Hi Raptor,
Sorry if I came on strong in my last message. The Lord Jesus loves you very much because you are his special creation and you come from his being via the breath he gave to Adam. I also used to believe like you did and the cognitive dissonance was real but I finally had to bow down to the authority of God's word. I believe as David loved Absalom, so does God loves his enemies including the false believers who end up perishing for eternity, but he can't override their free will to reject him from their heart (Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 23:37). My intent is to help others and themselves get their family and friends to take their walk with the Lord seriously because we only have one chance to repent while we are alive (Hebrews 9:27).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raptor
Oh...so then it must not be that important or relevant, or true? So neither the revelation of the New Jerusalem, nor the revelation of the Son of Man walking among the lampstands, nor the great whore, Babylon the Great. Actually, the whole book of Revelation.  |
When John wrote the book of Revelation he was reporting a vision that he saw with his own eyes. His audience would have also made the connection between a lot of what he wrote and what the OT prophets described such as the destruction of Babylon (which was never destroyed but replaced by the Medo-Persian empire, so the prophets were talking about another Babylon).
Paul on the other hand could only write about what he knew to be true and there is no indication that he or the other apostles knew about the millennial reign of Christ at the time of their writings.
If you are right then the worries that Paul expressed in his letters about laboring in vain were unnecessary since the souls he labored over would only miss out on the millennial kingdom.
Galatians 5:7
"
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?"
Galatians 4:11
"I am afraid I may have
labored over you in vain."
Galatians 5:4
You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law;
you have fallen away from grace.
1 Corinthians 15:2
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Philippians 2:16
holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that
I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
Here is a video which goes into more detail on the warning passages:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFQZZuJgMGs
Note that I actually lean towards "once saved always saved" in a way that the Apostle John taught it and not the way it's described in many churches today and can explain to you my current view on salvation in another thread but it's good to research different perspectives and compare them to scripture.
I also agree in a literal millennial kingdom and in rewards related to it, but I think it's just a subset and a shadow pointing to the new heavens and new earth which is encompassed by God's eternal kingdom .
If you'd like to message me one on one to ask questions that are better done in private, I will DM you my email.