Results 561 - 580 of 773
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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: JCrichton Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
561 | God's grace vs. being a slave to sin | Rom 6:14 | JCrichton | 135899 | ||
Hi, Nies! I think that to better understand this passage we must read it in light of Romans 8:4-16: in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. (Romans 8:4-16) So, living under God's grace inspire's God's children to humbly obey God--seeking to please Him in all their endeavors, as James tells us in 4:7, we are to submit our will to God and reject the devil! God Bless! Angel |
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562 | what do you understand by this verse | Rom 6:15 | JCrichton | 106565 | ||
Hello, chesi! I'm not sure if you have read all the responses to your post or if you are satisfied with them... My two... Romans 8:1-14 (4). There's no justification in the Law, not because the Law is fraudulent or imperfect (the Law is God's Word) but because it was placed in our hands and as sinners we corruptedly interpreted and applied the Law (i.e.: when checking adultery there's never a mention--OT or NT--of the man caught in adultery). In Romans 8:1-14 and 6:15 Paul is emphasizing that we cannot corrupt the Law (sin) and claim that we can because we are above the Law. He clarifies that only in Jesus can we be justified (Romans 8:4) because we aren't able to fulfill the Law. Yet in Christ we can fulfill the Law--but for His grace! Has God offer a clause (Romans 6:15) to circumvent the Law? Can we claim to have Jesus and willfully live a sinful life? As Paul says, God forbid! God Bless! |
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563 | Why does the wageof sin have to be death | Rom 6:23 | JCrichton | 117697 | ||
“I have been struggling with the understanding of why the payment for sin must be death” Part 1 ot 2 Hi, Tara! Here’s an analogy of obedience that may help solve your quandary: God is our (Christians) employer who, as CEO, has established the bylaws and boundaries of our enterprise (the Church). Unlike His human counterparts, God has no ulterior motives to exploit His underlings, plunder the company, hide the assets, layoff employees, and file for bankruptcy. His bylaws and boundaries are set not to curtail our individual growth, but, rather, to maximize our potential: When Abram was ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to him and said, ‘I am El Shaddai. Live in my presence, be perfect, and I shall grant a covenant between myself and you, and make you very numerous.’ (Genesis 17:1-2). God is as forgiving as He is generous: ‘Come, let us talk this over,‘ says Yahweh. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing to obey, you shall eat the good things of the earth.’ (Isaiah 1:18-19) But God’s generosity, though knowing no bounds, is tempered with resoluteness: ‘But if you refuse and rebel, the sword shall eat you instead--for Yahweh’s mouth has spoken.‘ (Isaiah 1:20) Yet as stern as He is, God allows us the freedom to choose to obey or reject Him: ‘Today, I call heaven and earth to witness against you: I am offering you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live, in the love of Yahweh your God, obeying his voice, holding fast to him; for in this your life consists…’ (Deuteronomy 30:19-20) Throughout the Old Testament the Israelites lived with the knowledge that they could choose to obey Yahweh and live in His love or they could reject Him and embrace death. It was not evidently clear to them that the death that they were warned about was a spiritual death (as the warning to Adam and Eve, who, obviously, did not die physically right after their disobedience!) Now, since God is immutable (though the format He uses to convey His Word to His people varies according to His Divine Plan), the bylaws and boundaries He set for us do not change with the passage of time! Through the teachings of Jesus and the Holy Spirit we have come to understand that the promise is not merely of temporal life but also spiritual life; and, that the forewarning of impending death was not meant simply of a physical death, but, more precisely, of a spiritual death! So it stands: to be in Yahweh’s love is to have life; conversely, to be away from Yahweh’s love is to inherit death: What is the implication? That we are free to sin, now that we are not under law but under grace? Out of the question! You know well that if you undertake to be somebody’s slave and obey him, you are the slave of him you obey: you can be the slave either of sin which leads to death, or of obedience which leads to saving justice. Once you were slaves of sin, but thank God you have given whole-hearted obedience to the pattern of teaching to which you were introduced; and so, being freed from serving sin, you took uprightness as your master. I am putting it in human terms because you are still weak human beings: as once you surrendered yourselves as servants to immorality and to a lawlessness which results in more lawlessness, now you have to surrender yourselves to