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Results from: Notes Author: Zsuzsi Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Biblical - women preachers/teachers??? | 1 Tim 2:12 | Zsuzsi | 123707 | ||
Dear Steve, Upon reviewing the ToU I do see now that I am underage. :-( When I registered I must have carelessly skipped over that point, thank you for drawing my attention to it. Of course I shall not violate the laws any further... I hope that in my replies I have not offended anyone by my immaturity. I'll come back two years later... Unless I -fairly- get deprived of my right to post because of "abuse" forever. Yet I think I will get in contact with you about this issue in a few days - privately. May God bless you, Zsuzsi PS: I have already contacted some of the people you mentioned by e-mail... |
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2 | Biblical - women preachers/teachers??? | 1 Tim 2:12 | Zsuzsi | 123615 | ||
Hi Followinghim, Thank you for your words of encouragement. :-) I am glad I am not alone with my opinion. To me the Scriptures do not seem to be speaking against the possibility of women taking up pastoral jobs either. Nevertheless, as I notice, many people have very different views - and since this question is personally important to me in the period of discernment I am in anyway, I think I will directly turn to the Lord with this issue before my emotions make me too biased to accept if by any chance I am actually wrong. God bless you, Zsuzsi |
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3 | Biblical - women preachers/teachers??? | 1 Tim 2:12 | Zsuzsi | 123611 | ||
Hi Emmaus, Thank you! Wow, this is long...! Seeing it is Roman Catholic, written by the Pope (whom I not only have heard of but have much respect for btw), I suspect I know what the conclusion is going to be; but I promise to read it through thoroughly. :-) God bless you, Zsuzsi |
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4 | Zsuzsi, which Scripture don't YOU keep? | 1 Tim 2:12 | Zsuzsi | 123609 | ||
Dear Godsservant, No problems. :-) Other people have disagreed with me in much more drastic ways but that does not mean they are being mean or anything. I thank you for sharing your opinion with me - you are more than welcome to disagree, as many times as you wish. :-) God bless you, Zsuzsi |
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5 | Biblical - women preachers/teachers??? | 1 Tim 2:12 | Zsuzsi | 123607 | ||
Hi Angel, Thanks for your reply, especially that you took the time to write it even though you were falling asleep... Well I must say I disagree with many of your points. For example: yes, God did command that people must not kill - He said it as a very general statement, not specifying whom He was referring to. Yet it was He Himself who commanded certain people to be killed (I can also give you Bible references, there are many examples): lawbreakers, worshippers of idols, people of other nations etc. His people had to choose to obey His specific command in each case, rather than the generalized one... If He was allowed to so "change His Mind", I do not see why He should not be allowed to call women to His service when times have obviously changed. Secondly, I do not think "ministry service" (being a pastor, passing one's knowledge on to those in need, whether men or women) is equivalent to "usurping" authority over people in any way. I would personally consider it "service" to the Lord and to humanity, which requires serious dedication, persesrverance and humbleness. It is not about what titles we stick on the door of one's office - it's about how people get closer to Christ by us being there for them. Thirdly, if we are to take this passage separately from its context and accept it as you are suggesting we should, we see that Paul is talking about ALL forms of teaching or having authority - 1Tim 2 has actually nothing to do with church organization at all... That would mean that my mother, for example, who is a biophysicist and has male PhD students every year is sinning by simply teaching or guiding them... Priscilla herself would also have sinned by teaching Apollos - Paul never condemned her. Not to mention, of course, I would have been sinning by "teaching" on this forum and everywhere else, I would actually be sinning even right now by writing this to you! Taking this verse by itself would simply tell us that the true Christian lifestyle is against gender-equality, we are to be anti-feminists and discriminating. Now I do not believe it was even close to either God's or Paul's intentions to create that picture of the ideal Christian community... Approving of women taking the position to which they are entitled in the Body of Christ is, in my opinion, not even similar to approving of homosexuality or abortion. About the relationship between the church and state I am again on a different opinion but I will not elaborate that now in detail. But since this question is so personal to me, I must accept that you can probably remain much more objective about it than I can... Indeed it is hard to ignore the quite strong emotions which statements that belie my own calling raise in me. I hope you can understand that. But of course it is not about how I feel - it is about discerning, without false justifications, what vocation God has intended me to have. Honestly I would rather be a toilet-cleaner all my life than grieve the Lord by becoming something I am not authorized to become... So I think I will now go on a few days' quiet retreat to seek the will of God before I start debating with you or anyone (especially older men!) about this issue. I would really appreciate prayers... May God bless you, and thank you again for your concern for my spiritual development, Zsuzsi |
