FearTheLord

  • Welcome to Christian Forums, a Christian Forum that recognizes that all Christians are a work in progress.

    You will need to register to be able to join in fellowship with Christians all over the world.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!

I've been a Christian for about 23 years. For 20 of those years, I was in Free Grace Theology and Dispensationalism. Around 2015, my pastor's teachings stopped making sense to me as I was studying the Bible more deeply, and I felt that God was pressing me to re-evaluate everything I thought I knew.

Since then, I've gradually come to a very different understanding of the gospel and eschatology (see my Statement of Faith), and I no longer see a unity of faith in the truth among Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox Christians.

I'm very critical of Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism alike. I feel that they each misrepresent Christianity and the Bible in harmful ways, and by this point in history, denominations simply should not exist anymore. This reflects a collective failure among Christians to set aside tradition and seek the unadulterated truth by the Spirit. We have the Bible in our hands, and all the academic resources that we need are available to us, often for free. There is no excuse for the present state of Christianity.

I value respectful dialogue and debate alike. I'm open to correction, though I try my best to reason directly from the scriptures; therefore, I expect nothing less from other Christians.

I'm not shy about expressing my opinions, even bluntly if it's called for, but that's not my preference. I value honesty and objectivity above established tradition.

I'm looking forward to some edifying interactions with other Christians here.
Region / City
USA
Faith
Christian
Country
United States
Personal Statement of Faith
God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Believe that Jesus died for our sins and was raised on the third day; obey his commandment to love one another according to the scriptures. Jesus' commandments are not burdensome (1John 5:3).

If we remain obedient to Jesus' commandments and teachings until the end, we will be saved. It is necessary to remain obedient and to stop sinning to remain saved (John 15). This is possible because in Christ we have been redeemed from the bondage of sin and given the Holy Spirit to enable our obedience (Romans 6-8).

We must follow the Spirit into all truth in order to truly obey Christ with a good conscience and sincere faith. There is no picking and choosing what we wish to believe from Jesus and the apostles. We must acknowledge the truth when confronted with it, or risk slipping into deception unto condemnation.

When it comes to prophecy, there are often at least two layers of interpretation to consider; 1) according to the letter and 2) by the Spirit. This is because most Old Testament prophecy was spoken under the letter of the Law of Moses, and must therefore be fulfilled according to the letter. However, Jesus and the Church were a spiritual mystery hidden in the Law and Prophets, so we must be careful to rightly divide the spiritual mystery from the letter.

This is why Isaiah 7:14 was applied to Jesus' virgin birth, when it was originally a sign for king Ahaz of Judah. This is why John the Baptist was called Elijah, when they were clearly two different people. This is also why Peter was able to apply Joel 2 to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentacost, even though the text Joel 2 really has nothing to do with Pentacost.

With the former in mind, Jesus returned once to gather up the faithful elect of the Church into the clouds in 70 AD. The promise of Jesus' return within the first century was echoed throughout the New Testament, starting with Jesus himself in the Olivet Discourse. It was taught by the apostles and reaffirmed by Jesus in Revelation 1-3 & 22.

I do not acknowledge the spiritual authority of the church fathers or of any subsequent denomination or tradition.

Jesus will return once more in the future to regather the elect of Israel to the land under the covenant at Moab (Deut 30). Then he will rule over the world from Jerusalem for 1,000 years before finally abolishing the Law of Moses and handing the kingdom back to the Father. For the time being, the Law of Moses is only abolished for those who are in Christ.

Signature

Most of the Bible is simple enough to understand if you set aside your presuppositions and keep chipping away at it. The problem is that most will not do either of those things. Instead they rely on pastors, commentaries, and theology books to tell them what to believe.

Following

Trophies

  1. 10

    Can't Stop!

    You've posted 100 messages. I hope this took you more than a day!
  2. 10

    I Like It a Lot

    Your messages have been positively reacted to 25 times.
  3. 5

    Keeps Coming Back

    30 messages posted. You must like it here!
  4. 1

    First Message

    Post a message somewhere on the site to receive this.
  5. 2

    Somebody Likes You

    Somebody out there reacted positively to one of your messages. Keep posting like that for more!
Top Bottom