Results 221 - 240 of 280
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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: Scribe Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
221 | When we die are soul and spirit with God | 1 Thess 5:23 | Scribe | 42482 | ||
Mr 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Soul is often used in scripture to refer to the spirit of a man. Is man three parts, in a sense yes. You do have a body, which is promised a redemption and eternity, you do have a soul which is that eternal part of you just as your spirit. What is the difference between soul and spirit if any. The only difference is when you use both words in the same sentence. If I say I have been born again in my spirit and I have the mind of Christ and am being transformed by the renewing of my mind I am referring to the change in my spirit which is complete and does not change over time and I am referring to the soul in that that sanctification of my soul or inner revelation or growth in the spirit, continues to grow brighter and brighter. To say the soul is the mind is too simple and inaccurate. My mind has memories of past sins, This is not my soul this is my flesh brain. My spiritual mind is my soul and it is that which is deeper than the fleshly brain. Can you define the difference between the soul and spirit. Not easily. The Word of God is sharper than any two edge sword and it can divide between soul and spirit. The soul and the spirit are not seperable. The body that we have now can be seperated from our soul/spirit, but the Body which we will have will not be seperate. The soul is never seperate from the spirit, not in this life or the one to come. The soul is the spirit and spirit is the soul. 3Jo 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. Here the Paul prays for the physical needs of the believer to be as blessed as his spiritual needs grouping all things spiritual under the word soul 1Th 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here he refers to that which is of the mind when he uses the world soul in the same sentence with spirit and soul and body The mind not of the flesh brain memories but the mind as it relates to the spiritual revelation and conscience that the Holy Spirit speaks to and controls if we let him by humble faith and repentance. It may teach well to draw three circles and say man is spirit soul and body, but calling the soul the mind is too simple and does not correctly convey the depths of the biblical use of soul. |
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222 | falling away from the faith? | 2 Thess 2:3 | Scribe | 84676 | ||
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; In context of this passage I believe it fits best to apply it to them that call themselves Christians. However an argument can be made for it applying to Jews. The argument for Jews can be made because of the reference to the Prophecy from Daniel about the Man of Sin. This may be enough to connect this passage to the Jews as those that fall away. However since Paul is writing to Christians in a Greek city, it would seem that the falling way here applies to christians since it is not further qualified or delimited with any further words. But the idea that he is speaking about OT prophesy is significant enough to at least be possible that he is speaking of an OT prophesy about a great falling away. I mean if he is mentioning in the same breath the OT prophesy of the man of sin is such as way that it appears he knows that his readers already know what he is talking about, then logic would suggest that there is a specific OT prophesy about a great falling away that they were familiar with and it needed no further explanation. And as we read we see that that is the case.. 2 Thessalonians 2:5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?.. so they were already familiar with this teaching. Was it a teaching that began with Paul? I do not think so, it would be anyones guess what it meant if it were not for a beacon provide to help us navigate our way through this dark cloud of prophetic utterance. That beacon is the mention of the prophecy from Daniel used here by Paul about the man of sin. If this was part of the teaching that Paul had told them about already then we can go and search out the scriptures surrounding the man of sin and the son of perdition and if there is any mention of a great falling way associated with it, then we can fell confident that we have arrived at our destination. First we want to look at other NT verses that speak of a falling away associated with the anti-christ (same as man of sin or son of perdition) Revelation 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And the following passage seems to give insight on what kind of falling away it will be. 1 John 2:18-23 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Now let us look at the OT prophesy of the man of sin. Daniel 11:31-35 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed. In summary, according to this passage, the Revelation of the man of sin, and the falling away are connected. This man of sin has a part in producing the great falling away. The passages in Daniel should be meditated upon and then compared with the NT passages I posted. I think you will see a pattern here that the falling away has to do with an antichrist doctrine that will force Christians to either deny Christ and give allegiance to the antichrist or die. This idea has been sensationalized in books and movies to the point of unbelievably but it is going to happen. |
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223 | Readers of"Left Behind" series question | 2 Thess 2:12 | Scribe | 43915 | ||
