So, a fallen person can please God without knowing the gospel..God, and His promises.
So, a fallen person can please God without knowing the gospel..God, and His promises.
I never said that outward behavior couldn't be imitated, as you well know. And I believe as I do because of what I believe the Bible reveals.So, it is possible to imitate Jesus and Paul without them taking over our bodies and behaving like themselves through us. Now, what would be the next question a person trying to imitate Christ outwardly, without Christ within might ask?
And I disagree. Not every act a child does to outwardly imitate his parents must be self-centred. That is an opinion you gravitate to because of your distorted view of anthropology.
God's choices are always better than ours. But when someone is actually yielded to God, there is no choice being made.Was that a "No". to my question, asking whether you mean -
No one walking in the Spirit insists on his own preferences, but is subjecting his choices to the choices of the Holy Spirit. Trusting God...walking by faith... is a choice... to lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways to acknowledge Him...to accept the choices of the Holy Spirit as better than your own preferences when those two conflict ?
I am married and that does not mean that I don't keep on making decisions about how to work out my relationship with my wife? Maybe your marriage is different.
You said -I never said that outward behavior couldn't be imitated, as you well know. And I believe as I do because of what I believe the Bible reveals.
And then there are those who believe the Bible.Some "systems" assert people are BORN completely corrupted and totally depraved.
I'm just pointing out that imitating behavior is not the same as having identical motivations.You are claiming that to imitate one must exactly replicate on every level. That is not what imitate means.
Why do you think Paul's audience was just diaspora Israel?
And then there are those who believe the Bible.
Isaiah 48:8
You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not
been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.
Psalm 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
First of all, the passage is speaking about Christians, who have the Holy Spirit. Second, do you really believe someone can love as Christ loves apart from Christ? If so, there must be a lot of people on this site choosing not to.You said -
Cameron143 said:
"How are you going to imitate God apart from God living in and through you? You can imitate God? How? Like the way you show disdain for people? Is that walking in the Spirit?"
And this was in response to studier saying -
studier said
"Our Lord: Read and do My Word such as:
NKJ Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."
So, you implied that it is impossible to imitate God apart from God living in and through you., and you were claiming this as a way to reject the idea that we can choose to imitate God.
I am showing that one can obey Paul's injunction without God unilaterally taking over our bodies and souls and doing ALL the living through us. And a responsible, sentient being obeying involves a CHOICE.
Some believe the natural man can choose as Christ did, as if they were not in Adam. They are stuck on a false doctrine.... do you really believe someone can love as Christ loves apart from Christ? If so, there must be a lot of people on this site choosing not to.
…but wasn’t @notmyown referring to faithful people?—those who have the faith to know that our Father will always be faithful to keep His promises to those who love Him?So, a fallen person can please God without knowing the gospel..
True enough. But why does a Christian even want to make a choice when the Spirit can make them perfectly for us. Is there a better or more pleasing life we are going to live than the one Christ can produce in us?Some believe the natural man can choose as Christ did, as if they were not in Adam. They are stuck on a false doctrine.
What exactly is “the natural man”?Some believe the natural man can choose as Christ did, as if they were not in Adam. They are stuck on a false doctrine.
The natural man is stuck in that he leaves himself with nothing but the choice between accepting Christ's death for himself or death for himself. And it is God's grace that man has, indeed, been left with that choice.
Born once, and in need of a spiritual rebirth. Otherwise, will die twice. Those born twice die but once.What exactly is “the natural man”?
No. That was not involved in the context leading up to notmyown's comment. Actually, Ito be honest, I am not sure whether notmyown was agreeing with me or with my interlocutor.…but wasn’t @notmyown referring to faithful people?—those who have the faith to know that our Father will always be faithful to keep His promises to those who love Him?
Natural man and natural body are not th same thing. The natural body is the physical body we are born with that is enlivened by the blood. Remove the blood and the body is dead.I‘ve found the answer.
There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual.
- 1 Corinthians 15:40-46
The natural man is stuck in that he leaves himself with nothing but the choice between accepting Christ's death for himself or death for himself. And it is God's grace that man has, indeed, been left with that choice.