This is a great article. I have a book by Dr. Larry Crabb with the quote "Jesus did not die for your self-esteem". Anyone who is not disgusted by their own sin does not understand how ugly sin is to God, nor appreciate what it cost Jesus to pay for. Luke 18:9-14
I agree completely, but I don't believe for a minute that Rucker was suggesting it is automatic. I've read enough of his work that I'd bet my mortgage was wasn't saying that isn't necessary.
Again, you are 100% right; if there is ONE basic message of the NT, it is that confession and repentance of sin, and pleading for forgiveness because of Christ's finished work, is absolutely required in order to receive it. Jesus did not just indiscriminately throw forgiveness out of windows to everyone. And He even denied it to those who wrongly believed they didn't need it. Good catch - a very important point!
You have done a good job of describing the tension that is Biblical assurance, in the context of remaining sin. I think you may agree that this tension is exacerbated by the evangelism of the last few decades.
When we offer the *full* assurance of salvation to someone who has merely responded to an altar call (or slipped up their hand with every head bowed and every eye closed) or signing a card or the back of a Bible, or even being properly baptized, we show disregard for the scriptural recipe for assurance. These are the starting line of the Christian race but we have treated them as the finish line. Therein is our big problem.
Two places you have alluded to: 2 Peter 1 and all of 1st John are great places to start if we want to examine ourselves and see if we are really in the faith.
You apparently appreciate the Reformed (aka: Calvinistic) writers. I do as well, but you might want to visit the articles at chosenornot.com before you throw in with them altogether. :)
I mentioned above the fact that biblical doctrines such as grace and eternal security can be wrongly understood or even misused as a "license" to continue living the same as before. Yes, there is a tension there, but I am convinced it is only on our end. Understood and applied correctly, neither would ever give a truly blood-bought believer to abuse forgiveness. Thanks.
I love reading your mind JD, here is something I saved a long time ago to email out, but haven’t yet.
Joshua 7:16
So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
Joshua 7:17
And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:
Joshua 7:18
And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
Joshua 7:19
And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
Joshua 7:20
And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
Joshua 7:21
When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
Joshua 7:22
So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
Joshua 7:23
And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD.
Joshua 7:24
And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
Joshua 7:25
And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
Joshua 7:26
And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
Matthew Henry says:
7:16-26 See the folly of those that promise themselves secrecy in sin. The righteous God has many ways of bringing to light the hidden works of darkness.
See also, how much it is our concern, when God is contending with us, to find out the cause that troubles us. We must pray with holy Job, Lord, show me wherefore thou contendest with me.
Achan's sin began in the eye. He saw these fine things, as Eve saw the forbidden fruit. See what comes of suffering the heart to walk after the eyes, and what need we have to make this covenant with our eyes, that if they wander they shall be sure to weep for it.
It proceeded out of the heart. They that would be kept from sinful actions, must mortify and check in themselves sinful desires, particularly the desire of worldly wealth.
Had Achan looked upon these things with an eye of faith, he would have seen they were accursed things, and would have dreaded them; but looking on them with an eye of sense only, he saw them as goodly things, and coveted them. When he had committed the sin, he tried to hide it. As soon as he had got this plunder, it became his burden, and he dared not to use his ill-gotten treasure.
So differently do objects of temptation appear at a distance, to what they do when they have been gotten. See the deceitfulness of sin; that which is pleasing in the commission, is bitter in the reflection. See how they will be deceived that rob God. Sin is a very troublesome thing, not only to a sinner himself, but to all about him. The righteous God will certainly recompense tribulation to them that trouble his people. Achan perished not alone in his sin. They lose their own, who grasp at more than their own. His sons and daughters were put to death with him. It is probable that they helped to hide the things; they must have known of them.
What fatal consequences follow, even in this world, to the sinner himself, and to all belonging him! One sinner destroys much good. What, then, will be the wrath to come?
Let us flee from it to Christ Jesus as the sinner's Friend. There are circumstances in the confession of Achan, marking the progress of sin, from its first entrance into the heart to its being done, which may serve as the history of almost every offence against the law of God, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Yes, sin is the transgression of the law. No one is "saved" until the resurrection to life. After water baptism, we obtain grace for our previous sins that we have repented of. Then we strive to bring ourselves into submission to the law, because we are weak humans. We must constantly be aware of whether we are living in accordance with Yahweh's laws, or whether we have fallen short, and where we must make changes.
