Not By Works

justpassinthrough · Feb 1, 2018

The command of the Gospel is repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent means to turn to God.

If you are called to turn to God, then by default you are called to turn from Satan as your lord.

The way that your express this obedience of faith, concerning the Gospel is to confess Jesus as Lord.

This is what grants the believer/obeyer of the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins.

The way we are granted this, is by repenting, which means turning away from Satan and his kingdom, and turning to God, and confessing Jesus as Lord.

This is plainly what the Lord Jesus Christ taught to and commissioned Paul to do.

15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ Acts 26:15-18

Repent is about being transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God.

It's about changing who you serve, as your Lord.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]The Gospel of the kingdom is about changing the kingdom your are in, by changing the lord you serve.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]The Gospel is God's call to humanity, to "come out of hiding", in darkness, and to come into the light, the kingdom of light.

JPT[/FONT]

Speak2Me · Feb 1, 2018

I would claim a win by default dear readers, but they would wait till I leave and then reply and badmouth me.

Since I'm bored, I'm leaving right now.

May Go bless his true followers to hold fast till the end.

eternally-gratefull · Feb 1, 2018

Speak2Me said:

1 john 5: 5 [FONT=&quot]Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]18. We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself,[e] and the wicked one does not touch him.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.[/FONT]

time to put your commentaries away and listen to God!

eternally-gratefull · Feb 1, 2018

Speak2Me said:

Get over yourself dude. I do not need to prove anything, if people want me to show it I will.. you however have proven you are not willing to listen to Anyone

anyone who has studied commentaries KNOWS you can find a commentator to agree with you..

eternally-gratefull · Feb 1, 2018

Speak2Me said:

Lolol.. what a joke..

dcontroversal · Feb 1, 2018

eternally-gratefull said:

I never was much on commentaries.....I figured prayer and honest study would lead to biblical conclusions......and in all honesty have not consulted a commentary in like 25 years plus....and then it was only like maybe three times in like 1991 or 92

dcontroversal · Feb 1, 2018

eternally-gratefull said:

I know.......tragically hilarious........(sic)

eternally-gratefull · Feb 1, 2018

the Bible knowledge commentary, Woolvard, Zuck

the renewed warning (10:26–31)
10:26–27. The KJV translation here, “if we sin willfully,” is superior to NIV‘s if we deliberately keep on sinning, as the words “keep on” overplay the Greek tense. As the context shows (cf. v. 23), the author was concerned here, as throughout the epistle, with the danger of defection from the faith. Most sin is “deliberate,” but the writer was here influenced by the Old Testament’s teaching about sins of presumption (cf. Num. 15:29–31) which lay outside the sacrificial provisions of the Law. Apostasy from the faith would be such a “willful” act and for those who commit it no sacrifice for sins is left (cf. Heb. 10:18). If the efficacious sacrifice of Christ should be renounced, there remained no other available sacrifice which could shield an apostate from God’s judgment by raging fire. A Christian who abandons “the confidence [he] had at first” (3:14) puts himself on the side of God’s enemies and, as the writer had already said, is in effect “crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace” (6:6). Such reprehensible conduct can scarcely be worthy of anything but God’s flaming indignation and retribution. This, however, as stated earlier (cf. comments on 6:8), is not a reference to hell (cf. comments on 10:29).

In order to show that this is so, the writer then placed defection from the faith in the harshest possible light. An apostate from the New Covenant has trampled the Son of God underfoot and has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant (cf. “blood of the eternal covenant,” 13:20) that sanctified him. The words “sanctified him” refer to true Christians. Already the writer to the Hebrews has described them as “made holy (Gr. ‘sanctified’) through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (10:10) and as “made perfect forever” through this sanctifying work (v. 14). Some seek to evade this conclusion by suggesting that Christ is the One referred to here as “sanctified” or that the person only claims to be sanctified. But these efforts are foreign to the writer’s thought and are so forced that they carry their own refutation. The author’s whole point lies in the seriousness of the act. To treat “the blood of the covenant” (which actually sanctifies believers) as though it were an “unholy” (koinon, “common”) thing and to renounce its efficacy, is to commit a sin so heinous as to dwarf the fatal infractions of the Old Covenant. To this, an apostate adds the offense of insulting the Spirit of grace who originally wooed him to faith in Christ. This kind of spiritual rebellion clearly calls for a much worse punishment than the capital penalty that was inflicted under the Mosaic setup.

