Results 1 - 2 of 2
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Obvious Evidences: Charity or Vitriol? | Eph 5:7 | DocTrinsograce | 243325 | ||
"Beginning in Ephesians 4:17, Paul's main concern in outlining the practical results of faith in Jesus is to remind us that life as Christians is unlike life as unredeemed people. Holiness and the pursuit of God's will must characterize God's people, not falsehood, sexual immorality, theft, malice, covetousness, and foolishness (Eph. 4:17–5:17). Such ungodliness, if engaged in impenitently, leads finally to destruction, but Spirit-animated love, truth, and goodness strengthen us in Christ, restoring us to wholeness (Eph. 3:14–21; 4:15–16; see also 1 Cor. 8:1; 2 Peter 2). "The apostle's contrast between life in Christ and life as a citizen of this unbelieving world means that his contrast between drunkenness and life in the Spirit is not an abrupt shift in his thinking. Drunkenness is one of the many destructive impulses of the Gentiles (unbelievers); thus, it is inconsistent for those who profess Christ to drink excessively. Like the rest of Scripture, Paul does not forbid alcohol consumption altogether. God's Word permits the wise use of alcohol, but it forbids drinking to the point of intoxication (Ps. 104:14–15; Prov. 23:20–21; Rom. 13:13). "Being filled with too much alcohol leads to drunkenness and destruction. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, results in sobriety and edification. When the apostle exhorts us to be filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18, he is not teaching that those in Christ get a measure of the Holy Spirit that comes and goes at will. The Spirit seals every believer until the day of redemption, and He does not leave us (Eph. 1:13; 4:30). Given the book of Ephesians' stress on the work of the triune God in salvation and on the fullness of Christ (1:15–23; 3:14–19), Paul's stress on being filled with the Spirit points to our need to be conformed to God's own character. The Holy Spirit exists in perfect, indivisible union with the Father and Son, and He is the agent by which God's fullness indwells His people. We now experience a taste of this fullness in part, though we do not yet fully enjoy the communion with the Lord that will be ours when are glorified. To be filled with the Spirit is to yield ourselves willingly to His sanctifying work as He prepares us for that final day. In so doing, our union with Christ is strengthened, our fellowship with the Father is enhanced, and we increasingly bear the image of God Himself." See also Psalm 149; Habakkuk 3:17-19; Galatians 5; Colossians 3 --Ligonier Ministries Tabletalk www.ligonier.org |
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2 | Obvious Evidences: Charity or Vitriol? | Eph 5:7 | EdB | 243329 | ||
Drinking Part 3 JESUS GLORY MANIFESTED THROUGH WINE In his second chapter, John records that Jesus made "wine" out of water at Cana. The question is, "What kind of wine?" As we have seen, it could be fermented or unfermented, full strength or diluted. We must determine our answer to this question by contextual implication and moral likelihood. The position of this study Bible is that Jesus made wine (oinos) that was pure unfermented grape juice. The following data support this conclusion and give strong reasons for rejecting the opinion that Jesus made intoxicating wine. (1) The primary object of this miracle was to "manifest forth His glory" (John 2:11) in such a way as to induce personal faith and confidence in Him as the holy and righteous Son of God who came to save people from their sin (2:11; Mat. 1:21). To suggest that Christ showed forth His deity as the One and Only Son of the Father (John 1:14) by miraculously creating gallons of intoxicating wine for a drunken party (note 2:10, which implies that the people had already drunk freely), and that this was immensely important to His Messianic mission, requires an irreverence few are willing to display. it would testify more to the honor of God, and the honor and glory of Christ, to believe that He supernaturally created the same juices of the grape that God makes annually through the process of His natural created order. (see John 2:3, note). This miracle, therefore, points to Christ's sovereignty over the natural world and becomes a symbol of His power to transform sinful people spiritually into children of God (John 3:1-15). Because of this miracle "we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14; 2:11). (2) It is contrary to Scriptural revelation concerning the perfect obedience of Christ to his heavenly Father (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 Pet. 2:22) to suppose that He disobeyed the Father's moral command, "look not thou upon the wine when it is red... when it moveth itself aright," i.e. when it is fermented (Prov. 23:31, note). Indeed, Christ came to fulfill the law (Mat. 5:17) and would have supported the Biblical passage which condemns intoxicating wine as "a mocker" and "raging" (see Prov. 20:1, note) and the words of Hab. 2:15 "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink... and makest him drunken" (Lev. 10:8-11; Num. 6:1-5; Deut. 21:20; Prov. 31:4-7; Is. 28:7; Amos 2:8,12; 4:1; 6:6; Rom. 14:13,21). Check these verses out, these show us about: different kinds of wine, and what the Lord God said about wine. (3) Furthermore, note the following modern medical evidence. a. Current leading medical experts on human birth defects have found unmistakable evidence that moderate alcoholic consumption is damaging to the reproductive systems of women of children bearing age, causing miscarriages and births of babies with incurable mental and physical defects, World authorities on early embryology maintain that women who drink even moderate amounts of alcohol around the time of conception (a 48-hour time period) risk damaging the chromosomes of an egg preparing to leave the ovary and hence, causing disastrous results to the mental and physical development of the infant. b. It would be theologically absurd to maintain that Jesus served and encouraged the use of alcoholic beverages at a wedding which included many women as well as the young bride with the possibilities of her immediate conception. To maintain that He did not know of the potential terrible effects of intoxicating drink on unborn children is to call into question His deity, wisdom, and discernment of good and evil. To maintain that He knew of the potential harm and disfiguring results of alcohol, and yet promoted and encouraged its use, is to call into question His goodness, compassion, and love. The only sound conclusion rationally, Biblically, and theologically is that the wine which Christ made at the wedding in order to manifest His glory was pure, sweet, unfermented fruit of the vine -- just as the one that He used in the last supper. SOURCE: Full Life Study Bible, King James Version (p. 1538 and p. 1594) |
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