"The wages of sin is death". The promise of salvation is life eternal, if we have lived in accordance with Yahweh's perfect law. We were bought with a price, redeemed by the blood of Yahshua the Messiah. The Apostle Paul wrote of this when exhorting the several assemblies to refrain from worldly lusts, and previous lifestyles. He knew we had to contend with the flesh, which wars with the spirit which seeks to do right.
Paul had been a strict Pharisee, but did not have the law written on his heart. After his conversion he kept the Father's laws and commandments, which were still in full force; only the sacrificial laws had been replaced by the perfect sacrifice of the Messiah.
Paul and the apostles and the early believers all kept the Sabbath, and the annual Feast Days, and holy days. The Passover became a memorial of the death of the lamb of Yahweh. Today is the sixth day of the annual Feast of Tabernacles. Tomorrow is a weekly Sabbath, followed by a High Holy day, the Last Great Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, commemorating the coming millennium kingdom on the earth. (The first day of the Feast of Tabernacles was the day the Messiah was born that year)
It is sad that the Jews rejected their Messiah, they do not realize the significance of these Holy Days.
Sorry Dave, but I have to beg to differ with you. There is no possibility that we will live in perfect harmony with the law and thus gain salvation. There is no "IF' we do this or that in that promise. It is absolute and only dependent on our repenting of our sins and placing our hope and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ., the one who lived a perfect life, died for the sins of all who would trust in Him, and rose for our justification. JD is correct, we still sin after salvation but we hate it, repent of it, and ask for God's help in overcoming it each and every day of our lives.
This essay was WAY, WAY too long. I doubt few people here actually read the entire thing. It is important enough not to have been presented as a novel rivalling War and Peace for length. However, Rucker's claim is solid and his arguments air-tight. Though it is not any excuse whatsoever, teachings such as eternal security CAN and DO often allow (supposed) Christians to think they have a license to continue to live in sin. Nor is it the fault of grace, but the fault of a person who does not truly understand the depth of his depravity and the depth of his salvation who would dare take forgiveness lightly. Jesus taught us that we are to be perfect, as God is perfect. While because we retain a sin nature and live in a fallen world, we will never achieve that until heaven, it remains our goal and His command. God did not save us so we could live as if we were never saved. The title says it all - the very reason we should strive against sin is BECAUSE we were forgiven of them! Now, before I commit the same mistake as I noted in the author, I will bring this to a close! ;)
JD, thank you giving the gospel some coverage! We don't hear enough of it. Do you believe Jesus died for your sins? And that he rose again to freely offer you salvation and eternal life? Also, how does the believer "strive to eliminate sin?" Do you have a particular method of striving in mind? And how can one tell when a particular sin has been eliminated? Or are you sating it's the effort that counts? (Not toward salvation obviously... but that it's the striving that matters)?
J D, I'd be very careful interacting with D R. He has made several wild, slanderous, and mendacious claims about you that are no where near the truth. And now, he has started back up with his same interrogation. He is looking for you to make one mistake, and will twist what you say even if you DON'T make one. You do not owe that dishonest, unsincere reader anything except dismissal. If you DO choose to interact with Spiritual Detective McBurney, just remember that everything you say WILL be falsely used against you by this guy. He is not looking for the truth but a fight.
Oscar, I commended JD for including the gospel. You may call making sure someone actually understands the gospel being a "spiritual detective". I have too many people in my life who've died without my having had sought out that assurance. So I don't want to let it happen again. So I ask the question of everyone I care about. How 'bout you? If I haven't already asked, what say you? (And if I have, and you have already answered please forgive my repetition. I make mistakes).
You "commended" Rucker simply as a pretext to start your interrogation of the man. You know that and so do I. Why not just be honest about it, DR? Everyone here can read what you wrote, and if they were here earlier, know that you viciously and mendaciously accused him of things he is not guilty of. You think you are Christ's enforcer. You think you are a sermon inspector. You did NOT do it because you care"; you did it - exactly as before - so you could catch him in some minor infraction and go ballistic accusing him of falling short of your standards and being a heretic. Say it....SAY it....
And no, I'm not ABOUT to fall for your trick again. Interrogate someone else.
