Results 621 - 640 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# | |||
621 | holy spirit guide men to write bible | 2 Tim 3:16 | stjones | 81002 | ||
Hi, Ray; Thanks for the Scripture references. I think your examples represent an interaction of Spirit and spirit. Just to stick with 1 Corinthians 2:12, I don't see it quite the same way because of v. 11: "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God". I agree that our spirit plays a part in the spiritual wisdom Paul is writing about - the Spirit of God, who knows "the deep things of God", informs our spirit. But what sets the saints apart is that our spirit is informed by God's Spirit while the non-believer's spirit is informed by the "spirit of this world" - Satan. Likewise, our spirit without the Holy Spirit wouldn't cast out many demons (Matthew 12:28). I think the key is the interaction or even the intermingling (if that's what it means to be indwelt) of God's own Spirit and our spirit given by God. But this isn't an argument that I would press because I don't think I can fully grasp the relationship among our minds and spirits and the Holy Spirit of God. It's entirely possible that, from God's perspective, we're like the two blind men who got hold of an elephant. You grabbed a leg and tell me it's like a tree; I grabbed the trunk and tell you it's like a big snake. In our finiteness, we can't see the whole thing, so we're both right but neither one of us has the complete picture. Or maybe you're right on the money and I'm completely wrong. It's happened once or twice before. ;-) Why do you suppose this thread is restricted from appearing on the home page? Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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622 | holy spirit guide men to write bible | 2 Tim 3:16 | stjones | 81781 | ||
Hi, Ray; Sorry for the long delay in responding. I am inclined to think that many instances of uncapitalized "spirit" are cases where the Holy Spirit is described but not named. For example, I may refer to Joe Pastor as the "pastor from First Presbyterian", or the "pastor from the church across the street", or "my pastor". They all refer to the same person but no capitalization is necessary in three of the cases. They are informal titles, not names. Likewise, I'm inclined to think that the "spirit of truth" and "God's spirit" are informal titles for the person whose name is the Holy Spirit. When Paul speaks of "a man's spirit within him", that is another case of a generic "spirit" not referring to a particular spirit by name. But I think that's just a general rule. Each case needs to be decided by the context - a good study, I would think. But that reaises another question. God is spirit. Is there a part of him that is not spirit? If so, it makes sense to refer to God's spirit apart from God himself. if God is pure spirit, then his spirit is himself with his many names. If God is pure spirit, then it seems "God's sprit" would refer to a spirit apart from God in some sense. I think the most like candidates (again determined by context) are (1) the Holy Spirit, who is both unified with and distinct from God the Father, and (2) the spirit that God gives to each person (Ecclesiastes 12:7) BTW, I have to disagree with your intrepretation of Luke 11:20. The word "finger" used in other contexts just means "finger" - i.e. Jesus writing with his finger in John 8:6, or criticizing lawyers in Luke 11:46 for not touching their own burdens with so much as a finger. I think Jesus was just saying that it takes very little effort for God to drive out a demon. This is an interesting discussion, but I am reminded that, in light of the event we are celebrating today, not life-changing. Hallelujah! He is risen! Peace and grace Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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623 | in english | 2 Tim 3:16 | stjones | 106855 | ||
Greetings, davidup2u; If the Bible is not the inspired Word of God, it has no value, now or in the past. If it is (and I am certain that it is), it is not "a product of the ancient world", it is a product of the eternal God. The most valuable thing it has for anybody at any time is God's testimony to his son Jesus. 2 Tim 3:15 says that the Scriptures are "are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.". Previously, in John 5:39, Jesus himself had said "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me". Jesus was foretold throughout the Old Testament and identified in the New. Everything else in the Bible is secondary to that central saving message. Hope this helps. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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624 | old testiment of use today | 2 Tim 3:16 | stjones | 132503 | ||
Hi, BSC; I dunno about that. Jesus taught from the OT and quoted it often. If it was good enough for him, it's just fine for me. Besides, while the NT is about Jesus, the OT is about God the Father and his chosen people (Jesus' earthly family). So are your associates saying that they can ignore the Bible Jesus used or are they saying they don't need to know the Father better? The OT is a treasure trove for anyone who will sincerely dig there. Just my two cents' worth. Peace and grace Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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625 | 'Reinvented' Gospel | 2 Tim 4:3 | stjones | 110176 | ||
Hi, prayon; Another reason is even more troubling. According to pollster George Barna, only half of Protestant pastors even have a Biblical worldview. Barna defined this worldview as "believing that absolute moral truth exists, that it is based upon the Bible, and having a biblical view on six core beliefs (the accuracy of biblical teaching, the sinless nature of Jesus, the literal existence of Satan, the omnipotence and omniscience of God, salvation by grace alone, and the personal responsibility to evangelize)". In short, half the pastors re-invent the Gospel because they either don't know it or they don't believe it. I guess it's not too surprising that Barna found less than a tenth of "born again" believers have such a worldview. (www.barna.org, Barna Updates, 1/12/2004) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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626 | Why remain defeated? | Heb 10:14 | stjones | 108099 | ||
