At first glance I'm sure everyone answered in the negative. Though, given the kinds of programs that are called "christian" in this nation and the general beliefs of "christians" in this nation, most of us would admit that Satan is the most eminent evangelist in the free world.
The most common signs are:
prosperity teaching - the belief that you can bribe God to fill your wallet
emergent teaching - the belief that we can reconcile the lost to God without the Bible or Jesus
prophets - the mistaken belief that modern prophets are able to use divination (something that God hates)
"we're all God's children" - the misapplication of Genesis to infer that God's plan was for everyone who's ever lived to go to heaven and are part of his blessing, despite the fact that Ephesians call the unsaved "children of wrath"
pulpit evangelists - the mistaken belief that if we just get the lost in to hear our pastor, he'll set 'em straight
(add more to the list, since I know I haven't hit them all by any stretch)
LUKEWARMERS- THE BELIEF THAT WE CAN SERVE GOD ON A SUNDAY AND SERVE OUR SELFISH DESIRES DURING THE WEEK. (REVELATION 3:16). IN OTHER WORDS, THE BELIEF THAT WE CAN RIGHTEOUSLY BLEND WITH LIGHT AND DARKNESS.
The John 3:16 Gospel - the mistaken belief that saying either "God is Love" or "Jesus loves them/us/you" is sufficient for all arguments. For example, when speaking out against child molesters and someone blurts out "but God loves child molesters too".... =( This belief is the same sin Thyatira was guilty of in Revelation 2.
yeah ,Im hearing you on this one,Word faith,prosperity gospel,O"steen,watered down feel good,god is just love,no judgement,everybody goes to heaven,if you just have enough faith,and give enough money....you can have anything you want!Im so sick of all that garbage!These people fail to read the whole bible!I would also add,mormonism,jehovahs witness,Keep preachin brother
I'm relieved to see that some of our dear brethren know that everything that says "Christian" is not of the Lord. It is so important in these last days to discern what is of God and what is not. By that I mean who is serving in the spirit and who is preaching in their own wisdom.
But God is working and raising up spiritual men and women who know the difference. And an "imposter we will not follow" because "His sheep hear His voice".
This Brother is absolutely correct! Modern Christianity is nothing more than a conglomeration of cults, over 34,000PLUS to be in fact..
Damnable heretics spreading the doctrines of the damned: "Do you want to get saved?"
Where do these so-called ministers get this garbage from? It is not in the scripture, that is for certain. They get it from hell!This Brother is correct..
Go and read John 6:44, and tell me, "Does Jesus say that anyone can be saved if they desire? NO!
You say that the salvation of the Lord is not for everyone, and yet the Word of God continually refers to .. All... whosoever...whoever...
I see your reference to John 6:44 .. 44No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 3:16 ...16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life
( His word say ... Loved the WORLD ... and that WHOSOEVER) so why do you choose to put a limit on the Love of God for Us His people ... it is Us His People who are limited in our willingness to hear ..believe and be drawn by Him to His Son ...
Just briefly ..so then what is the Word of God saying to us in 2Peter 3:9 ...
9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
( Not willing that ANY should PERISH..but that ALL should come to repentance)
the word of God says ALL .. is that just chosen few ? I think not ..... as all means all God says what He means and Means what He says ... He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers23:19) if He said it He meant it and will not change his mind
Romans 10:13 I am writing to ecclesia...
You say that the salvation of the Lord is not for everyone, and yet the Word of God continually refers to .. All... whosoever...whoever...
I see your reference to John 6:44 .. 44No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 3:16 ...16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life
( His word say ... Loved the WORLD ... and that WHOSOEVER) so why do you choose to put a limit on the Love of God for Us His people ... it is Us His People who are limited in our willingness to hear ..believe and be drawn by Him to His Son ...
Just briefly ..so then what is the Word of God saying to us in 2Peter 3:9 ...
9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
( Not willing that ANY should PERISH..but that ALL should come to repentance)
the word of God says ALL .. is that just chosen few ? I think not ..... as all means all God says what He means and Means what He says ... He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers23:19) if He said it He meant it and will not change his mind
I am writing to ecclesia...
You say that the salvation of the Lord is not for everyone, and yet the Word of God continually refers to .. All... whosoever...whoever...
I see your reference to John 6:44 .. 44No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 3:16 ...16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life
( His word say ... Loved the WORLD ... and that WHOSOEVER) so why do you choose to put a limit on the Love of God for Us His people ... it is Us His People who are limited in our willingness to hear ..believe and be drawn by Him to His Son ...
Just briefly ..so then what is the Word of God saying to us in 2Peter 3:9 ...
9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
( Not willing that ANY should PERISH..but that ALL should come to repentance)
the word of God says ALL .. is that just chosen few ? I think not ..... as all means all God says what He means and Means what He says ...
He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers23:19) if He said it He meant it and will not change his mind
Romans 10:13
For �whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.�
Romans 10:9
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
like I said it is not God who is limited ...but US who are limited and unwilling ..if we do not heed His voice ..turn for our sinnful ways and receive His gift of Salvation ....
God Bless .. and thanks to all for allowing me to have a voice in this ...
Ok so apparently I do not know how to post sorry that my last post was posted 3 times or more it would appear ..do not know why that happened as it was only clicked once
Im sorry Bush256, but are you trying to make us doubt the leaders God has put for us?
Hebrews 13v17 - Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
1 Timothy 5:17
The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
Finally - Romans 13 v1,2
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Please don't try to encourage people to doubt and disrespect the authorities God has given them.
KidzWorker: I understand what you're saying, but there is a time and a place where we must see if these people are bearing rotten or good fruit.
HisAlways, the Arminian viewpoint is not consistent with all of Scripture.
John 6:44 refers to God the Father doing the drawing first, and you cannot get more specific than that. One of the rules of interpretation is to use the more specific verses in order to define what the broader verses mean.
Yes, God so loved the WORLD, but if you read the whole passage it's ultimately limited to those who eventually believe. In Strong's Lexicon, this is what is cited:
(world)kosmos:
8b. of believers only, John 1:29; 3:16; 3:17; 6:33; 12:47 1 Cor. 4:9; 2 Cor. 5:19
Notice the author cited extra verses next to this definition to clear up the common misconception that "world" means the exact same thing in all passages of Scripture.
Remember also, that faith and the ability to believe is a gift.
"For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake." - Philippians 1:29 (KJV)
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." - Ephesians 2:8 (KJV)
"As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep." - John 10:15 (KJV)
It couldn't be any clearer that Christ died for the sheep only. Can people decide to be sheep? NO! The shepherd chooses his own sheep.
Regarding 1 Peter 3:9, you must read it in CONTEXT.
In 2 Peter 3:9, who is the author addressing? Everyone in the whole world? Scroll back up to verse 8, and... Aha! He's talking to the "beloved". If you want even further proof, go back to the beginning of 1 Peter. You can clearly see that it is addressing God's ELECT!
Now, I'm sure this will not be enough to convince you, so let's go into the Greek.
Now, the word "all" is "pas" in Greek. And just like "kosmos", there is a definition cited that is "some of all types". Now this just means some of all types of people, irrespective of race, gender, social class, etc. Remember in other Scriptures it talks about salvation not only available to the Jew, but the Greek also. Remember, CROSS REFERENCING!
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." - Romans 1:16 (KJV)
Now, another word we should look at is the word "some". Being "tis" in Greek, this is referenced as Strong's number 5100. Now, if we look at the word "any", we can see that it turns out to be the SAME Greek word! It is also referenced as "tis", or number 5100.
Now in the proper context, this is translated as "a certain one", or "certain ones".
This part literally reads: "The Lord is not willing that certain ones should perish."
As I mentioned earlier, the word for "all" in Greek is "pas". If you look into Strong's Concordance, the Greek scholar himself cites at the bottom that this word is almost always translated as "some of all types", and almost never translated to mean everyone in the entire world.
Strong writes: "... "the whole world has gone after him" Did all the world go after Christ? "then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan."Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem, baptized in Jordan? "Ye are of God, little children", and the whole world lieth in the wicked one". Does the whole world there mean everybody? The words "world" and "all" are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture, and it is very rarely the "all" means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts-- some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemption to either Jew or Gentile ..."
"He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not." - John 1:10 (KJV)
Are you going to say that here the world means "everyone who ever lived"?
How about here:
"Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing." - John 18:20 (KJV)
Does "the world" here mean "everyone who ever lived"?
No, of course not. In the first case it means "the world of the unbelievers" and in the second case it means "publicly without hiding".
In the same way, John 3:16, as I demonstrated earlier, refers to "the world of the believers".
I could not agree with you more, HisAlways, on what Romans 10:13 says and elsewhere about salvation.
Yes, WHOSOEVER, and WHOEVER calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved; but how is it really? Are men capable in their unconverted state to seek after God?
"There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." - Romans 3:11 (KJV)
We are DEAD in our trespasses and sins, and our heart is only inclined towards evil, and we are in bondage to it. We still have a free will, but think of it as being limited, since the heart of man will never want to seek the things of God.
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)" - Ephesians 2:5 (KJV)
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." - Genesis 6:5 (KJV)
So does God choose anyone for salvation? Certainly!
"For many are called, but few are chosen." - Matthew 22:14 (KJV)
"According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." - Ephesians 1:4 (KJV)
"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." - Ephesians 1:11 (KJV)
You must understand that God is sovereign and we are not. The idolatry of decisional regeneration is not taught at all in Scripture.
I would encourage you to read Romans 9. God has vessels of wrath fitted to destruction as well as vessels of mercy.
His ways are not our ways! You must understand that double predestination, when defined rightly is Biblical. When God hardened the heart of Pharaoh, this was PASSIVE intervention, because Pharaoh was already inclined towards evil. This is a righteous act of judgment on God's part; and if we cross reference:
"For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature." - Romans 1:26 (KJV)
We can see here that it is not an evil thing to give someone over to the sin they love. This is a dreadful judgment of God.
The antithesis is different however. The only way ANYONE can be saved is if God intervenes ACTIVELY in our lives to enable us to. Remember, salvation is an act of God, and not a collective effort.
Is God loving to everyone in the world? Yes! This is what we call the doctrine of common grace. You must realize that just the mere fact that we can eat good, breathe air, or have rain fall on us is a loving act from God.
However, God's love is only manifest in the greatest way to His children, or those who are in Christ.
In the end, Christ's death was sufficient to pay for the sins of everyone who ever lived, but only efficient for the elect.
I would suggest to watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue21vCvpoqI
