Results 161 - 180 of 197
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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: Sir Pent Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
161 | Christian Primer Terms? | Bible general Archive 1 | Sir Pent | 18160 | ||
Christianity in a Nutshell part 1 Dear Charis, My friend, what you ask requires a tremendous amount of work. Perhaps that is why my colleagues (who probably responded more wisely than I) suggest just looking at a catechism. However, I didn't think of that, so instead I spent the whole day putting this together off the top of my head. I very much hope that it is helpful for you. God - a being who is: omnipotent (all-powerful, Jer 32:17), omniscient (all-knowing, Ps 147:4-5), omnipresent (exists everywhere at once, Eph 4:10), transcendant (is distinct from everything else in the universe, Ps 97:9), imminant (is directly and personally involved with the universe, Heb 1:3), and whose primary character traits are love (1 John 4:8) and holiness (Ps 99:9). Trinity - the idea we use to understand the three persons who make up God. They are called the Father (Eph 4:6), the Son Jesus Christ (John 1:1), and the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4). They are all part of one being (God) and work toward the same overall purpose. Yet they also have individual nuances of personality and primary functions in our lives. God the Father - The first part of God who is primarily responsible for the creation and sustaining of the universe (Gen 1:1). His will also determines the words and actions of the overall Trinity (Luke 22:42). God the Son - Also known as Jesus Christ. The second part of God who is primarily responsible for providing a way to reconcile mankind to God (1 Tim 1:15). He did this by the incarnation, His teaching ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection (2 Cor 5:18). Incarnation - A part of God temporarily limited some of His characteristics as God to become completely human (Phil 2:5-7). The Christmas story is the record of this event, when Jesus Christ was born as a baby (Luke 2:11-12). Crucifixion - Jesus Christ was injustly accused, convicted, and punished with death by hanging on a cross (Luke 23:22-24,47). He allowed this to happen so that God?s plan of salvation, justification, and redemption could be completed (Rom 3:24-25). Resurrection - After being dead for parts of three days, Jesus Christ came back to life, and appeared to many people (Luke 24:5-7). He continued to teach for a short time, and prepared the way for the Holy Spirit to come (Acts 1:3). God the Holy Spirit - The third part of God who is primariy responsible for helping Christians to live according to God's will. He assists in understanding of God's messages to mankind both directly to individuals, and through the Bible. (Rom 8:26 and John 14:26) Sin - These are thoughts, words, and actions, which all people have committed that go against the desires of God (Rom 3:23). The punishment deserved for committing even one of these is death and Hell (Jam 2:10 and Rom 6:16). The Fall - This was the effect of the first sin ever committed. The first person to ever live (Adam) chose to commit a sin (disobedience) against God (Gen 3:11-12). As a result there was both immediate punishment (banishment from the Garden of Eden, Gen 3:23) and punishment for the rest of time (the beginning of the Sinful Nature, Rom 5:12). Sinful Nature - This describes how after "the Fall" mankind has had a natural instinct to commit sins (Rom 7:18). Salvation - This is the idea that God has provided a way for individuals to be "saved" from, or to escape the punishment that they deserve for the sin in their life (John 3:16). However, God cannot just ignore their sin, there must be a compensation. Justification - This is the idea describing the compensation that God made. Instead of all individuals having to be eternally punished for their sins, one perfect individual (Jesus Christ) suffered in their place (1 Pet 3:18). Redemption - This is the idea that God has provided a way to not only take care of sins, but to also "redeem", or restore mankind to their state before "the Fall" (Gal 2:20). The old self, with the sinful nature, is killed, and a person becomes a new creation that can once again commune with God (2 Cor 5:17). |
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162 | THE REASON FOR CREATION? | Gen 1:1 | Sir Pent | 17935 | ||
Dear KAYC, I asked this very same question a little while back. Please type "universe eat" in the search box at the top right of the screen to find what everybody thought about it. Let me know if you have any further questions. |
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163 | Whatever happened to John 17:21? | Heb 6:4 | Sir Pent | 17918 | ||
Dear Bill Mc and Reformer Joe, I hesitate to jump in on your discussion here, but felt that it was important. You are both bringing up many good points about the original purpose of this thread regarding salvation. However, I must disagree with this last post regarding "labels" within Christianity. Perhaps I misunderstand you Bill Mc, but it seems to me that you are saying two things. The first is that it is purely divisive to have Christians call themselves by labels such as Calvinist or Armenian. The second is that by doing so they are neglecting the fact that they are either "in Adam or in Christ". First of all, I would like to say that I have purposely stayed out of any discussions thus far on this forum regarding Calvinism/Armenianism, and I don't want to start another one here. However, I do not think that it is the label that causes the division. The division is caused