Results 161 - 180 of 500
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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: Reformer Joe Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
161 | Is Godobligated to us, if so, how? | Is 45:23 | Reformer Joe | 27460 | ||
Yes...God is not obligated to us, except in circumstances in which he has already unconditionally bound himself by his word. "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" --Numbers 23:19 --Joe! |
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162 | spiritual healing or physical healing? | Is 53:6 | Reformer Joe | 49379 | ||
Spiritual healing. Peter is quoting Isaiah 53, which addresses the fact that the iniquities of the believer are removed through Christ's substitutionary death on the Cross. Take a look at the chapter. It is a fascinating prophecy of the ministry of Christ. --Joe! |
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163 | Christian Response To Eastern Thought? | Is 55:11 | Reformer Joe | 29953 | ||
Try this: http://www.equip.org/free/DF450.htm And also try this: The Bible. As someone who has spent many years studying the cults, I can tell you that knowing God's Word and speaking God's Word and applying the truths of Christian theology in evangelizing cultists is the most effective way to do it. Why? Because the Holy Spirit works primarily through the proclamation of His Scripture. Rather than scouring their doctrines inside and out (which is probably worthwhile, but your friend may not know as intimately as it seems), converse with him and meet what he says head on with God's truth. Let us know if there is any other advice/encouragement/prayer that we can give you. --Joe! |
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164 | Want His justice or anger? Why? | Jer 10:24 | Reformer Joe | 27569 | ||
The reprobate justly get God's righteous anger. "But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? (I am speaking in human terms.) May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?" --Romans 3:5-6 Christians mercifully get God's forgiveness through our propitiation, Jesus Christ. "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." --1 John 4:10 Or were you talking about here on earth? --Joe! |
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165 | Want His justice or anger? Why? | Jer 10:24 | Reformer Joe | 27570 | ||
From your verse selection, it does seem that you were talking about judgment and chastening of the people of God. It is fair to state that God's anger is always just. What Jeremiah seems to be asking for is mercy from God. Scripture does indeed say that God chastens us and disciplines us as children. "He who withholds his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him diligently." --Proverbs 13:24 "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." --Revelation 3:19 God sometimes in his anger does destroy the body of a Christian. John 5:16-17 refers to a "sin unto death." Ananias and Sapphira see this first-hand in Acts 5. In his discourse on the Lord's supper, Paul suggests that by receiving it improperly many have become sick and that some have even died as a result of it (1 Corinthians 11:27-30). However, we can see from Jeremiah's verse that he completely understands what God's unmitigated anger will have as a result--being brought to nothing. --Joe! |
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166 | Why did God require only these things? | Jer 22:3 | Reformer Joe | 28201 | ||
Searcher: I don't see this as an all-inclusive list, but rather a simple segment of the law that these people would not fulfill. God often gives simple, direct commands that are merely a part of the whole law to demonstrate that we are not even capable of fulfilling the law in part without yielding to God (Romans 8:7-9). The case of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19:21) is another good example of how a person will be told that that eternal life comes through a simple, direct act which demonstrates a larger obedience to the law (loving God completely and loving our neighbor as ourselves). --Joe! |
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167 | Was Satan over Praise and worhsip | Ezek 28:14 | Reformer Joe | 39671 | ||
Good question. The reason that this passage has been historically viewed as referring to Satan (perhaps acting behind the scenes in the actions of the king of Tyre) is that the Ezekiel 28 passage uses description that could not be describing the king. The being referred to was in Eden in the beginning (verse 13) and is referred to as a cherub (not a man) who was created blameless until unrighteousness was found in him. There is a rebellion referred to and a casting down from God's holy mountain. We often see in prophecy that while an indictment starts out against a particular individual or a particular prediction is made, there are often more than one level to the prophecy. Here most hold that the prophecy starts with an indictment against Tyre, but moves to a judgment of Satan. --Joe! |
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168 | God's sovereignty means no free will? | Ezek 36:26 | Reformer Joe | 18111 | ||
Short answer? No, God's sovereignty does not eliminate free will. Our natural depravity (resulting from the Fall), however, means that we will never WANT to choose God apart from our regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, our sinfulness and our deserving of Hell completely rests on our shoulders, not God's. However, in His sovereignty, God stepped in and replaced our "hearts of stone" with "hearts of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26), and we then desired to embrace Christ. However, since I can almost hear the collective groaning of those who see another Calvinism/Arminianism debate coming across here, I would recommend that you use the search feature and type in the words "free will" to see the discussion that has preceded your arrival. By the way, welcome to the Forum! --Joe! |
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169 | Where in the Bible ? | Joel 2:13 | Reformer Joe | 81283 | ||
Hosea 6:6, Matthew 9:13 --Joe! |
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170 | WHERE IS MARY NOW? | Amos 1:1 | Reformer Joe | 70000 | ||
Heaven. | ||||||
171 | Is it ok to question God after a tragety | Habakkuk | Reformer Joe | 42315 | ||
What do you mean by "question God"? Do you mean question His existence, or rather question why He allowed the tragedy to occur? We do not see the questioning of God's existence or attributes as an option in Scripture: 'The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.' --Psalm 14:1 However, we see in many places in Scripture where believers in God question why He is allowing things to happen that do not seem to fit with His character. For example, the prophet Habakkuk knows what God is like, about His goodness and His faithfulness. However, he asks the following question: "How long, O LORD, will I call for help, And You will not hear? I cry out to You, "Violence!" Yet You do not save." --Habakkuk 1:2 Habakkuk receives an answer, and I would encourage you to read it to understand a little more how God foreordains tragedy to serve His purposes. Other good passages to read are Psalm 89 and the book of Job to see the various ways in which believers in God question him, out of anguish and not seeing the whole picture like God does. What is common in all of these situations, however, is that the questioning is done from a faith in and understanding of God's character, rather than a doubting of God's providence. We see that kind of questioning with the Israelites in the wilderness, and God does not like that kind of questioning at all. For a better understanding of suffering and tragedy and why God allows it, I would point you to James 1 and Romans 5 and 2 Peter 1 for a biblical understanding of it. We may not have all of the answers in a given situation, because God hasn't revealed all the specifics to us in every situation; but we know that what we read in the Bible about God's chracter is 100 percent reliable, and that Romans 8:28 applies to the believer no matter what, as does 1 Peter 1:3-5. Hope this helps set you on the road to addressing your tragedy with God. Question God based on what you know about Him, but realize that Scripture is the place to find the answers. Lastly, remember that God is not required to fill us in on every last detail of what He is doing in creation, but we can trust Him to do what is holy and true and perfect. --Joe! |
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172 | Howcould Jesus / John the B be strangers | Matthew | Reformer Joe | 32505 | ||
What gives you the impression that they were strangers? --Joe! |
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173 | Jesus Son of God? | Matt 1:1 | Reformer Joe | 64074 | ||
Jesus has two natures now. He has always been God. In time and space He took on a second, human nature. In His divine nature, He is the Son of God. In His human nature, he is the Son of David. --Joe! |
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174 | Jesus God/God God still unclear | Matt 1:23 | Reformer Joe | 4951 | ||
I welcome you to the faith, JRM! The answer to your question has to with what is called the Trinity. The historic Christian faith has been Trinitarian, despite the fact that throughout the history of the churhc there have been cults, sects, and other aberrant groups which have distorted this central teaching of Scripture in one way or another. Since, as you say, you are a new believer, I assume that you did not spend years and years studying the Bible before trusting in Christ's sinless life and his death in our place as the payment for our sins. The word "Trinity," although not found in the Bible, is an accurate way to describe the nature of God as he is revealed to us in the pages of the New Testament. Basically, when reading the Scriptures, we come across the following things said about God: 1. There is only ONE God (you probably don't need much convincing of this one, but try reading the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament; starting at about chapter 40, he mentions this fact dozens of times). 2. God is also known as the Father (the book of John is one place to start studying the message of Jesus Christ, and he constantly refers to "the Father"). 3. However, Jesus is also referred to numerous times as God and/or the creator (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16, 17; Hebrews 1:8, and many other places). 