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6 | Biblical - women preachers/teachers??? | 1 Tim 2:12 | Zsuzsi | 123548 | ||
Of course, Steve. But no Scripture should be taken out of biblical and historical context and so be used for teaching, reproof, correction or training in righteousness. (2Tim 2:14) If we read 1Tim 2 from the beginning, we see that Paul is calling EVERYONE to a modest and quiet life, not only the women... Women are LIKEWISE (1Tim 2:9) to be quiet and receive instruction from the men of the congregation who are not deceived by Satan as Eve was in the garden of Eden. Women were quicker to fall when it came to accepting false teachings. (2Tim 3:6) 1Tim 1 tells about existing misleadings in doctrine and living. In his epistles, Paul was trying to sort out this chaotic state of the early churches and he needed to clarify whom people should listen to and whose teachings they were to reject. Also see, for example, that in Rev 2:20 Jesus convicts the church of Thyatira of allowing the woman Jezebel to lead His people into sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. The Lord is not saying the problem is that she is a woman - the problem is with her teaching. I think we should also look at the historical context in which these epistles were written: in the ancient societies, women by tradition remained at home as housewives, most often uneducated, while their husbands were responsible for supporting the family financially. By now the status of women has increased to the extent that men in many places are equally responsible for the household tasks and women also have professional jobs. It comes without saying that no woman should teach God's Word without first learning about it but I think it would be just wrong to apply rules which were mentioned in reference to the traditions of the ancient cultures and not ours. It is much more important to look at the intentions of God and the writer of the actual passages and apply the rules appropriately in our societies. There are several passages in the Bible which are, even though truly God's inspired Word (I agree- everything in the Bible is what He wants us to know), impossible to keep word-by-word today. They wonderfully prove the Father's meticulous care to teach us how to live a healthy and peaceful life - He designed us, He knows the best what is good for us. But we know He is a God of the living, not the dead. See for example Leviticus 15, where we are instructed to wash ourselves completely when we have even touched a chair or bed which a menstruating woman has touched, and till evening we are to be considered "unclean". Can we keep that today? No. We don't even know when a woman has her period. But in contrast, God told Paul not to consider "unclean" what He has made "clean". (Acts 10:15, 11:9.) God should be allowed to choose women into His service if He wishes so... God does not want us to live under the law but to be free in Christ to serve Him according to His will (Galatians 5:18). Similarly, in contrast to the seemingly anti-feminist 2Tim 2 and 1Cor 14, we are also taught that it does not make a difference in Christ whether we are women or men (Galatians 3:28). In fact, if we take all of Paul's teachings literally, we should think women are to pray and prophesy with their heads covered, and assume that it is shame for a woman to have short hair or her long hair uncovered at all. (1Cor 11:13-15, in the context of 1Cor 11:2-16) But obviously in our modern culture it is not disgraceful at all any more... And God did actually leave marks in the Bible that tell us that He does choose women into His service: female servants of God, including prophetesses and teachers, are mentioned several times (eg. Deborah, Hannah, Esther, Anna, Priscilla, the 4 daughters of Philip etc) and Jesus also chose women into His service just as well as men (eg. the Samaritanian woman who spread His coming, Mary Magdalene, Mary and Martha the sisters of Lazarus, His mother was also with the apostles when the Holy Spirit ascended on them, etc). Looking at the biblical and social setting of 1Tim 2:4, I, genuinely and with the intention of changing my mind if it is proven that I am wrong, believe that Paul instructs women against two things in both 1Tim 2 and 1Cor 14: 1) They should not teach false doctrines (learn in humbleness and submission instead of teaching something they themselves do not know) 2) They should not engage in gossip in church (keep quiet in church, ask their husbands if there is something they are interested in etc) "But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner" 1Cor 14:40 But being a (very) young woman myself, and feeling called to God's service, if what I have written offends you in any way, please forgive me and I promise not to provoke you with this any further. I just pray that God shows me if I am wrong before I do anything that would displease Him. God bless you, your little sister in Christ, Zsuzsi |