by the fact that there are two (at least) interpretations of the scripture which both appear to be valid and reasonable. The only thing that the label does is save time typing and reading. One could say, "becuase you believe blah, blah, and blah" (with each blah being an entire paragraph itself). However, it is much easier to say, "becuase you agree with the interpretation of so-and-so". This is especially important on this forum. Because of the different perspectives that people have, they have different answers to the questions people ask. They also have different ideas as to what specific verses mean at times. I agree with you that this is at times unfortunate, but not always. Sometimes it is helpful to see things from a different angle. Also, I believe that it is inevitable. True believers have debated some of these theological points for centuries without comming to a consensus. I find it unlikely that all Christians in the world will ever believe the same thing about everything until we get to heaven. This is because right now we only see in part, but then we shall see completely (1 Cor 13:12). I do want to agree with you on one important point and that is that each Christian needs to really search the scriptures to discover what they personally believe. It is not healthy to just accept the interpretations of another person (Calvin or Armenius) or even church without reflection. However, after a Christian discovers what they believe, they will probably be aligned relatively closely with at least one orthodox perspective, and I see no reason that they should not for efficiency sake, be opposed to identifying with others who think the same thing. |
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164 | Possible Lockman Forum Improvement #1? | Bible general Archive 1 | Sir Pent | 17862 | ||
I will try to compile the votes for this particular change. I would appreciate input from each of the people below who seem to be the 20 most consistent participants on this forum. Of course all other input is appreciated as well and will be added to this list. Please try to limit this thread to only the one change proposed (deleting and combining duplicate threads). For other changes, please start sepperate threads. Bill Mc BrianG CDBJ Charis Debbie EdB Hank Kalos Lionstrong Nolan Keck Norrie Ray Reformer Joe RElderCascade Retxar Schwartzkm Sir Pent - Yes Steve Butler - Yes - currently requests this on an individual basis Tim Moran There Total Yes is 2 Total No is 0 |
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165 | Lost my salvation? (Hebrews 6:4-6) | Heb 6:4 | Sir Pent | 17823 | ||
Dear JohnK, I very much understand some of the thoughts and feelings that you are experiencing. In fact, I have been in a place similar to where you are. I shared my experience previously on this forum, and hope that it might be helpful for you. Just type "lost found testimony" into the search box in the top right to find it. Let me know if you have any further questions. |
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166 | Why not even enter the village? | Mark 8:26 | Sir Pent | 17592 | ||
Dear Steve, I believe that there were two main reasons why Jesus told the man to not "enter the village" after he was healed. The first was for the man's sake, and the second was for Jesus' sake. I think that the man who was healed had a young and tender faith (see my note on Mark 8:25). Therefore, I think that Jesus knew that it was not ready for the testing and ridicule that would certainly come if the man went to the city. The religious leaders would have deffinately given him a hard time just like they did in other places (John chapter 9). Therefore, Jesus advised him to go home instead where he could ponder what had happened to him in his heart. The second reason was that Jesus often just didn't want people going around telling about many miraclous events. He told the disciples not to tell about the transfiguration (Mark 9:9). He told other people He healed (Mark 7:32-37) also not to tell about what had happened. I could see three reasons for this. The first is that Jesus was modest. This is a true statement, but I don't think would be the main reason. A second is that Jesus knew human nature, and that if He told people not to tell then the news would actually spread faster. Jesus does know human nature, but that seems a little deceitful, which would not fit His character. The third reason (which I find the most likely) is that Jesus was trying to maintain a low profile, because His time had not yet come (John 2:4 and John 7). |
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167 | Why didn't Jesus heal him the first time | Mark 8:25 | Sir Pent | 17590 | ||
Dear Steve, I would say that the reason that the man was not healed the first time was that he lacked sufficient faith. Jesus often tied His miraculous healings to the faith of the person being healed (Luke 8:48, 17:19, and 18:42). I imagine that this man had the beginnings of faith that Christ could heal him, but was not "full of faith". Thus the first time he was only healed partially. However, this boosted his faith to the point that he was able to be fully healed the second time. I think that there are two important lessons here. The first is that God is willing and wanting to meet us where we are at. We do not have to have perfect faith for God to begin to work with us. He will take our mustard seed and help us to water it and make it grow into a strong plant (Matthew 13:31-32). The second lesson that I see is that we should not be satisfied with incomplete faith. Imagine how much the man would have missed out on if he had just settled for the first healing and went the rest of his life seeing people look like trees. In the same way, we must be careful to not be complacent with our own level of healing, but strive to be made perfect even as God is perfect (Matthew 5:48). |
