Results 2181 - 2200 of 2277
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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: Hank Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
2181 | Avoiding paritality in soul care | James 2:1 | Hank | 53204 | ||
Mommapbs, yours is a thought provoking question; at least it provoked mine! In the United States there is no official caste system, yet each of us lives within a certain socio-economic biome as it were. That's our comfort zone. To move from one's own stratum, upward or downward, to another stratum is difficult for many people. Difficult, but not a valid reason or a legitimate excuse for failure to reach out with the message of the Gospel and the compassionate Christ-like love and caring for people in all walks of life. Jesus was able to minister with consummate skill to prince and pauper alike. Paul was effective in his ministry to the Athenian philosophers and to the Philippian jailer. I believe that when Christians truly are zealous about their faith, the Spirit will empower them and enable them to cross all societal boundaries and minister effectively to everyone with whom they come in contact. If every Christian alive today had half the zeal and dedication that Paul had, it would be impossible to calculate what an enormous impact it would have on our world! For far too many of us, living the Christian life means attending a church service on Sunday morning, making some effort to stay awake during the pastor's sermon, putting a few bucks in the collection plate at the close of the service, and dashing out to our cars as soon as the final "Amen" is sounded so that we can beat the Methodists and Presbyterians in the line at the cafeteria. --Hank | ||||||
2182 | Is the name Christian being ridiculed? | James 2:5 | Hank | 161724 | ||
Altajean: More than "making fun of" is indicated by the strong language of James 2:7. The Greek word used is "blasphemeo," meaning "to speak evil against." Not only do they (the rich) despise the poor and oppressed Christians, but direct their assaults against the Lord himself. Then as now the world hated Christ and His followers. --Hank | ||||||
2183 | Empty inside being a Roman Catholic? | James 2:17 | Hank | 24694 | ||
Catrose62, while I am not a Roman Catholic and cannot therefore speak very meaningfully or definitively of "what is wrong in the way they practice their religion," I can nontheless speak empirically about my own faith. I was saved when I was 14 years old. But there have been times in my life when I have strayed, when I permitted the things of the world to take over and crowd out my walk with the Lord. And as a result, I felt empty inside, felt that something vital was missing in my life. My prayer life diminished and only in times of personal crises did I earnestly turn to God in prayer. I let secular works of literature take precedence over my study of the Bible. I let the Sunday newspaper fill the time when I should have been worshiping God in His house. In short, I fell out of fellowship with God. My faith, instead of being the active, vital faith that God wants us to have -- the kind of faith that gives us so many blessings in Christ -- became, as James 2:17 says, a dead faith, not backed up by deeds and actions of obedience. So the key issue, I believe, is not the church we belong to but the Christ we belong to. Are we giving Him our full allegiance? --Hank | ||||||
2184 | Why believe 'on' not 'in' the Lord? | James 2:19 | Hank | 2402 | ||
This is far more than a semantic exercise about two little words, in and on. James 2:19 says, "You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder." One can believe in God, that is, that there is a God, that He is the Creator of the universe, that He is all-powerful, and the list goes on. One can believe in the Lord Jesus to the extent that He was a real, historical figure and that He went about doing good and healing people, and that he came from God, that he was indeed the Son of God. But even Satan admitted as much in his dialogue with Jesus in connection with our Lord's temptation (See Matthew 4:1-12). But to believe on the Lord carries with it the idea of accepting him fully, of being willing to surrender our will to His will in simple, child-like obedience, of trusting Him, of believing that He alone is able to redeem us. When we believe on the Lord, we are of course believing in him (that He is) but we are taking a further step, and what a giant step it is indeed, of inviting Him into our lives and asking him to forgive us and save us from the bond of sin. It's recognizing and admitting to Him that we need a Savior. It's being honest with ourselves and admitting that we are solely dependent on Him for life and being. It's truly a willingness to lean on the everlasting arms. | ||||||
2185 | Do we believe IN God or believe God? | James 2:19 | Hank | 103129 | ||
NE 4th - The majority of mankind believes in a god or gods. A lesser number believes in the God of the Bible. Fewer still believe God to the extent that they believe in His Son, Jesus Christ, surrender to Him, trust Him totally as their Lord and Savior. Merely believing in God -- that there is a God -- is fine, but it is not sufficient to save, is not saving faith. As Scripture says: The demons also believe that much: that there is a God. Saving faith calls for a great deal more than intellectual acceptance of God's existence. That's what I suppose you're asking. --Hank | ||||||
2186 | where is the verse you have not because | James 4:2 | Hank | 190519 | ||
That would be James 4:2, Sabrina. Thanks for your question and welcome to Lockman's Study Bible Forum. --Hank | ||||||
2187 | Wrong motives and/or wrong things? | James 4:3 | Hank | 82912 | ||
