Results 981 - 1000 of 1239
|
||||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: jlhetrick Ordered by Verse |
||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
981 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211068 | ||
Will you elaborate please? | ||||||
982 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211069 | ||
Again, sorry for responding so late. Doc- regarding the cessation of particular spiritual gifrts I'm afraid on this issue I have been mostly guilty of believing what I've been told/taught over the years from within a particular denomination. I have spent time on my own searching the Scriptures in an attempt to justify this but have been unconvinced by Scripture that this position is true. I'm not at all saying that it's not; I've simply believed it this way to this point because those with more time in the church and, apparently, in the Scriptures have said it is so. Will you please point to the Scriptures alone to assist me in understanding where they affirm that even a single gift of the Spirit has ceased or will cease prior to His coming again? Thanks and God bless, Jeff |
||||||
983 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211071 | ||
Thanks Doc, and forgive my apparent forgetfullness (I didn't forget about the stones) I really didn't expect you would get to this for a day or so. Thanks for the references; I will follow up with them. Jeff |
||||||
984 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211073 | ||
Brother Tim- After having read, carefully, the entire thread here I have the following observation. At this point, I can only view your position as being better supported by Scripture than those who believe any of the gifts of the Spirit have ceased. The absence of Scriptural support to prove, or really even suggest, that any gift HAS ceased is either not there or no one has pointed to it. I'm reminded of the very prudent warning to NEVER establish one's doctrine from a single verse or passage, yet, I'm not finding or being pointed to a SINGLE verse that confirms (or again even suggests) that any of the gifts have been ceased as of yet. Still, some, many do believe of the cessation of some gifts though I am not sure why only some (including tongues and healing) have been singled out to have ceased. I'm left with the questionS I had abandoned some time ago. Are the gifts of the Spirit still available to the Chruch today or have they ceased? If they have ceased, where does it say so in Scripture? If Scripture doesn't say so then why would we believe it. If they have not ceased what has caused so many to believe they have? Fortunately for me, I have learned not to allow these things to cause great distress. Like you, I will simply stick with what Scripture says. I'm always willing (even eager) to have Scripture change my position on anything when I'm wrong. On this issue I'm afraid I have to start, literally, from scratch. I've believed one way based on rational arguments for years without having done the work of fully investigating the Scriptures for myself. In this early stage of doing so, I'm not yet finding Scripture to support that any of the gifts have ceased. We should all fear to believe it either way unless we are sure of the truth. If they have in fact ceased, to believe and practice otherwise would be counterfeit. If they have not ceased, to deny them would be to deny Scripture as well as the true work of the Spirit in the Church. God bless, Jeff |
||||||
985 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211075 | ||
John- I believe my argument at this point is that it does not appear to be a use of common sense at all, to have impressed upon our noodles something that isn't supported by Scripture (either side) simply because the argument seems rational. If you mean to suggest that common sense in absence of Scriptural truth is somehow a trumping card I fear you're not only not using your noodle, but maybe drifting even further into error. To make the argument that Scripture says an untruth (as in your referencing the rising and setting of the sun) is as far from attention to context as we might arrive at my friend. There is a rather big word that I can't bring to recall at this moment that deals with this... it involves the use of language, sometimes figuratively, to explain something in a way that makes sense to the hearer. Some writers of Scripture choosing to do this in referring to thte rising and setting of the sun just doesn't fit into this debate. So when I speak of rational arguments, I'm not at all intending to suggest that having something impressed upon our noodle through good sounding arguments should cause us to arrive at a conclusion. I do mean, as I have always held, that we arrive at no final conclusion that Scripture does not. That, my friend, is what we should both be holding on to. God bless, Jeff |
||||||
986 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211090 | ||
