XPost: alt.christnet.christnews, alt.religion.christian   
   From: usenet@christrose.news   
      
   ========================================   
   Thu, 13 Nov 2025 18:16:20 -0500   
   <7dmchk1klo59gmla44bl3r47c5a4fugnd3@4ax.com>   
   "Sincerely", "soley from the Bible" and   
   "Honestly is my middle name"   
   James  wrote:   
   ========================================   
   >> 3.Jesus commended a soldier’s faith   
   >>   
   >> Jesus praised the Roman centurion at Capernaum, saying, “I tell you, not   
   >> even in Israel have I found such faith” (Matthew 8:10, ESV). Jesus never   
   >> told him to leave the army, showing that the profession was not   
   >> inherently unrighteous.   
      
   > Jesus also said   
      
      
   By "also", you admit Jesus said this. Yet you then turn around and   
   pretend like He elsewhere undermined what He plainly taught here: the   
   man who primarily served in the military showed more faith in God than   
   anyone Jesus had seen. That's not consistent with the idea that the   
   Centurion was living a sinful lifestyle by serving in the military.   
      
      
   > to "love you enemies", and "pray" for them, and "bless" them.   
      
      
   You seek to confuse and twist the context of every passage you comment   
   on. Here, Jesus addresses civilians about how they should respond to   
   individual persecution, not how agents of God's wrath should perform in   
   the line of duty. Soldiers are agents of God's "wrath" (Romans 13). They   
   show love for God and country by dealing with national security threats   
   and the welfare of their citizens who are oppressed by crime.   
      
      
   > Jesus was trying to draw the man to be his follower. Telling   
   > him to quit his whole lifestyle was probably too much to   
   > handle.   
      
      
   James tries to plant two false ideas at once.   
      
   First, he pushes the lie that Jesus withheld truth to avoid overwhelming   
   the centurion. Scripture never portrays Jesus softening His commands out   
   of fear that obedience might be “too much to handle.” Jesus called men   
   to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him (Matthew 16:24,   
   ESV). He told the rich young ruler to surrender his ruling sin even   
   though it cost him deeply (Mark 10:21–22, ESV). Jesus never concealed   
   God’s will to keep someone comfortable. The centurion received praise,   
   not correction, because his faith pleased Christ. Nothing in the text   
   hints that Jesus avoided telling him to abandon a sinful occupation.   
      
   Second, he advances the false reasoning that loving enemies contradicts   
   serving as a soldier. Scripture holds both truths together without   
   tension. A soldier may love his enemies by refusing personal vengeance,   
   and acting under God-ordained authority rather than private malice.   
   Romans 13:4 shows that God appoints governing authorities to bear the   
   sword as servants of His justice, not personal hatred. Loving enemies   
   does not forbid executing justice under God’s commission. It forbids   
   personal revenge. You love God when you execute justice as an agent of   
   God's wrath.   
      
   James tries to replace the text with psychological speculation. The   
   passage does not say Jesus avoided telling him something. The passage   
   does not say military service conflicted with loving enemies. The   
   passage simply shows Christ praising the faith of a man whose military   
   role is left intact (Matthew 8:5–10, ESV). His argument dodges the   
   actual force of the text by importing motives and meanings that the text   
   never states.   
      
   --   
   Have you heard the good news Christ died for our sins (†), and God   
   raised Him from the dead?   
      
   That Christ died for our sins shows we're sinners who deserve the death   
   penalty. That God raised Him from the dead shows Christ's death   
   satisfied God's righteous demands against our sin (Romans 3:25; 1 John   
   2:1-2). This means God can now remain just, while forgiving you of your   
   sins, and saving you from eternal damnation.   
      
   On the basis of Christ's death and resurrection for our sins, call on   
   the name of the Lord to save you: "For 'everyone who calls on the name   
   of the Lord will be saved'" (Romans 10:13, ESV).   
      
   https://christrose.news/salvation   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)