I do not see that this passage says that those that are left cannot be saved if they repent. If that were the case then God would just wrap all thins up in a day. The time of this judgement seems to have a purpose that God is leaving men without excuse, that they will repent or perish forever, but none will be able to say he did not know. They will even gather against God knowing that it is Jesus Christ they are trying to fight. This verse says... 2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Now we know that that does not happen until the end of the Great Tribulation so this passage if it is condeming for all eternity men that will not repent it is doing so when all things are wrapped up. Until then the judgements poured out seem to be another example of God's Holy Love in that He is still calling men to repentance, and demonstrating to all those that will ackowledge it that He is Judge and these judgements are not to be explained away. Men even seek death under the torment of the scorpion beasts (whatever they may be) and cannot find it prooving that something supernatural is involved. They say (hide us from the wrath of Him that sits on the throne and from the Lamb, prooving that they know that the judgements are from God.) If anything The Left behind series do not do enough in explaining just how much the men of the world will KNOW these judgements are from God and yet resist repenting anyway. The fact that a multitude comes out of the Tribulation and have their robes washed demonstrates that there are those saved in it. That there are those that are being asked to take the mark and refuse and are killed for it and then are told they live forever in heaven shows that there are those getting saved at this time. But I will agree that it will be worse than even the early church who were fed to beasts for not recanting their faith. Those that give their lives to Christ at this time are sure to suffer horrible deaths at the hands of the antichrist and there will be no sort of christian bible studies while eating popcorn and wondering what is the next prophetic event on the time table to happen in the news that day. Also though there may be multitudes saved, there will be far more multitudes sluaghtered with no hope as the winepress of the Wrath of God is unleashed. May God keep you from that hour. |
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224 | Predestination question? | 1 Tim 2:4 | Scribe | 84505 | ||
Unfortunately this verse will not end the debate between men on this question. Partly because the question is so often misunderstood. Two well meaning saints end up debating at length when all the while they believe relatively the same thing, but their suspicions of one another will not allow the other any good intent. This debate has been raging for four hundred years and there is no indication that is coming to a close anytime soon. There is evidence that the question has taken new shapes and forms by those that have taken up entirely new arguments than that which Calvin or others ever proposed. However as both sides (among evangelicals) agree, the Word of God is our final authority. Therefore this verse plays an important role in giving us the complete understanding of the terminology scripture uses. I will submit another verse not often used, at least not by many that enter into this discussion. Romans 5:18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. The doctrine of the utter depravity of man is often used as a foundation to teach the doctrine of predestination and the sovereignty of God in regards to our salvation. These passages by Paul are often used among others. But the real debth of the doctrine in Rom 5:18 is often skimmed over at a high rate of speed reading. The verse (and the surrounding text supports it) says that JUST as we say that ALL men WITHOUT exception have inherited through ADAM sin and death by sin.. so in the SAME universal total inclusion ALL MEN are offered the Free Gift of righteousness, and justification of Life. There is no way doctrinally to remove ALL MEN from this saying. Therefore, you must conclude one of two things. Either all men are saved already, regardless of lifestyle as a result of the work of Christ. Or ALL men CAN be saved if they have faith. From the intellectual and philosophical, as well as the critical reasoning (so loved among the champions of this question,) this is an undeniable explanation that it cannot be just that 1 Timothy 2:4 is saying that God will have all men to be saved (who are going to be saved, at the exclusion of those that God has not destined to be saved) but by comparing 1 Tim 2:4 with Rom 5:18 we see that by contrasting the “as ALL MEN who inherit death and sin through Adam (an no champion of this discussion argues against all men having sinned) In the same way ALL MEN can receive righteousness and Life. And it cannot be in this instance allowed to insert a (all men who are destined to be saved) because the very logic of the comparison with the all men of the fall prohibits it. In this verse if the offence of one came upon all men, cannot be made to mean (all men destined) but inclusively all men who ever lived or will live (except for Christ by reason of the virgin birth), then it HAS to be that by the words EVEN SO, that the free gift came upon all men to justification of life means ALL men and not just those (destined to receive it) Now if that be the conclusion and all fair means of logic says it is must be, then are we to say that all men are saved and justified? No. Then we must conclude that all men Can be. All men without exception can be. To pick out a person in the Bible like a Judas to teach that all men are not destined to be because of the prophesy about him is not going to change the doctrine that all men are born into sin, and neither should it change the doctrine that the Justification of Life wrought by Jesus Christ extends to all men without exception.. if they will but believe. May God Bless you in your study of His Word. |
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225 | is matted hair inappropriate for woman | 1 Tim 2:9 | Scribe | 86182 | ||
