Knowing ourselves and God

[FacingTruth]

In this world, people are struggling to find meaning but don’t understand why. Most of us may have mere glimpses of truth but can be easily swayed from seeing it for what it is. And debates and arguments are no sources of truth, that is the rot that people are obsessed with. A complete abomination to God, which is truth. There are plenty of people who don’t care about anyone or anything. They talk of philosophies that say truth is relative and that there is no right or wrong. Lost in philosophical concepts that don’t have anything to do with what is actual, they become unreality. The precedent that truth is relative allows for chaos, obviously. It enables people to not care about others or take responsibility, nothing matters in their minds and nothing can. But when you become callous, invulnerable and insensitive to others there is no love. And God is very real, not just by the books but in reality. What a silly thing to quibble over, every person speaks directly out of their own nature. If a person is attracted to misery and hatred then that is what they are. If a person is spiritually impotent meaning completely incapable of growth and learning to love then that is what they are. And to God, such personalities have no value. What actually matters IS love, and God seeing what truly matters does not want anyone to fail. He hates the sin and loves the sinner. It is ultimately up to a person to decide what they want. To forgive or to join in havoc. Forgiveness is the answer, ultimately. So a person must be aware of themselves and where they are, not run away from truth in fear nor blame anybody for their state. We cannot feel like victims nor throw our hands in the air. Learning the network of your brain and seeing what you are is just as important as knowing God

 

[Tenchi]

In this world, people are struggling to find meaning but don’t understand why. Most of us may have mere glimpses of truth but can be easily swayed from seeing it for what it is. And debates and arguments are no sources of truth, that is the rot that people are obsessed with. A complete abomination to God, which is truth.

??? I know it is a popular idea in secular, western culture that there is no knowable, over-arching, objective Truth; but this isn't what God says is the case in His word, the Bible. Instead, He makes it really clear in Scripture that we can not only know the Truth, but that we ought to know it well enough to teach it to others!

Hebrews 5:12-14
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,
13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Ephesians 4:11-15
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

If we are all laboring to find meaning and have only mere glimpses of truth, how can any of us be teachers of the Truth, of God's Truth? How can anyone become mature spiritually? What's the Bible for, if not to reveal The Truth about ourselves, God and our relationship to Him? Why did God give it to us, if its contents are impossible to understand?

Debates and arguments are vital to coming to an understanding of the Truth. Yes, being human, we can have bad motives for debating and arguing, but this doesn't mean all debate and argument is therefore bad. The Bible says that "iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." The idea in this verse is that friends "sharpen" each other's "iron" by abrasive contact. This abrasive contact of ideas, and beliefs, and values ("iron") hones thinking, refines ideas, sharpens views so that false ideas, weak views, and poor thinking are all exposed and can then be corrected.

And God Himself, through the prophet Isaiah says,

Isaiah 1:18
18 Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD...

And God is very real, not just by the books but in reality. What a silly thing to quibble over, every person speaks directly out of their own nature. If a person is attracted to misery and hatred then that is what they are. If a person is spiritually impotent meaning completely incapable of growth and learning to love then that is what they are. And to God, such personalities have no value.

??? Wow. This is flat-out false.

Romans 5:6-8
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Titus 3:3-6
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,
5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

1 Timothy 1:15
15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners...

He hates the sin and loves the sinner.

??? Who does God punish in hell? Sin or sinners?

 

[for_his_glory]

So many are searching truth not knowing what real truth is or who or what their purpose is in this life. Many search with emotions that can be deceiving at times while they think with a carnal mind that seems logical to them, but yet are blinded from truth. It's a logical mind of following worldly knowledge, or hand me down traditional knowledge, especially when it comes to trying to figure who they are or even who God is to them. There is worldly truths, but the greater is Spiritual truth not only about who we are or where we are going in this life, but Spiritual truth that places us in knowing the mind of Christ and to walk in God's will for our life that gives us the ultimate purpose of who we are in Christ and that of God's will for our life as we learn to walk in obedience to His commands. Do we hold all truth, no. Should we be opened to hear the thoughts and views of others, yes. But it all boils down to what, who and how we want to believe. It's up to each one of us to figure it out what path we want to choose to walk down. We can only hope it is the right one as some times there isn't any right or wrong.

 

[WIP]

Discussion locked at the request of the OP.

 

[GodsGrace]

This thread is now open and moved to Apologetics.