Who wins souls?

If marriage is a reflection of the relationship between Jesus and the church (Ephesians 5?)...and the church was/is treating Jesus poorly (topic for another thread?)...when should Jesus give up on the church?

 

One poster asked if you were praying for your wife and son and providing for them financially. Please answer this question.

You probably would have liked Old Testament Times. Very legalistic, few people caring for one another. Divorce was up to the man to decide. The wife could not oppose him. Women were like slaves back then. They had to do whatever the man wanted. It was all husband-centered, not wife-centered. Isn't that what you're saying it should be like?

Are you going to support this view, by pulling New Testament scriptures out of context, saying that the wife should submit to her husband, and not that is a mutual submission, one to the other?

Reconciliation can be very difficult. Buried resentments come to the surface. But forgiveness is essential. God can soften both of your hearts. But it begins with one partner seeking out God for His love and wisdom.

 

says the person who just bought a $500 toy.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

I don't think I stated this very clearly. I'm talking about someone who has expressed a belief in the Lord as their Master and Savior. The Bible says that many will do that but not all of these are genuine conversions. AS Jesus said in MAT 7:

[Mat 7:22-24, 26 KJV] 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: ... 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

The way to determine who has had a valid conversion experience is by examining their lives.
Mat 7:18
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
James 2:26
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

The point that I am making is that we can only do the Lord's work through the Holy Spirit that resides within us. We cannot do them by our self or for our self. Our motivation is important. If we do the works of the Lord for our own honor and glory.

It is possible to be a kind of do-gooder that brings no glory to God. There are philanthropists and benefactors and others who for one reason or another spend time and money to alleviate suffering, but who may not even believe in God let alone do it all for his glory. So when Jesus says, Let your light shine that men may see your good deeds and glorify God, the light must include more than the mere action of the good deed. "You are the light of the world!" (MAT 5:14). Not just your bodily motions but your attitude and your motivation also. There is a spirit from which the good deeds must flow if they are to bring God glory and so be pleasing to Him.

Probably no text in the Bible reveals the passion of God for his own glory more clearly and bluntly as Isaiah 48:9-11 where God says,

For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

Our good works must be for the Glory of God not for our own glory. The scribes and Pharisees did this. They wanted to be perceived as supremely godly among men.
Jesus said the last shall be first and the first shall be last. If you're trying to puff yourself up by doing good works and thereby achieving "rewards" in Heaven, you're headed in the wrong direction.

 

Hi Follow the Way:
We agree that folks who have not been born anew, strive to do works of righteousness, but they are as filthy rags to God.
We disagree that born anew believers cannot be motivated in part by the promise of rewards.2 Peter 1:10-11

 

Your love for this inanement toy is not in question. Your claim of inability to support your family is though when you think nothing of dropping $500 on a toy.
A couple of verses for your comsideration:
1 Timothy 5:8
Matt 6:21

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

That's fine. Everyone has the right and responsibility to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. The foundational Baptist beliefs in Priesthood of the believer and Soul Freedom support this responsibility.

 

The organized church is struggling largely because it has strayed from the teachings of Jesus and become much more political. Jesus would have supported individual Christians speking out on matters of morality but He never supported organized Christians supporting political parties or candidates. The world looks at the organized church and sees a lot of hypocrisy. Biblically this is stated:

[Mat 7:3-5 KJV] 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Many times the organized church says a great deal about the sins of others but nothing about their own. I had a Sunday School teacher once who boasted "Even I occasionally sin." The truth of the matter is she sinned every day as we all do. We are continually in need of grace and forgiveness.

BUT, the Church of Christ does NOT correspond to organized churches. The Church of Christ is the Kingdom of God on earth and is composed of all genuine followers of Jesus. It is not perfect but strives to be more like Jesus. The Kingdom of God can never be defeated and will be perfected in Heaven.

 

What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Mark 10:9


Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

You yourself has admitted that there was no Biblical reason for the divorce.