You wrote:
In regarding the Virgins, you remember I pointed out in the
Greek, the Lord had no knowledge of who the 5 foolish were, no
relational knowledge and yet the passages pointed out prior to that is
that the Believer cannot lose their salvation. The true Christian is
what....SEALED UNTO THE DAY OF REDEMPTION.
What you are saying is that this passage would teach that the
born from above Christian could lose their salvation or not really have
a real birth from above salvation. That is in contradiction to much of
Scripture.
Just for the record I would like
to point out to you and anyone else who knows of me here at 5 - doves,
I am an adamant supporter of NEVER loosing ones spiritual salvation.
As I stated in my letter to you, I place my faith in all of those
promises you stated in your previous letter. No one can pluck us out
of the Fathers hand in relationship to our spirit which is made alive
at the point of spiritual salvation. Christ
died to pay the price necessary so that our spirits could be redeemed
back to God. This salvation is brought to us by the Spirit by the
direction of God and it is by the faith of Christ that enters us that
allows us to have the faith to believe. (I am crucified with Christ,
nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me, and the life
that I now live, I live BY THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD, who loved me
and gave himself for me.)
Next as far as Matt. being
written just for the Jews because the church wasn't in view when Christ
spoke the parables in Matt. 25, I beg to differ
However, the whole of the dialogue in its entirety is Jesus
is teaching the disciples regarding what would happen to the Temple and
Israel in the course of Israel's history. He starts talking in Matt 24
and concludes talking the last verse of Matt 25 answering the
disciples' questions. He does not start, stop and restart again. He
gives a full discourse to them in one setting.
The Church was not birthed yet nor the disciples aware of the
Church being borned. They were still thinking national Israel.
If you go back to Matt. 12 we
have the dialogue where the heads of Israel (Pharisee's and Sadducees)
did the unpardonable sin, they ascribed to Satan the works of the Holy
Spirit and Christ's response to it was in vs 32
And whosoever speaketh a word
against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever
speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it SHALL NOT BE FORGIVEN HIM, NEITHER
IN THIS AGE, NEITHER IN THE AGE TO COME.
The degree of judgment that came
to Israel via their heads of state was later stated in Matt.21:43 where
it states "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken
from you, and given to a nation bring forth the fruits of it. " Then
later in Matt. 23:13 Christ identifies the rulers which caused this to
happen "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye
shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for ye neither go in
yourselves, neither permit them that are entering to go in." The
promises given to Abraham concerning the heavenly Kingdom was taken
from Israel and brought to a new entity being created (a
nation) because they would be able to accept it whereas Israel had not
been ready to accept what Christ had come to offer. Here is the first
mention of something new which we later learned was the church. It was
spoken of in the presence of the disciples and Christ included it's
presence when speaking in parables. I am sorry if you don't see this
and I really don't feel the need to go into this further, but will if
you wish.
You also stated:
We just cannot
pull out of context to create another pretext. I gave the Greek so
that you can see that when the Lord told those 5 foolish virgins he
never knew them, the
Greek word he used is a "never established relationship." It is clear
then to me that this is not referring to a loss of something you had
and now lost. He says he never knew them.
I agree that
Christ is speaking of never having established a relationship with
these individuals in regards to what is in view. We are speaking of
the kingdom of Heaven, but not just that. It is specific and it is in
reference to the Bride of Christ and the marriage supper of the lamb.
Those foolish virgins did not have the proper relationship with Christ
that would allow him to say he KNEW them in regards to being allowed
into the marriage supper of the lamb. Will all Christians attend,
evidently not because not all of those who are in the Kingdom of heaven
- which includes the foolish virgins- are allowed entry. They are
allowed to see the site, see the door, talk to the doorman, but no
entry. In Matt. 22 talks of "The kingdom of heaven is like a certain
king, who made a marriage for his son,...." then vs 11 -14
"And when
the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who had not on a
wedding garment. and he saith unto him. Friend, how camest thou in
here not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said
the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away,
and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing
of teeth.. For many are called but few are chosen."
There is no
denying that this person is at the marriage supper, but this person
does not have on the proper wedding attire. Rev 19 shedds further
light on this subject for you see the Bride is importantly clothed in
her righteous acts (which can only be the acts of the Holy Spirit
through her), not just clothed in the righteousness of Christ which a
person is clothed with at the point of spiritual salvation..... This
person is called friend by the King (he wasn't called
an enemy) and it is also important to note that he wasn't caste
out for any other reason than not having the proper attire.
I also want
to be quick to point out that outer darkness is simply on the outside
of where all the important things are taking place, the marriage supper
of the lamb. Why there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth would
be the same reason Esau wept when he forfeited the rights of the first
born to his brother because of his callus attitude towards his
inheritance had caused him to live his life in such a way that he had
offered it to his brother for a bowl of food. There will be Christians
that assume that just because they bear the name Christian, that they
are automatically in line to receive the rights of the bride of
Christ. That will cause them to live with a callousness toward the
inheritance out ahead and they will never receive the reward because
they didn't realize that it could be forfeited or lost. Paul pushed
for the prize that was out ahead of him, he thought of it like he was
running a race and not all receive the prize. That is what the
parable of the virgins is talking about, being aware, allowing the word
to have its work in you by constantly renewing your minds in the
scripture (Rm 12), letting the word divide soul and spirit so the
intents of the heart are laid bare and
we can deal with the reality of a fallen spirit fighting with a renewed
spirit within us. It is a challenge, it is a battle, and thankgoodness
it is God that has promised that He will finish the work in us. We
must come willingly, but he will do the work. It is then that the
spirit can do a work through us as we relinquish our soulish rights to
the rights of the spirit within us.
Sorry this got so long. This may
or may not make any impact on you. I know that you are a studier
of scripture as I am and I know that along the way I have had to review
and change what I thought I KNEW. I Praise the name of the Lord that
he is never done with us and promises to reach each of us where we are
at and go from there. We are probably coming at things from 3
different angles and that's okay, if it causes me to head back to the
scriptures, or causes you to research what you believe and if neither
of us change....that's okay too, because God's word is alive and is
life giving. He will do the work necessary in each of our lives.
Blessing on you Patty. Laurie