Results 41 - 60 of 657
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: stjones Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
41 | TRINITY | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 34021 | ||
Elijah(?!); You started out ok but stumbled when you interchanged "firstborn" and "created". People bear/beget children, they don't "create" them. So, seemingly, it is with God. Jesus was the begotten Son of God, not a creation of God. Since Jesus was present at the Creation, he was obviously born/begotten before the universe was created. How else explain "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made"? John, of course, had it right. The rest of your note kind of goes downhill from there. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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42 | How is the end really going to happen? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 34024 | ||
Greeting, poet; Not to put too fine a point on it, but who cares? God will get it right and I'm confident that we'll all be surprised one way or another. "Left Behind" is fiction; enjoy it for that. Jesus said to go and make disciples; he didn't tell anyone to sit around and speculate about how or when he would return. People who think they have it all figured are little scary. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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43 | How is the end really going to happen? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 34032 | ||
Hi, Heisthe1; Thanks for the note. The trumpet will be enough notice for me. And I'm sure I'll be surprised if I'm still alive when it happens. In the meantime, I'll have to try to strike a balance between looking up and looking elsewhere - kinda hard to drive to church when you're looking up. ;-) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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44 | Who can refute reasoning? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 37077 | ||
Hi, CDBJ; I can't see that the passage you cite says anything about reasoning being the path to salvation. Taken in context, God is telling the people of Judah to think about their disobedience and its obvious consequences. Verse 19: '"If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.' Your example of the thief on the cross is speculative. My own speculation is that, finding himself in a desparate situation, he grasped at the only hope left him - that the man next to him really was able to offer salvation of some kind. I doubt that he reasoned it out, but of course neither one of us knows. What we can know is that the consistent message throughout the entire Bible is that faith is the key to salvation. Reason may be a means to faith, but faith itself is a gift of God, not the product of reason. You may be able to cite a passage that, taken out of context, seems to suggest otherwise. The intellectual exercise of finding "one verse or another", however, can hardly disprove what the Bible as a whole makes clear. 'Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding' (Proverbs 3:5) I will lean instead on Paul's familiar assertion in Ephesians 2:8-9: 'For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.' If I were able to reason myself to salvation - or even to faith - it would be of myself, something of which I could boast. Peace and grace Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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45 | Who can refute reasoning? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 37082 | ||
Hi, CDBJ; I wouldn't think that such sarcasm would be appropriate in this forum. Jesus taught us to love one another. Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is patient and kind. I must admit that armygrunt's posts seem to contribute little to the purposes of this forum, but perhaps there is a good reason for that. I have no idea what motivates him (or her). IMHO, your contemptuous reference to the "futile thinking" of others who do make more substantive contributions says more about you than it does about us. (I include myself because I have disagreed with you in another post.) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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46 | Do ALL demons have names? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 43603 | ||
Hi, Jdth; Why "must [we] understand" this one thing? It's not Biblical. Angels are heavenly beings, not dead or converted humans. Anyone who does God's work is a person doing God's work. Likewise, demons are spirits, not dead or converted humans. So anyone who does Satan's work is someone who needs to hear and believe the gospel. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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47 | Do ALL demons have names? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 43677 | ||
With all due respect, the world is full of people who remake God in the image of their own common sense. But that just puts him in a box of our own dimensions. God is a lot bigger than our common sense and often stand in stark contrast to common sense. As Paul noted, "... the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18) I hope you will come to trust his word and abandon common sense when it contradicts what God has revealed. I have learned over the years that when I conform my thinking to what the Bible teaches, things that seemed to make no sense at all eventually do. And as others have pointed out, this is a Bible study forum; truth and our struggles to grasp it count for much more than common sense opinions here. I commend Proverbs 3:5 to you: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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48 | Can you lose your salvation? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 47049 | ||
Greetings tomn, You said "our assurance of salvation is to be in our knowing the reality of the 2k yr old man we call Jesus being alive today as our Lord and Savior" Knowing who Jesus is and that he is alive today is not sufficient; the demons know who he is. Confusing him with a character invented by Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner raises some questions too. :-) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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49 | JOE THROWS ONENESS INTO HERESY | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 49436 | ||
