Results 4621 - 4640 of 4923
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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: DocTrinsograce Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
4621 | What is a counted all joy in trials? | James 1:2 | DocTrinsograce | 183708 | ||
Hi, wisdom... "Count it all joy" means to think of it as something that should make us feel joy... in other words, something to be glad about. "Trials" are anything that places pressure on our Christian character. Think of it as a test that shows "what you're made of!" In Him, Doc |
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4622 | Is it God speaking?? | James 1:5 | DocTrinsograce | 213304 | ||
Hi, Lissamz... The Scripture is the Word of God. It is God speaking... and it is God speaking for you. That is fact. The truth is not effected by how we feel. Let the truth effect your feelings, not the other way around. In Him, Doc |
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4623 | Is it God speaking?? | James 1:5 | DocTrinsograce | 213311 | ||
"Do you belong to that class of persons who really profess Christian faith and Christian obedience, and are you trying, however weakly, to follow Christ in the midst of an evil world? "I think I know something of what goes on in your heart. You sometimes feel that you will never persevere to the end, and will some day give up your profession of faith. You are sometimes tempted to write bitter things against yourself, and to believe that you have no grace at all. "I am afraid there are myriads of true Christians in this condition, who go trembling and doubting toward heaven. However, in spite of all their groans and doubts and fears, they do not turn back, but press on, though faint. "Now, my advice to all such persons is very simple. Pray every morning and evening of your life, 'Lord, increase my faith.' Cultivate the habit of fixing your eyes more simply on Jesus Christ, and try to know more of the fullness there is laid up in Him for every one of His believing people. "Do not be always pouring over the imperfections of your own heart, and dissecting your own sins. Look up! Look more to your risen Head in heaven, and try to realize more and more that the Lord Jesus not only died for you, but that He also rose again, and that He is ever living at God's right hand as your Priest, your advocate, and your Almighty Friend." --Bishop J. C. Ryle |
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4624 | Bless is the man who endures temptation | James 1:12 | DocTrinsograce | 177690 | ||
Yes. | ||||||
4625 | How do they go together? | James 1:13 | DocTrinsograce | 131835 | ||
God can and is tempted. Christ was tempted. Temptation is, in and of itself, not sinful. The problem is how we define the word "tempt," (e.g., "Trying to get someone to do wrong, especially by a promise of reward.") In that strict sense of the word, tempting God is futile because He can do nothing contrary to His nature. The temptation of Christ, on the other hand, could have this meaning without doing harm to the scriptural narrative. However, the Greek word you guys are discussing is "peirazo." This word means to be scrutinized, examined, proven, tested, assayed. (We have to be very careful with our definitions. So much hangs on them!) We would use this word when we are talking about testing the quality of something in order to verify what it really is. God is peirazo every time we put our faith in Him. His nature and character are verified. However, there is a kind of tempting of God that is prohibited. That is the kind that tests His patience in the face of disobedience. That is the kind that we are sternly warned against. James in this passage is talking about that kind of temptation. When we enter into difficulties, that is when the true character is made manifest. He is saying that God uses the adversities we face to temper and prove the character He is building in us. |
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4626 | So you tr: "God ought not to be tempted" | James 1:13 | DocTrinsograce | 131856 | ||
This is what happens when I try to answer questions while my far-better-half is patiently waiting for us to go garage-saling. :-) I got some things mixed up, including the meaning of the Greek word! Sorry, RWC. Let's see if I can do a better job this time. I was trying to say the following: 1. We are commanded not to tempt God. A command implies the ability to obey or disobey. Therefore, it is possible for men to tempt God. (When anyone challenges His Holiness by rebellion, they are tempting God's patience.) 