So, what you are saying, is that we agree that Isaiah 53, written 700 years before Jesus came, predicted that one would come to die as a substitute for sinners. What we disagree about is that Jesus is the One who fulfills the passage, because even though He was crucified and said He was the fulfillment of the Scriptures, you believe that He only self-fulfilled them. Am I understanding you correctly? But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:5,6
You are preaching to the (previously) converted. I've heard a million sermons, after a while the repetitiveness of the brainwashing gets very tiresome.
I think Jesus said let he who is without sin cast the first stone. The church should never condone immoral behavior. But it shouldn’t ostracize anyone. Obviously if someone is in unrepentant sin, that person shouldn’t be up teaching/ preaching. Hate the sin, love the person. The natural man doesn’t know any better. People are people, everyone is at a different point in their spiritual walk. The process is called sanctification, it starts when a person accepts Christ, the Holy Spirit starts to work molding us into a Christlike example. We’ll never reach perfection in this world and some are a lot farther away than others. Good news, with God all things are possible. Mankind not so much.
You wouldn't be stating the obvious now would you? Perfection? Don't even try. Not sure why the church is obsessed with 'perfection', you don't even hear that word in industry - with manufacturing. Perfection goals always result in failure. Anyhow, how is trading coming along with the help of prayer?
Yup, that dastardly nasty tricky Satan made me lose money today. I'm actually a TopTrader, as Padu would say a "Tradergod", never mind all my years of losses, I'm a gun trader in the future because God will reward me in the future according to His promises. The devil made me lose money, God will restore it sometime later, in the distant future, errr, maybe never. Anyhow who cares, I'm off the heaven, my last words will be, " Oh Jesus I repent", then voila, pearly gates here I come. Fukkin good insurance policy, no down payment, can live a life of debauchery, just whisper those magic words on exit.
"Then they will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done." Micah 3:4 Some people have the mistaken notion that simply praying the sinners prayer will get them into heaven. This is a twist on a simple truth: God will hear the prayer of the repentant one who turns from their rebellion against Him and cries out to God in genuine embracing of Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This is deeper than merely signing up to be a Christian. It involves understanding what Jesus did on the cross, believing that He is God, that He has the right, as their Creator, to rule over them and that He suffered tremendously on the cross in their place. To become born again we must see our helplessness and rely on His righteousness to be applied to us. Although one might not understand the ramifications at the time, as one grows in their faith and begins to appreciate the suffering God underwent in order to save us who are pretty rotten at the core, one begins to realize that we are infinitely indebted to God for His salvation. That is something that seems repulsive to someone who has not known the joy of God's friendship and kindness toward us. It is doubtful that at the moment of death you would suddenly have a sincere surrendering to God's authority and submitting to Jesus' work on your behalf, if you are resisting it now. However, it does happen. Both my grandfathers were saved on their deathbeds, after having rejected the gospel for many years. One died a few days later. The other one made a turn around and lived several more years. Deathbed conversions do happen. I wouldn't want to risk where I spend my eternity on repenting at the last moment. What if you died unexpectedly? God is willing to forgive very wicked people, but the conditions are genuine repentance and faith in Jesus. Manasseh was a wicked king of Israel. He was captured by an enemy and held in prison. He repented and God had him restored to his kingdom. In Manasseh's time the faith was in God's future provision for sin, as taught throughout the Scriptures (beginning in Genesis) and demonstrated by the animal sacrifices. Today saving faith in God looks back to Jesus on the cross and His resurrection with the understanding that Jesus was the One the animal sacrifices pointed to. 9...Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. 10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. 11 So the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. 12 In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. 13 And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God. 2 Chronicles 33:9-13 Edit: Job was likely written before Genesis and Job also testifies to God being his Redeemer when he said: But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25
Does anyone of the religous fraternity here have proof, like verified proof. A documented track record, like what would be demanded of a trader who makes claims of superiority and success. Not wanted are excuses, conjecture, faith, promises, theory, wishful thinking, coincidence, beliefs, hope, grasping at straws, brainwashing group think, "because the bible says" nonsense etc?
For me one thing is clear: the person who invented God has more fans than the one who invented bitcoin (till today). I wonder who from the two made the most money out of their scam. Difficult to say... The religion scam is running already much longer... Let's see if bitcoin can break that record.
Of course praying cannot help win in the markets. If I pray for profits and get them, its only at the expense of other market participants who are now losing. This harms them and their families. I can't pray for someone else to be harmed for my personal benefit. In fact, I wonder if praying for personal benefit even if this would cause no harm to anyone else is at all within the confines of true belief....
Praying for short term benefit above another is a worse transgression than condemning someone to damnation for the rest of eternity?