Quote:
Originally Posted by OneAccord
Good morning! Two things about this thread:
Its true... "without holiness no man shall see God". What is equally true is that "without God, no man (or women) shall see holiness." Jesus said Jhn 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Without Him, our efforts to achieve holiness will fail flat. In fact, without Him we can not become holy. Holiness isn't about keeping standards and ordinances any more than it is about keeping the Law, its about having God in our lives. Jhn 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: Holiness is achieved when we recieve Him and follow His teachings and allow His Spirit to lead us in the ways of the Lord.
Secondly, I am so glad we have an Annointed King to lead us! He isn't a mere king- but He is the King of Kings! It is by Him dwellng within our hearts we are led in the paths of righteousness. Am I there yet? Not by a long shot... but, without Him, any holiness or righteousness I think I have is nothing more than filthy rags. Thank God, He is the Good Shepherd in whom there is no varibleness nor shadow of turning. He promised to never leave us nor forsake us.
Hbr 12:14 Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Paul teaches two things in this verse:
1) Hbr 12:14 Follow peace with all [men]... without which no man shall see the Lord:
and
2) Hbr 12:14 Follow .... holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
In our quest to follow after holiness, we can't ignore the fact that we are to "follow peace with all men". Since "peace" and "holiness" are enjoined here, doesn't our failures at peace among ourselves say something about our lack of TRUE holiness? Wouldn't the constant debating, arguing, and bickering, be indicators that we aren't as holy as we think we are? |
Very good post.
I wonder what the reaction was of those who did NOT depart from the faith towards those who DID depart from the faith?
I wonder what they did when even among themselves some rose up speaking perverse (distort, misinterpret, corrupt) things to "draw away" disciples after them? Interesting how they wait for strong leadership to be gone or become ineffectual, when this happens; otherwise, strong leadership would not put up with it.
I wonder what they did when some crept in unawares showing an example of turning the grace of God into lasciviousness? How could one creep in unawares? By looking and playing the part on the outside.
I wonder how they responded when false teachers among them tried to bring in damnable heresies (properly a choice, that is, (specifically) a party or (abstractly) disunion. : - heresy, sect.); speaking evil of the way of truth thereby causing many to follow their pernicious ways; who through "coveteousness" and feigned (hypocrisy) words tried to make merchandise of them. They don't care about the people, they just have a desire that starts on the inside to get or to have those things that they don't or can't have right now. They want some things that at one time they didn't have, but they wanted them. They already departed from the faith and became hypocrites, but they use coveteousness, feigned words, and speak evil of the way of truth to try and get those who have NOT departed from the faith to follow their ways. They use people as merchandise to try and justify themselves.
They wait for strong leadership to go away and are not afraid to speak evil of the way of truth and are not afraid to speak evil of dignities because they despise government (mastery, that is, (concretely and collectively) rulers: - dominion, government. ). They don't want to be lead, they don't want to have anyone rule over them, they want to do their own thing. They are self-willed and want to do that which is right in their own eyes. They are presumptuous (From G5111; a daring (audacious) man: - presumptuous.). They have no problem risking their spiritual walk going in a new direction against the ways that they have been taught. They beguile unstable souls after them, because those who are stable appreciate and treasure their stability; they are not willing to risk what they have already achieved on a dare. They allure/seduce through the lusts of their flesh through much lasciviousness those that were clean escaped by their great words of vanity. They promise liberty/freedom, but they themselves are servants of corruption. They were seduced by seducing spirits and of whom a man is brought into bondage of the same is he brought into bondage. Because they were overcome by seducing spirits, they are used to allure/sedue them that were clean escaped.
So I wonder what the reaction was of those who did NOT depart from the faith towards those who DID depart from the faith?