Brother John- thanks for sharing that. Yes, I'm very familiar with your reliance on Scripture as the only sure foundation for truth; hope I didn't come across as questioning that in principal. That was, in part, why I commented on your reference to the rising and setting of the sun. I believe that reference was out of context of the thread. The continuation or cessation of any of the gifts is not an essential issue that should be allowed to devide us. The point of my involvement with the thread is, if nothing else, to point toward the falty approach to doctrine that some have in believing something they can not justify by the Scriptures. Truth is, I have believed in the cessation of the so-called miracle gifts for as long as I can remember knowing of them. I'm a bit embarrassed to say, but it's the truth nonetheless, that I hadn't done the work myself. I'm sure that's true of much of what I believe since I have on more than one occassion had my doctrine adjusted by Scripture, some times very much changed. Once we get into it for ourselves, doing the actual work I mean, it may involve some unlearning. I have people very close to me on both sides of the issue. I have had, in addition to yourself, people proclaim the Spirit having revealed the truth to them while at the same time saying they can't point specifically to Scripture in support. I can't help but be wary of that. So when I see any declare so definately something they either can not or will not support Scripturally, I believe it a fair position to take to request they attempt to. You will agree that some are well equipped to quote others to justify their position while not always so prepaired to quote Scripture to do so. If nothing else, perhaps we are all encouraged to more rightly devide the Word of Truth. God bless and thanks for working with me. Jeff |
||||||
987 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211132 | ||
Brother Tim, thank you for your thoughts. In the past, I spent several years in a charismatic church (actually 2 different ones). The thing that always bothered both me and my wife was the “speaking in tongues” business. First of all, it didn’t seem real to me (the lady to my left would be nearly perfectly imitating the guy in front of her, for example) and even if it was, it was not practiced biblically. Very often no interpretation and every service involved multiple people doing it at the same time. I have never spoken in tongues and neither has my wife (though I did pray for it sincerely for more than a couple of years because I was wrongly told that it was intended for every believer). We eventually left the first church after the pastor refused to correct publicly, to the congregation, some nonsense that a guest speaker had brought to the pulpit. Briefly, it had to do with a clearly unbiblical practice and although the pastor agreed, he would not address the church regarding it. Turns out that the speaker was on the staff of Kenneth Copeland’s “ministry” and through it all I found Kenneth Copeland was on our church board and an advisor so the pastor. Of course it was time to go. I agree that it does seem that the Church, in large part, has forgotten about the Holy Spirit. I also agree that it is the wrong approach to adopt and hold so tightly to any doctrine that is not biblically supported. I will revisit the biblical references you have pointed to; thanks for your feedback. I think of the patient who never misses a single appointment with me, always showing up on time but always with the same complaints. The one that doesn't take the medication as prescribed and doesn't apply the treatment plan. Jeff |
||||||
988 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211134 | ||
Tim and all - So far I have only read the article at http://www.mountainretreatorg.net/articles/cessgifts.html and have to agree with you Tim. I stopped taking notes at three pages (but read the entire article) and easily discerned that the article is of no value regarding my search for the truth. I believe by “hilarious” you were referring to the hostile tone, the obviously biased view point and the total lack of academic discipline. A 101 course in philosophical argument would do Mr. Edgar some good. The article just doesn’t hold up to scrutiny so offers no assistance in my search to better understand this topic. I believe part of Mr. Edgar’s inability to present a well considered argument is that he seems to have focused on the Word of Faith teachers as the opposition. We know they are wrong; they add to, take from, misrepresent and otherwise mistreat the Scriptures. I’m in need of insight regarding the biblical truth of Spiritual gifts as they applied then and now (if there is a difference or not and if so, to what degree). I will read the others offered and give honest feedback as well. We should all remember that when we read the writings of uninspired men we should try to do so with an open mind, I think we would all agree with that. We should remember that an open mind includes an understanding of our own biases. Otherwise, if we're reading what goes along with what we already think to be true we may miss something. |
||||||
989 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211143 | ||
