Do We Love the Brethren?

Would I be using these greek words correctly here?:

I have agape towards all those who profess to love Christ, but there are few that I phileo.

 

Hyper-Calvinism at it's best.

I have long suspected that posters like you use your Primitive Baptist church membership to keep from obeying the scriptures. After all, if only some are elect, then that opens you up to hate in Jesus' name all who are not elect. And, since you cannot know for sure, there is always a doubt as to who is and isn't the elect. Of course, you assume that anyone who rejects your hyper-Calvinistic doctrine is certainly not part of God's chosen. No wonder there are so few Primitive Baptist churches left!

The sad thing is you think this is the way Jesus intended the church to operate.

 

And you are displaying true Christian "love" by accusing others of deliberately disobeying Scriptures while at the same time demanding honesty from other posters here.
Challenge: What Scriptures do I NOT WANT to obey, hiding in my Primitive Baptist membership ?

You are truly a pathetic creature.

And where is the Scripture that shows you can know FOR SURE who the elect are by name, location, doctrinal affiliation, etc. ? For that matter where is the Scripture that says because YOU chose Christ as your Savior, instead of Him choosing you as His own, you are truly assured you are one of His ?

I know of Scriptures that tell individuals, even those professing love for Christ, how to make sure of their calling and election, but none of their profession.

I have yet to meet ONE Primitive Baptist who teaches that, and YOU have yet to point to one who does. Until you are able to, I will say IN PRINT, you are a liar, and I don't care if I get disciplined.

And how do you know there are just FEW ? You haven't even stepped into one other than the one you so roundly criticized a few threads back.

WHAT way ?

 

Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

I guess that's why you claim not to love me!

Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

If you accept Christ and believe the Gospel, you then profess this to others.

Allow me to quote you: "All commands to love one another have been given to those who belong to a local, visible church, and I will not go out of those boundaries." You are commanded to love those who belong to Christ, yet you say you will only love those who belong to a local congregation. What about those who don't?

You also said: "Which brethren ? where are they ? who are they ? As for you, I don't even know you, personally. On what basis should I call you a brother ? Because you profess Christ as a Savior you received ?"

It sure looks like you only love those of your fellowship, or at the most those who are Primitive Baptist. If I am wrong, I apologize, but please, be clearer next time.

There are over 40,000 SBC churches. How many PBC's are there?

Love the lost and especially love those who are part of the church.

 

I agree with you Mr. Snow. When I read the post that you were replying to, my heart sank. I don't know what to do but pray, pray that we as Christians, ALL Christians can love each other.

 

Yes,it is speaking to a local church.

We can speak the truth in here.Those who mock the truth of God are answered according to ;

Some of the unscriptural comments that are posted are to be spoken against.
Some of the comments do not give evidence they are made by sheep.

 

:thumbsup:
Excellent point

 

I don't believe that Jesus gave us that option...

Recall the discussion He had with Peter... Peter, do you love me?

Jesus used the various words for love and implicated Peter with each one.

 

The only way that we know a child of God is by his or her testimony. If they give a God glorifying testimony that should be excepted and they should be admonished as a child of God.
Then we should keep in mind what is written in I John:

(1Jn 5:2) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

(1Jn 5:3) For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

It should not be grievous to love those that profess to know Christ in remission of sin by his marvelous Grace.

Peace and prayers

Jeff

 

so do i love the impoverished Muslims i come across on a daily basis? if i have something to ease their burden do i? or do i just pay the Lord lip service, saying" they are not of mine, so who cares?" thats kinda sad. if i tell them to " go, be fed, be warm!" and do nothing for their physical needs, i may as well be an unbeliever. so how can you NOT love someone who believes in the same Christ you do? i happen also to love Catholics, and consider them to be Christians. you can surely open your heart to another baptist. Peace and prayers for you. raying: and if you are a believer in the shed blood of Christ, and are working out your salvation with fear and trembling, then i love you too! weather you wish for me to or not. its not your choice. its mine. lol!