Hi, RevC; How do you account for the multiple refences that Jesus (1) makes to his father (2) and the Holy Spirit (3) in John 14-17? Is Jesus saying that he will ask himself to send himself? Is he saying to himself that he has lost none of those he gave himself? Who is he speaking to in John 17:3 ("Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.") and who sent whom? Call me dense; I just don't get it. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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50 | TRINITY | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 49437 | ||
Are you ever going to abandon this childish vendetta against Joe? Everybody on this forum knows what you think of him; there's nothing more to be said. Please find a new topic. | ||||||
51 | Why is killing enimies in the OT okay? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 49917 | ||
Greetings, Mandy; First of all, I certainly wouldn't agree that the conquest of Canaan described in Joshua is "wanton killing". I agree that it is an appalling account. Perhaps anticipating that, God explained to Moses: 'After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.' (Deuteronomy 9:4-6) Would you care to cite a specific passage for your favorite story? Who was "the leader"? What were the circumstances? More importantly, who defines "wanton"? You? What is your standard? Is it just killing that you personally disapprove of? Most of us around here consider the Bible to be authoritative, the standard by which we measure our opinions and our ideas. By what do you measure yours? As for "borderline insanity", let me provide two passages that guide me when I think I have a better idea than God: (1) "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6) and (2) "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18) Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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52 | Why is killing enimies in the OT okay? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 49933 | ||
Hi, Mandy; Notice that God did not demand the vow from Jephthah. It was his own idea. His motives (pride, payback) are clear from the preceeding verses. Did God give Israel the victory because of Jephthah's vow? Of course not. He gave Israel the victory because he had promised to defend Israel, as Jephthah surely knew. Jephthah's actions were all his own and don't reflect on God at all. Casual reading of the OT often leads to the erroneous assumption everything the Israelites do - good or bad - is somehow commanded or at least condoned by God. But God continually reveals his patience by putting up with the shortcomings of his people. I am grateful for his forebearance. There is no place in the Bible that God demands child sacrifice - a detestable practice of the followers of Moloch. The idea could not have come from God nor can responsibility for it be placed at his feet. That the Bible faithfully records Jephthah's stupidity in easily misunderstood circumstances is testament to its truthfulness. You have expressed your opinion forcefully. While you are certainly entitled to it, it remains your opinion, without authority or standard. Your comments are loaded with value judgments ("wanton", "heinous", etc.) with no trace of values. What are your values? Where do they come from? How do you know they're right? If you haven't a clear answer, don't worry about it. 5000 years of human philosophy have failed to come up with a satisfactory answer. As for the implication that I may have jumped over the line to pure insanity, I don't mind at all. Your suggestion is just testimony to the truth of the passages I cited earlier. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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53 | Why is killing enimies in the OT okay? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 49934 | ||
Hi, jmartin; Just to add a little to (the other) Steve'e reply: The question is, whose enemies? The OT does not condone killing ones personal enemies. Does God sometimes tolerate it? Yes, just as he toleraties other kinds of misbehavior. I didn't kill my daughter when she got her tongue pierced (ouch!); that doesn't mean I approved or encouraged it. But God does condone killng his enemies. Death is the consistent penalty for disobedience. Whether God chooses the Israelites or fire and brimstone to do the job is purely his choice. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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54 | Why is killing enimies in the OT okay? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 49949 | ||
Hi, Mandy; "But one might ask why or how he came up with that idea? It seemed natural." - People come up with all kinds of bad ideas, all on their own; God is not responsible for them. The Crusaders had some really bad ideas of their own and people who don't know any better have been blaming God for them ever since. "And then one might ask, why did God allow the event to happen?" - The same question could be asked about every bad thing that has ever happened. A good question, but too much to answer here. With respect to Jephthah, he suffered a terrible loss as the result of his prideful vow. Did others (his daughter) suffer more? In earthly terms, yes; but no more than the victims of countless drunk drivers who walk away from the carnage they cause. People die as the result of other people's sins every day. It's sad part of living in a fallen world. "Abraham's poised knife was stayed in a previous sacrifice episode. It is an interesting scenario." - The knife was poised by God's command and stayed by God's command, both to serve God's purposes. I don't think this episode is related to Jephthah's self-serving behavior. With regard to opinions, I try very hard to base my opinions on an external, divine standard - the Bible. My comments are based on that standard. Might I get it wrong and go off in the wrong direction sometimes? Of course I do, but study and meditation based on the Bible bring me a few compass points closer to the right direction - much closer than if I just made it up as I went. Do I approve of God's command in Numbers 15:32-36? Not really; but then I often think I have a better idea. Ultimately, however, I trust the loving and just God portrayed in the Bible. Job: "Though he slay me, yet I will trust in him". Peter: "Where would we go? You alone have the words of life". Where else should I turn? To a god of my own or someone else's making? Where does knowledge of the loving and just God in whom you have faith come from? Does it come from your own reason? your emotions? other people? Is he a god of your own making? I assure you that I have read and studied the OT and struggled with the violence. At the end of the day, I had to ask myself if I trusted God, if I was willing to give up my tendency to judge God and just let God judge the world. I have since come to understand that these stories are there because God is honest and wants them there. It's easy to love a cuddly baby lying in a manger. The challenge is to see a loving God in the midst of the carnage. Finally, it becomes a choice - do I let my opinions about these events alter my understanding of the God portrayed in the whole Bible? or do I allow my knowledge of God to alter my opinions about these events? I have chosen the latter. It'll be a sad day when I approach either God or his creation without wonder. And wondering. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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55 | Why is killing enimies in the OT okay? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 49977 | ||
