Assurance of Salvation

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Tiffany:
Just as Paul said in the ealier passage “I count not myself to have apprehended” He knows he isn’t perfect and still has his sin nature
Hmm … a Christian that has been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb has a “sin nature”, whatever that means. :confused:

Tiffany, I have no idea what you mean by “sin nature”. Could you explain to me what a “sin nature” is? Is a “sin nature” different than our human nature? Did Adam have both a human nature and a sin nature before he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil?
 
1 John 5:1-15 Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loves him that begat loves him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not burdensome. For whoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he has testified of his Son. He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself: he that believes not God has made him a liar; because he believes not the witness that God gave of his Son. And this is the witness, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we desired of him.

Romans 8:1-4 There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
 
UniChristian, I’m not at all sure we should be having this discussion on this thread. Perhaps there is a more appropriate thread? But I don’t want to leave your questions unanswered.
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uniChristian:
Katholikos: you said “Sharpen your pencil and get busy with your research. Protestants, starting with Martin Luther, excluded the so-called Apocrypha from the Bible”. I would suggest you do the same. I don’t like the game of ones up man ship but I think there is sufficient historical evidence to re affirm what I have written.
Present it, please.
I think it only fair to lay down certain criteria if I am to debate you on the authenticity issue of the apocrypha.
Okay. Whatever. 🙂
I don’t really know what you are arguing although you seem to think Martin Luther changed the canon of the Old Testament.
Historical fact: The Catholic Church set the OT and NT canon for her own members (at the time, that was all Christians) in 382, 393, 397, and 405 (naming the very same writings as “Scripture” at each council [Rome, Hippo, Carthage], affirmed by Pope Innocent I). The Church’s canon has remained unchanged down through the centuries. Martin Luther, however, as a Protestant, removed eleven (11) books from his German translation of the Bible (1522-1534) – four (4) from the NT and seven (7) plus parts of Esther and Daniel from the OT --because, he said, he considered these writings “inferior.” He placed all eleven of them in a separate appendix at the back of his Bible with the pages unnumbered so that no one could mistake them for approved scriptures. Other Lutherans – not Martin – later restored the four NT books (Hebrews, James, Jude, Revelation) to their rightful place among the Scriptures.

The original KJV used Luther’s strategy – the so-called Apocrypha were placed in a separate appendix at the back, apart from the other “true” Scriptures. Later KJV editions deleted them altogether. Protestants followed Luther’s reasoning that these books did not belong in the Bible. Protestant Bibles to this day contain the 27 NT writings, but 7 books and parts of Esther and Daniel from the OT of the orginal Bible are still missing from their Scriptures.
Lets not argue semantics, the term’s apocrypha and deuterocanonical (second canon) are synonymous.
The real Apocrypha are the non-canonical writings associated with the OT and NT. Deuterocanonical is a term that came into use in the 16th century; it differentiates the books that Protestants wrongly called “Apocrypha” and Catholics rightly call “Scripture.”

Some OT and NT writings were accepted early on by all the local Churches; others took longer to gain general acceptance. Deuterocanonical refers to the latter group of writings. There is no actual “second canon” – all these writings were canonized at the same time, without any distinction whatsoever among them.

The deuterocanon of the OT includes Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and parts of Esther and Daniel. The deuterocanon of the NT includes Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Revelation, and Mark 16:9-20.

Continued
 
UniChristian, I’m not at all sure we should be having this discussion on this thread. Perhaps there is a more appropriate thread? But I don’t want to leave your questions unanswered.
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uniChristian:
Katholikos: you said “Sharpen your pencil and get busy with your research. Protestants, starting with Martin Luther, excluded the so-called Apocrypha from the Bible”. I would suggest you do the same. I don’t like the game of ones up man ship but I think there is sufficient historical evidence to re affirm what I have written.
Present it, please.
I think it only fair to lay down certain criteria if I am to debate you on the authenticity issue of the apocrypha.
Okay. Whatever. 🙂
I don’t really know what you are arguing although you seem to think Martin Luther changed the canon of the Old Testament.
Historical fact: The Catholic Church set the OT and NT canon for her own members (at the time, that was all Christians) in 382, 393, 397, and 405 (naming the very same writings as “Scripture” at each council [Rome, Hippo, Carthage], affirmed by Pope Innocent I). The Church’s canon has remained unchanged down through the centuries. Martin Luther, however, as a Protestant, removed eleven (11) books from his German translation of the Bible (1522-1534) – four (4) from the NT and seven (7) plus parts of Esther and Daniel from the OT --because, he said, he considered these writings “inferior.” He placed all eleven of them in a separate appendix at the back of his Bible with the pages unnumbered so that no one could mistake them for approved scriptures. He also wrote prefaces for these writings explaining his reasons for rejecting them from the canon. Other Lutherans – not Martin – later restored the four NT books (Hebrews, James, Jude, Revelation) to their rightful place among the Scriptures.