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168 | Advise on contradictions found in bible | Ps 25:4 | Sir Pent | 17553 | ||
Dear Benjibabs, I appreciate that you are wanting to help the person who sent you these questions. I also believe that there are definite explanations for each of these "appearant contradictions". However, since there are so many of them, would you mind splitting this into several questions with only one or two "contradictions" in each one? I think that would help to keep the threads from getting overly long and complicated. I will share my thoughts on the first one about the lineage of Jesus' father Joseph. I have not studied this, but something just jumped out at me. I would guess that Jacob was Joseph's father and He'-li is Joseph's mother. If you look at those two geneologies, they both trace back to king David, but are completely different from there on. The Matthew account goes through king David's son Solomon. The Luke account goes through king David's son Nathan. I think the message that God has for us is that Jesus was a descendant of king David. In addition, it is interesting that this is true even in more than one branch of His family tree. |
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169 | Advise on contradictions found in bible | Bible general Archive 1 | Sir Pent | 17552 | ||
Dear Benjibabs, I appreciate that you are wanting to help the person who sent you these questions. I also believe that there are definite explanations for each of these "appearant contradictions". However, since there are so many of them, would you mind splitting this into several questions with only one or two "contradictions" in each one? I think that would help to keep the threads from getting overly long and complicated. I will share my thoughts on the first one about the lineage of Jesus' father Joseph. I have not studied this, but something just jumped out at me. I would guess that Jacob was Joseph's father and He'-li is Joseph's mother. If you look at those two geneologies, they both trace back to king David, but are completely different from there on. The Matthew account goes through king David's son Solomon. The Luke account goes through king David's son Nathan. I think the message that God has for us is that Jesus was a descendant of king David. In addition, it is interesting that this is true even in more than one branch of His family tree. |
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170 | No Rules, Just Right! | Ps 34:8 | Sir Pent | 16792 | ||
Dear Lionstrong, If there were rules that God had to adhere to in order to be judged "good", then those rules would be of a higher authority than God. Since we know that God is the ultimate authority, and is all powerful, it is impossible for there to be any laws which God MUST keep. That being said, Christians generally assume that God would not do any actions contrary to biblical precedents, based on the fact that God doesn't change. However, if for any reason, God did do something that seemed to go against even the Bible, then we would have to assume that we had misunderstood the Bible, not that God was "bad". |
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171 | is baptism necessary for salvation? | Bible general Archive 1 | Sir Pent | 16785 | ||
Dear Bill-T, Please type in "baptism necessary" in the Quick Search box (top right of screen). This will lead you to at least 32 posts from several threads that cover this topic. The very short answer is that the general consensus (although some disagree) is that baptism with water is NOT necessary for salvation, but should definately be done. |
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172 | What is eternal life? | 1 John 5:13 | Sir Pent | 16629 | ||
What do you understand eternal life to be? I think that once a person has been created by God, that they will never cease to exist. Therefore, all human beings have eternal life. What are the characteristics of it? The answer depends on what choices we make in this life. Those who choose to deny Christ's salvation and lordship will exist forever in a state of torment, pain, and lonlieness. Those who accept Christ's salvation and lordship will exist forever in a state of worship, fulfillment, and as close a relationship with God as possible. When does it start? As soon as God created your spirit (soul, or whatever you call the spiritual part of who you are). Can it be lost? No |
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173 | peace | Bible general Archive 1 | Sir Pent | 16339 | ||
Peches, I don't know who you are responding to by posting this question. I didn't think anyone accused you of using drugs, why did you bring that up? Also, as for whether this is a good forum for you, I think it is. I do want to warn you though, that things will probably not come easy for you. Because your beliefs are different from most of the people here, many of your posts may not be received with great appreciation. At the same time, I think that the people here could help you learn many important things about God. And I think that your passion for God could be inspiring to everyone else. I guess what I'm trying to say is please stick around and be patient with the people on this forum. Try not to feel like anyone is attacking you personally so that you can avoid getting defensive. Together we can all grow closer to Christ, and our love for Him can increase. |
