For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
When Peter addresses his letter to “the elect” (verse 1) who is he writing to? This question speaks to one of the hidden assumptions that we all make when we think or talk about the Bible.
Generally speaking, people fall into one of two camps. In the first camp, let’s call it the world view camp, people believe (i.e. – assume) that the Bible was written by people about God. In the second camp, we can call this God’s view, people believe that the Bible is written by God through people. There is a radical difference between these two points of view.
If one is in the first camp, then the concept of the elect (also: foreknown, chosen, predestined) is a human way of describing how people come to be saved. From this camp’s perspective, it looks like God chooses those whom he wants to save, and there is little if anything we humans have to say about it.
From the second camp, the concept of the elect looks very different. It is how God describes believers from His point of view. From God’s side of eternity, he sees the span of all creation at one glance. (Psalm 90: 4; 2 Peter 3: 8) This camp sees no conflict between humans having free will and God knowing the outcome of our choices. It also makes total sense that God would encourage us to stay focused on Him as we live out our lives. He wants all mankind to turn to Him for salvation. (1 Timothy 2: 3-4)
There is an inherent conflict in the first camp’s point of view. From this view, if someone has been chosen by God to be saved, there is nothing that they can do to alter that. Subsequently, they have no real motive to change their behavior or rely more actively on God. The conflict is that in believing they have been “saved” (past tense) they end up acting as if they don’t have to try and please God.
From the perspective of the second camp, if a person wants to be saved (future tense) they are motivated to try and please God. (Psalm 2: 12) This camp understands that pleasing God is not a “works” righteousness as the Jews understood that concept. Instead, it is a way of validating their words of commitment. (James 2: 14-26)
From the view of the first camp, many of the words of the New Testament seem unnecessary or confusing. From the perspective of the second camp, these same words are essential guideposts to eternal life.
Today’s passage highlights the often subtle difference between these points of view. Peter writes, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” Those in the first camp hear, “You are safe! Don’t worry! You have already been chosen to be one of God’s elect.” These people don’t feel motivated to make changes in their personal life or to encourage others to do so.
Those in the second camp hear, “Stand firm! (1 Corinthians 10: 1-13), “Take root in good soil!” (Matthew 13: 1-23), “Know God’s Word!” (Matthew 22: 29). This group is highly motivated to affirm their commitment to the Lord Jesus with their actions as well as their words.
Are there variations on these two themes? Yes, of course. In fact, there is a large camp in the middle full of people who find all of this very confusing. I also realize that to some extent both camps are full of straw men. I have sketched out these simplified “camps” to provide you with something to consider when you think about salvation and God’s Word.
Application: Step back from your Bible for a minute and think about how it was written. Is it really God’s Word or is it a collection of stories about God?
Food for Thought: What does it mean that God’s Word is ”living?”
God is the Living God (Hebrews 3: 12). Jesus is referred to as the living, incarnate word of God (John 1: 1, 14). The sword of the Spirit is also called the word of God (Ephesians 6: 17). It is a word that is living because it is given to us by the Living Word. It is living because it has the power of eternal life (Romans 1: 1:16) and also produces an abundant transformed life (Hebrews 4: 12; Colossians 3: 16; Romans 12: 2; John 10: 10).
Brother Rich,
Thank you for these verses today. They are a wonderful collection of evidence that the Word of God is indeed alive and well. I especially appreciated Hebrews 4: 12, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
(For convenience I have linked to all of the verses Rich provided here.)
Good scripture references. God breathed life into all scripture. See 2 Timothy 3:16, 17. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2 Peter 1:20, 21.
JEC,
Thank you! Excellent verses!
I just found out about bible gateway. Thanks.
Timothy,
Bible Gateway is a great resource. Enjoy!
What does it mean that God’s Word is “living?”
The Word of God is supernatural. It is not the work, writings of men but is the God inspired Word of God to all mankind. The Holy Spirit inspired (told men) men to write God’s Word. The original truths written at the instruction of the Holy Spirit have been preserved by God and are Ours to study and be taught today.
James 1:22, tells us, Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
2 Timothy 3:16, All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
CHRIST, GOD’S WORD IS ETERNAL: 07-05-20
John1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.
John 1:4, In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
John 1:14, And the Word became flesh, and lived among us; and we saw His glory, glory as belongs to the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
GOD’S WORD HAS ETERNAL POWER OVER SATAN:
Jesus used Gods Word in response to Satans temptation.