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7 | Is the quote presumptuous? | John 6:44 | Zsuzsi | 123532 | ||
Hi Knucklehead, Satan does bother with everyone, saved or unsaved, he even bothered with Jesus so why would we be different? I cannot tell you why he does it apart from that he hates God and all things that are from Him, but speaking from personal experience I can tell that he does tempt Christians as well. Unfortunately we can't tell him where he "should" move on to... :-) In my opinion, salvation depends solely on whether one is reborn in the Spirit or not (John 3:1-21) - and in rebirth, I believe, our whole inner nature changes from 'sinful' to 'righteous'. By being reborn, we get the same Spirit whom Jesus Himself had (Galatians 4:6), and as He did, in our inner self we delight in doing His will (eg. Romans 7:22), and we call Him and know Him as 'our Father'. Even Jesus is not ashamed of calling us His brothers/sisters (Hebrews 2:12). If we live by this Spirit, we will be "in" but not "of" the world - this is what Jesus prayed for in John 17. Yet our mortal flesh is unredeemed while we are on earth (c.v. Romans 8:23), and it 'wars' against the Spirit of God in us (Romans 7:23). This is where Satan can attack; we must live by the Spirit in us and not obey the lusts of our flesh (Galatians 5:16). If we sin, that is because we have not obeyed the Spirit of God living in us. But that does not stop us from being reborn - it simply means we have temporarily acted against our own reborn selves, which is the same as acting against God, hence the guilt and consequences etc.. (Read Romans 7, esp v 9-25). We also know that God has defeated Satan and will strenghten and support us to do good (2Peter 2:9, Romans 8:11, etc), and we can count on the sympathy of Jesus when we are tempted because He knows what it feels like (Hebrews 4:15). Therefore Satan has no power over us - unless we allow him to have some. So we are actually told to rejoice in temptations (James 1:2) because we can be sure of victory. Unless we ourselves choose otherwise, of course. And if we do, we have still gained the knowledge of how dependant we actually are on God. If we sin, God is gracious and forgives (1John 1:9). So sinning does not take our birthright: we are still His children, and He still loves us. I usually say to people struggling with guilt that God foresaw all the sins we would commit before He chose to save us; so if He loved us yesterday, He loves us today too, no matter what we have done or will do tomorrow. This is why we can feel safe in our position before Christ. Maybe I am misinterpreting things, but it seems to me that the Scriptures are not saying we are to try to be good because we are afraid of what would happen if we weren't, or because we want any rewards, not even because of our appreciation of the sacrifice Jesus made for us; but because we are One with Him and simply can't do otherwise (1John 3:9). We are not our own any more: we are God's (1Cor 6:19). This is a wondrous thing: we can try to live 'good' lives even before we are reborn, that is what many people claim to do today - but that again is something like the young man who came to Jesus, saying he's been doing everything God commanded all his life but obviously he was still missing something: although he was prepared to obey God as a remote servant, he was not prepared to be reborn and completely owned by Him as a child (Mark 10:17-21). I believe it is the initmate oneness with Him, the sweet Father-child relationship between Him and us that makes us holy, not our own attempts to act righteously. There is only one sin that will not be forgiven: the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (eg. Mark 3:29), which I believe is "making Him out to be a liar" by claiming we walk in His light while we actually consciously walk in darkness (1John 1:10). That is a sin we can never repent of, since we deny repentance itself - neither will God forgive. Neither the generosity of the Father nor the sacrifice of Jesus "entitles" anyone to sin. Abusing the freedom which is our birthright is what Paul repeatedly refers to as "God forbid!". Once we are reborn, faith or works as a basis for our salvation loses meaning. Salvation is what God gives to us, not what we give to ourselves. All God wants is a willingness to completely surrender our lives to Him and enjoy the "fullness in Christ" already on earth and in the life to come. Read also Ephesians 3:14-21. This is what I believe... Hope it made sense... :-) God bless you, Zsuzsi |
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8 | "I SAID, 'YOU ARE GODS?'" | Ps 82:6 | Zsuzsi | 123337 | ||
Hi again Ray, Thanks for your reply, I must admit I have slightly (very?) different views about basically all of the passages you were referring to, but that is okay, of course. :-) Thanks for the passage translation, now I do understand where it came from. KJV and NIV are the translations I use most often and it can be translated as 'congregation of rulers/gods', or as you said, 'congregation of God'. Hebrew can be hard to put into English at times. :-) For the rest, this is what I think: 1) You said you believe the psalm was referring to the active involvement of God in the affairs of men. (I asssume by this you mean His earthly involvement in our affairs.) This is the first point of disagreement: I actually believe it talks about the Last Judgment - my thinking originates especially from v8 saying "thou shalt inherit all nations"... As far as I know, that will not happen before the second Pentecost... It seems to me that the psalmist is crying for the coming of God ("stand in the congregation", "arise" etc) But in a way I do understand your thinking too... 2) You were asking who was talking. Personally I believe the psalmist talks in v1-5, God in 6-7, and the psalmist again in v8. To me it seems like the psalmist foresees the reply/judgment of God: "I [God] said ye are gods [you have authority from Me to judge, eg. Rom 13:1-2, or Jer 5:31] ... but ye shall die like men [because of your iniquity]." 3) For Psalm 8:4-6, together with Hebrews 2:6-9: I would rather say that it was man (humanity) who was made 'little lower than the angels', which is great dignity FOR MAN - he got power over all nature, as Psalm 8:6-8 mentions - but the rest of this psalm still affirms that primarily it is all God's wonderful creation. (Even though God does 'care for' man, He is still much more powerful than us.) At the same time, and this is what I believe Hebrews 2:6-9 is telling us, becoming a man, that is, 'little lower than the angels', FOR GOD was a great act of humility, out of His love for man. He 'tasted death for every man' so that He may call us 'brethen'. C.v. Phil 2:5(6)-12. 4) Of course we should test the spirits. But I have hope that the 'spirits' whose writings are included in the Bible were truly writing what God inspired them to write. :-) Thanks for your patience in this discussion. God bless you, Zsuzsi |
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9 | God and gods? | Matt 11:11 | Zsuzsi | 123319 | ||
Hi following him, "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1Corinthians 13 (NASB) I agree - we can preach the Love and Care and Light of our Lord in the most convincing way ever possible, but without ACTUALLY loving and and caring and being the light for "the others", they will rightly think they are the victorious, innoncently persecuted and rejoicing servants of God. But on the other hand, our service to them must not become a 'stumbling block' to people whom we are supposed to shepherd; SBF is a public forum, where new or even "becoming" Christians also come to learn - about the Trinitarian, Christian theology and faith, not the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses about two or more 'gods' and various heavens etc. There is a great danger that new Christians misunderstand the real Christian doctrine if even on a forum like this they get a mixture of different, including non-Christian, ideologies. We are responsible for the 'little ones', and the Lord Himself entrusted us with this task - this is why we do sometimes have to 'pull the plug'. I gave Ralph my e-mail, he can talk to me about this if he wants to. He certainly must be treated and respected as a human person possessing dingity, having been created in the image of God - just as we are. But, just as we do, he also must keep himself to the original purposes and rules of this forum included in the ToU, which he agreed to before joining. There is a careful balance between loving people who fiercely argue with us about the Truth and loving people who depend on our more mature Christian guidance. It is really nice to have people who think like you on this forum. May God bless you, Zsuzsi |
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10 | "Least in the kingdom of God"? | Matt 11:11 | Zsuzsi | 123292 | ||
"...he cannot be God, duh"..?? "Postings must be Biblically based and not opposing to the authority of the Bible, Christianity, or the deity of Jesus Christ. Whenever possible, postings should include supporting Bible references." Ralph if as a result of this you justly happen to get kicked from this forum, feel free to contact me at dsokus@hotmail.com - I'd be happy to discuss this issue with you. You must have respect for the rules of SBF - saying such things is simply not appropriate here. Yours, Zsuzsi |
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11 | Revealing error is persecution? :-) | Matt 11:11 | Zsuzsi | 123290 | ||
Hi Stephanie, Welcome to the forum; I am glad to see another person so devoted to the Truth of the Lord! Originally I started this discussion considering whom Jesus was referring to in Matthew 11:11/Luke 7:28 by "the least in the kingdom of God", but it seems to be ending up in a debate with Jehovah's Witnesses about the nature of God and the Kingdom in general. By his questions, Tim was trying to prove that Jesus is actually fully God. I pray that this forum will be a blessing to you. Your sister in Christ, Zsuzsi |
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12 | "Least in the kingdom of God"? | Matt 11:11 | Zsuzsi | 123276 | ||
"As for as Isaiah 9:6, I am not familiar with the questionable translation that includes "Almighty" rather than the correct "mighty."" I do apologize, to both God and to you: you are right: I just checked and it is actually 'mighty' instead of 'almighty', in all the translations I have found. I am sincerely sorry. But I do not see what difference it makes with respect to the following "God" and "Everlasting Father"... "Phillipians 2:5,6 speaks for itself in that Paul encourages us to have Jesus' humble attitude - not to grasp at something that does not belong to us, but to submit ourselves to the only true, invisible God, and He will exalt us." Yes, Paul is encouraging us to be humble. But where did '...that does not belong to us' come from? Paul is stating that Christ Jesus WAS in very nature God, and equal with God, but He did not consider His status 'anything to be grasped', but humbled Himself and came to earth to suffer and die as a man. The Almighty Himself suffered and died for us.. I consider my sins and the sins of all humanity worse than what could be recompensed by the offering of any animal or an ordinary (even sinless) human person's life to God. Only He Himself could save the world by bearing the punishment and letting His own Self become what He hated the most in the world: sin (2Cor 5:21). "Friendship with the world is enmity with God, yet many popular "Christian" ministers consult with world rulers... Find the people that "are no part of the world" and its divisive political wars, and you will find those 'sanctified (set apart for sacred service) by the truth.' That is, you will find the truth and it will set you free from the slavitude of false religion." It is a truly a great pain to see the name "Christian" being abused so many times - but I suggest that we do not judge the belief itself by those who claim to hold it yet do not live by it. I could also mention a few embarrassing facts about Jehovah's Witnesses but I will resist the temptation to do so; I do not condemn you for the faults of others whom you share your faith with. Just a comment: 'sanctified by the truth' does not seem to be the same as "set apart for sacred service" to me. But that is again, my personal opinion. I am interested to know what you think about these issues. I honestly wish you were as free in your faith as I am in mine... I'll pray for you tonight. Yours in Christ, Zsuzsi |
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13 | "Least in the kingdom of God"? | Matt 11:11 | Zsuzsi | 123275 | ||
Greetings Ralph, "Did you notice that no one sent Emmaus a note to back off the JW rhetoric?" Yes, I did. But did you notice that his note was a simple, objective statement about the viewpoint what VictorA's posts reflected? He did not say, either directly or indirectly, "Don't be deceived by him", or "he is a religious bigot", or anything alike. Hence the no replies... My answers to your questions: 1) If Adam did not sin, how long would he have lived? Forever. 2) What would the earth look like if sin had not entered the world? It would be the Garden of Eden, or Paradise. 3) What does this tell you about God's original purpose for the earth? The earth was to provide people with food and everything they needed in their lives. :-) If in your question you rather mean 'people' instead of 'the earth', His original purpose for man was to rule over all His creation, to His good pleasure, according to Genesis 1. But God's original purpose for man has changed; as He revealed through Jesus and His prophets, He will first destroy all the earth, then rebuild it and allow only His own to enter His kingdom. See, for example, the book of Micah. I could have chosen the book of any other prophet but I like Micah because it is very concise: "Therefore, the LORD says: 'I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.'" Micah 2:3 "In that day," declares the LORD, I will gather the lame; I will assemble the exiles and those I have brought to grief. I will make the lame a remnant, those driven away a strong nation. The LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from that day and forever." Micah 4:6-7 Jesus is the same LORD who will rule over all the earth: "He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace." Micah 5:4-5 (Read Micah 5:1-5; Jesus is the Promised Ruler, coming from Bethlehem..) This does NOT mean that Satan has destroyed God's plan; but personally I would think we have to give God the right to change His Mind any time He wishes! (There have been examples that He was grieved about what He had done, and did something which was not part of His 'original' plan; again, because of the iniquity of men. See Gen 6, the story of Noah.) We, sinners, humans, all of us, should have been cast to eternal damnation; but what is waiting for the reborn is actually better than what He originally planned for mankind, and that is because He is extraordinarily Gracious, to say the least. If we are born of the Spirit, we are not merely animal-like, instint-led humans any