I know Christ said He spoke in parables so as to prevent people from being saved, so there's an admitted precedent for Him doing that.
It's kind of troubling that we're left to "fill in the blank" on crucial matters.
Christ says God's will is "believe" (John 6), but, also, many leaders did "believe", but wouldn't confess Him bc they loved the praise of man more than the praise of God : clearly, then, an honest reader would have to take that into account when defining "believe".
That is, He doesn't just mean "believe", with nothing added to it, but, bare minimum, "believe" must (if it is to result in life) include confessing Him, which changes the meaning of "believe"--additionally, since Christ clarifies that eating His flesh and drinking His blood means being sent by Him (John 6:56), this potentially adds even more, beyond "and confess", to the definition of "believe (unto life)".
Also, the idea that indulging in sin ("they loved man's praise more than God's praise") can nullify your belief is introduced--which is also taught in Heb 3.
So, these sort of difficulties pile uncertainty on top of uncertainty. It says "believe", but it really means something else by that than I would initially have assumed--and the more I read, the more details I take in, the less certain I become, which you would think would be the opposite purpose of the Bible.
He says He won't lose any sheep, because He's a good Shepherd, and lays His life down for His sheep, but He also says He lays His life down only for His friends, and you're only His friend if you do what ever He tells you, and He's the True Vine, and some branches don't remain, and are thrown in the fire; Matthew 18 says people can be forgiven, and then the forgiveness can be rescinded because they didn't behave right (so basically we save ourselves by our behavior, because forgiveness is not sufficient without our right behavior).
Jesus saves, and we're not allowed to believe we are saving ourselves with good deeds, or else we're idolaters ("beside Me, there is no Savior"), yet, if we don't do His works, we're lambasted as "lazy" (Mt 25)--meaning He requires work to be saved (if "lazy" people are hellbound, only "hard workers" make it to heaven), yet, you're not allowed to think of your works as saving you, even though it's true. You're not allowed to acknowledge the truth.
There are many such examples.
It's a difficult thing not to accept but to even understand so as to even qualify as accepting or rejecting.
So, then, solutions have to be found for these problems--and there are some, but they're not fully satisfactory, nor are they practical (they may sound right "on paper", but don't result in joyful fellowship with God).
It's kind of troubling that we're left to "fill in the blank" on crucial matters.
Christ says God's will is "believe" (John 6), but, also, many leaders did "believe", but wouldn't confess Him bc they loved the praise of man more than the praise of God : clearly, then, an honest reader would have to take that into account when defining "believe".
That is, He doesn't just mean "believe", with nothing added to it, but, bare minimum, "believe" must (if it is to result in life) include confessing Him, which changes the meaning of "believe"--additionally, since Christ clarifies that eating His flesh and drinking His blood means being sent by Him (John 6:56), this potentially adds even more, beyond "and confess", to the definition of "believe (unto life)".
Also, the idea that indulging in sin ("they loved man's praise more than God's praise") can nullify your belief is introduced--which is also taught in Heb 3.
So, these sort of difficulties pile uncertainty on top of uncertainty. It says "believe", but it really means something else by that than I would initially have assumed--and the more I read, the more details I take in, the less certain I become, which you would think would be the opposite purpose of the Bible.
He says He won't lose any sheep, because He's a good Shepherd, and lays His life down for His sheep, but He also says He lays His life down only for His friends, and you're only His friend if you do what ever He tells you, and He's the True Vine, and some branches don't remain, and are thrown in the fire; Matthew 18 says people can be forgiven, and then the forgiveness can be rescinded because they didn't behave right (so basically we save ourselves by our behavior, because forgiveness is not sufficient without our right behavior).
Jesus saves, and we're not allowed to believe we are saving ourselves with good deeds, or else we're idolaters ("beside Me, there is no Savior"), yet, if we don't do His works, we're lambasted as "lazy" (Mt 25)--meaning He requires work to be saved (if "lazy" people are hellbound, only "hard workers" make it to heaven), yet, you're not allowed to think of your works as saving you, even though it's true. You're not allowed to acknowledge the truth.
There are many such examples.
It's a difficult thing not to accept but to even understand so as to even qualify as accepting or rejecting.
So, then, solutions have to be found for these problems--and there are some, but they're not fully satisfactory, nor are they practical (they may sound right "on paper", but don't result in joyful fellowship with God).
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