Striving to Be Good versus Belief in Magic

@sonship said
@FMF
If you have a point you would like to voice, just state it.
You do not always need to phrase it as a question.

So you ARE refusing to answer my questions, then?

@sonship said
@FMF

If you have a point you would like to voice, just state it.
You do not always need to phrase it as a question.

My point - The core of the Christian life and even the proper human life is to be in union with the living God.

From the beginning God presented Himself to man as a "tree of life". In the end of the Bible the same "tree of life" prevai ...[text shortened]... ge it in a question. State your positive or contrarian to me contribution or opinion otherwise held.

You do not get in union with God by using your mouth. Unity with God comes from obedience and keeping the commandments and is stated all over the bible from beginning to the very end. Satan encouraged disobedience from the beginning to the very end as you are also doing.

Unity with God = Obedience to the commandments.

@sonship said
If you have something positive to contribute to the issue of spirituality you need not always package it in a question.

Thanks for the advice. So, will you answer them?

So Paul, in writing the basic book of Christian belief - Romans, teaches the believers to set the mind on the spirit - that is the regenerated human spirit where the Spirit of God as Jesus Christ dwells.

Paul says that the mind set on the flesh is enmity against God and cannot please God. So we need regeneration in the kernel of our being - our spirit. Then we need to turn from striving in the self to abiding in Jesus by setting the mind on the mingled spirit.

Read this aloud -


"For those who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the Spirit.

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.

And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him.

But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.

And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.

So then, brothers, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.

For if you live according to the flesh you must die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live." (Rom. 8: 5-13)

Simply put - set your mind on the Jesus Christ the living Spirit who has come to indwell you. Receive Him and look away from the self TO Christ. He is everything we need.

@FMF

So you ARE refusing to answer my questions, then?

From time to time .... Yes.

From time to time I refuse also to read what you wrote about God.

Twelve years of debating?
No, I both refuse to answer some from you and refuse to read some from you.

For the sake of some other readers I may humor you occasionally if I think it might help someone.

I think the feeling is pretty mutual, so don't whine.

@sonship said
@FMF

So you ARE refusing to answer my questions, then?

From time to time .... Yes.

From time to time I refuse also to read what you wrote about God.

Twelve years of debating?
No, I both refuse to answer some from you and refuse to read some from you.

For the sake of some other readers I may humor you occasionally if I think it might help someone.

I think the feeling is pretty mutual, so don't whine.

So you flood FMF's thread with irrelevant nonsense and then refuse to answer a couple simple questions. Why is it that professed Christians are so lacking in basic decency and common courtesy?

@fmf said
Striving to be good versus belief in supernatural phenomena

Why is it that so many RHP Christians seem to talk about placing 'belief in supernatural phenomena' ahead of talking about 'walking the walk of life while striving to be good' at the very core of their Christian faith?

Without God there is no ultimate authority for goodness, only subjective opinions. So what is the rationale for doing ‘good’ in the first place for an atheist who can define ‘good’ to be whatever the hell they want? What is the rationale for being selfless instead of selfish if this life is all there is? I think if you do some research you will find that people who believe in God are the more charitable than atheists simply because charity makes no sense within an atheistic framework.

@dj2becker said
Without God there is no ultimate authority for goodness, only subjective opinions. So what is the rationale for doing ‘good’ in the first place for an atheist who can define ‘good’ to be whatever the hell they want? What is the rationale for being selfless instead of selfish if this life is all there is? I think if you do some research you will find that people who believe ...[text shortened]... e more charitable than atheists simply because charity makes no sense within an atheistic framework.

So Christians are doing good because Jesus promised them eternal life, otherwise they would be going around doing evil.

@dj2becker said
Without God there is no ultimate authority for goodness, only subjective opinions. So what is the rationale for doing ‘good’ in the first place for an atheist who can define ‘good’ to be whatever the hell they want? What is the rationale for being selfless instead of selfish if this life is all there is?

My stance on the source, nature, and application of people's moral compasses, along with what happens when people's moral sensibilities conflict with each other, has not changed. So I refer you to that. As for the "authority for goodness" that the OP is alluding to, in terms of striving for good, then obviously the reference is 'Jesus' teachings'.

@rajk999 said
So Christians are doing good because Jesus promised them eternal life, otherwise they would be going around doing evil.

It was either Romans1009 or dj2becker who declared that he would rape women if it were not for his belief in Jesus. Correct me if I am wrong. Ghost of a Duke, can you recall which poster it was?

@fmf said
Thanks for the advice. So, will you answer them?

Good luck!

@fmf said
Striving to be good versus belief in supernatural phenomena

Why is it that so many RHP Christians seem to talk about placing 'belief in supernatural phenomena' ahead of talking about 'walking the walk of life while striving to be good' at the very core of their Christian faith?

One requires no thinking, whereas the other requires work.

Any other questions?

@fmf said
Striving to be good versus belief in supernatural phenomena

Why is it that so many RHP Christians seem to talk about placing 'belief in supernatural phenomena' ahead of talking about 'walking the walk of life while striving to be good' at the very core of their Christian faith?

Does your question assume that "RHP Christians" are fundamentally different than other Christians not found on this forum?

I'd be interested in how they are different, to your way of thinking, if you don't mind qualifying your question in this way.

@suzianne said
Does your question assume that "RHP Christians" are fundamentally different than other Christians not found on this forum?

I'd be interested in how they are different, to your way of thinking, if you don't mind qualifying your question in this way.

My question is about RHP questions and is intended for RHP Christians. If other Christians ~ who are currently not found on this forum ~ decide to come here and expound on their beliefs, then we shall see what they have to say.

If you are asking me about the Christians I live amongst, work with, and know away from this forum, I tried talking about them to you once before and I remember what you assumed and asserted about them. So I am not going there again.

@suzianne said
Does your question assume that "RHP Christians" are fundamentally different than other Christians not found on this forum?

I'd be interested in how they are different, to your way of thinking, if you don't mind qualifying your question in this way.

I’ve never met any Christians like the regular bunch here at RHP, but there are reasons for that namely...

- I left the church denomination system about 25 years ago so haven’t been exposed to the contemporary trends of thought manipulation and the corporate religious mindset.

- I’ve never been to an American church of any denomination but I’m pretty sure they are packed to the rafters with Christians like the lot we have here.