1 Timothy 2:9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; As already mentioned. Think of it in the 1st century AD. They that looked this way stood out way beyond the norm. They would appear more like the wicked women of the Greecian temples and the Rich women who spent their time in sensual pursuits. Today it would be like saying.. Don't cut off have your hair and paint the other half green and pierce your tongue with jewlry becuase you will not appear as one that is full of charity and good works but more like someone who is committed to a more wicked lifestyle. I think your pastor following the same spirit of Paul could say, young women, don't follow the fashion of the day and see how low you can wear your jeans before you expose yourself, and go about showing your stomach for the whole world to gaze at. This is not becoming a woman who's heart is set on Glorifying Christ and leading others to the salvation of the Lord. The pastor might not be popular for saying it and will definitely hear the accusation of legalism, but holiness is not something that has to do with the exact clothing or hair style but what it suggests as it relates to the message we are projecting. Dressing in ways that makes most godly men have to pretend they don't see you is probably in the realm of dressing immodest. When even the world and sinners wreck their cars to stare at you, you might be dressing immodestly. If the lost whisper behind your back, you might be dressing immodest.. (sounding like a Jeff Farley list) The New Testament does not introduce legal laws and rules that have no meaning, the spirit of the commandment is what we follow, the Spirit of the Lord in our heart tells us that Paul is speaking of not being immodest. |
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226 | can a women preach and teach men | 1 Tim 2:12 | Scribe | 85700 | ||
Part 1 of 2 This is a good question, and one that often divides the saints. I do not think that Paul is saying a woman is never called by God to teach the Word. This is not the spirit of this instruction in 1 Tim 2:12. The context does not say anything about keeping silent in religious assemblies as the amplified squeezed in. There is such a verse and I will list it below. However this verse is about an attitude of a woman usurping authoritiy over a man. Many have interpreted this as Preaching or Teaching the Bible. That if a woman teaches the Bible she is usurping authority over a man. I do not see that in this text, nor do I believe if a woman teaches me a bible lesson is she usurping authority over me (a man). Maybe if you are raised believing such things you may have some such feeling of intimidation but I don't believe it is coming from the scripture. Now on the other hand I have seen many women usurping authority over men, their husbands most often, and scolding them and teaching them as if he is one of her children, and doing it publicly which is a very unbecoming thing for a christian woman to do, but many do it, out of habit and because it is part of the flesh patterns of the woman to do so. It is as necessary today as it was in Pauls day to tell the woman not to teach or usurp authority over the man. Now if a woman is ministering in the church and she comes across authoritative over men and tries to scold them, then the same truth applies and she should quit. That does not mean women cannot speak or teach in the church. Remember we have to get all the verses on these things to see the whole picture. I know that there are many who are going to be opposed to what I am saying, but I challenge you to examine the verses I give and carefully submit a better answer to them than I am giving. We know that Paul was inspired and that what he wrote was the Word of God and we know that the word of God does not contradict itself. So let us look at another often used scripture where Paul speaks of women being silent in the church 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. This is often used in addition to the verse in 1 Tim to try and interpretn 1 Tim 2:12 That that they are saying the same thing. I think they are different. This verse in 1 cor 14:33 does not mean a woman cannot talk in church. I don’t know of any church anywhere among the main evangelical denominations that tell the women to stop talking when they step through the doors of a church. But who among us believe in letting women or men ask questions aloud in the middle of a Pastor’s sermon disrupting the Pastor and bringing a spirit of contention in the service? This is what the women were said to be doing, (though I am not sure any of us know for sure). This confusion is the same kind of confusion Paul was preaching against throughout 1 Cor 14 when he mentions the speaking in tongues without and interpreter or the prophesying out of order, in both thost cases he says let him (not her but it applies to both) keep silent in the church. He used the same terminology in the same chapter speaking of taking a more submitted role and not trying to take over the service with your tongues, prophesy, or questions so that all are listening to you but not being edified by it. He makes it clear that the tongue could be given but only with an interpreter so that all may be edified, and even then in an orderly manner and not too many, and he makes it clear that prophesy can be given but by two or three and in an orderly manner, and so when he gets to the women, it is the same thing, not that they should never be allowed to teach which is a gross paraphrase and commentary and an inaccurate interpretation of what he said, but that they should not ask questions aloud causing confusion. (continued on next post) |
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227 | can a women preach and teach men | 1 Tim 2:12 | Scribe | 85701 | ||
