Results 241 - 260 of 350
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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: Aixen7z4 Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
241 | What needs to be reconciled in heaven? | Col 1:20 | Aixen7z4 | 102474 | ||
The problem may lie in our understanding of the word “heaven” here. Does it refer to God’s home or to the atmosphere? Please note that many translations render this passage as “through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens”. The literal translations all use the word “heavens” and not “heaven”. With that, remember the following: 2Pe 3:7 the heavens and the earth are now kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. Psalm 102:25,26 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: 2Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. If the “heaven” in Colossians 1:20 really refers to the atmosphere, we can understand that it, along with the earth, has been polluted. It needs to be reconciled to God, cleaned up and restored to him. I wonder if this answer satisfies you. |
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242 | Evething good that I do is a good fruit? | John 15:4 | Aixen7z4 | 102236 | ||
Let us provoke unto love and to good works. The fruit of the Spirit is love. And faith works by love. To be grounded in love is good. But the tree does not produce ground. It uses the water and the nutrients in the ground to produce fruit. Even so we use the water of the word and the patience, kindness, longsuffering, etc. that are a part of love to produce fruit. What fruit? I would like to suggest there are more than one kind of fruit, just as there are more than one kind of fish. Godly character is fruit (Ephesians 5:9;Hebrews 12:11). Good works are fruit (Matthew 3:8; Romans 15:28). Results for our efforts are fruit (Romans 6:21,22;Colossians 1:10). The ones we have led to Christ are fruit (John 4:35,36;Romans 16:5;James 1:18), as is the growth that they experience (Romans 1:11-13). Also, there is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks and praise to him (Hebrews 13:15). These are not by our own efforts, however. It is still God who works in us, both to will and to do them. And he has a way of using us to help each other to bear fruit. |
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243 | "...sin against God?" | Gen 39:9 | Aixen7z4 | 102235 | ||
Before the law sin was in the world (Rom 5:13) but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Joseph might have decided that God had not said explicitly that adultery was wrong and he could have taken that as an excuse, but he chose not to. Before the law, and outside of the law, man still has his conscience. When people like Joseph who lived before the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: They show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another (Romans 2:14,15). When the law came, sin by the commandment became exceeding sinful (Romans 7:13). Man was then violating not only his conscience but also the written word. But now there was no excuse. God has concluded that all are sinners and made mercy available to all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! By what reasoning or knowledge did Joseph consider adultery with Potiphar's wife to be sin against God? By his conscience, I think. In his heart he knew that “as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law”. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference. I wanted to say that Joseph’s life was in every way such a picture of the life of Christ, it would have been a shame if he had committed that sin. But God was with him and he wanted to please him. He did not look for loopholes but followed the dictates of his conscience. He set an example for us that we live not by the letter of the law but by the Spirit. The Lord has said to his great-grand-father, “Walk before me, and be thou perfect”, and we also have a knowledge of his will, with wisdom and spiritual understanding; that we might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. Along with the word, it helps to have a tender conscience. |
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244 | Can you help? | 1 Thess 5:23 | Aixen7z4 | 102204 | ||
Warning! Teenagers only listen to each other. So, if you are not one of them, explain it to one of them, and then let them help you pass it on to the others. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be all functioning optimally during that assignment. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be fully ready for that assignment. According to 1 Thessalonians 5:23, it is spirit and soul and body. In James 2:26 the body without the spirit is dead. In Eccl 12:7 at death, the body returns to the earth, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. The spirit is the real person, and the person inhabits the body. The body includes a brain that the person uses to think and to experience emotions. The spirit is the one that expresses the self by saying things like "I am here". I am here because my body is here. When I die, my body goes to the ground while I go to be with Christ. The person uses his mind to think and his body to express himself. In Scripture, if we focus on the words, it can be confusing. Man becomes a soul, yet he says, “My soul, wait