The original KJV used Luther’s strategy – the so-called Apocrypha were placed in a separate appendix at the back, apart from the other “true” Scriptures. Later KJV editions deleted them altogether. Protestants followed Luther’s reasoning that these books did not belong in the Bible. Protestant Bibles to this day contain the 27 NT writings, but 7 books and parts of Esther and Daniel from the OT of the orginal Bible are still missing from their Scriptures.
Lets not argue semantics, the term’s apocrypha and deuterocanonical (second canon) are synonymous.
The real Apocrypha are the non-canonical writings associated with the OT and NT. Deuterocanonical is a term that came into use in the 16th century; it differentiates the books that Protestants wrongly called “Apocrypha” and Catholics rightly call “Scripture.”

Some OT and NT writings were accepted early on by all the local Churches; others took longer to gain general acceptance. Deuterocanonical refers to the latter group of writings. There is no actual “second canon” – all these writings were canonized at the same time, without any distinction whatsoever among them.

The deuterocanon of the OT includes Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and parts of Esther and Daniel. The deuterocanon of the NT includes Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Revelation, and Mark 16:9-20.

Continued
 
Part 2
We must agree that neither the Roman Catholic Church nor the Reformers had the authority to canonize the Jewish Old Testament.
The Catholic Church canonized the OT Scriptures she inherited from Jesus and the Apostles for Christians. She speaks for Christ (Luke 10:16) and acts solely on His authority. She does not presume to tell Jews what their canon of scriptures should be.
What does it say to you when not a single apocryphal book claims to have been inspired by God?
It’s irrelevant. Tell me where any book of Scripture makes that claim. If that’s important to you, look to the Koran, which does make that claim, not to the Bible, which does not. It is the Catholic Church that says the books in her Bible are inspired by God, not the books themselves.
If the apocryphal books are inspired, why weren’t the writers of these books confirmed by divine miracles like the Old and New Testament writers?
Please tell me what divine miracles confirm each OT and NT writer? Who knows who wrote Genesis, Exodus, and many of the other OT and NT books. The Gospels and many of the NT letters are anonymous. You either take the Catholic Church’s word for who wrote them, or you figure it out for yourself using your best psychic powers. Then, after you’re sure who the authors are, tell me the divine miracle that confirms each of them.
If these apocryphal books are inspired, why didn’t they contain predictive prophecy like the Old and New Testament books?
Let’s see now. Hmmmm. What predictive prophecy do Numbers and Philemon contain? Refresh my memory.
What does it suggest to you that the writers of the New Testament quoted from the Old Testament but never from the apocrypha?
It suggests that you haven’t researched these questions before asking them. All of the books of the Hebrew Canon are quoted expressly in the NT except Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Obadiah, and Nahum.

Continued
 
Part 3
If the Jewish Torah was canonized in 90C.E, how could Martin Luther have made a change in their canon some 1400 years later?
Luther subtracted seven books and parts of Esther and Daniel from the Christian Bible, not the Torah. (BTW, the Torah in Judaism means the Pentateuch – the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Christians sometimes use “Torah” to mean the entire OT. The word Torah means Law.)
What does it say to you that many of the early fathers were convinced the apocrypha is not inspired by God? Notably Origin, Jerome, Athanasius, and Cyril of Jerusalem were some who opposed the apocrypha.
They were free to express their opinion, but they are not the Church. The Church is guided by the Holy Spirit in matters of faith and morals; individually, the Church Fathers are not. Origin and Athanasius were both dead by the time the canon was decided. St. Cyril died in 386, four years after the decree on the canon was issued at Rome. Jerome’s Vulgate translation, produced at the request of Pope Damusis I who presided over the Council of Rome, published in 405, contains all of the writings canonized at the Roman council. The Vulgate is still the official Bible of the Catholic Church. After the the decision was made, it was a closed issue. Roma locuta est, causa finita est. Rome has spoken, the case is closed.
**
St. Jerome was partial to the Hebrew canon, but he was an obedient son of the Church. He wrote to Pope Damasus, “I follow no leader but Christ and join in communion with none but Your Blessedness, that is, with the chair of Peter. I know that this is the rock on which the Church has been built. Whoever eats the Lamb outside this house [the Church] is profane. Anyone who is not in the Ark of Noah [the Church] will perish when the flood prevails . . .”
These are but a few questions I will pose, I know you will indulge me some of your own. Know this, I mean no threat to the Roman Catholic Church and I hope you take none.
Do you mean am I offended by your questions? Not at all. Thank you for the opportunity to answer them. Peace be with you,

