Moderators....

I'm curious. Do you guys follow all the threads? I'm wondering why a person like "the Ephah" is allowed to continue to post as they are seeking to bring people back under the law. I understand people will see some scriptures differently, be he is perverting the gospel and what he/she is presenting is no gospel at all. Paul said that men like that were accursed. The whole book of Galatains was written to rebuke the Galatians for believing what people like "the Ephah" teach. If God through Paul sought to protect the believers from imposters who were seeking to bring the Galatians back under the law and into bondage, shouldn't you do the same? Not only has this person not been banned, but as far as I can see they haven't even been corrected or warned by a moderator.

I see that you just locked a thread where brethren were arguing... which is fine. But why take action against that and then let a false teach continue to infect the forums?

This forum certainly isn't a church, but I'm sure to some degree you will be held accountable for letting blatant heresys persist uncheck. (please think about this).

Sree... I dont think you understand what he was saying. You are responding to something that you said you have not read.

He is talking about someone who promotes obeying the law in order to acheive salvation. In other words, teaching that we are saved by what we do... added to what Christ did.

Thats not the gospel, but a perversion of the gospel.

It's what the Catholic Church, the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witness teaches. In fact, it's what ever false religious system teaches.

Krispy

That's correct. People like "the Ephah" teach that you are saved by faith in Jesus but then with that faith you must keep the Levitical law. Failure to do so means that you are in sin and lawless in Gods eyes. Therefore your salvation becomes a works based salvation on "works" Christ never commanded us to keep. To teach others what "the Ephah" teaches is to not understand the Gospel and pervert the true grace of God, bringing people back under bondage. This type of teaching usually led people to stop calling God "Lord" or using the name of Jesus. They see these as pagan. They also see the word "amen" as pagan. In the end, if you believe the true Gospel and uses names like Jesus or Lord, you are usually considered part of apostate Christianity.

Personally, I'd rather deal with a lawless "Christian" than a self deceived person who believes that their attempt to keep the Levitical law makes them right with God. With a lawless "Christian" you can show them what the word of God says about their sin and lifestyle. With "lawkeepers" you are dealing with men blinded by self righteousness.

I think the Admins have a tolerant level to which when reached they press the bounce button. I believe it's their hope that individuals that may appear to be causing trouble to learn something from others, and especially learn from the articles or sermons that are represented here. There is a threshold to which they have set and I think it's a godly thing that they wait and see what happens, not willing to throw a person out until all avenues have been explored. If their tolerance was low, there would hardly be anyone on the site at all, except syrupy people that are willing to please men and that is not what this site is all about, so that thought is not even entertained.

So in the meantime, lets pray for this man called, "the Ephah".

Sree, I agree with you! (Can you believe that?)

Seriously though, yes we are to obey the commands of God... What we are to do as believers in Christ is articulated in the NT. That’s not to say we throw out the OT, but the Law itself was fulfilled for us by Christ… wholly and completely. The freedom is that we don’t have to attempt to fulfill a law that was never intended to be fulfilled by us in the first place. The law was not given to prove our level of righteousness… but to show us our level of sinfulness… which is to the uttermost.

We live out the commands of Christ not to earn our salvation, but because of our salvation… as you pointed out. Because we are saved we are enabled to live by Jesus’ commands. If we have been saved by Him our hearts will be filled with gratefulness toward Him and our desire will be to honor Him through our obedience.

And if we do not have that desire in our hearts, and we either want to live by the Law in order to make sure we or saved… or we totally disregard the commands of the Lord… then we need to look at our hearts and seriously question whether we are saved at all.

APPROVED…. I can attest to the moderator’s patience.

Krispy

"There is a threshold to which they have set and I think it's a godly thing that they wait and see what happens, not willing to throw a person out until all avenues have been explored."

Did I miss a post where the mods attempted to correct and instruct this person about their false Gospel? Or, has this persons false teachings (exactly what Paul delt with in Galatians) gone unchecked? "the Ephah" isn't here to inquire about if the law should be followed, he/she is propagating that we are to follow the very law that Christ has fulfilled.

"I believe it's their hope that individuals that may appear to be causing trouble to learn something from others, and especially learn from the articles or sermons that are represented here."

Sure, but you don't have to be a member of the forums, preaching an accursed gospel, to listen to the sermons or read the articles.

Gandhi died as Hindu, who is now responsible for his souls?

According to scripture Gandhi is responsible for Gandhi's soul. Unfortunately there is no reason to believe that he put his faith in Christ, and he did indeed go to hell because of that... and he is to blame. No one else. Especially since he had heard the gospel.

I'm not saying it isnt possible for us to have blood on our hands, but ultimately the individual is responsible for themselves if they go to hell.

No one stands in anyone else's place on judgement day. All men will stand alone and answer to God individually.

