Results 4761 - 4780 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# | |||
4761 | How do we know that we are truly saved? | 1 John 3:24 | DocTrinsograce | 141236 | ||
Mark reminded me... I forgot to add that another evidence of salvation is chastening (Hebrews 12:6). Another thing: the Puritans used to say that if you are not struggling against sin, then you are probably not saved (salvation is both a position and a process). In Him, Doc |
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4762 | How do we know that we are truly saved? | 1 John 3:24 | DocTrinsograce | 141561 | ||
Pastor Glenn, Thomas Watson answered this question very well way back in 1692. I attempted to paste his words here, but they exceeded the 5,000 character limit. It is called "A Test of Assurance." I would encourage everyone to prayerfully consider his words. http://www.eternallifeministries.org/tw_assur.htm In Him, Doc |
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4763 | Jesus said He would sent the Holy Spirit | 1 John 3:24 | DocTrinsograce | 172221 | ||
Hi, Grandmapat... We receive the Holy Spirit in Salvation. In Him, Doc |
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4764 | how do you test the spirit | 1 John 4:1 | DocTrinsograce | 196800 | ||
Hi, Paul... Welcome to the forum! John Piper, speaking on this topic a while back, said the following: "The point of [1 John] 4:1-6 is not merely to give us a doctrinal test for discerning false prophets. If it were, then verse 2 would not say, 'By this we know the Spirit of God.' Instead it would say, 'By this we know the spirit of antichrist.' The point of the verses is not merely to give a doctrinal test for recognizing false spirits. The point is to give a test also for recognizing the true Spirit. And therefore the test must be more than doctrinal, because true doctrine by itself is no sure sign of the work of the Spirit. Anybody can say true doctrines with his lips. But only the Spirit can make sinners really listen and really confess the truth of Jesus. "So the great lesson that lies just beneath the surface in this text is that none of us will listen to the message of Christ unless the mighty Holy Spirit overcomes our resistance and gives us ears to hear (Acts 16:14; Deuteronomy 29:4). And none of us will confess from the heart that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh unless the mighty Holy Spirit humbles us to accept the authority of Jesus implied in that confession (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:3). John's great assumption lying just beneath verses 2 and 6 is that hearing the gospel with openness and confessing Christ with loyalty is the work and the gift of the Holy Spirit. If this listening and this confessing could be explained in any other way, they would not be a sure sign of the Spirit's presence and power. But they are a sign of His power. For John knows that no one hears and no one confesses apart from the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit." The sermon was "Test the Spirits to See Whether They Are of God" given at Piper's church in May of 1985. You can hear or read the whole sermon at www.desiringgod.org In Him, Doc |
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4765 | momwanttoknowifthisisabibleverse thnx | 1 John 4:4 | DocTrinsograce | 156234 | ||
Hi, Nsweetbeck... It was 1 John 4:4. In Him, Doc |
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4766 | Do we "will" to love? | 1 John 4:19 | DocTrinsograce | 151451 | ||
Hi, Terrib... In the fall, our ability to love God and desire His will was effected. You are also correct in linking the love with the will. Scriptural love is not primarily or even secondarily emotional, but an active choice. "True religion consists, in large part, in the affections ... and this begins with the initial step of saving faith all the way through to final perseverance. But how can the natural man, who 'loves darkness' (John 3:19), work up any affections or desire for God? or apprehend His beauty and excellence? We know that human reasoning is never free from the effects of sin, and that people deny God, not because they lack evidence, but because their hearts are rebellious. So the unbelievers' problem is ethical first and then intellectual and thus he/she requires a supernatural work of God to understand and apprehend spiritual truth as revealed in Scripture. Those who know facts, therefore, are not the same as those who forsake sin and come to love God. We must therefore appeal to the entire person and not merely their intellect. God is hidden from man because he loves sin and remains in hostile rebellion against God. This antagonism for the gospel is seated in the affections, not because we lack data or are not smart enough. So we appeal to the heart because God is not just a precept or an axiom as found in mathematics. To come to faith in Christ one must first desire Christ, perceive and take delight in His unmatched beauty, and have a love for Him that is greater than a love of sin. Faith will never 'just happen' out of thin air but actually requires that we desire Him, for we only choose that which we most desire. But to be sure, the Scriptures teach that these holy affections are not produced by our unregenerate human nature (Rom 8:7; 1 Cor 2:14). And since the root of faith cannot be indifferent or neutral, a full orbed gospel is not merely a list of impersonal propositions for our intellectual assent, but it is proclaiming the full person of Christ in His love for sinners shown in His life, death and resurrection. Words are not enough, however, to persuade those bent on rebellion because spiritual knowledge, which is relational, requires a new sense of God's unsurpassed excellence ... and this is possessed only by the regenerate. Paul, when speaking to the Thessalonians makes this clear when he says, 'for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction...' (1 Thess 1:5)." --John Hendryx See the full paper at http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/spirit_affections.html In Him, Doc |
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4767 | Being Born again | 1 John 5:5 | DocTrinsograce | 195302 | ||
Hi, Mae... Being "born again" is what we are talking about when we use the word regeneration (see post #151466). When Scripture speaks of those who are born again as "overcoming the world" it is not offering a definition. The phrase means a number of things. I'll spare you my attempt at a full explanation, since others have done a far better job than I could do! Read, for example, what Byrn MacPhail wrote on this topic. This is a short article, but very well done. http://www.reformedtheology.ca/1john5.htm In Him, Doc |
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4768 | How do you even begin to witness? | 1 John 5:7 | DocTrinsograce | 153121 | ||
Hi, Samantha... First, everyone has this kind of anxiety. Even Paul asked for prayer concerning it! (See Ephesians 6:19) Second, God won't be angry with you. He knows our weaknesses. In fact, those are the very things that God uses to bring greater glory to Himself (2 Cor 11:30). Consequently, offer up your weaknesses to Him. You will see Him do great things with them! Third, the truth of God always eventually brings offense. Do not worry, though, because it is not really you at whom they take offense, but at our Lord (John 15:20 and 1 Peter 4:12-13). Fourth, today we live in a society that treats cordiality as the ultimate virtue. Of course, they don't apply it evenly to everything. However, you will find a lot more tolerance out there than you will find intolerance. That should encourage you. Fifth, you don't have to preach a long sermon. :-) The next time someone uses the Lord's name in vain, let the hurt show on your face and say, "Please don't use the Lord's name that way, it really breaks my heart!" People generally respond well to that and will make an effort around you. Sixth, you don't have to preach a long sermon. :-) Keep the Bible at your desk so you can read at lunch, or on breaks. Sometimes people just seeing you with a Bible will one day initiate a conversation. Seventh, pray and pray and pray. Ask God to provide you the opportunity and the words to say. Eighth, when asked a question you don't know, be honest and say you don't know. Then do the research and get back to them. No worries there. Ninth, be at peace. God is not holding you personally responsible for the souls of people around you. He is the one that must do the work in their lives. Salvation is of the Lord. You are His servant, making yourself available to Him. But also be praying for those around you. Meanwhile, keep studying and growing in your walk with the Savior. In Him, Doc |
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4769 | 1 John 5:7 Adding to the Bible? | 1 John 5:7 | DocTrinsograce | 156457 | ||
Hi, happy... The science of textual criticism is just that... a science. It is extremely disciplined, rigorous, and precise. Another discipline, although somewhat less precise (almost an art, really), is translation. Every translation necessarily implies a certain amount of interpretation. For example, there was no punctuation in the original manuscripts. Translators add that sort of thing in an effort to be as true to their approach as possible. However, these things are also open to criticism by others. Since this is a question that arises among skeptics all the time, it behooves us to do some research to find out how these disciplines are carried out. You will be quite surprised at how well it is done! Once again, the providence of God preserves His Word in very definite and clearly discernable ways. In Him, Doc |
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4770 | question about the comma johannim | 1 John 5:7 | DocTrinsograce | 175065 | ||
