Re: [RR] RR explored.. two paths...

[clint grant]

What it all boils down to is the definition of duty, and what it implies. I don't agree with your's, or what you say it impies,  but that's ok.   Paul said that he was a bondservant of Christ. Christ Himself gave us a new commandment, to love one another. He did not ask or strongly suggest.  I have to believe that, along with a compassion that surpasses anything I will ever fathom, a sense of duty is what compelled Christ our Lord to the cross. Three times He asked His father if there was any other way. He did not want to do it. But He did. There are some things you have said that I cannot accept. There are requirements, and Matt. 7:12 and Matt. 28:19-20 are among them. There is another scripture that puts it a little more bluntly: "And now, Isreal, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy soul," Deut. 10:12 The Word speaks of many things that the Lord requires of us. It makes for an interesting Bible study, if you have a Strong's concordance. Our wilingness to do so makes them no less a requirement than someone else's unwillingness does, nor is there any implication that if it were not required of us, that we would not be just as willing. Your intentions are noble, and I applaud them. I do not, however, hold your definitions of the words duty and requirement in such high esteem. I must continue to maintain that the ARE requirements and duties for us to carry out as set forth by the Word and it is my hope that I have sufficiently demonstrated this to your satisfaction.   ----- Original Message ----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 5:58 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [RR] RR explored.. two paths...   In a message dated 11/28/2001 10:27:48 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." Matt. 7:12. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world." Matt. 28:19-20. Sounds like a moral requirement to me. Iron Mike, you have a duty to do...     I acknowledge the scriptural references but I do not acknowledge the secular definitions.  It is a labor of love because as a Christian, we do this because we were asked to by the Lord. We didn't have to accept the Lord, we chose to, doing these things that the scripture said, is not a moral requirement, it is a privilidge. If it was just a moral requirement I wouldn't be doing them for that reason. I do those things because I love the Lord and I was asked to do them, not because I was told I had to. I want to do those things and am doing those things to the best of my ability as provided by God's Grace, but not because "I have to."  With the "I Have to do it" attitude is disingenuous and artificial. There is a line between have to and want to. To have to implies that it is a duty and holds an air of reservation, to want to implies that it is a labor of love and is done without that reservation. God does not want that reservation, He wants the willing. Going to the JOB is a duty, Serving the Lord is a labor of love and not a duty. God Bless, Iron Mike Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com