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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | How to teach people to hear God's voice? | John 10:4 | DocTrinsograce | 137425 | ||
Angel, the passion you feel over this topic has caused you to stop thinking clearly. You have read much more into my post than warranted or intended. You have also covered a huge amount of territory in your own post. I just got out of the hospital a few days ago, so forgive me for my disinclination to respond at every point right now. However, 1. How does God communicate? No, God communicates with us in a variety of ways. The scripture, however, is "the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience." The Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek are the only were "immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentic; so as in all controversies of religion, the church is finally to appeal to them." Furthermore, they are "the supreme judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other but the Holy Scripture delivered by the Spirit, into which Scripture so delivered, our faith is finally resolved." 2. Personal experience? Personal experience is less authoritative than the Word itself, no matter how certain an experience seems. This is because I am fallible, prone to error, and easily deceived. Experience bears this out. 3. Hearing God's calling? "Hearing God's calling" is a separate issue. This is also not an audible thing, but another metaphor. We experience God's calling when He grants us the ability to see Himself and ourselves in the correct light. This can only happen by His divine and sovereign will and action. It is the only way we can accurately attribute value to God and to our own fallen nature. 4. Authority to limit? We do not have the authority to limit God. However, God has the authority to limit Himself, which He has done, for our own good. "It pleased the Lord at sundry times and in divers manners to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His church; and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan, and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing his will unto his people being now ceased." 5. Dropping to our knees? Any correct understanding of scripture does exactly this. The Word can only be spiritually discerned. When it is properly understood, it drives us to our knees. This occurs in every way just as surely as Isaiah's experience in the temple, etc. I hope that this brief response helps to clarify the point. I further hope that my pain medications have not muddled my thinking too much and that I have accurately relayed the truth as best as I understand it. May God grant us even greater clarity as we submit to Him. In Him, Doc PS Regarding evaluating a claim: Brother EdB's tradition recognizes various supernatural communications from God. He has an incredibly sound and sensible set of Biblically based rules for validating such messages. Perhaps we can persuade him to post something on this here. This is a critical issue in our day, let us not be afraid to wrestle with it, regardless of our final theological points of view. |
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2 | How to teach people to hear God's voice? | John 10:4 | JCrichton | 137459 | ||
"another metaphor." Hi, Doc! There are certain words that evoke passion from me when they are used to characterize God... metaphor and allegory are kind of on top--though they have similar meanings they are both used too frequently to discredit the Bible! You continually use metaphor in discribing God's relationship to man... I cannot be but passionate! Since you have expanded on your initial statement I am inclined to believe that you are not seeking to limit God's Authority nor the means that He chooses to communicate with humanity! I do not disagree with you about the authority of Scripture nor the that personal experience is subject to Scripture... I must add that most of the problem lies not in God communicating with us but in us not being receptive to God as the Holy Spirit was sent to be both the Guide and Comforter of the Church... to remove the Holy Spirit as an active force in the Church would be to deny Christ's own Word! (John 16:13; 17:15-23) "it drives us to our knees." ...here you misunderstand my example... there are many who believe that the only time God communicates with us is through some explosive visual effect that drops us to our knees... this is used primarily as theatrics by some to give their claims credence in the eyes of man! Bowing down to God's Authority or as a sign of respect when we seek His counsel or His companionship is an act of worship... but expecting that God will produce some pyrotechnics to provide us with indisputable proof that He is communicating with us... well... God needs no help! I appreciate your diligence in contributing to the forum... I will be praying for you... Personal note: I do not expect that all my points of arguement be replied to... I do get passionately involved in my replies when I feel that much is being left unsaid, when a reply seems to glaze over the query or when certain sound bites are introduced... I offer my apologies for any strong replies that I may offer--I do not seek to test anyones mettle... I just seek to offer the clearest possible response when engaging a topic--even if it means sacrificing simplicity... God Bless! Angel |
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3 | How to teach people to hear God's voice? | John 10:4 | DocTrinsograce | 137485 | ||
Passion is good... :-) I've been called passionate when it comes to the things of God... Hopefully the Lord finds us appropriately passionate, and if not, may He change this in us according to His will. Clarity and simplicity are good too, by the way. :-) After further elucidation I do not find that we differ much in our theology on this topic. As an anecdote I remember a young lady coming to me once to ask if it was God's will for her to marry a Moslem. (She was a believer.) I assured her that based on the principle of 2 Corinthians 6:14, it was not God's will. She argued that her intended might become a believer, etc. Finally she said, "I know what the scripture says! I just want God to tell me Himself!" Lots of people are like that. I remember reading where Mark Twain said, "It isn't what I don't understand in the Bible that bothers me... its what I do understand that bothers me!" If we don't like the answer we find in scripture, somehow we think we can find a loop hole somewhere. I've been that way myself, I'm afraid. :-( Thank you for your posts, Angel. In Him, Doc |
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4 | How to teach people to hear God's voice? | John 10:4 | JCrichton | 137541 | ||
"After further elucidation I do not find that we differ much in our theology on this topic." Hi, Doc! I concur! Also, I believe that much of our arguments (Christian variation in Scriptural views) is due to vocabulary--we term the same theologies in different words which, as free agents, are open for interpretation: many times the thought being conveyed is not received because the receptors' vocabulary is different... "I just want God to tell me Himself!" The person you alluded to is a clear example of vocabulary/language gone wrong... once made aware of Scripture (though I would have quoted to verse 17)--which is the Word of God, and the Word being Spirit and Life it was God Speaking to her... she was stubbornly unreceptive because her '"I know what the scripture says! I just want God to tell me Himself!"' denied that God was Speaking to her through you by the Power of His Word! She desired something and would not listen to Scripture that told her that she was misguided (James 4:1-10) because she wanted God to tell her what she wanted to hear! All communication, specially with God, has a serious drawback: COMMUNICATION IS A TWO-WAY STREET! We often come to God not truly seeking His Wisdom and Will, but predisposed to our obsessions! James was very succinct about this: "When you do pray and do not receive, it is because you prayed wrongly, wanting to indulge in your passions." "If we don't like the answer we find in scripture, somehow we think we can find a loop hole somewhere." Sadly, it goes even beyond that... we attempt to use Scripture to create loopholes! God Bless! Angel |
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