spirit simply means mind, or will. it isn't some fantabulous other thingyness..
spirituality literally means mentality.
so either the spirit is compassionate, loving, or mean, inconsiderate, selfish.
-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
more and more christians believe in karma and reincarnation
- Thread starter Starlight
- Start date
spirituality literally means mentality.
so either the spirit is compassionate, loving, or mean, inconsiderate, selfish.
Muffled
Jesus in me
I believe God always speaks the truth. I can't vouch for anyone else.
Muffled
Jesus in me
I believe we believe what the Bible teaches as opposed to what some teachers assume it says.
Muffled
Jesus in me
I believe one may wake up and decide the pig pen is not desirable and want something better. One does not need the Spirit of God to make such a rational decision.
Wildswanderer
Veteran Member
They didn't edit the scripture.
Wildswanderer
Veteran Member
Not in this context...it means the Holy Spirit, God himself.
god's spirit and self's are one and the same. god can't be infinite or eternal and separate from anything.
self is the image of god and the spirit came from god. the greek word for spirit is psyche. that's exactly what conscious beings have, a psyche. ugh
why in the world is it written glorify god in your body otherwise?
1 corinthian 6:20
Wildswanderer
Veteran Member
Nonsense. We aren't commanded to worship ourselves. What lunacy!
i never stated that we are to worship ourself. you were created in the image; so then there is no separation between being and god. except the one who refuses to be one with god. or the one who refuses john 14:20. you are claiming that you separated self from god.
the bible doesn't make that claim. you make that claim
Last edited:
Maybe, maybe not.
I doubt any work penned by the hands of men, is of true divine origin.
But what is it that wakes us up to decide there is something better? Isn't that a "higher self"? And isn't that something that is awakened by that Spirit of God?
And please tell me what do you mean with that, what is the Biblical teaching in this case?
It's interesting how you seem to turn this into a magical formula, that specific words must be uttered in order to engage the saving Grace of God. God will not operate properly unless the recipient utters in exact verbiage, "Jesus is Lord"? Do you believe this way about God?
Here's the thing, that passage is written to Christians, and it's not about specific ideas about God, but is simply referencing God in the language they understanding. It's not about speaking specific words or holding specific ideas in order for God to "let you into heaven", as you put it. The chapter is still speaking about faith and belief of the heart. And it is that type of belief, engaging the heart as opposed to just the conceptual mind, that saves.
Read what it says later on:
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.
But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."
But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."
Do you know what that is referencing? It's Psalm 19. Here's what Psalm 19 says about how everyone in the world hears that message.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
This is NOT ideas about God being preached that you have to acknowledge and confess for you to access God's Grace with the right words in order to be saved and let into heaven. That idea is foreign to these passages.
Romans is not disallowing those who understand God in different terms and ideas, yet do in fact respond to that one true God in their hearts and actions, which "confess" the truth of what is in their hearts. It's only the legalist who insists, 'no you have to say the right words first'. "By their fruits you shall know them", not by their doctrinal differences, as you see it.
BTW, even if we were to say only Christians have God's Love (something you believe and I do not), the point of this dialog originally was you saying that Christians who believe in reincarnation are not true Christians. Nothing whatsoever in this passage, or anywhere else in the Bible supports that view. Certainly not the 14th chapter of this same book you are quoting from.
Sure, Jesus is the Love of God personified. When he saying I am the door, that is true. That is Way that Jesus teaches, which is the Will of God, the Law of Love. That is the door you must go through. Love itself. That is the narrow gate, that few find, because they try to climb in some other way, such as the door of legalism, trying to earn the right for God to "let you into heaven".
Exactly. Legalism, having the right beliefs and ideas as the keys to get "let into heaven" as your admission slip you earned through signing the contract at the church door in order to be saved, is an alternative route. It's climbing in through another way, which of course only lands you back where you started from.
Wildswanderer
Veteran Member
It's exactly specific ideas that it confirms are necessary for salvation. You simply refuse to believe what scripture teaches as fact.
Wildswanderer
Veteran Member
No, Jesus himself. Because if you don't know him, you cannot love. Only through his name as scripture repeatedly teaches but you repeatedly stick your fingers in your ears.
I refuse to accept what you believe it is that scripture teaches. Let's be clear about that. It's not what scripture teaches as "fact". It's what you interpret it as saying though your legalistic lens. I just disagree that that legalistic interpretation you have is at all reflective of the central teachings of Jesus. It violates the very nature of Agape Love.
Last edited:
So Jesus is a literal door? He wasn't speaking figuratively? When Jesus says "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life", he is in fact speaking as those things personified in his person. I have no issue with that. There is no other way to the Divine but through these, in however those manifest to people "without words", as Psalm 19 clearly teaches (yet you ignored).
Therefore, those who Love, do in fact know him, that Door, that Way, that Agape Love. Even if they don't know him by that name. It's still Love. And the proof is that Love itself within them, manifest in their love for others, as Jesus declared was what fulfilled all the law of God. Yet you deny this...
I point out how you are not reading it well repeatedly, you don't challenge acknowledge or address those points (such as "believe" in John has nothing to do with cognitive ideas), and then you say it is me who is sticking my fingers in my ears? This is not the case of course.
None of these verses you quote support your notions of a legalistic approach to salvation. All them rightly divided, understood in the context of Agape Love, support what I have been saying instead. "By their fruits you shall know them". "Love fulfills the law".
Last edited:
Wildswanderer
Veteran Member
There's nothing legalistic about salvation by faith in Jesus alone..legalism would be thinking you were saved by doing something.
Doing something, such as having the right beliefs in order for God to "let you into heaven". That is earning your salvation. That is legalism.
Wildswanderer
Veteran Member
Belief isn't a work.. my goodness...you need to learn some theology.