Results 1 - 3 of 3
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | God's people's land? | 2 Chr 7:14 | Bill Mc | 17563 | ||
Fellow Christians, please let me interject a principle here that I believe is helpful and applies. We often quote 2 Tim 3:16 - "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;" Then we say things like "I looked up the word "All" in Greek. It means "all." Well ,yes, 'all' does mean all. But 'all' means the WHOLE of scripture. It means that the whole, the summation, of scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. It means that we can go to God's Word and find that some portion of God's Word will address these areas and any other area of our lives. It DOES NOT mean that every verse of scripture is profitable for teaching. The verse itself can be taught but that does not mean that for every verse there is an underlying doctrine that needs to be taught. It DOES NOT mean that every verse of scripture is profitable for reproof. Some verses are excellent for reproof, but not EVERY verse is a verse of reproof. It DOES NOT mean that every verse of scripture is a verse for correction. It DOES NOT mean that every verse of scripture is a verse for training in righteousness. Verses, passages, chapters and books in the Bible frequently fall into what we call literary styles, i.e. history, poetry, doctrine, prophecy, etc. Would you use a verse of poetry, "The Lord is my Shepherd" to teach prophecy? Would you use genealogies to reprove people? Would you use passages from OT sacrifices as instruction and tell the world around us to sacrifice animals? I hope and pray not. Fellow believers, we MUST learn to correctly discern the scriptures. That is one of the blessings of this forum. But people will quote 2 Tim 3:16 and then say that all the OT applies directly to Christians. This is NOT correctly dividing the Word of Truth. Generally speaking, the Word is already 'correctly divided' into Old Covenant and New Covenant. God has blesses us with the ability to reason from the scriptures. The Holy Spirit illumines the scripture and He will reveal its meaning, but He uses our spirits and brains to do that. Let's learn to 'accurately handle the word of truth.' - 2 Tim 3:15. In His grace, Bill Mc |
||||||
2 | God's people's land? | 2 Chr 7:14 | leabeater | 17867 | ||
Clarification on "all" in 2Ti 3:16. All Scripture is profitable. To impose an interpretive system which hedges on the plain meaning of the word "all" is perilous. We're hedging on our Old Testament Bill. Part of the reason for this, I believe, is wrong thinking about law and grace. The law is no more an enemy of grace than the sacrificial system was. It compliments grace. By the way, Ezekiel makes it clear that the "legalistic" sacrificial system is going to be reinstituted. Instructive. Bill, of course, "all" does not mean "all" the Old Testament applies to Christians. No one has said in 2Ch 7:14 notes that it does. What I am saying is that inspiration and profitability is assured for the entirety of Scripture. 2Ti 3:16 is inclusive. That is, each passage, all Scripture, is profitable for counsel: whether it be teaching, reproof, correction or training in righteousness. Some passages to a greater degree than others, true. But all are profitable. That, I believe, is the plainest sense of the grammar. There isn't single verb in 2Ti 3:16. Our English supplies one. Instructive in itself. Further, Timothy's mother Eunice was a Jewess. From a child he had been brought up with the Scriptures (2Ti. 3:15). Simple math makes it impossible for this passage to refer primarily to the New Testament. When Timothy's Jewish mother taught him the Scriptures as a child she was teaching him the Old Testament. Further, "rightly dividing" (KJV 2Ti. 2:15; NAS "accurately handling") means to "teach accurately" (Friberg's Analytical Greek Lexicon). To use that verse to cleave our Bibles in two is hardly useful instruction (pardon the generalization and play on words). 2Ch 7:14 is profitable, applies to all believers of every "covenant" and "dispensation," gives us a bright beacon in a very dark day, and allows us the hope that our land can again enjoy God's healing if we, as believers, turn from our wicked ways. There are many passages in the New Testament I could have used to provide this same instruction. But none so completely fit the catastrophe we witnessed on September 11, 2001. And none was so fitting after having seen Mrs. Tyner's note to my son Joshua (see "The Answer" note in this passage). Brother Bill, I may have seemed harsh here but I assure you nothing of the kind is in mind. Thank you for your reply. John |
||||||
3 | God's people's land? | 2 Chr 7:14 | Bill Mc | 17877 | ||
John, I did not take your reply as harsh. In fact, I agree with most of what you said. I never implied that only the New Testament was inspired. My play on words for the Bible being divided into Old and New Testaments was just that, a play on words. However, many Christians are ignorant (not stupid, but unknowledgeable) concerning the differences between the OT and the NT. Hence you have sects of Christianity believing that everything God promised Israel is applicable to the church and that the church existed in the Old Testament. Brother, I did read 'The Answer.' This catastrophe has affected the whole world. I think that children are the least equipped to deal with the why's of an attrocity like this. But I do not feel that God is punishing America. If you do, so be it. But I find way too many verses in the NT that say we are forgiven. The hope that we need to extend to the world is not a conditional hope that if American Christians turn from there sin, then God will heal their land. No matter how you cut it, this was written to Israel. I, personally would not pray this anymore than I would pray David's prayer, "Take not Thine Spirit from me" or the Jabez prayer. To my knowledge, God never mentions America even once in the scriptures. Our hope lies in Christ alone as we live out the gospel before our fellow man. I was not trying to be insensitive to your post. I'm sorry if it came across that way. In Christ, Bill Mc |
||||||