Re: Does man really have a sin nature or is that just another exuse?
=glorydaz;588030]You CAN know....you can read the whole thing right there in Acts 10, where Cornelius is introduced, through Acts 11 where Peter recounts how he preached the gospel to him and explained the way of salvation.
I've read it many times. But I still don't know how Cornelius perservered in the faith although I would trust he did. I don't judge who's going to heaven and who's going to hell glorydaz, who's saved and who's unsaved. We've talked about this before. Even Paul said he could be cast away if he did not put aside his flesh.
I showed you Cornelius's condition before salvation, and you discount it because you don't know that he was unsaved. Before, you said those who aren't saved have a false image of God. Which is it? Then you brought up Abraham, who, indeed, did have the gospel preached to him. I'm glad you knew that.
Your use of Cornelius was to show men can do good although they hadn't heard the Gospel, right? Well I never claimed men could do no good without being saved. When you speak of saved you speak of believing in the Christ. However I am saying a believer in Christ has the same Word of God in them that Christ is, that is how they come to believe. So as they are all taught by God that come to Christ, these are in affect already chosen and appointed to salvation. Cornelius is a good example of that. So I would not say he was unsaved for he knew Christ before he heard of Christ. That is why Abraham saw Christ before Christ ever was because the Word which Christ is was in Abraham. God's word was in Adam but Adam had not enough confidence in himself. Jesus is the affirmation to trust in the Word of God in us so as not to be bullied by the devil.
He wasn't "exusing" anything. He was forgiving his enemies as we're to do, whether they deserve it or not. He wouldn't go to His death holding unforgiveness in His heart...that would have been sin, and He had no sin in Him. We forgive our enemies so our own conscience will be right with God.
One of the smartest things I've seen you write.
Do you think when you forgive someone their sins are forgiven by God?
This is a good question. As I can't speak for God, I will say I believe forgiveness is available since I intercede on their behalf, but it is clear to me that the false image of god must be addressed so that the True Image can live in the man. Therefore I believe God is able to change a man by revealing Himself. And through our suffering at the hands of those we pray for gives us clout with God to hear our intercession.
Christ's work on the cross took care of sin...not his request on the cross that the Father forgive them. He was verbalizing His WORK on the cross...forgiving SIN not excusing sin.
Well then we agree, for I said forgiving the blindness not saying it was okay to crucify the innocent.
You seem to think that all men have an excuse not to believe in God, and God says they have none.
Well there you're wrong. I believe all men must have an absolute so there is no excuse, but having the correct absolute is necessary. I hope that clears that up.
"Quit blaming people for their sin?" If people aren't to blame for sin, then God had no reason for the cross.
I think you are misunderstanding what I say. The people commit the sin because of vanity. They trust in their false absolutes and therefore have sin (seperation from God) because they reason upon a false absolute. It can surely be said that man has no excuse for making up their own Truth purely in the sense that we know what is goodness, but men don't see that they have not acknowledged the Godhead by claiming it as their own initiative and therefore their prerogative.
Why did Adam and Eve have to leave the garden...
Because they had to learn the hard way. God did Man a great favor by not allowing men to eat of the tree of life in their condition of vanity.
you say they weren't to blame?
They are to blame for being gullible.
Why did God destroy all those people in the flood if they were merely blind fools?
This is the single most perfect type of what the wrath of God is like against the ungodly. A wrath he Himself repented of. A great topic for a thread. I could go on in much detail according to my own speculation. Suffice it for now to conclude that God hated the suffering sin was causing and onlt Noah and his family escaped. Not a good indication of freewill.
Why will there be gnashing of teeth after the Judgment?
Because people thought they were righteous and found out they were not.
Don't I? The thief that "repented," as I mentioned before, only knew he deserved to die. The thief did not presume to think that his own death would make him right with God. That's why he expressed his belief in Jesus...he had faith.
The thief who had faith accepted his cross even as Jesus did. He was right with God therefore. It cannot be called justice however if a thief is crucified for stealing. But the fact that the man accepted his lot indicates his faith was greater than justice.