upon the Lord“, “Soul, take thine ease”, etc. As a man thinks, so he is. John sees souls under an altar. Hannah rejoices in spirit but David is sad in his soul. Paul can be absent from a place but present in spirit. It would take a long time to explicate and separate these words. Giving you all the scriptures will not help, I think, unless we spend several pages explaining, and the Greek and the Hebrew will not ease the pain. When you see the words in the Bible you must look at the context very carefully and the intended meanings will be logical and obvious. Unless some of the scholars here disagree (and we would not want to confuse you by giving you differing answers) I think I know what you should say to your friends. As they listen to you they are spirits listening to you with their physical ears and using their minds to think and feel, and if they are impressed or confused they may even feel it in their bodies. If they think too hard they may have headaches, and if they are amused or confused they may express it with their facial muscles and their vocal cords. The three parts (spirit, mind, and body) are separate, but they work together quite well. They had better keep it together or they are dead. Mind and my soul are the same thing. Sometimes in Scripture the words are used interchangeably. The writers do not seem to care whether they are talking about spirit or soul or body, because either way they are talking to you. But spirit is the real you, mind is the thinking feeling part, and the body is what you see. What a wonderful God our God is! It is he who has made us (Psalm 100) and we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139). We should use our minds and our mouths to glorify him (Romans 15:6). Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be all together and functioning optimally during that assignment. |
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245 | Where was Jesus from age 7 to 20? | John 21:25 | Aixen7z4 | 101771 | ||
We do not know. There are many things we do not know. The things we are told about Jesus are so we can believe on him and receive eternal life (John 20:31). There is not enough space in any book, or even in all the books in the world, to tell us everything about him. The important thing is that he came to this earth and did enough to let us know that he is God. Then he died for us and rose again. With that, it seems that God decided it was his ministry, and his death and burial and resurrection we needed to know about, and he gave that to us in some detail. I dare say the secular writers would not have focused on him before he started teaching and doing his miracles, because until then he had not distinguished himself; not in public, anyway. He grew up as a tender plant; as a root out of dry ground. But Scripture does give us a glimpse of him at the age of 12, and he was about his Father’s business. After that he lived with his parents and was subject to them. That’s about all we know of his earthly life until he began to preach at about the age of thirty. We understand that Jesus was here for a special reason, and he is unlike any other historical figure. The same might be said of other men of God, such as Melchizedek, and Moses and Elijah. We do not know much about how they spent their early years. We should have expected the same for our Lord Jesus Christ. We should accept and cherish what we do know. And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins. Isn’t that the most important part? |
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246 | Features of best possible study Bible | John 5:39 | Aixen7z4 | 101757 | ||
Dear Mark: Is the Bible for your daughter, or for you? This is not necessarily the type of advice you are seeking, but I would say, she is of age, ask her. I would suggest that you allow here to decide what type of Bible she likes. A few years ago I bought a Student Bible for my daughter (a "study" Bible for students) as she headed off to college. She called me often to discuss the themes because she did not have confidence in the notes. I got the impression she was not enthralled with the idea of studying the Bible that way. She wanted to read the Bible and discuss it, and I am happy that we were able to do that. I might confess here that I do not have confidence in study Bibles and I do not see that the Lord asks us to study the Bible at all. I say this in spite of 2Ti 2:15 “ Study to shew thyself approved unto God”. That “study” does not mean study at all; at least not as in “study Bible”. Perhaps what we need is a “search Bible” to Match John 5:39. I encourage everyone to have as many different versions of the Bible as they can afford. But it is my opinion that the best Bible is the one the person will read. Make it a Bible that is easy to read. Give your daughter the choice and I think she will choose the New Living Translation. She will like the one with no notes except cross-references, and the best concordance as an extra book. If your daughter uses the computer, please recommend or offer the e-Sword Bible. It is free and flexible, with many add-ons. She can get many translations, and best of all, concordances and cross-references are there. It is available at http://www.e-sword.net and it is for free for real. You will get many suggestions here as to which Bible is best, but again I say, the best Bible is the one the person will read. I suggest that you let your daughter look at your recommendations, but let her decide for herself which one she wants. It’s the best because it is the one she is most likely to read. |
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247 | Insufficient grace? | Luke 14:26 | Aixen7z4 | 101661 | ||
Seeker, God has been good to you. Your situation reminds me of the word he had for the nation of Israel in Ezekiel 16. “When you were born, your umbilical cord wasn't cut. You weren't washed with water to make you clean. You weren't rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloth. No one who saw you felt sorry enough for you to do any of these things. But you were thrown into an open field. You were rejected when you were born. Then I went by you and saw you kicking around in your own blood. I said to you, "Live." “I made you grow like a plant in the field. You grew up, matured, …” Your case, if it is of any comfort to you, unfortunately, your case it not at all unusual. In some cases, believe it or not, it is worse. Some of us got saved all by ourselves, with no one to witness to us or to counsel us personally. We heard the Gospel, of course, but there was often no human help or guidance. We had to struggle for assurance of salvation, and we had to struggle to get our feet under us, and then to grow. Some Christians have a stand-offish and judgmental attitude. They would much prefer to criticize you than to help you. Some believe they have to leave it up to the Holy Spirit and would not even try to get you saved. Baptism, discipleship, learning to do things, some of us have had to accomplish on our own. But we have learned that we were never alone. Behind the dim unknown standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own. And yet I must say that you were correct when you noted that God also uses human instruments. There is always a person here and there, supporting. I now work for a group called Gospel for Asia, and they emphasize the ministry of discipleship. Mentoring is integral to that ministry. The church used to have it, with Barnabas and Paul and Paul and Timothy. The principle was to continue, with the things that one has heard being committed to faithful men, who would be able to teach others also. It is just one of the ways the church has failed. But God’s word cannot fail. When the prophets fail, he will use a donkey. But God himself has been looking out for you, Seeker, and he has kept you seeking. Rest upon his promise that those who seek will find. I say it is not a curse to have the questions you have, but a blessing. When you have answered those questions, you will know more than the rest of us. Talking about the grace of God, don’t you see it. It is not true that you have to do all of those things by yourself. It is God who works in us both to will and to do his good pleasure. We are kept by the power of God and we never lose our salvation, and we never lose the ability to do his will. So, let’s say you have had a hard childhood, spiritually. You should now be stronger for it. I suggest that you look ahead now and not so much backward. Be like Paul and say, “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”. It was not casually but after consideration that I suggested you can be confident in your salvation. Indeed, it does not depend on your feeling but on whether you did go to him an call on him. For him that comes to him he will in no wise cast out. And whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you have doubts now then go to him and call on him again and be not faithless but believing. Stop doubting and move on. I would thank God for the way he has kept you and the strength you have had to keep on. That is grace. The Lord has taken care of you personally. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet God will not forget you. He has not, so far, and he never will. So go on, my friend. Learn all you can, grow like that plant in the field, and serve the Lord. Stay in the word. Be like the tree planted by the water. Notice that it does not work hard, doing this and that on its own, but it soaks up the word. In time, I would not be surprised if you became a teacher of the word. He giveth more grace, and his grace is sufficient. |
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248 | Is it a must to be rebaptized in water? | Matt 28:19 | Aixen7z4 | 101653 | ||
Your salvation is complete the moment you put your faith in Christ. This assumes you have repented and turned to him. If you were baptized after trusting Christ, you do not need to be baptized again. Baptism means immersion in water and it should be done explicitly to proclaim that you have been saved. Baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is the same as baptism in the name of Jesus. If you have been sprinkled or poured upon, then you have not been baptized and you should be baptized, that is, immersed. It is not a re-baptism. It would be your first real baptism. |
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249 | Did Jesus teach hate? | Luke 14:26 | Aixen7z4 | 101624 | ||
