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Search results

  1. H

    Justification

    If he truly tried to fix it, I'd say that indicated repentance. However looking at the whole picture I agree that it doesn't suggest that he repented. Of course only God knows for sure.
  2. H

    Justification

    sorry, wrong post
  3. H

    Justification

    I'm sure you can guess that from a Protestant perspective that story is an example of bad pastoral consequences.
  4. H

    Justification

    Sure, but different people will read the definition differently because of differences in the meaning of righteousness. Protestants will read justification as basically forgiveness, restoring our relationship to God. Catholics will read it as a process by which we slowly become more righteous...
  5. H

    Justification

    wait, I already said this. never mind.
  6. H

    Are ALL Homo Sapiens "Children of God?"

    That's not quite true. Gen 9:6, 1 Cor 11:7. There are a few passages in Paul that contrast those who are in the image of Adam with those in the image of Christ. This is part of the second Adam theology. But I don't think that eliminates the basic concept of mankind being made in the image of...
  7. H

    Justification

    This passage is actually a pretty good summary, though a couple of steps are left out. First, the whole process is aimed at restoring the image of God in us, which is salvation. Remember that for Reformed salvation isn't just avoiding hell. It's the whole process of restoring us. Second, it's...
  8. H

    Justification

    Just because effect always follows its cause doesn't mean they're the same. Nor are two things that come from the same cause the same thing. Yes, everyone who is justified is and will be saved, but that doesn't mean they're the same thing. As we've tried to explain many times, for Reformed...
  9. H

    Justification

    My understanding is that justification isn't exactly a reward for faith. Ultimately we are reconciled with God because of Christ's death for us. Faith is how we participate in that. It unites us to Christ and makes us his. So justification really comes from Christ, not from faith. Faith is...
  10. H

    Justification

    I'm going to translate "acquiring virtue" into something like doing the right thing. If I don't do that, then I'm opposed to the whole notion of "acquiring virtue." Having done right isn't a possession. It sounds like some kind of credit or award. "Do you thank the slave for doing what was...
  11. H

    Justification

    I think it's worth moderating some of this discussion. Classical Protestant theologies have said that it is necessary to draw near to Christ. (I'd normally call that faith, but I'll accept either wording.) I don't see any reason to deny it. However the Reformed and Lutheran traditions have said...
  12. H

    Justification

    I don't think that's what Eph 2 means. Someone who is dead is stuck in their sins. I don't see any suggestion that they are actually missing part of their makeup, the spirit, or that the spirit is somehow asleep. Rather, it is bound. That is, I understand "dead" as a metaphor.
  13. H

    Is the Account of Adam and Eve LITERAL?

    I don't think anyone has responded to this part specifically. You might be interested in Calvin's suggestion. He says that without the Fall, Adam and Eve would still have left this life. God didn't intend us to be permanently here. But without the Fall it would have been a peaceful transition to...
  14. H

    Is the Account of Adam and Eve LITERAL?

    Maybe. I define it as faith in Christ. You define it as faith in the Bible?
  15. H

    Is the Account of Adam and Eve LITERAL?

    I can see how you would think that way, but that’s not actually the consequence of rejecting inerrancy. When you assess Scripture according to normal criteria, then you look at what the authors would reasonably know. The NT authors wrote when original witnesses were alive (Paul and probably...
  16. H

    Is the Account of Adam and Eve LITERAL?

    No, it doesn't make the second Adam meaningless. The second Adam is an analogy. Jesus wasn't in any literal sense a clone of Adam. Rather, it's a way of talking about his role, as the beginning of a new people, as Adam was the beginning of the old people. Just because the basis of the analogy...
  17. H

    Is the Account of Adam and Eve LITERAL?

    It's unfortunate the people seem to see allegory as the only alternative. Allegories have specific features that Gen 1 - 3 lack. In an allegory key elements of the story stand for something else. This isn't the case in Genesis. But there are other types of story that aren't historically...
  18. H

    Justification

    Folks, no one should be too confident that they understand what "by force" means here. The Hermeneia commentary notes: "The original meaning of the “violence saying” that follows is one of the greatest riddles of the exegesis of the Synoptics. More than eighty years ago Harnack wrote: “There...
  19. H

    Justification

    There are two perspectives. On the one hand, Arsenios is quite right. Someone who is without salvation should, in fact, repent from sin and seek baptism into Christ. However in the broader perspective -- which we typically understand only after having done what Arsenios suggests -- we realize...
  20. H

    Justification

    In context, being saved (the gift) is being made alive, from when we were dead, following the desires of our flesh, to being alive together with Christ. This is consistent with Jesus' normal use of the term. He usually uses it to mean changing from "sinners" to followers. The author says that...
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