Results 1 - 16 of 16
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: reasnerm Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | help me understand | John 6:66 | reasnerm | 58010 | ||
Please bear in mind that the answer to this question cannot be settled here, for it has boggled greater spiritual minds than ours. The Protestant churches have mostly all stood in disagreement with the Catholic church over this for centuries. Within the Protestant movement, though, Martin Luther stood in violent opposition to john Calvin over this very issue, and to this day the "Lutheran" churches practice communion in a manner that is very similar to that of the Catholic church. If this issue is of great concern to you, then perhaps it is the Holy Spirt using this issue to lead you into another denomination in which your beliefs would align more accurately with the church where you worship, thus allowing you to serve God more fully. Pray on it and seek God's wisdom. God bless. | ||||||
2 | Are you asking about a mystical body | Eph 5:25 | reasnerm | 54290 | ||
Sorry Andes, I'm afraid I must agree completely with you on this point and even complement your clarity. I believe that we can say that God has a body similar to a human form, though exponentially greater without creating God in the image of man. Plato had a concept of forms, that I won't go into here, that helped me to think of heaven vs earth, spiritul vs mortal. As for the Ezekiel passage, if you will forgive me not having time to study it right now, I would guess it to be a vision similar to Isaiah's (Chpt. 6) which John references as a vision of Jesus. (Sorry I can't find the reference right off, I look later when I have more time.) | ||||||
3 | Does God have a spiritual body? | Eph 5:25 | reasnerm | 54288 | ||
Then any ideas on what His form is as a spirit,just a shining orb or glittering transendence? Dear Fanny Crosby will be dissappointed if she doesn't see her Father face to face. We could get into discussions on being created in God's image, but those arguements have already seen too much daylight. God bless. | ||||||
4 | Does God have a spiritual body? | Eph 5:25 | reasnerm | 54166 | ||
Sorry, no hornets nest, though I must return to the Old Testament. Ex.33:22-23, "So it shall be, while my glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen." Then to Acts 7:56, "and (Stephen) said, "Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" | ||||||
5 | Did dinosaurs exist alongside man? | Job 40:15 | reasnerm | 53966 | ||
I always chuckle when I read commentary on behemoth as a hippo and leviathan as an alligator. They don't even fit the descriptions. When you read about behemoth, picture in your mind what was a brontosaurus when I was in school and watching the Flintstones. I think it is an allosaur now. He much better fits the description. And then there is leviathan. Dare I say it, think fire-breathing dragon when reading Job 41. He fits in there perfectly. If we leave scripture and look at human culture, we see the Chinese, an ancient race, who have built a great deal of their history, culture and celebration around fire-breathing dragons. Why? Did someone find a few bones buried in the mud and then invent this hideous creature to intimidate an entire race, or did dragons actually co-exist with ancient Chinese civilization. Now, go half way around the world and many centuries later and ponder what King Arthur and his knights were really doing if they wern't slaying dragons. Much of myth and fable has some basis in fact. Obviously, this is not "scientific" evidence, but it could be anthropological evidence. By the way, the word dinosaur was coined, I believe in the early 1800's. Prior to that, all such reptiles were simply called dinosaurs. Visit the sites of creation research scientists for more info. | ||||||
6 | Was Saul Spirit-filled? | 1 Sam 10:10 | reasnerm | 53870 | ||
Would you agree that this is an infilling of the Holy Spirit, differing only in the fact that it was short-term from what we see in post-Pentecost infilling? | ||||||
7 | rock foundation | Matt 7:24 | reasnerm | 53866 | ||
Emmaus, I would agree with you primarily due to the fact that in my copy of the Bible, much of the text is written in red. I don't ever want to tell Jesus,"sorry, I didn't bother to study what you had to say, I preferred Paul's messages." To he who would dispose of the Old Testament study to study "Rom - Jud", does he also eliminate the many old testament passages that are quoted or alluded to in those few sacred epistles? |
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8 | What commandments to keep? | 1 John 2:4 | reasnerm | 53778 | ||
I do agree with what you are sayng, though the fact that we cannot keep the Law does not excuse us from living a godly life. As you say, it wll look like we are under the Law, because through the Spirit we will naturally keep the law to the best of our ability, otherwise we sin. Certainly, you will not disagree with me as I trumpet Titus 3:8 "This is a faithful saying and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men." | ||||||
