Results 781 - 800 of 1003
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: Rowdy Ordered by Date |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
781 | Two groups of Christians at judgment? | 1 Pet 3:21 | Rowdy | 113843 | ||
I'm not really sure why you withdrew your question but I'll try to answer regardless. I didn't really say in my post there would be two different groups of christians. I said there are two different groups of commands from our God. The second group don't really come into consideration until AFTER one becomes a christian. But now that you bring it up for discussion, I guess there will be two groups of christians on Judgment Day: 1) those who are actually faithful til death and are able to enter the Master's mansion prepared for them and 2) those christians who have turned their backs to the Lord or gone to sleep as the Apostle Paul puts it. They enjoyed the gift of salvation briefly and then chose to go back to a life of sin, depicted as a dog returning its vomit or a pig to its mud. The key word is return. The came out of the world of sin, took on Christ as their Savior and chose to go back to that world dominated by the Devil. So as you can guess, this latter group of christians are treated like the goats in your scenario above, quoted from Matthew. I hope this is clear and helps your understanding. God bless. |
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782 | What do you do with Acts 8:16? | 1 Pet 3:21 | Rowdy | 113841 | ||
I'm inserting a quote from Acts 8 as follows: Acts 8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, Acts 8:15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. I must admit, I don't see how this scripture helps your case against the essentiality of baptism. In this scenario, people were being converted to Christianity so the Apostles thought it would be a good idea to go down and lay hands on a select few. Throughout the NT, the Apostles would impart a miraculous portion of the Holy Spirit by laying their hands on certain individuals so they could strengthen and encourage their congregation's development. This was done extensively throughout this period because they didn't have God's Word like we have today in its present form. Again, as mentioned in previous posts, we have to see two different kinds of relationships here during this period of initial (embryo type) growth of the church. The plan of salvation was always the same although it was never listed in a 1, 2, 3 step by step fashion as we modern pragmatists would like. The Comforter as promised by our Lord was sent to be the principal active being from the Godhead during this dispensation. During this initial period, the Holy Spirit empowered the Apostles with all manner of miraculous powers to confirm their words as coming from God. But once their thoughts, their directives, their whole story was documented for our sake like Theophilus, along with the epistles written with the help of the Holy Spirit, there was no need for miracles performed by human beings. God's Word is now confirmed by "credible testimony," secular historical documents and archelogical artifacts. This period of the demise of miracles by humans was forecasted by Paul in 1 Cor 13:10. I don't think there are any scriptures that support the idea of the Holy Spirit's imparting salvation without obeying God's plan of salvation, including baptism. If you know of such scriptures, I'd love to see them and discuss them with you. At any rate, I'd be interested in your response. God bless. |
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783 | God punish sin? | Bible general Archive 2 | Rowdy | 113809 | ||
I must admit, this question is quite a challenge. The only answer I can possibly come up with is that same ole analogy between a parent and his child. I've drawn a lot from this analogy in the past. Speaking as a parent myself, it is my humble opinion, bringing a child into this world is about the nearest thing we can do to feel something like our Father in Heaven. Hopefully, you'll feel somewhat similarly when you experience that wonderful event. After bringing a child into this world, you suddenly conclude you have a tremendous responsibility of bringing up that child in such a way that he/she will grow up and become a solid addition to our world, our community, etc. If the parent is a christian, naturally he/she would be inclined to take the child with him to worship assembly and show him what being a christian is all about. Now, when that child disobeys the upbringing the parental couple is trying to live up to, then naturally most parents feel the need to punish the child or at the very least, try to motivate the child to regret that behavior and go back to an attitude of obedience. In the same way, our Father in Heaven created you and me and the whole world. So he has brought us up to obey His Word and we stubbornly disobey, especially time and time again in spite of His continued patience, He gets upset. He allows sin in the world and the wages thereof to have their toll on our lives here on earth. Remember, we reap what we sow. I know; I've done my fair share of sowing and reaping, good and bad. Now, magnify this feeling of intense remorse on God's part by imagining your sending your one and only Son to die for a cruel, sinful and dying world, one without hope of anything good after life. Yes, Jesus came to die for you and me and when we reject His gift of salvation after the tremendous sacrifice, as somewhat depicted in the recent film, "The Passion of Christ," I can imagine our Father is VERY UPSET with us. Last of all, imagine God has an absolutely PERFECT sense of justice and REQUIRES anybody without His Son's blood covering their sins will be separated from Heaven for all eternity. Good thought provoking question and God bless you in asking it. |