eternally-gratefull · Feb 1, 2018

Believers bible commentary. William MacDonald

10:26 Now the writer introduces his fourth grim warning. As in the previous cases, it is a warning against apostasy, here described as a deliberate sin.
As has been indicated, there is considerable disagreement among Christians as to the real nature of this sin. The problem, in brief, is whether it refers to:
1. True Christians who subsequently turn away from Christ and are lost.
2. True Christians who backslide but who are still saved.
3. Those who profess to be Christians for a while, identify themselves with a local church, but then deliberately turn away from Christ. They were never truly born again, and now they never can be.
No matter which view we hold, there are admitted difficulties. We believe that the third view is the correct one because it is most consistent with the over-all teaching of Hebrews and of the entire NT.

eternally-gratefull · Feb 1, 2018

The Bible Exposition Commentary - Warren Weirsbe

A solemn exhortation (vv. 26–31). This is the fourth of the five exhortations found in Hebrews. It is written to believers and follows in sequence with the other exhortations. The believer who begins to drift from the Word (Heb. 2:1–4) will soon start to doubt the Word (Heb. 3:7–4:13). Soon, he will become dull toward the Word (Heb. 5:11–6:20) and become “lazy” in his spiritual life. This will result in despising the Word, which is the theme of this exhortation.
The evidence of this “despising” is willful sin. The tense of the verb indicates that Hebrews 10:26 should read, “For if we willfully go on sinning.” This exhortation is not dealing with one particular act of sin, but with an attitude that leads to repeated disobedience. Under the Old Covenant, there were no sacrifices for deliberate and willful sins (Ex. 21:12–14; Num. 15:27–31). Presumptuous sinners who despised Moses’ Law and broke it were executed (Deut. 17:1–7). This explains why David prayed as he did in Psalm 51. Because he deliberately sinned “with a high hand,” he should have been slain; but he cried out for God’s mercy. David knew that even a multitude of sacrifices could not save him. All he could offer was the sacrifice of a broken heart (Ps. 51:16–17).
How does an arrogant attitude affect a believer’s relationship with God? It is as though he trods Jesus Christ underfoot, cheapens the precious blood that saved him (“an unholy thing” [Heb. 10:29] = “a common thing”), and insults the Holy Spirit. This is just the opposite of the exhortation given in Hebrews 10:19–25! Instead of having a bold profession of faith, hope, and love, a backslidden believer so lives that his actions and attitudes bring disgrace to the name of Christ and the church.
What can this kind of a Christian expect from God? He can expect severe discipline. (Chastening is the theme of Heb. 12.) There is no need to “water down” words such as “judgment and fiery indignation” (Heb. 10:27), or “sorer punishment” (Heb. 10:29). We have already seen from the history of Israel that hardly anybody who was saved out of Egypt by the blood of the lamb entered into the promised inheritance. Nearly all of them died in the wilderness. “There is a sin unto death” (1 John 5:16). Some of the Corinthian believers were disciplined and their lives taken because of their presumptuous sins (1 Cor. 11:30, where “sleep” means “died”).
God does not always take the life of a rebellious believer, but He always deals with him. “Vengeance belongeth unto Me” was spoken to Israel, God’s people. “The Lord shall judge His people!” (Heb. 10:30, quoted from Deut. 32:35) “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).
The major theme of Hebrews is “God has spoken—how are you responding to His Word?” When the nation of Israel refused to believe and obey His Word, God chastened them. Paul used this fact to warn the Corinthians against presumptuous sins (1 Cor. 10:1–12). Note that the examples given in this passage involve people who died because of their willful sins. When we study the subject of “chastening” in Hebrews 12, we will get greater insight into this awesome aspect of God’s dealings with His children.
In stating that this exhortation applies to believers today, but that it does not involve loss of salvation, I am not suggesting that chastening is unimportant. On the contrary, it is important that every Christian obey God and please the Father in all things. Dr. William Culbertson, late president of the Moody Bible Institute, used to warn us about “the sad consequences of forgiven sins.” God forgave David’s sins, but David suffered the sad consequences for years afterward (2 Sam. 12:7–15). David had “despised the commandment of the Lord” (2 Sam. 12:9) and God dealt with him.

eternally-gratefull · Feb 1, 2018

Speak2Me said:

We have done this before. And you have had to eat your words. You should know better,, but youy keep on acting as if your so right and everyone else is wrong.