Deuteronomy 8:3, Deuteronomy 6:16, Deuteronomy 6:13–14
Ephesians 6:11-18, Put on full armor of God, 12 Our struggle is against the powers of this dark world, spiritual forces of evil. 13 When the day of evil comes, 14 Stand firm, belt of truth around your waist, breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 feet fitted with the gospel of peace. 16 shield of faith,17 Helmet of salvation SWORD OF THE SPIRIT WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD.
OUR SPIRITS ARE BROUGHT TO LIFE AND FED BY GODS WORD:
John 4:14, The water I give will become a well of WATER SPRINGING UP TO ETERNAL LIFE.
John 6:63, The words I have spoken, ARE FULL OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, I AM THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.
GOD’S WORD SUSTAINS THE LIVES OF HIS PEOPLE:
Matthew 4:4, Man shall not live on bread alone, BUT BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT THROUGH THE MOUTH OF GOD.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, it says, “All Scripture is God-breathed, profitable for teaching, conviction, correction, instruction in righteousness, THAT THE MAN OF GOD MAY BE COMPLETE, FULLY EQUIPPED for every good work.”
Hi Tim. I love Bible Gateway. Bible Hub is another great resource and it has a free app for your phone.
👍🏻
Jeff, I’m thrilled to have your blessing on my tendency to run long, the Lord knows I need it! This is both a strength of mine & a trouble area, lol. I’m also grateful that you & I have a friendship where we can interact like this – though we may at times disagree (though not typically). 🙂 w/ that, I would like to challenge you as my friend & a follower of Christ.
You mentioned having a simpler mind in your response on “Checklist for Love.” I hope you’re only kidding because you’re quite brilliant though I think you try to hide it. You have been a light to me concerning many things to which I am grateful. I’ve been able to learn a lot by your example which is also a blessing.
I believe that you prefer to approach things in simplicity to combat a nature that is in some regards akin to my own? Anyhow, correct me if I’m wrong (I know we are each uniquely fashioned). Truthfully, there are many things that are best kept simple.
I’d like to share an interesting paradigm that I’ve realized in my continued study of art. One of the things I’ve found is that–often though not always–some of the best art is quite simple; though conversely, gaining a mastery of the underlying principles of how & why this works–to put it effectively into practice–is not!
Minimalistic art is not good on account of its simplicity alone, but in accordance to how that simplicity harmonizes w/ the incredibly complex & pattern based nature of reality; the principles wherein such expressions are found favorable through things like their overall composition, use of color theory, use of negative space, golden ratio, & how this correlates to what our own minds mirror.
I just think this is cool because we can see how both things (simple/complex) exist in one thing, at the same time! You have a gift to sum things up. I believe I have a gift to unpack them. Each of these has their uses & areas where they may struggle. But I love how the Lord can bring so many things together in one. I especially love seeing this at work w/in the Body of Christ.
In a certain sense, many things in the Scriptures can be nicely summed up. The more we come to discover in the scriptures, the more accurately & concisely we are able to convey its truths in strokes of simplistic beauty. This is where your gift has provided much light to me & I can see to others. Your blog is such a great resource & gathering place for us to do just that!
From another angle, we are also told that Christ revealed, spoke, & performed so many things that all the volumes of books in the world could not contain them. Does this intend to mean, that Christ in his 3½ year ministry, spoke more words than could possibly be bound w/in pages?
No, this must concern the nature of all that could be expounded upon given what he said, did, performed, etc. This could not be captured in summation, but rather was in reference to there being a great deal, so great, that it could not all be unpacked. Certainly, we could fit what he said w/in the pages of many books.
I believe that there are some topics touched on w/in the scriptures, that in like manner cannot be easily simplified & that in their nature, require unpacking & to so do would take the volume of many books! This is much in the same way that not all mathematical expressions can be simplified. This is a paradigm that seems to be present everywhere we look.
Concerning this blog, we can preach the gospel in under three minutes, or give an admonition, an encouragement, a word, etc. Or as you have done here, try to set something before us to meditate upon. It’s not either that this is simply okay, it’s awesome! I love the format, even if I struggle w/ it.
Some things like eschatology, or predestination/freewill, the Trinity, etc, require much more than the format here can faithfully support. I find that especially on this issue of predestination & freewill, it is so often summed up (on both sides) by those who have looked so little into it.