Oh, and your humble, sincere, caring, innocent act is tragically hilarious.
It's a rare person who responds to either my biblically based reproof, or my question about belief in defensive hostility. But there are some. You are apparently one of those. But I will not question your motives, nor accuse you of mendacity or viciousness, since I have no way to know for sure why you respond the way you do. I hope you believe.
You know perfectly-well that I "believe", DR, because we have interacted previously. I corrected a devastating omission in your presentation of the Gospel, where you left out its very heart: REPENTANCE. So your "reproof" wasn't very "bibilically-based", as you unbibilically, erroneously, and tragically made salvation about belief alone. Then you became hositle and defensive when I noted your serious doctrinal error. You then pomously began to explain repentance to me as if you were the one who brought it up, remember?
And as I mentioned above, your mendacious claim about you, standing above questioning my motives, is sickening, arrogant, and pretentious. It is nothing more than a pretty, pious act, drenched in self-serving compliments about you being "biblically-based", and in insults directed down your nose toward me, as being "hostile" and "defensive" in response. With a straight face, you laughingly claimed you won't question my motives, while your post was dripping with them.
Then you dare to conclude your comment by pretending not to know why I responded the way I did. You sickeningly act as if you don't understand why it was necessary to defend JD Rucker from your vicious and mendacious attacks on him. You actually have the nerve to pretend that you have no idea why I responded as I did, when you know exactly why. And as if all that was not enough, you end by questioning if I am even a Christian. Wow.
Well written! Thank you! Pray for discernment that Jesus reveals His Will for you. Pray that this country cries out 2 Chronicles 7:14. Peace be with you.
Actually, we don't need to pray for discernment or even to know God's will. The Bible could not have been any clearer about the fact that we are to hate sin and to daily eliminate its remnants, to the best of our ability, after having been forgiven of it. The remainder stands as written.
Being human makes that quite impossible. The one's who claim no sin are delusional at best. We were all conceived in sin and will die in it. Sorry, blame God for creating Adam and Eve. He knew all along what was going to happen. The only real question is why. I believe the only reason we exist at all is the judgement of evil, and you can't have that without the evil. Remember the story of Cain and Able. There were only four people on earth and one of them was murdered. That means one in four people on this planet are evil. Sound about right to you?
Rucker said nothing of the sort. You made up several false ideas stuffed them in the author's mouth, then condemned him for them. And YOU are the one blaming God for evil, even going so far as to say we only exist because of it. That means God made a horrible mistake by creating us before evil existed in this world. And no, the story of Cain and "Able" (whoever HE is) doesn't prove that one in four people on earth are evil. So, NO, that does NOT sound right at all. This was a laundry list of bizarre, unbiblical claims. The final score is Rucker: 1 and Daniel: 0.
It falls short. It tries to keep “once saved, always saved” while also telling people to overcome sin. In practice, the article is a long-winded version of once saved, always saved, dressed in the language of cultural Christianity: God, family, and country. It removes the offense of the cross and the call to work out one’s salvation with fear and trembling. As Peter wrote, a person must make his calling and election sure: “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:10).
1) That is NOT what Rucker said; that is what YOU said Rucker said. 2) Of course the author defended the biblical doctrine of eternal security. He would have been remiss not to have. 3) God, family, and country have nothing to do with this, and YOU are the one bringing them into it. 4) What JD wrote, in no way removes the offense of the cross. 5) And you even agreed with him (admitting we have a responsibility to work out our salvation) while saying he was wrong! 6) The Peter verse has nothing to do with Rucker's claims, or the price of tea in China. You are dishonest and confused, and trying to confuse us as well. NO SALE.
Thank you for this post. I need to print this out since I will be referring to it often.
This is super good, super deep and super true !!
Thankyou ,
Flyboy Stinson
🛫😊🛬👍
The BEST I've ever read! Thank you!!
This is a great article. I have a book by Dr. Larry Crabb with the quote "Jesus did not die for your self-esteem". Anyone who is not disgusted by their own sin does not understand how ugly sin is to God, nor appreciate what it cost Jesus to pay for. Luke 18:9-14
You just wrote an accurate Reader's Digest Version of this article. A perfect summary.
Thanks for that, Keith. More, please!