4. The Holy Spirit (also called the Spirit of God in the Old Testament) is described as having personality and also God. So here is our "problem": ONE God, but the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are also called "God." There cannot be three Gods, but three different "persons" are identified as God. Some groups today hold that this is just a way to describe God working in three different "modes" (i.e. sometimes he is acting as Father, sometimes as the Son, sometimes as the Holy Spirit). The problem with this, however, is that one can clearly see from the New Testament that all trhee exist together at the same time, and that they even interact with one another, one praying to another, one sending another, the three persons speaking to each other, etc., etc. Therefore, it is clear that while the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all fully one God; the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father. So the plot thickens... So what is the solution? The early leaders of the church, in trying to grasp all of this teaching about the nature of God, could conclude only one thing: that while there is only one God, he has always existed in three distinct "persons." Each of these persons is fully God (i.e. Jesus is not 1/3 of God), and each displays the personality, power, and characteristics of God. All three, being the one God, are worthy of our praise, worship, and obedience. A bit complicated? I would assume as a new Christian that that would be an understatement. A good starting point to undertsanding this teaching that the church labelled the "trinity" almost 1700 years ago is a very fine book by James R. White entitled _The Forgotten Trinity._ He is the president of Alpha and Omega Ministries, which you can access on the Web at (www.aomin.org). To answer your question about "calling God God," most of the writers of the Old and New Testaments, unless there was some need to make a distinction between these three persons, usually used the term God to refer to God the Father. The fact that God is a being who has revealed himself to be one Being in three Persons is hard to comprehend, since we experience nothing in creation that bears resemblence to this unique quality of God. The important thing is not whether we can draw a picture of it or put the nature of God into some comfortable category for ourselves. What is important is that we take the time to understand what the Bible does say about God's nature and accept it. I certainly hope this answer helps. It was quite a bit longer than you expected, I am sure; but it is important for all of us to know who God is and what he is like. Despite many corruptions of all sorts that we have seen in the church over the centuries, the church has at least held onto the truth of the Trinity throughout its history. --Joe! |
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175 | Being baptized | Matt 3:11 | Reformer Joe | 34578 | ||
Alice: Your answer will depend on whom you ask. The question of what is the baptism of the Holy Spirit is easy to answer: "In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory." --Ephesians 1:13-14 The baptism of the Holy Spirit (the "sealing" mentioned above) occurs when one places his trust in Christ as Lord and Savior, and it is a separate event from water baptism: "Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." --Acts 1:4-5,8 Since the day of Pentecost (recorded in Acts 2), those who trust in Christ are baptized and sealed by the Holy Spirit, marking us as the people of God. Now we come to water baptism, which is not only just a good idea, but a commandment of God. All those who profess to be believers in Jesus Christ are to be baptized: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" --Matthew 28:19 Baptism in water is not the same as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is really what effects in us the new life in Christ. However, we see in the book of Acts that the common practice was to baptize the convert immediately upon conversion when possible: 'As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?"' --Acts 8:36 'All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.' --Acts 10:45-48 "And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household." --Acts 16:32-33 So what exactly is this commanded water baptism? Well, there are different opinions on exactly what it represents. Some say that it is merely a "picture" of what God has done in the life of the believer, and is nice but unnecessary. Others go to the other extreme of saying that we water baptism is one of the essential components of being saved. Myself, I hold that baptism in water is an outward sign and visible seal of what God has accomplished in the believer's life. Baptism was not considered a "nice option," so I believe that baptism actually "does something," not by the water itself, but by God's grace utilizing water as a visible outward sign of an inward reality. In other words, baptism in water points to the baptism of the Spirit (but again, the two are not the same). Where does baptism fit into the Christian life? I agree with the Westminster Confession of Faith on this point: "Although it is a great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance, yet grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed unto it, as that no person can be regenerated, or saved, without it: or, that all that are baptized are undoubtedly regenerated." --WCF 28.5 Hope this helps your understanding of baptism. What all Christians will agree on is that it should be done, so I praise God that you are taking this step! --Joe! |