Brother John- Actually YES... there is a significant amount of Scripture that says that God is a triune God. A huge amount actually, but, so as not to take this already long thread off topic I'll simply point you to the Search box of which you are aware. I don't believe brother Tim is pushing doctrine any more than you are so we do better not to start to sling that type of language at each other, especially long-time respected members. This isn't, or shouldn't be, about convincing one to change his/her belief.... it is actually real bible study. I, for one, have a true struggle with understanding the issue and am benefiting from the dialogue. Until now, I have believed on the word of men and never knew that Scripture does not declare the cessation of the gifts with the end of the apostolic age. I am both shocked and humbled by that fact and very interested in exploring the points with people from both views. I greatly fear false doctrine, but I also fear leaving out what God has intended not to be left out. As believers and brothers in Christ we should do this respectfully, to include opting out individually if we're not benefiting. God bless, Jeff |
||||||
990 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211148 | ||
Cheri- thanks for the input. I'm not disagreeing with you in principle, but I'm not sure that faith is necessarily the catlyst for the gifts. That is to say that while I believe any gift should be worked IN faith, faith is not the producer of it. One of the articles Doc pointed to pointted this out. At pentacost those who spoke in tongues were certainly believing God in faith, however, they were not aware of the gift of tongues and/or expecting to be speaking in unknown languages until such time as God caused them to do so. So again, I'm not disagreeing, just pointing that out. I believe there are many Christian's(including participants here) that have as much, and possibly even more, faith as some of those may have had when practicing such gifts. I say possibly more because we are fortunate to have the end result of what many of the early believers were struggling through as a witness to further our faith. I also believe that since it is God who gives the measure of faith in the first place, He is able to produce that in us to the degree necessary to carry out His will, including the working of the gifts in the Church. Thanks for your insight as always sister. Jeff |
||||||
991 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211149 | ||
Thanks John- My position was that the "comparison" wasn't a good one since we can see from Scripture that it clearly and unquestionably defines the Trinity; while it doesn't clearly (as far as anyone has pointed to) establish either side of the topic at hand. I wasn't trying to be argumentative nor was I trying to discredit you. I was attempting to explore the thought ligically and arrive at a logical conclusion. Remember, God does not settle anything through prayer regarding doctrine that He doesn't settle in His word. This is a very important foundation that we must stand firmly on. God bless, Jeff |
||||||
992 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211150 | ||
Brother Mark- I apologize that I did not get your point as to exactly what in my post you were responding to. I do get the overall point of the Scripture you referenced. God bless, Jeff |
||||||
993 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211152 | ||
Thanks! | ||||||
994 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211154 | ||
Steve- thanks for doing the work of researching for some resources (as Doc did also). I have read through Wayne Grudem's "Systematic Theology" but haven't studied it deeply. I was actually surprised by the interview and didn't realize where he stood on the subject. Much of what he said about the charasmatics reminded me of the late Vernon Mcgee. He really shed some light on the modern day thinking of the living Church. Has there been a quenching of the Spirit? |
||||||
995 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211156 | ||
Newwine- You wrote: "Which would have multiplied the amount people that were able to avail themselves of these gifts, and in many cases much younger than the Apostles. Thereby putting the possible end of said gifts into the 2nd. century, and so on with the same teaching from Cor...." Not necessarily. I believe the Scriptural teaching of the gifts of the Spirit are clearly shown to be the work of God through the believer. They would no more be dependent on the life-span of the individual (or the teaching for that matter) than they are on the individual's faith. In other words, I don't find that God would give a gift to an individual and then he/she be in permanent possession and practice of that gift until his/her death. I also have not yet found where He gives and then takes away gifts; it's just that I do see where particular gifts were used in particular events by individuals and then not mentioned again. If I have misunderstood you please redirect me. God bless, Jeff |
||||||
996 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 211160 | ||
