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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: Reformer Joe Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Is the sin nature substance or mind set? | Phil 3:9 | Reformer Joe | 100429 | ||
"Is the sin nature a substance or a mindset?" Not a substance. Mindset is closer. I would call it a disposition. "Has the sin nature been eradicated and replaced by the new nature?" That is a good question. Since the believer still struggles with "the flesh" (NIV translates the Greek to "sin nature"), I would say that it hasn't been eradicated, but it is being put to death in the believer. There is a struggle between the desire to please and obey God in faith and the sin nature (which will ultimately be eradicated). "Or does the sin nature remain in the believer and battle against the new nature?" I think that it is clear in the Bible that both dispositions are there. Galatians 5:16 ff. describes this struggle. "Is the sin nature the same thing as the flesh?" Yes. "What is the new nature? Is it God in me or is it a part of me that is a new creation?" The Holy Spirit indwells the believer, but the new nature is a human one that the Spirit is changing. "Is the new nature a substance or a mind set?" A disposition, like the old one. --Joe! |
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2 | ?self effort 2 B holy now vs befor saved | Phil 3:9 | Reformer Joe | 100109 | ||
"What is the difference between my self effort to be holy now that I am saved and my self effort to be good when I was saved?" I assume you meant your self-effort to be good before you were saved, right? :) Your self-effort before you are saved is a pointless exercise, because no one can attain the perfection that God requires. We all have sinned, and legalism (the idea of earning salvation by law-keeping) is thoroughly refuted in Scripture. We need the imputed righteousness of Christ to be able to stand before an infinitely holy God. The key is understanding that you were not saved just so that you will go to heaven, but so that God's glory would be displayed through your sanctification. So, the Spirit of God motivates us and empowers us to fight against our old sin nature, to put sin to death (Colossians 3). Our role in our sanctification is to wage "no-holds-barred" war against our sin and thereby glorify God (1 Peter 2:11-12). To do this, we rely on God's Spirit that is working within us to give us the strength to do so, and we make use of the means of grace God has given us (word, sacraments, prayer) as our tools and weapons in this struggle. None of those things is effectual in the life of the unbeliever seeking to establish his own righteousness (other than to be used as visual aids for a hypocritical legalism), but they are God's gifts to the Christian, ways in which the Spirit works to glorify the Triune God through our cooperation and transformation (Romans 12:2). A great book on this subject is _The Discipline of Grace_ by Jerry Bridges: http://www.discerningreader.com/disofgracjer.html --Joe! |
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3 | What does it mean to be "in Christ?" | 2 Cor 5:17 | Reformer Joe | 100025 | ||
I would hasten to add that there is an external "putting on of Christ" which does not always correspond to the any true conversion of the individual. Just as one can be circumcised physically and not spiritually (Romans 2:28-29), so one can be baptized physically and not in the heart. --Joe! |
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4 | What does it mean to be "in Christ?" | 2 Cor 5:17 | Reformer Joe | 100020 | ||
'"What does it mean to be "in Christ?" Although this is the verse that may most often come to mind, there are many other references to consider . . . any comments or observations?' I think Romans 6 speaks to this quite well. --Joe! |
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5 | Abrahamic covenant fulfillment ?...ect.. | Bible general Archive 2 | Reformer Joe | 99851 | ||
"The church has not replaced God's plan for Israel" Even covenant theologians do not, by and large, hold to a "replacement theology." Most see that God's plan all along was redemption for all humanity. God tells Abraham that through his seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Conversion of the Gentiles was never "Plan B," and God worked temporarily through the nation of Israel in almost an exclusive sense until the Messiah came. It was through the rejection of their Messiah that the Jews became "branches broken off so we could be grafted in," (Romans 11) but that doesn't take away from the fact that that chapter also predicts a return of Israel from the apostasy they have been in for the last 2000 years. Nor does it suggest that there are two separate covenants with two ways of salvation, one for Israel and one for the rest of humanity. Reading Romans 9-11 answers the question, "What about Israel." Also, Ephesians 2 shows how there are not "two tracks," as Christ made one new people out of two peoples, breaking down the dividing wall of hostility. ""Abrahamic covenant (not yet fulfilled)" The Abrahamisc Covenant is fulfilled in Christ. That is one of the main arguments in the book of Galatians, particularly chapters 3 and 4. --Joe! |
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6 | 2 Samuel sin prophesied by Nathan | 2 Samuel | Reformer Joe | 99590 | ||
You are understanding it correctly. Sin has consequences that often reach far beyond our own lives. --Joe! |
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7 | Can I serve as elder if have no children | 1 Tim 3:4 | Reformer Joe | 99315 | ||
I would say that one is qualified without children, even though the presence of godly children does indicate that one is faithful in leading a household and therefore more qualified to lead the household of faith. --Joe! |
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8 | "objects of wrath" revisted | Eph 2:3 | Reformer Joe | 99232 | ||
