Results 21 - 40 of 72
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: McGracer Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
21 | rock foundation | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54025 | ||
Append, BTW Joe, I am not implying that OT saints were not influenced by or aware of the Holy Spirit. They very much were. I am just saying that the Holy Spirit did not indwell the average OT believer through out his (or her) whole life. The Spirit left Saul. David was very much aware that God's Spirit would leave him because of his sin. As NT believers, we should not live in that fear. Our sins have been dealt with once-and-for-all. Therefore, God re-creates us as new creatures in Him and indwells us forever - 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15; Eph 2:10; Eph 4:24. McGracer |
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22 | What do the rest of you think? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54033 | ||
Joe, I'd like to hear some other opinions on this too so I'll also repost this as a question. While I'm not the "rest of you", I wanted to share this verse: Titus 3:4 - But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. I see lots of instances in the OT of the Holy Spirit coming upon someone to enable them to do what God called them to do but I haven't really found any instances of someone being "born again" or of them actually posessing eternal life. This doesn't mean that they didn't live forever because everyone lives forever in one place or another. But Daniel 12:2 says that "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt." Everlasting life, for OT believers starts at their resurrection. We are partakers, not of everlasting life (life which has a beginning but no end), but of ETERNAL life, Christ's life, which has NO beginning and NO end, for He is eternal. I believe that this is what the writer of Hebrews is saying in Heb 11:39 where he says that all the OT believers did not receive the eternal life that was promised them during their life-times. But, in verse 40, we have received something better than they, eternal life - here and now in Christ. In this aspect, the OT was never made perfect - see also Heb 10:1. We, in contrast, posess eternal life - Christ's life - and His completed sacrifice has made us, from God's viewpoint, perfect for ALL time - Heb 10:14. What do the rest of you think? Thanks, Joe. McGracer |
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23 | What do the rest of you think? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54042 | ||
Tim, Yes, thanks for the clarification. I believe they were made during at their resurrection. They just didn't receive it during their lifetime whereas we do through new birth. Thanks, bro. I know what I want to say but I can't always find the words, or, if I do find them, I forget where I leave them. :) McGracer |
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24 | What is perfected for all time? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54074 | ||
Joe, What would you say that Heb 10:14 means then? It says that Christ's offering has perfected us for all time (those of us who are being sanctified). If we have not been made perfect yet, then why does the writer say that we have been (past tense) for ALL time? Thanks for your input. McGracer |
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25 | What is perfected for all time? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54084 | ||
Joe, Thanks for your well-thought out response. You may indeed be right. If I were to look at my experience and performance alone, I would have to conclude that I am not perfect because I still sin. If I were to look at the my condition alone, I would have to conclude that I am not yet glorified. And yet, if I were to look at my performance and experience, I wouldn't always conclude that I am justified, a new creation, born again, clothed with Christ, complete in Him, forgiven, holy, or even saved! So, to me, the question becomes, is my identity in Christ determined by what He did or by what I do (or what will happen to my body)? As you well know, there are many scriptures that speak of our sanctification in the past tense. There are also many that speak of it in the future tense. It is the same way with holiness. We are called holy. We are also told to be holy. I've found that most of the time, God's Word is quite clear and speaks for itself. If God says that I am already "perfected for all time", then I have a choice to believe it or to say that He doesn't mean what He says. If He says that I have already been glorified - Rom 8:30 - then I have the same choice. I must either look to my experience as the standard of truth or look to what He says. I may be naive, but I firmly believe that if God meant that our "perfection" was only future, He would have said so. Heb 10:14 would say, "For by one offering He WILL PERFECT WHEN WE DIE those whose are WILL THEN BE sanctified." I respectfully submit to you, brother, that this is NOT what it says. Nor does Heb 10:10 say, "By this will we WILL BE, WHEN WE DIE, SANCTIFIED through the DEATH OF YOUR BODY AT THAT TIME." I believe that these spiritual truths are NOT tied to the death of your body, but to the death and resurrection of HIS. It is our new birth in Christ that determines what we are, not our death. I'll close with this thought. I assume you believe that all men are born sinners, right? When are they made sinners? When they first sin? Is it their actions