Faith closes the mind. It is pure idol worship.

[free spirit]

On whose authority do you claim to speak for god?

A fair question: I speak for God, by His authority because it has happen to me as in Luke 24:45; "He opened my mind to understand the scriptures" Therefore I was enable to rightly divide the word, the NT contains the wheat and some tares, or if you like the word of God and some words of men. You can compare with any bible what I believe about 1Corinthians 7:32-38: for it should read “But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33 but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided.
34 And the woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35 And this I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is seemly, and to secure some believers for an undivided devotion to the Lord.
36 But if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly towards his celibacy, if he should be of full age, and if it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin; let him marry.
37 But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint, but has authority over his own body, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own body chaste, he will do well.
38 So then both he who gives his own body in marriage does well, but he who does not give himself in marriage will do better.”
As you can see, the last four verses 35-38, with the inserted Italics are the obvious restorations needed, which enable us to understand the connection and the true intended meaning of the previous verses of 32-34. Thus if any person, male or female, is willingly prepared and able to freely undertake the sacrifice of celibacy as their sacrifice of worship, that sacrifice is acceptable to God, this is confirmed in Matthew 19:10-12: “The disciples said to Him, ‘If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.’ But He said to them, ‘Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this let him accept it.’”
Romans 12:1 also urges us to keep our body holy by saying: “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” What differentiate us from animals is our faculty to reason, which is the light to our faith.

 

[free spirit]

Your personal version of it may not be, though that is certainly up for debate, but Christianity is a religion.

Today Christianity is known as a religion, but it wasn't so in the beginning; it was a way of life. Because religions have a set of rules to observe, True Christianity has only one "love your neighbour as yourself" We can divide religious people in two kind of believers (like Cain and Abel) or like the fleshly and the spiritual, or the hypocrite and the sincere. Therefore as the religious of that time demanded Christ execution, even today fleshly religious hypocrites has enmity against the truth. Because the truth will show them as a fraud. Nothing has changed, the devil has usurped the rightful place and name of Christianity.

 

[McBell]

A fair question: I speak for God, by His authority because it has happen to me as in Luke 24:45; "He opened my mind to understand the scriptures" Therefore I was enable to rightly divide the word, the NT contains the wheat and some tares, or if you like the word of God and some words of men. You can compare with any bible what I believe about 1Corinthians 7:32-38: for it should read “But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33 but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided.
34 And the woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35 And this I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is seemly, and to secure some believers for an undivided devotion to the Lord.
36 But if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly towards his celibacy, if he should be of full age, and if it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin; let him marry.
37 But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint, but has authority over his own body, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own body chaste, he will do well.
38 So then both he who gives his own body in marriage does well, but he who does not give himself in marriage will do better.”
As you can see, the last four verses 35-38, with the inserted Italics are the obvious restorations needed, which enable us to understand the connection and the true intended meaning of the previous verses of 32-34. Thus if any person, male or female, is willingly prepared and able to freely undertake the sacrifice of celibacy as their sacrifice of worship, that sacrifice is acceptable to God, this is confirmed in Matthew 19:10-12: “The disciples said to Him, ‘If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.’ But He said to them, ‘Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this let him accept it.’”
Romans 12:1 also urges us to keep our body holy by saying: “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” What differentiate us from animals is our faculty to reason, which is the light to our faith.

Now all you have to do is prove it.
Good luck with that.

 

[McBell]

Today Christianity is known as a religion, but it wasn't so in the beginning; it was a way of life. Because religions have a set of rules to observe, True Christianity has only one "love your neighbour as yourself" We can divide religious people in two kind of believers (like Cain and Abel) or like the fleshly and the spiritual, or the hypocrite and the sincere. Therefore as the religious of that time demanded Christ execution, even today fleshly religious hypocrites has enmity against the truth. Because the truth will show them as a fraud. Nothing has changed, the devil has usurped the rightful place and name of Christianity.

