Results 21 - 40 of 386
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: Country Girl Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
21 | Are miracles for today? | 1 Cor 13:8 | Country Girl | 132980 | ||
I suppose you've heard the expression "There's no such thing as a coincidence," especially for a christian. I'd be the last person in the world to put any limitations on God and His Magnificent Power to intervene in our lives literally in any way He sees fit. But on the other hand, the Bible very, very clearly teaches us as God's children to be cautious and "test the spirits." In areas that are highly questionable such as miracles manifested by human beings in today's world, again IMO, the Bible clearly teaches we should inspect and be "a doubting Thomas." As I've already mentioned, childbirth, healing of a cancer patient and all other events which simply CANNOT be explained by natural forces indeed are most likely examples of miracles. BUT they are directly manifested from and by God directly to the recipient with no other third human person intervening. So again I would say since the Bible clearly teaches all this AND the "signs and wonders" from the first century were done to confirm the word, there's no reason to believe in miracles from or performed by human beings. BUT the most important thing I would encourage people to do in this regard is to compare miracles of today with miracles in the Bible. Those in our Bible were so great and magnificent that there was no question as to where they came from or Who was behind them. Also the Bible clearly teaches those performing miracles in the first century acquired that ability by ONLY one of two ways: 1) directly from the Holy Ghost as in Acts 2 and 10 or 2) from the Apostles laying their hands on them. Once those folks all died, that era ended in accordance with 1 Cor 13. It all fits together like a puzzle and thus one fact endorses the other. The "miracles" from human beings in today's are so inferior to the Biblical standard they're insulting to God Almighty and I shudder to think of such a person entering into Judgment without repenting of such deception. And yet, we should love them enough to approach them and try to help them climb out of their pit of self-deception. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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22 | Are miracles for today? | 1 Cor 13:8 | Country Girl | 132925 | ||
I can only counter with what I know to be truth. Wife abuse, drunkedness and drug addiction can all be corrected (cured if you prefer) WITHOUT guidance from God's Word, just some good guidance which I'll admit is usually based on Biblical principles but the focus is NOT Christ as Lord or God as a the Perfect Forgiver. Similarly a human being can about God's Word and respond in a very reasonable manner and simply obey His commands and become His child for the rest of his/her life. Clearly most people would agree No Miracle there. But let's stick to the Bible for true pictures of God actuated miracles. I'm emphasizing events so supernatural that the whole world (or at least the majority) would agree that it could not have happened without a supernatural being from some other sphere of life not know on earth. That's the real essense of a Bible time miracle so again I say miracles are suggestive of God's actual physical and visible blessing on such an event. That's why we can't let anyone downgrade this definition. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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23 | Is James the first pope? | Acts 15:13 | Country Girl | 132907 | ||
I would think the following instruction from the Ruler of this Dispensation, Christ Himself is applicable: Matt 23:9 "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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24 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132877 | ||
Have you ever thought about...Why is there so much controversy on this subject? Good, conscientious, serious Bible students like you and me and all the others have studied this subject quite literally all our lives. I've read your profile so you and I are about the same age and yet we have such divergent views on this subject. To me, it seems like the devil is laughing his head off and enjoying all the strife and turmoil on this subject and all the many other controversies since the start of the apostacy. In spite of it all AND knowing this apostacy was coming, our Lord prayed for unity and for His children, us, you and me to agree on these kinds of matters. How sad? How truly very sad? Such good, devoted Bible students can't come to agreement on this rather simple subject IMO. Someone posts a question and I respond with my interpretation or you beat me to it and respond with yours. And the devil makes out like a bandit. How truly sad? I can only continue to encourage everyone reading this to study the whole Bible and make a decision that you can defend on Judgment Day because we'll be judged by ALL the words we read therein. Blessings to all who study and obey God's Word. Country Girl |
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25 | Without the Local Church | Heb 10:25 | Country Girl | 132874 | ||
Ah, yes! The famous "one another" passages. I've studied most of these all my life but I've never seen them listed in such a comprehensive manner as this. I'll have to save a copy of this and put them into my Bible pocket for reference. Thanks a bunch. By the way, I agree 100 percent. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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26 | Are miracles for today? | 1 Cor 13:8 | Country Girl | 132873 | ||
Although I'd like to agree with you in that a lost sinner becoming a child of God really is a wonderful thing it would be a tragic misunderstanding of the awesome Power and Majesty of our Lord to label this event as a miracle. In keeping with the spirit of the Forum and calling events from the Bible their true God-given names, we should NOT downgrade the meaning of something as powerful and evidence of Christianity as a miracle. In Bible times, both OT and NT, miracles was truly a wonderous event, one that was absolutely and unquestionably a supernatural event, one that absolutely COULD NOT be done without God's participation. So I'll agree child birth from a woman is a miracle. The very idea of an embryo growing into a fully developed child is truly a supernatural even. I'll agree when a person goes to the hospital and gets the proverbial last speech from his doctor and walks out of that hospital with a few months/years to live and no hope, that's tragic. But then, he walks in for a checkup later on and experiences full and complete remission, that is clearly a miracle. Let's not water down God's Word or insult God Almighty by calling anything less one of His Awesome Displays and Power and Majesty. Sorry, but I just had to throw in my two cents' worth into this discussion. Blessings on you, dear friend. Country Girl |
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27 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132869 | ||
In spite of my name which suggests my origin, I've traveled around the world quite a bit and I've covered most of the USA. In my travels, I've never heard of an actual miracle that actually meets the Biblical standard as I mentioned previously. But if you have, I'd like to hear about it. I'd like to contact that person and arrange to have him cure my son of a very bad and terrible disease. I understand to his dying day, people from around the world were bringing family members to Apostle John on the isle of Patmos for healing. Don't you know...a person with real, genuine, God-given miraculous powers would have a reputation ringing literally throughout the world. I'm really quite anxious to meet this person if you know of someone like this. Please advise and Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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28 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132864 | ||
So, how do you reconcile this baptism of the Holy Spirit with the other watery type baptism as cited throughout the NT and the fact there's only supposed to one baptism as Paul teaches in Eph 4? One can't simply dismiss the importance of watery baptism as it is administered for the remission of sins, Acts 2:38. If the one baptism is that of the Holy Spirit, how come it takes on so many different interpretations and meanings for nearly everybody in the world? In contrast, almost everybody agrees to most of the details of baptism. At least most everyone agrees it means immersion and most serious Bible students know it as part of the Plan of Salvation. I think that's one reason why God chose such a simple act as baptism in something as plentiful as water on this planet. A person really will have a tough task to argue this point on Judgment Day, but looking forward to your response. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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29 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132811 | ||
Quoted for reference: Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brethren, what shall we do?" Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:39 "For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself." and Acts 10:45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. Acts 10:46 For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God. Then Peter answered, Acts 10:47 "Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?" I guess it's obvious you're keying in on the use of the same phrase "Gift of the Holy Spirit" but it's not quite that simple. It seems pretty obvious in Acts 2, the Gift was that of salvation. In Acts 10, however, I'll admit it looks like it could be interpreted at least a couple of different ways or more. I would lean toward that of Salvation but you would lean upon the empowerment of miraculous powers except there's no other demonstration anywhere in scripture of miracles being done outside of the parameters as I cited earlier. BUT just in case someone does wish to counter with some kind of discussion or a vague verse with such a claim, it's easy to verify/confirm the acutal supernatural quality of such miraculous powers. Life to a dead body after several days of confirmed death is a great miracle. Restoration of a limb after severance from the body with no modern medical technology would be a pretty effective miracle. Enabling the deaf to hear or the blind to see after a lifetime of such handicaps would be equally as powerful. If you know of such documented cases of miracles, I'd love to hear more about them with ALL the details. Again, the bottom line is that God never did intend for the age of miracles manifested by human beings here on earth to last for very long. Paul predicted their ceasation in 1 Cor 13. We can easily understand why with all the abuse that was going on in the first century church. Again, these "wonders and signs" had as their most important purpose the confirmation of God's Word through those speaking and acting in God's behalf during that initial phase of the Lord's church. I know, I know, you're going to ask for scriptures to back all this up but there is no specific scripture that can be cited to support this specific statement. It has to be concluded based on a thorough study of God's Word and making the necessary inferences. And then the inevitable statement about the level of miraculous manifestation in today's world resulting from our lessor faith as compared to the first century. And again, I would say that miracles being successfully performed were never a result of a lack of faith on the part of the recipient as in the case of the crippled beggar in Acts with Peter and John. Jesus actually chose not to perform miracles in His home town because of His countrymen. So, this too CANNOT be used as an excuse to explain why miracles don't come from modern people of today. There is simply NOT any documented case of an actual supernatural event being performed that meet the same standard as cited in the Bible. Blessings to you, my friend. Country Girl |
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30 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132767 | ||
Like I mentioned ALL the miracles performed by individuals other than the Apostles received that ability to perform those miracles from the Apostles' "laying on of hands." The fact that we don't have miracles in today's world meeting the very same Biblical standard as those in the 1st century is the Scriptural proof. Notice the basic purpose of these "wonders and signs" was to act as an endorsement from God above that everything said and done by these folks was indeed blessed by Him. Hope this helps and Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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31 | The ransom - God or man? | 1 Cor 15:21 | Country Girl | 132743 | ||
Alien/City Boy: I'm sorry, I'm not able to help you. You're on your own as you will be on Judgment Day. Keep studying and praying for that's the only kind of humility that's going to do you any good...from God above. I'll keep praying for you. Country Girl |
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32 | The ransom - God or man? | 1 Cor 15:21 | Country Girl | 132727 | ||
