Results 361 - 380 of 1928
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Results from: Notes Author: Reformer Joe Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
361 | To whom do we belong? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 73605 | ||
New Creature: You didn't address anything John said in his previous post at all. Was he wrong about something he said? If so, please point out what the passages he quoted really ARE saying, in your view. One problem that I think that we are having (and by "WE" I mean many of us on the forum not including myself) is a failure to understand the church as a covenantal community. In other words, by our baptism we are brought into the communion of saints, the people of God, whether or not we are truly regenerate at the time. Just as people belonged to the nation of Israel but were not saved, so there are people in the church who are not saved. What the writer of Hebrews is addressing, in my view, are those people who are part of the covenant community by virtue of a PROFESSION of faith. These individuals and their families need to make sure that their profession of faith indeed marks a POSSESSION of faith. The Bible makes it very clear that there are individuals in the church who, rather than being once-saved-then-lost, were never truly saved in the first place. These individuals enjoyed many of the blessings of God by living in God's household, despite the fact that they themselves were never truly God's children. For example, after Paul gets done addressing the condemnation of the majority of the Jews for rejecting the Messiah, he defends his theology against a hypothetical objection: "Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God." --Romans 3:1-2 All members of the Jewish community were entrusted with the oracles of God (the law, the priesthood, the sacrifices, the blessings, etc.). The male Jews became recipients of these blessings by virtue of their circumcision, but having all of these things did not make them saved. Paul goes on to describe his anguish for the unsaved among God's covenant community: "I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel" --Romans 9:1-6 In the same way, we can that they are not all the church (i.e. the truly saved) who are in the [visible] church. Therefore, it makes perfect sense to suggest that the recipients of Hebrews were church members whose justification would be made manifest through their perseverance. Nowhere does the epistle insist that those once truly born again are in danger of losing that regeneration (becoming "un-born"?). What the writer of the epistle is warning is that the mark, the evidence of being God's true children is covenant-keeping, not covenant-breaking. Those in the covenant community who break the covenant were never His in the first place: "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'" --Matthew 7:22-23 Jesus NEVER knew them. --Joe! |
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362 | To whom do we belong? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 73724 | ||
Ah, yes. The "I follow the Bible, you follow a denomination defense." The Jehovah's Witnesses do it with much more finesse than you do, I am afraid. This form of meaningless attack is used by virtually every single denomination/sect/cult that claims to be Christian. Rather than insulting the intelligence of a brother in Christ, why don't you please stick to the arguments. --Joe! |
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363 | To whom do we belong? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 73743 | ||
"Just keeping my nose in God's word, and TRUSTING that the Holy Spirit will give us discernment, and help us spot truth from error, is what is needed today." And when two people claim to be doing just that and arrive at contradictory conclusions, then what? Being taught by the Holy Spirit is no guarantee against error. In such cases, the problem is not the Teacher, but the fallibility of the student. Surely you are not claiming that when it is just you, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit, that you are infallible in your understanding of Scripture. Jesus Christ established the CHURCH for a reason, and while I do not hold any church to be infallible, completely rejecting the church as an interpretive authority in favor of any form of alleged individual infallibilty is simply foolish. "If I sound negative, thats because I only see negative things happening within EVERY church I have tried." One reason for that is that the church is composed of people like you and me. If you are expecting perfection in the church, you will have to wait till we are in heaven. On the other hand, I would not put the doctrine of eternal security/perseverance of the saints in the category of "heretical doctrine," even if I disagreed with it. There are countless saints of God in church history who held to this theological perspective, and whom God used to extend His kingdom in significant ways. --Joe! |
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364 | To whom do we belong? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 73756 | ||
Have you read the book _The Shape of Sola Scriptura_ by Keith Mathison? It is one of the best historical analyses of the doctrine, and I like his summary of the doctrine better than any I have seen previously. Mathison sums up sola Scriptura as the teaching that, for the post-apostolic church, the Old and New Testaments are the only source of revelation for God's people, and the only infallible source of authority. --Joe! |
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365 | God is everywhere? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 73793 | ||