Please provide your definition of "religion"

 

[ChristineES]

Today Christianity is known as a religion, but it wasn't so in the beginning; it was a way of life. Because religions have a set of rules to observe, True Christianity has only one "love your neighbour as yourself" We can divide religious people in two kind of believers (like Cain and Abel) or like the fleshly and the spiritual, or the hypocrite and the sincere. Therefore as the religious of that time demanded Christ execution, even today fleshly religious hypocrites has enmity against the truth. Because the truth will show them as a fraud. Nothing has changed, the devil has usurped the rightful place and name of Christianity.

Our faith has two commandments that are considered the most important: Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might (strength) and love your neighbor as yourself.

 

[free spirit]

Now all you have to do is prove it.
Good luck with that.

You make it hard; for how can you prove what is obvious by the faculty of reason. I am using the NASB, but any bible on 1Corinthians 7:35-38 makes no sense at all without my inserted words.

 

[free spirit]

Please provide your definition of "religion"

If you want a worldly definition of religion, you will only have to look in a dictionary. My definition of religion is that religion try to teach through a set of restraining rules how you should live, making you a slave of those rules and to those who administers such rules. True Christianity on the other hand only asks the believer to live a holy life, no rules, your sanctified conscience is your guide. It is a partnerships between you and the Holy Spirit.

 

[free spirit]

Our faith has two commandments that are considered the most important: Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might (strength) and love your neighbor as yourself.

Yes to be specific you are correct. But we cannot love God without loving our neighbour: however we can love our neighbour only, not that we want too. Matthew 22:37-40; partly reads "The second is like it" in other words the second is like the first.

 

[McBell]

You make it hard; for how can you prove what is obvious by the faculty of reason. I am using the NASB, but any bible on 1Corinthians 7:35-38 makes no sense at all without my inserted words.

Any time someone is reduced to the "it is common sense" argument, you know they have nothing but faith in support of their claim.

Now do not get me wrong, faith can be a helpful thing.
However, it is not proof of anything other than faith.

 

[McBell]

If you want a worldly definition of religion, you will only have to look in a dictionary. My definition of religion is that religion try to teach through a set of restraining rules how you should live, making you a slave of those rules and to those who administers such rules. True Christianity on the other hand only asks the believer to live a holy life, no rules, your sanctified conscience is your guide. It is a partnerships between you and the Holy Spirit.

Ah, so if the rules were set down by god, they do not count as rules, right?

 

[Greatest I am]

Your reasoning on the surface appear to be wise, who can argue with your superficial argument. Unfortunately or fortunately depending from your point of view, God, us and the world have a depth. Please imagine that the LAW like God is all good, however sometime the LAW sends people to the gallows: In that case, is the LAW still good? I personally think that the fault is with the people that breaks the LAW. You say, why a good God created disease and famine or flood for that matter? Man's law or God's LAW is spiritual and there are men and spirits that enforces the LAW without fear or favour. Yes sometime the innocent suffers under the law; Christ was innocent and yet they used the law to execute Him. Yet the law is still good, and God is just: man or sin it to blame.

Our law kills when it cannot cure. Your God can cure yet almost always kills.

Man is thus more moral than your God.

You wanted to reason. Reason your God out of that.

Regards
DL

 

[Cephus]

On whose authority do you claim to speak for god?

His own, God only exists in his head, at least his particular version of it.

 

[JustWondering]

Your reasoning on the surface appear to be wise, who can argue with your superficial argument. Unfortunately or fortunately depending from your point of view, God, us and the world have a depth. Please imagine that the LAW like God is all good, however sometime the LAW sends people to the gallows: In that case, is the LAW still good? I personally think that the fault is with the people that breaks the LAW. You say, why a good God created disease and famine or flood for that matter? Man's law or God's LAW is spiritual and there are men and spirits that enforces the LAW without fear or favour. Yes sometime the innocent suffers under the law; Christ was innocent and yet they used the law to execute Him. Yet the law is still good, and God is just: man or sin it to blame.

