Comments on: Romans 12: Why Sacrifice is Essential for Christians to Master http://inamirrordimly.com/2009/10/23/romans-12-why-sacrifice-is-essential-for-christians-to-master/ An imperfect and sometimes sarcastic perspective on following Jesus by Ed Cyzewski. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:00:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ed http://inamirrordimly.com/2009/10/23/romans-12-why-sacrifice-is-essential-for-christians-to-master/comment-page-1/#comment-2743 ed Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:16:47 +0000 http://inamirrordimly.com/2009/10/23/romans-12-why-sacrifice-is-essential-for-christians-to-master/#comment-2743 Alan, Thanks for stopping by. For starters, your combative style is not welcome at this blog. I welcome robust debate, but your tone counters my goal of creating a safe environment for dialogue and mutual edification on this blog. If you want to encourage me and debate me into believing whatever theology it is you believe, that's cool. But I will not hesitate to delete comments that are combative on this blog. So if you're only planning round two of your first comment, save your time for someone else. Now, as to your theological points, I'll say that I think you've created a false dichotomy that one cannot believe in both Paul and Jesus. To hint that I don't believe what Jesus said matters because I deal with the theology of Paul creates an all-or-nothing scenario that is not consistent with scripture or the traditions of the church. Keep in mind that Peter spent a lot more time with Jesus than you or I, and yet he was able to write in 2 Peter 3:14-16 the following: "14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction." Peter says we should expect to find Paul's letters challenging. So we need to suck it up and deal with it, while balancing his teachings with the Gospels, keeping in mind that Luke was a dear friend of Paul as well who would have been more than able to correct Paul after Luke's careful inquiry into Jesus. While I'm sure you're armed with no shortage of proof texts for your view, I think some grace should be in order for believers who feel more than comfortable with taking Peter's word for it as well as the traditions handed down from the early church. Blessings Alan,

Thanks for stopping by.

For starters, your combative style is not welcome at this blog. I welcome robust debate, but your tone counters my goal of creating a safe environment for dialogue and mutual edification on this blog. If you want to encourage me and debate me into believing whatever theology it is you believe, that’s cool. But I will not hesitate to delete comments that are combative on this blog. So if you’re only planning round two of your first comment, save your time for someone else.

Now, as to your theological points, I’ll say that I think you’ve created a false dichotomy that one cannot believe in both Paul and Jesus. To hint that I don’t believe what Jesus said matters because I deal with the theology of Paul creates an all-or-nothing scenario that is not consistent with scripture or the traditions of the church.

Keep in mind that Peter spent a lot more time with Jesus than you or I, and yet he was able to write in 2 Peter 3:14-16 the following:

“14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

Peter says we should expect to find Paul’s letters challenging. So we need to suck it up and deal with it, while balancing his teachings with the Gospels, keeping in mind that Luke was a dear friend of Paul as well who would have been more than able to correct Paul after Luke’s careful inquiry into Jesus.

While I’m sure you’re armed with no shortage of proof texts for your view, I think some grace should be in order for believers who feel more than comfortable with taking Peter’s word for it as well as the traditions handed down from the early church.

Blessings

]]> By: Alan B http://inamirrordimly.com/2009/10/23/romans-12-why-sacrifice-is-essential-for-christians-to-master/comment-page-1/#comment-2742 Alan B Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:35:06 +0000 http://inamirrordimly.com/2009/10/23/romans-12-why-sacrifice-is-essential-for-christians-to-master/#comment-2742 Why are you wasting your time trying to understand the theology of Paul? Wouldn't it be better to try to understand the theology of Jesus? Don't you know that a lot of what Paul believed was at odds with the teachings of Jesus? Do you believe in the necessity of baptism, and even in "baptism of the dead by proxy"?... It is evident that Paul did. Do you believe in physical immortalilty - that if you can avoid incurring God's judgment, that you will live forever?... It is evident that Paul did. Do you believe that rather than going on to an afterlife, we will wait in our graves until the end of time to then be physically resurrected and transformed into some sort of immortal (yet physical) super beings?... It is evident that Paul did. Do you believe that none of what Jesus said matters, and that we needn't try to do any of the things that Jesus said that we should do... because we can only be saved by "faith and faith alone"? Do you also believe that we can have eternal life only by being "in union with Christ"?... It is evident that Paul believed both of those contradictory things... Why are you wasting your time trying to understand the theology of Paul? Wouldn’t it be better to try to understand the theology of Jesus? Don’t you know that a lot of what Paul believed was at odds with the teachings of Jesus? Do you believe in the necessity of baptism, and even in “baptism of the dead by proxy”?… It is evident that Paul did. Do you believe in physical immortalilty – that if you can avoid incurring God’s judgment, that you will live forever?… It is evident that Paul did. Do you believe that rather than going on to an afterlife, we will wait in our graves until the end of time to then be physically resurrected and transformed into some sort of immortal (yet physical) super beings?… It is evident that Paul did. Do you believe that none of what Jesus said matters, and that we needn’t try to do any of the things that Jesus said that we should do… because we can only be saved by “faith and faith alone”? Do you also believe that we can have eternal life only by being “in union with Christ”?… It is evident that Paul believed both of those contradictory things…

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