Results 301 - 320 of 1928
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Results from: Notes Author: Reformer Joe Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
301 | Is this about water baptism at all? | Acts 2:38 | Reformer Joe | 77526 | ||
Tim: I would argue that baptism falls into a completely different category than the examples you mentioned. Nowhere does the Bible command all believers to do at any time any of the things on your list. Baptism is most definitely commanded, and the apostles seemed to understand it as an ordinance tied to the conversion of someone previously outside of God's household. Baptism is equated throughout the biblical history of the church as united to one's profession of faith, and it is the means by which someone visibly joins God's church. While I do not believe in baptismal regeneration any more than you do, I would definitely point to a prompt baptism as the thing for a new, unbaptized convert to receive. I think we as the church are swinging too far to the other extreme of making the ordinances of our Lord Jesus Christ out to be "nice extras" that one can ultimately take or leave rather than signs and seals of the grace of God. --Joe! |
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302 | Do I have to be Baptized to be saved? | Rom 10:9 | Reformer Joe | 77518 | ||
"Jesus had not then died and rose again,so the New Covenant had not yet arrived." Jesus initiated the New Covenant with the institution of the Lord's Supper (Luke 22:20, 1 Corinthians 11:25). People are saved A.D. the same way they were saved B.C. (Romans 4:1-5). --Joe! |
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303 | Does God hear the prayers of nonbeliever | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 77516 | ||
To their peril, yes He does. Imagine a person still in their sins, who rejects the Son of God, for whom Christ is not interceding before the Father, actively the enemy of God, on whom God's wrath rests, and who has the pride to approach the infinitely holy God clothed in their sinfulness and request something from Him. That is why we pray in Jesus' name. He deserves answers. We do not. --Joe! |
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304 | Please explain the Trinity | Gen 1:2 | Reformer Joe | 77369 | ||
You wrote: "Kindly read this passges it is stated that Christ after all things subdued unto Christ He subject himself to God the Father, its mean God the father is powerful than He is." No, what it means is that the Son is obedient to the Father, which is not anti-Trinitarian at all. The doctrine of the Trinity states that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. It says nothing about the roles that the three Persons have in relationship to each other. --Joe! |
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305 | Why transliterate "baptizo"? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 77085 | ||
The Catholic church still baptizes by sprinkling. King James was a Protestant, not a Catholic, and held Catholicism in contempt. So attacking a Catholic doctrine would not have been a problem for him. However, a great number of Protestants did (and do to this day) also sprinkle rather than immerse, so the debate over the timing and mode of baptism is not purely a Catholic-Protestant one. --Joe! |
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306 | the purpose of the church? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 76936 | ||
Read 1 Peter 2:9 again...why have we been made a holy nation? There is a very definite purpose statement in that verse. God joins us together as a church to glorify Himself. The communion of saints is God's vehicle for declaring the gospel. As Ephesians 4 shows, the church is God's means for making His people more like His Son. In the church, we find the only regular means God has appointed for sanctification: the preaching of the word, corporate prayer, baptism, and the Lord's Supper. In short, collectively the church exists to glorify God and to enjoy His blessings. There is no ordinary possibility of salvation outside the church, so the church plays an essential role in God's redemptive purposes for humanity. --Joe! |
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307 | the purpose of the church? | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 76842 | ||
"As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love." --Ephesians 4:15-18 "But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;" --1 Peter 2:9 "So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father." --Colossians 3:12-17 Other useful passages: Romans 12 1 Corinthians 14:12 --Joe! |
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308 | are kids saved if their parents are | Bible general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 76703 | ||
"Holy" does not mean "saved." It means "set apart for a special purpose." Children of believing parents are participants in God's covenant community known as the church. This is not an automatic ticket to heaven, but places them under the teaching of God's word and brings them God's blessings resulting from communal Christian living that those on the outside do not enjoy. Ordinarily, with the obedience of the parents in teaching them to love Christ, and the ministry of the word in the church, these children do get born again. --Joe! |
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309 | once saved always saved | John 10:28 | Reformer Joe | 76348 | ||
Tim: You wrote: "May I comment on one of your points though?" I would feel neglected if you didn't! :) "One possible explanation of these fact could simply be that Paul is always writting to someone else, other than the ones who departed from the faith. So, he wouldn't use 'your faith' when talking to those who haven't departed!" True enough, but we could substitute whatever personal pronoun you like. Other than the case of Hymenaeus and Alexander ("their faith"), I do not recall any other instances of a personal pronoun being used with "faith" when referring to apostasy. And, as I have stated before, in their case it could very well mean their previous confession of faith being shipwrecked by their blasphemy. May God's blessing be upon you today! --Joe! |
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310 | once saved always saved | John 10:28 | Reformer Joe | 76333 | ||
New Creature: You wrote: "So this is not the verse to attempt to imply a mere profession of faith, there are other verses like the ones in Matthew 7 to do that. This is addressing possessors, not mere professors only." The fact that other verses address false faith doesn't mean that this passage doesn't. That would be like saying that all the passages on justification by faith are not really talking about that because we have John 3:16. I think you raise a good question in addressing what Paul means here in 1 Timothy 4:1 when he refers to "the faith." Is he referring to one's personal faith in Jesus Christ or a corporate profession of faith? The word "faith" does not always mean "one's personal trust and belief." For example, we often refer to "the Muslim faith" or "the Christian faith." When we use such terms, we are not speaking of any disposition in the hearts of particular individuals. Rather, what we mean by that is a written or unwritten confession of what a particular religious group holds as truth. The Christian faith, in that sense, objectively remains the Christian faith regardless of anyone personally clinging to it or departing from it. Of course, the question remains whether that is the sense in which Paul uses "the faith" in 1 Timothy 4:1. Paul uses the term a lot in this epistle alone, not to mention throughout his inspired writings: "In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following." --1 Timothy 4:6 Here in the very same paragraph we see "the faith" mentioned. Obviously, however, we cannot be nourished on the words of our personal faith. Clearly, Paul is talking about the apostolic teachings that would make up the canon of Scripture, the "words of THE faith." We see that use of it in several places, where it would make at least as much, if not more, sense to define "the faith" as a corporate confession of faith rather than the personal belief in Jesus Christ through which we are justified : 1 Timothy 1:2,14; 3:9,13; 5:8; 6:10,21 2 Timothy 1:13; 3:8; 4:7 Titus 1:4,13; 3:15 etc. Now, I am not saying that every instance of the word "faith" refers to a corporate confession. That would be nonsense and do great damage to the gospel. However, apparently, as we do, Paul had different connotations of the word "faith," depending on whether he was referring to the commonly held doctrines of the confessing church or the personal belief through which we are individually declared righteous before a holy God. In almost every case, the "rejection" or "wandering away" is from "THE faith," not "YOUR faith." We live in an individualist society, and I think one of the consequences of that mindset is a frequent failure to recognize the intensely corporate nature of Christianity. While we are saved through our personal reliance upon the finished work of Christ, we also believe in "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." Most 21st-century Christians are strangers to the concepts of creeds and confessions, but the early church made use of them extensively and Paul quotes some of them in his epistles. I also hold that this absence of confessional Christianity has eroded our sense of a church that stands together, saying, "This we believe." Certainly there are some among us who say it without truly believing it, but the confession of the faith stands even in the face of individuals wandering from it, giving evidence of not being truly regenerate. May God bless you this day! --Joe! |
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311 | Is water baptism must for Holy communion | NT general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 76176 | ||
My fur wasn't ruffled, justme. As far as I was concerned, we were just having a friendly discussion. Thanks for sharing. My point was that I believe a minister should not knowingly administer communion to one whom he KNOWS to be living an openly unrepentant and sinful lifestyle. May you be renewed this Lord's Day! --Joe! |
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312 | once saved always saved | John 10:28 | Reformer Joe | 76075 | ||
New Creature: The diffculty I have with this explanation is that it divorces these verses from the rest of the argument. Romans 38-39 is the summary conclusion of a much larger passage which more fully explains what God's love means here. It is not merely warm feelings for His creatures, but rather a preserving and protecting love for His people: 'What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ' --Romans 8:31-39 Now how anyone can read this section of Scripture and conclude that the last two verses are merely commentary on God's emotional disposition toward us is beyond me. Paul is writing about God's preserving of His own, not about a universal love. It is shown in God who justifies and Christ who to this day intercedes for me (along with the Spirit who prays for us, earlier in Romans 8). This is love resulting in Trinitarian action toward His people that assures that those whom God justifies will be glorified (Romans 8:30), John Piper recently gave a good sermon on this: http://www.desiringgod.org/library/sermons/02/090802.html --Joe! |
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313 | did judas eat at the last supper? | John | Reformer Joe | 76073 | ||
Tim: I think the question he was asking is whether Judas partook of the bread and wine Jesus consecrated as the sign of His body and blood. --Joe! |
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314 | once saved, always saved? | Col 1:13 | Reformer Joe | 75893 | ||