Greetings, Gal5:16; I probably shouldn't respond because such judgmental, prideful posts always put me in a bad mood. I find messages that purport to tell the reader what he or she is thinking particularly annoying. But a couple of points just cry out for comment: You said "One question I always ask people to which they cannot respond is if perfection is not humanly possible, then how did Jesus do it." I can't imagine who you've been asking; the answer is simple. Jesus was fully God. He was not a human infused by the Holy Spirit as ordinary Christians are. If I'm not mistaken, there hasn't been another since - not me, not you. But as I read the rest of your post, I see that contrary to your initial claims, you too seem to "remain defeated." You do not "claim to perfect." If you are not perfect, then "you do what is sinful." And as John says, "No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him" (1 John 3:6) Unless God has started grading on a curve, you are failing right along with the rest of us miserable sinners. I hope you'll let us know when your knowledge of God's will is perfect every second of every day and your obedience to his will is perfect every second of every day. Until then, I suggest you trust in Jesus to cover your sins - even those you commit today. See? I told you such posts make me grouchy. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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627 | My conscience is clear | Heb 10:14 | stjones | 108133 | ||
Hi, Gal5:16; Thanks for the reply. I agree that there are people who use grace as an excuse to sin. I know very few people like that and I don't think it is typical of most Christians. I also agree that it is God's intent to mold us into his Son's likeness and that our submission is required for that to happen. I don't agree that anyone has achieved such a perfect state of submission and such a perfect knowledge of God's will that God's job is finished. Everyone who falls short of that perfection (which is everyone but Jesus) is a sinner, plain and simple. If your conscience is clear, then you mispoke yourself in your original post; you must indeed be perfect. If you aren't perfect, you're a sinner just like the rest of us. You can't have it both ways. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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628 | Why remain defeated? | Heb 10:14 | stjones | 108192 | ||
Hi, Makarios; I know from past disagreements that I can count on you for a response! ;-) I also know that when you disagree with me, I need to switch to Berean mode; you just might be right. ;-) I wish you a happy and blessed New Year in the Lord. And keep on posting; you usually are right. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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629 | No greater bond than a common enemy? | Heb 10:14 | stjones | 108197 | ||
Excellent! We do indeed have a common enemy. I need to remind myself of that more often. Thanks. -Indy |
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630 | Funny thing to take comfort in. | Heb 10:14 | stjones | 108205 | ||
Ok, I misunderstood your meaning. I guess this means we aren't friends after all.... -Indy |
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631 | Why not see for yourself? | Heb 10:14 | stjones | 108207 | ||
It should be obvious that I'm not taking your word for it. ;-) The passage does not say those who have been perfected now live a sinless life. We are perfected before God by Jesus' sacrifice. We approach earthly perfection because we strive to live a sinless life with the help of the Holy Spirit indwelling us. We fall short because we aren't Jesus, because our sinful nature is spriritually dead, crucified with Jesus, but physically alive. My victory is assured; I'm not worried about it. I hate to keep repeating myself, but I'm not perfect because I am not in perfect submission every moment and I do not have perfect knowledge of God's will every moment. I don't know anybody who is perfect. The alternative to perfection is sin. You still can't have it both ways. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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632 | JOSHUA NOT MENTIONED IN HEB. CH.11? | Heb 11:32 | stjones | 33941 | ||
Hi, JMSCOTT; Are you saying that Joshua was Jesus? Thanks. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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633 | JOSHUA NOT MENTIONED IN HEB. CH.11? | Heb 11:32 | stjones | 34065 | ||
Hi, Rev; Thanks for the note. I'd gotten that impression from other posts but perhaps JM will clarify. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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634 | Promise? | Heb 11:39 | stjones | 43298 | ||
Hi, charis. I think the promise is salvation - promised throughout the OT but not seen or personified until Jesus' coming. Years ago, Charles Stanley had a great analogy - the OT saints ran up a bill against future payment - their faith was their credit card. God charged the penalty for their sins against this credit card rather than demanding immediate payment. The imputed righteousness of Christ was not yet available to cover the debt, so the debt sat there, unpaid but uncollected. Jesus paid the bill; this was the promise. As Christians, we don't run a tab because our debt has already been paid in full. At least that'e pretty close to what he said.... Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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635 | Promise? | Heb 11:39 | stjones | 43354 | ||
Hi, charis; You're right, of course. I had in mind a very comprehensive meaning of salvation. David spoke of living in the house of the Lord forever; we have a better idea of what that means because of Jesus and all that he means to us and to the world. Jesus is the promised land. Now get some sleep.... Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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636 | Why is marijuana use prohibited? | Heb 13:17 | stjones | 68138 | ||