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784 | What does baptism consist? | 1 John 5:6 | Rowdy | 113805 | ||
I just looked up the following website and confirmed at least a few other people with a similar view of baptism as mine. http://www.riveroflifeworship.com/baptism.htm I must admit, I do think we're spending entirely too much time on such an elementary subject that seems so clear from the whole of God's Word. I emphasize we must take all of God's Word on all the many different subjects discussed on this Forum or any other Biblical discussions. But I still pray for God's blessings on you. |
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785 | Deborah's authority vs. Paul's teaching? | Judg 4:6 | Rowdy | 113790 | ||
We have to remember the context and who's authorizing whom. In this case, God appointed Deborah as one of the Judges over Israel and as such she had authority over all people in her judgeship, including Barak. Remember God has all authority and can do anything He chooses. Why else do you think He consistently confounds the thinking of mankind. He preferred the worship of the younger Able over Cain, the younger Jacob over his twin brother Esau and Joseph over his older brothers. In contrast, he allowed and encouraged the Jewish people to maintain the tradition of the larger birthright to the eldest son. He also allowed a gentile, named Ruth to become part of the lineage to His very own Son. He assigns one of His prophets to marry a prostitute just to show how much he hated Israel's infidelity. He almost destroyed the newly formed Israelite family just out of Eygptian slavery and apparently would have done so if it hadn't been for Moses' talking Him out of it. So our God did many things in seeming contradiction of His Words. But isn't that the nature of an all-powerful being, one who is jealous of our love toward Him, as His creation. Now, concerning men and women relationships in this dispensation, He has made it very clear through the Apostle Paul that the elders and deacons are to form the government of the Lord's church and of course our christian ladies should respect that. Also, these men, especially the elders should shepard the Lord's church in such a way that it garners respect from all christians following God's Will. If God chooses to change His guidance, I'm sure He will let us know with an authoritative confirmation just as He did in the OT. The big difference as contrasted here: God gets to make these kind of exceptions; we as His creation DON'T. We MUST follow God's Word. I hope this helps in your understanding and God bless. |
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786 | Acts 10:47? | 1 Pet 3:21 | Rowdy | 113758 | ||
I can only respond with the facts as they are presented in God's Word. Numerous examples in the scriptures point out the urgent need of baptism as in the Ethiopian eunuch and the Phillipian jailer. It seems in almost all the examples I know about that baptism was an essential step in this process, thus the urgency. Also, it doesn't say in Acts 10:47 the Apostles or Cornelius was saved without baptism. If he were, it seems he would have waited on being baptized until there were more witnesses. This was a major event if you remember, the first time a christian jew converted a gentile to christianity. Remember Peter had to be convinced with a dream to do this and he told the story again to his fellow christian jews in Jerusalem because of this radical departure from the previous regime of Godliness for everyone. With all of that importance to this change and the lack of importance of baptism in the scenario you describe, why wouldn't Peter have wanted many more witnesses? No, my friend, I'm afraid I'll stick to my conclusion that baptism is essential for our salvation. I'd also be interested in your response to all the other points in both of my posts to you. Do continue studying and praying on this subject with an open mind. God bless you. |
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787 | What does baptism consist? | 1 John 5:6 | Rowdy | 113741 | ||
I think you and Hank both might be interested in my recent post to Searcher and CDBJ; the number is 113740. It's sad most on the Forum won't see this thread but I'll settle for this. God bless you, my friend. | ||||||
788 | What commands must we obey 2B saved? | 1 Pet 3:21 | Rowdy | 113740 | ||
This post is for both Searcher and CDBJ. I agree with both of you; this IS NOT an easy subject but I'll try to deal with all the points of your posts. First of all, let's agree to subdivide God's commands in the NT to His children, those who want to be with God at Judgment Day, into 2 groups. The first group would be those 5 steps of salvation I've posted once before but I'll repeat them here: 1) Hear/understand the Gospel of Christ, 2) Believe that Jesus is the Son of God, IAW that Gospel, 3) Repent of one's sins and resolve to turn away from that life of sin as much as possible, 4) Confess that belief in Christ as God's Son publically, and 5) Be baptized for the remission of one's sins in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. One should also consider the cost of this committment, which includes a total living sacrifice and a resolution to immitate Jesus and His official representatives (the Apostles) in the example they set as well as the directives they gave, found throughout the NT. Now onto the second group of commands from God's Word, those coming AFTER becoming a christian and being added to the Lord's church. We could spend the rest of lives discussing this subject and fill