'Contradictions' keep it interesting.



     

But, if not handled correctly, can lead to eternal destruction ....as 2 Peter 3:16 points out:

 " As also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as [they do] also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction".  

Each of these speak of the establishment of the Kingdom of God upon this earth when Christ returns.

"For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.  
  66:23   And it shall come to pass, [that] from one new moon to another, and from [one sabbath to another], shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD", (Isaiah 66:22,23).  

WHoa whoa whoa. Christ didn't give up being God. To say this alludes that Christ was completely man and didn't have an ounce of God in him.

Jesus Christ was fully God.....and he was fully man.

However, Jesus 'never' used his God-power, while on this earth.
Jesus relied totally upon His Father...as an example for us to follow.as he said of himself: "Of mine own self I can do nothing".

Had Jesus used His own God-power to resist temptations from Satan, he would have not been our example (1 Peter 2:21,22), on how to live a sinless life.

Silver Surfer, I know I am just a plain man, but what is your point?


 

No man is plain in the eyes of God....otherwise Christ would not have paid such a terrible price for his redemption.
He was willing to give up being God...FOREVER....just to save you !

The present Christian world ignores the Bible verse:
"It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by [every word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of God", (Matthew 4:4).

The Old Testament is as neccessary for salvation, as the New Testament is !
It is all God's word, both Old and New.

Many people misunderstand what the Apostle Paul means in many of his writings, because of a lack of Old Testament information.....which will lead many to their own destruction as the Bible says in 2 Peter 3:15,16.......
"And account [that] the longsuffering of our Lord [is] salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;  
  3:16   As also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as [they do] also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction".  

Oh, what a wonderful God we have! How great are His riches and wisdom and knowledge!

How impossible it is for us to understand His decesions and His methods! For who can know what the Lord is thinking?

Those who study the Bible with an honest heart and mind, 'can' know the will of God.

  ""My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children"(Hosea 4:6).

It is the lack of effort, that causes men to remain in ignorance, of what God needs people to understand.

Knowledge can only be gained by personal time, spent in the Bible.
Many people will be lost, wishing and hoping to be Christians.

This is Satan's first lesson on disobedience to God's Law......that you can commit sin, and still remain in favor with God, and not suffer the consequences of disobedience.

And from that time in Eden, to the present time....Satan has carried that thought, into the minds of men.

Satan has promoted the idea that God is too loving to punish transgression....ignoring the fact that God balances love with Justice.

Had the Christian world understood this....God would not have had Matthew 7:21-23 written:
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
 
  7:22   Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  

  7:23   And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity".

 

[Check The Time: To day is the day of salvationand now is a good time to be saved.Acts 16:30-31 "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."]

Check The Time:

To day is the day of salvation
and now is a good time to be saved.

Acts 16:30-31 "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved."

And believeing in Jesus Christ means to believe 'every' word he said.
'go and sin no more', (John 5:14....8:11).
And until the Christian world understands what the Bible defines as ....sin...they are not saved.

"Why call me, Lord, Lord  and not do things which I say ?", (Luke 6:46)

I object to using the Law of God as a Drocules Sword hanging above our heads.

And you are right.....The Law of God (the 10 commandments) is the standard by which God wants everyone to reach for, as it is, the very foundation of what LOVE is !

Silver Surfer,
You are basing your life in God on a false premise of doing.  God does not require that we do something to earn His favor.

You're right.
Christians do...not to earn favor, but to show their love for Christ.
Jesus said: "IF...you love me, keep my commandments", (John 14:15).
In other words:
"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous", (1 John 5:3)  

Keeping the Law of Moses has nothing to do with relationship or serving God as of the New Covenant.

I have nothing to do with the Law of Moses, as it was abolished at the cross.
I 'NEVER' tell anyone to look unto the Law of Moses, never have , and never will.

The 10 commandments of God (Exodus 20:3-17) is what I bring to the attention of people, that want to be saved.





.

As David said.  Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You.  It is so simple.  Why make it so complicated by a force of will to do commands that are not relevent to a life in Jesus?

If you don't know what sin is.....how can you not sin against God ?

You throw away the 'ONLY' thing that tells you what sin is ?!?

you have kept all the commandments . . . by what/who's definition?

thanx, Nana

By God's definition, of course.

I believe the Bible gives us enough guildlines for us to follow:
Jesus said:"It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by [every word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of God", (Matthew 4:4).
 
B-Basic
I-Instructions  
B-Before
L-Leaving
E-Earth



Let's take the 4th commandment for example:

 Exodus  20:8   "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy...
.  
  20:9   Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
 
  20:10   But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that [is] within thy gates:  
  20:11   For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it".