9 | Ten commandments should be obeyed . | 1 John 2:4 | reasnerm | 53777 | ||
To start at the end of your kind response, you imply that since the coming of Jesus, God no longer judges the nations. I'll give only two examples: in 70 AD, God destroyed the city of Jerusalem as punishment for her rejection of Jesus. Josephus speaks of the chariot of God visible circling the city and then departing. In our own lifetime we have seen the iron curtain shattered by the hand of God, most visibly in Romania. There, a gospel preacher refused to be silenced and the churches rallied around him, and then the people joined, and the government fell. God still judges nations. But Father God is unchanging we are taught, so what you hope to find in the New Testament you will find in the Old. Isaiah 58:6-7 reads:" Is this not the fast I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh?" When I read the Old testament, I am amazed at His love for the Children of Israel. Many times they went into sin, and He would patiently call and call them to come back to Him. Eventually, when His patience wore thin, He would punish, always justly, but He would punish. I am amazed that you can only find one commandment in the New Testament when Jesus even spoke of two. The passage in 1 John that started this discussion even speaks of "commandments". As for your suggested reading, I have just completed them all in the past couple of months except Hebrews, as I just got to Titus tonight. Found several neat verses there, too. Titus1:15-16:" To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient and disqualified for every good work." Titus 3:8-9:" This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men. But, avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the Law; for they are unprofitable and useless." Hey, isn't God great. God bless you and Maranatha! | ||||||
10 | Ten commandments should be obeyed . | 1 John 2:4 | reasnerm | 53774 | ||
What you call intensify, I called added to. My point was simply that Jesus raised the bar so high that even the rich young ruler could no longer keep the law. It is impossible to keep the Law in order to be saved, but that does not mean that we abandon ourselves to an ungodly lifestyle. I once read a well known Christian leader state that once we have made a profession of faith, we can then for all practical purposes lead a lifestyle that is no different than that of an unsaved person, and we will not lose our salvation. My response to his statement is that such a person would never have truly accepted salvation. We must at least try to be holy, for God is holy. You almost seem as though you think that when Jesus said to love our neighbor, that He lessened the commandment. Again, I say he added to it. Under the law we had only to refrain from murdering the jerk next door, now we have to love him!? Please understand, I am not trying to preach any form of legalism, but as I expect my children to try to do right and do what I expect of them, so I try to do what my heavenly Fatheer expects of me. Sometimes (a lot),I mess up, but Jesus already paid the price for that sin. But the price was great, so I do not just say "oh well, things happen", I repent in sorrow as a child to the Father. | ||||||
11 | Ten commandments should be obeyed . | 1 John 2:4 | reasnerm | 53697 | ||
The Ten Commandments have not been done away with, they have been added to. Have you not read that Jesus added anger to the command against murder, He added lust to the command against adultery. When Jesus said to keep His commands, He referred primarily to His personal choice for #1 and #2, love God and love your neighbor. We cannot love the Father if we do not know the Father, and it is in the old testament where the Father is fully revealed. Read about His relationship with Israel in good times and bad, and compare it to His relationship with the Christian church today. Read of His relationships with individuals, from Hagar to Moses, from Rahab to David, and learn how He will relate with us. Read the Psalms and learn about worship and praise(Psalm 145 is especially good). Read Isaiah just because it is so good. In it we learn of the holiness of God(Chpt 6), of His plan of salvation for both Israel(44) and all of mankind(53). We learn what the Father really wants in a godly lifestyle (58). So study the Old Testament to learn to know and to love God the Father. Read the New Testament to learn to love your neghbor, which cannot be done if we do not tell him about Jesus and the way of salvation. | ||||||
12 | a response to your response | 1 John 2:4 | reasnerm | 53694 | ||
