Results 461 - 480 of 657
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: stjones Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
461 | God's plan | Rom 1:18 | stjones | 20662 | ||
Hi, Joe; I think there's a difference between what God allows and what he decrees. God didn't decree Satan's assaults on Job, though he did allow them. He didn't order Satan to destroy Job's family and wealth, in fact, he twice placed limits on what Satan could do to Job. It's true that God dangled Job in front of Satan like a fat worm in front of a largemouth bass, but it was still Satan's choice to strike. God knew Job's heart (and Satan's) and knew what the outcome would be - a public defeat for Satan, a restoration for Job, and some valuable lessons for us. Likewise, I don't think God decreed that Joseph's brothers would toss him into a well and sell him into slavery. He knew what was in their hearts and allowed it to happen. Again, he knew the outcome - the preservation of his chosen people, the advance of his plan for redemption, and more valuable lessons for us. I think the same can be said for 9/11. Already we have seen some blessings arise out of that crime: renewed respect and love for those who protect and serve us, the return (at least for a while) of God to public life, even the singing of "God Bless America" instead of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Admittedly, these things may not seem to be worth 6,000 lives, but God is still at work and we don't know what may yet grow out of it. But God surely decreed the death of his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. I don't think he caused Judas or Pilate to act as they did. He knew their hearts and allowed them to act from their own evil natures, unwittingly advancing God's plan. I don't claim to have God all figured out - although it may sometimes seem like I think have. ;-) But I think the difference is that in all these cases, other people or other circumstances could have brought about God's ends. But only Jesus could die on a cross to save us. Peace and grace, Steve |
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462 | God's plan | Rom 1:18 | stjones | 20679 | ||
Hi, Joe; Well, once again, God has decreed that we disagree. ;-) Peace and grace, Steve |
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463 | God's plan | Rom 1:18 | stjones | 20872 | ||
Hi, Johnny; Yes, I understand and agree. Among the many things we can learn from the book of Job (one of my favorites) is this very lesson. The Bible does not give any suggestion that God told Satan what to do. In both of their dialogs, God gave Satan permission to do what he (Satan) pleased within certain specific limits. In this way God, maintained his sovereign control of the situation while allowing both Satan and Job to exercise their free will. Did God know the outcome? Sure he did, but neither Satan nor Job did. BTW - completely unrelated to this thread, Job 28 contains the most lyrical depiction of the rarity and value of wisdom to be found anywhere in the Bible. The contrast between the search for riches and the search for wisdom is just beautiful. When you have time, sit back and read it and let it soak in. Peace and grace, Steve |
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464 | v18-20 refers to church leaders? | Rom 1:18 | stjones | 108879 | ||
Hi, Wanda; Paul doesn't leave much doubt who he is writing about - "men who suppress the truth by their wickedness". This could be anybody but he is mostly writing about the gentile Romans. He probably did not expect any of these folks to read his letter! Later on in the chapter, Paul provides two examples of the kind of willful stupidity he is talking about - "they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile" (v. 21). The first example is in v. 23, where he writes about people who "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles". Paul is asking, in effect, how could people be so stupid as to believe that an object of their own creation could have god-like powers? The answer is, they can't really be that stupid, they are that wicked. The second example of this willful stupidity is found in the famous diatribe against homosexuality in v. 26-28. It is obvious just by looking at men and women what God's intent was. To engage in homosexual behavior is to ignore God's clear and unmistakable will. This is a further example of "men who suppress the truth by their wickedness". And although I have used the words "stupid" and "stupidity" to describe these folks' behavior, Paul makes it clear that ignorance is no defense - "men are without excuse". They became stupid on purpose, urged on by their own wickedness. Hope this is helpful. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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465 | Is Practicing homosexual Behavior a Sin? | Rom 1:24 | stjones | 75285 | ||