Now eat your words again my friend. And get over yourself!! One do not worry, Gods true followers WILL hold fast. Because they are being Held by God himself.

You keep trying to hold yourself. YOU WILL FAIL!

Nelsons new illustrated bible commentary.
10:26 sin willfully: The reference here is not to an occasional act of sin (which can be confessed and forgiven, 1 John 1:8, 9), but to a conscious rejection of God. The OT speaks in Num. 15:30, 31 of committing willful sin. A person who sinned presumptuously was to be cut off from the people. In this verse, willful sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth about the centrality of the assembly for the upbuilding and maturing of the saints is to reject it and go one’s own individualistic, privatistic, and selfish way. God’s plan is not building in isolation but building in relation to each other. If a Christian rebels against God’s provision there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. There was no sacrifice for the presumptuous sin (Num. 15:29–31). Such action is to despise the word of the Lord.
10:27 With no hope of forgiveness (v. 26), all that one can expect is judgment, described here as a fiery indignation. Many have assumed this is a reference to hell. But fire is used in Scripture of other things. The fire here is either temporal judgment or the judgment seat of Christ, similar to the OT in which Yahweh’s anger toward His people who sinned is described by the metaphor of fire (Is. 9:18, 19; 10:17). Those who choose to disobey God become His adversaries (James 4:4).
10:28, 29 The specific sin in the OT that required two or three witnesses was idolatry (Deut. 17:2–7). The judgment for idolatry was death by stoning. If idolatry was punished with physical death, how much worse punishment should someone receive who treats the word of Christ with disrespect or disdain? Counted the blood … a common thing means the blood of Christ is treated as no different from the blood of an ordinary man or the blood of an animal sacrifice. Insulted the Spirit of grace is a reference to the Holy Spirit, the agent of God’s gracious gift of salvation. A believer who commits these offenses will be judged with a punishment worse than physical death. This is not a reference to spiritual death, or hell. There are forms of temporal judgment that are worse than physical death—some that make physical death a welcomed relief (Lam. 4:6, 9; compare 2 Chr. 26:21).

dcontroversal · Feb 1, 2018

eternally-gratefull said:

We have done this before. And you have had to eat your words. You should know better,, but youy keep on acting as if your so right and everyone else is wrong.

Now eat your words again my friend. And get over yourself!! One do not worry, Gods true followers WILL hold fast. Because they are being Held by God himself.

You keep trying to hold yourself. YOU WILL FAIL!

Nelsons new illustrated bible commentary.
10:26 sin willfully: The reference here is not to an occasional act of sin (which can be confessed and forgiven, 1 John 1:8, 9), but to a conscious rejection of God. The OT speaks in Num. 15:30, 31 of committing willful sin. A person who sinned presumptuously was to be cut off from the people. In this verse, willful sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth about the centrality of the assembly for the upbuilding and maturing of the saints is to reject it and go one’s own individualistic, privatistic, and selfish way. God’s plan is not building in isolation but building in relation to each other. If a Christian rebels against God’s provision there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. There was no sacrifice for the presumptuous sin (Num. 15:29–31). Such action is to despise the word of the Lord.
10:27 With no hope of forgiveness (v. 26), all that one can expect is judgment, described here as a fiery indignation. Many have assumed this is a reference to hell. But fire is used in Scripture of other things. The fire here is either temporal judgment or the judgment seat of Christ, similar to the OT in which Yahweh’s anger toward His people who sinned is described by the metaphor of fire (Is. 9:18, 19; 10:17). Those who choose to disobey God become His adversaries (James 4:4).
10:28, 29 The specific sin in the OT that required two or three witnesses was idolatry (Deut. 17:2–7). The judgment for idolatry was death by stoning. If idolatry was punished with physical death, how much worse punishment should someone receive who treats the word of Christ with disrespect or disdain? Counted the blood … a common thing means the blood of Christ is treated as no different from the blood of an ordinary man or the blood of an animal sacrifice. Insulted the Spirit of grace is a reference to the Holy Spirit, the agent of God’s gracious gift of salvation. A believer who commits these offenses will be judged with a punishment worse than physical death. This is not a reference to spiritual death, or hell. There are forms of temporal judgment that are worse than physical death—some that make physical death a welcomed relief (Lam. 4:6, 9; compare 2 Chr. 26:21).