up hundreds of books like we're seeing on the bookshelves in our stores. Basically, in summary those commands are all the other directives or imperatives as provided in the NT, i.e. sing, adding the fruits of the Spirit and maintaining our armor of God so as to avoid the temptations of the Devil. Now you're probably saying about now, "It's literally impossible for one human being to do all of that." And to that I say an hearty AMEN and thank God for it. That's where grace comes in. We must be in a constant state of introspection, soul-searching, re-evaluating and maturing in our life of immitating Christ. We should feel free to confide in our soul-mate and open up our hearts to that person, expressing our fears, our short comings and solicit their prayers and support. Of course, we must do the same for them. Don't misunderstand, this is not an option as far as our Lord is concerned. Just as John explains in his 1st letter, we must see ourselves in the fellowship with God, while striving to maintain that fellowship with all of God's family. This constant vigilence keeps the blood of Christ active in our spiritual lives and constantly cleansing our soul of those few sins accorded to us on a daily basis. But we MUST also see ourselves as drawing closer and closer to our God and He'll do His part and draw us closer to Him. Sure there's going to much in the life of a christian left undone and ocassionally the best, most mature christian will commit a sin but that's also where God's grace bridges the gap. Now on the subject of Cornelius, his family and their being saved: this too is a tough subject. I've got to say it seems to me it's fairly obvious that Cornelius was saved in much the same manner as the Apostles. Don't you know that the Apostles were all baptized AFTER receiving the Empowerment of the Holy Ghost on that sacred 1st day of the church? I'd like to think they even had fun baptizing each other. Another interesting question: who was the first Apostle to be baptized? Let's pose your question from the other perspective. Let's suppose that Cornelius or any one member of his family (excluding the small children since they couldn't repent and believe) refused to be baptized. This person after receiving Empowerment from the Holy Ghost and THEN refuses to obey God's requirement to become a family member. What do you think? I've got to conclude he probably wouldn't have kept the Holy Spirit within him much longer. It would have left him just like it left King Saul in the OT, just like the Holy Spirit leaves a christian (in today's world) when he continues to sin willfully and doesn't repent. He gives up that redemptive power and all the benefits that go with it. I guess you can figure my answer to your question BUT the most important thing is IT'S GOD'S DECISION. I hope this long post is read by all on the Forum and God bless you all. |
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789 | What does baptism consist? | 1 John 5:6 | Rowdy | 113681 | ||
Don't you think this is one reason why the Devil tempted (successfully) King James into having the KJV Bible abused this way. King James didn't want to humble himself and submit to God's plan of salvation. Back in the 16th century, the Greek word, baptizo (sp?) had one single meaning: immersion. King James ordered his Bible scholars to "interpret" the word baptizo into something else and allow him some other way of getting into God's family of good, obedient christians. Either his way or they would lose their heads. This is fairly common knowledge in historical documents. So, their conclusion (solution) was to come up with the Anglicized word "baptize." Why? Indeed, why would so many people from the past, present and future discuss this tremendous controversy so much except at the temptation from the Devil? Do you think maybe, just maybe he thought "If I can't kill God's Son, if I can't kill His church, maybe I can deceive mankind into thinking they can change God's Plan of Salvation. They'll think they're in the family of God, listening to my only slightly perverted version of God's Word, just like I changed things just slightly with one word in the Garden of Eden." You may be thinking I'm placing far too much emphasis on this baptism business and I guess I'd have to agree with you EXCEPT this is what I see from God's Word. He placed tremendous emphasis throughout the OT on blood and set us (mankind) up to understand likewise in this dispensation. I'm not saying that we should rely on baptism as being a item of work on our part. I am saying that God wants us to see this as the point in which we contact His Son's blood in faith. We should see in accordance with Rom 6 that we put away the man of sin with Jesus' burial and rise up as a new creature with our sins forgiven then and afterwards by His Son's blood. You and most all the participants know the scriptures and know the phrase "remission of sins" is always associated with baptism and not with any other step of salvation. Tim, please understand, I'm not saying you are deceiving people or are in a team effort with the Devil. I am saying that Satan is an incredibly good liar and takes deception to an art form in excellence. What do you think? Please respond and God bless you. |
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790 | Answering Baptismal Regenerationalist | 1 Pet 3:21 | Rowdy | 113679 | ||