that make them sinners or is it their nature that makes them sin? I would contend that they sin BECAUSE they are ALREADY sinners. So when did you become everything that you are "in Adam"? When you are physically born. When do you become, in identity, everything that you are in Christ? Likewise, when you are born "again." Those who are in Adam do not become sinners when they die. Death does not determine identity. Birth does. Likewise, you do not become, in identity, holy, perfected, sanctified, righteous, when you die. The death of your body has NOTHING whatsoever to do with your spiritual condition OTHER THAN sealing it. Whatever spiritual condition you are in when you die - in Adam or in Christ - is what you will remain. As I said, Joe. You may be right. But I'm convinced that it is my new birth, not my eventual death, that determines who I am. It is Christ in me that imparts these wonderful characteristics that, as Peter says, allows me to here and now have everything I need for life and godliness. "We look at the things that are unseen for they are ETERNAL. The things that are seen are TEMPORAL." Where will you look for your identity, Joe? Will you look at the death of your body, a mere tent that houses the real you, for who you are in Christ? Or will you look back to the work of Christ and His resurrection for your spiritual identity. None of these things come from ourselves. They all come from our union with Him. He is the true Vine and source. We are merely the branches. As Paul writes in Rom 11:16 - "If the root (Christ) is holy, the branches ARE (not WILL BE) too." I will not call God a liar by insisting that He doesn't know what He said or that the writers of the NT had no concept of verb tenses. If He says it, that's good enough for my simple mind and faith. Thanks for the interaction. McGracer |
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26 | What is perfected for all time? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54106 | ||
Joe, You wrote: "The view you hold seems to be that everything that Christ's death has accomplished has already been given to us at the moment of salvation." Yes, Joe, that is the view I hold. 2 Pet 1:3 - Seeing that His divine power HAS GRANTED (past tense) to us EVERYTHING pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. But, could I make a stippulation here? This is how I would define it: In my spirit, where I am joined to God - 1 Cor 6:17 (yet distinct from Him i.e. I am NOT God, I am just in union with Him), these attributes (sanctification, holiness, righteousness, perfection, completeness) are ALREADY true. How could that Lord join Himself to me otherwise? Is is nothing that I have done, it is all HIS doing. It is by His doing that I am in His blessed Son. In my spirit, which is eternal, because I am joined to Him, I am as He is - 1 John 4:17 - "By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world." So ARE WE, Joe, HERE in THIS WORLD, not the next. Yet, at the same time, I realize that my soul is very much in the process of being sanctified, being made holy, being perfected, being cleansed, being made righteous. This is not an incongruity, it is a reality. I am becoming what I already am. I know, it sounds ludicrous, but it is not. It is called faith. The Israelites faced the same struggle and doubt when they first got to the promised land. It was already theirs. God had given it to Abraham and because they were his seed, his land was their land. All the needed to do was to put, in faith, put action to what was already true. But they didn't do it. Instead, they relied on their eye-sight and their experiences instead of God and His Word to them. God said, "It is already yours." They said, "Impossible. We are not there yet and we can't get there from here." As a result, that generation perished in the wilderness simply because of unbelief. Many Christians live the same way. All God's promises for abundant life, for holiness, for righteousness, for union with Jesus are all for "someday" - if not here, then when we get home. They come to Christ for the salvation He offers and then they spend the rest of their lives struggling to become what, in Him, they already are. In God's economy of faith, we become in action and attitude because we already are in constitution. You probably don't agree with this. That's okay. I can convince no one. That is His job. All I can do is to share. The New Testament says many things about us that our experience does not bear out. It says that we are citizens of heaven (Phil 3:20), that we have been washed, sanctified, justified (all past tense) (1 Cor 6:11). It says that we have already been made complete (Col 2:10). It says that we are already holy (Rom 11:6; Eph 4:24; Col 3:12; Heb 3:1; 1 Pet 2:9). It even says that we have been perfected for ALL time (Heb 10:14). It says that we are ALREADY seated with Him in the heavenlies (Eph 2:6). As long as we approach these truths from a fleshly view-point, we will remain, as the Israelites were, in unbelief and not enter His rest. We will be forever striving to become what He has already done in us in the spirit, eternal realm. I pray that you, brother, will enter the Sabbath-rest that remains for the people of God. The Sabbath-rest is not for "sinners". It is for saints who have grown tired of their own works and are fully trusting in His. Unless we learn to discern the difference between the spiritual realm that is not bound by time and the soul/body realm that is temporarily bound here, we will never "arrive." I become in experience what I already am. Experience said that the withered hand was permanent. God's realm proved that it was temporary. Experience said that Lazarus was permanently dead, resurrection was "someday". Jesus said, "Resurrection is today!" Experience said that Christ was permanently dead. The Spirit raised Him and said, "Not so." Don't be too quick to believe your eyes. We look not at the things that are seen, for the things that are seen are temporal (time-based). We look at the things that are NOT seen, for the things that are NOT seen (of God's spiritual realm) are ETERNAL (no beginning and no end). Spiritual things simply ARE because of the great I AM. May you grown in who you already are, brother Joe. McGracer |
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27 | What is perfected for all time? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54115 | ||
Joe, You wrote: "It does sound illogical. Doesn't it make more sense to say that we are in the process of becoming what God has declared us to be IN CHRIST?" Certainly it sounds illogical. It is illogical for me to be born dead in trespasses and sins. It is illogical that Christ would be punished for my sins. It is illogical that I, who deserve nothing but eternal separation from God get eternal life instead. Yet it is grace. This is not sarcasm, bro, but where do you see that we are DECLARED to be anything? Can you show me a verse in the NASB from the NT that says that God DECLARES us as anything? I understand the theological definition of justification to be "declared righteous in God's sight." The problem is that definition isn't found in the scripture is it, not as we interpret it anyway. What do I mean? When we say that God declares us as being righteous, we are saying that although we are truly righteous, God pretends to see us that way. This is a falsehood. Why? Because that would be like a judge having mercy on a criminal, saying to him, "I declare that you are righteous," and then releasing him. The criminal would not be righteous, he would simply be forgiven. Justice was not met in this case. The judge simply declared something that was not true. In our case, the judge (God) declares us righteous because we ARE righteous. Why? Because Christ was made sin on our behalf. When did this happen? At the cross. God does not DECLARE something that is not there. God first GIVES US the righteousness of Jesus Christ. There is an exchange. He took ALL of my sin. I get ALL of His righteousness. Now, at justification, when God declares me righteous, justice has been served. Christ took my death. I get His life. He took my sins. I have His righteousness. Therefore, God DECLARES me righteous because I am. For any just judge to declare a criminal righteous, that criminal must be either truly innocent or someone but bear the punishment. To insist that we are not the righteousness of Christ, insists that He did not take our sins. The problem with typical justification interpretation is that folks say, "God declared me righteous and now I am going to earn what I've been declared." This is backwards from the Christ-life. Grace living says, "God has made me righteous in spirit, I am going to live out what He has made me and let it become my experience. You wrote: "Did my comments on Paul saying you and I WERE justified in Romans 8 (written 1900 years ago) not make sense? I would like to hear your comments on why the Holy Spirit moved Paul to write that God justified us at a point when we hadn't been born yet." Because, as I have already said, in God's realm (not bound by time or space) things just ARE. Christ was slain from the foundation of the world. That's illogical, is it not? We are already seated with Christ in the heavenlies. That's quite illogical because I'm sitting here typing. So we have to decide whether we are going to believe in a God who may seem, from our viewpoint, illogical or whether we will just take Him at His Word. You may not agree with my viewpoint, but as long as you understand it, you can see why I say that many Christians are still wandering in the wilderness. The promised land is a place of rest. It is resting in Christ's finished work. God has already blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (where we are also seated) in Christ. There is nothing more that we need except to believe it and learn to grow into what we already are. An apple does not become more of an apple as it matures. It simply grows into what it already is. McGracer |
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28 | What is perfected for all time? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54209 | ||
Joe, I agree, the OT saints were credited righteousness because Christ's sacrifice had not yet been completed. But you didn't answer my question. Where does the NT say that the NT believer is DECLARED righteous? I agree that OT saints were CREDITED righteousness because the payment for sin had not yet been fully made. But it was at the cross, what it not? So the NT believer is MADE righteous - Rom 5:17,19; Rom 8;10; 2 Cor 5:21; Eph 4:24; Phil 3:9. None of these verses mention DECLARE, do they? Where does the NT say that we, who are indwelt by the living Jesus Christ are DECLARED anything? You wrote: "This is why classical Protestantism holds to a doctrine of "imputed" righteousness rather than the Roman Catholic doctrine of "infused" or "inherent" righteousness. While Protestants hold that we are regenerated (born again with a new nature), there is no passage in the New Testament that insists that we are already righteous in our own right, meaning that now apart from Christ we are able to stand before the infinitely holy God of the universe on our own." Joe, you misunderstand what I am saying. I have never said that we are righteous solely in our own right or apart from Christ. NEVER! Quite to the contrary, I am saying that we are righteous BECAUSE of our union with Him, not apart from Him. We are no longer apart from Him and, indeed, never can be. So I agree that I have NO righteousness of my own apart from His that has been given to me. But the fact remains that His righteousness is now mine, this is NT justification. God declares what is so. It is finished! You have stated that you believe that you have a new nature. Is that new nature righteous? 2 Pet 1:4 says that we are partakers of the divine nature. Again, is that nature righteous? If so, then isn't that part of you righteous? We need an intercessor because we still have an accusor, don't we? You wrote: "Not only are we credited with the perfect righteousness of Christ, but also Christ on the Cross was "credited" with every single last sin of His people." This is not what the Bible says, bro. 2 Cor 5:21 says "He MADE Him (not credited Him) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." MADE, Joe, not credited. I don't understand how it happened. But it is what God says and I believe it. I don't understand the Trinity but even though that particular word is NOT used in the Bible, I believe it. So if God says MADE, then, guess what? it is MADE. I believe that the apostle Peter gives us a clue to how God did this in 1 Peter 2:24: "and He Himself bore our sins in His BODY (not in His spirit or in his nature) on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." Have we died to sin? Most assuredly. Do we live to righteousness? Most assuredly. Romans 6:2,7,11,17,18,22. 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. You wrote: "If God already sees us as righteous on our own, such activities on Jesus' part become unnecessary." Again, Joe, you accuse me falsely. I never said that we are righteous on our own. We are righteous because we are joined to Him. Period. I cannot make it any clearer than that. We are righteous solely because of Christ and His finished work. Wouldn't you agree? Or are you seeking your righteousness apart from Him? McGracer |
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29 | What is perfected for all time? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54222 | ||
Joe, I guess the difference comes down to our views of justification and sanctification. You seem to believe that God has declared you righteous (though you, as a person - your identity - are not so) and that you are now becoming more so through the process of sanctification. So you seem to feel that justification opens the door for God to now sanctify you and gradually make you, as a person, more righteous. I believe that God has already made me, through my union with Him, a righteous person. My new nature is a righteous one. I don't view justification as simply God pretending that I as righteous so that He can make me more righteous. I view Him declaring me righteous because He has made me, as a person, already righteous. My sanctification is a process whereby God manifest through my thoughts and actions what is already true of me as a person. I am not changing my thoughts and actions to become something that I am not. My thoughts (renewing my mind to the true of His Word) and my actions (submitting myself as a living sacrifice and allowing God to live through me) are a RESULT of what He has ALREADY done at the deepest part of me. I am not being sanctified to attain that which I do not already have. I am being sanctified outwardly BECAUSE, at the core of who I am, Christ is there and has ALREADY sanctified me inwardly. Thanks for your interaction, Joe. It's obvious that we agree as to the end result, that Christ be glorified in us and that we be made righteous, sanctified, and holy. The difference is that you feel this will be gradually accomplished down here and consumated at the death of your body. I believe that it is already finished in God's realm (heaven), that I get to experience that down here, and that my righteousness, sanctification, and holiness were consumated at the cross and resurrection of His body, not my own. Grace and peace to you, bro. May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. McGracer |
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30 | Are the declared righteous righteous? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54226 | ||
If a judge declares you to be righteous, and gives you someone else's righteousness as your own, are you righteous from that point on? McGracer |
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31 | Are the declared righteous righteous? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54239 | ||
Joe, So then, although the judge has declared you not guilty, then you still are? And though the judge gave you someone else's righteousness, you are still unrighteous before the judge? ---------- Rom 4:5, let's talk about credited first. What does credited mean? In other words, if I credit your bank account with 1000 dollars, is that now your 1000 dollars to spend or is it still my 1000 dollars? McGracer |
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32 | Are the declared righteous righteous? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54245 | ||