Part 2 0f 2 Now to add to this, we see here that prophesying in the church was allowed and encouraged by Paul but told to do it in an orderly manner two or three at the most and let the other judge, or in other words he says, the spirit of the prophet is subject to the prophet and so the other has the power to wait to give his prophecy and not interrupt another. We have heard different interpretations of what this prophesy means. Some say it is like the charismatic gift of prophesy spoken by the modern charismatic church, others say it is the same as preaching the word. Some say it is neither and is passed away. That is another path to explore, but for now consider that regardless of your view, it was certainly some form of speaking and and had to do with ministry. Now if Paul had taught that a woman was not allowed to partake of this then Paul would be contradicting the Holy Spirit, and we know that is not true. Let me give another verse to help make this clear. Acts 21:8-9 And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. This reference in Acts is in no way a negative about the daughters but a glorification of God. This is a testimony of the Holy Spirit continuing to be poured out on all flesh as Peter preached in Acts 2. I have never heard a scholar yet (though there may some) that have ventured to suggest that these daughters prophesied with any different prophesy than that which is spoken of by Paul in 1 Cor 14 when he is giving instruction on how to prophesy in order in the church. So we have a meeting of saints, a local assembly here in Acts 21 and we have 4 daughters of Philip who prophesy with the same gift. Now these are women, and they are speaking in ministry of prophesy in the church. If you are going to say that was different because it was not preaching or teaching, then you have to at least change your view that prophesy is the same as teaching and preaching the word. If you’re willing to do that then you are going to have to deal with what this prophesy is that Paul said we should all earnestly desire. But again regardless of your view of prophesy, it was speaking and it was ministry and it was in the church. So Paul could not have meant that women cannot minister in the Church, but rather they should not be disruptive. 1 Corinthians 14:27-28 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. 1 Corinthians 14:29-30 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. 1 Corinthians 14:33-35 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. All three exhortations to keep silent or not speak is not about a ban on ministry by gender but an instruction on how to minister in order. We can also read verses like these Acts 18:26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. That show that Priscilla was used to teach a man that was considered mighty in the scriptures. We have to also look at the whole spirit of New testament Theology. We know that Jesus freed us from the legal restrictions spelled out under the Levitical law of such things as the woman having to be secluded at certain times of the month and many other burdens too numerous to mention. We know that Jesus brought to us who are born again an understanding concerning a walk of Love that will fulfill all the Law. We know that it is not within the spirit of the Gospel of Christ to put women into a legal rule of bondage that has no meaning or purpose. This is why it is so obviously a misinterpretation. When men quote “women should keep silent in the church” and “I suffer not a woman to teach” and carry it out as some kind of New Testament Law after the order of the Levitical Laws, they are obviously taking the phrase out of context and also adding their own understanding such as “Teach the Word” which is not what it says. May God bless you as you study His Word. |
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228 | can a women preach and teach men | 1 Tim 2:12 | Scribe | 85754 | ||
I did not actually address the concept of a woman being a pastor in my previous posts. I was focusing on a woman preaching or teaching in a church. Now we all know that teaching and preaching is done by more than just the pastor. However let's take a look at the concept of pastoring. I believe that it is God's plan for a man to pastor and a woman to pastor if she is the wife of the pastor. For instance if a woman is called and gifted to pastor she can do so under the authority of her husband as the senior pastor. This is very common among our churches. There are many great churches that owe their success to not just the ministry of the Male Pastor but to the Wife of the Pastor who does as much work in the area of counseling, teaching, and many other ministry gifts as her husband. And sometimes these wives of pastors teach better than their husbands. I know of a couple in my church, the husband and the wife both graduated from bible school. I have heard both teach. The wife is one of the best teachers I have ever heard, and very humble and submissive to the authority of her husband. As it relates to the image of Christ I think she is one of the better examples in our whole church. Let's look at this through the eyes of the Spirit of the Word and not the letter of the Law. Let's say you have a missionary woman that is in a country like Afghanistan and she is busy doing the Lord's work and many converts are coming to Christ. This scenario is very realistic and not a "what if" that does not occur, but one that is occurring now all over the world. This woman is ministering the Word to these new converts and for a while there is no man to be a pastor. You may call her a missionary, but in all truth she is acting as the pastor of the new congregation. If the Lord raises up a male pastor among them in time, then she will hand that over to him and continue with her calling. But to say she cannot lead that flock in the mean while is not for us to say. When we do that we are legalistic scribes and pharisees and are missing the point. If a woman in america just decides she will start a church and be the senior pastor, I do not think she is going to have many wise men among her congregation because they will not be comfortable with a woman pastor because of the scriptures that lead us to believe God's method is for men to be pastors. There are certain women in the church today that are trying very hard to bring to the church a new understanding of scriptures concerning women in ministry. These women believe that from the middle ages and even since the reformation that the scriptures concerning women have been misinterpreted. I personally do not think it is that complicated. In short I think God is not bound by legalistic rules concerning gender, but that God will use a woman any time He wants to and who are we to say He won't. But I believe that there is an order in the kingdom of God, that the man has been given authority to lead and serve the woman and that the woman should submit to the spiritual leadership of the man. If the woman ministers the word she should do so under the authority of the pastor. This does not mean a woman cannot preach in the pulpit. The Lord Jesus Christ brought us freedom from bondage, therefore whatever the concept of the women being under the authority of the man must mean it must be a concept of freedom. If you teach it in such a way that limits the womans ability to share the gospel with everyone she comes in contact with you are in error and missing the spirit of the teaching. God Bless You as You Study His Word. |
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229 | Pt.1 Female Overseer | 1 Tim 2:12 | Scribe | 86222 | ||
How far do you go with this. I mean, I agree that a man should be a pastor. But what about people who work for women bosses? Are these men messed up? Should they be seeking a different job? What about women in the church who work and are in management positions over men. Are they out of the will of God? Does this rule that women should not be in authority over men only apply to church? If we believe that the correct interpretation of these passages is that women should never be in a position of authority over a man, then are we going to live like we believe that or are we going to play games with it, saying a woman cannot teach in our church and yet go to work on Monday and say yes maam to our boss? What kind of truthfulness is that? We either believe this is the interpretation or we are not sure. I think most people who are so adament about not believing a woman can pastor are compromisers becuase they will work for women and submit to women on their jobs. Where do we get the authority to say that it is ok to submit to a woman on your job and not in the church? Either stand by your principles or admit your not clear about this authority and women thing. And if you are not clear about it, then maybe we are messing up the meaning of these passages. If there is room to submit to a female boss at work then we are seeing some kind of "acception" to the rule. If we have confidence we are in the will of God while living with this "acception" to the rule, then we have moved into the realm of spiritual application to New Testament rules or given ourselves liberty to apply the spirit of the rule rather than the letter of the law. And what then is the meaning of the spirit of the rule here, if it is about authority then we have "bent" the rule at work by submitting to women bosses, if we say the rule cannot be bent or we are in violation to the word, then we should be true to our convictions and quit our jobs and not accept another that places us under the authority of women. If we believe this is wrong and yet we continue under the authority of women, we sin. Romans 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. I would not sit under a woman pastor. I do not believe it is correct to have women pastors but I do think that it is becuae of a hard fast rule about authority, I believe I can have a woman at work in authority over me, but I (would never marry such a woman :) ) Have you ever considered that Paul was speaking about spiritual things. That in the church it is Love that matters and it would be a hinderance to the spreading of the Gospel in that day when women were not allowed to lead in Jewish religion to allow them to lead in the church, it would make it unnecessarily hard for men to hear or even listen to the message. It would be better for if a woman who was gifted and called to ministry of the word to submit to men so that the message could be recieved, so we have Pricilla and Aquila and Pricilla seems to be the main teacher and even teaches a man Appollos but she is always named with her husband Aquilla which shows a submissive heart and therefore men like Apollos are well able to recieve her teachings becuase she is not usurping authority over a man. By the way let us always focus on every word of the text, the words are must not usurp authority over a man which speaks of a brash sort of pushing oneself forward in a fleshly authority. But having a gift to minister does not automatically put the woman in violation of the authority issue. As a matter of fact there are more instances of women usurping authority over men is brash and fleshly way at your work than in the church. Often in the church you have a "submitted" woman getting grief for daring to teach the Bible, and yet the women who are USURPING authority over men at work are left alone. Just a few thoughts to help kick off the second round of the debate. :) |
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230 | Warning ! ! ! | 1 Tim 3:16 | Scribe | 86129 | ||
Not sure why it was restricted. But fortunately the forumn is moderated, keeping the cult postings restricted is important so that people can get Answers from the Bible in context instead of cults using partial quotes and pages of heresy. Romans 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. Philippians 2:10-11 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The Father Son and Holy Ghost are One God and it is not wrong to call that a Trinity. Just like when you speak of Legalism, Legalism is not in the Bible but the concept is and it is ok to speak of a larger concept in shorter words. Jesus made it clear that before Abraham was I AM and it is written that By Jesus Christ all things were created, John says that Jesus is the Word and the Glory of the Father, and that He is was God. John also taught us that if a teacher teaches that Jesus is not God in the Flesh he is an antichrist. So let't hope that this fourum will restrict cult postings so that the Word of God can go forth. 1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. |
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231 | Last Days for 2 thousand years? | 2 Tim 3:1 | Scribe | 100211 | ||