 

and blessings to you too brother. the reason i joined this forum, is because of all the harshness i have seen on it for a long time. for bretheren to be treating eachother such, and also the larger Christian community, is heartbreaking. hopefully while i am here, seed can be planted to moderate the tone, that makes unbelievers who come on here, say "see! they cant even get along with eachother! why would i ever want to join with that kind of nonsense?" i work with atheist, and if they came on here, they would say just that. how bout we all learn some charity, to draw others, instead of this harsh, phariseeical outlook, which repels them....phariseeical...hmm. i think i just made a new word? ah well. Peace :type:

 

Please. If you quote Scripture, quote something that shows it to be of a UNIVERSAL application instead of a local one. Your problem is you take one thing and say "this applies to ALL". Well, it doesn't. Jesus Christ commanded His disciples in His presence in His time here on earth to love or prefer or respect one another. If this is going to be applied by extension
then it should be in the context of a local, visible church.
You, on the other hand, want me to bow down to your erroneous interpretation that there is an invisible body of Christ here on earth. There is no such thing.
There are LOCAL visible churches.

No, I don't CLAIM not to love you. I STATE I don't. I can't even get to like you in this board where our only interaction is by print. Ever since you started posting you have done mostly nothing but disparage those of the Calvinist or Doctrine of Grace persuasions, and you have outrightly insulted my brethren. And you want to demand love from me ?

This doesn't answer the question. Point to Scripture that shows you can know FOR SURE that another is elect.
I know that my brethren believe what I believe, practice what I practice, and on that basis I fellowship with them, and our constant interaction develops love and respect for each other, and we break bread together, and wash each other's feet, and anticipate we will see each other in heaven, and have a joyful anticipation of what our God has in store for us, but finally, it is the Lord, the Redeemer who truly knows His own, and if the time comes, my Lord shall say to me, "I never knew you", what shall I tell Him, that I believed in election and the doctrine of grace ? Or that I walked down the aisle and accepted Him as my personal Savior ?
Such presumptuosness !
ANYONE who claims Christ His own, if at all, gets to Heaven by grace and mercy, ALL THE WAY.

And how many confessions have been made that you and I know of, only to be abandoned ? How about a mega-church pastor who preached for years and years only to "come out of the closet" and declare he's, after all those years, really, "gay" ? Did he make a confession of faith in Christ before preaching ?
How about this last one who had liaisons with a male prostitute ? How about a heavily tattooed internet pastor who is basically antinomian in his doctrines ? How about another who has had a long going "love affair" with one of his church staff ?
And these are just the ones behind the pulpit !!
Don't talk to me of confessions.
They don't guarantee you're one of the elect, or you indeed "accepted Christ as your personal Savior".
Lastly, this Scripture has nothing, AT ALL, to do with the finished, eternal work of Christ on behalf of His people.
This Scripture is about JEWS caught in JUDAISM whom Paul wanted to preach to in hope of finding many of God's people among them and teaching them "the way".

That is what I understand, and believe, why do YOU want to ram down my throat what I cannot chew on and swallow. I WILL NOT GO BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF ANYTHING I BELIEVE SCRIPTURE TEACHES.

IF YOU WILL, THEN YOU DO IT, YOU'RE WELCOME.

I do NOT believe in an invisible church, or an invisible body of Christ, therefore, in as far as I am concerned, the command to love one another is given to those who are part of a local visible church as well as those of like faith and practice.

Yes, and that is how I've always believed. When I was with the Bible Baptists and the Arminians, I loved my brethren in that circle, and for those to whom I have been close, that love remains. I do NOT hate them or despise them just because I converted to the Doctrine of Grace. When I am with them, I feel comfortable and they feel comfortable around me.

What is it to you ? Point out in ANY post or thread where I said I hate them. I said I will live peacefully with them, will respect what they believe when I am in THEIR church, but don't judge me when I say I love those whom I call brethren in the local churches.
After all, we have developed a bond and kinship with each other through the years that have progressed on to love and mutual respect.
Our relationships to each other are unique to us.
What about you and I, for example ?
For the most part all you have done is to disparage the beliefs and doctrines and opinions of those who are of the Doctrine of Grace side, and you and I have had no pleasant exchanges to speak of, and you're concerned I don't love you ?
I don't even like you, and I don't care if the feeling is mutual.