2. Christ was tempted. Christ is God. Therefore, God was tempted. These conclusions make it impossible for your friend's translation to stand. (Following is where I got two Greek words mixed up in my last post.) I agree that confusion arises out of the definition of the word "tempt." So let's look closely at the context. The first two appearances of the word "temptation" in James, prior to this verse, are in verse 2 and verse 12: "peirasmos." This could well be translated as "proven by being solicited to do evil" (and, according to Strong's, there is an implication of "by adversity"). (Boy I messed this up before!) Furthermore, there is the connotation of success in these words. That is why verse 1 mentions "joy" and verse 12 mentions "blessing." Verse 13 and 14 use a different Greek word: "peirazo" which means "to be scrutinized, examined, proven, tested, assayed." However, this word seems to have a negative connotation of failure. That is why verse 14 mentions being "drawn away" (i.e., from God). (If this latter kind of tempting results in being drawn away, then obviously this can't be the kind that Christ experienced, since He had no sin (Hebrews 4:15b).) Furthermore, look at the sentence in verse 13 that is translated by the KJV as "I am tempted of God." That little word "of" is the Greek word "apo." That word means "away from," but it is more active than it sounds in English; i.e., it implies agency. What the sentence really means is "I am being enticed away from God into sin by the agency of God." (I've heard some hyper-Calvinists actually say that when they sin, it is God's providential will (i.e., He is the cause) that they sin." James is clearly refuting this.) So, lets see if we can very literally translate this verse: "No man or woman should be allowed to say when they are enticed away into sin, 'God is enticing me to sin.' Because God is incapable of being enticed into sin, and He does not entice anyone into sin." See, all of God's actions toward us are for our good. When we are enticed by sin, God has not destined us to failure. Only good things come from God (verse 17). As Robert Jamieson puts it, "God does not send trials on you in order to make you worse, but to make you better (James 1:16-17). Therefore do not sink under the pressure of evils (1 Corinthians 10:13)." Well, I'm quite embarrassed by my previous post. Thank you for pointing out my inconsistencies! I am afraid that it will probably not be the last time I post something in error! Thank you, also, for your patience with me! In Him, Doc |
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4627 | How do you reconcile them? | James 1:13 | DocTrinsograce | 131876 | ||
You're right, RWC. My exegesis of James 1:12 will not fit these other verses. Nevertheless, every commentary that I check treats these words in this fashion. Thus, Matthew 4:1 states that Jesus was taken into the wilderness to be "enticed by the agency of the devil." In Hebrews it says that Christ was "enticed to the same degree as we experience it." Here is what Jameison says about Matthew 4:1: "The Greek word (peirazein) means simply to try or make proof of; and when ascribed to God in His dealings with men, it means, and can mean no more than this. Thus, Gen_22:1, "It came to pass that God did tempt Abraham," or put his faith to a severe proof. (See Deu_8:2). But for the most part in Scripture the word is used in a bad sense, and means to entice, solicit, or provoke to sin. Hence the name here given to the wicked one--"the tempter" (Mat_4:3). Accordingly "to be tempted" here is to be understood both ways. The Spirit conducted Him into the wilderness simply to have His faith tried; but as the agent in this trial was to be the wicked one, whose whole object would be to seduce Him from His allegiance to God, it was a temptation in the bad sense of the term. The unworthy inference which some would draw from this is energetically repelled by an apostle (Jam_1:13-17)." So I think we are on the same track. It can be defined as either "enticed" or "proven." Apparently, depending on the outcome. Maybe Tim or Kalos can help us out. I apologize if I have only confused matters. |
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4628 | 1. logic? 2. differences with Eng. tr.? | James 1:13 | DocTrinsograce | 131883 | ||
I am sorry, RWC. I understood your friend as having interepreted this verse to read "God is incapable of being tempted." Hence my two sylogisms. If by "tempted" we mean "proven," then there is a positive sense in which we tempt the Lord. If by "tempted" we mean "taking a chance with sin," then we are on very dangerous grond. In essence, we are testing God's patience. I appreciate and agree with what Roy said. God cannot be enticed into being anything that violates His nature. In fact, God cannot DO anything that violates His nature. |
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4629 | Is God responsible for evil | James 1:13 | DocTrinsograce | 183390 | ||