I’m not saying this is you, but that it is an issue at large. It seems that those who are the more outspoken here are the least nuanced in their ability to understand the views of their opposition. Hence, debates are sparked right & left on this topic & I see it as an area where many are brought to stumble.
This is a real problem in the church. If we are fair & honest w/ ourselves, we must acknowledge that we are dealing w/ very deep & foundational truths, hard to understand for most, if not all, & hence hard to harmonize & sum up.
We must take Christ at his words. When we are told that we were sealed in Him before the foundations of the world, we are to believe this (even if we don’t fully understand it). We are not told that we are to understand it, though I would argue this does not mean it is irrational, or that understanding is not implied. I believe it is, but this is not our priority, it is more intrinsic to our nature & the nature of things.
I equally take serious our Lords commands to follow after him, to choose to soften my heart to him, & learn to love others more fully. I think it will take a lifetime for my heart & mind to come to understand how God harmonizes these two pillars of truth & how he works all things together for those who love him.
In the meantime, how I am going to balance this all in my own heart is entirely up to me. How I would declare my beliefs in a doctrinal statement is of a different process & progression. We clearly don’t all agree here. We have to set up some points to navigate around if we want to entertain discussions on this. This takes time. & I don’t think you’ve been fair here, if I may explain. But I could be entirely mistaken. I hope that I am.
I am stepping forward in response to some things that you’ve shared because my conscience has been pricked.
Our doctrine on this is important. You acknowledge this in your post. The connection is affirmed when you present how you believe each camp responds from their heart & actions in accordance w/ their beliefs. I’m not saying I agree w/ your progression necessarily, but you’re clearly affirming the connection. You know it’s important, automatically implied. We are not at odds.
I can see that you state why you’ve shared, “I have sketched out these simplified “camps” to provide you w/ something to consider when you think about salvation & God’s Word.” However, I’m not really sure on this. You’ve not set any sort of unleavened picture before us, & on this I was disappointed because you don’t make it as if this is your view, but as if this is the Biblical stance. Unless, again I am completely mistaken and not hearing you. Please correct me if this is so.
But I guess what bothers me is that we are not left free here on this issue w/out further judgment. I must be honest in that how I see you’ve approached this has caused me room concern. I do not believe you’ve intended this, or even seen how this could possibly be the case.
I honestly hope you’re altogether unaware & hence this will just be like you seeing something for the first time & not a judgment against anything you’ve intentionally done. I think you’re a great man Jeff, better than myself. That’s not flattery, I just have a lot that I know I can learn from you & I look to you.
I’ll elaborate on the issue for me. There are many born again believers (if not all to be fair) that can be found on either side of the debate; concerning that of predestination & freewill.
I see how some can surmise that there are two camps here, or that there is even a middle ground which I appreciate your stating. However, & this is small, you seem to allude that the middle ground exists as a kind of retreat for those “who find all of this very confusing”.
I would say that I do not hold hard to either camp (so you could say that I’m in this middle) but I do not find myself taking refuge in some ambiguous state. I could very mush state what I affirm, hold to, & believe the Bible teaches on these matters. & of course, that doesn’t mean I’d be right, but this would also be an immense labor; not fit for this format, but how else do I now address what’s been brought up, lol?
Hence, I will not try to address this directly, but how we should take care to navigate here.
I believe there are profound truths in both “camps” (but not w/ the narrowness confined to such schismatic views). Hence, I actually loathe the use of camps or simplifying such a profound reality into these divisions. So I guess you could say there is yet another way to look at this, but this is not my main point.
Regardless of how you want to break it down, you will find both Christians & unbelievers at variance w/in any perspective that can be taken here. That is the truly important thing to understand. You mention straw-men in both camps, but what of the Christians in both? We know this is true; both of today & looking back through history.
This is one of the things that I so appreciate w/ how Pastor Rich approaches topics of this nature. He will state that there are different (valid) views held among believers. This does not refrain him from stating what he himself holds to & sets out to defend, but he does not put down or belittle those who hold opposing views. I’ve yet to see him be derogatory in any way here.
Of course, we cannot & should not do this concerning every belief. We cannot state, for example, that the Catholic position on salvation is just another “Christian” perspective. We must condemn it, but this does not mean we are condemning those who believe it. If we love them, we will try to point them to the sufficiency of Christ.