uprightness which is to result in sanctification. When you were the servants of sin, you felt no obligation to uprightness, and what did you gain from living like that? Experiences of which you are now ashamed, for that sort of behaviour ends in death. But, now you are set free from sin and bound to the service of God, your gain will be sanctification and the end will be eternal life. For the wage paid by sin is death; the gift freely given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:15-23) Tara, when we read the Bible in its entirety (I don’t mean that you must read all of the Bible before you understand its message) we come to realize that the various passages, though written in various time frames, are interrelated and codependent: God’s Word is manifested to His people according to a succession predestined by God’s Divine Plan. In the Old Testament Yahweh directs His people using temporal values as the currency (an eye for an eye; sacrificial offerings…) and the Law and the prophets which lead to Jesus’ arrival (Immanuel). Jesus is incarnated and pronounces that the Kingdom of God is at hand but He clarifies that He did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it! So the price for disobedience (living away from God) is still death; while the rewards for obedience (living in God and for God) is life everlasting! |
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564 | What if a saved person commits suicide? | Rom 6:23 | JCrichton | 119591 | ||
Hi, jtknez! Part 1 of 2 I am resubmitting this post with additional text; I hope that you study, diligently, each of the Biblical passage I have included and that you avail yourself of a good concordance so that your search may be more than complete: Jesus spoke of one particular sin that would not be forgiven: And so I tell you, every human sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And anyone who says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but no one who speaks against the Holy Spirit will be forgiven either in this world or in the next. (Matthew 12:31-32) Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life--but for Him there's no Salvation. Yet Jesus tells us that only those who are sent by the Father, Yahweh, will be able to come to Him (believe in the Spirit) and that those who do come to Him He will not cast aside (reject). We are creatures of God and only through coming to Jesus (believing and obeying Him) do we become children of God. But if we reject (disbelief) the Holy Spirit how can we listen to the Father when He calls us to follow the Son (Jesus)? And if we speak ill of the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of God, we are denying His Divinity and His authority over us! Jesus tells us (John 4:23-24) that God is Spirit and He demands that we, all who wish to worship Him, worship in Spirit and Truth! Suicide is one particular example of denying the Holy Spirit's authority over us; it is perhaps the greatest form of rejection: the person committing suicide is basically saying that he/she has complete control of his/her body and calls God a liar: None of the trials which have come upon you is more than a human being can stand. You can trust that God will not let you be put to the test beyond your strength, but with any trial will also provide a way out by enabling you to put up with it. (1 Corinthians 10:13) He/she is totally rejecting the Holy Spirit by destroying His Temple: Do you not realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you and whom you received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19) Do you not realise that you are a temple of God with the Spirit of God living in you? If anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy that person, because God’s temple is holy; and you are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) Will Jesus forgive us if we commit suicide? It is only God’s call. Since God is Spirit, a nanosecond is an eternity to God! Perhaps one fraction of a nanosecond before his/her life expires the Spirit in the person committing suicide may pray for forgiveness and transmit a desire of true repentance: And as well as this, the Spirit too comes to help us in our weakness, for, when we do not know how to pray properly, then the Spirit personally makes our petitions for us in groans that cannot be put into words; and he who can see into all hearts knows what the Spirit means because the prayers that the Spirit makes for God’s holy people are always in accordance with the mind of God. (Romans 8:26-27) The problem with theories and suppositions is that the missing facts may be diametrically opposed to what is presumed as factual reality. In essence, when a person commits suicide he or she is flatly negating God’s gifts (the Word, the Cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension, Eternal Life in Christ: the Holy Spirit: Christ Jesus!): |
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565 | need help understanding this scripture | Rom 7:13 | JCrichton | 121034 | ||
Hi, leonore! In Romans 7:7 through 7:25 Paul is breaking down the conflict of the flesh and the battle against the spirit. In 7:13 he defines the Law as being used against us to cause sin--not that the Law causes us to sin but it highlights what is forbidden for us to do or what is commanded for us to do but we fail (sin of omission) to do. It is the Law therefore that conveys that we are sinning if we do not uphold the Law. Many people read "do not kill" as a commandment only if a physical death occurs. But Jesus admonishes that if we think unrighteously we are commiting sin... which means we can kill with words, with thoughts, with gossip, with slander, with omission (not doing what is right in the eyes of God)... But had the Law not said "do not kill" we would not be cognizant of that sin! In essence, sin appropriates the Law to cause us to falter. You must read Chapter 8 in order to get a fuller meaning of Paul's arguments; he clarifies that we Christ on our side and that He has liberated us from the Law through the Holy Spirit. He offers us Christ as our victory! God Bless! Angel |
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566 | Thank you! Just need to understand littl | Rom 7:13 | JCrichton | 121037 | ||
Hi, leonore! Perhaps I could illustrated it with Adam and Eve... God commanded them not to eat from two of the trees in the Garden of Eden. Was the command sin? No. Did it cause them to sin? No. But the serpent (Satan) appropriated God's words to confound Eve--you will surely not die! Eve was not aware of a duality of existence; she had no bearings to allow her to know that God was speaking of a spiritual death, while Satan was deceiving her by speaking of a corporal death: the Law served the sin. Not that the Law was created to be sin but that Satan used the Law to cause Eve to disobey God... that first sin caused a downslide which bore Adam's disobedience, Adam's and Eve's running and hiding from God, Adam blaming Eve, Eve blaming the serpent and neither accepting responsibility for their disobedience! Satan effected Adam's and Eve's spiritual death through that which was good. I hope this helps. Please, don't feel that you have to explain yourself. Our (all Christians) call is to help each other in the Faith! And, don't forget that by searching the Scriptures I am seeking the Lord so we both benefit! God Bless! Angel |
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567 | how can i be holy?? | Rom 7:15 | JCrichton | 120365 | ||
Hi, coko! Emmaus has given you the perfect Bible passage by which you can view your query. The struggle is a spiritual one: God's Holy Spirit striving to sanctify us while the appetites of our flesh hungering for the forbidden (Galatians 5:17-24)! We are called to be holy--not that we can become gods. We are called to rely on Jesus' power in order to fight against the world and its temptations (Galatinas 5:25; James 4:7-8). Offer yourself to God, allow the Holy Spirit to guide you--listen to the Holy Spirit when He commands you not to stray from Jesus! Come near God--through fellowship and Bible Study, prayer and submission to God's authority! coko, Listen to what God has to say about our rebellious ways (sinfulness): 'Come, let us talk this over," says Yahweh. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing to obey, you shall eat the good things of the earth. (Isaiah 1:18-19) So in future, Hose of Israel, I shall judge each of you by what that person does--declares the Lord Yahweh. Repent, renounce all your crimes, avoid all occasions for guilt. Shake off all the crimes you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why die, House of Israel? I take no pleasure in the death of anyone--declares the Lord Yahweh--so repent and live!' (Ezekiel 18:30-32) Jesus, knowing that we cannot overcome sin and temptation on our own said this: I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5) Our goal should be Jesus--our dependence on Him will keep us safe: He is our Rock and our Salvation. In Him we are made strong: (Philippians 4:13). God Bless! Angel |
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568 | meaning of according to the flesh? | Rom 8:13 | JCrichton | 121035 | ||
Hi, leonore! Part of the problem is confusing the works of the Law (as prescribed to the people of Israel) with the changes that are expected from accepting Christ (which means being in Christ). Matthew 11:13 tells us that there is an apex, a culmination, to the prophets and the Law. Since the Word came onto the world, all the prophecies that foretold about the coming of the Messiah, the Emmanuel, were fulfilled, all of the Laws that mirrored the True Sacrifice were completed, and all of the circunvention that were created to nullify God's commandments were eradicated! So we live not under the Law but under Grace! Yet, though Salvation is a free gift, we must be active participants! Jesus warned that not all who called Him Lord would be Saved. So the same is that not all who say I am born again, I am saved or any other catch phrase are automatically granted a place in Heaven. God does not change! From the very beginning He has commanded us to "be His people" and He would "be our God." Being His people or calling Him Lord means being doers of the Word not just grabbing tags and running with them. We must repent, turn back to God, and be in God. We must change our old nature into the new nature: we must give up our sinful lives and live for the Lord. We cannot simply say that we are children of the Light, we must walk in the Light! Being born again is a change from the sinful existence to God's faithful servants. Our first testimony of this is the water baptism... but that is not the only works that we have to claim! Re-read Matthew 5 through 7; and then read James 1:19 through 2:26. God Bless! Angel |
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569 | can you explain a little more? thanks | Rom 8:13 | JCrichton | 121141 | ||
Hi, leonore! Works of the Law are the things needed to do or not do in compliance with the Law; all must be adhered to in order to obtain perfection. The life in the Spirit (Holy Spirit/the Spirit of God/the Spirit of Christ) is what we do which gives testimony that we are of Christ and in Christ (John 14:15, 21; 15:12). The desires of self-indulgence are always in opposition to the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are in opposition to self-infulgenece: they are opposites, one against the other; that is how you are prevented from doing the things that you want to. But when you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. When self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: sexual vice, impurity, and sensuality, the worship of false gods and sorcery; antagonisms and rivalry, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels, disagreements, factions and malice, drunkenness, orgies and all such things. And about these, I tell you now as I have told you in the past, that people who behave in these ways will not inherit the kindom of God. On the other hand the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentlemenss and self-control; no law can touch such things as these. All who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified self with all its passions and its desires. Since we are living by the Spirit, let our behaviour be guided by the Spirit and let us not be conceited or provocative and envious of one another. (Galatians 5:17-26) In Galatians 5:17-26 Paul is demonstrating how the flesh (self-indulgence) causes us to fail since living in the flesh breaks away from the Law (transgresses the Law); every single transgression is found in the Law as a command to do something or a command to not do something. When we live in the Spirit we humbly submit ourselves to Christ, we live in His love, and we enjoy life in the Spirit: living to please God. When we live in the Spirit we enjoy the gifts of the Spirit and we strive to please God with our whole being. Here's how Jesus put it: Jesus said to him, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets too.' (Matthew 22:37-40) The difference is Love! When we rebel against God the Law convicts us. When we serve God the Holy Spirit engulfs us in God's Love and we produce the fruits of Love: the fruit of the Spirit! ...active participants... There are people who are very religious; in their own minds, and even perhaps in their social and religious circles, they are saved and awaiting the coming of Christ--yet they have not given up their old habits of killing, lying, cheating, oppressing, hating, discriminating (race, ethnicity, social status, financial status, etc...). These people have claimed salvation because it's there; because it is their right! Jesus warned: "Why do you call me Lord and do not do what I say?" Believing in Christ is not simply saying I believe or I am born again or I am saved: Do you believe that there is only one God? Good! The demons also believe--and tremble with fear. (James 2:19) It is not enough to repeat the words in the Bible--demons also believe that there is only one true God; yet, they refuse to obey His authority! Jesus promised us that if we come to Him He would not reject us. He also promised that if we believe in Him we will have eternal life since He is the Resurrection and the Life! But He also commanded that we abide in Him; that we keep His commandment: John 15:1-17. By allowing the Holy Spirit to change our old nature and by serving God in our new nature we are active participants of that free gift of salvation. God has freely given us Life in Jesus; but He will never take away our ability to give ourselves willingly to Him. As Jesus said: "those who have eyes... those who have ears..." Meditate on the following passage: Titus 3:1-8 3:1--ready to do good in every way 3:2--gentle attitude toward everyone 3:3--We spent our lives in malice and envy 3:5--he saved us... through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life 3:6--through Jesus Christ 3:7--come into possession of the eternal life 3:8--those who believe in God may be concerned with giving thier time to doing good deeds I hope this helps! God Bless! Angel |
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570 | Follow up needed on suffering | Rom 8:18 | JCrichton | 122373 | ||
Hi, beach! It was not meant to be like that... but Adam failed the test and sin and mortality entered Creation: I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; it will bruise your head and you will strike its heel.' To the woman he said: I shall give you intense pain in childbearing, you will give birth to your children in pain. Your yearning will be for your husband, and he will dominate you. To the man he said, 'Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat, Accursed be the soil because of you! Painfully will you get your food from it as long as you live. It will yield you brambles and thistles, as you eat the produce of the land. By the sweat of your face will you earn your food, until you return to the ground, as you were taken from it. For dust you are and to dust you shall return.' (Genesis 3:15-16) God would not be a just God if He were to spare some the consequences of sin while exacting retribution on others. Jesus Himself suffered for all of us so that we may obtain salvation (Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12), through the cleansing of His Blood. I just recently suffered a loss... though it was a difficult time, I prayed that the Holy Spirit enlighten my aunt's spirit so that she would open her mind, heart and spirit to God... She died in peace and accepting God's Love and Mercy! She died in the Lord, what great comfort for the rest of us!: Can anything cut us off from the love of Christ--can hardships or distress, or persecution, or lack of food and clothing, or threats or violence; as scripture says: For your sake we are being massacred all day long, treated as sheep to be slaughtered? No; we come through all these things triumphantly victorious, by the power of him who loved us. For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nothing already in existence and nothing still to come, nor any power, nor the heights nor the depths, nor any created thing whatever, will be able to come between us and the love of God, known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39) Now, Jesus never said that we are to inhibit our feelings... He even cried at witnessing Lazarus' sisters pain though He knew that He would soon resurrect Lazarus. There are many Scriptures that talk about our suffering... I like the following two passages best: It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to make up all the harships that still have to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church, (Colossians 1:24) But anybody who tries to live in devotion to Christ is certain to be persecuted; (2 Timothy 3:12) Satan appropriates our sufferings and our doubts to separate us from Christ (Genesis 3:15 and Revelation 12); but we have God's Love to nourish us and to sanctify us through our sufferings and persecutions! Here are some more Scriptures to help us endure and flourish: Philippians 4:13; 1:27 through 2:13 1 Peter 2:20-21; 3:14-15; 4:13 Romans 8:18 2 Corinthians 1:7 Hebrews 5:8 Let's allow Christ to be our strength! (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) God Bless! Angel |
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571 | Puritans Banned Christmas? | Rom 8:28 | JCrichton | 107055 | ||
Hi, Just Read Mark! I've been sampling a couple of programs, on the History Channel, titled: In Search for Christmas and The Christmas Truce. Perhaps it is one of these programs that have cover the origins of Christmas, the religious outlawing of it in England, its reintroduction and its travel to the US. There were several religious movements that attempted to irradicate Christmas. As we know, Christmas, though loaded with mundane and commercial features, has survived! I believe that such a significant day (whether we ever discover the precise date or not), our Lord's Incarnation, cannot be obliterated from our lives! Merry Christmas! |
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572 | To what extent does God intervene? | Rom 8:28 | JCrichton | 120007 | ||
Hi, rocketr22! Never, when you have been tempted, say, "God sent the temptation"; God cannot be tempted to do anything wrong, and he does not tempt anybody. Everyone who is tempted is attracted and seduced by his own wrong desire. Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it too has a child, and the child is death. Make no mistake about this, my dear brothers: it is all that is good, everythig that is perfect, which is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light; with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow of a change. (James 1:13-17) So it is understood that God will not cause us harm! God will allow us to suffer through various experiences (specially when we are in a rebellious stage) in order that we might awake to the fact that we need Him (as Christ said: I am the vine you are the branches; you can do nothing without me--paraphrased) and that we must turn to Him and trust Him to guide our lives! Personally, I believe that God does intervenes (both on an individual and on a Church level); the problem we have in not identifying Him is that we are seeking something grandiose (as Paul's encounter with Christ, our Lord or the Holy Spirit transporting Philip away from the eunuch--Acts 8:39), God let's Himself be felt (known) in the simple wind that tenderly caresses us! God Bless! Angel |