Where does God dwell? "They shall know that I am the LORD their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the LORD their God." --Exodus 29:46 "You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel." --Numbers 35:34 "But in the same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, "Go and say to My servant David, 'Thus says the LORD, "Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in? For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle."'" --2 Samuel 7:4-6 "And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged, For the LORD dwells in Zion." --Joel 3:21 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!" --1 Kings 8:27 "David found favor in God's sight, and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the God of Jacob." --Acts 7:46 --Joe! |
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366 | God is everywhere? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 73797 | ||
Once more, Johnny, you have raised an irrelevant question; ignored Scripture after Scripture that point out that while God is indeed in heaven, He is omnipresent; and taken a couple of verses to attempt to make yourself seem wiser than all the Old and New Testament saints. Why? --Joe! |
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367 | God is everywhere? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 73815 | ||
"For your information I am not make myself wiser that all the Old and New testaments, the scriptures stated that He is in Heaven, even Christ recognize that His Father are in heaven." Please read more carefully. I said that you are setting yourself as wiser than the teaching of the church throughout its entire history. That is arrogance to suggest that because of your two-verse argument, you have "dicovered" the error of countless millions of saints who obviously haven't read the Bible as carefully as you. And no one is disagreeing that God is in heaven. How about the approximately twenty-five verses that I have given that demonstrate that he is simultaneously in other places as well? Like I said before, you are completely ignoring verses which show you to be wrong. And I repeat my question: why do you feel it so important to argue this point so forcefully, as if salvation itself depended on it? --Joe! |
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368 | God is everywhere? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 73923 | ||
Respectfully, Johnny, I think you are misunderstanding Paul's statement to the men of Athens. When he says in Acts 17:24 that God does not dwell in temples made with hands, he is correcting their worldview, not making a statement about God's lack of omnipresence. The Greeks went to temples to worship statues representing their gods. In fact, Paul is using a statue dedicated to an "unknown god" as a jumping-off point for his evangelistic message. Paul is not saying that God is not PRESENT in these temples, but rather that God is not CONFINED to them the way the Greeks consider them to be. The view you are putting forth regarding God is much closer to the one the Greeks had and the one Paul was critiquing -- the notion that gods were finite beings who looked down from on high at everything and came down as necessary. If that is what the true God is like, then Paul's challenge to the Greek pagans makes no sense. Furthermore, Paul asserts that God is not far from us (17:27) and that in Him we live and move and exist (17:28). If God is only in one place at one time like His creation, how can all of us live and move "in Him"? Therefore, Paul is not contending that God is limited in space, but rather that God sets our boundaries (17:26) and we don't set His. --Joe! |
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369 | Is the first resurrection, the rapture? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 75177 | ||
So are you one of Jehovah's Witnesses, then? --Joe! |
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370 | Is the first resurrection, the rapture? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 75226 | ||
So much about you? I only asked one question! :) Just so that you keep your mind open to evaluate whether the sister you are studying with has it right or not, I would like to point you to a couple of links: http://www.watchman.org/jw/index.htm http://www.webshowplace.com/question/65quest.html http://www.equip.org/free/DJ540.htm http://www.equip.org/free/DJ570-1.htm http://www.equip.org/free/DJ570-2.htm --Joe! |
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371 | are kids saved if their parents are | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 76703 | ||
"Holy" does not mean "saved." It means "set apart for a special purpose." Children of believing parents are participants in God's covenant community known as the church. This is not an automatic ticket to heaven, but places them under the teaching of God's word and brings them God's blessings resulting from communal Christian living that those on the outside do not enjoy. Ordinarily, with the obedience of the parents in teaching them to love Christ, and the ministry of the word in the church, these children do get born again. --Joe! |
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372 | the purpose of the church? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 76842 | ||
"As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." --Ephesians 4:15-18 "But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;" --1 Peter 2:9 "So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." --Colossians 3:12-17 Other useful passages: Romans 12 1 Corinthians 14:12 --Joe! |
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373 | the purpose of the church? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 76936 | ||