Dear Abearmenta, Punctuation did not, of course, exist in the original texts. Indeed, there wasn't upper/lower case. For that matter, even spaces are a later invention! Consequently, punctuation is always an interpretational decision made by the translator. For insights into this sort of thing you'd need to track down the "translation notes" for the various versions in question. In a short search I did not find them online. However, if some else knows where they can be found, perhaps they will be kind enough to post a followup to your question. I envy that you are a polyglot. I can barely hang onto the claim of being a monoglot! :-) In Him, Doc |
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4771 | when my husand want come home | 1 John 5:7 | DocTrinsograce | 222561 | ||
Dear Mrs.Tonya, Welcome to the forum! I do not know the details of your particular situation. However, I can assure you that the Holy Spirit will always and only direct someone in a way that is consistent with the Word of God. Anything contrary to God's Word, has its origins in some ungodly source; i.e., the world, the flesh, or the devil. In Him, Doc |
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4772 | Are all prayers answered? | 1 John 5:14 | DocTrinsograce | 127177 | ||
There are some prayers that the Lord will not hear. This is not an exhaustive list of proof texts. Job 35:13 Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it. Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: Isaiah 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Jeremiah includes the following verse regarding God not hearing prayer: 7:16; 11:14; 13:17; 14:12; 22:5, 21; James 5:1-7, talks about certain people who will not be heard of God. And in the same epistle, (4:3) James says, Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Additionally, Peter tells us that prayers can be "hindered" see 1 Peter 3:7. |
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4773 | I don't feel his presence. | 1 John 5:14 | DocTrinsograce | 127337 | ||
pray and continue to read the Word. Ask God to clearly show you what He would have you do, then do not tarry, hasten to do His bidding. Remember that truth is not dependent on feelings. For example, I know that the earth orbits around the sun, but it sure feels like the sun moves across the sky. In the context of faith, if God says it (i.e., it is revealed in the Canon of Scripture), that settles it. Period. I don't have to agree -- or even believe! -- to make it true, let alone "feel" it. |
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4774 | Hello Doc, please add the scriptures | 1 John 5:14 | DocTrinsograce | 240575 | ||
Hi, anitaelaine... I assume you are asking in reference to post #240570? I would recommend a careful study of John 6 and 10; Romans 1 through 8; and Ephesians 1 through 3. Those books will help you build a good foundation of such things as the doctrine of redemption. Some other passages to consider -- in context -- might include Daniel 4:35; Isaiah 44:18-20; 45:7; Amos 3:6; Matthew 11:25-27; John 6:44; 6:65; 17:9; Acts 13:48; Romans 8:21-30; 9:10-16; Ephesians 1:4-5; 1:11-12; 2:1-7; Philippians 1:6-11; 2 Timothy 1:9; 2:19; Hebrews 6:17-19; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 5:13-14. The crux of the matter is praying in harmony with God's eternal purpose (John 15:7; 1 John 5:13-14). In Him, Doc |
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4775 | HELP PLEASE | 1 John 5:16 | DocTrinsograce | 160197 | ||
Hi, Seeker... This "sin unto death" is interesting. We don't have other Scripture on which to clearly depend, so it is difficult to be certain that any given explanation is the rigth one. I guess I find John Gill's explanation most satisfactory where he writes that the sin unto death is "not only deserving of death, as every other sin is, but which certainly and inevitably issues in death in all that commit it, without exception; and that is the sin against the Holy Ghost, which is neither forgiven in this world nor in that to come, and therefore must be unto death; it is a sinning wilfully, not in a practical, but doctrinal way, after a man has received the knowledge of the truth; it is a wilful denial of the truth of the Gospel, particularly that peace, pardon, righteousness, eternal life, and salvation, are by Jesus Christ, contrary to the light of his mind, and this joined with malice and obstinacy." In Him, Doc |
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4776 | what is sin ?? | 1 John 5:17 | DocTrinsograce | 194572 | ||
Hi, Bro B... Welcome to the forum! Sin is any failure -- by omission, commission, inner disposition, or state -- to conform to the moral law of God. Sin always receives the retribution of God's wrath in death. Indeed, the consequences of sin are so serious that Adam's single sin in Eden killed every one of his descendants. "Sins don’t get their magnitude and horror and heinousness from humans. Sins get their magnitude and horror and heinousness from the One sinned against. An offense is heinous to the degree that the One whom we offend is worthy, and God is infinitely worthy and therefore our sins against God are infinitely heinous. And the word infinite there is a breathtaking word. That’s why hell is forever. So that’s why my sins laid against God, if they are not laid on the infinitely worthy Savior to take my place, they will endure an infinitely long punishment in hell." --John Piper In Him, Doc |