Please see my primary question concerning "declared" righteousness. The Holman Christian Standard Bible takes the liberty of defining the term for itself, much like the NIV defines "sarx" as sinful nature (although "sinful" nor "nature" is not in the greek whatsoever). Non-literal translations do this so that they can put forth there own "theology". For instance, if I decide that justification means "to pretend that someone is righteous", I can then translate like so: Ro 3:26 He presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and pretend that the one who has faith in Jesus is righteous also. Ro 5:1 Therefore, since God is pretending that we are righteous, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Ro 5:9 Much more then, since we are pretending to be righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath. And this is exactly what theologians mean when they say that we are declared righteous. They say that God says it is so, but it isn't so. Isn't His Word truth? McGracer |
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33 | Are the declared righteous righteous? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54248 | ||
Joe, You wrote: "All other things being equal, I walk out of the courtroom identical in nature to the way I was when I went in." You entered the courtroom guilty of offense. You have stated the you leave the courtroom not changed. But then you state that you are no longer guilty. Do you see the contradiction here? Are you, in nature, guilty or not if the judge declares you not guilty and gives you the righteousness of another? You wrote: "As far as the judge is concerned, looking at the whole situation, I am not considered unrighteous." Does this mean then, that as far as the judge is concerned, you are righteous? McGracer |
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34 | Are the declared righteous righteous? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54257 | ||
Joe, I agree with you, declaring us righteous IS NOT pretending. That is exactly my point, bro. My record (and yours) says, because of what Christ has done, RIGHTEOUS. My record used to say SINFUL - GUILTY. That was given to Christ and His righteous was given to me. So my record now has big, bold, letters that say RIGHTEOUS. I am forever thankful for that. You wrote: "I have demonstrated the biblical support of my position, and responded to every verse you have brought up." You did not address 2 Pet 1:4 that I recall. It says that we are partakers of the divine nature. You have admitted that you have a new nature in Christ (which, in all reality, is not part of justification). Is this new nature righteous in constitution? If it is divine (coming from God), then wouldn't it be so? You wrote: "Why is it so important that you see yourself as already arrived at righteousness, no matter how much real-life and biblical evidence is presented to the contrary?" I am not 100 percent righteous, Joe. I still have flesh with indwelling sin, just like you. But, as being born in Adam imparts a sinful nature to us, being born in Christ imparts a righteous nature to us. Lastly, "real-life" is not the standard of truth. God's Word is. And they is certainly biblical evidence to support that we are partakers of a new divine and righteous nature. My spirit is alive because of righteousness - Rom 8:10. In fact, according to Eph 4:24, my new self, which I obtained at new birth, was created (past tense) in righteousness and holiness. This does not come from me or my efforts, it comes from God on the basis of faith - Phil 3:9. So why is it so important that I see myself as having a righteousness (that did not come from me but is now attributed to me in Christ) that I can count on? Simply, because it is true. My new nature is righteous. My actions and thoughts are not always so. We live what we truly believe. As long as we believe that we are just sinners and unrighteous, that is how we will live. When we come to see yourself as God does - righteous, holy, joined to Christ, saints - then we will start living up to what we really are. It's that simple. Unfortunately, it's not "acceptable" by much of the Christian community that believes that the only difference between the Christian and the sinner is that the Christian is forgiven. Christ came that He might be our life - Col 3:4. He is not going to indwell an unrighteous person. So He much make that person righteous in order to live there. It is interesting that the average Christian believes that Christ comes to live in them, but they think that He joins Himself to an unrighteous creature. God never dwells where there is sin - Psalm 5:4. You have stated that you are not yet righteous. Yet you believe that Christ is in you. How can this be? McGracer |
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35 | Are the declared righteous righteous? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54260 | ||
I sensed this was coming. So typical. | ||||||
36 | Are the declared righteous righteous? | Matt 7:24 | McGracer | 54264 | ||
Joe, I agree that "all these things come from God." I hope that I have never insinuated anything less. I am what I am solely by God's grace alone. Nevertheless, there is a sense in which we partake and share, as you have said here, in Christ's Spirit. If all these wonderful blessings remain in the person of Christ alone, they will not benefit us one iota. This is one of the primary reasons He comes to indwell us - He wants union with His new creations. Well, I have shared on this subject enough, bro. Kalos is accusing me of arguing and wrangling over words so I'll drop it. :) Thanks for your challenging (and kind) interaction, bro. Talk to you later. McGracer |
