Featured A very interesting God.

your bigotry is as thick as a concrete wall and you don't even know it. at least the others are trying to discuss this civilly, which is what I am attempting to do.
if YOU can't live up to your Christianity stay away from this forum.

 

I have nothing against preaching the gospel. I have everything against making the gospel THE cause or means of ETERNAL salvation. It is not. and yet that is what we are led to understand in most seminaries. And that is what I gather from some of the discussions, comments, threads on this board. Or at least, that if the gospel is not preached, then souls are lost and condemned to hell.
That is false.
Take a look again at the verse, and ask yourself, who is the speaker ?
It is the Creator God in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ.
What is the occasion of this conversation ?
A command is being given to spread the news, the good news, of a finished and complete salvation that has been accomplished by the Creator Himself.

This is the Creator who said His word will not return to Him void, the very Creator God who turned a proud king into a lycantrophe and gave that king reason to say that this God does what He will in the army of heaven and of earth.
If any of the above are true, and if it is His purpose to redeem men to Himself, then He MUST HAVE DONE IT ALREADY.

But what did fallen man do ?
In the course of time, the focus became the importance of preaching the gospel, doctrines were developed in the seminaries that without the preaching of the gospel nothing the God-man did would be effective.

That is the point of this whole exercise.

That is what I mean with "there are those falling between the cracks", that is why I quoted statistics on birth rates.
To see if it is reasonable to say that IF PREACHING THE GOSPEL IS WHERE ETERNAL SALVATION LIES, then all is in vain and God, for all He had done and said about Himself, failed.

And that is just not so.
God NEVER FAILS.

So, if preaching the gospel is not the cause of eternal salvation, or the means, or the vehicle, then obviously there is an importance in preaching the gospel, and the God of all wisdom made no mistake in assigning it to His apostles, disciples, and the churches.

Perhaps we could discover it, and agree, or maybe we will not, and continue to be in the dark (well, I am not in the dark).

However, certain personalities on this board seem unable to put their contemptuous bigorty in check.

 

Lol.

Is that the best you can do ?
I have a big letter Thompson Bible right now in the room.
Another big red letter Bible in the car, which I read during breaks.
With the click of a mouse I can go to crosswalk or blue letter bible online and investigate all commentaries as well as view Scriptures.
So I know what those Scriptures say.
And all you guys can throw at me is an accusation of being hyper-Calvinist and/or of ignoring the Scripture.
You all like to go on and on about how this or that idol author of yours so do an excellent exposition of this or that verse.
And, YOU, Evan, like to go on and on about your scholarly search for more knowledge and wisdom, BUT, you do not see the reason for my statements and questions.
So, here I will put it in bold print, and give you all a clue, and speaking of clues, they're scattered all over the place even an atheist might see them.

HOW COULD THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE ISSUE A COMMAND TO HIS DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES WHICH HE KNOWS IS HUMANLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DO SUCH AS PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE ?

Clue: the verse you quoted, specifically, verse 16.

Clue to the clue: obviously, to be "saved" in the context of which the Lord speaks is not the same as to be "saved" by the act which He JUST DID FOR SINNERS ALREADY! (like I said, even an atheist will see this).

Unless He is saying that the very act from which He just rose from the dead, was incomplete and cannot be done unless the gospel is preached. Now, is this what you and yours on here are saying ?

So, take off your bigotry glasses and give an intelligent, well-thought of answer instead of looking at the color of my extra-dark HYPER-CALVINIST SKIN, and, "..said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" (do you know who said this in which Scripture ?).:laugh:

 

gosh, man.
I really can't believe this.
These guys make me think of Roman Catholic priests who spend more than 10 years in seminary reading every philosophy and logic book their library and curriculum offers PLUS the Bible and still couldn't get over their works-based quid por quo theology.
you know, there was an open board I used to go to where even atheists contribute to the discussion.
they were talking once about the call to repentance, and I was at that point in time torn between my old soteriology and the doctrine of grace and one atheist mocked us believers by calling us all stupid like the God we propose to worship.
Reason ?
How can we find the gall to go and tell him, an atheist, to repent, when the very Bible we hold forward say that non-believers are DEAD in sin and trespasses and then he pointed to Ephesians 2.
Like I said, If there were an atheist on this board right now reading this thread he probably would've spotted the clues all over.

 

Thank you, brother.
I will proceed with this publically, and if there are things you'd rather discuss by pm, don't hesitate to do so.
I would welcome those who could contribute AS CHRISTIANS.
Otherwise, if they can't they can stay away and I don't care if it's just you and I.
But right now, the wife and I gotta go somewhere.
Catch you later.