I don’t believe that forgiveness is automatically given; I believe that forgiveness HAS to be ASKED FOR !
I agree completely, but I don't believe for a minute that Rucker was suggesting it is automatic. I've read enough of his work that I'd bet my mortgage was wasn't saying that isn't necessary.
Again, you are 100% right; if there is ONE basic message of the NT, it is that confession and repentance of sin, and pleading for forgiveness because of Christ's finished work, is absolutely required in order to receive it. Jesus did not just indiscriminately throw forgiveness out of windows to everyone. And He even denied it to those who wrongly believed they didn't need it. Good catch - a very important point!
Thanks JD.
You have done a good job of describing the tension that is Biblical assurance, in the context of remaining sin. I think you may agree that this tension is exacerbated by the evangelism of the last few decades.
When we offer the *full* assurance of salvation to someone who has merely responded to an altar call (or slipped up their hand with every head bowed and every eye closed) or signing a card or the back of a Bible, or even being properly baptized, we show disregard for the scriptural recipe for assurance. These are the starting line of the Christian race but we have treated them as the finish line. Therein is our big problem.
Two places you have alluded to: 2 Peter 1 and all of 1st John are great places to start if we want to examine ourselves and see if we are really in the faith.
You apparently appreciate the Reformed (aka: Calvinistic) writers. I do as well, but you might want to visit the articles at chosenornot.com before you throw in with them altogether. :)
(The book will return to the site soon)
Looking for that Blessed Hope…
DS
I mentioned above the fact that biblical doctrines such as grace and eternal security can be wrongly understood or even misused as a "license" to continue living the same as before. Yes, there is a tension there, but I am convinced it is only on our end. Understood and applied correctly, neither would ever give a truly blood-bought believer to abuse forgiveness. Thanks.
Superb analysis of the Christian's daily battle to mortify sin -- totally in harmony with what the Scriptures teach. Thanks, JD.
I love reading your mind JD, here is something I saved a long time ago to email out, but haven’t yet.
Joshua 7:16
So Joshua rose up early in the morning, and brought Israel by their tribes; and the tribe of Judah was taken:
Joshua 7:17
And he brought the family of Judah; and he took the family of the Zarhites: and he brought the family of the Zarhites man by man; and Zabdi was taken:
Joshua 7:18
And he brought his household man by man; and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was taken.
Joshua 7:19
And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
Joshua 7:20
And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
Joshua 7:21
When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
Joshua 7:22
So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran unto the tent; and, behold, it was hid in his tent, and the silver under it.
Joshua 7:23
And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them unto Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the LORD.
Joshua 7:24
And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
Joshua 7:25
And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
Joshua 7:26
And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.
Matthew Henry says:
7:16-26 See the folly of those that promise themselves secrecy in sin. The righteous God has many ways of bringing to light the hidden works of darkness.
See also, how much it is our concern, when God is contending with us, to find out the cause that troubles us. We must pray with holy Job, Lord, show me wherefore thou contendest with me.
Achan's sin began in the eye. He saw these fine things, as Eve saw the forbidden fruit. See what comes of suffering the heart to walk after the eyes, and what need we have to make this covenant with our eyes, that if they wander they shall be sure to weep for it.
It proceeded out of the heart. They that would be kept from sinful actions, must mortify and check in themselves sinful desires, particularly the desire of worldly wealth.
Had Achan looked upon these things with an eye of faith, he would have seen they were accursed things, and would have dreaded them; but looking on them with an eye of sense only, he saw them as goodly things, and coveted them. When he had committed the sin, he tried to hide it. As soon as he had got this plunder, it became his burden, and he dared not to use his ill-gotten treasure.
So differently do objects of temptation appear at a distance, to what they do when they have been gotten. See the deceitfulness of sin; that which is pleasing in the commission, is bitter in the reflection. See how they will be deceived that rob God. Sin is a very troublesome thing, not only to a sinner himself, but to all about him. The righteous God will certainly recompense tribulation to them that trouble his people. Achan perished not alone in his sin. They lose their own, who grasp at more than their own. His sons and daughters were put to death with him. It is probable that they helped to hide the things; they must have known of them.
What fatal consequences follow, even in this world, to the sinner himself, and to all belonging him! One sinner destroys much good. What, then, will be the wrath to come?