Mommapbs, being the fallen and finite creatures that we are, it is hardly our lot to be able to separate with unerring accuracy our good motives from our bad ones. Man's ability to deceive himself into believing that his motives are pure, his desires unselfish, and his prayer supplications noble is legendary. Thus we have the words that Jesus supplied for our use in prayer. Jesus knew the human heart and He thus knew perfectly well what He was doing when He, in the model prayer of Matthew 6, taught His disciples to use the words "Thy will be done" when they addressed the Father in prayer. The four words, "Thy will be done," are, aside from prayers of praise to God, easily the most important words of any prayer that has ever come from the lips of man. Following close to the heals of "Thy will be done" comes the petition for forgiveness, and in that connection one does well to remember that attached to the petition for God's forgiveness comes the confession "as we have forgiven others." One should shudder to pray the model prayer who has not forgiven his debtors. It is blasphemy to lie to God ..... Sorry, I can't help you to identify the author of the quote about disappointment. But don't be disappointed: perhaps God has something better in mind! :-) --Hank | ||||||
2188 | Wrong motives and/or wrong things? | James 4:3 | Hank | 82914 | ||
Hello again, Mommapbs. Proving once again that we finite human beings are much prone to error (as if it needed proof), I wish to correct a typo of my former post in which the phrase "the heals of" should read "the heels of." I'm confident that you and other of my erudite friends will agree to the trickiness of this English language we grapple with day by day. On the bottom of our shoes we have heels and soles, which isn't particularly remarkable. But we also hold that Christ heals lost souls, which is remarkable. :-) --Hank | ||||||
2189 | What causes a holier than thou attitude? | James 4:4 | Hank | 84533 | ||
Pride. | ||||||
2190 | What is meant by this passage? | James 4:5 | Hank | 5321 | ||
This verse is a pretty little problem all right, and you are obviously a person with keen observaton to notice it. As it reads in the NASB, it strikes me as ambiguous. It pains me to say that, because I hold this translation in extremely high regard. I'm afraid I can't agree that the insertion of a comma after Spirit would fix things. The sentence would still be murky. It really needs to be recast. Commas can be dangerous little critters. For example, suppose we insert a comma after "Spirit" and another after "made" -- wow! what a dramatic change in the dynamic occurs. We have cured the ambiguity, but we have changed the meaning. It now says something we know is not right. Another problem I see is that "Spirit" is capitalized (denoting Holy Spirit) but the relative pronoun that follows (and refers to Spirit) is "which" and not "whom", as it should be in modern English usage, if "Spirit" is understood to be the Holy Spirit A third problem with this verse is this: Is it Spirit or spirit -- Holy Spirit or man's spirit? I looked at other translatons. NKJV. like NASB, understands "Spirit", and so does the new Holman Christian Standard Bible. But NIV and the New English Bible render "spirit," as did the grand-daddy KJV...The verse is fairly clear in both the NKJV and the NIV; they have structured the sentence so as to eliminate possible ambiguity. The best exegesis I could find was John MacArthur's in his study Bible, published by Word: This difficult phrase is best understood by seeing the "spirit" as a reference not to the Holy Spirit, but to the human spirit, and translating the phrase "yearns jealously" in the negative sense of "lusts to envy." James' point is that an unbelieving person's spirit (inner person) is bent on evil. Those who think otherwise defy the biblical diagnosis of fallen human nature; and those who live in worldly lusts give evidence that their faith is not genuine....(MacArthur's note refers to the NKJV text)....You might wish to contact the Lockman Foundation with your question and I would urge you to do so, because I know that they value feedback from readers of the NASB and am confident they would welcome your questions and concerns. They give an address on their web site. which is Lockman.org. Not long ago, I posed a question to them about the translation of a verse in Ecclesiates, and they answered it thoroughly, scholarly, and even thanked me for asking! That's what we here in Arkansas call real nice folks...I see this is your first post, so welcome to the Forum. Good questions are welcome too, and yours was excellent. Drop by anytime and sit a spell! --Hank | ||||||
2191 | another hypothetical, applied ethics | James 4:7 | Hank | 47795 | ||
Parable, in your hypothetical you listed three options regarding the disposition of Satan. The Bible lists one. It is far from being hypothetical. It is in Revelation 20:10. --Hank | ||||||
2192 | does satan know our every though? | James 4:7 | Hank | 160675 | ||
Hello, Brenda. Thanks for your question. The Bible offers no reason to believe that Satan can read our minds or infiltrate our thoughts. Satan is a created being and no created being -- only God alone -- is omnipresent and omniscient. ..... But Satan is powerful. Even Michael the archangel dared not confront Satan without the Lord's help (Jude 9). James instructs to resist Satan and he will flee (James 4:7b). .... There is a book out called "The Serpent of Paradise" by Erwin W. Lutzer with a Foreword by R. C. Sproul that looks promising. I haven't read it yet, but after having read a number of reviews of the book, I've decided to put it on my Christmas list this year and hope for the best! --Hank | ||||||
2193 | thank you | James 4:7 | Hank | 160741 | ||
You're very welcome, Brenda. In future, please enter a reply as a note instead of a question. Welcome to SBF. --Hank | ||||||
2194 | getting a tattoo and is this a sin? | James 4:17 | Hank | 169196 | ||
ckyconan: Were did you get the idea that a tattoo of all things would show your faith in God? If you can find a commandment in all of Scripture that says, "Thou shalt get thyself a tattoo, for thou showest thy faith in God when thou hast thy body disfigured with a tattoo," then by all means hasten to a tattoo parlor. Otherwise, leave the tattoos in the hands of the macho urban cowboys who wear sunglasses at midnight and leather jackets in the middle of summer. If you put your mind to it, you could probably come up with dozens of ways to show your faith in God that would be far more effective than getting tattooed. --Hank | ||||||
2195 | Did Jesus enter into Hell? HopeStreet | 1 Peter | Hank | 30863 | ||
Hope, using Search please type in these three words: Jesus descended hell. This will lead you to more multi-faceted posts on this subject than you may wish to read! --Hank | ||||||
2196 | how do you make sense of this verse? | 1 Peter | Hank | 39212 | ||
nem, the form of your question on 1 Peter 1:17 is of interest. You ask, "How can you say this where it makes sense?" In well over a quarter of a century of teaching Bible classes, I patently have refused to address questions that begin with such presuppostions as "What does this verse mean to you? Why does God do this or not do that? Why does this verse contradict that verse? and so on. Now, I'm prepared to believe you meant no harm in phrasing your question the way you did. But at the same time, I would point out that the implication of it is this: that the words themselves don't make sense, which is untrue. What is so often true of me, and I suppose of others also, is that I in my limited area of awareness and comprehension don't always understand clearly what a verse or a passage of Scripture is saying. Your second question is far better phrased than your first, therefore. By the way, Peter is merely saying in this verse that if you are a Christian (call on the Father) then respect and honor (live in reverential fear of) God during your days on earth. --Hank | ||||||
2197 | Jesus descend into hell | 1 Peter | Hank | 201572 | ||
Another article that addresses the question of whether Jesus descended into hell between His death and resurrection may be found at http://www.gotquestions.org/did-Jesus-go-to-hell.html --Hank | ||||||
2198 | Misplaced zeal? | 1 Pet 2:12 | Hank | 30374 | ||
Hello, Charis! A quote on zeal from my quotable pastor (you've heard some of his sermons on tape): Zeal without knowledge is dangerous. Knowledge without zeal is practically worthless. --Hank | ||||||
2199 | Kindly explain? | 1 Pet 2:24 | Hank | 20771 | ||
Delaro, please first go to Isaiah 53:12. This verse is literally packed with rich meaning and foundational teaching. "Bore our sins" refers to the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. Peter is touching on the substitutionary character of the atonement, i.e., that Christ, like the sacrifical lamb of the Old Testament, died for our sins. He, the innocent, died for us, the guilty. As the result of Christ's death on the cross, believers enjoy the position of being made dead to sin in order to live new lives in Christ Jesus. "by His wounds you were healed" (see Isaiah 53:5) is not generally viewed as physical healing, but spiritual. And spiritual healing means salvation, the salvation that Christ brings to those who trust in Him. --Hank | ||||||
2200 | Are we at the mercyof Gods moodswings? | 1 Pet 2:24 | Hank | 82636 | ||
We are all of us clearly at the mercy of God, but not of God's "mood swings" as you have put it. To characterize the sovereign God as having mood swings is to describe Him as being capricious and unstable, a far cry from the Holy and Righetous God that Scripture reveals Him to be. The story you were reminded of and related in your post concerning the way God and Jesus passed their time in heaven by playing a divine version of Russian roulette with human beings is not funny, is not instructive, and reveals crass ignorance, blasphemy, and an utter lack of both taste and sensibility by him who invented it. I'd suggest you give that story a swift funeral. So great is the dichotomy of our finite perspective from that of the infinite, sovereign, and transcendent God that we must come to grips with the reality of how futile it really is to impugn God's motives by asking an unending series of What's If's and What About's. God put Job in his place not by answering all of Job's questions, but by asking Job a series of His questions. The Bible reveals everything about God that God chose to reveal about Himself. To presume that God has revealed everything about Himself that there is to know leads to error. To accept that God has revealed everything about Himself that He chose to reveal leads to wisdom. To have faith that what God has revealed about the redemptive work of His Son on the cross leads to salvation. To engage in the inane past-time of filling in the blanks ourselves on matters about which Scripture is silent or unclear leads to fruitless and time-wasting speculation. Sufficient enough indeed are the clearly revealed truths in God's word to keep us fully occupied for a lifetime, so we are hard pressed to justify a preposterous and ill-fated excursion into realms that God has reserved as His province alone. As with some of Job's questions, so with ours: God is saying in essence, "That's none of your business." Another fine illustration of the foolishness of trying to meddle in the Lord's business is given in the closing verses of John's Gospel. Jesus prophesies of Peter's martyrdom in 20:18,19. This prompts Peter to ask Jesus what would happen to John: "But Lord, what about this man?" Jesus answers Peter: "If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?" You follow Me." The command, "You follow Me," signified to Peter that his primary concern must not be John but Peter's continued devotion to the Lord and His service. Jesus was saying to Peter that it was His business to take care of John and Peter's business to remain devoted in service to Christ. So should we all fare better to keep our speculative noses out of God's business and to attend to our own, which is loving and serving Him to the utmost. --Hank | ||||||
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