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Post by pastorjeff on Oct 8, 2008 9:26:05 GMT -5
This is the place to post your questions about God, the Bible, faith -- things you've wondered or thought about...
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Post by Laniiiiiiiii, ! on Oct 25, 2008 16:48:45 GMT -5
Yeaaa.. I Think I Have A Question..
Did God Choose Us, Or Did We Chose Him?
Cause What If He Chose Someone That Didnt Choose Him,. Then Did He Choose Them Or Not?
Its Veryyy Confusinn. Lol.
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Post by pastorjeff on Oct 29, 2008 19:58:10 GMT -5
God chose all of us in the sense that He wants everyone to come to Him, know Him, and love Him. He invites everyone.
But the Bible also talks about God choosing us in Christ. In Ephesians 1, Paul writes that God chose us from before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. It's a thought that's kind of big for us to get our heads around, but here is Paul's point: as Christians we should have confidence that there is nothing we can do to undo what God has done for us in Christ. It's not really an issue of evangelism or who's in and who's out. If you are a Christian, Paul wants you to know that God has chosen you, He has put His love and affection on you, and nothing can undo that because it was a choice God made before you were even created.
Pretty cool thought, huh?
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Post by Laniiiiiiiii, ! on Oct 31, 2008 15:23:25 GMT -5
Ohhh. I Get It Now A Little Better...
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luvjackie
New Member
buddies 4 ever!!!
Posts: 9
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Post by luvjackie on Nov 15, 2008 22:29:48 GMT -5
ok dad, we've had some real intense debates in bible on this: if you sin and then die before you have a chance to repent, will you still go to heaven? (assuming you're a christian and you're saved)
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Post by pastorjeff on Nov 17, 2008 11:51:27 GMT -5
"if you sin and then die before you have a chance to repent, will you still go to heaven? (assuming you're a Christian and you're saved) "
Good question.
I think the bottom line is that as Christians we are saved by what Jesus has done, not what we do. If we truly believe in Christ and have given him our lives, that's why we are saved -- not because we live a good Christian life, or don't sin, or confess when we do. We will still sin and fall short of God's glory (Romans 3:23) -- and are freely justified by his grace (Romans 3:24). Knowing and trusting Jesus means He takes away the fear of God's judgment. The blessing of confessing and repenting of our sins is that we get the problem out in the open with God and receive the assurance of His forgiveness.
Even as Christians, there will parts of our lives that we haven't fully given over to Christ. As long as we live, we will continue to grow in giving more of ourselves to Jesus. So dying before you repent of a certain sin doesn't mean you're lost, it means that it's another part of you that Jesus died to redeem and save -- along with all the other parts that you didn't bring totally under Jesus' control. We will never perfectly or completely give all of ourselves to Jesus -- so if that's what our confidence is based on, we're in trouble.
Think of it the other way -- if the only way to be assured of your salvation is to have no unconfessed sin, then we will never have any assurance that we're saved. We'll live in constant fear that we haven't confessed or repented enough.
The Bible says that God has not given us a spirit that makes us slaves to fear, but the Spirit of sonship (see Romans 8:15). In Christ, God has adopted us into His family and made us sons and daughters. Do we get kicked out of the family every time we sin, until we repent? No, we're still in God's family, even when we're disobedient children.
Of course it's not good to live knowingly with unconfessed sin. But our assurance -- our adoption into God's family -- is based on God's limitless grace to us in Christ, not our performance in the Christian life.
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luvjackie
New Member
buddies 4 ever!!!
Posts: 9
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Post by luvjackie on Nov 17, 2008 22:30:27 GMT -5
ok now i get it...
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luvjackie
New Member
buddies 4 ever!!!
Posts: 9
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Post by luvjackie on Dec 5, 2008 18:59:54 GMT -5
another question: what happens to all the babies that never know God? where do they go? and what about the kids that die before they have a chance to know? what happens to them?
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Post by jordanisawesome on Dec 5, 2008 21:57:16 GMT -5
I was just wondering if somebody sins, are they like automatically forgiven? Or do they actually have to sit down and ask God for forgiveness?
This was kind of a stupid question. But I was just curious.
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Post by Bryce on Dec 6, 2008 23:53:35 GMT -5
Jordan, That is exactly what I am talking about on Tuesday!
Jackie, good question, I will answer shortly, but it is around 11 and I am headed towards bed.
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