Hi (or Goodbye) Mandy; I know, I know; I read your P.S. But just on the off chance that you check back to read this.... I'm sorry to see you go. I enjoyed our exchange and hope that I didn't offend you. Thanks for your thoughful posts. They made me think. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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56 | need for a bible-anyone | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 50691 | ||
Hi, Tim; Always believing that the Bible can be understood by mono-lingual non-scholars, ;-) I'd like to suggest another way of looking at baptismal regeneration. It seems to me this idea has two fatal flaws. First, it negates the many instances where the Bible says that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved (e.g. Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13). This simple, unqualified statement is beautifully illustrated by the thief on the cross. Second, it asserts that Jesus, who came to save the world (John 3:17), is unable or unwilling to save anyone in it without man's help. This is an idea that was dealt with in the Reformation - that a sinner could not enter into a right relationship with God without the help of a human mediator. There are certainly instances in the NT where baptism and salvation are associated within a single story. But there too many counter-examples to claim that the two are invariably linked. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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57 | Mythology and the bible? | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 50796 | ||
Greetings, katagious2; Myths appeal to humans because they speak to the deepest needs and fears of our hearts. It is no surprise that man-made myths should bear a superficial resemblance to parts of the Bible. The Bible was inspired by one who knows those needs and fears better than anyone. None of these myths span the time, geography, or variety of authors that the Bible does. You won't find another story written by dozens of authors over the space 1500 years that holds together from beginning to end. And beware of junk mythology that is posted by revisionist mythologians. If you go to the original sources, you will find little that corresponds to the trash you find on the internet. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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58 | need for a bible-anyone | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 50806 | ||
Hi, mouse2; I've stayed out of this but one sentence caught my eye: "When your soul is on the line, it behooves us to investigate everything carefully (as the Beareans did)". The Bereans did not study scripture to save their souls, they studied scripture to see if Paul was believable. What was Paul saying? That there was now a new set of rules to follow or that salvation is by grace through faith alone? I know I'm not going to change your mind about this, nor do I really want to. I'm certain your style of worship is pleasing to God. I am equally certain that he is pleased by the worship of my Presbyterian congregation that glofifies him with hymns and choral anthems - and sometimes as David did, with harp and lyre and even the odd dance every now and then. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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59 | need for a bible-anyone | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 50815 | ||
Hi, mouse2; Further down in this thread, I offered the following objection to the idea that "Scripture makes it rather clear baptism is necessary": It seems to me this idea has two fatal flaws. First, it negates the many instances where the Bible says that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved (e.g. Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, Romans 10:13). This simple, unqualified statement is beautifully illustrated by the thief on the cross. Second, it asserts that Jesus, who came to save the world (John 3:17), is unable or unwilling to save anyone in it without man's help. This is an idea that was dealt with in the Reformation - that a sinner could not enter into a right relationship with God without the help of a human mediator. There are certainly instances in the NT where baptism and salvation are associated within a single story. But there too many counter-examples to claim that the two are invariably linked. What scripture is clear about is that "... it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast." No legalisms, no performance, no law, none of our own effort, nor the effort of anyone doing baptisms - only his. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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60 | need for a bible-anyone | Bible general Archive 1 | stjones | 50879 | ||
Hi, mouse2; You asked "Do you believe the Bible is inconsistent?" and cited Psalm 119:160 "All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal." That was my point. Throughout, the Bible says to believe, to have faith, to call upon the Lord to be saved. No one is saved without faith. You cited passages in James, Matthew, and John but none of them say that works lead to salvation. They all say that works should be the visible result of salvation. Nor do they mention any specific works. But let me ask you a straightforward question - Paul wrote "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9) Did he lie? Was he mistaken? Is it only first-century citizens of Ephesus who are saved by grace through faith? This passage explicitly excludes works as a means to salvation. No baptism, no style of worship, no schedule for communion, just God's grace accessed through faith. Nothing more. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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