Can We Really Exercise Free Will?
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In the parable of the Good Samaritan, a lawyer asked Jesus "what shall I do to inherit eternal life" ... Jesus asked him "what is written in the law" ... the lawyer answered "love God with all your heart, soul, strength, mind and love your neighbor as yourself" ... Jesus answered "you are right – do this and you shall live".
Luke 10:25-28 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Then the lawyer, because he wanted to justify himself, asked "who is my neighbor":
Luke 10:29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Jesus told the parable:
Luke 10:30-35 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
Jesus asked the lawyer: "who was the neighbor":
Luke 10:36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
The lawyer answered:
Luke 10:37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Did Jesus tell the lawyer that the good neighbor was the guy who fell among thieves?
or did Jesus reveal to the lawyer what a good neighbor was ... and I believe all who have posted in this thread would agree that the Samaritan was the good neighbor.
and I do believe there is consensus even in this thread that all agree the priest and the levites were not "good neighbors" ... a miracle before our very eyes!!!
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Luke 10:25-28 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Then the lawyer, because he wanted to justify himself, asked "who is my neighbor":
Luke 10:29 But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Jesus told the parable:
Luke 10:30-35 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
Jesus asked the lawyer: "who was the neighbor":
Luke 10:36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
The lawyer answered:
Luke 10:37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Did Jesus tell the lawyer that the good neighbor was the guy who fell among thieves?
or did Jesus reveal to the lawyer what a good neighbor was ... and I believe all who have posted in this thread would agree that the Samaritan was the good neighbor.
and I do believe there is consensus even in this thread that all agree the priest and the levites were not "good neighbors" ... a miracle before our very eyes!!!
.
I noticed that your usage of "daft" as an adjective describing behavior was in accord with what we agree is an acceptable
way of reproving someone when we disagree.
Regarding John 13:34, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
This command is part of what I have identified as Teaching of Jesus #148:
TOJ #148: Faith in/love for God is manifested by loving behavior toward people. [Matt. 25:31-46] The evidence of saving Faith is loving behavior. {John 13:35, 15:12-13} It is the fruit of the Spirit {John 15:4-8} (also see Gal. 5:22-23), rather than ability to work miracles (Matt. 24:24).
This love is the basis for essential unity among all Christians {John 15:17, 17:20-23}. Faith without love is counterfeit (Jam. 2:17). Satisfying GRFS is manifested by any type of personality (introverted, extroverted, etc.) as long as one is loving, but no good work merits salvation (Eph. 2:8-9), because no one is perfect (Phil. 3:12) except God (Heb. 5:7-9; TOJ #106).
Before discussing John 13:34, let us consider some NT context:
TOJ #14: Believers manifest Faith by showing mercy. [Matt. 5:7] This teaching is stated in other words {in Matt. 6:14-15, 9:13, Mark 11:25, Luke 6:36-38, 17:3-4} and negatively in James 2:13. Jesus illustrated this principle with the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant {Matt. 18:21-35}, and He exemplified it while on the cross with a prayer for forgiveness {Luke 23:34}.
Mercy can be appropriated only by those who repent of their wrong attitudes and actions (Matt. 18:15-17). See TOJ #114. Reflecting God’s love is the normative sign of saving Faith (TOJ #148). The distinction between love and mercy parallels that between Faith and faithful works. Showing mercy does not mean allowing anarchy (Rom. 13:4b); there is a time for leniency and a time for logical consequences (Eccl. 3:3; cf. TOJ #30).
TOJ #30: Love and pray for God’s/your enemies. [Matt. 5:43-47//Luke 6:27-28&32-36] God’s agape/love is unconditional (Rom. 5:6-8). We should “hate what is evil” (Rom. 12:9) while loving people we dislike. This teaching is akin to TOJ #14, #16 & #29. However, God’s forgiveness of Sin is conditional upon repentance (TOJ #8 & #114).
TOJ #114: God forgives those who repent. [Luke 15:11-32] In the Parable of the Lost Son, notice that every sin was forgiven (1John 1:9). Surely we will leave jealousy and other sinful attitudes behind when we graduate to heaven. The heavenly or holy saint is described by Paul in several places (such as Col. 3:1-14; cf. TOJ #8, #29 & #74).
TOJ #130: Love is the key to understanding GW/truth. {Matt. 22:40} And the key to comprehending God’s love is Jesus (John 3:16, Rom. 5:8, 1John 4:10-5:5; TOJ #47).
With these TOJ in mind as context, now we are more ready to interpret John 13:14,
but first I will turn the floor over to y'all for comment.
way of reproving someone when we disagree.
