Philippians 3:4-9 Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.

Paul is speaking here of his life prior to being saved by Christ. He followed the Old Testament and the examples of the Pharisees at the time as closely as he could. Yet, after he came to the full understanding of God through Christ, he counted all his works as nothing. Whatever we do in this life, or what others do on the behalf us after we pass away, will never be good enough to earn us salvation. Everything we need in this life is found on the Cross.

Genesis 4:3-12 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And
the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou
doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee
shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

These verses have a prophetic meaning as well as their literal one, the focus being on praise. We read in these verses of two different offerings made unto God- one which He respected, and one which He did not.
When we praise the Lord, as long as we do it in a manner understanding the Trinity in it's fullness, God will have respect unto our offerings. We are even told that groanings and murmerings are respectable unto God in Romans 8:26-27: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
We see that the ways in which we praise God are very unrestrictive in how we should pray and sing- quite different than the strict laws of burnt offerings under the Old Testament. However, one thing remains the same: we need to direct our praise in the right direction. Philippians 2:10-11 read, "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
The name of Jesus is the key part of our prayers. It isn't enough for people to follow "the light that they have," it has to be through His name. God gives a great deal of attention to names in the bible- he renamed Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Saul to Paul, among many other examples, including cities, wells, and mountains. To apply "a rose by any other name is just as sweet" to spiritual matters is not responsible and will lead you astray.
We also see in the story of Cain and Abel that God is willing and even pushes Cain towards making a worthy sacrifice. God did not have respect unto Cain's offering- but He was not wroth with him, since at this time there was not a written law detailing acceptable sacrifices. Yet Cain, unwilling to be corrected, takes out his anger upon his brother Abel, who did nothing towards Cain to provoke him to wrath.
Later, after the Old Testament was given, there is another example of a disrespectful offering made unto the Lord, in Leviticus 10:1-2: "And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD."
We see from these verses, that once the law is established, God no longer allowed for loose interpretations of what a respectable sacrifice would be. And now, just as He had rules in regards to sacrifice, there are rules now regarding praise. You must praise God alone, as in Exodus 20:3: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," and it must be through the name of Jesus, as in Romans 8:34: "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."

Genesis 41:50-52 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

God's promise to us in regards to our earthy life is made manifestly clear in Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
The important thing to notice in this verse are the major "ifs." If you want God to bless your life, no matter whether you make wrong decisions or just have a streak of bad fortune, you have to love God. Loving God isn't as simple as a declaration of love, however. To truly love someone is to put yourself in a situation where you are subjected to them in certain ways, a mutual example being in 1 Corinthians 7:4: "The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife."
In order for us to truly love God, we must be in subjection to him and his laws. John 14:15 and 21 read, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." (Every time I bring up commandments relating to works, such as this above, I feel compelled to quote all of Ephesians 2, but I've done that in many other posts already.)
Joseph in the book of Exodus has terrible tragedies befall him, none an effect of his own doings. Yet, when his brethren come to Egypt for food, God redeems the promise He made unto Joseph, in that his brothers made obeisance unto him, and that through all his trials and tribulations he saved his family from starvation.
If you are saved, and you aren't following God's commandments, God will not be directing your paths to cause everything to work together for good. You must submit yourself unto God, not for salvation, but for your life on this earth, that you may live in a way that is pleasing to Him, and allow Him to direct your paths towards a fulfilling life.

I've been having some serious doubts. Why did God command the genocide of the Amalekites? Even if they were bound to violently oppose the Israelites and God's salvation plan forever, why couldn't God have made a solution which didn't include the killing of children and animals? I've read various explanations, but I found none satisfactory.

Edited 3/18/2020 10:40:28

@buffalo, good question, I've heard it before, and I'll get back to you with my answer sometime soon - that might require a lengthy answer. ;)

Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

Matthew 5:8 NKJV

Commentary: This verse seems very simple, but I think there actually could be many meanings to this. I'll focus on one, however. I'm now going to use a cheeky analogy: Glasses. When you're looking through glasses, they need to be clear for you to see perfectly - any scratches, dirt or smudges will distort or cover the image you should be receiving. I think this is a little like our hearts; they need to be clear (i.e. pure) of all the scratches, smudges and dirt of our sinful lives before we can clearly see God and His plans for us. If we can do this, we will be blessed. The good news is, we don't have to do it on our own. The Holy Spirit is here to mentor our hearts and help with the spring cleaning. I think that's awesome, and something I personally really need at the moment.

