Speakingoffaith said... "No body is arguing over what the bible says but what the bible means" The problem with the sola scriptura argument is that the early church never believed it! Someone has to interpret the Bible and before you had the bible you had tradition that summed up the Christian faith. You also, throughout history, had tradition interpreting the Scripture, not the other way around. Do a history lesson and you will see! Jarslov Pelikan says 'the only alternative to tradition is bad tradition' and I would agree. No body is arguing that the Scripture is to have centrality to the Christian faith but to pretend that it can be it's own interpreter, apart from any sort of tradition, is simply nonsense. I'm sure we don't agree here though."
Hi Speakingoffaith, since we are not arguing over what the Bible "says", then here’s the bottom line, "Do you think that you are a good person?" "Do you think that you have kept the 10 Commandments?"
Here is a quick test to see how you do: Have you loved God above all else? That's the requirement of the First Commandment. Or have you broken the Second by making a god in your mind that you're comfortable with, a god to suit yourself—something the Bible calls "idolatry"? Have you ever used God's name in vain? Have you always honored your parents implicitly, and kept the Sabbath holy? Have you hated someone? The Bible says, "whoever hates his brother is a murderer." The Seventh is "You shall not commit adultery," but Jesus said, "Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart" (the Seventh Commandment includes sex before marriage). Have you ever looked with lust or had sex outside of marriage? Have you ever stolen or lied? On Judgment Day, will you be found to be innocent or guilty? Heaven or Hell? The Bible warns that all liars, thieves, fornicators, and adulterers will end up in Hell.
But God Himself made a way for you to be forgiven. Jesus suffered and died on the cross to satisfy the Moral Law — "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Then He rose from the dead, defeating death. That means that God can forgive you and grant you the gift of everlasting life. This is why you need a Savior--“All liars will have their part in the lake of fire” (Rev 21:8). Adulterers, thieves and fornicators (those who have sex out of marriage) will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Eph 5:5). The wrath of God came upon the Savior so that it wouldn’t have to come upon you. If you refuse God’s offer of mercy, He will give you justice, and that is a fearful thing.
I looked into the mirror of the 10 Commandments many years ago and I saw myself in true light. The Law of God had done its accusing work. I was utterly guilty and my eyes were opened! I knew that I was a wretch and that I needed a Savior. That's when I repented and clung to Christ. I have never let go, by God's grace. If you never have, please repent and trust in Jesus today--before death seizes on you. Humble yourself and seek the truth. Thank you for reading this and for taking the time to comment.
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Hi Trish!
I finally got around to listening to the January 24th Way of the Master (thank the Lord for technology like the Zune that allows me to store it there and take it where I go!).
Awesome job to you, Todd, and Ray.
I know that this is an older post, but I just wanted to comment on something (I hope that it encourages you).
When I was in middle school (probably 6th or 7th grade) I asked my mother for a Bible for Christmas. She got me one. Now, I had gone to church practically every Sunday for my entire life, but I did not know what it meant to be a Christian. I knew very little (if anything) about Christianity or the Bible. I do believe that my mother was a Christian, but that simply put, she just didn't know how to share her faith. She had never been taught. Anyway, I began to read parts of the Old Testament...I remember reading parts of the Law...of the rules and regulations, and was started (and scared) to quickly learn that I should be stoned at least 6 times over for things that I had done. I quickly shut the Bible, and stopped reading it.
See, the Law spoke to me. It showed me that I wasn't a good person. It showed me my sin. It showed me how I had fallen short of the glory of God. I didn't need someone to "interpret" it. It was plain for me to see. It left me paniced and terror-stricken to be honest.
Now, the only problem with this is that no one shared with me the hope that I can have in Jesus. I had read the "bad news," if you will, but had NO CLUE of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Somehow I simply thought that Christians were good people and so they went to heaven. I know that I was a bad person (the Law easily showed me that) so I thought that I was doomed to hell.
My parents both passed away while I was in high school, so I lived with a friend of mine's family my last two years of high school. I can remember talking with my friend's mom one day. I asked her if she thought I was going to go to hell. She replied "yes," and that was the end of our conversation. Now, she was a professing Christian, but didn't bother to share the Good News of Jesus with me. Why? I do not know. I was heart-broken at that moment. I thought that I was doomed for hell, b/c I thought that my sin was simply who I was, and that there was NOTHING that I could do about it. I didn't understand whY Jesus came.
My freshman year in college though, I became a Christian. God had been softening my heart from the summer before, and I began to go back to church b/c I WANTED to. I met with a minister at the church, and he explained the Gospel to me, and what I needed to do to become a Christian. I've now been serving God for just over 6 years.
Had I not known the Law, I wouldn't have realized that I was a sinner...I wouldn't have realized that I needed a Savior. I'm sure that there are even some genuine Christians who don't like the use of the Law in evangelism...they think that it's "mean" or "rude." All I know is though, that the Good News can't be that good, if the bad news isn't all that bad.
Thanks for doing what you do :-)
Thank you Rhea for sharing!
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