Replies to post #5784 on Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[mlsoft]

"If I say I'm a Buddhist because I believe all that Buddhists believe, who are you to say I am not Buddhist, or Hindu, or Sikh, or anything else for that matter?"
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sarai...

But if one were to "believe all that Buddhists believe" and then claim to be a Christian, would you accept that?? Buddhism and Christianity are not at all compatible and to accept such a farcical statement would be intellectual dishonesty.

It is the clear teaching of the entire New Testament that no one is a Christian by birth, but becomes one by personal faith and commitment. There is no other way to read the statement you quote by Jesus Himself ("you must be born again") that birth alone does not convey Christianity. If the New Testament is true and if you call that intolerant, then your argument is with God, not me.

As for the baby you refer to, the fact that his parents, the church, the pope, or anyone else on earth calls him a Christian has absolutely nothing to do with it and does not make it so. According to the New Testament teaching, he is not a Christian until he personally accepts Jesus as his Lord and Savior. As an aside, although it is based on inference from a number of passages of scripture rather than on direct statements, I personally believe that the child is covered by God's grace until he reaches the age of understanding and is able to make a conscious decision to accept or reject Jesus on his own - but that is just a personal opinion based on some indirect passages.

Either the words of the Bible mean something or they do not - when it says something without ambiguity then it is time to either to accept it as true or be honest about it and say that you reject the Bible.

mlsoft

[jbennett53]

sarai, Many of us forget.

"There are only two safe places for a Christian--in the dust and in heaven. And of the two the dust is safer, for Satan fell from heaven," said a wise man.

Pride was the first sin to destroy the calm of eternity. It was pride that cast Lucifer from heaven and it was pride that cost our first parents their place in Paradise. Pride is the first sin to enter a man's heart and the last to leave. No sin is more offensive to God than the sin of pride.

Pride has been referred to as the "complete anti-God state of mind." It militates against God's authority, God's law, and God's rule. This is why the Bible equates rebellion with witchcraft (1 Sam. 15:23). Pride assaults God's throne and asserts its independence in an attempt to dislodge God as the Sovereign of the universe.

God and pride are like oil and water-- they don't mix! Pride is dogmatic in its antagonism to God and God is absolute in His opposition to pride. The Creator never has and never will compromise with pride.

Humility is the foundation of all virtue, but pride is the essence of all sin. The world system operates on the basis of pride for all that is in the world is lust and pride (1 John 2:16). Pride and lust are root sins from which all other sins spring. Pride is the mother of evil.

God detests pride. He even hates a proud look (Prov. 6:16-17). God's loathing of pride is unalterable, for "Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD" (Prov. 16:5).