I've Just Come Home From Midnight Mass

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Todays "Solo" Bible lesson (and probable thread ender) part 2[/FONT]


“[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]...The promise of having from the Father what two or three agree upon echoes Christ's similar promises concerning prayer, such as, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Mt 7:7). All of these promises—binding and loosing, agreeing upon a request, or simply believing—seem very much alike. But what is meant? Christ surely does not mean that no matter what we bind, loose, agree upon, or ask, God will grant it like an overly indulgent grandparent. It is axiomatic that God has not turned His universe or mankind over to us to do with as we will.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]James declares that God, far from giving us a blank check, does not indulge our selfish desires: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" (Jas 4:3). John writes, "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight...if we ask anything according to his will,...we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him" (1 Jn 3:22, 5 ]:14-15).[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Clearly, prayer requests are granted for those who please God, and only according to His will. Who would want it otherwise? Similar limitations upon prayer must apply even to the broadest promises, such as, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Mt 21:22); "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mk 11:24); "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you" (Jn 16:23).[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Even these broad promises involve two conditions: believing (i.e., faith in God), and asking in Christ's name. These are limiting indeed. Faith is not a power of the mind so that by believing something will happen we bring it to pass. Faith must be, according to Christ, "in God" (Mk 11:22). Thus faith is not believing that prayer will be answered, but believing that God will answer it. Inasmuch as God "worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Eph 1:11), genuine faith that comes from God could never believe God for anything contrary to His will.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As for asking "in Christ's name," that phrase, sadly, is tacked onto many prayers as though it were an "Open Sesame" magic formula. On the contrary, to ask in Jesus' name is to ask in His interest, to His glory, as He would ask—and His will is always conformed to the Father's. Prayer, then, is not a means of forcing one's will upon God. Instead, it is the gracious opportunity He allows us, to have a part in furthering His will.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]So it must be that in using the keys of the kingdom in binding or loosing, and remitting or retaining sins, Christ's followers act only as the agents of His power and only according to His will.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Can we be still more specific? Christ said, "whatsoever...whosoever." Inasmuch, however, as it can only be according to His will, He must reveal the specifics when the occasion arises. The important point is that this power and authority was not just to Peter or just to the original twelve, but has been passed to us today, along with everything else Christ taught and commanded them.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Additionally, when Jesus healed the woman "which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years," He said to her, "Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity" (Lk 13:11-13). So by the gift of healing, the disciples could loose the sick from their bondage to illness; and by casting out demons they loosed souls from that form of bondage. Every Christian has the power, in the name of Jesus (as He would and to His glory), to do the same today.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]How would one loose from and remit sins? Scripture is clear that all sin is against God, not just against another human. Therefore only God can forgive sins in the ultimate sense. Furthermore, forgiveness of sins and man's eternal destiny are a matter not only of God's love but of His justice. God himself cannot (and would not) overrule His own justice. God can forgive sins only because Christ paid sin's penalty demanded by His infinite justice (Rom 3:23-28). And forgiveness is only for those who believe the gospel. Christ made that clear: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (Jn 3:3-5, 36).[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Scripture which Christ read in the synagogue in Nazareth and declared to be fulfilled through His ministry foretold the Messiah declaring, "...the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings [the gospel]...to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound" (Is 61:1; Lk 4:16-21). Isaiah and Christ are saying that the loosing of those bound by sin is only brought about through the preaching of the gospel. And what else but the gospel, which is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom 1:16), could be the "keys of the kingdom"?[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It is a delusion, then, to imagine that God has put in the hands of any man or church the power to decide who goes to heaven or hell. Indeed, how could he? In the cross of Christ alone "we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Eph 1:7). No one, not even God himself, can remit sins on any other basis. The gospel alone opens the door to heaven, the very gospel which Christ told His first disciples to "go into all the world and preach"and, as we have seen, the responsibility and privilege of preaching it has been passed down to us today.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It is of the utmost importance to remember that every Christian has the power to release souls from sin's penalty through proclaiming the gospel to those who will believe. This is the good news of God's grace which looses from Satan's bondage those who believe.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The "keys" are not magic. Faith is still required. God desires "for all men to be saved" (1 Tm 2:4) and He "is not willing that any should perish" (2 Pt 3:9). Yet many will indeed perish, because they persist in their rebellion and rejection of Christ. God himself cannot force anyone to love Him, because the power of choice He gave us is essential for love.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It should be our passion, therefore, to persuade as many as we can to accept God's love and forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. How tragic that so many Christians who know the gospel so often fail to present it to those around them. As our Lord moves our hearts with love and compassion for the lost, may we respond in His love and use the keys of the kingdom ever more urgently and effectively to the salvation of many souls! TBC”[/FONT]
 
Well, it's not in YOUR bible.

2 Maccabees 12:40-45 But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had been slain. They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden. Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas warned the soldiers to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen. He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death. But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.'

Malachi was the last prophet to speak exclusively to Israel. Even 1 Maccabees 9:27 and 14:41 confirm that "prophets [had] ceased to appear among the people." Therefore 1 and 2 Maccabees could not have been inspired by God and consequently were not part of Scripture. Thus, Roman Catholicism, which attempts to justify purgatory and prayers for the dead from 2 Maccabees 12:45, is in grave error.
 
Malachi was the last prophet to speak exclusively to Israel. Even 1 Maccabees 9:27 and 14:41 confirm that "prophets [had] ceased to appear among the people." Therefore 1 and 2 Maccabees could not have been inspired by God and consequently were not part of Scripture. Thus, Roman Catholicism, which attempts to justify purgatory and prayers for the dead from 2 Maccabees 12:45, is in grave error.

Seeker, are you a practicing Christian or do you just study this stuff from an objective point of view? just curious.

it's funny cuz I used to study this stuff as a Christian and now that I look at it more objectively I find it more fascinating than I did when I was religious. weird how that is.
 
Seeker, are you a practicing Christian or do you just study this stuff from an objective point of view? just curious.


I consider myself a Born Again Christian. I was raised a Catholic until my teen years when I was enlightened to what Christianity really is.

(I await the sticks and stones form various quarters of Solo for the pronunciation of my belief and faith...."nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."2 Timothy 1:12)
 
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church is for schmucks why go in the first place
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