Many Mansions *Christian Discussion*

[jdmarcus59]

John 14 1-26

Lets discuss this a bit. Is Christ the only way to God, or did he simply create/show the bridge by which all mankind can travel? Is a literal belief in the person nescessary, or is there another way?

Please explain why you believe what you do, I'll share my views and we'll have ourselves a nice civilized discussion. (Quoting scripture is expected) I'll do the same. We'll keep it with in the limits of biblical text, and our personal views of it.

p.s. To those who are offended by this stuff: Do the right thing, and just stay away, unless you actually have something to contribute. :thumbsup:


Junk~

I can not type well enough ar spell well enough, to talk so
deeply,,,.it is the work of the Holy spirt that changes the heart of man.
yes Jesus said i,am the way, the truth, and the life, and even the light
and I can tell you that, but it is God who does the work, jesus said, my
sheep hear my voice, and they follow him, do you hear His voice? you can
if you listen. the cross calls all men to the Christ, its up to you to belive
we could talk for hours, about this or that, but the bottom line is, do you
hear his voice, for God so loved you that he gave his only Son to die for
you, and to give you life everlasting, He calls you today,

[JunkYard]

I can not type well enough ar spell well enough, to talk so
deeply,,,.it is the work of the Holy spirt that changes the heart of man.
yes Jesus said i,am the way, the truth, and the life, and even the light
and I can tell you that, but it is God who does the work, jesus said, my
sheep hear my voice, and they follow him, do you hear His voice? you can
if you listen. the cross calls all men to the Christ, its up to you to belive
we could talk for hours, about this or that, but the bottom line is, do you
hear his voice, for God so loved you that he gave his only Son to die for
you, and to give you life everlasting, He calls you today,

I'd very much like to talk for hours about this JD, are you up to it? You don't have to spell good, nor do you have to type good to let that voice speak through you.


Love,


Junk~

[jdmarcus59]

I'd very much like to talk for hours about this JD, are you up to it? You don't have to spell good, nor do you have to type good to let that voice speak through you.


Love,


Junk~

I will try, what do you beleave?

[JunkYard]

To put it simply, I believe in Love, both as God and as Christ. Christ was the bridge builder..love made manifest in humanlly form. He showed the world the way in truth and light.

Love is more than a mere feeling, or action; it is a divine essence. Love has powers that, when utilized, can heal any spiritual ailment. It leads us towards union with the divine, as the divineâ??s very essence is Love. When we embrace this â??Spiritâ?� we begin to awaken to our inner strength. We become confident, bold, peaceful, and strong. Love is not mushy, or weak, nor is it always gentle, or kind. Love is a lion that can move mountains on a spiritual level. When one embraces love, they are in fact embracing the divine. There is no greater force in this universe than love, Imo.

Jealousy, anger, bitterness, disgust, greed, selfishness, pride, hate, wrath, lust, envy, intolerance and every other spiritual negative can be conquered through love. These are the spirits that hinder oneâ??s inner peace and prevents freedom. The truth is that we are in control every moment of our lives when it comes to our spiritual state of being. We choose to become angry, we choose to become jealous, we choose to envy, we choose hate, we choose to become prideful and if we can choose to embrace these negatives on such a personal level, then we can also choose to embrace love and rid our being from them. This is a simple truth that many refuse to realize. We are in control, and to deny this fact is to deny oneâ??s own responsibility for self.

Far too many want to blame something other than self for their own refusal to embrace the divine. If the divine is in fact love & life, then any man, or woman, or child can come to understand â??Godâ??. When love is fully embraced, no longer can the atheists say, â??I cannot believeâ??, and no longer can the child say, â??I do not understandâ??, and no longer can those slow in wit blame their inability to comprehend. All can know and understand God through love, but it/he must be fully embraced to come to this understanding.

Love is universal in application, it is pure, unconditional, it leads us out of the darkness of heart, and lends to us its comfort, its peace, its power, and its freedom when embraced. To put it simply, love is the divine, and all one must do to find peace in this life, or to find that buried treasure called heaven, is to embrace life with love; such was the way of Christ. â??In him was life; and the life was the light of men.â?� (Love)


Junk~

[jdmarcus59]

yes God is love, and when we accempt Gods love and will,for are lives
then we must come to the understanding, that there is no good in man
that all men haved sined, and fallen short the glory of God. and the wages
of sin is death. but be of good chear for christ has paid are wages, by his
blood we have been made whole we stand before God blamless......

[jdmarcus59]

yes God is love, and when we accempt Gods love and will,for are lives
then we must come to the understanding, that there is no good in man
that all men haved sined, and fallen short the glory of God. and the wages
of sin is death. but be of good chear for christ has paid are wages, by his
blood we have been made whole we stand before God blamless......

CHRIST is are glory

[JunkYard]

yes God is love, and when we accempt Gods love and will,for are lives
then we must come to the understanding, that there is no good in man
that all men haved sined, and fallen short the glory of God. and the wages
of sin is death. but be of good chear for christ has paid are wages, by his
blood we have been made whole we stand before God blamless......