I'm sorry but I gotta say your post borders dangerously close to blasphemy. The scriptures all the way from the curse out of the Garden of Eden to the last few verses of Revelation make it very plain that ONLY Jesus Christ could possibly have fulfilled God's Perfect Sense of Justice, Love and Forgiveness for us, His creation. This was apparently the one single Way that God could show us His Love so completely without any reservation. If you can't accept that on faith, you really do need to find yourself some other forum on which to espouse your message of sorrow and sadness for without Jesus Christ as the One and Only Perfect Sacrifice, you don't have a prayer of finding any happiness. I do hope you'll pray and study on this matter before it's everlastingly too late. I also pray that God blesses you with understanding. But you'll have to meet Him part of the way with faith. Country Girl |
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33 | A New Perspective!??! | Bible general Archive 2 | Country Girl | 132718 | ||
I may be all wet with this thinking but when I first read this article, it made me think of the following verses. Rev 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." Rev 21:6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. Rev 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." As long as we God in the very beginning of His Word (our Bibles) and we see Christ Jesus as God at the very end, we should see the Godhead as a whole throughout the entire Bible. AND we should in my mind be able to understand the most important message contained therein; that is God wants us to come home to Him and He's given us the instructions we need to find our way to Him. Is that deep or what? Let me know what you think. Anyone else? Blessings to you all. Country Girl |
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34 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132715 | ||
Amen, dear friend, Amen!! That's my point. The ONLY baptism that we can KNOW for certain that ALL christians can and should take part in is the watery grave of baptism as suggested by Jesus Words to Nicodemus. Thanks for the supportive scripture. Country Girl |
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35 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132697 | ||
You've probably already figured out that I believe only the Apostles, Cornelius and his family actually received the baptism of the Holy Spirit as those (Acts 2 and 10) are the only clear instances where people received such an unusual event. All other manifestations or demonstrations of miraculous powers from people other than the Apostles received those powers from the Apostles by the laying on the Apostles' hands. Consequently I believe the one single baptism that is available to everyone and thus must have been the one discussed by Paul is that of the watery grave of baptism as depicted in Rom 6. Do you have Scripture depicting something else? Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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36 | why was the thief saved without baptism? | Luke 23:43 | Country Girl | 132692 | ||
Hank: My point of my previous post was that of baptism. It CANNOT be proven that ALL of the Apostles were indeed baptised when it is clear that they were preaching it to be saved. We are left to infer that just like they baptized Cornelius and his family, they themselves must have been baptized so as to be consistent with their preaching. But notice further, this dispensation started the phase of baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost after the resurrection of Jesus. John the Baptist's baptism wasn't good enough as shown later on in Acts. Thus while Christ was alive, He truly WAS the King of the Jews and could bestow ANYTHING He chose on whomever He chose. So the thief didn't need to be baptized to get into Paradise. The Lord "punched his ticket" before both of them died. The Lord's Last Will and Testament had NOT been executed and therefore baptism wasn't authorized until after the Perfect Sacrifice was made. It is a good conclusion that this watery baptism is the one baptism as mentioned in Eph 4 as it's the only one that is common to ALL christians for all time since the start. Blessings to you. Good to hear from you. Country Girl |
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37 | Contrition and Repentance | Luke 3:8 | Country Girl | 132690 | ||
I can only add Ps 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Is 57:15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, "I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite." And we all know why King David was a "man after God's own heart" because he so contrite and willing to humble himself to his Lord. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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38 | Grace? | 1 John 1:7 | Country Girl | 132686 | ||
Good solid post! Amen, dear friend. Country Girl | ||||||
39 | But why the focus on the name? | Phil 2:9 | Country Girl | 132685 | ||
Well, I can only respond with what I've been told. I think (if I remember accurately) the name Jesus was the modern name 2000 years ago for the Hebrew name Joshua. I guess I would suggest a note of caution about this discussion as it could easily end up with someone thinking we should worship the name "Jesus" itself. The name itself shouldn't be worthy of our worship, only the Being Himself Jesus, His Father, and the Holy Ghost (or Spirit) get that honor. As you mentioned in your original post/question, a rose by any other name is still a rose AND has all the characteristics attributed to that rose. But notice when we as humans pluck it to pieces to better analyze its wonderous beauty and magnificence, it's no longer a rose and nowhere near as beautiful and even looses it powerful scent. So it is with our God. When we humans in our physical and finite world try to completely understand a Being as wonderfully Infinite and Absolutely Perfect in every way as Jesus, all our comments and questions, all our words fail miserably. I guess this is about all I could think to say. But I do think your question is good and should result in interesting discussion. Blessings to you. Country Girl |
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40 | A New Perspective!??! | Bible general Archive 2 | Country Girl | 132681 | ||
Phanomenal (sp?) was the word I got. But what I'm really more interested in is the implications as this hidden message might draw from God's Word. Think about it and get back to me. Looking forward to your response. Thanks and blessings to you. Country Girl |
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