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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Are we presenting the gospel scripturaly | John 1:12 | DocTrinsograce | 172666 | ||
Dear Brother Mark, There are clear economies of God. The Scripture speaks of them as dispensations KJV (Ephesians 1:10; 3:2; Colossians 1:25). That is, under each covenant, there are specific ways that God deals with men (cf Hebrews 9:9). For example, God no longer interacts with men as He did with Adam before the fall. Redemptive history is all about God's actions from creation to glory in which He redeems His own to the point of a final restoration -- and more -- of the relationship with God enjoyed by our First Parents in the Garden. On a macro scale redemptive history is divided into two parts. The prophets of the Old Testament spoke of a coming day in which God would perform a decisive work for salvation and for judgment (Jeremiah 23:5-6). They spoke with great excitement of the coming of Messiah (Isaiah 42:6). Then the New Testament opens with the message that the Kingdom of God is at hand. The ultimate inauguration of these events -- i.e., in the fulness of time according to God's eternal purpose (Galatians 4:4) -- was with the Resurrection of Christ, culminating in His Ascension (Ephesians 1:20) and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on all believers (Acts 2:18). In the Old Testament the Spirit of God is said to dwell UPON people (cf 1 Samuel 10:10; Isaiah 61:1). God would send His Spirit upon leaders and those who would prophesy to His people (cf Judges 3:10; Numbers 11:29). The Spirit of God could and did come upon people who were not saved (Numbers 24:2). (We know they were not saved because of the overall bent of their lives. Although the saved are not sinless, they manifest Godliness in a general trend in their lives.) Now, in the Kingdom of God, the Spirit of God has come to live with His people (2 Corinthians 6:16). Every saved person has the Holy Spirit "indwelling" them -- something that the Old Testament saints could not have imagined, but would have desired to comprehend (1 Peter 1:12). The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a seal upon the lives of the saved (Ephesians 4:30). This is a benefit granted by and sent by the Father (John 14:26) and the Lord Jesus Christ (John 15:26) to His own. Mark, we are creatures of time. We think, operate, and live within time and always will. When we say, "I will go to the store," we look to a future event. We cannot say "I will go to the store" with the same kind of authority as we say "I have gone to the store." Our very word can be thwarted by all sorts of things. That doesn't happen with God. When He says "I will do thus and so" it is as certain as when He says "I have done thus and so." Indeed, it is fully accomplished. Consequently, the Bible can speak of the "Lamb slain from the foundations of the world" (Revelation 13:8). Christ's work was finished at a moment of time (John 19:30) in the context of time. But God's decrees are rooted in eternity past. From His perspective His eternal purpose has been completed. Some of your confusion is rooted in the subjective versus objective aspects of salvation. I've done a poor job of explaining, I suspect. Instead of a hasty reply like this I should be working on homework. It is a difficult thing to explain in a few short posts what has taken me a great deal of study and time to understand. Perhaps its just my panglossian nature that causes me to keep trying. :-) In Him, Doc |
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2 | Are we presenting the gospel scripturaly | John 1:12 | mark d seyler | 172693 | ||
Hi Doc, I appreciate the time you have spent with me. I have no wish to keep you from your commitments, so perhaps it is best to put this aside an continue another time. Love in Christ, Mark |
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