You have created a false dichotomy, from two other dichotomies, & then drawn your conclusions from there & offered it as the obvious Biblical stance. Again, unless I am not hearing you correctly which I am ready to admit.
The first group you highlight rightly polarizes those who hold to the word of God as inspired, versus those who do not. But you then go on to equate those in the group that believe the word of God w/ those who hold to free will. & those who don’t support your view on this are equated to those who do not hold faithfully to the word of God?
It is not worded this way exactly, but such is the progression of how I see it being presented. You almost write-off the other view as simply being derived from man’s way of thinking, as if it does not have scriptural support. & of course from your perspective, how could it, because those in this camp don’t believe the word of God in the first place!
It’s yet another step altogether to then elaborate on how each camp in this false dichotomy is drawn to respond from their hearts (something you cannot even see or know). This in particular caused me grief. I love you, but was quite set back at how easily this could bring one to stumble & wrestle needlessly here. A guess at best I would say things are unclear.
You say that:
“Those in the second camp hear, “Stand firm! (1 Corinthians 10: 1-13), “Take root in good soil!” (Matthew 13: 1-23), “Know God’s Word!” (Matthew 22: 29). This group is highly motivated to affirm their commitment to the Lord Jesus w/ their actions as well as their words.”
In comparison:
“Those in the first camp hear, “You are safe! Don’t worry! You have already been chosen to be one of God’s elect.” These people don’t feel motivated to make changes in their personal life or to encourage others to do so.”
To add some balance here, I guess I will offer some insight into my own heartstrings as I hold in this commonality w/ those from the latter camp w/ many of my brothers & sisters in Christ:
I believe I am so unable to lift a finger to have merited grace, that I am absolutely humbled & brought low at the AMAZING fact that I was chosen in God before the creation of the universe. This was so that He could pour out his incredible gift of mercy upon me. Thus, we will in heaven cast our crowns before Him, because we did not earn them!
I am simply an object that he chose, created in Jesus Christ. I am a vessel, a pot that the artist of our universe has fashioned for his ends, his will, & not my own. I believe I could not overturn this decision if I tried, & I have! While I do reach for & receive the gift & calling of God, how could I not, to this end was I fashioned!!! All glory, & honor, & praise will be to our God who has done it!
It is PRECISELY BECAUSE I have already been chosen to be one of God’s elect, that his mercy is fully made known to me, that I did not contribute to his picking me, his sealing me, his calling me to him, his power unto my sanctification, etc, that I am so completely broken & humbled that the position of my heart can only be that of gratitude. This makes me want to serve him from love, to continue to make changes in my life, to be motivated to this end & to be empowered thereby! My most encouraging & intimate brothers & sisters in Christ are of this stance.
But I think of Romans 14, & that we should heed the infinite wisdom & love that inspired that passage. God will make each of us to stand firm before Him. Yes, we can discuss & meditate upon our differences, we should, this IS important, but let us stick to what scripture says, as was your admonition to us prior;
“We can debate the technicalities of how that process works [concerning salvation], but only to the point that Scripture speaks about it.”
To be clear, I would have been 100% okay had you simply stated these things as pitfalls to one camp, though you leave none for the other. That this can be a pitfall, is true, but neither does this render the tenets of said camp untrue or their followers as those who do not hold faithfully to God’s word.
There are pitfalls we can run into on the other side of things as well. The pride one can feel in what they contribute w/ their own works, even at times bordering on “will” worship. I love the Mennonite communities & people of God there, as an example, but often they overstep & invite trouble here. Mostly, this is because it has become their “pet” theory.
I have some friends that want to join these communities & can’t. Oddly enough they are allowed to be a part of the church, are even called brother & sister, but communion is w/held from them because they believe in predestination. This is truly sad. They’ve made it will worship, and this is clear from many of their sermons.
If if you are able to faithfully run in the understanding of your own heart, then more power to you! I do not see this as an issue to put you down, or claim to know how God is working in your heart, but rather as we are able, God will bring all things into clarity, & call into One Body those who belong to him!
Anyhow, I hope this helps. I love you dearly!! I hope I am mistaken in also in how I’ve taken this. Please correct me if so.
My dear brother in Christ,
First I must apologize for any pain or grief I have caused you. That was not my intent.
Second, I would like to join you in applauding Rich and how he approaches these topics. He does set the bar very high when it comes to being gentle and considerate of others.