Let us flee from it to Christ Jesus as the sinner's Friend. There are circumstances in the confession of Achan, marking the progress of sin, from its first entrance into the heart to its being done, which may serve as the history of almost every offence against the law of God, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Ernie
SFC, USA (RET)
In God We Trust
So true, JD, words boldly spoken. Thank you.
Yes, sin is the transgression of the law. No one is "saved" until the resurrection to life. After water baptism, we obtain grace for our previous sins that we have repented of. Then we strive to bring ourselves into submission to the law, because we are weak humans. We must constantly be aware of whether we are living in accordance with Yahweh's laws, or whether we have fallen short, and where we must make changes.
"The wages of sin is death". The promise of salvation is life eternal, if we have lived in accordance with Yahweh's perfect law. We were bought with a price, redeemed by the blood of Yahshua the Messiah. The Apostle Paul wrote of this when exhorting the several assemblies to refrain from worldly lusts, and previous lifestyles. He knew we had to contend with the flesh, which wars with the spirit which seeks to do right.
Paul had been a strict Pharisee, but did not have the law written on his heart. After his conversion he kept the Father's laws and commandments, which were still in full force; only the sacrificial laws had been replaced by the perfect sacrifice of the Messiah.
Paul and the apostles and the early believers all kept the Sabbath, and the annual Feast Days, and holy days. The Passover became a memorial of the death of the lamb of Yahweh. Today is the sixth day of the annual Feast of Tabernacles. Tomorrow is a weekly Sabbath, followed by a High Holy day, the Last Great Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, commemorating the coming millennium kingdom on the earth. (The first day of the Feast of Tabernacles was the day the Messiah was born that year)
It is sad that the Jews rejected their Messiah, they do not realize the significance of these Holy Days.
Sorry Dave, but I have to beg to differ with you. There is no possibility that we will live in perfect harmony with the law and thus gain salvation. There is no "IF' we do this or that in that promise. It is absolute and only dependent on our repenting of our sins and placing our hope and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ., the one who lived a perfect life, died for the sins of all who would trust in Him, and rose for our justification. JD is correct, we still sin after salvation but we hate it, repent of it, and ask for God's help in overcoming it each and every day of our lives.
Excellent refutation of Dave's erroneous claim. Both you and Rucker got it right.
This essay was WAY, WAY too long. I doubt few people here actually read the entire thing. It is important enough not to have been presented as a novel rivalling War and Peace for length. However, Rucker's claim is solid and his arguments air-tight. Though it is not any excuse whatsoever, teachings such as eternal security CAN and DO often allow (supposed) Christians to think they have a license to continue to live in sin. Nor is it the fault of grace, but the fault of a person who does not truly understand the depth of his depravity and the depth of his salvation who would dare take forgiveness lightly. Jesus taught us that we are to be perfect, as God is perfect. While because we retain a sin nature and live in a fallen world, we will never achieve that until heaven, it remains our goal and His command. God did not save us so we could live as if we were never saved. The title says it all - the very reason we should strive against sin is BECAUSE we were forgiven of them! Now, before I commit the same mistake as I noted in the author, I will bring this to a close! ;)
JD, thank you giving the gospel some coverage! We don't hear enough of it. Do you believe Jesus died for your sins? And that he rose again to freely offer you salvation and eternal life? Also, how does the believer "strive to eliminate sin?" Do you have a particular method of striving in mind? And how can one tell when a particular sin has been eliminated? Or are you sating it's the effort that counts? (Not toward salvation obviously... but that it's the striving that matters)?
J D, I'd be very careful interacting with D R. He has made several wild, slanderous, and mendacious claims about you that are no where near the truth. And now, he has started back up with his same interrogation. He is looking for you to make one mistake, and will twist what you say even if you DON'T make one. You do not owe that dishonest, unsincere reader anything except dismissal. If you DO choose to interact with Spiritual Detective McBurney, just remember that everything you say WILL be falsely used against you by this guy. He is not looking for the truth but a fight.
Oscar, I commended JD for including the gospel. You may call making sure someone actually understands the gospel being a "spiritual detective". I have too many people in my life who've died without my having had sought out that assurance. So I don't want to let it happen again. So I ask the question of everyone I care about. How 'bout you? If I haven't already asked, what say you? (And if I have, and you have already answered please forgive my repetition. I make mistakes).
