Quote:
Originally Posted by Abounding
Ultimately, I think the truth is much more simple than many think. In Mark 16:15 Jesus said to preach the good news. I think the good news is just that he died on the cross for us. That we are free! That it is finished!
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I believe the good news is more than that. We are free (from the condemnation of sin). Yet, even better, we are not free (from the love of the Lord). We often miss the 2nd part of the great commission in Matthew 28.
19 Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age.
I have been thinking about this since Bradley started this thread. Sometimes, we search and search for verses from the Bible. It ends up we selectively choose specific verses, interpret them in a way to support our own intention and ignore the more obvious general principles. Even worse, if something is not specifically forbidden in the Bible, we say it is allowed.
I think 1 John 2 stated a very important general principle:
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him;
16 Because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and its lust, but he who does the will of God abides forever.