I'm sorry but I must differ with you on this subject. We are certainly not saved by faith alone. James makes this very clear in Chapter 2. One must read the whole Bible, "rightly dividing God's Word." Tell me...based on your statement, "by faith alone that we are saved," you seem to leave out other important steps of salvation such as repentance and confession. Are you actually trying to say that or did you leave them out by oversight? Anyway, I'd have to disagree with you regardless of your answer. We MUST see ourselves as in need of obeying ALL of God's commands so as to qualify for the Holy Spirit's gift of salvation. I keep on saying these kind of statements but no one can show me in God's Word where a person is actually saved or is actually pronounced a christian after showing his faith only. I've issued this challenge once before and would like to reiterate it to you: Can you cite a single verse in the Bible where it specifically says the words "faith only" or where a person is described saved or is pronounced a christian after showing his "faith only" without baptism or any other act of obedience to God? I've mentioned this comparison before. When does a couple get to enjoy the full legal status of marriage? AFTER the ceremony is performed or the documents are signed and processed by the court appointed official of the respective state in which the marriage takes place. As we all know, there is some small variances from state to state. My point is: the legal recognition of that marriage is very important in a court of law. If one partner of that couple dies before that legal point of marriage is consemated, there is no marriage, no transferance of property, no other benefits derived from the marriage attempted. In our world of sinful short sightedness, we recognize the importance of such relationships and the point of time of that legal recognition. Don't you think it's going to matter to the God of our universe when we "put on Christ?" When we recognize the tremendous cost and give up total control of our lives to our God, all people agree this is a major watershed in one's life. Every christian I know remembers vividly when and where they were baptized. They remember the circumstances or at least most of them. It's the point in your life when you know you've obeyed every one of God's commands and can approach God both in prayer and on Judgment Day with every confidence that you've complied with His Son's whole Last Will and Testament. Before that point, everything is academic and worthy of discussion. When someone hesitates or puts a significant amount of time before being baptized, they are taking a chance they might not live another minute or maybe even face the Lord's second coming. Now, you're going to say "What about the thief on the cross?" or "What about the person that dies of a heart attack just before being baptized?" Those kind of questions are basically left up for God. We can speculate and we can discuss those issues as long as you like but the bottom line is, we don't have an authoritative answer. This I know, we must obey God to be found pleasing in His sight. I'm still interested in your response, especially to the challenge. I pray God blesses you in your study. |
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791 | Give three stages in Moses life? | Acts | Rowdy | 113671 | ||
I understand Moses' life was divided in perfect thirds. He spent the first 40 years of his life in Eygpt, then the next 40 in the wilderness (which was actually useful to him and the Israelites) and his final 40 years leading them to the promised land. He lived exactly 120 years. | ||||||
792 | Where was Jesus crucified? | Matt 27:33 | Rowdy | 113597 | ||
According to our history books and other historical records, the Roman Empire conquered Israel several years before this timeframe. This is alluded to in the Apophrical books between the Testaments of the Bible. I don't know much about these books but I understand they hold some interesting items of information. Pilate was the Roman official in charge of the whole area whereas Herod was in charge of Galilee only. This area was a continuous source of headaches to the Roman Government in Rome because of their alligence to God and the total lack of respect from the Israelites. No one really looked forward to ruling Israel but Pilate was directed to handle it and do so peacefully. |
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793 | Is astrology forbidden? | Bible general Archive 1 | Rowdy | 113593 | ||
I also thank you very heartily. As you and Mammophs may have noticed, I'm not very good about research. I've studied the Bible most of my life but I do like to discuss God's Word and His Will with His children, including myself. I am always grateful for those around me who have a talent for research and know who to take advantage of resources to their maximum effect such as you've done above. If there's one thing I've learned over my lifetime of world travel, I have learned to appreciate the tremendous good through teamwork and diversity in God's world. I pray for God's richest blessing on you and everyone else on the Forum. |
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794 | Was cornelius saved by spirit | Acts 11:15 | Rowdy | 113590 | ||
Just wanted to give this thread some balance. Acts 8:18, 1 Tim 5:22, 2 Tim 1:6 and Heb 6 make it very clear that all the Apostles had the ability to bestow a miraculous measure of the Holy Spirit by laying on of hands. God bless. | ||||||
795 | Did Jesus have to die? | Bible general Archive 2 | Rowdy | 113545 | ||