more; we are one with Him, and heirs of the eternal Kingdom. God's purpose for us is no longer to eat and drink and reproduce but to be completely united with Him! And that makes much sense to me. I do not know about you, but my wish for eternity is not to have my own planet to rule over, I can hardly keep my 10sqm room tidy and organized.. Neither do I dream about lying around and bearing children one after the other, or butchering animals for myself - by the way, would they just get cooked and ready for dinner all by themselves in your ideal picture of heaven? Personally I am rather looking forward to resting forever in a tiny corner of the Merciful Heart of my Lord Jesus; in peace, comfort and security, nourished by His Warmth and His Love - the Everlasting Water He promised to fill our thirst with. And I will be happy and satisfied - that is my hope, faith and driving force. :-) You are fully entitled to prefer the butchery, though. "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy." Micah 7:18 This is indeed fundamental, uncomplicated and beautiful to ponder for humans... :-) (To be continued) |
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14 | "I SAID, 'YOU ARE GODS?'" | Ps 82:6 | Zsuzsi | 123197 | ||
Ray, I agree with most of your points: God judges, and 'gods' are who judge (on earth) and show partiality to the wicked. Also, I agree that the ones who hated God exalted themselves... I also believe that if we join ourselves to the Lord, we are one spirit with Him. What I do not understand is how 'His own' has come into the passage. If we are indeed one with Him when we join ourselves to Him, we do not hate Him and do not exalt ourselves to His place; we live by His Spirit. For people who are reborn in Christ, there is no judgment (condemnation), I believe (Rom 8:1). This made me think that God will not judge in 'His own' congregation, but 'the congregation' of disloyal 'gods'. This way in Psalm 82:8, God does not 'possess' the nations, but 'will inherit' them (see the different translations of this verse). Do you agree with me about the followings? 1) The judgment of God, which the psalm talks about, refers to the last judgment (Day of Judgment), which is heavenly and eternal (i.e. it is not the judgment that God executes already while we are on earth). 2) The judgment of 'gods' here refers to the unjust judgments of mortal rulers; this judgment is executed by people, it is earthly and will be 'judged' by God on the last day. Looking forward to seeing what you think. God bless you, Zsuzsi |
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15 | "Least in the kingdom of God"? | Matt 11:11 | Zsuzsi | 123193 | ||
Ralph, I wish you had filled out your profile so I'd know whom I am addressing. For now: I would first encourage you to re-consider your attitude towards other people's opinion on this forum, and especially to try to refrain from such disrespectful comments aimed at anybody in particular, please. Emmaus and I have discussed this issue peacefully and in Christian love; he is my brother in Christ whom I have much respect for. His posts reflect consideration for my opinion as well. Nevertheless he has the right to disagree with me, or anyone, just as well as you do. It is not a sign of any "religious bigotry" to be a Catholic. I offer you reading into Romans 14: "Do not let what you consider good to be spoken of as evil." (Rom 14:16) Thank you for your exceptional concern about my spiritual walk, but as for me, the Lord is my Shepherd; He loves me so much that He gave His life for me, and He has already defeated even the powers of hell. So I do not question whether He is able or willing to protect me from going astray: He leads me on the paths of His righteousness for His Name's sake. "Just a comment on Acts 2:34. See Matt 22:43,44 for further clarification. David calls "my Lord" Jesus, that is not to say "my LORD" (the first lord) that refers to Yahweh, but rather the latter "lord." " This I understand. But David uses 'Adonay' in the original passage (Psalm 110:1), and the Hebrew word was indeed spoken in place of Yahweh in Jewish display of reverence. The Deity of Jesus cannot be questioned: I could quote thousands of passages but I'll only give you two now: Isa 9:6: "For to us a child is born.. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, AlMIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, Prince of Peace"; Phil 2:5-6: "...Christ Jesus: Who, being IN VERY NATURE GOD..." "I have to agree with VictorA on this one. 1Cor 15: 23, in defending the resurrection hope, Paul refers to the Christ as the firstfruits, and to those who belong to him.... These are the "sons of God" whose revealing "creation" (the rest of humanity) eagerly awaits in order to be set free from God's enemy death. (1 Cor 15:24-26)" If I correctly understand the passage, it talks about only two "groups": one is Jesus ALONE, and the next is the ones who believe in Him. See Col 1:18, Acts 26:23, or Rev 1:5. Where exactly does the Bible say that some people will become rulers over the world while others will be placed on earth to fulfill their creation? Jesus said He would (alone) separate the 'good people' from the 'bad ones'; the 