My reasoning is flawless. Your reasoning is twisted to keep your precious god's reputation and hands clean. You want to lay the blame of all suffering and evil in the world on man but god created man. Man can only behave in a manner dictated by his genetics and environment (both of which were provided by your god according to the bible). So if god doesn't like "sin" why did he create men to be sinful creatures? If you want to claim that we were meant to be good but were unable to function as god intended than that means we are defective and god is a horrible craftsman. If you want to go the "free will" route then please show me were free will is even mentioned anywhere in the bible. I can show you were god removed someone's free will from them to make them do the WRONG thing and then punish them for doing what they were FORCED to do. The god of the bible is not good, just, or sane. If you were not emotionally attached to the god of the bible and could read the bible objectively you would clearly see that.

 

[free spirit]

Any time someone is reduced to the "it is common sense" argument, you know they have nothing but faith in support of their claim.

Now do not get me wrong, faith can be a helpful thing.
However, it is not proof of anything other than faith.

If the Spirit of Christ is in you He will supply the witness, that is how God works, He gives you a choice. All you have to do is believe His witness.

 

[free spirit]

Ah, so if the rules were set down by god, they do not count as rules, right?

With the advent of Christianity there is a new rule, which surpasses all others. For if you put on the loving character of Jesus you have fulfilled all of God's LAWs.

 

[free spirit]

Our law kills when it cannot cure. Your God can cure yet almost always kills.

Man is thus more moral than your God.

You wanted to reason. Reason your God out of that.

Regards
DL

You give me no room to explain, I can only say from were you are standing it seems to be that way: it is like the sun seems to rise, but you know it is not true.

 

[free spirit]

His own, God only exists in his head, at least his particular version of it.

Yes, were else would He be.

 

[free spirit]

My reasoning is flawless. Your reasoning is twisted to keep your precious god's reputation and hands clean. You want to lay the blame of all suffering and evil in the world on man but god created man. Man can only behave in a manner dictated by his genetics and environment (both of which were provided by your god according to the bible). So if god doesn't like "sin" why did he create men to be sinful creatures? If you want to claim that we were meant to be good but were unable to function as god intended than that means we are defective and god is a horrible craftsman. If you want to go the "free will" route then please show me were free will is even mentioned anywhere in the bible. I can show you were god removed someone's free will from them to make them do the WRONG thing and then punish them for doing what they were FORCED to do. The god of the bible is not good, just, or sane. If you were not emotionally attached to the god of the bible and could read the bible objectively you would clearly see that.

You think that because you do not know what is the purpose for all of this. You should know that there is one thing that God cannot do, and that is create his equals. We can produce offspring who in time will become our equals. God knows good and evil, but only does good. Man also knows good and evil but in a lifetime his good is mostly covered by evil. Therefore God sent His son to change us from our evil fleshly character to His holy loving character so we can be His equals. In other words His family, and if you are His family the universe is yours. Most of humanity will not pass the test because most of us cannot see past our noses.

 

[Cephus]

Yes, were else would He be.

If God was a real entity, not in someone's head, but actually existent in reality. Imaginary friends are not impressive.

 

[JustWondering]

You think that because you do not know what is the purpose for all of this. You should know that there is one thing that God cannot do, and that is create his equals. We can produce offspring who in time will become our equals. God knows good and evil, but only does good. Man also knows good and evil but in a lifetime his good is mostly covered by evil. Therefore God sent His son to change us from our evil fleshly character to His holy loving character so we can be His equals. In other words His family, and if you are His family the universe is yours. Most of humanity will not pass the test because most of us cannot see past our noses.

You are continuing to refuse to see what's right in front of you. God (who according to your religion, CREATED EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS!) is the one who created our evil fleshly character in the first place! If god only does good, why would he create something that is evil?! Do you consider disease and famine good things? Because according to your religion, god created disease and famine. If god can remake evil people into good and holy (whatever that means) people, why did he not just make us good and holy in the first place? The god that is in the bible defies all reason and common sense.