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573 | does God intervene on a daily basis | Rom 8:28 | JCrichton | 120069 | ||
“maybe in the course of my life he might "move" a couple times to save me from some situation but I believe that this rarely happens. ” Hi, rocketr22! True God is Omnipotent--He created all everything through His Will… there are numerous examples, in the Bible, of how He regenerated or metamorphosed things out of nothing! When He created man He made a distinction between His other Creation: God said: “Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves… (Genesis 1:26) Ever since God created us we have had free will (the conscious ability to choose to obey or to disobey Him). If God were to interfere in every single moment of our lives, during every single decision that we make, our existence would be devoid of purpose: we would be as meaningful as a lawn gnome: cute for a few seconds! When we were created in God’s image and likeness something special happened: Yahweh God shaped man from the soil of the ground and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7) Though we resemble the rest of creation, we were given God’s spirit to bring us to life! That special relationship has never wavered! We may choose not to acknowledge His presence in us, but we do not have the power to exile Him! Once the Word became incarnated He taught us how important human life is to God: Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:30-31) Jesus reveals further: I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth whom the world can never accept since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you. (John 14:16-17) Jesus replied: Anyone who loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make a home in him. (John 14:23) So this is our true relationship with God: He abides in us if we abide in Him! As any good parent He wants us to learn the correct life giving behavior--as any good parent He teaches with love, patience, and humility! There are so many Scriptures that tell the story of God’s intervention, amongst them are: Mark 12:36; Luke 1:41, 67; 12:12; Acts 1:2; 10:44; Romans 5:5; Hebrews 2:4 2 Peter 4:21; and Jude 1:20. In John 14:26 Jesus talks about the special relationship that we have with the Holy Spirit. This relationship is first experienced in Acts 2:4. And is fully established in Acts 4:31. But our relationship with God always maintains a dual-directional aspect: We are witnesses to this, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’ (Acts 5:32) Do you not realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you and whom you received from God? You are not your own property, then; you have been bought at a price. So use your body for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) it was not because of any upright actions we had done ourselves; it was for no reason except his own faithful love that he saved us, by means of the cleansing water of rebirth and renewal in the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5) When we have love for God, we share in on that rebirth and renewal as God’s Will is made known to us by the Holy Spirit: and a hope which will not let us down, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. (Romans 5:5) But, contrary to the “feel good” people, we can willingly reject God by not submitting ourselves to the Holy Spirit: ‘You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. (Acts 7:51) That is why, as the Holy Spirit says: If only you would listen to him today! Do not harden your hearts, as at the rebellion, as at the time of testing in the desert, (Hebrews 3:7-8) Does God intervene in our daily lives? Yes! But we must subject our will to His! When He calls us to serve… when He admonishes us to give up our old existence… when He asks that we sacrifice ourselves for His cause… when He calls us to be reborn, not just “say” that we are born again… when He calls us to be one… when He calls us to be generous… when He calls us to be patient… when He calls us to be righteous… when He calls us to be humble… when He calls us to suffer… when He calls us to be silent… when He calls us to speak… when He calls us to be joyous… when He calls us to be perfect… when He calls us to be the Good News… God intervenes in our lives! God Bless! Angel |
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574 | Gods Will and Natural Disaster? | Rom 8:28 | JCrichton | 141048 | ||