Greetings, footprints; My denomination has the same problem - clergy teaching that homosexual behavior is not a sin. Their argument hangs on three hooks: 1) Sexual preference was unknown to the writers of Scripture, so none of the Bible's prohibitions against homosexual behavior take this into account. Answer: The writers didn't have to know; God knew. Paul knew (and wrote) that we are subject to all kinds of sinful urges; the Bible need not (and does not) spell out every one of them. 2) We are no longer subject to the Old Testament prohibtions of homosexuality. The language of the New Testament wasn't properly translated, so we didn't really know what it meant. It really just means that heterosexuals should not engage in homosexual behavior. Answer: The Bible says what it says; it has been well understood for 2000 years. New and novel interpretations and translations must rely on something other than popular culture for their validation. 3) God made homosexuals to be homosexual and he loves them the way they are. Answer: Man is fallen; God no more made homosexuals than he made pyromaniacs or pedophiles. He does indeed love them, just as he loves all sinners. But he doesn't excuse anybody's sin. Look at Romans 1:18-32. Paul describes God's wrath and says that men are without excuse because God's nature and will can be seen in what he created. Paul goes on to give the most blatant and disobedient example he can - same-gender sex. When it comes to sex, God's intent is obvious just by looking at the way that men and women are constructed. And it is willful defiance of the designer's intent to engage in behavior contrary to that obvious intent. I don't know what the ELCA will do. The Presbyterian Church (USA) has prohibited the ordination of practicing, unrepentant homosexuals and also prohibits same-sex "marriages". But the liberals keep trying. Hope this helps. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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466 | Is Practicing homosexual Behavior a Sin? | Rom 1:24 | stjones | 75803 | ||
Greetings, footprints; Glad to help. If you have time, find a copy of "Scripture and Homosexuality: Biblical Authority and the Church Today" by Marion Soards. It's only 108 pages but it's a very good treatment. I stole the Romans 1 argument directly from him. ;-) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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467 | is homosexuality a sin? | Rom 1:27 | stjones | 49312 | ||
I think there's an even more telling passage: "... since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.... Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie.... Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." (Romans 1:20-27) Homosexual behavior is presented by Paul as the most grevious example of turning away from God and his will. One of God's "invisible qualities" is his wholeness - the blending of what we see in humans as male and female qualities. This is illustrated in Genesis 1:27: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Later we see God's intent that "... a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24, quoted by Jesus in Matthew 1:19). Without going into detail, I think it is safe to say that human anatomy makes God's plan for human sexuality completely obvious. Further, I think the becoming "one flesh" that occurs between a (married) man and a woman reflects the image in which God made us. Two people of the same gender becoming "one flesh" present a distorted image - it is a lie. Paul isn't saying that homosexuality is the worst sin. He's saying that God's design is obvious. To turn away from what God clearly designed our bodies to do can't be blamed on ignorance. It requires willful and intentional rebellion. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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468 | Knowing God's Secret | Rom 3:4 | stjones | 81768 | ||
Greetings, tjkathiresan; You said "God reveals his secrets only to his servants who are prophets.prophets only can explain or reveal all the secrets." Are you suggesting that the Bible cannot be understood without the assistance of a prophet? Surely not - the Bible says otherwise: "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 'For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:12-16) If you're talking about a secret that is not revealed in the Bible, how would anyone know that the "prophet" was telling the truth? This is a question that Mormons and Muslims should ask themselves. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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469 | Prophet For This Age | Rom 3:4 | stjones | 81803 | ||
Hello, tjkathiresan; You said "Can u show me one prophecy that is failed that was spoken by William Branham." Well, he "predicted" that America would be destroyed in 1977. I guess he said that without the approval of his personal angel, so he couldn't claim to "prophesy" it. But it doesn't really matter. You said "Bible cannot be understand spiritually and the secrets of the bible cannot be understand by all the people." That contradicts what the Bible itself says. The Bible is given to all God's people, not just to a few who claim to know its "secrets". If that came from Mr. Branham then he is a false prophet - in other words, a liar. You claim that "u have to accept him as a prophet and his message". No, I'm sorry; I am under no obligation to believe anything he said. You may be correct that is very good at predicting the future. Paul encountered a slave girl in Phillipi who was good at predicting the future too, but she was no prophet. See Acts 16:16-18. Indeed, the Bible is full of diviners, sorcerers, magicians, and charlatans who serve Satan, not God. I will tell you frankly that if Mr. Branham's "prophecies" contradict the Bible, he is one of them. He seems not have paid much attention to the Bible, relying instead on the voices of "spirits"; it's not hard to guess who sent them. I pray that you will put your faith in Jesus alone, revealed in Scripture, and not in any earthly "prophet". Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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470 | William Marrion Branham | Rom 3:4 | stjones | 82526 | ||