Third, I confess that I have infused my own opinions into these posts. Perhaps more so lately than has been normal.
Now, let me address your concern. You hold a certain view of what it means to be one of God’s elect. I respect and honor your view.
One of the things I have observed about people is that we rarely agree on anything. I am generalizing here, but based on my observations of threescore and five years, I have never met two people who have exactly the same perspective on everything. Some appear to share the same views, but when pressed, it becomes clear that they do not.
The second thing I have observed is that people defend their views vehemently. The idea of questioning our own beliefs is very unsettling. (I know, I have been through this process many times.)
The third thing I have observed, and personally experienced, is that in letting go of my unquestioned beliefs and allowing them to be questioned, I have been able to test my ideas and see which stands on their own and which ones I have been propping up. (Propping up ideas is a horrific drain on energy and time.)
For example, as a child, I believed God existed. I was very confident that he was real. As I grew older I experienced challenges to my belief in God and I found I had nothing really to support the belief except the convictions I was raised with. Doubts grew as I grew and the assaults on my faith became more direct. Then, at some point in my early twenties, I let go.
That didn’t mean God stopped existing, it just meant that I had quit trying to squeeze him into my tiny beliefs. He didn’t fit. I walked on through life for many years without a traditional God. Then, I tried coming back into the church I had grown up in. It had changed, sadly, and so had the people in it. But God hadn’t. The same questions were there. The same nagging issues. And you know what? The Bible was still there, too. But it hadn’t changed. Eventually I came to discover that God really does exist. I started reading the Bible, started studying it, and to the best of my ability started living it.
Today I am still learning. I am so thankful for Rich, and Bethel, and you for being here with me now. You are helping me learn more about my faith and more about my God. I love what you wrote when you say, “You have created a false dichotomy, from two other dichotomies, & then drawn your conclusions from there & offered it as the obvious Biblical stance.” That is well said! Is it true? I am open to being convinced that it is. (I actually agree in part. After publishing my post I decided that I should have written part of it very differently.)
If you are open to a suggestion, I would say please continue to ponder this. Write down why it has to be the way you believe it is and then write down what happens if it is not that way. Pray about it. Ask God for clarification. As you read the Word, the Spirit will highlight verses that will speak to you on this.
I hope I have addressed your concerns here. I have another post to write this evening so I had better get to it. More trouble to stir up!! 🙂 Feel free to contact me by email if you would like to pursue this further.
Blessings!
Jeff, I just want to say how much I appreciate having you in my life. That I have a brother like you who takes the time to care deeply in his interactions w/ me is a huge blessing. I believe how you hold to things in your own heart & understanding helps you to do this. Even if we disagree, I see that you love me in honest truth & I’m secure w/ you holding to your own views, obviously. You don’t have to come my way.
I also genuinely appreciate your apology, it is completely received. I know you are sincere. I appreciate knowing you & the honor to grow w/ you along the way. We serve such an awesome & amazing God! I appreciate you sharing your early walk & in how you came to strengthen your faith in him.
You shared many things that resonate deeply w/ me. We both grew up under similar circumstances. One of the things that ironically worked to my benefit was that I had a father who’s views were beholden to none. We grew up under an iron fist where we could not express or even hint at any view antagonistic to his.
To do this day, he still blacklists discussion of certain topics. My mom is not even allowed to share her testimony in Christ or anything about what she believes because she is Protestant. She is not even allowed to decide what programs she can watch or listen to.
It’s pretty sad, though to be fair, he’s only mirroring the example of his church. He proudly sports a bumper sticker that says “Militant Catholic.” Anyhow, I understand that not all Catholics are this way and I love Catholics as I know MANY of them!
But as far as I was concerned, this backfired & made me want to challenge things even more, but especially to not grow static in my own perspectives (like he had).
Hence, my modus operandi from very early on has been rather dynamic concerning how I take to any particular perspective. It has given me a gift to see many angles to something, even from the perspectives of those I may disagree with in the end.
Letting go, as you mentioned, is an important step & not an easy one. I went through a similar “letting go” if you will, but I went much further. In the process I broadened my horizons & considerations of what might be true in exploring many avenues. I looked into evolution, Sufism, occult, astrology, strict materialism, ancient astronaut theory, relativism, New Age, etc.
By God’s grace, he never let me walk away from him, and he called me back into a stronger faith. But one of the things I realized, is how it was exploring all these things that actually served to so strengthen my belief.