It is true that it has been the last days for 2000 years. Therefore the time has to be at the very doors. The reason is that if it ends soon, then it still qualifies as 2000 years since on a time line of the history of the earth and mankind, you would see that from Christ to the present we are on at least the last third of history. If we move too much further into the future, say 1000 years or more, you would see on the time line that Acts 2 delclaration by Peter that we were in the last days would not be true, that instead of the last days, they were in the middle days, or if much further into the future and Acts 2 might fall on the time line before the middle mark of history and would make not logical sense whatsoever. Some people are afraid to say what I am saying becuase they are afraid that if the Lord does not come soon they will be saying the Word is not true, so they make satements like "even if we have to wait another 5000 years, what is that to God, after all with the Lord a thousand years is as a day" but that is saying that scripture is not true in my opinion. I believe Scripture is True and Verbally inspired. If Paul makes a point of the inspiration of the tense of the word Seed when referring to the OT passage of Abraham's Seed being singular and not Seeds plural becuase it was prophetic of Christ, then it is also true that the phrase Last Days meant the Last part of human history and not the middle or the first third etc. It is either Last Days or it is not true. But it is True and we are in the Last Days and we know it must end soon because the Word is true and is no Lie. Get Ready. The signs all point to His Soon Return. Many Bible Scholars stated in the 18 century that Babylon would be rebuilt and they could not see any other application but literal. We are living in a day when the evening news uses the phrase "Rebuilding of Baghdad" on almost a daily basis. Yes, the day is upon us and we must live like it. Be Sober, Be Vigilant, Seek to Do His Will. | ||||||
232 | The form of Godliness? | 2 Tim 3:5 | Scribe | 86021 | ||
2 Timothy 3:4-5 ...lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. Those that may pretend to be religious but in works they deny the Lord. Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. They are those that seem to not comprehend (reprobate) the connection between living holy and knowing God. They pretend they know God and "can" know God while being full of lust seeking fleshly indulgences. |
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233 | Jesus according to Paul, vs. the Gospels | 2 Tim 3:16 | Scribe | 42808 | ||
The person that thinks that the Nag Hamadi texts are consistant with Pauls writings has not read either Paul or the Nag Hamadi texts. The reason the gnostic texts were rejected was because Johns revelation was effective in expunging the false teachers from the churches Rev Chapter 2 - 3 The gnostics were so messed up they would write a book and say it was from Timothy and knowing that he was not Timothy think to himself that he was not lying becuase he was a "spiritual" timothy. This sort of falsehood was common. Of course the real motive was to deceive. But a false prophet never goes about thinking "I am a false prophet. I will devour ignorant sheep like a wolf and use them for my own purposes." No usually a false teacher will think to himself some complex structure of logic that makes him think he is in contact with the "mystical" idea of god that he has imagined. There are hardly any moral limits for them. For almost anything can be justified. So in the Book of Revelation Chapter 2-3 they are rebuked as being inspired of hell and their doctrine exposed. These were the early gnostics. Nicolatains were the first. The Nag Hamadi texts were an example of thier writings or of those that wrote some time after 90 AD What would a person have to gain by accepting the gnostics over the Bible? Well this mainly, they believe they can commit fornication and still go to heaven. Now to someone with a porn addiction, but who wants to inherit eternal life, they might find this an attractive beleif system. The only problem is, that it is a lie! And they will wake up in hell. May God bless you in the Study of His Word. Read the gnostics and see what you think. http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhlalpha.html |
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234 | Can we say that all of the scriptures | 2 Tim 3:16 | Scribe | 43241 | ||
I have prayed in the spirit for about half an hour and having asked God to show me revelation in His Word that will make me more like Him, I have opened the Bible to the Begats (genealogy) and recieved revelation and insight for daily living. So yes, every word is profitable and inspired and supernaturally Divine. Praise His Holy Word. | ||||||
235 | DIVORCED,REMARRIED DEACON | Titus 1:6 | Scribe | 55052 | ||
In this instance that you describe it does not matter whether he was born again or not. If a wife is unfaithful you can divorce her or if a husband is unfaithful the wife can divorce him. In this situation you can remarry. Even if you are a christian. If a Christian has a wife that is cheating on him, he can divorce her and stil be a pastor or any other ministry calling. Also if a spouse is an unbeliever and they leave you becuase your are too "religous" as you seek to serve Christ, then you are free to remarry and be a pastor or any other ministry. Now for the most common scenario. If a couple splits over arguing etc it is still not the unforgivable sin. The man who was called to pastor and went through a divorce is not banned from ever pastoring again. I don't care what denominations say God is able to save to the uttermost them that put their trust in him. If that man is called by God he will in time be changed if he has faith. The sinful behaviour of striving in the flesh with his wife and all the nasty stuff that caused the divorce will have to be purged out by the Lord, but God still has a few "back sides of the desert" to accomplish such things. When the Lord is ready and the man is changed he will be fit for the masters use and I reject any doctrine of the systems of manmade religious governments that strain at a gnat and swallow a camel in the words of Christ about divorce that would tell a man he cannot pastor because of divorce 20 years ago that God has dealt with. (No I have never been divorced) Such a man would do good to not join that dull and soddish structure of man anyway. Let him follow the Lord and seek His praise only. I am not saying divorce is ever an answer. Such a man may delay his calling by many years by such a failure, but he is not washed up. May God bless you in your study of His Word. |
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236 | Is the Promised Land the Israel of today | Hebrews | Scribe | 41903 | ||
Ro 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Abraham was promised THE WHOLE WORLD so yes the land of Israel is the promised land but only as a type or lesson that God is going to give the saints THE WHOLE WORLD, for a thousand years and then A New Heaven and New Earth. Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. If you see that we (us the new testament saints) are to be included in the promises, then we know it is more than Geographical Isreal. In answer to your question Israel and Jerusalem is the very promised land of the Old testament and there is no question by anyone that it. Many of the geographical landmarks mentioned in the OT have never been mistaken for some other place in all of human history by those that live there. Some things are hard to identify such as the location of the tower of Babel, but they are fairly certain they have the base identified. But Jerusalem, mount Zion has never been in dispute. Yes God promised them the Land, but God had a greater purpose. Here is the Greater Truth. The promised land is your heart (your soul, your eternal being)Or the Promised Land are all the eternal promises of eternal Life with Christ, the Bodily Resurrection, The inheriting of the earth, the possessing of the literal kingdom, all of these promises not yet realized in full but possessed by faith is the Promised Land for us. And as they had to walk by faith to possess it so do we. Do a study on the enemies they had to drive out, they all have names that can be applied to the spiritual battles we face as christians in our walk of sanctification. He that endures unto the end shall be saved. we have to drive out the amorites as they did but we do it spiritually by repenting and fleeing from lusts that once kept us in bondage. You see them having problems by letting some enemies remain among them (as you see today) and we must learn from this and not allow any secret lusts or vices to remain in our hearts. God Bless you in your study of the Word. |
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237 | Does God try to speak and not get heard? | Heb 1:2 | Scribe | 94602 | ||
Greetings. Good thoughts. I agree that God speaking and people not hearing has more to do with an obstinate heart than any disability of the human mind. Here is an example. I was praying for the Lord to help me find a good deal on a car. I did not want to go in debt and I did not want to get a lemon. I trusted the Lord to help me find the right one in a sea of choices. I was walking in my neighborhood and spied a nice Cadillac for sale. The price was low and I took the number down. As I walked along I imagined the enjoyment of driving such a vehicle and the luxury and comfort of the ride. I also confess that I imagined the image of myself being seen by others in this car. Now I had passed over into the sin of pride of life in this thought and it was at this time that I looked up and saw a van with a much lower price 1700 to be exact. Well the van was very nice inside and out, but I hardly even noticed and did not take down the number. See my mind was taken up with the thought of the pride of being seen in the cadilac. Later as I walked back by the van I went ahead and took down the number because the price seemed too low to believe and I felt I should at least check it out, maybe the Lord was trying to bless me with a really good deal and I was being to prideful or doubtful to believe it. Well after all was checked out, the cadilac was had been in a wreck, was parked in my neighborhood by a used car dealer to fool people into thinking it was offered by a neighbor, and the van was the legitimate vehicle of the neighbor it was parked at. The van drives like a new car and I am amazed daily at how much car I got for 1700. The point being that God was trying to answer my prayer and bless me with a great deal but pride almost made me miss the whole thing. Can we miss out on what God has for us, of course, I can tell many stories of instances when I was less humble and did not recognize my error and presumption until later (though I always had a warning in my spirit but ignored it.) Thus, God spoke to me by His Spirit but I wanted my own way and rebelled. Did I not hear God? No I heard him but hardened my own heart. Does God speak to us about such things? Of course He does. God speaks to us through the Bible, and yet He also communes with us in the Holy Spirit. If anyman does not know the communion of the Holy Spirit, I doubt that man is saved. I agree that the written Word is our final authority but never let anyone tell you that the Holy Spirit will not speak to you without a chapter an verse. The Holy Spirit will speak to you truths that you do not even know are in the scripture. Later you will read a scripture and say, "WOW! The Holy Spirit was speaking this truth to me and I did not even know this verse was in here!" If you do not know that experience I feel great sorrow for you. It is the frequency of such communion and experiences of these revelations of truth, that help me gauge whether I am properly pressing forward in God or stagnating or drawing back. If I am not experiencing communion with God outside of just reading scripture, then I would of all men be most miserable. The word of God is ALIVE and POWERFUL and without this dynamic of the Holy Spirit speaking to me I would not even be able to rightly divide the Word of God on paper. May God bless you as you Commune with Him and study His written Word. |
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238 | Dreans, and Angels? | Heb 1:14 | Scribe | 55187 | ||