Love is God's will, so says the Christ. He gave but 2 commandments: love God, who is defined as love, and to love one another. That's the bridge. There are many mansions in Gods House, and perhaps you are in one of them? Perhaps the buddhists are, and the hindu's, etc. as well?

Love transcends the intellect, all knowlegde will pass away, but love will remain, as it is the eternal spirit of God. Your biblical knowlwedge is nothing w/o love, JD. Your knowledge of the man Jesus is nothing w/o Love. (According to scripture)

Something to think about.. . ..


Junk~

[jdmarcus59]

yes God is love, but if you love God then you will obey His will, and His will
is, Is to love and obey His Son, who is God,, and yes jesus said, In my Father
house are many rooms, and I,am going to prepare a place for you. but He was talking to his disciples. not a buddhist ecs........ jesus is the way, the
truth, and the life, no man comes to the father, buy by me..

[JunkYard]

yes God is love, but if you love God then you will obey His will, and His will
is, Is to love and obey His Son, who is God,, and yes jesus said, In my Father
house are many rooms, and I,am going to prepare a place for you. but He was talking to his disciples. not a buddhist ecs........ jesus is the way, the
truth, and the life, no man comes to the father, buy by me..

No, thats not Gods will. Christ never said obey, he never said love me! He said love the father, love one another and "Follow" me. Those were his only commandments.


Lets break down John 14, cool? I'll give my views, and then you give yours, ok? We'll do it verse by verse.

1. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me."

he's speaking to his diciples, he's saying don't worry, you have a belief in God, now believe also in me. What he's telling them is to beleive what he says, and in his ways.

2. "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

He's saying there are many peoples in the father already, if it were not true, he would have told them. Now I go to prepare a place for "You". He's saying that he his preparing them to understand God more intimately, on a personal level. (Relationship)

Do you agree with this assesment thus far, JD?

[JunkYard]

JD, this is my view, so you get a better picture of where Iâ??m coming from. Iâ??m using scripture, and adding my understanding of them. But, remember what it says in 1 Corinthians. â?�For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfectâ?� The only thing that can be made perfect is the heart, man.

â??The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentanceâ?�

Repentance is knowing your need, and allowing yourself to be changed. We are spiritually dead, and until we allow ourselves to be rid of our spiritual darkness, (The negatives that destroy our inner peace) we will remain in sin, which means we miss the mark that God has set for us to experience in this life. (Love, joy, happiness, contentment, serenity, etc.)


John 14:3-

Christ is going to the father (Heaven) where we cannot go for we are corrupt. â?¦But, he builds the bridge when he submits to Gods will (Love) even unto his death â??For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting lifeâ?�

Jesus was/is the way maker. His words, his life, his spirit, which was/is Godâ??s own (love) and his death built a bridge so all men can know the father. â??And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto meâ?� Jewish, Baptist, Methodist, Mormon, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, etc.

Romans

â??Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep â??restâ??, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.â?�

Flesh and blood is our body and natural â??inwardâ?� state of being, and it is corrupt, and corruption cannot inherit incorruption, and herein lies the mystery of Christ, and the kingdom of God. We will be changed inwardly, and in a single moment will we understand; in the twinkling of an eye we shall be raised from the dead in Spirit through love. Weâ??re already dead in our bodies and inward reality, but when we embrace Godâ??s spirit (Love) as Christ did, we will be made new and be changed from the inside out; the kingdom of heaven is the result of such a change. â??Behold, the kingdom of heaven is at handâ?� But, this is what Jesus says about being changed in heart. (Important and not always easy)

â??A sower (Christ) went out to sow his seed: (Love) and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it."

(Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil â??doubtâ??, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.)

â??And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture."

(They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation â??Trialâ?� fall away.)

"And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it."

(That which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares â??Worriesâ?� and riches â??Greedâ?� and pleasures of this life â??unchanged heartâ??, and bring no fruit to perfection.) Many revel in the darkness of heart, and this is that false type of pleasure Jesus was speaking of.

"And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.â?�

(That on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, â??sincere and lovingâ?� having heard the word, â?�Loveâ?� keep it, â?? believe in itâ?� and bring forth fruit with patience. â??Allow it to mature withinâ??)

Romans continuedâ?¦

â??For this corruptible must put on incorruption, (Love) and this mortal must put on immortality (Spirit) . So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? (Inner torment) O grave, where is thy victory? (Life everlasting) The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.â?� We are not punished for our sins, we are punished by them

(Jesus showed us the way through his life, teachings, and spirit; he was faithful until death, and he defeated that which we are called to conquer in ourselves; we do this by fully embracing his â??undyingâ?� spirit of love)

â??So faith, (in Godâ??s spirit) hope, (That we will change) love (Which is the light and life of Christ) abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.â?�

In conclusion, we are fighting against our inward negatives, i.e. anger, bitterness, self pity, envy, doubt, greed, hate, jealousy, intolorance, pride, fear etc. (sin) Love conquers these things; it is God that conquers these things when we embrace his spirit, and Christ made the way known. (Salvation from inner torment)


My view,



Junk :hippy: