Results 481 - 500 of 500
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Results from: Answers On or After: Thu 12/31/70 Author: Reformer Joe Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
481 | LEAVING YOUR CHURCH | 2 Pet 3:18 | Reformer Joe | 71670 | ||
Before leaving, I would talk with the pastors and elders of your church to express your frustrations. I was in the same situation you are in, and although the meeting I had with the elders of my church eventually proved unfruitful (at least as far as my wife and I continuing to be members of that congregation), I think it was the right thing to do instead of just silently leaving out the back door. Just my two cents! God bless! --Joe! |
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482 | Can someone sin after salvation ? | 1 John | Reformer Joe | 35771 | ||
We all have and continue to do so. Complete moral perfection lies ahead, when we are with the Lord. In the meantime, He works in the hearts of his people to make them hate sin more and to commit sin less. "For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin." --Romans 7:22-25 --Joe! |
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483 | Say we that love God so much,Still fall | 1 John | Reformer Joe | 53035 | ||
You wrote: "Can a person that really loves God fall into great sins and yet love God so dear?" King David did. I do. Actually, I believe that our sin demonstrates that we do not love God as much as we ought (John 14:15). Our sin does not mean we are not saved, but rather that are in the midst of a war between the old self and the new that will last until we are with the Lord. "And after repenting is his sin gone?" If you are in Christ, your sins were paid for by Jesus Christ. Repentance is the acknowledgement and remorse of the guilt of our sin and a determination to fight it. Since you brought this issue up, I want to quote something for the forum that I found quite profound. It is from a book I have been reading called _The Pursuit of Holiness_ by Jerry Bridges. It comes highly recommended by me, and here is one of the things he has to share from God's word: "It is time for Christians to face up to our responsibility for holiness. Too often we say we are 'defeated' by this or that sin. No, we are not defeated; we are simply disobedient! It might be well if we stopped using the terms 'victory' and 'defeat' to describe our progress in holiness. Rather, we should use the terms 'obedience' and 'disobedience.' When I say I am defeated by my some sin, I am unconsciously slipping out from under my own responsibility. I am saying that something outside of me has defeated me. But when I say I am disobedient, that places the responsibility for sin squarely on me. We may, in fact, be defeated, but the reason we are defeated is because we have chosen to disobey. We have chosen to entertain lustful thoughts, or to harbor resentment, or to shade the truth a little." Another excellent book which addresses your question directly is _Righteous Sinners: The Believer's Struggle with Faith, Grace, and Works_ by Ron Julian. Both of these give a very biblical perspective on sin in the life of the child of God. Incidentally, Forum, I pretty much will be taking a virtual vacation this week, as AMF's summer missions week starts this afternoon. Please pray for me and the other leaders of this program; for the 85 or so teens that are participating, that they will proclaim God's truth accurately and authoritatively; and that children participating in the "backyard Bible clubs" led by the teens this week will be drawn to Christ or strengthened in their existing faith. Thanks, and may God bless you! --Joe! |
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484 | what sould i do? | 1 John 1:5 | Reformer Joe | 81141 | ||
Hello, SHYCARR. If you do not mind me asking, why do you say you love God and Jesus, but don't show a love for God's people by worshiping with them? Biblically speaking, God has set things up so that in order to become more like Jesus Christ, we must be in communion with other believers. There is no biblical precedent for "solo sanctification." Take a look at these passages: Ephesians 4 Romans 12 1 Peter 2:9-10 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Hebrews 10:23-25 Simply put, the ritual of going to a church saves no one, but God has orchestrated things in such a way that the church is essential for Christian growth. It is where we hear the word preached, pray corporately, exercise the spiritual gifts God has given us for the benefit of God's people, bear one another's burdens, contribute to the needs of the saints and to the extension of God's Kingdom, confess our common faith, celebrate the Lord's Supper, confess our sins together, and corporately sing in praise of our God. Those are not solitary activities, and it is disobedience to God to neglect the communion of saints. You may have been saved as an individual, but the consistent testimony of Scripture is that every Christian is saved INTO the church. "I no my relationship with GOD is still intact" How do you know that without any frame of reference? "in fact i feel iv leard so much more about GOD not attending church" How have you learned more apart from church? "I love GOD and Jesus" If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. --John 14:15 "with thier help i keep myself sinless as posibale" The Holy Spirit works through His people (the church) in order to accomplish that in your life. Your neglecting the communion of saints itself is a sin. "often i find myself alone but effective on my wolk" How so? "i don't feel that everything that churchs do are right so I basicly dissconect myself from it." Of course everything they do isn't right; they are made up of people like you and me. That is no excuse for disobeying God by "disconnecting" oneself from church. One must wonder whether someone who seems to despise God's people so much is one of them herself. "What sould I do?" Find a good church where God's word is proclaimed, where baptism and the Lord's Supper are celebrated, and be the member of Christ's body that God saved you to be. There are tons of good churches in my denomination, so I will offer that as a starting point: http://www.pcanet.org May God's blessings through communal worship be yours. --Joe! |
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485 | Immaculate Conception, mary, how? | 1 John 1:8 | Reformer Joe | 67378 | ||
Yes. It is not taught in Scripture, is part of Roman Catholic tradition, and is not true. --Joe! |
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486 | Receive? | 1 John 2:2 | Reformer Joe | 6950 | ||
Hello, again, Tim! Just wanted to put in a few brief points myself. Been busy working on a teen mission trip (yes, Calivinists DO evangelize! :) ), so I haven't had the luxury of following this thread too closely. 1) What evidence is in the text that receiving in Romans 5:17 is an active deed rather than a passive kind of receiving? 2) If we hold that election is conditional, who is really the one doing the choosing? Does that match up with Sho is choosing in every passage in the NT where this is brought up. In other words, where is there any comclusive, incontrovertible verse that states that we are at any point "free to accept or reject Christ." We both know that the "whosoever believes..." passages are not ignored by Calvinists, but easily fit into the TULIP framework. Is there anything else besides those, since we both agree that all who will believe are saved? 3) My biggest problem with this (and I am a fairly new Calvinist by the way -- last couple of years), is that a God who is not willing that any should perish is a God who fails to some extent in his redemptive plan. What I mean by this is that if he loves us all in a salvific way, then why would he not "do more" (which is within the capability of an omnipotent God) to change the minds of all who have rejected him? A corollary to this is the question, What makes some accept Christ and others reject Him, if the Holy Spirit works equally to "try and save all"? Thanks again for your dialogue. I do enjoy it! --Joe! |
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487 | How do you respond to these passages? | 1 John 2:2 | Reformer Joe | 6995 | ||
Okay, let's look: a) I admit unfamiliarity with the "middle passive" voice in Greek, so I am unable to comment on the grammatical particularites involved here. In any case, I do not contend that the active reception of a gift or faith runs contrary to the Reformed position in any case. Calvinists contend that we do choose Christ, that we do place our faith in Christ. It is volitional and active on our part, but only because the disposition of our hearts have been changed logically prior to exercising saving faith. This differs from Arminianism in the sense that it is more than a "prevenient grace" that merely makes us ABLE to receive Christ; it makes us WANT to do so. The verse does not imply that there are some to whom it is offered but not received. And, of course, the verse itself does not identify who those people are that will "receive the abundance of grace." However, let's see if we can infer who those individuals may be. We know that they are initially "ungodly" (5:6), which does describe everyone, but doesn't necessarily mean ALL ungodly men. The same verse also identifies the ungodly as "we," so does the "we" mean "we humans" or "we Christians" to whom the letter is addressed? Obviously the latter category is a subset of the former, so we need more to go on. We see that the "us" is continues in verse 8, in that "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Same people being referred to here as in verse 6, unless you can see some reason why the "we" has shifted. Verse 9-10 shows that "we" have been "justifed by His blood" and "shall be saved of the wrath of God through Him" and "shall be saved by His life." Do Arminians hold that all humans fall into this category? Verse 11 shows the pronoun "we" again, in terms of having received reconciliation. Have all human beings been reconciled to God now? It seems that the "we" referred to is limited to Christians. Now it may be that Paul is not emphatically saying in this passage that the unsaved are unatoned for, but the "we" seems to be dealing with those who have been justified, reconciled, saved through Christ from the wrath to come. Therefore, the "ungodly" in verse 6 and the "us" in verse 8 seems very likely to be referring to believers. Now verse 17 is in the middle of a passage where Paul is comparing Christ's atonement to Adam's transgression. He uses the words "the many" to refer to both the condemned and the saved in all the verses except for 18, in which he states that Adam 's sin resulted in condemnation of "all men" and through Christ's death and resurrection "there resulted justification of life to all men." First of all, were ALL human beings condemned until Christ? Secondly, were ALL human beings justified through Christ? Keep in mind that justification means a "declaration of righteousness" and that there is no evidence that Paul is speaking of a "potential justification," just like he wasn't writing of a "potential condemnation." This is why Calvinists hold in many cases that "all men" means "all kinds of men" (which is really not any grammatical stretch) rather than "each and every human being." --Joe! |
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488 | How do you respond to these passages? | 1 John 2:2 | Reformer Joe | 6999 | ||
Now on to part (b): Paul is again writing to the church at Corinth and also to believers (v.1:1), which is important to note. This passage is a little more packed, so forgive me if I ask a few questions myself to clarify your take on it. Identifying the pronouns again is a good place to start. The "we" and "us" here in this passage (at least starting in v. 12) seem not to be all Christians, as in the Romans passage, but rather Paul and his fellow ministers. There is a "we"/"you" distinction between two groups of believers who are experiencing some, ah, "friction." The "you" are the Corinthians, and the "Him" is clearly the Lord Jesus. The big question is who the "they" is referring to. Obviously it refers to "all" and "the world" (vv. 14,19). Verse 19 in particular says that "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself." Again, I ask, are we all reconciled? Are those who die rejecting Christ "reconciled"? Even those who do not wish reconciliation and are alive right now are "reconciled"? Of course, another interesting question is why Paul begs his audience to be reconciled to God. Wouldn't they be reconciled already, being part of "the world." I do not see how they could be both "reconciled" and "not reconciled" at the same time. Part of being reconciled also apparently entails God "not counting their trasspasses against them." (v. 19) What about those who will be suffering in Hell for all eternity. For whose tresspasses are they paying? If Christ died for their sins, that would imply that sufficient payment has been made; and either Christ died needlessly for the sins of the damned, and/or God is imposing the same penalty twice for the same offense. --Joe! |
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489 | Salvation by Grace and . . .? | 1 John 2:2 | Reformer Joe | 34173 | ||
Momma: You quoted Romans 10:9, and then asked why we must confess Jesus as Lord. I suggest that you read the verse again, since that exact phrase is right there. Yes, the thief on the cross acknowledged Jesus as Lord. That is not the same as salvation by works. True, saving faith includes repentance (i.e. a change of attitude toward self and to sin) and acknowledgement of Christ's Lordship. Neither is a work any more than "placing one's faith" in Christ is. Nothing comes through clearer by reading the gospels and books like James and 1 John than the fact that faith is more than just a nod of agreement with a set of facts. And all of this is a gift of God. --Joe! |
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490 | jesus | 1 John 2:22 | Reformer Joe | 64157 | ||
Isaac, First of all, please be honest enough to admit to the forum that you are not the Christian that you are portraying yourself to be. Now, to answer your questions: "Where did Jesus Christ say in his own words that he came to die for our sins?" Get a Bible and read these passages: Matthew 20:28 Mark 10:45 John 8:24 John 3:14-20 John 5:24 Luke 19:10 Matthew 16:13-19 Matthew 26:26-28 There's a start. By the way, the entire Bibel is true, so not only are Jesus' claims about himself true, but also the testimony of angels such as Gabriel (Matthew 1:21) and the apostles' testimony about him in the epistles. You wrote: "and why was Jesus sweating blood when the Jews were after him ?" Have you read the account in the Bible? The Bible makes it pretty clear why. "if he was suposed to die for us why would he be soo worried?" Who said anything about him being worried? --Joe! |
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491 | What is sin? | 1 John 3:4 | Reformer Joe | 49052 | ||
"Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God." --Westminster Shorter Catechism, Answer to Question 14 In other words, God has revealed His law (i.e. His good and perfect will for His creatures), and we as His creatures are bound not only to keep from violating it, but also to conform to it completely. This law is revealed both in our consciences (Romans 2:12-16) and most clearly in his commandments in the Old and New Testaments (Psalm 1, Psalm 19 and Psalm 119). Both of these tell us God's law, and any breaking of it or failing to fulfill it completely is sin. And that is why we can readily agree with Scripture that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) --Joe! |
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492 | Where in Scripture is sin defined? | 1 John 3:4 | Reformer Joe | 66529 | ||
Many things in Scripture are identified as sin, and the word "sin" itself comes from an archery term which means "to miss the mark." One thing that all of the passages regarding sin have in common is that they speak in reference to God's law, the moral commandments that He has given to His people. Simply put, every example of sin is either not doing what God commands or doing what God forbids. That includes our thoughts, words, and actions. --Joe! |
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493 | Any biblical answers to Mormon beliefs? | 1 John 4:1 | Reformer Joe | 30991 | ||
Shelley: In addition to the good resources mentioned by others here, I would like to recommend two excellent, recent books that can serve as guides to understanding Mormon beliefs and also as tools for evangelism. They are _Mormonism 101_ by Bill McKeever and _The Gospel According to Joseph Smith_ by Ethan Harris. Both provide thorough analysis of the teachings (past and present) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the biblical response to those teachings. You should be able to order both of them from your local Christian bookstore or any of the major Internet retailers. I heartily recommend both! Also, if you would like more Mormon-specific resources for evangelism, I would recommend contacting Watchman Fellowship (www.watchman.org), a Christian counter-cult evangelism ministry. James Walker, the president, is a former fourth-generation Mormon who has spent the last quarter-century evangelizing LDS members and other cultists. In addition to the great resources they have in print, they have a friendly staff who would be more than happy to chat with you one-on-one and give you tip and advice. Please keep us posted on your situation, and be in prayer! God constantly is bringing individuals out of cults into the true church. And He employs people like you to be His instruments quite often! --Joe! |
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494 | Trinity? | 1 John 5:7 | Reformer Joe | 64077 | ||
No, it is not the cornerstone of the Trinity. The cornerstone of the Trinity are six separate teachings of the Old and New Testaments: 1. There is one God. 2. The Father is God. 3. The Son is God. 4. The Holy Spirit is God. 5. The Father is not the Son nor the Holy Spirit. 6. The Son is not the Holy Spirit. --Joe! |
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495 | Do you own a TNIV BIBLE? | 3 John | Reformer Joe | 68488 | ||
I think that this question was a duplicate one. | ||||||
496 | About the Forum | Jude 1:3 | Reformer Joe | 69955 | ||
How does discussing doctrine tear one another down? We can't even talk about the Bible at all without discussing doctrine. And we will come across different points of view on that, unless we are limited to saying that Jesus rose again and that there is one God. --Joe! |
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497 | Scandal of the Catholic Priesthood | Jude 1:4 | Reformer Joe | 52600 | ||
I think it was completely unnecessary for you to post it in its entirety on StudyBibleForum.com. The link was absolutely sufficient for anyone to read it without having to scroll through pages of your posting. --Joe! |
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498 | Only 144,000 to asend to heaven? | Rev 7:9 | Reformer Joe | 67679 | ||
Revelation is a hard book to tackle, as it contains very symbolic prophecy. The 144,000 (whether that is a literal number or a figurative one) is talking about the Jewish people (the twelve tribes). For a preview of what is going to happen to all believers in Jesus Christ, I recommend reading 1 Corinthians 15. It is a much more concrete depiction of the universal resurrection at the end of the age. I am delighted to hear that you have been attending church! Perhaps you could share a little bit of that with us by making a profile and telling us your background and where you are going now. --Joe! |