Thanks for speaking out. Have you already been here a year? Time sure does fly, doesn't it? :) In Romans 11, Paul is in the middle of talking about why the Jews rejecting the Messiah does not mean that the promises of God to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses have failed (see verse 11:1). In other words, how can the Jews be God's chosen people if so many of them were rejecting the One who would be getting them to heaven? If the passage is talking about losing one's salvation, one would have to explain how these Jews, who never received Christ in the first place, were ever saved. Paul is more likely (in my understanding) talking about being cut off from God's covenant people, the community of the redeemed. For a time, the majority of people in the New Covenant will be Gentiles, even though that is not a permanent situation (Romans 11:25-27). The Jews who are mentioned as being cut off in Romans 11 were never believers in Jesus (i.e. never saved), and in order for Gentiles in general to continue in the midst of the covenant people of God, they too must keep the terms of the covenant (i.e. demonstrate their faith by faithful obedience). The evidence of one's justification is sanctification. The former no one but God can see for sure, but the latter is put on display for the world. --Joe! |
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315 | once saved, always saved? | Col 1:13 | Reformer Joe | 75873 | ||
'This reasoning avoids the central issue. The question is not whether a child can be "unborn" but whether it can sicken and die.' But most advocates of the loss of salvation argue that one theoretically can be born again hundreds of of times during one's physical lifetime. I see no substantive biblical support that one can keep losing their salvation and keep getting it back again. The Hebrews passages that are often cited mitigate against this idea: "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?" --Hebrews 10:26-29 --Joe! |
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316 | Is sin inherited from father and mother? | Rom 5:12 | Reformer Joe | 75866 | ||
I agree with you here: "He will judge all men according to the same standard." "The offer to drink of the living water is to whosoever will." "As many as received...He gave the right to become children of God." My point about the "respecter of persons" was that the verses which use that term do not speak of God giving everyone the opportunity to be saved. While arguments are obviously made that He does give everyone the opportunity, the "respecter of persons" line is used out of its context in such arguments. Kind of like people trying to explain away God's perfect and holy wrath as not REALLY being wrath because "God is love." --Joe! |
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317 | Is sin inherited from father and mother? | Rom 5:12 | Reformer Joe | 75864 | ||
Oops...almost forgot! Acts 10:34-35 also talks about God not being a respecter of persons, in the context of salvation not being offered only to Jews, but rather to the Gentiles as well. But again, in the case of Cornelius, Peter is marvelling not that Cornelius as an individual was converted, but rather that a group of Gentiles was included in the New Covenant: 'Opening his mouth, Peter said: "I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but IN EVERY NATION the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him."' --Acts 10:34-35 May our Lord bless you richly today! --Joe! |
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318 | Is sin inherited from father and mother? | Rom 5:12 | Reformer Joe | 75852 | ||
"If God calls only a few, then He is a respector of persons." I just wanted to mention that the verse which speaks of God not being a respecter of persons is related to His judgment of all men, not His salvation of all men: "There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified." --Romans 2:9-13 This statement about God being impartial ("no respecter of persons" in the KJV) is in the section of Romans in which Paul demonstrates that the Gentiles are not off the hook because they were not given the Law. Rather than being "good news" for unrepentant humans, this is part of the "bad news" that we all stand under the judgment and wrath of God apart from Christ, no matter our ethnicity or biography. --Joe! |
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319 | once saved, always saved? | Col 1:13 | Reformer Joe | 75829 | ||
I don't see the account of Ananias and Sapphira as a lesson to them, but rather the judgment of God and a lesson for others. One could hardly say that as a result the two corpses learned not to lie to the Holy Spirit (even though I am sure they never did it again). If we are talking about the imagery of the shipwreck, we could also look at the imagery that Scripture uses to describe regeneration. We see justification (being declared righteous because of what Christ accomplished); redemption (being purchased with the shed blood of Christ...does God sell back the one who falls away?); new birth (does one become "un-born again"?); becoming a new creation (only to become an old creation again?); being transferred by God from one kingdom to another (only to be transferred back?); etc. To me it seems like the images surrounding the transformation of the Christian seem a whole lot more one-way than a shipwreck. Many scholars also consider this shipwreck to be a wrecking of their profession of faith, since that also would be consistent with the sin of blasphemy. --Joe! |
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320 | disciplerami, it is impossible (Heb 6:6) | Heb 6:6 | Reformer Joe | 75785 | ||
Thanks for the explanation, Tim. It seems that taking such an approach weakens the warning somewhat, and also seems to make the statement somewhat illogical in my view. Since repentance is the disposition of rejecting sin and relying on Christ, saying that as long as one is unrepentant that he cannot be brought back to repentance doesn't make much sense. The conclusion the would be that once he repents he can be brought back to repentance. That's like saying if I lock myself out of my house, I cannot go back in until I go in and get the key. When you pair this warning up with its companion in Hebrews 10 ("there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins"), it seems even less likely to me that the epistle writer is describing a revolving door for those who have "fallen away." You wrote: "Here I thought you read ALL of my posts! ;-)" I do read most of them, but I am still working on committing them to memory. :) --Joe! |
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