We need to be clear. Jesus does not teach hate. Quite the contrary. He teaches love. Jesus is God, and God is love. God loved us and sent his son to die for us. Jesus loved us and gave his life for us. Greater love has no man than this. Jesus loved, and he taught love. We must also love him, and show it with our lives. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. “But I tell everyone who is listening: Love your enemies. Be kind to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who insult you. If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other cheek as well. If someone takes your coat, don't stop him from taking your shirt. Give to everyone who asks you for something. If someone takes what is yours, don't insist on getting it back. Do for other people everything you want them to do for you. If you love those who love you, do you deserve any thanks for that? Even sinners love those who love them. If you help those who help you, do you deserve any thanks for that? Sinners do that too. If you lend anything to those from whom you expect to get something back, do you deserve any thanks for that? Sinners also lend to sinners to get back what they lend. Rather, love your enemies, help them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then you will have a great reward. You will be the children of the Most High God. After all, he is kind to unthankful and evil people. Be merciful as your Father is merciful. “The matter of commitment to the cause is a different matter. Love itelf requires commitment. We the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Jesus called it taking up the cross, dying to self, and suchlike. We are to lay aside every weight. I myself do not know a word for the attitude we are to have to the things that might hinder us from serving Christ. “Hate” seems to fit OK. I think I understand what Jesus meant. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple”. In other words, "If people come to me and are not ready to abandon their fathers, mothers, wives, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as their own lives, they cannot be my disciples”. I think Paul understood. He said: “The Holy Ghost witnesses in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God”. I wonder if we modern Christians understand. I heard a radio preacher say recently that we must learn to say No to the church and put our families first. Many people today serve Christ for gain, and have no patience with the idea of sacrifice. That is another mindset. Jesus does not teach us to neglect our families. He reminded the Pharisees that God had said, “Honor thy father and mother: and, He that curses father or mother, let him die the death”. He condemned their tradition that contradicted the spirit of that law. He related in an exemplary manner with his own earthly family. On the cross, as some believe, he directed John to take care of his mother. We are to take care of them, and not be like the infidels. If we find that our families hinder and oppose our commitment to Christ, however, there is a choice to be made. Jesus does not teach hate. But he does require commitment. |
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250 | Christ and Christians? | Luke 14:26 | Aixen7z4 | 101438 | ||
You are right. I am a seeker too. Let us share what we have found. Perhaps we need to take this in little bits, one bit at a time. Dispensationalism is one thing, and as far as I am concerned we can take it or leave it. In fact the idea as such is not taught directly. But isn't it clear that Repentance is for all of us? Isn't it clear that going to Macedonia is not for us? I hold my breath and hope that no one will make an issue of it here. There are principles that apply of course, but the Lord does not expect us to go to Macedonia. That was for Paul. However, repentance is for all of us, for (Acts 17:30) the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent. Fetching things from Troas is not for me although Paul says (2Timothy 4:13) "The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments". But faith is for me for (John 3:16) "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life". In similar fashion I determine that being a witness is for me, but going to Samaria is not for me. Being ready to give an answer is for me. But speaking in other tongues is not for me. Matthew 11:28 is for me. But Mark 16:17,17 is not for me. I can learn from it, but it is not a command for me to obey. Are you with me? |
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251 | True Disciples - eternal importance | Luke 14:26 | Aixen7z4 | 101398 | ||
Aixen Answer, part B. Back to the passage in question. The signs in Mark 16 were for the original apostles to observe. They were not instructions for the converts to try to manifest or to look on as proof of their salvation. They were not for subsequent evangelists to observe, except perhaps in virgin territory where the Gospel has not been preached before, and they were not for subsequent believers such as you and me to look for in order to know if we are saved. How do I know all of this? From the context; the context of the passage, the context of their lives, the context of the rest of the word of God. Now, I have suggested that you think about those passages carefully, prayerfully and in context. I have also suggested that you put aside what others think about them. So you would have to put aside what I have said here. Please do not feel that you have to agree with me. Nevertheless, I trust that