Greetings, jini; I have to admit your misuse of Scripture is interesting: 1) There is no place in the Bible that prohibits speeding in school zones, private ownership of bazookas and grenade launchers, or practicing medicine without a license. Nonetheless, I think it's safe to say that Christians generally support laws prohibiting such things. Are we to assume based on your "argument from silence" that you are an advocate of them? 2) Cannabis is also known as hemp; perhaps God intended it only for rope-making and we have chosen to misuse it; we do have a history of that. Otherwise, we must believe that God meant for man to be more or less perpetually stoned on marijuana, hashish, heroin, mescaline, cocaine, and psilocybin. This leads to the enivitable question, why would a loving God combine mescaline with strychnine in the peyote cactus? 3) You object to "ignorant" and "apathetic" churches quoting irrelevant Scripture in their opposition to recreational drug use. Yet you don't hesitate to surgically remove Isaiah 10:1 from its context to support your opinion. Perhaps you could read chapter 9 and the rest of 10 to get some idea of what Isaiah was talking about. I assure you he was not complaining that poor people and widows were not being allowed to get high. 4) Your statement that "Jesus told us to visit people in prison, not to put them there" is just plain silly. Did he say to close the prisons? Did he say to eliminate civil law? or to ignore it at will? No; he said to visit those who are paying the price for their disobedience to man's laws, recognizing that we are all prisoners of our own disobedience to God's law. 5) Likewise, your expropriation of Colossians 2:21 to invalidate civil law is proof-texting of the worst sort - especially if you would have us believe Paul was railing against laws that interfere with sensual pleasure (v. 23). If you have not read the entire Bible to get a sense of what it's all about, I suggest you do so. If you have and you deliberately misapply Scripture to promote Hedonism then you really should be ashamed of yourself. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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637 | Are jews the wisest? | James 1:5 | stjones | 28580 | ||
Hi, vkey; Your are correct that wisdom is a gift of God. According to James, it is freely given. I doubt you could single out any group of people and say they are the wisest. And I don't think there is a "community" of Jews. There are atheistic Jews, Orthodox Jews, Hassidic Jews, and every shade in between. No racial, national, or ethnic group has a claim to be the best in the areas you asked about. There are stereotypes but those are based on prejudice and ignorance, not facts. And no, America is not "built on Jews". It is built on the Bible, Enlightenment philosophers John Locke and the Baron de Montesquieu, abundant natural resources, hard work, ruthlessness, compassion, diversity, and visionary leaders. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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638 | Is salvation by faith only scriptural? | James 2:14 | stjones | 54385 | ||
Hi, 1Cor13; Read James 2 in light of Jesus' words in Matthew 25:31-46. To have faith (and salvation in Christ) is to have deeds. In James' example of Abraham, he says that Abraham's "faith was made complete by what he did". But it was not his action made him "God's friend". Note the Scripture that James quotes: "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness". Not his deed, his belief (faith). Verse 24 is, of course, the most troublesome ("...a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone"). I can only assume that this is something of a reprise of verse 17: "... faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" Otherwise it directly contradicts Acts 16:30-31, Romans 10:9-11, Ephesians 4:8-9, 1 Peter 1:8-9, and others that clearly state that salvation is by faith alone. Hope this is helpful. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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639 | Is coveting with a pure heart Godly? | James 4:3 | stjones | 29990 | ||
Greetings, Nolan, my friend; To "desire" God's blessings is not necessarily to "covet" them. Somewhere I read/heard that to "covet" is to not only the desire to posess something but to posess it at someone else's expense, i.e. to covet one's neighbor's wife. A quick word search in the NIV seems to support this notion. "Covet" is always used in the sense of desiring what someone else already posesses. It's a zero-sum game. If I'm to win, someone else has to lose. This is not true with God's blessings; they are limitless. I remember explaining to our older daughter when her little sister arrived that we wouldn't love her any less. We had a box of love and until then she had gotten the whole thing. She wouldn't get less now because when we got her sister, we got another box too. They would both get the whole thing. So it is with God's blessings. Had I been a Christian then, I'd have known what I was talking about! ;-) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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640 | Did Jesus go to hell? | 1 Peter | stjones | 80530 | ||
Hi, Graceful; One of the key lessons of Job is that every bad thing that happens to us happens because God, in his sovereign will, permits it to happen. Nothing happens without God's assent. Another key lesson of Job is that it is wrong to assume, as Job's friends did, that bad things are evidence of sin or signs of God's disapproval. Indeed, Job's trials came as the result of God's high regard for him. "We’ve seen too many good Christians striving to 'believe' their sickness away, and finally collapsing into self-condemnation and utter discouragement over their 'lack of faith' or the 'sin' in their lives." The sad irony of this is that they are committing the same error Job's friends did, but in their error, they are condemning themselves. Of course, we don't always correctly identify the good and bad things. Paul eventually recognized that, contrary to all human judgment, the thorn in his side was actually a good thing. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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