that is not to say the Lord our God does not allow children and the aborted who never had the chance to be Baptized into the Kingdom on his own call, that's an option play 8^)
Posted on 07/23/2016 8:18:41 AM PDT by pinochet
Calvinists teach that a tiny percentage of baptized Christians known as the "elect" will go to heaven. But most Christians are not Calvinists. If human meritocracy is not needed to get to heaven, shouldn't the majority of baptized Christians go to heaven?
Water does not mean baptism...And baptize does not mean water...Otherwise the following verse would make no sense...
Mar 1:8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
John 3:5 is referring to 2 separate births as confirmed by Nicodemus when he says:
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Nicodemus knew about the water birth which of course was not baptism and he asked how could he go thru another water birth to be born again...
Jesus then explains:
Joh 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
The birth from water (not bapatism) is of the flesh (you don't get born from water baptism)...The 2nd birth is a Spiritual birth, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, from above...The scripture there is very plain and easy to understand...
Some people ask why Jesus would have expected the tree to have fruit in the spring, at the time of the Passover, when the usual crop is in the fall. This is because some varieties develop a crop in the spring on the last year's growth. they are called "breba" figs (click here).
How could the tree appear to be killed overnight? In my studies on it a few years ago, this passage came up (I've lost the link):
"Fig trees are prone to attack by nematodes (especially Meloidogyne spp.) and, in the tropics, have been traditionally planted close to a wall or building so that the roots can go underneath and escape damage. A heavy mulch will serve equally well. Today, control is possible with proper application of nematicides. In India, a stem-borer, Batocera rufomaculata, feeds on the branches and may kill the tree. Lepidopterous pests in Venezuela include the fig borer, Azochis gripusalis, the larvae of which feed on the new growth, tunnel down through the trees to the roots and kill the tree. Another, called cachudo de la higuera, has prominently horned larvae up to 3 1/8 in (8 cm) long that can destroy a fig tree in a few days. There are also coleopterous insects of the genera Epitrix and Colaspis that perforate and severely damage the leaves and shoots. Scale insects include Asterolecanium sp. which attacks the bark of trees weakened by excessive humidity or prolonged drought, and the lesser enemy, Saissetia haemispherica."
(Check out Mt. 3:10; Lk. 3:0) The narrative need not necessarily be of a supernatural event, but one in which Jesus, not finding "breba" fruits, recognized rapidly developing irreversible disease or insects killing the tree, and seeint tht it was done for, pronounced it dead, never to bear again. This could have a similar parallel of a human in his sinful condition, or in a nation of humans, so far advanced that deadly damage to ones life and spiritual productivity could not be undone.
Just an observation for you on the fig tree experience (Mt. 21:19-21; Mk. 13:11, 20-21).
I disagree (Isaiah 50)
Grace came with the resurrection of Jesus and the Church AAge is the age of Grace in Christ Jesus. Prior to the Age of Grace was the period of the law, law which Israel had been tasked to share among all the nations but which had become instead a closed and exclusive cabal, of Jews making a show of following the laws but having none of the power therein thus producing no fruit of God's special attention for them.
Grace will also be in play during the Tribulation as a number so great no man can number it will be ushered into Heaven by God's Grace.
Amen.
That is most optimistic of you. :o) I think so too.
You say Amen; have you been born of the Spirit, born from above? We know you’ve been born from the water world of the womb since you’re writing on this forum.
that is not to say the Lord our God does not allow children and the aborted who never had the chance to be Baptized into the Kingdom on his own call, that's an option play 8^)
AMEN! The Spirit is not bound to the traditions of men; babies are seen in Heaven, in the Throne Room!
Catholiciism would have us believe this is because they were sprinkled as infants by one of the magic priests of that religion.
says who??? i AM Catholic... course that prolly discounts anything i say here
John 10:27-30 disagrees with you. To be saved means to assent to His Lordship. You are no longer your own. Hew bought you out of the market with His Blood, and not even you yourself can escape His ownership. And He never lets go. If you do not understand this, know this, and agree with it, you are not saved. Romans 3:22-26.
Nah, when you post truth it needs no assistance or vouchsafe. But may I ask, do you believe Catholic sprinkling of infants is necessitated for entry to Heaven if that child dies in early childhood or infancy?
The two hands of God hold His believers. JESUS said so!
The aborted babies get to heaven as they breathe their last, STRAIGHT into the arms of their heavenly Father. Well, that's what I believe.
Of course I have been born of the Spirit. So have you.
See you in the clouds then!
see post #128, like everything else, it's his call, not man's...
It might be a mountain you can't climb.
The air up here is most clean and fresh. It might even clear out SOME of the cobwebs in your brain...not that you need it.
And your words ARE “works,” works of art. Opps, I almost misplaced the “f” there. :o)
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