According to scripture we shall be known by our fruit. If someone is living a wretched lifestyle then they are not exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit, which are:

love
joy
peace
patience
kindness
goodness
faithfulness
gentleness
self-control

We dont always exhibit these fruits all the time. I'm living proof of that. But if we live a lifestyle that is constantly producing the opposite fruit of these things... then the Bible declares that person to not even BE a Christian.

So this whole idea that Christians who live like the devil are giving other believers a bad name is a misnomer. I say that according to scripture they are not Christians. I say that without me personally judging their hearts. I am simply saying what the Bible says. “Such as these shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Legalism gets a little trickier. We all are actually more susceptible to legalism than we are carnality. Legalism is NOT the ardent keeping of the law in itself. Legalism is in our hearts… it’s believing that we are doing something that is going to make God give us salvation. It’s earning our salvation, in our minds.

The Bible also teaches that if someone is trusting in ANYTHING else other than Jesus for our salvation… we are not saved. We are depending on ourselves, and basically putting ourselves on a higher throne than God is on. That is why it is critical when someone claims that we need to obey the Mosaic Law in order to be saved.

Again, this is not me judging people, I am simply stating what the Bible teaches. I don’t go around declaring people unsaved, however if we see someone who blasphemes the name of the Lord by the lifestyle then we need to believe what scripture says because their salvation is suspect.

Krispy

The answer to your question is that the power of the gospel transcends the person who is presenting it. None of us are perfect... so if it takes a perfectly sinless person to present the gospel in order for someone to get saved... we are all doomed.

Krispy

One thing I have learned about you is that we have to go back and forth a little bit to get to an understanding. There is obviously a language issue... and thats ok! It just takes a little more work.

I understand what you are saying now, and I agree. One can not stand there and preach the Word of God with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other.

By the same token, part of my witness is that it's quite obvious to most that I am a fallen sinner saved by grace. Unlike the example you gave of a divorced man tho, the difference is I do not excuse my failings. God has shown me that my failings are not excusable... and as I grow in his grace He teaches me and helps me to overcome them... and not live in them as if it were ok.

Is this what you are saying?

Krispy

I think the Admins have a tolerant level to which when reached they press the bounce button. I believe it's their hope that individuals that may appear to be causing trouble to learn something from others, and especially learn from the articles or sermons that are represented here. There is a threshold to which they have set and I think it's a godly thing that they wait and see what happens, not willing to throw a person out until all avenues have been explored. If their tolerance was low, there would hardly be anyone on the site at all, except syrupy people that are willing to please men and that is not what this site is all about, so that thought is not even entertained.

So in the meantime, lets pray for this man called, "the Ephah".

Dear Brother, you said it very well and this is really our heart in moderating the forums.

Jeremy puts it best in practical advice for all of us of any posts that we disagree with or feel are false to just leave them alone and not post to them:

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On our part I would say that if we know that someone is not willing to hear sound doctrine the best thing to do is to ignore their posts. If there is no audience for them they usually go away on their own.

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Please brothers and sisters, pray for people on these forums, think of others before yourselves. Be teachable and humble. And in regards to false teaching share that with the moderators, we cannot read every single post or at least read them timely so please share any obvious errors like teachers that teach keeping levitical laws to be saved. Any simple born again Christian knows that is wrong and we do not condone or accept this on SI.

But to leave a thread and not lock it does not mean we accept this as truth, we want to give everything a chance to learn and grow in the New Convenant truths of Jesus Christ and to be free from errors and legalism. We also do not allow debating of calvinism and armianism, we have found after 10 years of running this forum that these debates do not produce fruit or obedience in Christian walks. We respect people of both opinions and the audio sermons available reflect this.

If you committed to praying for that individual before the Lord daily for a period of time it would be interesting to see what would happen.

I am saying that we should never accept our life like 'this is how I am destined to be' and there is no scope of Improvement etc. I believe all Christians should have an attitude like Paul, who said, Philippians 4-I can do all things through him who gives me strength.
We should never accept that well I will get angry sometimes, I can never stop lusting etc. I agree that we are born with it in our flesh but Jesus came to save us from this and that is why he has given his spirit to us.

I am not saying we should be perfect, that is long way from here, but at least with things that we know we should believe that we will get delivered from it.

Regarding my English if you see me speak you will never doubt my skills, I type very fast and my proof reading skills are very poor. That is why I cannot find mistakes in what I type. I apologize for that inconvenience.

Sree... I agree with what you said. :-)

As for the language comment, please dont be insulted as I was not trying to do that. I was just acknowledging that sometimes you and I have to work a little harder to understand each other, and thats ok! It's not how you speak (or write)... we just have different ways of sometimes saying the same things.

Krispy