05-07-2009, 04:02 AM
Peace....
Quote:"All Christians without exception, are trying to make us fee that we are dumb and can never understand unless we follow them blindly"
It's not about you being dumb nor is it about you following any particular person blindly. What it's about is divine revelation:
Matthew 16:15-17
(15) He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am?
(16) Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
(17) Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.
This is the only way knowledge of the scriptures come, by divine revelation. There was a man named Nicodemus who came to Jesus in the night to speak with him, during their discourse, Jesus explained about new birth:
John 3:1-4
(1) NOW THERE was a certain man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler (a leader, an authority) among the Jews,
(2) Who came to Jesus at night and said to Him, Rabbi, we know and are certain that You have come from God [as] a Teacher; for no one can do these signs (these wonderworks, these miracles--and produce the proofs) that You do unless God is with him.
(3) Jesus answered him, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God.
(4) Nicodemus said to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother's womb again and be born?
John 3:10-13
(10) Jesus replied, Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet do not know nor understand these things? [Are they strange to you?]
(11) I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, We speak only of what we know [we know absolutely what we are talking about]; we have actually seen what we are testifying to [we were eyewitnesses of it]. And still you do not receive our testimony [you reject and refuse our evidence--that of Myself and of all those who are born of the Spirit].
(12) If I have told you of things that happen right here on the earth and yet none of you believes Me, how can you believe (trust Me, adhere to Me, rely on Me) if I tell you of heavenly things?
(13) And yet no one has ever gone up to heaven, but there is One Who has come down from heaven--the Son of Man [Himself], Who is (dwells, has His home) in heaven.
As far as repentance and unconditional love are concerned, repentance is only granted from God Himself while love is indeed based on a condition:
2 Timothy 2:24-25
(24) And the servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome (fighting and contending). Instead, he must be kindly to everyone and mild-tempered [preserving the bond of peace]; he must be a skilled and suitable teacher, patient and forbearing and willing to suffer wrong.
(25) He must correct his opponents with courtesy and gentleness, in the hope that God may grant that they will repent and come to know the Truth [that they will perceive and recognize and become accurately acquainted with and acknowledge it],
Quote:"however I do not call this LOVE, it is no more than following God's commandment, i.e. to be well mannered and to turn evil with that which is good."
And in the Bible that is called "loving your enemy"
Matthew 5:44-45
(44) But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
the next verse explains why we must do this, it isn't a suggestion, it's a command:
(45) To show that you are the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the wicked and on the good, and makes the rain fall upon the upright and the wrongdoers [alike].
Shamms