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176 | The Temptation of Christ | Matt 4:1 | Reformer Joe | 6135 | ||
No...being holy God, he is incapable of acting against his own nature. He was tempted externally to live out the sinless life and be the suitable atonement for our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust." -- James 1:13-14 The word of God says it all! Jesus is God, and has no lust with which to be enticed or carried away. --Joe! |
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177 | Speaking of Christ's Kenosis? | Matt 4:1 | Reformer Joe | 6197 | ||
Uh-oh. Asking me MY views will inevitably lead to LONG posts! :) Obviously, God set aside the exercise of some of his attributes when he humbled himself to an infinite degree by becoming like His creation. He did not exercise his omniscience, for example. I would imagine that Jesus did not come out of Mary's womb with the power of speech; he had to learn to talk. As a human being, he had to develop cognitively, I would imagine. I wonder what that was like without sin, don't you? No "terrible two's," no having to overcome the unbridled expression of a sinfulness that everyone else in Nazareth possessed, including his parents. One thing that we can see that Jesus did have at a very early age, however, is an innate sense of who he was. At twelve he is saying that he must be about his Father's business. Of course, Mary and Joseph would not have been taken aback by such a statement, having been there from the miraculous beginning. In short, Jesus laid aside His privileges as God the Son, but that is far different than saying he laid down His character. Christ did not stop BEING God; he only elected, for our sakes, not to utilize his divine abilities. I think the best way to put it is that He put Himself perfectly in man's position, but without sin. I would think that this included limiting himself physically (i.e. doing his signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit, like the apostles would later) and intellectually (e.g. not knowing the day nor hour of His return). In this way, he became the perfect sacrifice, His infinite holiness lived out in human form. He relied on the Spirit perfectly to follow the Father perfectly in order to be the perfect propitiation for our sins. And we did not deserve it in the slightest way! Now that is the humility Paul is talking about in Philippians 4:3-5, the same attitude that Christ Jesus had in doing all this for those who believe in Him. Quite an attitude for Paul to encourage us to imitate, huh? --Joe! |
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178 | Is the devil a real person? | Matt 4:1 | Reformer Joe | 22395 | ||
I would suggest that he read the passages of Scripture which deal with the devil being a real entity (Job, Matthew 4, 1 Peter 5, etc.). Secondly, I would recommend contacting Watchman Fellowship, a counter-cult apologetics organization, regarding the Baha'i Faith and their REAL beliefs. I have heard a tape from a former Baha'i that is in their catalogue. Very informative and will give you tips on giving a Biblical response to this cult. Watchman's Web site is http://www.watchman.org Give them a call. They are friendly and will be happy to talk with you. Here are a couple of their pages for more info: http://www.watchman.org/profile/bahaipro.htm http://www.watchman.org/cults/bahai2.htm --Joe! |
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179 | are we allowed to eat meat or not. | Matt 5:17 | Reformer Joe | 69313 | ||
The dietary requirements of the covenant given through Moses were temporary in nature, specifically for the nation of Israel to set them apart, to distnguish them from the nations around them. Now that the good news of Jesus Christ has gone out to all nations, those aspects of the covenant are no longer binding on them. --Joe! |
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180 | Is OT still applicable for NT believers | Matt 5:18 | Reformer Joe | 45734 | ||
You wrote: "What percentage of the Old Testament is applicable to New Testament Christians?" 64.232 percent. ;) All Scripture is applicable in some way (2 Timothy 3:16). The Christian is not bound to the aspects of the law (sacrificial and ceremonial) that Christ fulfilled and were distinctive to the people of Israel. While the Deuteronomy passage that you quoted was specifically given to the people of Israel, I think that there are principles regarding the character of God which definitely apply to the believer today. While God made the Mosaic Covenant with Israel, Christ also established a New Covenant with his shed blood. There are differences in the specifics of the covenants, but we have to remember that both groups (OT Israel and the visible church) are considered by God to contain His people. In addition, the Godhead is the senior party in both covenants, so we have to take into consideration the unchanging character of God in his dealings with his people. While we may not be bound to the Levitical priesthood system, God still has the same moral standard, and He still punishes those among His covenant people who show themselves to be covenant-breakers. --Joe! |
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