You "commended" Rucker simply as a pretext to start your interrogation of the man. You know that and so do I. Why not just be honest about it, DR? Everyone here can read what you wrote, and if they were here earlier, know that you viciously and mendaciously accused him of things he is not guilty of. You think you are Christ's enforcer. You think you are a sermon inspector. You did NOT do it because you care"; you did it - exactly as before - so you could catch him in some minor infraction and go ballistic accusing him of falling short of your standards and being a heretic. Say it....SAY it....
And no, I'm not ABOUT to fall for your trick again. Interrogate someone else.
Oh, and your humble, sincere, caring, innocent act is tragically hilarious.
It's a rare person who responds to either my biblically based reproof, or my question about belief in defensive hostility. But there are some. You are apparently one of those. But I will not question your motives, nor accuse you of mendacity or viciousness, since I have no way to know for sure why you respond the way you do. I hope you believe.
You know perfectly-well that I "believe", DR, because we have interacted previously. I corrected a devastating omission in your presentation of the Gospel, where you left out its very heart: REPENTANCE. So your "reproof" wasn't very "bibilically-based", as you unbibilically, erroneously, and tragically made salvation about belief alone. Then you became hositle and defensive when I noted your serious doctrinal error. You then pomously began to explain repentance to me as if you were the one who brought it up, remember?
And as I mentioned above, your mendacious claim about you, standing above questioning my motives, is sickening, arrogant, and pretentious. It is nothing more than a pretty, pious act, drenched in self-serving compliments about you being "biblically-based", and in insults directed down your nose toward me, as being "hostile" and "defensive" in response. With a straight face, you laughingly claimed you won't question my motives, while your post was dripping with them.
Then you dare to conclude your comment by pretending not to know why I responded the way I did. You sickeningly act as if you don't understand why it was necessary to defend JD Rucker from your vicious and mendacious attacks on him. You actually have the nerve to pretend that you have no idea why I responded as I did, when you know exactly why. And as if all that was not enough, you end by questioning if I am even a Christian. Wow.
Well written! Thank you! Pray for discernment that Jesus reveals His Will for you. Pray that this country cries out 2 Chronicles 7:14. Peace be with you.
Actually, we don't need to pray for discernment or even to know God's will. The Bible could not have been any clearer about the fact that we are to hate sin and to daily eliminate its remnants, to the best of our ability, after having been forgiven of it. The remainder stands as written.
Being human makes that quite impossible. The one's who claim no sin are delusional at best. We were all conceived in sin and will die in it. Sorry, blame God for creating Adam and Eve. He knew all along what was going to happen. The only real question is why. I believe the only reason we exist at all is the judgement of evil, and you can't have that without the evil. Remember the story of Cain and Able. There were only four people on earth and one of them was murdered. That means one in four people on this planet are evil. Sound about right to you?
Rucker said nothing of the sort. You made up several false ideas stuffed them in the author's mouth, then condemned him for them. And YOU are the one blaming God for evil, even going so far as to say we only exist because of it. That means God made a horrible mistake by creating us before evil existed in this world. And no, the story of Cain and "Able" (whoever HE is) doesn't prove that one in four people on earth are evil. So, NO, that does NOT sound right at all. This was a laundry list of bizarre, unbiblical claims. The final score is Rucker: 1 and Daniel: 0.
It falls short. It tries to keep “once saved, always saved” while also telling people to overcome sin. In practice, the article is a long-winded version of once saved, always saved, dressed in the language of cultural Christianity: God, family, and country. It removes the offense of the cross and the call to work out one’s salvation with fear and trembling. As Peter wrote, a person must make his calling and election sure: “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:10).
1) That is NOT what Rucker said; that is what YOU said Rucker said. 2) Of course the author defended the biblical doctrine of eternal security. He would have been remiss not to have. 3) God, family, and country have nothing to do with this, and YOU are the one bringing them into it. 4) What JD wrote, in no way removes the offense of the cross. 5) And you even agreed with him (admitting we have a responsibility to work out our salvation) while saying he was wrong! 6) The Peter verse has nothing to do with Rucker's claims, or the price of tea in China. You are dishonest and confused, and trying to confuse us as well. NO SALE.
Coming from a man who was martyred for his faith. Unless you don't consider that a fall.