By Grace or by Works Remix

By their fuits ye shall know them.You can see plenty of examples right here at EvC: many of those who claim to be "attuned" with God couldn't attune a radio.A good tree produces good fruit. It doesn't have to "believe" in the gardener.

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Well... so does a bad tree.You can have a good tree and a bad tree side-by-side in the same orchard, so it doesn't seem fair to blame (or credit) the soil alone. Going with the analogy, that sounds like a parasitic relationship.

quote:

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Joh 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

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John suggests that God "fine-tunes" our fruit-producing capabilities - but don't forget that fruit production is a natural thing. The (stretched) analogy suggests that our own efforts and behaviours will produce the desured results - God's intervention only improves the efficiency.

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Yes. "Accepting God" or "accepting Jesus" (and I don't like that terminology) is just getting the job - it's the interview, not the job itself. We still have to do the work.Jesus was wise to portray it as an ongoing project.

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The rule-of-thumb would be, "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."More specifically, "Feed unto others what you would have others feed unto you." If you don't like to eat rotten fruit, then don't feed rotten fruit to your family or your guests, don't sell rotten fruit, don't give rotten fruit to charity, etc.If you don't like durians, don't grow them.

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I don't think the fruit analogy applies. According to Matthew's gospel, we are judged by how we meet our neighbours needs - not by catering to "perversions". I don't see how. I was talking about fruit in general. Why southeast Asians specifically? No, I haven't tried it and I have no opinion. I said, "If you don't like durians, don't grow them." Much like, "If you don't like being hit by a hammer, don't hit yourself (or anybody else) with a hammer."

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