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174 | sirpent, what is your question? | Bible general Archive 1 | Sir Pent | 16228 | ||
I think it will appear as soon as I respond to this one :) In case you still don't see it, just click on the link that says "Unanswered" on the left side of the screen where it says "Questions that are:" |
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175 | Why did Jesus reverse the order (20:16)? | Matt 19:30 | Sir Pent | 16225 | ||
Often when a person takes a look at something from two sides, they gain a deeper appreciation for it. By stating this truth in both directions, there is emphasis on different parts of it, which I think gives us a more clear picture of what Jesus was trying to say. | ||||||
176 | Sorry about the digression. | Gen 5:3 | Sir Pent | 16202 | ||
Dear Bill MC, I wish that I had a better answer for you, but this is one subject that I have not thought deeply about in the past. I do beieve that God does actually create each individual "spirit" (to use your word, others might call it "soul"). However, as for whether this is still in God's image or not, I don't know. I can't think of any biblical passages, other than the ones already listed in this thread, that are related. I did have one idea which came to mind. You have probably heard of the idea that "there is a God-shaped hole inside each of us". Have you ever made paper machette? As a kid, we took a balloon, covered it with the paper machette, let it dry, and then popped the balloon and removed the pieces. This left a balloon shaped hole in the middle. However, the outside was also in the same shape (image) as the balloon had been. Perhaps this is what being made in the image of God is. C.S.Lewis writes in his book "Mere Christianity" about how humans are born with a innate knowledge that the world (and themselves personally) is/are supposed to be better. Perhaps it is this ability to realize that there is something higher and better than the reality around us (which no other living thing seems to posess). If so then I think that the answer to the original question is "yes". P.S. I would just like to beat everyone to the punch by saying that this could all be meaningless dribble. I have no biblical support for this theory, and don't even know for sure if I believe it. However, like I said, I haven't thought through this very much at all, and this just came to me. |
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177 | 'Conscientious Objection' Biblical? | Ex 20:13 | Sir Pent | 16146 | ||
It seems that most of my distinguished forum colleagues are in support of the death penalty. Let me begin by saying that I respect your opinions, and believe that it is possible for Christians to be on both sides of this issue. That being said, I will attempt to give a reasonable explanation why my interpretation of scripture leads me to believe that the death penalty is wrong in today's world. Before, I do that, I will try to respond to several of the posts that have already been shared. Charis, you mentioned that it is inconsistent to support killing a murderer when they have a gun in their hand, and then oppose killing them after they have been caught and disarmed. I completely agree with you. I consider it wrong to kill that person in both cases. Tim Moran, you mentioned that if the death penalty is going to be used, that it should be applied fairly across racial and economic groups. I would like to say that I completely agree with that. You also shared a very logical rationale of the death penalty. (1. it was not morally wrong in the OT, 2. it was not forbidden in the NT, 3. it not morally wrong or forbidden today). I agree that it was not morally wrong in the OT. However, although it is not expressly forbidden in the NT (in which case, this would not be an issue for Christians today), I believe that through several passages, it can be seen that it is no longer appropriate for believers to commit. CDBJ, I found your comment sarcastic, but it did bring up an important verse about a person who "lives by the sword will die by the sword". The problem with using this verse to support capital punishment, is that it seems to me that Jesus was telling his disciples to NOT USE THEIR SWORDS. Retxar, you brought up a very good passage (Romans 13) where it talks about God using authorities to punish wrongdoing with the sword. I agree with RElderCascade that an important distinction is that the sword is given to the authority not to the believer. Another point is that throughout scripture God often uses people who do not have a good relationship with him to accomplish things by using means that He would not approve of believers using. For instance, He used nations like Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Egypt in the Old Testament as part of His plan at different times. However, I think that we would all agree that some of their actions (while tools of God) would be completely wrong for Christians to do today. Also in the New Testament, the God ordained authorities crucified Christ. Yet we would definately not want Christians today to do such a thing if given the opportunity. Brian G, I was encouraged when reading your post that I am not alone in opposing the death penalty. I completely agree with you that when we kill another person we are cutting short their time to repent and come to relationship with God. I must also disagree with Charis response that "Our system of justice provides a convicted murderer with plenty of time (too much) to repent of their sin before God." It seems to be incredibly arrogant for us as humans to decide how much time a person should be allowed to ask forgiveness. What would you