JMJ Jay
 
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Matt16_18:
Hmm … a Christian that has been washed clean in the blood of the Lamb has a “sin nature”, whatever that means. :confused:

Tiffany, I have no idea what you mean by “sin nature”. Could you explain to me what a “sin nature” is? Is a “sin nature” different than our human nature? Did Adam have both a human nature and a sin nature before he ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil?
A sin nature is the same thing as a human nature. It’s just another way of saying it and no he didn’t have a sin nature b4 eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
 
Matt16_18 said:
Tiffany

Jesus explicitly commands us to be perfect. Are you saying that Paul teaches that is impossible to be perfect? Does Paul contradict Jesus?

You are right, Jesus does command us to be perfect or in other words like him. However, that doesn’t mean that we are or that we always try to be. Paul stated that he “does that which he hates”…and said “O wretched man that I am.” Paul is saying that he Isn’t perfect, he’s not saying that it is impossible. I don’t see how you could get from that, that Paul is contradicting Jesus.
My point was that if Paul an apostle of Christ considers himself a wretched man than I have little hope of becoming perfect. However, like Paul I still strive to be more like Christ for the glory of his name.

I hope this helps,
Tiff 🙂
 
Pendoko,

You wrote: “And it is God’s plan that all humans should go to Heaven by JUST BELIEVING Him. !”

Then why does Jesus separate the nations, the “sheep from the goats” (Matt 25:31-46), by their actions (feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming strangers, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, visiting prisoners) and not only by their faith? Why does Jesus say (Luke 6: 46-47), “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’, and not DO what I tell you? Every one who comes to me and hears my words AND DOES them, I will show you what he is like…” (emphasis mine). Also, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we are not told a thing about the rich man’s faith or lack of it—we are told that he did nothing about poor Lazarus starving at his door. We are given the example of someone who didn’t do what he should have done—real, physical acts of mercy—not the example of someone who did or did not believe. Faith without works is dead. And it’s not either/or.

Also, Pendoko, you haven’t answered my question about my friend’s ex-husband. I’ll ask again: my friend’s ex was not Catholic. He believed, like you, in “once saved, always saved”. He believed that one could have absolute assurance of salvation (meaning, beyond the “moral assurance” that Catholics, Orthodox, and most Protestants believe in), and that he had it. He was saved, for sure. However, it is clear that he has since walked away from his faith (no one took him from it, he left it by his own choice). So, was he not wrong when he believed that he was a child of God (as per your definition)? Obviously, then, a person might think that they are, but be mistaken. How can you know for sure? He was sure at one time in his life, but he was wrong. How do you account for that?
 
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Tiffany:
A sin nature is the same thing as a human nature. It’s just another way of saying it and no he didn’t have a sin nature b4 eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
If Adam didn’t have a “sin nature” before he was disobedient to God, how was he capable of sinning?

Did God predestine Adam to commit sin, or did the fact that Adam had a human nature allow him to make a free choice to commit sin his sin of disobedience?
 
redeemed1 said:
1 John 5:1-15 Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone that loves him that begat loves him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not burdensome. For whoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes the world, but he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he has testified of his Son. He that believes on the Son of God has the witness in himself: he that believes not God has made him a liar; because he believes not the witness that God gave of his Son. And this is the witness, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we desired of him.

Romans 8:1-4 There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Hi redeemed1! 👋

Just for future reference, it’s helpful to other posters if you include, with your scripture passages, an explanation of the point you are trying to make with them.