Acts 2:17 makes it clear that the prophecy of Joel were to apply to what they were witnessing when they said "what is this" and so Peter says in this context the promise is to you and your children and all that are afar off, that applies to us and not just the far off of other countries. So we are now we also on whom the end of the world has come are going to have visions and dreams, and prophesy. When they experienced these things they did not elevate them over the scriptures. Of course we read the word and follow it as our only rule of faith and practice. However when the Lord wants to lead someone more specically and in a personal manner as it relates to their local church or family or personal lives they can and often do have dreams. These dreams stand out from the rest. When you have one you will often awake in the middle of the night with a sense of urgency to write it down so you wont forget it. The Lord will give you the meaning. Of course we know that if you think the meaning is contradictory to scripture then you are wrong it is not from God. When teaching about dreams you have to say that to weed out the flakes and the self willed disobedient that want to use any excuse to disobey the word. But most often you will hear teachers make that the main point of their teaching on dreams and never say anything else. Really that part about flaky people is a sidenote just to make sure no one misunderstands you. After having said it there is much more to the subject of dreams from God for instruction and guidance. I will attempt to give an example. A saint has a dream the dream is full of detail and even while they are dreaming they know the dream is a message from God trying to teach them something, they will get a moment of clarity where they know they are in a dream and they know it is not a normal natural dream but a God given dream. They will try to pay attention to the subject and details and tell themselves they need to remember this when they awake. It might be a dream of them preaching to thousands in a stadium.. and they are being prepared to go on the platform.. they are aware of a sin among the leadership that put the meeting together, it is an evil sin, but you cannot remember what it was.. the men ask you privately that they want you to come up and preach to the people but you need to not worry about the sin these leaders are in and forget about it, don't tell the people.. You know, (you are not sure how) that you are not to compromise and gloss over the sin of this group of men.. You tell them.. "I am convinced that I will help the people more by walking in obedience to God than speaking a thousand words in that mic." and you walk away.. Then you wake up. It is the middle of the night.. You know you need to grab a pen a write what you just experienced in that dream. That dream will help you in the near future in something you are going to face. These thing happen today but most christians are too full of unbelief to believe that God will do it and they will discount it all with a sentence from an unfruitful intellectual christian that says the canned ..."we don't need dreams we have the Bible.. forget about it." and if the one who says it is a pastor, then many christians will forget about the dream. It only takes a day or two and they will be saying.. I had an incredible dream the other night, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was (if they did not write it down). Then sometime in the future, it may be soon or far.. This dreamer will be faced with a choice to compromise in an area of disobedience to the word by men who might be considered authorities in the church or intellects or smart christians that know more than you and they will with religous teaching try to tell you that you will minster to others more effectively if you follow their dead pattern of compromise and unholiness. (but they will use more smooth words to say it) and this dreamer will fall into their trick becuase he will forget what God told him in a personal way in a dream. Even though all truth is in the Bible there is a special strength that comes in God speaking to us in a dream the same Scriptural truths. ....Continue next post | ||||||
239 | Dreans, and Angels? | Heb 1:14 | Scribe | 55190 | ||
Continued from last post.... One thing that these dreams do is to help guide you in those specific ways that help you in your own personnal battle against the strategies of satan that are being launched against you and your ministry. We are all different and one persons battle differs from another. God knows what you are facing and will face, where your weaknesses are and what you need to be working to strengthen. So everything you need for life and godliness are contained in the Word, God will use a dream to drive home a specific promise or truth from His word that you need. Consider these God given dreams as sermon from God to you always using the written word truths to instruct you but specifically something that is urgent in your life to get a grasp on. Sometimes these dreams will have to do with more people and speak of a bigger picture than your life only. God will and does give dreams that relate to world events and prophecy and these type of dreams are more common among leadership whose lives effect more people and whos decisions effect more people. There is much to say about dreams than what is usually said. I have gone to long to comment on angels. :) |
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240 | cannot out-sin the grace of God? | Heb 4:1 | Scribe | 58821 | ||
Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. I am not sure what the phrase was meant to say "you cannot out-sin the grace of God." You cannot sin so much that God cannot save you. Or let me say it like this. No man has sinned to such a degree that the blood of Christ on the cross could not pay for it. However Faith must be exercised on the part of the believer and Faith that brings salavation teaches us to deny ungodly lusts. The Grace of God is such that if we exercise this true faith we are promised salvation. If on the other hand we do not exercise faith but rather sin continously with no heart of repentance and faith indulging in the lusts of the flesh, then how can we say we have faith? And even if we once had faith, but choose not to have faith today then we have no promise of Grace. Grace is only to the believer. And a believer is defined differently in the Bible than many so called believers might think. This is the definition of saving faith... Titus 2:11-12 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; |
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