This is not a hill I would die on so lets get back to the OP
Look at the underlined .. he gave them gifts , his power manifested among them but he never Knew Them ??? Sounds like a paradox doesn't it ?
It's one thing to say that they fell by the way side it's another thing to say "I never knew them" even after admittedly dispensing gifts to them .
On the issue of repentance .. New Testament repentance simply means to Change your Mind . Getting People to Know that God loves them IS repentance , Getting people to exercise faith in God IS Repentance so saying that people will go to hell because they over-emphasized Love At the expense of repentance from sin etc has to b further clarified as to what exactly sin is.
The bible says whatsoever is not of faith is sin and That the trademark of the Christian is Love which is greatest of all . Question then is when the bible says itself that the greatest emphasis should be on Love why would any believer go to hell for emphasizing what the bible itself says is the most important ?
Let me be clear I don not believe in OSAS or that a true believer will continue to sin unencumbered after being born again .yes the wages of sin is death, sin will have consequences both there and per eternal rewards. I am not a greasy grace sin all you want kinda guy in the least .However there is simply no scripture that I know of that says a true believer will lose salvation because of sins committed or failure to preach heavily on sin or any topic . They can willfully give up their salvation the way they received it but I just don't see in the scriptures what this person is saying . It doesn't harmonize
The late Kenneth Hagin gave many illustrations of ministers whom were unfaithful to their calling one way or the other and while many of them paid the price for disobedience via sickness, premature death etc not one of them went to hell. Not One
PS: I wont even get into the issue of the Holy Spirit testifying of himself which is what this dream seems to portray .. but then again that may just be a matter of semantics so I will leave that one alone
Last edited by BAP; 12-05-2018 at 01:36 PM.
PS : Satan gives people funny dreams of heaven and hell too but typically its one of these "I saw so and so(Insert Name) in hell because they did not do so and so" dreams or visions .
The ultiimate objective is to sow fear and confusion, get people off the word and into legalism (Bewitched like the Colossians)
So its no longer believe in Jesus death burial and resurrection to be saved but believe in Jesus ++++ just like the Colossians.
Matthew 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
I don't know about you, BAP, but this very scripture has terrified me over the years.
The local context is his 70 disciples whom he sent out with power to do those things. None of them were born again at the time. Some of them would fail to take up the faith after the resurrection and some of them would turn back to living sinful lives. Then they would think to themselves that since they were selected by Jesus to work miracles therefore they would enter into heaven based on that.
We don't disregard it, we start with the local context and work from there. Jesus also said the following :
Luke 14:33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
If we are to interpret that ultra-literally in the context of salvation then I'll assume that everyone on this forum is on his way to hell.
Luke 18:24 And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?”
27 But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
The same way, no camel can go through the eye of a needle so therefore all rich people are on their way to hell. But notice what he says in verse 27. God is still powerful to save those whose own righteousness isn't good enough. Which includes Jesus' 70 miracle working disciples, those who haven't given away everything they own and the rich (which would again include everyone on this forum if we are to judge that by the standards of Jesus' day).
BAP (12-05-2018)