Hi, Grandpa... In theology the question you've asked is dealt with in a branch of inquiry called theodicy. It attempts to Scripturally deal with this problem of evil in the light of a good and holy God. God is not author of evil, that we know from the Word. John Frame, a modern theologian wrote, "Any attempt to give answers for the problem of evil through dethroning God of His sovereign power, limiting God's knowledge, or questioning God's goodness, should be refuted as biblical impossibilities. It would be nice to have a solution to the problem of evil, but not at any price. If the price we must pay is the very sovereignty of God, the faithful Christian must say that the price is too high. After all, it is of little importance whether any of us discovers the answer to the problem of evil. It is possible to live a long and happy and faithful life without an answer. But it is all-important that we worship the true God, the God of Scripture. Without Him, human life is worth nothing." That's an important point to keep in mind. However, Charles Hodge delves a bit more deeply, but makes the same point. I like his assertion that the best method of dealing with the problem of evil "to rest satisfied with the simple statements of the Bible. The Scriptures teach, (1) That the glory of God is the end to which the promotion of holiness, and the production of happiness, and all other ends are subordinate. (2) That, therefore, the self-manifestation of God, the revelation of His infinite perfection, being the highest conceivable, or possible good, is the ultimate end of all his works in creation, providence, and redemption. (3) As sentient creatures are necessary for the manifestation of God's benevolence, so there could be no manifestation of His mercy without misery, or of His grace and justice, if there were no sin. "As the heavens declare the glory of God, so He has devised the plan of redemption, ' To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places, might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God,' (Ephesians 3:10). The knowledge of God is eternal life. It is for creatures the highest good. And the promotion of that knowledge, the manifestation of the manifold perfections of the infinite God, is the highest end of all His works. This is declared by the Apostle to be the end contemplated, both in the punishment of sinners and in the salvation of believers. It is an end to which, he says, no man can rationally object. "'What if God, willing to shew his wrath (or justice), and to make his power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: and that He might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore prepared unto glory,' (Romans 9:22, 23). Sin, therefore, according the Scriptures, is permitted, that the justice of God may be known in its punishment, and His grace in its forgiveness. And the universe, without the knowledge of these attributes, would be like the earth without the light of the sun." In Him, Doc |
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4630 | Lonley in marriage? | James 1:15 | DocTrinsograce | 153442 | ||
Dear Selahb, The Study Bible Forum is not intended to be a place where counseling is offered. I urge you to seek out the pastors or elders in your local church. Nothing good ever comes from sin or sinful choices. Repentance is more than regret. Our only hope is in the Savior. We'll be praying for you. In Him, Doc |
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4631 | why do we feel shame? | James 1:15 | DocTrinsograce | 239645 | ||
Hi, tyeroy.. Welcome to the forum! Shame arises in our hearts when we have sinned. The more that others know about our sin, the greater shame we feel. Even if no one else knows the truth, we feel shame because we know that that God does has seen it. Forgiveness is the only real remedy to shame. In Him, Doc |
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4632 | Are all abilities from God? | James 1:17 | DocTrinsograce | 138865 | ||
They are from God, per James and elsewhere. | ||||||
4633 | A natural ability that ia not good? | James 1:17 | DocTrinsograce | 138952 | ||
Natural abilities are usually neither good nor bad. Rather, it is how they are used. A person with great mechanical skills and a keen sense of mechanical intricacy can, it is true, become a safe cracker. But His abilities are not in themselves good or bad. Again, the sin is in their use. | ||||||
4634 | blessing a business | James 1:17 | DocTrinsograce | 164202 | ||
Dear Sonnex, All blessings come from the Lord Himself. There is no way to obligate Him to bless something. Furthermore, after the time of Christ, people are blessed by God, not things. However, you can pray with your friend that the new business would honor the Lord. In Him, Doc |
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4635 | divine healing or healing or cure | James 1:17 | DocTrinsograce | 185959 | ||