@buffalo, I was going to write a response myself, so I looked up some sources to get a bit of background and make sure I wasn't going to write anything heretical. However, this article impressed me so much I think I'll just link it: https://mercyhillchurch.com/why-did-god-command-saul-to-eliminate-the-amalikites/
This one's also very useful: https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/saul-and-the-amalekite-genocide/
Also, I think it is helpful when referring to this that God did something "worse" once - He flooded the entire earth and killed all the people in it except for one family. I think if one is going to raise objections about the amalekites, one has to also raise them about the Flood, because, as the article says, God's reasons for doing both things were probably very similar. The genocide of the Amalekites was an act of divine judgement on their race for their wickedness.
I'm not sure if that answered everything, but please let me know and I'll talk further if you'd like.
(That's my summary, but please read the articles, they explore it in more detail and look at more [very important] aspects of the situation)

Edited 3/26/2020 01:01:15

(Looks like I've been getting a few verses from the Beatitudes recently. ;)

Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.

Matthew 5:9 NKJV

Commentary: God ultimately desires peace - the peace that was in the Garden of Eden before our Fall, the peace between God and humans, humans and humans. However, when we stuffed up, we ruined that peace, hence there is now war between each other, and war between us and God. But peace is a fundamental part of God's character, and when we try to bring peace to our world, we are showing that we are made in His image and are called His sons and daughters.

I'm renaming this thread Verse of the Week because uni's started and I have less time to write commentaries.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.
Proverbs 18:21 NKJV

Commentary: This verse is saying that our words are powerful, even to the point of having power over life and death (spiritual and potentially physical). Also, this verse points out that we will "eat the fruit" of our tongues - if we are talking negatively all the time, it will seem as though nothing good is happening, simply because we no longer notice the good things, because all we focus on is the bad things; hence we have eaten the fruit of our tongues. So take care, and speak only what is good, so that we may eat good fruit, the fruit of Life!

Edited 3/31/2020 04:15:50

Question: Are all Christians saints? And by saint, I mean that they go to Heaven. Or do some believers go to hell? I ask because I've heard the phrase 'all Christians are saints'. I pondered this and concluded that any so-called Christian who goes to hell wasn't a true believer in the first place. Is this accurate?

EDIT: I read both of those links. Very informative.

Edited 4/2/2020 05:18:32

To answer your question, buffalo, I would say yes, all Christians are saints (if saints are defined as people who go to heaven). I also agree with the statement that those who don't go to heaven are not Christians - if you truly are a Christian, your salvation is guaranteed.

@LND Regarding the verse from Proverbs, it's also important not to take it to the extreme like many televangelists do nowadays. Just because someone speaks positive things, it doesn't mean that's what's going to happen in their lives, and vice versa. God is sovereign, meaning He can do whatever He wants in someone's life.

@Buffalo Either they weren't believers in the first place, or they lost their salvation by continuously living in unrepentant sin.

@Pepe true, but I didn't say that. 😉

Verse of the Week:

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:10 NKJV

Commentary:
This verse is very straightforward - however, I'd just like to mention one thing. Notice how the verse says "for righteousness' sake" - this means it is not just any persecution that will make the sufferer blessed, it is only persecution that is suffered for a righteous (i.e. Godly) cause - your faith, helping other people, etc. Also, "blessed" does not necessarily mean the persecution will end; many people are killed for their faith. However, "theirs is the kingdom of heaven" is the blessing here, I think.

Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.”

Mark 16:2‭-‬7 NKJV

"I hope you got your shittin' pants on. Cause you, are about to shit your pants"

@berdan, there is a different place to put that instead of this thread please!

Read the thread title and if you can't make out what the thread is about from the title, read the thread posts.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1 NKJV

Commentary: this is, I think, one of God's most amazing promises. For those who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, there is now no condemnation; i.e., no punishment for your son's, as they have been forgiven. Therefore you should not feel guilty or shame when you sin, but instead ask God for forgiveness, try not to do it again, and forget about it! It is no longer on your record! You will not be condemned! But remember, this is only for those who walk according to the Spirit - endeavouring not to sin, and sincerely seeking forgiveness when we do. Then there is no condemnation!

Advice Of The Day


"I Dont care If Your God Or Mine Exist As I See It Either All Gods Exist Or None Do"-goralgn

First of all, I am not going to let this thread die.

Second of all - Did you know 75% of people who grow up Christian, drop out of the Church in ages 13-20 and declare themselves atheists.

@Viking Boi, I wanted this thread to die.

Maybe so called churches (to differentiate them from the real church, which is God's elect) should start acting Christian and preach the whole gospel. On one side (primarily Pentecostal), you have those who emphasize "spirit" and emotion, whose messages lack any kind of substance. On the other side (primarily Baptist), you have those who emphasize knowledge at the expense of living by the Holy Spirit to overcome known sin and be conformed to Christ.
Right now I'm reading a great book by a Lutheran pastor who stood up to Hitler and ended up being martyred, called The Cost of Discipleship, in which he addresses things like this.