We all read scripture, yet you probably understand it differently, so simply quoting scripture doesn’t tell us the point you’re trying to make with it.

Thanks!!!

In Christ,
Nancy 🙂
 
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Matt16_18:
If Adam didn’t have a “sin nature” before he was disobedient to God, how was he capable of sinning?

Did God predestine Adam to commit sin, or did the fact that Adam had a human nature allow him to make a free choice to commit sin his sin of disobedience?
Adam didn’t have a sin nature b4 he was disobedient to God and he was not predestined by God to sin, God new that it was going to happen but he didn’t make him.
God gave Adam and Eve free will to choose to eat of the fruit or not to. A sin nature is a willingness of the flesh to sin, however they did not even know what sin was and had no knowledge of it.
What was the tree that they ate from…The knowledge of good and evil. They had no concept of evil, no concept of sin. The knowledge of sin is something they gained by eating of the fruit along with death and many other things.

B4 they ate the fruit they would live forever but once they did one of the punishments was death, Moses said:
“In the sweat of their face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen 3:19

Paul said:

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Romans 5:12

this says by one man sin entered into the world and because of this sin death. This is clear that there was no sin in the world b4 they ate the fruit off of the forbidden tree because death was a punishment for doing so.

I hope that came out clear,
Tiff
 
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Tiffany:
I hope that came out clear,
Tiff
That came out clear enough, and I don’t disagree with what you have posted. You are saying that Adam had human nature before the Fall, and that because Adam had free will, he was capable of being disobedient to God.

A Christian also has a human nature and free will. Therefore, a Christian is also capable of being disobedient to God. The problem with Baptist OSAS is that it falsely teaches that a “saved man” can become a backslider and commit any sin that he feels like committing with a guarantee that he will go to Heaven. This is just plain wrong, and there is nothing in scriptures that teaches that Christians are guaranteed a place in Heaven if they die as unrepentant sinners. There is nothing in scriptures that teaches that a boy that got “saved” when he was eight years old is guaranteed a place in heaven if he later becomes a backslid adult that died unrepentant of Satan worshipping, unrepentant of child molesting, unrepentant of murder, unrepentant of apostacy, etc. etc.
A sin nature is a willingness of the flesh to sin
What you are describing is the damage to our human nature as a consequence of original sin. What you are calling “sin nature” is what the Catholic Church calls “concupiscence”.CONCUPISCENCE. Insubordination of man’s desires to the dictates of reason, and the propensity of human nature to sin as a result of original sin. More commonly, it refers to the spontaneous movement of the sensitive appetites toward whatever the imagination portrays as pleasant and away from whatever it portrays as painful. However, concupiscence also includes the unruly desires of the will, such as pride, ambition, and envy. (Etym. Latin con-, thoroughly + cupere, to desire: concupiscentia, desire, greed, cupidity.)

CONCUPISCENCE OF THE EYES. Unwholesome curiosity and an inordinate love of this world’s goods. The first consists in an unreasonable desire to see, hear, and know what is harmful to one’s virtue, inconsistent with one’s state of life, or detrimental to higher duties. As an inordinate love of money, it is the desire to acquire material possessions irrespective of the means employed, or merely to satisfy one’s ambitions, or to nurture one’s pride.

CONCUPISCENCE OF THE FLESH. The inordinate love of sensual pleasure, to which fallen man is naturally prone. It is inordinate when pleasure is sought as an end in itself and apart from its divinely intended purpose: to facilitate the practice of virtue and satisfy one’s legitimate desires.

Pocket Catholic Dictionary - John A. Hardon, S.J.
 
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Katholikos:
Part 3

Luther subtracted seven books and parts of Esther and Daniel from the Christian Bible, not the Torah. (BTW, the Torah in Judaism means the Pentateuch – the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Christians sometimes use “Torah” to mean the entire OT. The word Torah means Law.)

They were free to express their opinion, but they are not the Church. The Church is guided by the Holy Spirit in matters of faith and morals; individually, the Church Fathers are not. Origin and Athanasius were both dead by the time the canon was decided. St. Cyril died in 386, four years after the decree on the canon was issued at Rome. Jerome’s Vulgate translation, produced at the request of Pope Damusis I who presided over the Council of Rome, published in 405, contains all of the writings canonized at the Roman council. The Vulgate is still the official Bible of the Catholic Church. After the the decision was made, it was a closed issue. Roma locuta est, causa finita est. Rome has spoken, the case is closed.

