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@Mopac
That is my point. So you would then see our marriages as illegitimate and that we live in sin.
each teach the common tenants of the Gospel as understood in the bible from the early church on - and in respect of the the important creeds from the legitimate ecumenical councils.
Peter repented.
The problem with eternal security is that it leads people to arrogantly boast of their own salvation, which they themselves don't truly know they have. It also very easily leads to a dead faith without works(no faith) and even a dead conscience that feels no conviction from sin.
Walking with God necessitates a life of repentence. Which means to confess when you sin, and turn away from evil.
You don't know how we understand or believe things because you are leaning on your own understanding. Your reasoning is not the church's reasoning. Nor is your reasoning what the church teaches.You certainly don't understand how authority in our church works.My submission to the church is certainly less vain glorious than starting my own church.
I take the view that this is because they - like you - and the Baptist church have a faulty view of authority. And of legitimacy. You misunderstand the gospels and the Word of God and you are all too arrogant to consider that real power comes in humility, like the Lord Jesus Christ when he left his throne in heaven to become a man.We are not to lord it over others. That is the way of the Catholic church and the way of the Baptists - and from what I read of your church, it is the same with your lot. You have forsaken humility in favor of authority in a top down system.Jesus led as a servant. That is his system of leadership. Not arrogance. Not isolating people. Not telling others that they are not legitimate followers. He - simply said - "follow me". And so far as his people follow him, they will be on a much safer path of assurance than all the trappings of tradition and religion that many churches around the world want to put onto them.
The point is, you may think you were baptised, and you may think you received The Holy Spirit, but the church has taught since the beginning that these things are not done independently of the church. The fathers of the church did not have the same understanding of ecclessiology that you do.
When I read the writings and lives of the saints, I find many examples of those who even up until their last breathe found themselves unworthy of being saved. Rather, what I find is that they put their trust in God's love to forgive them, even considering it the righteous judgement of God to send them to perdition.
Feeling secure in one's own salvation is a sign of prelest. It is also not the proper attitude to have toward God, for the sinner who said "Lord have mercy on me, a sinner" was said by Christ to be justified, while the pharisee who accounted himself as righteous was not. For "every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
Before Saint Porphyrios reposed, he wrote this letter, which demonstrates the humility of a saintly man."My dear spiritual Children,Now that I am still in charge of my faculties, I want to give you some advice.Ever since I was a child, I was always in sin. When my mother sent me to watch the animals on the mountain, (my father had gone to America to work on the Panama Canal for us his children, because we were poor), there, where I shepherded the animals, I slowly read, word by word, the life of St. John the Hut-dweller and I loved St. John very much.I said a lot of prayers, like the young child that I was, twelve or fifteen years old, I don't remember too well. I wanted to follow his example. So, with a lot of difficulty, I secretly left my parents and came to Kavsokalyvia on the Holy Mountain. I became obedient to two elders, the true brothers, Panteleimon and loannikios. They happened to be very devout and full of virtue, I loved them very much and because of that, with their blessing, I gave them absolute obedience. That helped me a lot. I also felt great love for God and got along very well.However, because of my sins, God allowed me to become ill, and my elders told me to go to my parents in my village of St. John, Evia. Although I had sinned a lot from when I was a small child, when I returned to the world I continued to commit sins which, today are very many. The world, however, thought highly of me, and everyone shouts that I'm a saint.I however, feel that I am the most sinful person in the world. Of course, whatever I remembered I confessed, and I know God has forgiven me.But now I have the feeling that my spiritual sins are very many and I ask all those who have known me to pray for me, because, for as long as I lived, I humbly prayed for you, too. Now that I'm leaving for heaven, I have the feeling that God will say to me, "What are you doing here?" I have only one thing to say to him, "I am not worthy of here, Lord, but whatever your love wills, it'll do for me." From then on, I don't know what will happen. I however, wish for God's love to act.I always pray that my spiritual children will love God, Who is everything, so that He will make us worthy to enter His earthly uncreated Church. We must begin from here. I always made the effort to pray, to read the hymns of the Church, the Holy Scriptures and the Lives of the Saints. May you do the same. I tried, by the grace of God, to approach God and may you also do the same.I beg all of you to forgive me for whatever I did to upset you."
What about everyone else, who hasn't been or ever was or ever will be, conditioned to accept your version of the Jesus GOD principle.
Perhaps we are all saved by our own particular version of things.