You believe you are mocking me, but you are not, I am only telling you what God has said.
If the first piece {of dough} is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.
You’re right about mocking, and I probably shouldn’t, but I believe you’re mocking God-although not intentionally. Paul did so unknowingly, too, before the road to Damascus, with much sincerity and zeal defending the true faith as he believed it to be.
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Gal 6:7-10
I’m sure you’re efforts are intended to please the Spirit, but what’s of importance here is that the harvest to be reaped by persevering in doing good
is eternal life.
If a person read much of this thread objectively, they should not be able to escape the fact that scripture is indeed ambiguous, even though the speakers and writers were not intentionally so. And to say that scripture’s not ambiguous for *you *is only to say what many others who disagree with you likewise say. The only thing left then is to say that, ‘so long as they agree with
me, they have the Spirit of God’, and this idea may fly for some-and did for me for a time, though I never thought of it quite that way-but it can never do so again. Once one sees through the fallacy of Sola Scriptura, it’s all over-no doctrine based solely on it can ever again be taken seriously. Ones grasp of the faith becomes exposed for what it is- a dubious understanding, derived from an ambiguous source- which can easily tend toward producing spiritual pride and exclusivism.
So hopefully you won’t deceive too many with the same winds of doctrine you’ve been deceived with-and I once was as well-if you’re blest enough to end up extricated from your horse.
Paul and the writer of Hebrews here exhort* believers *to take care lest they lose eternal life:
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6:9-10
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Heb 12:14
Why would we need to make any effort to be holy if faith alone/imputed righteousness does the job?
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Do you really think Paul means “except in the case of imputed righteousness gained by faith”? Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said we can’t even have impurity in our
hearts.
**Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1Cor 9:24-27**
Pauls’ preaching here concerns attaining eternal life.
**For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Rom 2:13
God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. Rom 2:6**
Justin Martyr
“We have learned from the prophets and we hold it as true that punishments and chastisements and good rewards are distributed according to the merit of each man’s actions. Were this not the case, and were all things to happen according to the decree of fate, there would be nothing at all in our power. If fate decrees that this man is to be good and that one wicked, then neither is the former to be praised nor the latter to be blamed”
Justin Martyr speaks of righteousness attained by our own efforts.
This is simply a principle of life-paralleled in the spiritual and the mundane worlds-to be rewarded for our efforts.
Irenaeus
“[Paul], an able wrestler, urges us on in the struggle for immortality, so that we may receive a crown and so that we may regard as a precious crown that which we acquire by our own struggle and which does not grow upon us spontaneously. . . . Those things which come to us spontaneously are not loved as much as those which are obtained by anxious care” (Against Heresies 4:37:7 [196]).
Iraneaus also speaks of the way God in His wisdom-for mans best- has set things up, in this case the obtaining of immortality/eternal life.