Point #1.) I don't work on the Sabbath. I attend church on Sabbath after the example of Jesus Christ.
(The United Sates Constitution 'presently' gives me the right to freedom of religion, therefore no employer can fire me for refusing to work on that day).

Point #2.) The 7th day Sabbath is 'NOT' Jewish, as God blessed that day......and made it holy (Genesis 2:2,3).....some 2300 years 'BEFORE', there ever was a Jew.

And, the 4th commandment points us back to that fact, that the 7th day Sabbath, started at Creation week, not on Mt.Sinai.

Therefore using this information that the 7th day Sabbath is not Jewish.....I can read Ezekiel 20:20 in that light:
"And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a [sign] between me and you, that ye may know that I [am] the LORD your God".  

Also, I understand the fact.....'that to break just one of the commandments, is to break them all', (James 2:10-12).



Now, before I end this, I want to imply:

 "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous".  (1 John 5:3).



 

Silver Surfer wrote:
Christ living in the converted person 'does' the works of righteousness, which is the keeping of all 10 commandments of God....therefore we cannot boast of anything, because we are only allowing Christ to work his will, in our daily lives.

Nana:
Perhaps you could tell us which of the 10 commandments you have kept since you have "allowed Christ to work His will in you".

Thanx,  Nana

When I have 'allowed' Christ to control me, I have kept them all.
 "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  
  2:4   He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him",(1 John 2)  

[You get "TWO"Thumbs DOWN]

I would say we are under the law of Christ now.  The Old Covenant law has passed away.  We how have the perfect law of liberity, the royal law or the law of Christ.  This law is layed out in the New Covanent.

You get "TWO"Thumbs DOWN

Interesting ....how you judge others.

(1 John 1:  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Therefore let no man declare that they are 'saved'. Because being 'saved' (past tense) means they are sinless. As salvation is being saved [from] sin (Matthew 1:21).

(1 John 1:9)  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And as God reveals some sin we are not yet aware of...we are to take steps to correct those faults, thru the power of God:   Acts 17:30   "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent".  

(1 John 1:10)  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23).

But let's not ignore:
Romans   6:12   "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  
  6:13   Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God.  
  6:14   For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.  
  6:15   What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid".

Silver Surfer,

(1 John 1:  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

(1 John 1:9)  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(1 John 1:10)  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

I agree with this.
And, I agree with what Jesus Christ said also: 'go and sin no more' (John 5:14....8:11).
I see no contradictions.

 This topic deals with 'seemingly apparent' contraditions found in the Bible.
For example:
#1.)   "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law"(Romans 3:28).  
#2.) "(For not the hearers of the law [are] just before God, but the [doers] of the law shall be justified", (Romans 2:13).   Both of these are valid Bible verses....and both are absolutely True !
Even though they seem to contradict each other, and both of these Bible statements are made by the same Bible writer, the Apostle Paul.

The human mind, unaided by the Holy Spirit....seems unable to make these seemingly contradictory Bible statements harmonize. The human mind will choose one Bible verse, and ignore the other....which is extremely dangerous !
WHY ?
Because Jesus said: "But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by [every word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of God", (Matthew 4:4).  

More examples:
#1.) 'No sin in breaking the Law', (Ephesians 2:15).
#2.) 'Breaking the Law is sin', (1 John 3:4).


#1.) 'Not to be Judged by the Law', (Colossians 2:16).
#2.) 'We will be Judged by the Law', (Ecclesiastes 12:13,14....James 2:10-12).


#1.) 'Perfect Law of Liberty', (James 1:25 ands 2:12).
#2.) 'Person who keeps this Law, loses his liberty', (Galations 5:1,3).


#1.) 'Law abolish by Christ', (Ephesians 2:15).
#2.) 'Law established by Christ' (Romans 3:31).

The list goes on and on and on....

Does the Bible contradict itself ?

Some people have reached the conclusion that it does.

Personally, I believe that the Bible is in perfect harmony with itself, once understood how to harmonize seemingly contradictory statements.

OK, Lets' look at the first example again:
#1.)   "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law"(Romans 3:28).  "As you look into the Lord's great moral looking glass, His holy law, His standard of character, do not for a moment suppose that it can cleanse you. There are no saving properties in the law. It cannot pardon the transgressor".(6th Bible commentaries, by E.G White)

#2.) "(For not the hearers of the law [are] just before God, but the [doers] of the law shall be justified", (Romans 2:13). This is answered by another Bible verse:    "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law, (Romans 3:31).
How can we as humans (Christians) uphold the Law of God, in our feeble human strength ?

Answer: We cannot !

"For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth", (Romans 10:4).  Christ living in the converted person 'does' the works of righteousness, which is the keeping of all 10 commandments of God....therefore we cannot boast of anything, because we are only allowing Christ to work his will, in our daily lives.