Hi, JRM! I think that you are tackling various points simultaneously... * Biblical Record vs. Historical Record * God's Wrath (which includes natural disasters)unleashed on those who stubbornly are in constant rebellion and denial of His Authority * God's Power as Creator and Guardian Biblical Record... Scripture is Salvation History, hence much of what we would want to find in Scripture is missing (historical accounts, recepies, technical, medical, and scientific information, rituals (baptism, marriage, birthdays, commerce, social intercourse...); much of what is found, outside of direct pertinent matter (Worship, genealogies, Israel's History as it pertains to God's Promise, the various prophecies, the Messiah, the Coming of the Kingdom, Salvation in God, the struggle of the flesh against God's Will...); yet, within Scripture we will find basic information that will lead us to understand that there are rituals and other occurrences which the people of God have experienced or will experience! God's Wrath -- Throughout the Old Testament we find Yahweh warning Israel about the suffering that will befall them if they abandon the One True God... there are many direct statements that foretell of Israel's future disobedience and the loss of God's Protection! This is where man-made disasters and natural disaster converge: God removes His Protection from the people so that the rebellious and wicked fall by the sword, famine and other disasters without the Protection that God had provided in His Mercy and Patience! More than once we hear God tell us that He does not desire the death of anyone... more than once we hear Him plea with Israel to turn back to Him before it is too late and disaster falls upon them... He speaks of decades of suffering through mankind's disobedience, of exhausting His Patience allowing man to turn to Him... He is our Creator and our Benefactor; He is our Guardian and our Provider... but, He is also our Judge and our Teacher who sets boundaries and goals for our corporial and spiritual existence... Jesus foretold of wars (man-made disasters) and famines and earthquakes (natural disasters) that would befall the earth... yet, as our Guardian and Benefactor God will not allow all of these disasters to transpire all at once... it is His Patience and Mercy revealing themselves for the sake of the elect (the ones to be saved in Christ: those who Believe in Him!); it is the Lord's Power that sustains the world and all of its ecological systems; it is His Will that keeps humanity, specially those who Believe from being iradicated from the face of the earth! Just recently the world suffer an assault... terrible as it was, once released, there was nothing humanity could do to stop it... I see the hand of God not in the indiscriminate destruction that occurred, but in the individual people that survived--creatures as fragile and as vulnerable as those that perished--that by shear logic should not have been spared... perhaps as a warning to Christians and the world God decided to Protect them... it is His Might that Saves both from physical death and destruction and from spiritual death and destruction! Note that Christ was not so much concerned with the various periods of disasters that we would face but that we would understand our total dependence on God! (Matthew 24:13) As you said, those who die do not necessarily have committed graver sins than those who are alive... but God does Protects those He Loves! God Bless! Angel |
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575 | What gave paul such confidence. | Rom 8:38 | JCrichton | 150454 | ||
Hi, Shael! Paul recognizes that Jesus is God... he does not see a subdivision of God and gods... Jesus is God and God is Omnipotent! (Galatians 1:11-21; Acts 9:1-18; 22:1-21; 1 Corinthians 15:1-58) God Bless! Angel |
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576 | The question exists in Paul's Theology | Rom 9:18 | JCrichton | 138278 | ||
Hi, nwells! Your argument reminds me of a person who confessed to me that he was having trouble accepting God as a loving God and yet condemning people to Hell (he pointed out several Scriptural passages, including the devastation and wrath to come in Revelation)... God's Way is not easily understood... His Way differ from our finite comprehension so that we, in good intent, fall out of our Faith... To better understand what you are proposing (God's accountable for our wicked acts and desire because he controls all, all of the time, lest He losses His Authority...) read, carefully, Romans 9:1 through 11:32--specificly, pay close attention to 11:32! God has no need for us to perish (eternal damnation in Hell) and He states so unequivocally throughout Scripture (Isaiah 1:18-20; Ezekiel 18:30-32; Matthew 16:26; Luke 9:56; John 3:17-21)... it is our choice that free us or condemn us! And don't fret for those who died prior to the Word's incarnation... these people were truly unaware of Christ's Mercy, yet they too were taken into account by God's Salvific Plan! (1 Peter 3:18-20) God Bless! Angel |
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577 | The Lord will execute a short work? | Rom 9:28 | JCrichton | 111016 | ||