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4777 | Please define sin. | 1 John 5:17 | DocTrinsograce | 205487 | ||
First, people tend to think of sins in the plural as consciously willed acts where one was aware of and chose not to do the righteous alternative. Sin, in this popular misunderstanding, refers to matters of conscious volitional awareness of wrongdoing and the ability to do otherwise. This instinctive view of sin infects many Christians and almost all non-Christians. It has a long legacy in the church under the label Pelagianism, one of the oldest and most instinctive heresies. The Bible's view of sin certainly includes the high-handed sins where evil approaches full volitional awareness. But sin also includes what we simply are, and the perverse ways we think, want, remember, and react. Most sin is invisible to the sinner because it is simply how the sinner works, how the sinner perceives, wants, and interprets things. Once we see sin for what it really is - madness and evil intentions in our hearts, absence of any fear of God, slavery to various passions (Eccl. 9:3; Gen. 6:5; Ps. 36:1; Titus 3:3) - then it becomes easier to see how sin is the immediate and specific problem all counseling deals with at every moment, not a general and remote problem. The core insanity of the human heart is that we violate the first great commandment. We will love anything, except God, unless our madness is checked by grace. People do not tend to see sin as applying to relatively unconscious problems, to the deep, interesting, and bedeviling stuff in our hearts. But God's descriptions of sin often highlight the unconscious aspect. Sin - the desires we pursue, the beliefs we hold, the habits we obey as second nature - is intrinsically deceitful. If we knew we were deceived, we would not be deceived. But we are deceived, unless awakened through God's truth and Spirit. Sin is a darkened mind, drunkenness, animal-like instinct and compulsion, madness, slavery, ignorance, stupor. People often think that to define sin as unconscious removes human responsibility. How can we be culpable for what we did not sit down and choose to do? But the Bible takes the opposite track. The unconscious and semiconscious nature of much sin simply testifies to the fact that we are steeped in it. Sinners think, want, and act sinlike by nature, nurture, and practice. --David Powlison, from The Journal of Biblical Counseling (Spring 2007; Vol 25, #2) pp. 25-26 |
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4778 | Does all sin lead to death? | 1 John 5:18 | DocTrinsograce | 202309 | ||
Hi, ernie... Sin is any failure -- by omission, commission, inner disposition, or state -- to conform to the moral law of God. Sin always receives the retribution of God's wrath in death. Indeed, the consequences of sin are so serious that Adam's single sin in Eden killed every one of his descendants. A person constantly and habitually sinning is indicative of one who is no brother at all, not one of the elect. In Him, Doc "Sins don’t get their magnitude and horror and heinousness from humans. Sins get their magnitude and horror and heinousness from the One sinned against. An offense is heinous to the degree that the One whom we offend is worthy, and God is infinitely worthy and therefore our sins against God are infinitely heinous. And the word infinite there is a breathtaking word. That’s why hell is forever. So that’s why my sins laid against God, if they are not laid on the infinitely worthy Savior to take my place, they will endure an infinitely long punishment in hell." --John Piper |
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4779 | Does Islam fit here? | 2 John 1:7 | DocTrinsograce | 129099 | ||
The apostle John in his epistles is the only NT author that uses the term antichrist. In fact, the word antichrist is a transliteration of the Greek. It means, literally, "against Christ." Notice in 1 John 2:18 John writes, "even now there are many antichrists." In this post I am not addressing the eschatalogical viewpoint that a person will arise to dominate the earth, etc. etc. I'm just pointing out that this term can have broader meaning. In essence, you are right, though. 1 John 2:22 says that anyone that denies that Jesus is Christ (the messiah, the monogeneis) is an antichrist. |
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4780 | A hard question. | 2 John 1:10 | DocTrinsograce | 207056 | ||
Hi, JKM... I ask them for as much literature as they will give me, then I ask them not to come back. I trash the literature happy that it won't be read. Meanwhile, I pray that God will have mercy on them for their apostasy. When we have people in our home for whom we are responsible, our first choice should be to protect them. The Puritans used to say, "Showing mercy to the wolf is being cruel to the sheep." In Him, Doc |
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