Well, now, here I am, an electionist, a Doctrine of Grace adherent, who believe that the Creator God chose a definite number of people from an already fallen and condemned race, to redeem and bring to Him, and sent His Son to shed His blood for them, who are in the Lamb's book of Life, asking YOU to tell me who these brethren are. Don't you find that odd, since you do not believe what I believe ?
And yet you demand that I include others who are not of my like faith and practice in the brotherly and agape love that I have for those of my like faith and practice......on what basis ? Do I KNOW that their names are in the book of life ? Do I KNOW that when they made their professions of faith made Christ accept them ?
I don't know that, you don't know that, nobody knows that.
But I can respect them as persons, and that is EXACTLY what I said, which YOU have been trying to show as HATE.
You read things into people's statement, twist what people say, and then you turn around and say Calvinists and Doctrine of Grace adherents do that.
I don't HATE them.

Man, you're such a hypocrite ! You apologize ? Keep it, I don't need it.

Oh, this is about numbers now ?
Do you know your Scripture ?
What did God punish David for ?
Wasn't it for numbering Israel ?
What did God do with the men Gideon had with him ?
Didn't he trim them down to just a few ?
How many apostles did Christ send out to the world ?
hundreds of thousands, or just twelve.
Your puffed pride is showing.
Trim it a little bit during your "morning devotions".

Again, WHICH church ?
You put a definite article like "THE" you better be prepared to point out which exactly is it you're referring to.

 

will do. kinda hard to do from the gunners position though. and that is the way i like it. lol! oh, just to clarify. i joined the army when i was 39. im 41 going on 42 this year. this will be my only combat deployment. im too old for this. lol! going to reclass, when i re-up for chaplains assistant. i dont mind the deployments. just all the gear i have to wear.....guess its always been that way though. thank you. i get the sense your a veteran yourself? peace

 

so lets just say for the sake of argument, you consider Mr. snow your enemy. can you love him then? or is not loving our enemies biblical? either way, you really sound like a very unhappy camper. i shall pray for you. peace

 

The difference between him and me is he is subtle, I am a little more to the point when needed.
And in this case, it is needed.

 

so....can you find it in your heart to love brother snow? or am i beating a dead horse? im sure brother snow loves you. even if we do not contact eachother physically, we have made contact electronically, and the same priciples of Jesus still apply. you dont have to like him....but do you Love him? in Christ as a fellow believer. Peace :flower:

 

are you going to write "I love you in Christ" on your ammunition, and send it off to people trying to kill you with a loving smile ?
Are you going to raise your hands and say "I love you, I love you" to your enemies intent on mowing you down just because you're an American ?

Why are you twisting MY hand ?
Do you know what the issue between Snow and myself really is all about ?

You have judged me an unhappy camper and maybe you're right.
I might be unhappy because Snow thinks in his heart that Primitive Baptist doctrine is evil, and yet he understands VERY LITTLE, IF AT ALL, of what Primitive Baptists really believe and of who Primitive Baptists really are.

He picked on my post, when I wasn't minding his business, not because of anything else but because I am an adherent to the doctrine of grace, AND, a Primitive Baptist.

So, he's firing off amunition at me, and I ain't about to write "I love you" in mine.

 

actually, i have given food to people who would just as soon kill me. i have no hatred of them. they are just doing their Job, and i am doing mine. its really nothing personal. and i do pray for them. i dont know enough about the primitive baptist to call them evil. i doubt they are. you still have not answered my quesion though. can you love brother snow, even if you disagree with him? its a simple yes or no question. i never knew my fellow baptist could be so hostile. especially to eachother. not just yourself, but many here. i will have to pray for the baptist at large it appears, that we may have more of a Christ like heart. and deal with people in a more Christ like way. if this board is any indication. we have some serious work to do. Peace and prayers for you. :thumbsup: