Ok, like I said upon the opening of my post, there WILL be those that are 'unable' to come to the truth for the sake of 'their OWN' understanding.
Let's try a 'little MORE' truth:
Ephesians 4:1
11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
17This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
18Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
19Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20But ye have not so learned Christ;
21If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
22That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
25Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
26Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
27Neither give place to the devil.
28Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Now, read this folks and see if you are able to grasp NOT EVERY WORD, but WHAT the words MEAN.
Firstly, HOW is edification brought into being in ANY sense? Understanding THIS is CRUCIAL in being able to understand WHAT is being said above. Once one comes to the understanding of THIS, ONLY THEN is it EVEN POSSIBLE to 'begin' to understand what has been offered.
Edification is 'the BUILDING UP'. Agreed? Building up of 'what'? Here we are dealing with the BODY with Christ AS The HEAD. Folks, there is ONLY ONE WAY to build up the Body of Christ. This can ONLY be done through LOVE. You cannot build up the Body through OUR ABILITY. This can ONLY be done through The Spirit. And HOW can this be done? ONLY through the LOVE OF GOD and the LOVE OF EACH OTHER.
EVERYTHING God has done since He created the FIRST MAN has been done through LOVE. God IS love. THAT is what He has 'tried' to TEACH us since our beginning.
When we truly begin to understand this, it is at THIS POINT ONLY that we are able to understand what it 'means' to be PERFECT IN CHRIST. We are UNABLE to be 'without sin' in our lives. We are UNABLE to do EVERYTHING right. We are UNABLE to be AS CHRIST. BUT, we ARE able to come to a 'perfect understanding' of WHAT God IS. And, we ARE able to offer this to God and each other in The Body.
When we are given the understanding that 'God's Laws will be 'written in their hearts', WHAT do you think THIS means? It means that for those that LOVE God, He will offer us the ability to follow IN LOVE. That our hearts will be 'changed', allowing us to experience the LOVE of God and THEN be able to offer THIS SAME LOVE TO Him and EACH OTHER.
George, you state that what I offer is UNTRUE. I contend that you simply don't want to 'see' the truth. Yes, there has and always WILL BE a remnant. But the Jews as a WHOLE have turned their collective backs on God OVER AND OVER again. They had done so, ONCE AGAIN, at the time of Chirst. WHY do you 'think' that God had allowdd HIS PEOPLE to, ONCE AGAIN, be enslaved by 'another people'? For at the time of Christ we find the Jews, ONCE AGAIN, dominated by 'another people' named ROMANS. Why do you suppose that God had allowed this?
The ONLY reason that Chirst came WHEN He did was that IT WAS TIME. What do you 'think' was the determining factor that was used by God to DECIDE 'THE TIME' of the coming of Christ? That His people were at the brink of being TOTALLY LOST. Therefore Christ was sent to 'save them'.
Most of the Jewish people NEVER had ANY love for God. They did what the HAD to do according to the law and love played little of NO part in it. For you to deny this is to deny history as offered through The Word. For IF they had possessed LOVE, there would have been NO veering away from God EVER.
Christ PLAINLY states that ALL the law and ALL the prophets hand on 'these TWO'. These two WHAT and WHAT do they mean? When Christ states that those that love HIM will follow HIS Commandments, WHAT commandments is He refering to? Jewish LAW? Hardly, my friend. I know that YOU would like to 'see' it this way, but this is NOT what has been offered. Christ FULFILLED The Jewish law and then offer HIS COMMANDMENTS, given to him 'anew' from God, The Father.
George, it's NOT about YOU, or ME, or EVEN THE BODY. It's about WHAT MAKES THE BODY. And WHAT is it that 'makes' the Body? What IS the cornerstone of The Body? CHRIST. And WHAT is the ONE thing that Christ came and offered? LOVE. If this IS the truth then the The Body cannot exist without it's cornerstone. And IF what Christ came to offer was knowledge of LOVE, then the Body CANNOT exist without an intimate knowledge and understanding OF THIS LOVE. Read the PREVIOUS chapter.
So, you asked a question and the answer has been given clearly. Either you are willing to accept the 'truth' or you are not. That is a matter of whether one chooses to accept what is offered or whether they MUST have it 'thier way'. Nothing new under the sun.
The answer is this. REGARDLESS of how hard one 'tries' to BE what they "THINK" they are 'supposed' to be, the truth is that what EVERY WORD OF THE BIBLE was given us FOR was the desire of God to teach us ONE THING; LOVE. For EVERY law EVER GIVEN was NOT given to BIND US, but to TEACH US, ONE THING; LOVE. EVERY PROPHET that EVER came and told us of God's Word was sent to teach us ONE THING: LOVE. And that there are STILL those that are able to deny these words only goes to PROVE how difficult a task God has undergone to teach us from the beginning.
To 'build up' the body can ONLY be done through the love offered to EACH of it's member BY each of it's members. Without this LOVE, there IS NO BODY. In order for us to become PERFECT in The Body, there is NOTHING that we are able to offer EXCEPT LOVE. And ONCE we begin to allow The Spirit to 'teach us' this love, ONLY THEN are we able to grow into a PERFECT UNDERSTANDING.
Now, read these words and join them with what I offered in the FIRST post and 'see' if you are 'still unable' to understand the words offered by Christ and His apostles concerning that which matters MOST.
MEC