St. Jerome was partial to the Hebrew canon, but he was an obedient son of the Church. He wrote to Pope Damasus, “I follow no leader but Christ and join in communion with none but Your Blessedness, that is, with the chair of Peter. I know that this is the rock on which the Church has been built. Whoever eats the Lamb outside this house [the Church] is profane. Anyone who is not in the Ark of Noah [the Church] will perish when the flood prevails . . .”

Do you mean am I offended by your questions? Not at all. Thank you for the opportunity to answer them. Peace be with you,

JMJ Jay
Would you mind if I started a new thread on this topic?
 
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Katholikos:
Historical fact: The Catholic Church set the OT and NT canon for her own members (at the time, that was all Christians) in 382, 393, 397, and 405 (naming the very same writings as “Scripture” at each council [Rome, Hippo, Carthage], affirmed by Pope Innocent I). The Church’s canon has remained unchanged down through the centuries. Katolikos: I am sure you are aware my questions were rhetorical. I would like to comment on your perception of the early Christian church in Rome. You stated “Historical fact: The Catholic Church set the OT and NT canon for her own members (at the time, that was all Christians) in 382, 393, 397, and 405 (naming the very same writings as “Scripture” at each council [Rome, Hippo, Carthage], affirmed by Pope Innocent I)”. It seems you and I disagree on the issue of Catholics being the only Christians in Rome. I think with very little effort you will find there was a Christian Church in Rome prior to the Roman Catholic Church. Early in the second century some Christian Gentiles aspired to not only distance themselves from Judeo-Christians but began to consider Judeo-Christianity as heterodoxy and their Greco-Roman Christianity as orthodoxy. To further separate themselves from other professing Christian groups, and from what they perceived as Jewish Christian sects, Greco-Roman Christians began calling themselves “catholic” meaning universal. By CE 200, according to “Elaine Pagels”, Greco-Roman Christianity. Ignatious first used the term “Katholikos” in the year 110C.E. It is easy to determine that the word “Catholic” came from this Greek word. I do not dispute the above statement that The Roman Catholic Church declared its canon on the dates given but I contest your statement in parenthesis (at the time, that was all Christians) I will put the onus of responsibility on you to prove your statement. I feel the Roman view to be bias and therefore not completely reliable. You have forgotten one of the conditions for debate, Christianity is a Jewish faith and not of Roman origin. It would be sound reasoning to assume the fist Christians to be Jews instead of Catholic would it not? Perhaps universal Jews for Jesus? God bless you, regrets for my poor English.
 
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Katholikos:
Martin Luther, however, as a Protestant, removed eleven (11) books from his German translation of the Bible (1522-1534) – four (4) from the NT and seven (7) plus parts of Esther and Daniel from the OT --because, he said, he considered these writings “inferior.” He placed all eleven of them in a separate appendix at the back of his Bible with the pages unnumbered so that no one could mistake them for approved scriptures.
The sentiment you express toward Martin Luther does not offend me, as I am not protestant. I am a Judeo Christian, a Messianic believer. Luther’ philosophy of Christianity is based upon a Greco-Roman perspective of Christianity of which I do not ascribe. After all I am sure you will agree Yeshua was a Jew, was he not? Martin Luther’ strategy had little effect if any on the canon of the Church. You could still purchase a King James Bible with the Apocrypha included. Luther was just a miss-guided Roman Catholic who maintained most of the core tenants of the Roman Catholic faith in his flawed philosophy (transubstantiation). Marin Luther in his quest to reform the Catholic Church should have returned to his Judeo Christian roots that we all share. My bible still contains all of the books he attempted to edit.

Josephus rejected the apocryphal books as inspired and this reflected Jewish thought at the time of Jesus. “From Artexerxes to our own time the complete history has been written but has not been deemed worthy of equal credit with the earlier records because of the failure of the exact succession of the prophets.” … “We have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another, but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine…”(Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1:8) The usual division of the Old Testament by the Jews was a total of 24 books: The Books of Moses (51, The Early prophets 14; Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings ~, The Late Prophets (4; Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the 12 Minor Prophets), and the Hagiagrapha (11; Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon. Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles) These 24 books contain all the material in our numbering of 39.