Hi, Ray! While Romans 9:28 is talking about God choosing a new people from among the Gentile (not to exclude the remnant of Israel) and that has been determined by the coming of Christ [executing] (though it was foretold thousands of years before that Yahweh would allow the rebellious Hebrews to forsake Him while He would take onto Himself a new people, it was not until the arrival of Jeshua that such prophecy would take place or be executed); Mark 16:20 talks about the word being verified by the signs (the same signs that were prophecised: healing, preaching, baptizing, bringing the scattered sheep to the Good Shepherd... these signs would confirm the Word--that is the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecies, as these are on-going till the completeness of time); these signs would do two things: 1) demonstrate that the Kingdom of God is at hand, and 2) authenticate the disciples' origins: that is, that they come in the name of the Lord! God Bless! Angel |
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578 | Can someone help me get to God? | Rom 10:9 | JCrichton | 122631 | ||
Hi, young disciple! Since you are seeking the Lord, Jesus Christ, I cannot consider you clueless! There are several programs on Sundays they range from various denomenational services to the Catholic Mass. The hours range from 5:30 am through the afternoon--some programs also at night. The television channels I know are Fox (5); Pax (31); Local Cable Community Channel--varies upon region; and EWTN (70/31); all these are Eastern Standard Time and region. There are several free Bibles both on line and eBibles which you can download to you home computer... just type "free Bible" on the Google search and you will get at least 20 hits. The American Bible Society, located in New York, has a free Bible program for people who cannot afford their own personal Bible. You may also contact your local Christian congregations, if there are any near your home, and ask them to assist you in acquiring a free Bible--they should not impose any membership requirements on you... giving you free access to Christ should not be levied. You may also try www.ewtn.org, this is a Catholic site with online resources and they could also connect you with a youth group that can work on-line with you. God Bless! Angel |
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579 | why evangalise if God has already chosen | Rom 10:14 | JCrichton | 130707 | ||
Hi, Billy! Here’s an excellent Scripture that speaks on the elect, I know that it is a little lengthy but it is packed: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. Praise to God for a Living Hope Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. Be Holy Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:1-25) The elect are hidden in Christ Jesus (those who believe John 1:10-12; Romans 9:30-33), the elect are sealed by the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:20-22; 2 Timothy 2:19), the elect are both from the Jews and the Gentiles (Romans 9:24-26), each of us who believe in Jesus are part of the elect because God chose us in Him before the beginning of times. But though God has granted us Salvation in Christ Jesus, not all believe and some may fall from grace (2 Timothy 2:10-13; 2 Peter 2:6-16) Faithfully serving the Lord, Jesus Christ, our election is complete (John 17:9-23) God Bless! Angel |
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580 | Need advice about spreading the Gospel | Rom 10:14 | JCrichton | 136111 | ||
Hi, Chynna! Aside from being well-versed in Scripture (which is a great thing because if moves us to, fervently and studiosly, study the Bible) tons of perseverance and patience! You must also be consistent! I have come across a few people (atheists and non-Christians) who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior... the worst of the lot is the Christian who has allowed Satan rob him/her of the Truth and has left the Faith--sometimes to embrace Satanism! The hardest to work with are the intellectual atheists--these have, for the most part, a tremendous amount of Scriture retention, which could dwarf many Believers'... Start, if you are not doing so yet, by intensifying your prayers sessions--the person/s you are instructing is your spiritual disciple, hence, your are spiritually responsible for him/her, your prayers must reflect that commitment! Use as little or as much Scripture as he/she is able to asimilate--never offer an endless list of Scripture for individual study (everything you offer must be covered during each meeting--this leaves no room for cluster/speed study (covering a large amount of books or topics in superficial and counterproductive ways)... Don't be afraid to do homework! Sometimes the questions or Scriptural passages must be studied further before moving on to another level/topic... do so! It is better to study the same material for a long period of time than to leave the person in the dark or for one self to be in the dark! One simple must do rule: Establish that your exchange is meant for study of Scripture and not for political or philosophical study--your willingness to spend time discussing Scripture should yield at least a common goal: learning about the Bible. Request that the person study just as hard as you--bending over-backwards by allowing him/her the flexibility of not reading Scripture (out of some misguided respect for his/her belief) will only exasperate your efforts and yield greater callousness from him/her. I'll be praying for your efforts! God Bless! Angel |
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