this exercise has been helpful. I expect that others will share with you their understanding of the passages. Unfortunately, we may disagree among ourselves and you will be reading varying explanations. I think you should try to get your own understanding. The Holy Spirit in you will direct you. May I say again that that your questions seem most reasonable. I am confident that you will find satisfactory answers in the Bible as you pursue them. Already you have shown good understanding. On the question as to whether Jesus teaches hate, for example, you have stated that Jesus must have meant something special when he said we would have to hate our relatives. I would not even worry if you cannot quite put it into words. That is the way it is. When passages seem to conflict, and when teachers disagree, it is for me a time to get alone with God and dig deep. May God bless you as you continue to seek truth. I pray that god will give you assurance of salvation and the answer to all your questions. Please share not only your questions but also your insights with us. |
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252 | True Disciples - eternal importance | Luke 14:26 | Aixen7z4 | 101397 | ||
Aixen Answer, part A. Seeker: I encourage you to read each of the passages you've mentioned. 1. individually. 2. slowly. 3. prayerfully. 4. without considering what others say about it. 5. considering instead, the context (that is so important) the context of it. If you would do that, I would think you would be able to come back to us with a good understanding of each passage. One of the reasons I think you are saved is that you have a desire to do the will of God. You want the word of God to be not only clear but doable. It is a good sign. You realize that many believers are disobedient. But you want to obey. You want to understand in order to obey. I want to encourage you. With that, may I consider with you one of the passages that seem to be troublesome. Let us do Mark 16:16,17. See what do you get if you consider the following: Jesus was speaking to the eleven apostles; not to us. His words at that time were for them, and designed to meet their unique needs. They apply in principle to other evangelists and missionaries, but they were specifically for them, the present listeners. How would they know that their listeners had believed? They would have trouble believing that any Gentiles could get saved. For that reason, Jesus gave them these signs. They were the pioneers. They were the first. Their needs were unique. They had the need for signs. He was speaking to them. They were the signs by which the apostles would recognize new believers. In the book of Acts we see where these came into play. In the epistles (e.g. 1 Corinthians 14) we see the explanation of the reason for these signs. Tongues were a sign for the Jews to know that the Gentiles were being saved. The signs were not given to new believers to know if they were saved. They were for the observers. The believers would have inner signs: the witness of the Holy spirit, the peace that comes with believing, their desire to obey. Please do not say we pick and choose what is for us and what is not. By looking at the context closely we can determine. When Paul asks Timothy to bring a cloak and some parchments, we know he is speaking to him about that and not to us. Even when he directs him to preach the word, rebuking and exhorting, we know that he is speaking to him as an evangelist and he is not thereby indicating that every believer should follow the same course. He would direct him to teach faithful men who would teach others. The point is that some things are for some of us and some are not. Paul would say in Romans 12, for example, that each one should stick to his ministry. It is unfortunate that some of those who are seeking to answer your questions here might disagree among themselves. They may even disagree with what I am saying here. But I say that in general we need to determine whether specific instructions in the Bible are for us. The instructions to Timothy are for him in particular and for people like him, that is, teachers and preachers and evangelists. They are not for women, for example, who are instructed to not teach but to learn in silence. Context is important. |
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253 | Purpose of this forum? | Luke 14:26 | Aixen7z4 | 101304 | ||
Seeker, I hope you are not wrong. I hope you will find your answers here. You may be surprised to know that I think you are saved. I will show my confidence on that point by not raising the issue again. I trust that everyone here will be loving and accepting, and that they will devote themselves to patiently answering your questions. I think that all of your observations about the church, about evangelicals, and about this forum, are on point. The situation is regrettable and I can only hope that all of us consider the need to repent and change our behavior. If a few of the folks here will indicate that, then I believe the tone will be different and we can focus on answering your questions. If not, I would not blame you for seeking your answers elsewhere. But where? They say you will never find a perfect church, and it seems that you will not find a perfect forum either. I thought of recommending a few web sites to you, but they are not perfect. On my own forum, at hishows.aimoo.com, there is none of the confusion that you mentioned. It is moderated and these things are not tolerated. But frankly, that forum is not very popular. It seems that people want those things you mentioned, the disagreements and the arguments. Some say it is good and they want the freedom to do them, so this is where they come. I trust you get your questions answered because I think they are good questions. Maybe we can get back to them. |
