Re: [TruthTalk] Basis of Unity

[Judy Taylor]

On Sun, 6 Feb 2005 14:49:54 -0700 "Bill Taylor" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Bill wrote  >   God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, but the world was not made the Church in the atonement: Paul says, "therefore be reconciled to God." The Church universal is made up of those who have not only not rejected Jesus Christ but have themselves believed the good news of their salvation and received the gift of the Holy Spirit.   jt: Would the above include both repentance and obedience since God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him?   Well, yes, I believe that "believers" do do these things, but not as a means of salvation (if that is what you are getting at); rather it is as a result of our salvation in Christ.    jt: Does the theology really matter all that much?  Do you think someone would be able to 'overcome' aside from these things?  We go to a PCA Church and today the Pastor was taking Perseverance and Preservation from 1 Sam 23. He handled whether or not a person can fall away very delicately but emphasized that we must 'persevere' that is, run after God.   I wrote  >  Local churches may be frequented by "non-believers" of varying degrees, and this for different reasons, but the "Church" itself is populated by believers.  Bill   jt: This is good to know Bill - So ... why do you constantly retreat?.   I am not sure I know what you are talking about. But I would rather retreat than get into protracted arguments with people with whom there is no hope of agreement. I love discussing ideas and I enjoy reading or listening to the ideas of others (that is why I am still on TT) --  but I hate debate. If there doesn't appear to be any chance of resolve, I would rather disengage than ride a disagreement into the gutter. I'll talk to you later, Bill   jt: Well thanks for sharing this Bill, you never know - we just might have a lot of common ground to discuss :)