I just this moment came back from seeing the movie with my wife and was compelled to post another thought to this thread. I kept thinking about your question, "Why did Jesus have to die such a horrible death?" Couldn't God have thought of some other way. I thought God could have sent Him to another time peiod of our planet's history, one that would have executed him far more painless, like this century in an electric chair or hanging. But no, our Lord died THE MOST HORRIBLE form of execution ever devised on this planet, one that took hours, sometimes days for men to die on a cross. Yes, I'm convinced that God literally had to send His Son to die for us...that was THE ONLY way we (you and I) could possibly meet God some day in Heaven. I do agree with you. It's a great movie and is very good powerful testimony from Mr. Gibson to those in the world that don't believe. We can only hope that they will study God's Word and any other historical document needed to conclusively seal this knowledge that God does want all mankind in Heaven. God bless and I appreciate your encouraging words to this Forum. |
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796 | connection: baptism and holy spirit | Acts | Rowdy | 113544 | ||
Only in an effort to give this discussion some balance, let's not forget Cornelius and his group (in Acts 10) received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the miraculous powers to go with it BEFORE they were baptized and became christians. Thus the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of the Gospel are two separate relationships. One carries with it miraculous powers and the other does not. The only other way it was imparted unto disciples/ christians was the "the laying of hands" of the Apostles as you've mentioned. Now that we have God's Word in Its complete form, there's no more need for miraculous acts from human beings to confirm Its coming from God. We have historical testimonies from secular historians to document that fact. God bless. |
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797 | Did Jesus have to die? | Bible general Archive 2 | Rowdy | 113217 | ||
I really don't want to take the time to dig up all the scriptures but I'm thinking most of them have already been posted on this Forum previously. I think all of us (with any maturity at all w/the Lord) know and appreciate the scriptures to which I'll be referring. First of all, from the very beginning, in the Garden of Eden, our God knew and cited the fact that there would be need of the perfect sacrifice, His Son coming to our rescue. He cursed the serpent and told him, "he would bruise His Son's heel but Christ would bruise the serpent's head." I know everyone has heard of and maybe even studied the 300 plus prophecies in the OT concerning the coming of Christ, His ministry, his death and resurrection. All of this and a few scriptures in the NT make it very, very clear, at least in my mind that the Godhead knew and planned on His coming to this earth for that specific purpose. YES, our Lord was compelled to come and die for our sins. He was our only hope. He knew it, His Father knew it and the Holy Ghost. The only ones who don't know it don't know God's Word very well. God's Plan of Salvation is the main theme throughout His Word. God's perfect sense of justice DEMANDS payment for the sins in our lives. There's no possible way, we (you and I) could ever hope to pay for our sins successfully. These 2 statements being absolutely true pose an extreme problem for an ordinary mortal. But thanks be to God, He knew what we needed and He sacrified His Son just like Abraham did as a foreshadow of things to come. So did Christ have to die? You bet. You and I are counting on it, along with everyone else in God's Family. Jesus is also the only one that has already "blazed a trail" back to His Father, from this earth. His way is the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life. I do hope you'll forgive me in not citing all the specific "book, chapter and verse" for the scriptures referenced above. God bless you for having the courage to bring up this topic in connection with the film. My wife and I are looking forward to checking it out. |
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798 | My grandfather needs to be saved | Bible general Archive 2 | Rowdy | 113212 | ||
I'd like to refer you to the website, apologeticspress.com. There you can find/shop through their resources. One of the best resources is entitled "Evidences of Christianity." In my opinion, the single most powerful thing we can do for someone outside of God's Family is to establish firmly in their minds, that He does exist and His Word IS an actual, real document from Him. After that is firmly established, most reasonable people will provide their own motivation to go to be at Home with that God, our Father. In case it helps any at all, I too am worried about my father-in-law, along with my wife. We discuss Bible, and many topics within with that uppermost in our minids. God bless you in your persaverance of influencing your grandfather. |
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799 | Where would there be no transgression? | Rom 4:15 | Rowdy | 112941 | ||
Those that live and die without knowledge of God's Word will be judged without His Words but those individuals will be judged by the "track record" they established with their conscience. This is made very clear in Rom 2:12-16. This kind of God's judgment has been going on since the beginning of time and will go on through to the end of His/our universe. It's the only way God's perfect sense of judgment could be maintained. This reflects the image of God which was installed in all of us. Tell us what you think of this matter. God bless. |
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800 | ways to praise God | NT general Archive 1 | Rowdy | 112518 | ||
Generally, the are 6 acts of worship in the NT: preaching, singing, giving, communion and praying and reading of scripture. These are the ones we follow in our worship. Would you be able to come up with more? God bless. | ||||||
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