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254 | What does Luke 14:26 mean? | Luke 14:26 | Aixen7z4 | 101274 | ||
It says, "He cannot be my disciple". It may mean that some of us who think we are his disciples, are not. | ||||||
255 | What does Luke 14:26 mean? | Luke 14:26 | Aixen7z4 | 101273 | ||
It may mean that some of us are taking our relationship to Christ too causally. Jesus demands commitment. We must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him. | ||||||
256 | I'm skeptical | Luke 14:26 | Aixen7z4 | 101236 | ||
DairyLeader is correct, Seeker. While your questions cry out for an answer, I want to assure that the answers are in the Bible. Context is paramount, but so is the role of the Holy Spirit in giving us understanding. We Christians are not perfect, but we believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. We trust in him. I wonder if you have learned to trust him. I checked your profile to see where you are in in relation to the faith, but I see you have not filled it out as yet. When you do, it will help us to see where you are coning from, so to speak, and it will help us to answer your questions. We have learned that it is God who reveals the true meaning of his word to us. Also, he does this, not to satisfy our curiosity, but so we can obey him. See Deuteronomy 29:29, etc. If you have a sincere desire to know God's will, you will know the truth of it. See John 7:17. God’s word is truth. See John 17:17. It does not seem appropriate to go into any of the apparent contradictions you have mentioned because they seem to be only examples. I suppose you have seen many others. But we have all reason to trust our Lord and to trust his word. Some of us fail to obey it, as you have observed, and that limits our ability to receive further truth. That applies to you as well as to us. Once again, it would be good to discuss these questions with you, but have you trusted the Lord Jesus Christ an your savior as yet? Do you believe he died for you? Have you trusted him to forgive you and to save you? Can you say, as Paul says, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day”? That, I believe, is the beginning point. |
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257 | why is baptism important | 2 Cor 5:17 | Aixen7z4 | 100807 | ||
Dear Lord, Look at the length of this chain. Lord, these people seem to think there is actually a virtue it pitting one point of view against another and splitting hairs to the nth, and I fear that this will never end. What is one to think if one comes to this site looking for truth? Lord, some of us have been taught that we must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we will be saved. We have believed and we claim our salvation. Why are our brethren arguing with us? They say that baptism is important. But Lord, we have been baptized. Why are they still tangling with us? We understand that some of them have been taught they must believe and be baptized in order to be saved. They have repented and they have believed. They believe that baptism is important to you and that you require this proof of repentance and faith in order to complete the work of salvation in them. Lord, we would like to accept that, as we believe you accept them. You will have all men to be saved. You have said you will never turn away anyone who comes to you. We believe you did not turn them away even if their understanding was not as precise as ours. Help us not to argue with them. But now, Lord, we have spent many hours doing just that; arguing about this, and we believe you are not pleased. Please forgive us. Please help us to accept each other and to not engage anymore in doubtful disputations. Lord, I am afraid that some will even disagree as to whether this is a matter of doubtful disputation. But my prayer is that we can accept one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. I pray that our sharing can be such that we will leave a record here that we can feel good about, that you can approve of, that can be a blessing to others who will read this in days to come. Lord, deliver us from ourselves, and glorify yourself on this forum. May we find repentance here, and a change in our behavior. Amen. |
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258 | meaning of the word GRACE | 2 Cor 5:17 | Aixen7z4 | 100719 | ||
Grace is a certain spiritual strength that God in his kindness gives to us so we can bear or accomplish things that we could not do on our own. | ||||||
259 | What does it mean to be "in Christ?" | 2 Cor 5:17 | Aixen7z4 | 100687 | ||
We are complete in him. | ||||||
260 | share some teaching please | Bible general Archive 2 | Aixen7z4 | 100658 | ||
I wonder if Dread is suggesting that there should be some good teaching on this ... forum. | ||||||
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