It was through this process that I was able to see what the best foundation for building my life on was: undeniably –Christ! He is Truth. We can relate here for sure! I love how you mention propping things up, because he was the only thing I didn’t have to! Rather, he propped me up, lol!
To clarify, you say that:
“If you are open to a suggestion, I would say please continue to ponder this. Write down why it has to be the way you believe it is and then write down what happens if it is not that way.”
I will do this brother! But I want to say that it does not have to be the way I believe it is, not on this topic, or any other really. Unless you are simply referring to collecting my supporting arguments & not that I must adamantly be right.
I hold to my view because it is where I see the preponderance of evidence. But to be fair, I’ve really not expressed to you what I hold on this. I’ve simply shared some of the commonalities I hold w/ the other camp to add some balance. I hold much in common with you as well brother.
I’m more than open to discussion on this if you would like. In truth, I am open to what those in both camps have to say, & there are great points on both sides that I wholeheartedly embrace. I think many fail to try and harmonize these things, rather they pair them off antinomically.
I think harmonizing makes more sense, since the Scriptures mention them both in plain speech. So it is actually my openness in part, that does not allow me to come all the way over to where you are. I’m open to more discussion though.
But I am also fine if this isn’t desired. I think these things are important, not that I’m right. I do think that bringing these ideas out in the open is the healthiest way we can challenge ourselves & others to grow in them. Sadly, so often in today’s culture, this practice is almost unanimously seen as divisive. It shouldn’t have to be that way.
This is why I appreciate even more your response to me, as I can see it is out of love. And that, as far as I can tell, you’re not overreacting or overtly offended at my sharing some things that may challenge you. I know that for myself as a man trying to grow in Christ, I NEED this.
My issue is not so much to challenge directly what you believe, though I think it might be interesting & could be edifying for us both. I simply took issue w/ the approach & I couldn’t ignore my conscience.
I’m completely supportive of you sharing your views. I just think it might be a difficult topic to faithfully unpack in this format. But that is ultimately your call. This blessing (the blog) is something that has come about by your devotion, prayers, and efforts! So I encourage you to use it to challenge others w/ what you believe.
I just want it to be a safe place for everyone, even if we disagree! I know you want this too brother, so I was simply wanting to show you what I was seeing & how it affected me & by extension could be affecting others.
I don’t have to be right, I don’t know that I am, but I should be free to express my views or at the very least hold to them w/out being made to feel like I’m not a true follower of Christ. This is already an area where the enemy will try to attack me, but I will continue to hold fast by his grace!
I appreciate your humility, your willingness. Even if my statement above that you appreciated were true, it doesn’t mean how you hold to things is not. Just because someone has erred in their logic, does not mean they are wrong at the end of the day.
However, because a straight line cannot be drawn from contradictory statements, it means that the premise is false (here specifically, you cannot conclude the corollary, that because your believe is correct, then the false assumptions that led you to it are also correct.)
I hope that makes sense, and I hope you can see how I am open to what you have to say & share on this topic. But I must admit it would be a hard topic to discuss w/ you, if from the outset I am already labeled in a box that says I don’t believe the Scriptures to begin w/ or that I do not want to follow after our Lord.
I see the fruit in your life, and I’m not saying that its contingent upon your view here, but it’s certainly no detriment to you as an example.
The way things were presented simply became too important because if it is not true (my statement) as you ask, then basically you’re saying I don’t believe the Word of God? But I know that I do, & that I do desire to follow after Christ, to heed his warnings, to hold fast, to press on & continue in him…
I do believe in this that we can call one another brothers? I hope so. I love you Jeff & appreciate your sincerity of heart.
NMOP3PISdn
I have written several times on the differences between God’s view of time and the way we view time. Here are three posts on the topic that I would be interested to hear your opinion on. Specifically I would like to know how you react to each post itself, and then I would love to hear your thoughts on the relationship between the topics in these posts and the topic covered in “Two Camps.”
The three posts are:
A Reasonable Faith
God’s Eye
An Absence of Uncertainty
Jeff,
That sounds like a fantastic exercise & I appreciate the invitation! I will probably read the post today so I can prayerfully mull over them in my heart & mind. I may take some time to respond though, as I want to thoughtfully consider, but also because I’ve got other things that I must be about as well & balance my time. Love you brother!