Unity in the Body of Christ

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Timmy

So, Jesus asked for unity (John 17; note especially v. 20 -- He's praying for you), it is in accordance with God's will, and it won't happen. Will you be removing 1 John 5:14-15 from your Bible?

wasn't planning on removing any verses from 1 John 5 from my Bible.

God's will does not always get done.
God limits Himself by several things. One of them is our free will. God wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2: 4; Peter 3:9) but not everyone will.

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Sam

wasn't planning on removing any verses from 1 John 5 from my Bible.

God's will does not always get done.
God limits Himself by several things. One of them is our free will. God wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2: 4; Peter 3:9) but not everyone will.

But you don't believe the promise in 1 John 5:14-15 will be kept. Why not remove that passage?

14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Timmy

But you don't believe the promise in 1 John 5:14-15 will be kept. Why not remove that passage?

14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

I know everyone here is just aghast at my audacity in suggesting that there maybe should be some changes to the canon. It's probably a sin. But when the canon was under development, the exact same thing happened over and over. Candidate gospels were thrown out. Another apocalypse book besides The Revelation of John (at least one I know of) was rejected. Even some writings of Paul were left out. Ever heard of 3rd Corinthians?

Anyway, if God has in fact closed the door to the canon (and you must have some way of knowing that), you're fine. Go with what you have.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Timmy

But you don't believe the promise in 1 John 5:14-15 will be kept. Why not remove that passage?

14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

When we pray,
"Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done...."
as Jesus instructed us
we know that God hears us because we are asking according to His will.
And we are personally receiving the answer because if we really mean what we are praying i.e. we are praying, not parroting, we yield ourselves to the Lord. We are voluntarily submitting to God's rule or reign (His kingdom or kingship) and the prayer is being answered. As far as other folks, we can pray this prayer for them --that they will respond to the call of God by yielding themselves to Him--but He will not force Himself on them. This is what I was trying to say when I said that God limits Himself by our free will.

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Sam

When we pray,
"Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done...."
as Jesus instructed us
we know that God hears us because we are asking according to His will.
And we are personally receiving the answer because if we really mean what we are praying i.e. we are praying, not parroting, we yield ourselves to the Lord. We are voluntarily submitting to God's rule or reign (His kingdom or kingship) and the prayer is being answered. As far as other folks, we can pray this prayer for them --that they will respond to the call of God by yielding themselves to Him--but He will not force Himself on them. This is what I was trying to say when I said that God limits Himself by our free will.

Soooooooo, is that promise kept or not?

[Sam]

Originally Posted by Timmy

Soooooooo, is that promise kept or not?

yes and no

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Sam

yes and no