John- I am truly sorry to have offended you and assure you that it was not my intention. It was not my intention to criticize your comparison, simply to honestly disagree with it's relevance. I believe I presented my thoughts as fairly and honestly as I was capable of. I don't see the need to become verbally combative in response. We can disagree with respect for one anothers dignity. I'm not sure what you mean by my seeming not to like quite a few of your comparisons but I will apologize in advance for that as well and offer a private email dialogue to explain where I may have disagreed with you in the past. I believe the way you have handled both myself and brother Tim in this thread has been, at times, a bit over the edge and uncalled for, all things considered. Might I suggest a careful reading and consideration for editing before posting responses? In turn I will commit to the same rule. Sincerely, Jeff |
||||||
997 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 212078 | ||
Yes Val, you are correct. The tongues given on the day of Pentecost spoken of in Acts were the different languages spoken by the different folks visiting there. It says so clearly there in the text. Regarding your comments on healing I see, once again, the dangerous practice of allowing opinions to cloud the truth. Or, it’s a case of my misunderstanding you. The “respected bible teacher” may “believe that the person who is sick is given an impression from God that they will be healed”. Is that teaching found/supported in Scripture? Jeff |
||||||
998 | Am I ignorant | 1 Cor 12:1 | jlhetrick | 212087 | ||
Thanks for further insight Val regarding your position. The clarification did help since your prior post qualified the person as a "bible teacher" and that he/she "believes" what he/she was saying about God giving "impressions that they would be healed". These things taken together, for many of our readers, might easily be viewed as a teaching and not simply an opinion. It's why I peraonally have a hard time with these type of things being mentioned on the forum unless they are better qualified. For the respected bible teacher I would ask... What makes you believe such a thing? If there is nothing in Scripture to support it why even hold it as an opinion? I'm not splitting hairs here; there are significant implications. To begin with, Scripture tells us that God can and does heal physical health problems. It also tells us that He doesn't always do so, even when we pray faithfully. When we add to it that there is an impression given by God what does that even mean? Do the sick stay sick and wait for an impression? What is the impression and how do we know we're getting it? If we believe we got it and faithfully follow through wtih the passage in James and then are not healed what does that mean? Some might believe God played a cruel joke on them by giving them an impression and then not follow through with a healing. Anyway, I believe you get the point now. I know it's difficult to present things as properly as we might hope in this format. So we're required to be even more guarded that we don't misrepresent the truth of Scripture. God bless, Jeff |
||||||
999 | Why choose Heaven | 1 Cor 12:3 | jlhetrick | 153269 | ||
Hi askgod, With love and respect say Something like: There is only one God. Without Him you have no hope. He loves you and has given you the means by which to know Him, through accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (becoming a Christian). Becoming a Christian is the only way to know Him. When you die, if you do not know Him, all hope is lost of ever knowing Him and you will spend eternity separated from Him. You will be cast into a lake of fire. Some might say that this approach is “trying to scare people into becoming Christians.” Well I can’t speak to why God chose to put it so plainly, but I can say, it sure scares me and makes me that much more thankful that he offered an alternative. If it’s good enough for Him it’s good enough for me. How greatly the church might benefit from hearing the truth again. How many of us have heard the simple truth regarding this issue from the pulpit lately? It’s no longer politically correct for a pastor to look his congregation in the face and say, “if you haven’t trusted Jesus for your salvation you will DIE AND GO TO HELL. Don’t look for a politically correct answer to this question. Tell him/her the truth and show them in God’s word. Show them God’s mercy and grace and how much he loves them personally and show them His perfect plan for salvation completed at the cross. Show them through scripture that the consequences of rejecting Him are tragic, and then show them that His love for them is so much greater and available for them to receive. You’ve done your part. Be patient and let the Holy Spirit do His part. Continue to be available to answer questions, teach, and most of all pray for them. P.S. If your specifically asking for bible verses I’m going to encourage you to continue in your study until you come up with them. We must prepare ourselves as witnesses 1Pe 3:15 (KJV) But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 2Ti 2:15 (NASB) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. Hope this helps Jeff |
||||||
1000 | what is wisdom- what is knowledge | 1 Cor 12:8 | jlhetrick | 155077 | ||
Hello Annet, Knowlege is information; wisdom is knowing what to do with the information. |
||||||
Result pages: << First < Prev [ 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 ] Next > Last [62] >> |