52932 <-----My view of his antics....

eternally-gratefull · Feb 1, 2018

dcontroversal said:

I have had him on ignore for awhile now. But sometimes when people quote him I just feel the need to chime in and expose his true self. As we see here today, It is not too hard. He thinks he is so smart and he has people cornered. Only to have his so called proof and arrogance thrown back at him (he asked for 4, thinking I could not do it.. then had to get all huffy and puffy in his pride when I was away saying I could not do it. WHat a joke! I found four in about 30 minutes, It was so hard,

well, Now he can swim in his pride, and everyone who sees the posts today can witness it.

Ralph- · Feb 1, 2018

stonesoffire said:

I care about people when it's not in my own interest to do so. Especially those that are weak, disenfranchised, suffering, etc. I feel alive when I care about people.

Speak2Me · Feb 1, 2018

Well, here we are.

I put out challenges to both EG (4hrs ago), & DC(3hrs ago), & they wouldn't speak to me at all.

Speak2Me said:

See this post? If you follow it back, you'll see that ONE MINUTE after I left, BOTH OF THEM came back in & badmouthed me just like I said they would.

Yes, they are that predictable.

But I give kudos to EG, for at least he put forth the effort to accept my challenge.

However, not all of his 4 commentaries were the opposite of mine.

#1

eternally-gratefull said:

Notice in red that the author of the commentary says that christians can apostatize, (which my 5 choices agree), yet keeps apostasy just under the line of going to Hell.

This can't be true, for he then goes on & say the punishment for these apostates is worse than the capital punishment under the Law.

The problem with that is those in the OT (such as Korah) who received capital punishment actually went to Hell.

I agree personally that these apostates are worse than those in the OT, but they all go to Hell, & those worthy of more stripe get them there.

This commentary agrees more with mine, & since it's not the opposite, it's disqualified.

Speak2Me · Feb 1, 2018

#2

eternally-gratefull said:

Believers bible commentary. William MacDonald

10:26 Now the writer introduces his fourth grim warning. As in the previous cases, it is a warning against apostasy, here described as a deliberate sin.
As has been indicated, there is considerable disagreement among Christians as to the real nature of this sin. The problem, in brief, is whether it refers to:
1. True Christians who subsequently turn away from Christ and are lost.
2. True Christians who backslide but who are still saved.
3. Those who profess to be Christians for a while, identify themselves with a local church, but then deliberately turn away from Christ. They were never truly born again, and now they never can be.
No matter which view we hold, there are admitted difficulties. We believe that the third view is the correct one because it is most consistent with the over-all teaching of Hebrews and of the entire NT.

This one qualifies. It plainly states a different & opposite view. Kudos to EG.

Speak2Me · Feb 1, 2018

#3

eternally-gratefull said:

The Bible Exposition Commentary - Warren Weirsbe

A solemn exhortation (vv. 26–31). This is the fourth of the five exhortations found in Hebrews. It is written to believers and follows in sequence with the other exhortations. The believer who begins to drift from the Word (Heb. 2:1–4) will soon start to doubt the Word (Heb. 3:7–4:13). Soon, he will become dull toward the Word (Heb. 5:11–6:20) and become “lazy” in his spiritual life. This will result in despising the Word, which is the theme of this exhortation.
The evidence of this “despising” is willful sin. The tense of the verb indicates that Hebrews 10:26 should read, “For if we willfully go on sinning.” This exhortation is not dealing with one particular act of sin, but with an attitude that leads to repeated disobedience. Under the Old Covenant, there were no sacrifices for deliberate and willful sins (Ex. 21:12–14; Num. 15:27–31). Presumptuous sinners who despised Moses’ Law and broke it were executed (Deut. 17:1–7). This explains why David prayed as he did in Psalm 51. Because he deliberately sinned “with a high hand,” he should have been slain; but he cried out for God’s mercy. David knew that even a multitude of sacrifices could not save him. All he could offer was the sacrifice of a broken heart (Ps. 51:16–17).
How does an arrogant attitude affect a believer’s relationship with God? It is as though he trods Jesus Christ underfoot, cheapens the precious blood that saved him (“an unholy thing” [Heb. 10:29] = “a common thing”), and insults the Holy Spirit. This is just the opposite of the exhortation given in Hebrews 10:19–25! Instead of having a bold profession of faith, hope, and love, a backslidden believer so lives that his actions and attitudes bring disgrace to the name of Christ and the church.
What can this kind of a Christian expect from God? He can expect severe discipline. (Chastening is the theme of Heb. 12.) There is no need to “water down” words such as “judgment and fiery indignation” (Heb. 10:27), or “sorer punishment” (Heb. 10:29). We have already seen from the history of Israel that hardly anybody who was saved out of Egypt by the blood of the lamb entered into the promised inheritance. Nearly all of them died in the wilderness. “There is a sin unto death” (1 John 5:16). Some of the Corinthian believers were disciplined and their lives taken because of their presumptuous sins (1 Cor. 11:30, where “sleep” means “died”).
God does not always take the life of a rebellious believer, but He always deals with him. “Vengeance belongeth unto Me” was spoken to Israel, God’s people. “The Lord shall judge His people!” (Heb. 10:30, quoted from Deut. 32:35) “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31).
The major theme of Hebrews is “God has spoken—how are you responding to His Word?” When the nation of Israel refused to believe and obey His Word, God chastened them. Paul used this fact to warn the Corinthians against presumptuous sins (1 Cor. 10:1–12). Note that the examples given in this passage involve people who died because of their willful sins. When we study the subject of “chastening” in Hebrews 12, we will get greater insight into this awesome aspect of God’s dealings with His children.
In stating that this exhortation applies to believers today, but that it does not involve loss of salvation, I am not suggesting that chastening is unimportant. On the contrary, it is important that every Christian obey God and please the Father in all things. Dr. William Culbertson, late president of the Moody Bible Institute, used to warn us about “the sad consequences of forgiven sins.” God forgave David’s sins, but David suffered the sad consequences for years afterward (2 Sam. 12:7–15). David had “despised the commandment of the Lord” (2 Sam. 12:9) and God dealt with him.

This commentary doesn't touch on the issue of apostasy at all, but does speak of the judgment of death on the OT to those true apostates.

I can't say it neither qualifies nor disqualifies, so I'm giving it 50%.

Speak2Me · Feb 1, 2018

#4

eternally-gratefull said:

This commentary makes no sense at all. It says there is a judgment on the christian that is worse than physical death.

What kind of judgment would that be that's worse than death?

WHERE would that judgment take place? In paradise? At the judgment seat of Christ? It doesn't make sense at all.

But it still qualifies.

EG did get 2 1/2, which was more than I expected. And he is to be commended for his efforts.

I do agree that not every commentary will be as it should. That's why I try to find 3 or 4 that fully agree, and those must match with scripture. We do that with Bible versions, why not commentaries?

I will also use Hebrew & Greek Lexicons to get accurate definitions of key words, such as "falling away" which means total abandonment & complete rebellion against Christ.

Yes, christians CAN do that.

So EG didn't get his 4 after all. He may actually search & find 4, but he'll never find 20 against 20 like he said.

This is because commentaries aren't as bad as some claim.

Budman · Feb 1, 2018

Ralph- said:

Uh huh. And yet you seem to spend most of your time here on CC.

stonesoffire · Feb 1, 2018

BillG said:

Thats the point. Who knows? It's proof we both are simple Christians.

*made it up*

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