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37 | Once saved, aways saved doctrine refuted | Matt 10:1 | McGracer | 53924 | ||
Grace and Truth, I'm not even sure I want to get into this one but I'll share what I believe about these two subjects. 1. Yes, Jesus at one pointed breathed on the disciples and said "Receive the Holy Spirit." I have heard this interpreted two different ways: A. He was only sighing and then telling them to receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and B. They did receive the Holy Spirit at this time. If A. is true, then none of the disciples had the indwelling Holy Spirit until Pentecost. If B. is true, then still the Holy Spirit only came UPON them, not IN them. It is well known that under the Old Testament economy, the Holy Spirit came UPON people to enable them to minister or complete a God-given task. And He would often leave them if they sinned. Under the New Covenant, because ALL sins have been paid for on the cross, the Holy Spirit comes to indwell us FOREVER - 1 Cor 6:17; 2 John 1:2. He will never leave us or forsake us. 2. As for Ananias and Sapphira, the scripture does not tell us FOR SURE that they were believers. Acts 5:1 just calls him "a man." Acts 4:32 mentions a "congregation of those who believed" but I think that it is quite a stretch to presuppose that everyone in the early "local" church was a believer (any more than the average church-goer is nowadays). Not every wealth person who contributes to the church nowadays is saved either. Peter said that satan filled Ananias' heart. How could satan do this if Ananias was, as 1 Cor 6:17 says, joined in his heart to the Lord? Lastly (I'm gonna take heat for this also) where does scripture say that God killed them? It simply says that they breathed their last and fell dead. It is interesting that Christians who claim to believe that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ - Romans 8:1,2 - are so quick to believe that God would physically kill someone who is indwelt by Him. We see the same mentality in our communion services. I have been participating in communion for over 30 years now and I have NEVER seen someone break out in leprosy, cancer, or fall over dead during the observation of the Lord's Supper because they forgot to confess a sin or two or because they weren't worthy. Worthy is the Lamb, not the sheep. While God alone sees the heart, I find it highly unlikely that every person drinking the cup and eating the cracker has confessed EVERY sin that have committed or omitted. Either Hebrews 10:17,18 is true or it is not. There is no middle ground. These are just my opinions. I cannot "prove" them but I think they are worthy of consideration. Baaaaaa, just a sheep, McGracer |
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38 | Are you refering to the thief ? | Matt 10:1 | McGracer | 54010 | ||
Hi Tim, Here's my two cents for what it's worth (probably two cents). BTW, this is not a correction to your post, just an expansion of it. The thief on the cross WAS under the Old Covenant for Hebrews makes it clear that the New Covenant did not go into effect UNTIL Christ shed His blood - Heb 9:17. HOWEVER, this is not a desparity because Heb 9:15 makes it clear that ALL the sins that were committed under the first covenant (Mosaic from Hebrews perspective) were paid for at Calvary. Heb 10:4 states that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, all of the sins committed under the Law were "atoned for", covered, by animal blood, but it is God Himself who did the forgiving because He knew that Christ's sacrifice was already a done deal (slain from the foundations of the earth). Animal blood NEVER forgave anyone - it is God alone who forgives man and in OT times He forgave according to the faith that men had in Him. Animal blood merely pointed to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. In conclusion, Heb 10:12 demonstrates that Christ's sacrifice took away ALL sins for ALL men for ALL time (even OT sins and even sins that we here in time have not committed yet). It is truly finished. There is no more sacrifice. "And their sins and there lawless deeds I will remember no more" - Heb 10:17 - not because we don't sin but because Christ's work is done! McGracer |
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39 | Are you refering to the thief ? | Matt 10:1 | McGracer | 54014 | ||
Hi Steve, You are CORRECT, sir! :) I was wrong! Good thing my post was only worth two cents. :) So the thief on the cross did die under the New Covenant! For the New Covenant is in Christ's precious blood. Thank you for gently correcting me! I really appreciate it! Tim has made the excellent point that ALL believers are saved by faith in God, OT or NT. This is the crux of Christianity. It is faith in what God has done. Praise Him for the precious blood of the Lamb which took away our sins and His wonderful life that now indwells these fragile temples of clay - Col 3:4. McGracer |
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40 | Are you refering to the thief ? | Matt 10:1 | McGracer | 54015 | ||
Hi Tim, Yes, according to the flesh I am Irish (mostly). But according to the Spirit, I am a new creation in Christ - 2 Cor 5:17. But I still have a wee bit of the blar'ney in me, doncha know? McGracer |
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