Actually, Paul uses the term "children of wrath" in Ephesians 2:3, and includes everyone in that category as being formerly in that category or still in that category ("We all"). He is also referring to our natures, not referring to God's purpose in election. Even if I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and my sins were atoned for by Christ centuries before my birth, in my nature I was (i.e. before conversion) just like those who will be in hell. Therefore, I can say that I was formerly a child of wrath and never a vessel of wrath prepared for destruction. --Joe! |
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9 | Timothy's background / character | 1 Timothy | Reformer Joe | 98947 | ||
Read Acts, Philippians 2, and 1 and 2 Timothy. --Joe! |
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10 | would this wine make a person drunk? | John 2:3 | Reformer Joe | 98941 | ||
Alternatively, you can examine a more historically-based analysis of the use of alcohol in the ancient Near and Middle East and in the church by reading "What Would Jesus Drink?" by following this link: http://www.christiancounterculture.com/cc_30812.html --Joe! |
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11 | who are the women of Genesis | Genesis | Reformer Joe | 98752 | ||
Rebekah--responsible for the Jacob/Esau switcheroo Rachel and Leah--Jacob gets what is coming to him --Joe! |
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12 | IS there any answers out there? | NT general Archive 1 | Reformer Joe | 98544 | ||
You wrote: 'What is he on about? I was asked a simple enough question, " when a child dies, in the age of innocence, where does the soul go and how can the soul return to Heaven if sin is not allowed into the presence of Holy God? The word I was researching was," Limbo" the Catholic doctrine that is their answer, what is ours?' The confession that my denomination adheres to answers the question thusly: "Elect infants, dying in infancy, are regenerated, and saved by Christ, through the Spirit, who works when, and where, and how He pleases: so also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word." --Westminster Confession of Faith 10.3 --Joe! |
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13 | Where are the houses Jesus promised? | Mark 10:30 | Reformer Joe | 96730 | ||
" I told him that the Lord does that every time. I thought he would understand when I said that my house was his, and that my brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands were his, as was what belonged to ninety-nine other Christians. But he knows believers who do not share and I am not sure he believed me." Seems like a good explanation to me, whether he believes it or not. --Joe! |
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14 | What do you like about the ... church? | 1 Cor 3:22 | Reformer Joe | 95774 | ||
"What do you think is good and praiseworthy in say, the Roman Catholic Church?" --Trinitarian doctrine--Many valuable saints of God throughout church history --Officially pro-life --Many of my brothers and sisters in Christ are RCC --Don't treat the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper as merely empty symbols (despite the fact I would disagree with them as to what they DO do) --Joe! |
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15 | FEAR OF THE LORD MEANING | Bible general Archive 2 | Reformer Joe | 95656 | ||
With a proper understanding of God's holiness, we should stand in complete awe, and even fear when we understand our lack of holiness by comparison. I know that in Christ I have peace with God (Romans 5:1), but I still know that knowledge of his holiness should close my mouth as it did Job's or "undo" me as it did the prophet Isaiah. Read Isaiah 6 and Revelation 1 to get a good idea of what godly fear looks like and what brought it about. Psalm 33 also gives us a good idea of why we should stand in awe of his omnipotence. Read those chapters, taking into account that it is the real, true and living God being described there. "Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him." --Psalm 33:8 --Joe! |
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16 | Who are these removed branches? | 1 Tim 3:6 | Reformer Joe | 92543 | ||
It depends whether you define "Christian" as a member of Christ's visible church, or a truly regenerate member of Christ's church. --Joe! |
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17 | Denominations is shameful? | 1 Cor 3:4 | Reformer Joe | 92541 | ||
"Does this verse speak against denominational christianity?" Some claim that it does, but in context it merely speaks out against unwarranted factions. These factions in Corinth were (a) within the same church, not different denominations, and (b) personality-based, not doctrinally based. "My Catholic spouse speaks against offshoots and chose to contend with me after 20 years of marriage, just because I found my own church just recently. " Well, he is making several assumptions that I would question. First of all, he implies that the Catholic Church of today is doctrinally identical to the apostolic church. Secondly, he apparently holds to the infallibility of the RCC. Lastly, he is erroneous in his assumption that one must be in communion with Rome to be part of what the New Testament refers to as the church. --Joe! |
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18 | scriptures about church member behavior? | 1 Cor 11:16 | Reformer Joe | 92130 | ||
The most thorough passage is 1 Corinthians 11-14, but almost every epistle has something pertaining to relationships among believers (e.g. all throughout James). --Joe! |
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19 | Spirit of Adoption/ God as Father | Rom 8:15 | Reformer Joe | 88951 | ||
As someone who is the father of soon-to-be-adopted twin girls, I would recommend Robert A. Peterson's book _Adopted by God_. You can read about the book at http://www.prpbooks.com --Joe! |
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20 | eager to preach the gospel to believers? | Rom 1:15 | Reformer Joe | 87891 | ||
Because the gospel is what should be preached every Sunday. It is for believers, too! Law (God's requirements of us) and gospel (what God has done for us in Christ to meet the judicial requirements of that law) are the two sides of all good preaching. --Joe! |
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