Recent content by John of Japan

First of all, I believe the pastor has the authority to simply tell someone not to come back if they are not a member. If they are a member, church discipline is necessary. In this case, even if the man is not a member yet, I would say that the steps of church discipline in Matt 18 due to the...

I think we've reached an impasse here, and I'm pretty busy right now. I feel I've posted a bunch of stuff that you don't respond to, so I see no need to keep debating here. Have a good one.

Do you not see that these two sentences are contradictory? In NT times, yes, only one way. One more time what Jesus said and you refuse to interact with: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6). That is exactly what I believe. There is only...

So, who does limit God? Not me. God is omnipotent. He can save however He chooses to save. But as many passages that I have quoted show, He has chosen not to save anyone apart from faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. Absolutely. Now, Billy Graham held the position that those heathen religions...

Apparently "Gnostic" is the Baptist Board equivalent of the secular epithet, "Nazi!" If you don't agree with someone just call them a Gnostic and then see if it sticks! :Biggrin

How does my view portray God as "less loving" than yours? I believe Christ died for the entire world (John 3:16), every single human being who has ever lived. I believe that God does not just love, He is love itself in 1 John 4:8. I don't know how anyone could call that a statement of a less...

And Jesus is God, the second person of the trinity. I don't think you actually understand my view. It is completely based on what God has said. I have quoted multiple passages which you have not interacted with, in particular, Rom. 10:14-15, which I have quoted at least twice to you: "14 How...

What I meant by "sympathize" was not "feel badly for," but to have an inclination to agree with you. I suppress that inclination, though, because it is not biblical. If I am wrong then hyper-Calvinism is right, and God does not choose to use the sacrifice of His dear Son to accomplish His...

Aha! Tricked you. :Biggrin

I deeply sympathize with those on this thread who are saying people can get saved without knowing the Gospel in the NT dispensation. As a missionary, I often thought about this and searched the Scriptures to learn about it. The biblical position, I believe, is what Jesus said in John 12:32, "And...

Here is an example of how the Gospel of a coming Messiah was passed down until Christ in non-Jewish people groups. The Chinese language has some very interesting characters. For example, the one for "ship" is a boat (舟) with 8 (八) mouths (口), or people in it, thus: 船. Think about that. Even...

Exactly. But it has to be faith in a person: the coming "Seed of the woman," the Messiah (OT) or the Messiah who has already come, the Lord Jesus Christ. I am very familiar with these episodes, having a friend who is an Iranian evangelist. What is happening, though, is not without the Gospel...

You're missing my point, I believe. You were talking about people being saved without the Gospel in this NT dispensation, not the OT dispensation. (Don't be turned off by the term "dispensation." Many theologians use that word who are covenant theologians, and indeed, it is in the Bible.) So I'm...

Hopefully we agree, then. But when I wrote that I didn't understand, it was in reaction to this you wrote: "The same goes for the Gentiles who God knew would believe in Him but never had access to that knowledge." What Gentiles were you speaking of?

Back in the 1930s, as pro wrestling became scripted, a genuine match was called a "shooting match," and probably still is today, though I'm not sure. Back when I was in high school I sometimes watched local matches on TV, I could tell which were shooting matches since I was a wrestler. The...