Read 1 Peter 2:9 again...why have we been made a holy nation? There is a very definite purpose statement in that verse. God joins us together as a church to glorify Himself. The communion of saints is God's vehicle for declaring the gospel. As Ephesians 4 shows, the church is God's means for making His people more like His Son. In the church, we find the only regular means God has appointed for sanctification: the preaching of the word, corporate prayer, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. In short, collectively the church exists to glorify God and to enjoy His blessings. There is no ordinary possibility of salvation outside the church, so the church plays an essential role in God's redemptive purposes for humanity. --Joe! |
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374 | Why transliterate "baptizo"? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 77085 | ||
The Catholic church still baptizes by sprinkling. King James was a Protestant, not a Catholic, and held Catholicism in contempt. So attacking a Catholic doctrine would not have been a problem for him. However, a great number of Protestants did (and do to this day) also sprinkle rather than immerse, so the debate over the timing and mode of baptism is not purely a Catholic-Protestant one. --Joe! |
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375 | Does God hear the prayers of nonbeliever | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 77516 | ||
To their peril, yes He does. Imagine a person still in their sins, who rejects the Son of God, for whom Christ is not interceding before the Father, actively the enemy of God, on whom God's wrath rests, and who has the pride to approach the infinitely holy God clothed in their sinfulness and request something from Him. That is why we pray in Jesus' name. He deserves answers. We do not. --Joe! |
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376 | Does God hear the prayers of nonbeliever | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 78004 | ||
No, it is more like a person presuming that they can come to God apart from Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:3 refers to those who are not saved as "children of wrath." What person in his/her right mind would presume to boldly approach the throne of grace clothed in their his/her own unrighteousness? --Joe! |
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377 | Does God hear the prayers of nonbeliever | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 78017 | ||
You wrote: "The original question is 'does God hear the prayers of nonbelievers?' Ridiculous question! The right question is 'does God hear the prayers of unsaved people?' People like Cornelius?" There is no such thing as a believer who is unsaved. --Joe! |
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378 | Does God hear the prayers of nonbeliever | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 78188 | ||
"Yes there is. Cornelius believed and wouldn't be saved until Peter preached to him (Acts 11:14). " So you are suggesting that if Cornelius believed in all that God had previously revealed to him but had died between the Resurrection and Peter's visit, that he would be in hell now? Nothing in Acts shows that Cornelius was not already regenerate. What it does show is that he received both the Holy Spirit (which no regenerate believer had in that sense prior to Pentecost) and that he received the complete gospel gladly. One has to remember that, once Jesus rose from the dead, no one posted the information on the Internet. There were undoubtedly meny people who were looking in faith for the Messiah, as the Scriptures spoke of Him, who died not knowing that he had come and died and risen from the dead. "And John 3:16 says that the person who believe SHOULD not perish; it does not say SHALL not perish (there is a difference). John 3:36 qualifies (as does Heb 3:18,19) the statement to show that an obedient belief is required." The King James reads, "should." Other translations read "shall" or "will." What is the Greek verb? What is its tense and mood, disciplerami? In English, "should" is not always a synonym for "ought to." True belief manifests itself in obedience. No argument there. "John 12:42 shows that many believed but were unwilling to confess for fear of being put out of the synogogue. These people believe but are not saved." The Greek verb for "believe" also means "to be persuaded." It does not necessarily mean the entrusting of oneself to Christ for the forgiveness of sins that can be characterized as biblical faith. "What is ridiculous is that plain Bible is ignored." You mean like when Paul wrote that "having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ"? Or when he wrote that we are saved by grace through faith? Or when he contrasts faith and works in Romans 4, showing that our works will never be the basis of us being declared righteous before God? Speaking of the plain Bible, you wrote: "Does God hear the prayers of unsaved people? If their heart is seeking the truth, the answer is 'yes.' " Plain Bible coming up: "as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." --Romans 3:10-12 --Joe! |
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379 | TRINITY | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 79315 | ||
Greetings, Darcy! You wrote: "1. God the Father thinks it. 2. Jesus the Son speaks it. 3. The Holy Spirit does it. " This isn't quite accurate, as we see the Father speaking things and doing this, and Jesus thinking things and doing things, and the Holy Spirit thinking things and saying things. The best way to explain the Trinity is to look at what Scripture teaches; 1. The Father is God. 2. Jesus the Son is God. 3. The Holy Spirit is God. 4. The Father is neither the Son nor the Spirit. 5. The Son is neither the Father nor the Sprit. 6. The Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son. Blessings to you! --Joe! |
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380 | TRINITY | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 79320 | ||
Change the word "explain" to "simplify" and I agree completely! :) --Joe! |
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