Results 341 - 360 of 494
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Results from: Notes Author: stjones Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
341 | Why not Baptize as Jesus said to? | Acts 19:5 | stjones | 108532 | ||
Hi, Natasha/punkiedo; I'm sorry you think I'm looking for a fight. If your doctrine were based on truth, it could account for the physical reality of one of the most important events in Jesus' life. I must assume that it can't and that it is in error. I will mirror your comment "I pray God opens your eyes and mind so he can teach you." Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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342 | Why not Baptize as Jesus said to? | Acts 19:5 | stjones | 108534 | ||
Hi, Norm; Thanks for the passage. I'm not sure where you were going with it, though. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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343 | Teacher, when were the 11 rebaptized? | Romans | stjones | 67011 | ||
Teacher; 'Paul says that "instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands, etc." are "elementary teachings". Anyone who has been studying God's word for any length of time should have learned of these and gone "on to maturity".' Quite so, as Tim and others have demonstrated. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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344 | Teacher, when were the 11 rebaptized? | Romans | stjones | 67138 | ||
Teacher; You said "You feel I am being closed minded and hard hearted". And I guess my note sounded that way; I apologize. But I didn't miss the point. My point was that Paul's admonition applies to anyone who still doesn't "get" baptism, whether that someone is you or Tim or me. You ask for a passage that specifically calls baptism a work. There is none. I ask you for a passage that specifically says no one who is not baptized will be saved. There is none. So Christians are left to study the Bible and seek to understand and apply what it says. You may imagine that Paul would find your views to be "mature". Based on what Paul wrote about salvation, I disagree. Further, Paul - having demonstrated his own spiritual maturity - had earned the right to admonish Christians as he did. You have not; neither have I. I am afraid that you have missed the point of this forum and the community it represents. We have not been sitting around waiting for you to explain the Bible to us; you take your handle "Teacher" entirely too seriously. Many of us have spent a fair amount of time reading and studying the Bible and discussing it with other believers, some of them right here. There are members of this forum who have, over time, clearly demonstrated their wisdom and maturity. They have also demonstrated willingness to engage in thoughtful, respectful dialog with people who disagree with them. Dialog means more than simply pushing a view. It also means paying attention to the points raised by the other person and providing a response beyond a mere re-hashing of previous claims. Which brings me to your example of the demons. Faith is not just believing that Jesus' claims were true. Faith is recognizing our own unworthiness and trusting in Jesus for our salvation - trusting to the extent of exchanging our lives for his. The demons didn't do that. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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345 | Teacher, when were the 11 rebaptized? | Romans | stjones | 67148 | ||
Hi, Teacher; Well, don't go on my account. I don't speak for the rest of the forum. Note: condemnation is for unbelief, not unbaptism. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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346 | Teacher, when were the 11 rebaptized? | Romans | stjones | 67155 | ||
Hi, Teacher; Glad you stuck around. Joel: "All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved", quoted by Peter in his Pentecost sermon. Note "all who call upon the name of the Lord" without any additional qualification. Can we agree to disagree while conceding that neither one of us has God all figured out? Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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347 | Translation | Rom 1:1 | stjones | 28392 | ||
Note to djconklin and EdB: Speaking from experience as one who has probably violated both rules 2 and 3, I think I can safely say that each of you has one foot over the line and one foot on a banana peel. Just my opinion, of course. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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348 | Translation | Rom 1:1 | stjones | 28491 | ||
Hi, dr; To quote that great Bible scholar Mary Poppins, "a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, the medicine go down, the medicine go down". ;-) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones who confesses to a violation of rule 1 |
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349 | Workout your own salvation | Rom 1:18 | stjones | 20658 | ||
Hi, Heartfire; I agree with all that you said about God's testing of Abraham; I would like to add to it. How many times have each of observed an act of faith or heroism and wondered if we would do the same? We would like to think we would, but we're not sure. I think God, knowing that Abraham would pass the test, wanted Abraham to know as well. This test allowed Abraham to see for himself the reservoir of faith and courage God had given him. The Bible doesn't record Abraham's emotions or inner thoughts, but surely this knowledge would only strengthen and encourage him. Peace and grace, Steve |
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350 | 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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351 | 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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352 | 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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353 | 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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354 | 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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355 | 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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356 | 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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357 | 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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358 | 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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359 | 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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360 | 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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