have done if you were with Joshua preparing to cross the Jordan River into the promised land, and the front of your lines (the priests) are already in the river (their feet were wet), and nothing was happening? Do you decide that you had given God plenty of time, and start building boats? My point is that God's time is not our time, and because we cannot know it, it is wrong to decide that a person?s time is up. Steve Butler, I agree with you that God commanded wars and executions in the Old Testament. I was a bit confused by your second statement. Are you trying to say that all people who oppose war and execution do so out of fear instead of conviction? Kalos, I am saddened by your inflamatory post. It is not helpful to the discussion, nor accurate that all the Christians, who believe that capital punishment is wrong, are completely disregarding (ripping out the pages) the Old Testament passages on the subject. |
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178 | NT support for dp | Lev 26:6 | Sir Pent | 16077 | ||
Dear retxar, Since Nolan (who started this post) has tried to wrap it up, and since the original intent of this post was to discuss "nonresistance" (mainly along the lines of war as opposed to the death penalty), I would recommend that we start a seperate thread to discuss this topic further. Would that be alright? |
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179 | Was God morally wrong? | Lev 26:6 | Sir Pent | 16074 | ||
Dear Tim, Since Nolan (who started this post) has tried to wrap it up, and since the original intent of this post was to discuss "nonresistance" (mainly along the lines of war as opposed to the death penalty), I would recommend that we start a seperate thread to discuss this topic further. Would that be alright? |
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180 | Can A Christian disown Christ? | Matt 10:33 | Sir Pent | 15952 | ||
I know that the answer is "yes". Can I prove this to you at all? No. So how do I know? I know because I have done it. This is not something that I am proud of, and by sharing from my own life, I realize that I open up myself for critique as opposed to just a theoretical idea. However, it is extremely relevant to this post, and perhaps will be helpful for someone, and is therefore worth the risk. I became a Christian when I was a very small child, after talking with my mother. I realized that even though I was a child and was relatively innocent in the eyes of the world, that I was still a sinner in the eyes of God. I also realized that I could not change on my own, but needed God's help. I asked Jesus to come into my heart, and felt an overwhelming sense of peace and forgiveness. I was a different person after that, my life was changed. As I grew up as a child, I quickly learned much ABOUT God. I memorized all the Bible stories, the Apostle?s Creed, etc. I also began to get to KNOW God, by spending time with Him in prayer, and developing a relationship with Him. However, as with many children, I lacked confidence in my salvation. It seemed like every time there was a revival service, or sermon that particularly spoke to me, that I would make another trip to the alter. There I would once again ask God to forgive me on all my past sins (you know, just in case). Finally, when I was almost 11 yrs old, I remember making the last of this kind of trip. Dr. David Seamands had preached a revival service, and I went forward and prayed like all the times before. But this time, God told me (not audibly, but He let me know) that I didn't need to keep doing that anymore. God helped me to realize that I could trust in Him to be faithful to that which He'd committed, me. It was at that point that I was confident of my salvation, because of my confidence in God, and our love for each other. Things continued like this throughout the next five years or so. In fact, one member of this forum spent much time with me at this point in my life, before they moved away. They could attest that I was most deffinately a Christian. But then a drastic change occurred just before my 16th birthday. The catalyst was a Star Trek (I'm still a big fan despite the tragic outcome at this particular time of my past) episode that I saw. It's a long story, but suffice it to say that after a lot of thought and turmoil, I concluded that Christianity was a fraud. For a period of several months, I completely rejected Christianity, and Christ Himself. In fact for a time, I even denied the existence of God at all. This was not just a backsliding, or a period of doubting. I was in a state of complete apostasy. If I died at that point, I know that I would have gone to Hell. Thankfully, God was merciful, and He allowed me to live through that time. Once again I must skip the long story of how I came back to Christianity. However, the end result was that I once again truly believed with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Since that time (nearly a decade ago now), I have remained committed to my relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and I know that the Holy Spirit is in my life, leading me to follow in God?s will. I trust in Jesus as my Saviour (from all of my sin and sins) and my Lord (for my life is not my own, but His to control), and I know that I will spend eternity with Him in Heaven. This is my testimony. This is how I know that a Christian can deny Christ, because I've done it. But praise God that He is merciful, patient, and full of love! I owe my life to Him. For once I was lost, and then I was found, and then I was lost, and now I am found again. Praise His Name forever! |
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