You do not seem to know quite what to ask yourself, as you rmain very vague. Certainly these verses can "relate" if you choose them to. They both speak of salvation and subsequent obedience to Jesus' commands. He who believes (Mark 16) is one who knows Him(1 John). He who is not baptized (Mark 16) is not keeping His commandments (1 John). (But not all are reborn equally strong. Obedience to Jesus' commands comes as part of spiritual maturing. Certainly the biblical example is for immediate baptism, but their culture was much more religious than ours and the baptism was much better understood.) | ||||||
13 | What about Acts 2:38? | NT general Archive 1 | reasnerm | 52594 | ||
Thank you for your openness, as I am always concerned that a person is in a right relationship with Jesus. As I was thinking about this question, I was reminded of Paul's statements about those in his day who taught that new believers must be circumcised in order to be saved. It was the same sort of arguement as you are hearing today. Whenever we are told that there is something that we must do in order to earn our salvation, we are being taught in error. Jesus gave us many commandments which we need to keep, but we are to keep them in accordance with our salvation, not as a cause of our salvation. Think about it, of the commandments that Jesus gave us, if any of them were required for salvation, certainly it would have been commandment #1 or #2,: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself(paraphrase mine). But if we are required to keep commandments in order to be saved, then we are placing ourselves back under the Law, the Law which is unable to save us. Please take some time with a concordance or Bible search engine and read what Paul had to say, and study prayerfully, asking the Holy Spirit to guide you into understanding, and when you come to peace with an understanding, thank God and stand firmly on that belief. Don't take my word or the word of your friend, but study God's word. If you need, I can point you to some verses, but it would be better, for you to find them and come to your on decision. God bless you. | ||||||
14 | What about Acts 2:38? | NT general Archive 1 | reasnerm | 52301 | ||
See Hebrews. Abraham was saved by his faith, though his faith was proved by his actions. In Jewish society, to be baptized was to be cast out of your Jewish society, and often even your own family. It was a costly decision, not the simple ceremony it is today. Is a person's repentence true, is he willing to sacrifice his family and friends for a relationship with Jesus? We are saved by faith and if our faith is true, it is made obvious by our actions, which include baptism, which is a sign that shows that we are in agreeement with the tenets of Chritianity. It will also include abandoning our former activities that led to sin. I have to wonder the reason for your questions, is it simple theological debate, or do you have a problem with being baptized, which may indicate a problem in your obedience to Christ? Remember, Jesus paid the price for our sins, we cannot pay for them ourselves. | ||||||
15 | Im starting to understand | Rom 8:1 | reasnerm | 52133 | ||
The Jews were speaking an obvious lie as they had been in bondage to Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, and at that time, Rome. Their hearts were so hard that they would argue anything that Jesus said. Have you ever heard a person state that he is not a sinner. That is the same as what the Pharisees were saying. Jesus said that He could set them free, and they rejected His offer. Romans 1:25, although refering to sexual sin, speaks of those "who exchanged the truth of God for the lie" , which is what the Pharisees chose to do rather than accepting the teachings of Jesus. Hard hearts lead to hard heads. | ||||||
16 | Is baptism required for salvation? | NT general Archive 1 | reasnerm | 52125 | ||
Those who say that baptism is required for salvation refer to 1 Peter 3:21, though taking it out of context when they do so. The comparison of baptism to Noah's flood is only complete when you realize that the water did not save Noah, the water destroyed every other living thing. Noah was saved by faith, as we all are, in that he obeyed God and built a huge boat in the middle of dry ground, crawled inside with family and animals and waited another seven days for the rains to come(Gen 7:10). To say that baptism is required is to make "works" a basis of salvation. Eph 2:8-9 says clearly, agreeing with many other passages, "By grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of youselves; it is the gift of God, not of works,lest anyone should boast." Our salvation is very costly, though the price was paid in full at the cross. Every action that we do for Jesus is an act of obedience done in love and gratitude to the one who loves us. Yes, we should be baptized, because Jesus said we should. It is an outward profession of an inward transformation. We should take communion because Jesus said we should. We should care for the needy, because Jesus said we should. We should lead lives that are holy and pleasing to God, because Jesus said we should. But all these are the works that are caused by our salvation, they are not a cause of our salvation. | ||||||