'good' -'those who belong to Him'- will get to His kingdom (share in His glory, etc), while the 'bad' will be cast out into the darkness. ("He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left." Matt 25:33) The term 'sons of God' usually refers to godly people in general. "If humans will not live forever on earth, then God's purpose for the earth has been prevented by Satan. I refuse to believe that, and I encourage all to rethink this fundamental truth as they study the Bible! (Isaiah 55:11)" I never said that humans will not live forever on earth. I just say that the ones who belong to Him will be like Him, for they will see Him as He is (1John 3:2)... And that He will create new heavens and a new earth, so the old things will not be remembered (Isaiah 65:17). Personally I prefer to keep things simple, especially when it gets to Scripture-study. The Word of God is not to be overcomplicated, it speaks for itself. But you are of course allowed to disagree. Greetings, Zsuzsi |
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16 | Can someone help me get to God? | Rom 10:9 | Zsuzsi | 122750 | ||
Earnest, If earthly wealth is really "a measure of one's inner being", then I am very blessed to be so poor in spirit too (Mt 5:3)! ...But... may I ask, where exactly did you get "vitally important to man and God" from? Blessings, Zsuzsi |
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17 | "Least in the kingdom of God"? | Matt 11:11 | Zsuzsi | 122708 | ||
Hi Angel, I am glad to see we are now almost in complete agreement. "but still, I am cautious because He also made it clear that He was above those who He served:" Of course. This is actually His point in Luke 7:28 and Matthew 11:11: "...yet who is least in the kingdom of heaven IS GREATER THAN HE." John was only the greatest of the human forerunners of the Messiah. Jesus Himself was God. God bless you, Zsuzsi |
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18 | Can someone help me get to God? | Rom 10:9 | Zsuzsi | 122707 | ||
Yes. :-) Did I say anything different? Grace to you too, Zsuzsi |
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19 | Can someone help me get to God? | Rom 10:9 | Zsuzsi | 122706 | ||
EdB, What you said is unfortunately true, and it is very shameful... I believe this behavior of people orginates from plain pride: this is the tragedy of humanity, wanting to know, and thinking we know, but not realizing that we are limited in our knowledge and therefore do err. We ate from the tree of knowledge, and see where we are heading. We acknowledge, with words, that only God knows everything; but somehow it seems to be beneath our dignity to accept that we ourselves might sometimes be wrong. Bigotry is one of our weakest points; we all are tempted and we do fall. To make it worse, we even draw on the 'Holy Spirit' as an excuse. :-( As for the denominations, you are so right... Jesus made one Church, and I believe He never intended it to end up in different groups getting into bitter debates with one another. (John 13:34: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.") He especially did not intend it to become any financial institution or political organization (Mark 12:17: "Then Jesus said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." And they were amazed at him."). It was meant to keep His sheep in unity and bound to Him - so they would stand on the Rock and not be shaken when the storm comes. I am convinced that the painful divisions within His Body hurt Him the most. I actually think we should thank Him, daily, on our knees, that He is patient enough to hold us together even this much, when we have constantly tried to scatter throughout the centuries. Sadly the problem is rooted too deeply in us... I mean, just look around: we, being 'good Christians', even start selling sightseeing books and postcards in cathedrals and churches - I am sure Jesus would whip all that out just as He did in Jerusalem. And after all that, WE want to work miracles, speak in tongues and heal the sick?!? We'd be better off begging for a miracle of Grace that this greed would disappear from our hearts... The true Church of Christ is fortunately not going to be destroyed by any powers of hell, for it was His will that it should stand (Mt 16:18); but it certainly does not consist of the people who bigotedly hold on to 'MY faith is right', but rather of those, of whatever denomination, who are in but not of the world - the reborn 'little flock', who are able to place love before pride on their priority-list. Maybe I am too naive. I probably am. But that is what the Scriptures seem to tell me anyway. 1 Corinthians 1:10: "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." Zsuzsi |
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20 | Can somone help me figure out god? | Bible general Archive 2 | Zsuzsi | 122699 | ||
Angel, Thank you for the kind words! I am called to be "in the thick of Christ"... He is leading me there, only He knows the way; I just know there is so much more to go. But I love following Him, and I am so excited about the rest of the journey... :-) God bless you, Zsuzsi |
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