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499 | John 3:16.. whoever believes not perish? | Rev 13:8 | Reformer Joe | 28934 | ||
Mylene: In answer to question #1... "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life." --John 5:24 The very fact that we possess saving faith in Christ indicates that we are chosen. According to Reformation theology, all those who are chosen and possess the mental faculties to do so have or inevitably will embrace Christ, having received God's mercy. Those who are not chosen will continue in their unbelief and reap the just condemnation for their sins. Regarding question #2... "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." --John 3:18 Since those who are chosen are the only ones who will be persuaded and enabled to trust in Christ, then it logically results in those not chosen and given a new nature going to Hell. Regarding #3, The verse of Peter's you quote has been debated back and forth on this forum already. Arminians see the "any" and "all" in 2 Peter 3:9 as referring to those of the whole human race, while Reformed/Calvinist folks argue that the context of the argument in the rest of the chapter and the whole of the epistle lends itself to the conclusion that the "any" and "all" refer to members of the elect who will be saved at a future date. This is why God is postponing the end. As far as question #4, Arminians hold that the object of God's love is every single individual in the world. The Reformed argue that Jesus is not speaking of a specific, saving love toward every individual, but rather a love that is applied to those individuals that Jesus speaks of in John 3:21, those whose works were "wrought in God." The basis for this understanding is other passages in Scripture which clearly teach that Christians are chosen by God before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1) as well as the reality that the entire world is obviously not saved, since people are passing into eternity without Christ even as I write this post. Number 5 is the trickiest question. It all depends on what you mean by a "secondary argument." If you mean that is it an issue on which our salvation hinges, then I believe that most on both sides of the debate would reply with an emphatic "no." People can be wrong on this issue and still be saved. Furthermore, I regularly fellowship with other Christians with whom I disagree on this issue. On the other hand, any church that takes the study of theology seriously at all will inevitably have to take a stand one way or another on this issue. The sermons from the pulpit will either have one slant or the other. It effects the evangelistic efforts and styles of its members, and it almost always leads to a difference in worship. If one takes theology and doctrine seriously, it will inevitably have an impact on the corporate life of the congregation as well as in the individual life of the believer. Theology truly believed will impact the whole outlook and behavior of the committed Christian. Of course, my fellow Christians who disagree with me on this debate will have their own interpretation of the differences, but I can tell you that in my case I felt convicted to leave a church that my wife and I had been members of for several years because of some of the natural results of Arminian theology. It had grown to a point where little confidence was placed in the Bible as a means of God's saving grace (emphasizing instead techniques and more contemporary music to be more friendly to the "unchurched" who, as far as I know, are still not in attendance at this church in any great force). Confidence seemed to be placed less on the Holy Spirit and His work in regenerating the sinner and more on what the church members could do in themselves to "bring a person to a decision," even if that decision were to be shallow and possibly not a true one for Christ alone. To sum up, to stay or leave a church should be based primarily on whether the whole counsel of God as found in Scripture is being preached faithfully and seen as the sufficient and complete guide to the Christian life; the administration of the Lord's Supper and baptism as Christ instituted them; and a system of church discipline that works to keep the church doctrinally pure and deal with obvious and unrepentant sin on the part of congregants. Hope this lengthy post helps you make whatever decision you need to make! Be in prayer about it, and search the Scriptures for the truth. --Joe! |
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500 | regarding the apocrypha? | Rev 22:18 | Reformer Joe | 70074 | ||
The warning in Revelation is talking about the book of Revelation, not the entire 66-book compilation, which hadn't been compiled yet. The Protestant Old Testament does not include the Apocrypha because these books are not part of the Jewish version of the Old Testament, the Tanakh. --Joe! |
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