Regarding John 13:34, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
This command is part of what I have identified as Teaching of Jesus #148:
TOJ #148: Faith in/love for God is manifested by loving behavior toward people. [Matt. 25:31-46] The evidence of saving Faith is loving behavior. {John 13:35, 15:12-13} It is the fruit of the Spirit {John 15:4-8} (also see Gal. 5:22-23), rather than ability to work miracles (Matt. 24:24).
This love is the basis for essential unity among all Christians {John 15:17, 17:20-23}. Faith without love is counterfeit (Jam. 2:17). Satisfying GRFS is manifested by any type of personality (introverted, extroverted, etc.) as long as one is loving, but no good work merits salvation (Eph. 2:8-9), because no one is perfect (Phil. 3:12) except God (Heb. 5:7-9; TOJ #106).
Before discussing John 13:34, let us consider some NT context:
TOJ #14: Believers manifest Faith by showing mercy. [Matt. 5:7] This teaching is stated in other words {in Matt. 6:14-15, 9:13, Mark 11:25, Luke 6:36-38, 17:3-4} and negatively in James 2:13. Jesus illustrated this principle with the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant {Matt. 18:21-35}, and He exemplified it while on the cross with a prayer for forgiveness {Luke 23:34}.
Mercy can be appropriated only by those who repent of their wrong attitudes and actions (Matt. 18:15-17). See TOJ #114. Reflecting God’s love is the normative sign of saving Faith (TOJ #148). The distinction between love and mercy parallels that between Faith and faithful works. Showing mercy does not mean allowing anarchy (Rom. 13:4b); there is a time for leniency and a time for logical consequences (Eccl. 3:3; cf. TOJ #30).
TOJ #30: Love and pray for God’s/your enemies. [Matt. 5:43-47//Luke 6:27-28&32-36] God’s agape/love is unconditional (Rom. 5:6-8). We should “hate what is evil” (Rom. 12:9) while loving people we dislike. This teaching is akin to TOJ #14, #16 & #29. However, God’s forgiveness of Sin is conditional upon repentance (TOJ #8 & #114).
TOJ #114: God forgives those who repent. [Luke 15:11-32] In the Parable of the Lost Son, notice that every sin was forgiven (1John 1:9). Surely we will leave jealousy and other sinful attitudes behind when we graduate to heaven. The heavenly or holy saint is described by Paul in several places (such as Col. 3:1-14; cf. TOJ #8, #29 & #74).
TOJ #130: Love is the key to understanding GW/truth. {Matt. 22:40} And the key to comprehending God’s love is Jesus (John 3:16, Rom. 5:8, 1John 4:10-5:5; TOJ #47).
With these TOJ in mind as context, now we are more ready to interpret John 13:14,
but first I will turn the floor over to y'all for comment.
Part of a real life story of a rich young ruler who could not do as he was asked, Jesus' disciples asked Jesus who then could get to heaven, and Jesus said with man it was impossible. Of course He did clarify that it is possible with God but that's just more for the free will crowd to ignore and outright deny.
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Can we use all these as well?
Abrasive, abusive, angry, anxious, belligerent, boorish, cowardly, crazy, creepy, cruel,
dangerous, defiant, erratic, finicky, flashy, flippant, foolish, furtive, guarded, jittery, malicious,
mysterious, obnoxious, outrageous, panicky, secretive, strange, threatening, unsuitable, vengeful,
Abrasive, abusive, angry, anxious, belligerent, boorish, cowardly, crazy, creepy, cruel,
dangerous, defiant, erratic, finicky, flashy, flippant, foolish, furtive, guarded, jittery, malicious,
mysterious, obnoxious, outrageous, panicky, secretive, strange, threatening, unsuitable, vengeful,
Well, I saw that you agreed with simply saying "you are wrong IMO" as per the following examples:
As in I think you are wrong to accuse people of what you do,
I think you are wrong to employ the Marxist tactic of projection,
I think it is wrong to be anal about secondary issues instead of celebrating spiritual unity,
and I think it is wrong to ignore Scripture supporting/teaching/indicating/implying MFW.
So, if you can phrase the reproof in a similar manner, Cam & Co. should not object.
As in I think you are wrong to accuse people of what you do,
I think you are wrong to employ the Marxist tactic of projection,
I think it is wrong to be anal about secondary issues instead of celebrating spiritual unity,
and I think it is wrong to ignore Scripture supporting/teaching/indicating/implying MFW.
So, if you can phrase the reproof in a similar manner, Cam & Co. should not object.
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did the Lord Jesus Christ tell the lawyer he needed to be like ...
... the guy on the side of the road (vs 30)?
... the priest (vs 31)?
... the levite (vs 32)?
... the Samaritan (vss 33-35)?
Luke 10:
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
.
... the guy on the side of the road (vs 30)?
... the priest (vs 31)?
... the levite (vs 32)?
... the Samaritan (vss 33-35)?
Luke 10:
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
.