The Manual of Discipline in the Dead Sea Scrolls rejected the apocrypha as inspired. The Council of Jamnia held the same view and rejected the apocrypha as inspired.

There are reputed to be 263 quotations and 370 allusions to the Old Testament in the New Testament and not one of them refers to the Apocrypha.

“Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther” were always included in the “history collection” of Jewish booksand “Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon” were always included in the “poetry collection”. By quoting one book from the collection, it verifies the entire collection. None of the apocryphal books were ever quoted in the New Testament. Not even once! This proves the Catholic and Orthodox apologists wrong when they try to defend the apocrypha in the Bible.

The books 3rd and 4th Maccabees and psalm151 are not canonized in the Roman rite but your Greek brothers claim them as inspired. Yeshua is Lord and Messiah, Shalom.
 
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Matt16_18:
That came out clear enough, and I don’t disagree with what you have posted. You are saying that Adam had human nature before the Fall, and that because Adam had free will, he was capable of being disobedient to God.

A Christian also has a human nature and free will. Therefore, a Christian is also capable of being disobedient to God. The problem with Baptist OSAS is that it falsely teaches that a “saved man” can become a backslider and commit any sin that he feels like committing with a guarantee that he will go to Heaven. This is just plain wrong, and there is nothing in scriptures that teaches that Christians are guaranteed a place in Heaven if they die as unrepentant sinners. There is nothing in scriptures that teaches that a boy that got “saved” when he was eight years old is guaranteed a place in heaven if he later becomes a backslid adult that died unrepentant of Satan worshipping, unrepentant of child molesting, unrepentant of murder, unrepentant of apostacy, etc. etc.

What you are describing is the damage to our human nature as a consequence of original sin. What you are calling “sin nature” is what the Catholic Church calls “concupiscence”.CONCUPISCENCE. Insubordination of man’s desires to the dictates of reason, and the propensity of human nature to sin as a result of original sin. More commonly, it refers to the spontaneous movement of the sensitive appetites toward whatever the imagination portrays as pleasant and away from whatever it portrays as painful. However, concupiscence also includes the unruly desires of the will, such as pride, ambition, and envy. (Etym. Latin con-, thoroughly + cupere, to desire: concupiscentia, desire, greed, cupidity.)

CONCUPISCENCE OF THE EYES. Unwholesome curiosity and an inordinate love of this world’s goods. The first consists in an unreasonable desire to see, hear, and know what is harmful to one’s virtue, inconsistent with one’s state of life, or detrimental to higher duties. As an inordinate love of money, it is the desire to acquire material possessions irrespective of the means employed, or merely to satisfy one’s ambitions, or to nurture one’s pride.

CONCUPISCENCE OF THE FLESH. The inordinate love of sensual pleasure, to which fallen man is naturally prone. It is inordinate when pleasure is sought as an end in itself and apart from its divinely intended purpose: to facilitate the practice of virtue and satisfy one’s legitimate desires.

Pocket Catholic Dictionary - John A. Hardon, S.J.
I put a question to you. Say someone perhaps a young boy around the age of 10 has excepted Christ as his personal savior and then say he lies (which is a sin) to his mother about maybe that he didn’t stick his tounge out at his sister when he really did and then he dies later that day in a car accident with an unrepentant heart about what he did. Are you saying than that he would go to hell?
 
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uniChristian:
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Katholikos:
Martin Luther, however, as a Protestant, removed eleven (11) books from his German translation of the Bible (1522-1534) – four (4) from the NT and seven (7) plus parts of Esther and Daniel from the OT --because, he said, he considered these writings “inferior.” He placed all eleven of them in a separate appendix at the back of his Bible with the pages unnumbered so that no one could mistake them for approved scriptures.
The sentiment you express toward Martin Luther does not offend me, as I am not protestant. I am a Judeo Christian, a Messianic believer. Luther’ philosophy of Christianity is based upon a Greco-Roman perspective of Christianity of which I do not ascribe. After all I am sure you will agree Yeshua was a Jew, was he not? Martin Luther’ strategy had little effect if any on the canon of the Church. You could still purchase a King James Bible with the Apocrypha included. Luther was just a miss-guided Roman Catholic who maintained most of the core tenants of the Roman Catholic faith in his flawed philosophy (transubstantiation). Marin Luther in his quest to reform the Catholic Church should have returned to his Judeo Christian roots that we all share. My bible still contains all of the books he attempted to edit.
Josephus rejected the apocryphal books as inspired and this reflected Jewish thought at the time of Jesus. “From Artexerxes to our own time the complete history has been written but has not been deemed worthy of equal credit with the earlier records because of the failure of the exact succession of the prophets.” … “We have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another, but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine…”(Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1:8) The usual division of the Old Testament by the Jews was a total of 24 books: The Books of Moses (51, The Early prophets 14; Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings ~, The Late Prophets (4; Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the 12 Minor Prophets), and the Hagiagrapha (11; Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon. Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles) These 24 books contain all the material in our numbering of 39.

