Just quoted him. (And yeah, a bit of commentary. But he said exactly what I said he said. Follow the link.)
I know, I did.
__________________ For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God. (Romans 14:11- NASB)
I've not answered your question, because you really won't accept any answer except the answer you think you know, which is "you don't know." lol...
You are right in that no one "KNOWS" for sure while here in this life, exactly how it will be in the next life. Regardless of what awaits us in the afterlife, though, there are enough clues in the world around us to show us that God's ways are higher, and far better than ours.
For example: A seed that is dried up, and lifeless must be put into the ground, and buried, before it will begin to produce new life. How does that work? How can this be?
Can you explain how you got here? How was your life created? Were you the Creator of your own life?
These sorts of questions are a good place to start with to try to find solid ground to begin to understand these concepts that man has wrestled with ever since he was created. Until you can explain how you got here, and why, then you won't be able to explain where you are going when you die.
I'm reminded of a verse...
1 Corinthians 2:9
King James Version (KJV)
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
With this verse many argue that we can't know what God has prepared for us on the other side. However, they never seem to focus on the very next verse...
I Corinthians 2:10
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
We can know... if we allow the Spirit to reveal it to us.
And therein lies the problem. You are making the onus of reliability your own ability to prove something as true or false, and not upon the honesty and integrity of the source. You refuse to accept by faith anything that is not empirically verifiable?
If so, that's just plain stupid.
Why not simply say, "If I can't prove what he is saying is true, then I have no solid basis upon which I can rest my belief"?
Why does it have to become a "lie"? A lie is an intentional falsification of facts intended to deceive. You think so evil of a 4 year old child?
So let me ask you:
What do you believe about Jesus?
Jesus said the following, empirically unproveable statements:
- That He was sent from God the Father
- That God Himself was His Father
- That He came from Heaven
- That whosoever believes on Him will never die but have everlasting life
- That whoever believes on Him passes from death to life
- That some will go away to everlasting punishment, and some "in the world to come life everlasting" (Luke 18:30)
Can you or do you believe these things? If not, or if since you cannot prove them, are these statements now lies, thus making Jesus, like the child you discredit, a LIAR?
You want people to answer what you think is an impossible question. Here is a question for you that is not impossible to answer:
Do you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God and all who believe on Him shall not perish but have everlasting life?
Do an extensive study on the Salem Witch Trials. Make sure you pay attention to this one bit of fact (if you want the facts), if you decide to look into this dicey piece of history; Spectral Evidence.
Then when you're done with that, find out how much money this Family has made on this, "Out of Body Experience". It's all about the MONEY, BUNNY!
Being backslid is easily gauged. Are you now equal distance to, farther from, or closer to, the Object from which you might backslid, i.e. God?
If you answer "farther from" you are backslid.
How easy can it get?
If I push a stone up a hill, with the goal of reaching the top, but then, for whatever reason, let it roll back and downward any degree, is it not backslid?
Obviously. So too are you and me and anyone else who rolls back and downward, spiritually speaking.
Yep, it's easily gauged when you think you are better than everyone else.
There is a difference between mere belief (i.e. something one believes because they assume a fact to be true even without knowing), and actual belief. Actual belief is knowledge.
Said another way knowledge is justified belief.
I am justified in my belief that the three chapters posted above given an accurate, God-ordained answer to your question. This means I KNOW.
You can argue and squabble if you want, and whatever.
But note: the verses above have nothing to do with "religion" as you use the term. John either saw a vision from God and faithfully transcribed the vision into words, or HE DIDN'T.
Do what you want with that.
Good thing you're not using these verses to prove your point in 390 A.D.! The Book of Revelation wasn't even part of the Canon at that time, and was the last to be added (reluctantly in 397 A.D.) to the current Bible you have.
To this day, many in Christendom do not accept the Book of Revelation as original text, or belonging in Scripture.
Sorry, but I don't believe in backsliding. Reason; there is no way to gauge backsliding, unless, you believe in lies about yourself.
Or unless someone simply chooses to believe a lie.
You know, because they don't have a love for the truth.
__________________
"Resolved: That all men should live to the glory of God. Resolved, secondly: That whether or not anyone else does, I will." ~Jonathan Edwards
"The only man who has the right to say he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ." ~Dietrich Bonheoffer, The Cost of Discipleship
"Preachers who should be fishing for men are now too often fishing for compliments from men." ~Leonard Ravenhill
Did the glory of God the Father raise Him from the dead?
Do people who believe on Him have the promise of everlasting life?
If your answer is yes, then you accept as true things which you cannot prove, thus making your earliest comments false.
If your answer is no, then you are indeed backslid (if you ever once embraced these concepts as true).
Salem witch trials and whatever else doesn't matter. It's a rabbit trail, a red herring so you can avoid the issue.
Trying to make a case against Revelation's early canonicity is also bogus. Just because Jerome and Gregory of Nazianzus doubted it in the mid to late 4th century, doesn't mean it wasn't generally accepted well before then, because it was.
So you can quote Denzinger all you want and cast doubts on the autheticity of the book if you like. But it doesn't make it so, and it's not the only book of the Bible that fully comments on the hope of resurrection and eternal life in Christ in heaven.
And that's what you're avoiding, refusing to deal with.
Jesus specifically mentioned "the world to come" in Luke 18:30, that is the coming age/aeon of the New Jerusalem.
Do you believe the words of Jesus or not?
__________________
For anyone devoted to His fear:
Did the glory of God the Father raise Him from the dead?
Do people who believe on Him have the promise of everlasting life?
If your answer is yes, then you accept as true things which you cannot prove, thus making your earliest comments false.
If your answer is no, then you are indeed backslid (if you ever once embraced these concepts as true).
Salem witch trials and whatever else doesn't matter. It's a rabbit trail, a red herring so you can avoid the issue.
Trying to make a case against Revelation's early canonicity is also bogus. Just because Jerome and Gregory of Nazianzus doubted it in the mid to late 4th century, doesn't mean it wasn't generally accepted well before then, because it was.
So you can quote Denzinger all you want and cast doubts on the autheticity of the book if you like. But it doesn't make it so, and it's not the only book of the Bible that fully comments on the hope of resurrection and eternal life in Christ in heaven.
And that's what you're avoiding, refusing to deal with.
Jesus specifically mentioned "the world to come" in Luke 18:30, that is the coming age/aeon of the New Jerusalem.
Do you believe the words of Jesus or not?
VS, you are in the bondage of Religion. Your ideas are not your own and your belief system is the result of indoctrination via Religion, Culture, and Family upbringing.
I have been set free from this bondage, and I don't live in worry about the afterlife because I admit what you're afraid to admit; you don't know.
I read a great quote recently: There is peace in acceptance. When human beings stop lying to themselves, they will stop using vain judgment and condemnation that does nothing but justify their own evil deeds.
This will lead to the acceptance that we simply don't know what awaits the dead and that God knows, we don't know. When you get tired of the confusion, you might just take the plunge into honesty and the truth that doesn't focus on your little world and mind, where Spectral Evidence has bound your thoughts with superstition, not the facts.
So, you think your "Saved"? Why are you Saved, and others are not? Dare you compare yourself? There are none righteous...
Or unless someone simply chooses to believe a lie.
You know, because they don't have a love for the truth.
Yeah, it's so sad to see all of the lies in Christianity. You tell Christians the truth, and they still continue down the path of ideas that cannot be proven.
The worst form of Truth, is a Truth that cannot be measured.
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