Hello again, tjkathiresan; You're asking me take Branham as authoritative when to do so contradicts the Bible. The Bible IS the word of God; Branham simply CLAIMS to speak for God - no proof from the word of God is given. If you could provide any Biblical support for your claims that all good fortune-tellers are prophets, or that the Bible can't actually be understood by ordinary people, I might be more receptive. Of course I believe the words of Peter and Paul; the Bible tells me who they were and where their authority comes from. The Bible tells me nothing about Branham (although does tell me a great deal about people who claim to be prophets or who preach a new gospel). Just out of curiosity, have ever read the Bible? or just the New Testament? Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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471 | William Marrion Branham | Rom 3:4 | stjones | 82534 | ||
Hi, CDBJ; I'm confident the Pope is a Christian who has read the Bible. Branham is suspect on both counts. Indy |
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472 | please explain | Rom 5:4 | stjones | 114418 | ||
Hi, leonore; Welcome to the Forum. When you visit here, keep a Bible next to your computer, or keep another browser window on www.biblegateway.com. Test what you read here against what you read in the Bible. You can find much wisdom here, but a fair amount of plausible-sounding nonsense gets posted here too. Be a good Berean: "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11) No one here speaks with the authority of Paul, so our words should be tested all the more. And, if I may be permitted one more bit of unsolicited advice, read the passages suggested to you. Then read the surrounding verses, maybe the whole chapter. You can "prove" almost anything by ripping a verse out of its context and applying the appopropriate spin. Many Christians (new and otherwise) substitute commentaries, sermons, movies, and Internet discussions for the Bible. All of those things can be valuable - if measured against the standard of God's word. But don't be discouraged by what I've said. And don't let your feelings get hurt. Some of us get a little cranky sometimes; for most of us, it results from too many years of seeing God's word mishandled and abused to suit personal beliefs or desires. I have a mental list of folks whose posts I pay particular attention to because they exhibit uncommon knowledge and wisdom - and some of them even disagree with me! Over time, you'll develop your own list. So, again, welcome to the forum. And welcome to God's family as well. We didn't know it, but we were waiting for you. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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473 | Is God's will prosperity/healing always? | Rom 8:28 | stjones | 67715 | ||
Greetings, Graceful; WRT to healing, it's also worthwhile to ask why Jesus healed the people he did. Was it to relieve their discomfort? Or was it to establish his identity and set an example of compassion and service? This is not the same as asking for "signs and wonders". In John 9, for example, when Jesus healed the man blind since birth. The man didn't even ask for healing; Jesus healed him anyway. Jesus' explanation - '"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."' - says very clearly that his being born blind was God's will. Subsequent events make it even clearer that the purpose of the healing was to teach, not to make the man feel better (though I'm sure he did). The end result was a teaching about spiritual blindness that got the man thrown out of the temple! And was God's "failure" to relieve Paul of his thorn a cold refusal to heal him? Or was it, as Paul said, the means to show that God's grace is sufficient - not necessarily to heal, but to overcome? And why are there no examples of people coming to Jesus and asking for worldly wealth? Surely there was no shortage of greedy people; surely somebody would have taken a chance. Instead, Jesus preached freedom from the bondage of desiring worldly things. The problem with "name it and claim it" is that it is we who do the naming. It is we who decide what we want and what's best for us. This is not submitting our will to God's, it is turning God into a cosmic vending machine - one that doesn't even require a coin! It's not sufficient to claim that our will aligns with God's. To do so is to assert a perfection that humans cannot attain in this life. God's thoughts are not our thoughts; how shall we claim to think his thoughts after him? Job is great example. He was "blameless" in God's eyes, yet he suffered terribly. Yes, he was restored to health and wealth, but his first ten children remained dead. In fact, one of the clear messages of Job is that prosperity theology is wrong. Job's friends preached it to him and God was angry with them for doing so. We live in fallen bodies in a fallen world. Christians should understand that better than anybody. Acquiring health and wealth are cheap victories. Overcoming sickness and poverty and living a life pleasing to God in spite of them - this is the victory for which Jesus equips us. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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474 | Is God's will prosperity/healing always? | Rom 8:28 | stjones | 67768 | ||