The Manual of Discipline in the Dead Sea Scrolls rejected the apocrypha as inspired. The Council of Jamnia held the same view and rejected the apocrypha as inspired.

There are reputed to be 263 quotations and 370 allusions to the Old Testament in the New Testament and not one of them refers to the Apocrypha.

“Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther” were always included in the “history collection” of Jewish booksand “Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon” were always included in the “poetry collection”. By quoting one book from the collection, it verifies the entire collection. None of the apocryphal books were ever quoted in the New Testament. Not even once! This proves the Catholic and Orthodox apologists wrong when they try to defend the apocrypha in the Bible.

The books 3rd and 4th Maccabees and psalm151 are not canonized in the Roman rite but your Greek brothers claim them as inspired. Yeshua is Lord and Messiah, Shalom. P.S. The real bible reads from right to left and this is the one I will follow. No Johnny come lately Martin Luther will change my view.
 
Tiffany,

You wrote: " Say someone perhaps a young boy around the age of 10 has excepted Christ as his personal savior and then say he lies (which is a sin) to his mother about maybe that he didn’t stick his tounge out at his sister when he really did and then he dies later that day in a car accident with an unrepentant heart about what he did. Are you saying than that he would go to hell?"

One of the “conditions”, so to speak, of mortal sin is that it involves grave matter. A ten-year old’s lie about sticking his tongue out hardly qualifies as “grave matter”. A venial sin, yes. So the boy would not go to hell based on this lie.

I’m curious about your reaction to the Martin Luther quote about sinning that I posted a few posts ago—what do you think?
 
uniChristian, it’s obvious that you are the only authority that you’ll accept. :bowdown: salaam. You have concocted your own religion which you, of course, deem to be the absolute truth and infallible, as others have before you and will continue to do in the future. The Church founded by Christ calls this practice ‘heresy.’

The correct name is “Catholic Church,” or simply “the Church.” Roman Catholic refers to a specific Rite (or Church) within the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Byzantine, Maronite, and other Eastern, non-Latin Rite Catholics are offended to be called “Roman.”

Yes, this discussion is inappropriate on this thread. Start another one if you wish. Or, go to my thread “What Bible? Which canon?” in the apologetics forum. Answer the questions I and others have raised there. And answer the questions I just posted here.

Elaine Pagels is a Gnostic sympathizer.

You wrote: “You have forgotten one of the conditions for debate, Christianity is a Jewish faith and not of Roman origin.”

Do you mean that it’s source is not in the Roman Empire? Or that it did not originate in Rome? It originated in Jerusalem. Sts. Peter and Paul founded the Christian community in Rome, and Peter, the Chief Apostle, was the first Bishop of Rome. Christianity is an outgrowth and completion of Judaism. It is “a Jewish faith” in that it’s founder, Jesus Christ, is the Messiah, long awaited in Judaism, and was himself a Jew. It is not “a Jewish faith” in that the Mosaic law does not apply to Christians. Christ’s Apostles and many of the early Christians were Jews. This is common knowledge. What’s your point?

Anything you write yourself, of your own knowledge, needs no attribution. But when you quote from others, or cut and paste, you need to identify your source.

You wrote: “The real bible reads from right to left and this is the one I will follow.” Most of the world, then, reads a false Bible, since very few languages read from right to left. Again, salaam.:bowdown2:

Your posts are hard to read and answer. Please bold or italicize only the words or paragraphs you wish to emphasize, and don’t use giant print. Paragraphing would help. Thank you.

JMJ Jay
 
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