Hi Christt... I would imagine that divine healing would be a kind of healing achieved by God. This would be the kind of healing that would be done outside of what we usually expect through normal means. The phrase is not a biblical one. Ultimately, whether natural or supernatural, healing of any kind has its origin in God. In Him, Doc |
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4636 | AMm I UnTeachable? | James 1:19 | DocTrinsograce | 196201 | ||
Dear Rapt, Welcome to the forum! This is a topic that, quite frankly, reflects an issue of incredible importance in our day. It is rooted in a radical misunderstanding of both doctrine and practice. The flesh harbors a dislike of Scripture (1 Corinthians 2:14) and a love for sensationalism (Luke 11:29). Consequently, this abuse is rampant in churches, replacing the sovereignty of God and the authority of Scripture, with childishness and deceit (Ephesians 4:14). God has specially and specifically given you -- yes, you personally -- His holy, authoritative (see thread #195864), inerrant (#155648), infallible (#181426), necessary (#195840), clear (#156917), and sufficient (#195841) Word. The Scripture, alone, has the authority to bind your conscience. Not some schmo who says "thus saith the Lord" in violation of the clear command of Scripture (Deuteronomy 12:32b; Jeremiah 14:14; Proverbs 30:6; Matthew 15:8-9). See how utterly wrong this person is who spoke in this way to you. Where in the Word of God does it say anything about "delivering people from being un-teachable?" Here you are, searching your heart and mind, trying to deduce if you are truly teachable or not. Only a teachable person would respond with the kind of concern and introspection you've demonstrated. Next time someone comes to you with something like this, the proper response is "Book, chapter, verse, please." If they can't provide the Biblical basis (in context), they certainly are not speaking "a word of God." Indeed, they've proven quite the contrary. "For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption." (2 Peter 2:18-19a ESV) They are the ones in desperate need of "deliverance." Let us earnestly pray for God's mercy for them! (Jeremiah 23:21-22) Shun them! (2 Timothy 2:16) Instead, study the Word on which you can be surely grounded (2 Timothy 2:15), and avoid error. Remember, the Scriptures are all about Jesus. They are theocentric in nature. The Holy Spirit brings conviction, drawing attention to our sin and Christ's righteousness (John 16:8-11). This self-proclaimed prophet you encountered, is simply trying to prove their own piety and, in the process, demean your own. Anyone truly led by the Spirit will point you to the Word and to Christ (1 Corinthians 2:2-5). Remember, the only authority we have -- you, me, a pastor, a teacher, a professor, a scholar -- is the Word of God (Matthew 22:29-32; Ephesians 2:20; Acts 28:23). Even Peter, speaking of his experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, assured his readers that they had a greater, more certain prophetic word in the Scriptures (2 Peter 1:17-21). I'd encourage you to avoid self-proclaimed prophets and apostles. Find a congregation with a higher view of the Scriptures: one that teaches sola Scriptura, and disciplines members who would add to the Word of God. In Him, Doc |
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4637 | sum up the book of james | James 1:22 | DocTrinsograce | 132009 | ||
In my very humble opinion, this is the key verse of James. | ||||||
4638 | What should I do? | James 1:26 | DocTrinsograce | 163553 | ||
Dear Recamier, I don't mean to be flippant... so forgive me... but why don't you find a church whose doctrinal position is more in keeping with the Word? Although it doesn't mean that a church is perfect -- none of them are -- but one with a masculine pastorate would certainly be a first good indication. In Him, Doc |
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4639 | biblical defination of widow/orphan? | James 1:27 | DocTrinsograce | 199397 | ||
Hi, Ruby... Welcome to the forum! The Greek words translated as widow (chera) and orphan (orphanos) are well chosen. They literally mean bereft; in the former case, of a husband, and in the latter case, of a father. In Him, Doc |
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4640 | Widows | James 1:27 | DocTrinsograce | 199413 | ||
Dear Ruby, Yes, I think, in certain contexts, that could be applicable. She is, through no fault of her own, bereft of her husband. Of course, in ancient times, that circumstance could be life threatening for a women. Even the writ of divorcement was designed to protect a woman's reputation so that she could be married again. A woman without a husband could easily starve at that time. In Him, Doc |
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