Greetings EdB; Thanks for your kind words. The older I get, the simpler the Gospel becomes. And yet the subtleties of these riches continue to grow. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones P.S. I hope there's a coffee shop in Heaven where denizens of this forum can get together and get acquainted. |
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475 | Is God's will prosperity/healing always? | Rom 8:28 | stjones | 67814 | ||
Hi, Hank; Thanks for the encouragement. It's such a simple thing - God owes me nothing; I owe him everything. God is indeed sovereign, so the word "claim" is especially troubling in this context. I can only claim something that I am entitled to by right of ownership or a debt I am owed. I won't even ask why your PCUSA membership is past tense. If you've kept up, you can imagine that I'm somewhat at odds with denominational leadership. But it was a faithful congregation that I now serve as a Deacon and soon as an Elder that that led me to Christ, so it looks like I'll work to reform from within. God's blessings to you too. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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476 | Is God selfish? | Rom 9:20 | stjones | 54463 | ||
Hi, kalos; Ephesians 2:2 and 6:12 don't speak of "ownership" of the earth, but they certainly do suggest that Satan is the ruler of the world. Or maybe just an evil steward since the King will return to claim his own. ;-) Not strictly the same, of course. Just my .01 of a dollar (not even worth .02 I acknowledge) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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477 | Is God selfish? | Rom 9:20 | stjones | 54480 | ||
Hi, kalos; Agreed; as I said, not quite the same. Just thinking out loud on my keyboard before I went to church. Maybe it wasn't even worth one cent. ;-) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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478 | I'm not sure this is applicable | Rom 9:20 | stjones | 55981 | ||
How about if your kid said "Dad (or Mom), I'll quit banging my head on the floor (definitely a vice) if you'll let me stay up and watch Dave Letterman (non-material, reasonable to a kid)."? I'd be careful about giving the creator of the universe an ultimatum. You can't enforce yours against him; he can enforce his against you. Besides, breathing is sufficient reward for quitting smoking. The same can be said for any vice. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones who used smoke three packs a day. |
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479 | Why Is Leviticus11 Ignored by Christians | Rom 10:4 | stjones | 104871 | ||
Hi, TomBrooklyn; I think that Christians don't abide by the dietary laws in Leviticus 11 for the same reason that Christian women don't present themselves for purification after giving birth (Leviticus 12) or go to a priest instead of a dermatologist when they have a skin disorder (Leviticus 13). For a discussion of this topic search for ID# 103732 in the "Quick Search" box. I think the passages referenced in that thread make it pretty clear that for the Christian, there is no longer a distinction between "clean" and "unclean" animals. For those who choose to live under the Law, of course, the distinction is critical. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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480 | Isn't Baptism neccessary for salvation?? | Rom 10:9 | stjones | 72690 | ||
Hello, disciplerami; Tim is much too much the Christian gentleman to give your note an appropriate reply. However, I'm in a grouchy mood tonight so I will. If you think you've scored any points against an established and well-respected forum member with such a juvenile post, you're wrong. There was certainly nothing illuminating or responsive to Tim's points. Those of us who have been around a while have seen dozens of shooting stars come and go. They show up here, try to make a name for themselves, post a few messages lacking in substance, and then, when they don't get the respect they've done nothing to earn, they disappear. Will you be one of them? I don't know. But if you could demonstrate one tenth the wisdom, discernment, knowledge, patience, and care that Tim has, I for one might be interested in what you have to say. I don't know who the sarcastic moderator is, but he or she must be as new as you are. I haven't seen a moderator in the fifteen months I've been hanging around here. Perhaps you've picked the wrong role model. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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