge of power kick in on the ascent. You go all the way around the roller coaster circuit and then you come down into the dip where you had been standing and where you had started to climb. You hit the bottom of that dip doing about eighty miles an hour and surge up the very rails you thought you had to climb. And you keep on going.

You look down and you see Mr. Moses and Mr. Paul with their arms on each other's shoulders like the best of friends, smiling as if there never had been any tension at all.

The Law is a Track, not a Ladder
Now what's the point? The point is that when Mr. Moses said, "Ascend these tracks . . . Go up to the top of this roller coaster hill on these tracks," he meant what he said. That's what the Law requires. But it wasn't his idea that you would try to climb them hand over hand, plank by plank. That's not what the planks are for. This is not a ladder with railings to climb. This is track for power to ride. So it is with the moral law in the Old Testament. It isn't meant to give a ladder for climbing, but a track for riding in the power of the Holy Spirit.

So when Mr. Paul came along and said, "Don't climb those tracks to the top. Come over here to this harness," some thought he was saying, "Leave the law of Mr. Moses; nullify the path of the commandments." But that is not what he was doing. He was not nullifying the commandments; he was establishing them. The commandment was, "Ascend these tracks. Go up to the top of this roller coaster hill on these tracks." And that is exactly what happened when you trusted the man in the cab to lift you to the car and set you to rolling with a power not your own. You came around and you did "ascend those tracks." And you did "go up to the top of this roller coaster hill." Mr. Paul's message about getting to the top by faith alone without climbing (apart from works of the Law) did not nullify the commandments of Mr. Moses. In fact, that message of faith established the commandments.

Same Idea Elsewhere in Romans
Okay, you say, nice picture. But is that what the book of Romans means? Let me try to show you why I think it is. Keep in mind that this whole issue -whether the doctrine of justification by faith alone, apart from works of the law, nullifies the Law and produces disobedient, lawless Christians or whether it produces obedient, loving Christians - is dealt with in chapters 6-8 in great detail. Here Paul just deflects the criticism to hold off the opponent till he gets there. So I only have time to point you to the places where I get the answer.

First look at Romans 6:1-2, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be!" You can see that the issue here is very similar to Romans 3:31. You teach justification by grace through faith alone, apart from works of the Law. So what you're really saying is that sinning doesn't matter and that the more we sin the more grace will be shone and the more glory God will get in forgiving it. Paul emphatically rejects this.

You get a taste of his argument from Romans 6:14-15, "Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!" No, he says, the gospel of justification by grace through faith alone does not produce sinning. It produces love. When you trust the car controller, and the cable and the harness, and you sit in the roller coaster with the energy of grace driving the linkage, you don't come to the bottom of that 300-foot hill called Law and stop. You are under the power and control of grace, and it does not nullify the Law. It establishes the Law.

Now look at the most important parallel passage, Romans 8:2-4. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh . .." Stop. The law of this 300-foot incline was not bad. It was perfect. Two rails, solid planks well fastened. Strong girders. Well, how then was it weak? It was "weak through the flesh." It wasn't made to be climbed hand over hand, plank by plank. Nor was your flesh (what you are apart from the Holy Spirit) ever designed by God to attempt such a thing. These rails were made for guiding a roller-coaster car, not for your flesh to climb. Now continue .. . "What the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

God sent Christ to execute sin so that we might be justified by faith alone, apart from works of the Law, and so that "the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us." In us! This is real life transformation. That is confirmed by the next phrase: ". . . who walk not according the flesh but according to the Spirit." Walking by the Spirit means being empowered in the roller coaster with a power not your own. That is how the moral law is fulfilled and established. We are justified by faith alone, apart from works of the Law, and the Holy Spirit is given to us and by his power we fulfil the Law - that is, we love.

For time's sake, I am passing over Romans 9:30-32*, which makes the same point. And I come finally to Romans 13:8-10, "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law. For this, 'You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law."

Love Fulfills the Law
In other words, love fulfills or establishes the Law. And where does love come from? It is a fruit of the Spirit in our lives. And is this Spirit supplied to us by works of the law or by hearing with faith (Galatians 3:5)? Does He come with his power to take us up the roller coaster hill of love because we work to show ourselves worthy, or because we are justified by faith alone?

I think Paul answers in Romans 7:6, "But now we have been released from the Law . . ." You walk away from that 300-foot hill. You die to it. You receive the harness of grace by faith. And you ride up (through faith) to the peak of justification and are put in the car of the Spirit's power. Now read the rest of Romans 7:6, "And having died to that by which we were bound [the Law], so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter."

We serve. We love. But not the old way. Not hand over hand, plank by plank in the power of the flesh, which is so weak. But, because we are justified by faith alone, apart from works of the Law, we serve by the power of the Spirit, whose fruit is love. And love fulfills the Law. And therefore Paul can say, "Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law."

Do you want to get right with God, and live for his glory? Don't climb the roller coaster hill called "works of the Law." Trust the harness called "justification by faith alone."

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GAL.5: (NKJV) = Walking in the Spirit

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Works of the flesh = intentional or willful sins or law-breaking or lawlessness or unrighteousness or evil-deeds, including unintentional or involuntary sins-in-the-hearts or sins-in-thoughts like immoral envy, jealousies, selfish ambitions, hatred, anger, sexual lust, etc.

Fruit of the Spirit = a change of the believers' hearts by the Holy Spirit of God towards love, joy, peace, etc, who go on to keep or fulfil the Law of God = no longer under the Law or to keep the Law through self-efforts or own strength.

As per MATT.7:15-23, the only way to judge false prophets/pastors/teachers is by their fruitlessness(= unchanged sinful or evil hearts) and lawlessness of the flesh.
....... OTOH, babes-in-Christ or new believers may still be walking in the flesh and not yet walking fully in the Spirit = they need some time to grow Spirit'ually by feeding on the Law/Word of God = the bread of life = eat His flesh/body, especially new Gentile Christians; .... but true prophets/pastors/teachers are not supposed to still be walking in the flesh since they should already be adults-in-Christ walking fully in the Spirit.

Good day.
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This post has been edited by lurkingaround: Apr 5 2020, 02:13 PM

To summarise, baptized and born again refers to the same thing. The idea that being born again being different from baptism is a modern Evangelical concept. #1/#2 is the first step, we still have to run the race, i.e. #3.

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+1
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Do you follow what you believe in?


On one hand, we need to follow what is morally good, agreed but do you?

This post has been edited by unknown warrior: Apr 5 2020, 12:47 PM