Results 841 - 860 of 1003
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Author: Rowdy Ordered by Verse |
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Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
841 | Help | Eph 2:8 | Rowdy | 110548 | ||
Only because I need to be brief, I would refer you to my previous post of 110357, the latter portion. Keep studying God's Word and God bless. | ||||||
842 | Saved without faith? | Eph 2:8 | Rowdy | 120876 | ||
Sorry to butt in but it seems that WTB and Angel are much closer to presenting a well balanced view than your statement above. You seem to overlook the clear guidance from 1 John. Yes, indeed, we should be thankful for God's Grace to cover us when we sin IF we maintain that fellowship of light in God's Will and His Word. This means we must see ourselves as we really are to our God and that means we're weak and sinful, we're inclined to sin for at the very least we can't hope to fill our lives with all the good we should be doing. It's so easy to be tempted to be lazy and rest on our accomplishments in the past and think we can retire; we've earned it. No, "may it never be," but instead we must prove over and over again that we truly are part of the Lord's vineyard by producing fruit of His Grace and our faith in our lives. I agree with you in that there's nothing we can do to be more saved but we can most certainly lose our salvation as clearly depicted in the 7 letters in the first few chapters of Revelation. We must see ourselves in constant need of repentance. The only really big difference between christians and unbelievers on Judgment Day is our relationship with Christ as our advocate. But this relationship is fragile as it has to be maintained like the wineskin in Matt 9. I hope this clarifies the matter and God bless. --Rowdy |
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843 | Saved or hoped to be saved? | Eph 2:8 | Rowdy | 120885 | ||
I see your reference to Eph 2:8 and I agree most emphatically, but what I'm NOT seeing is your scriptures in response to all the many scriptures I've cited in the past on this subject, other posts. Briefly, those would be James 2, branch and vine parable of Jesus in John 15. Yes, indeed it is most definitely only by the Grace of God that any of us make it to Heaven but these scriptures and others clearly depict that we must have a faith that produces fruit or it's dead and useless to both us and our God. By the way, I DO trust in God's Grace. I trust that It's going to cover up for my poor performance in producing the fruit alluded to above. His Grace will continue to cover for us in our sins if we repent continually and put our faith in the fellowship of God as cited in 1 John. Looking for your response with scriptures to these specific points. God bless. --Rowdy |
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844 | Saved or hoping to be saved? | Eph 2:8 | Rowdy | 121042 | ||
In response to your question, I can only quote the following John 12:50 "I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me." John 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. BUT although we can KNOW we are saved it's a growth process, one in which we mature, we are refined by the trials and tribulations of this world. Peter sums it up very nicely in 2 Pet 3:14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. 17You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. For you see, we all start out as babes in Christ as cited in 1 Cor 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able. Some of us grow very quickly, apparently endowed with a generous blessing of talents and put them to work in our ministry to the Lord early in our christian walk. Others never mature to their full potential or anywhere close. Some lose their faith altogether. Concerning your posts, with reference to Matt 25 and James 2; it's rather difficult that any really serious student of the Bible would put any belief or faith in your special interpretation, especially Matt 25. In the vast majority of Christendom, this passage is very, very clear and means exactly what it says. We must see ourselves as branches being grafted into the Lord's family or vineyard and we MUST be found fruitful or we'll be cast into the fires of Hell. Now, I'm not saying that this fruit has to meet a certain standard of quality; what I AM saying is we MUST give it our best shot. When it's obvious a person isn't really giving his ministry an honest effort, we should approach that person with love and encouragement, showing him/her how it can be done and let them grow at their own rate of speed. I agree with you as I've stated many, many times on this Forum, we CANNOT and MUST NOT consider our works as commanded by James to be "our earning" salvation. NO, it can never be and hope to be successful for it will certainly fail. Instead, we must see ourselves as humble servants (read as slaves) that owe our very lives to our Lord and Master. Since He is such a wonderful and loving Master, we should be willing and anxious to perform these acts of ministry throughout the balance of our lives and indeed we must. As a matter of fact, I've stated before and I repeat it would be a good idea if the word works weren't even used in this discussion for it does seem to give the idea of earning something. Maybe it has something to do with the translation of these passages of James but clearly he was not trying to say that we can earn our way into Heaven. And again, I repeat I don't know how the actual mechanics of Grace and our fruitful ministry of works in the Lord's vineyard work together. I simply see them both in God's Word and have resolved I must do my part if I want to accept God's gift of salvation. I sincerely hope this is clear to all who read and participate on the Forum for to you and me, our salvation depends on ALL of God's Word. God bless all those who read, study and obey God's Word. --Rowdy |
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845 | Saved or hoping to be saved? | Eph 2:8 | Rowdy | 121051 | ||
Cited for reference: John 15:1 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. I'm sorry Tim, but I can't agree with your overall statement but somehow you guessed that was coming, right? I'm afraid to me and most other Bible students I know this passage is a very clear picture of the future, that is Judgment Day. To me, it's imperative that we as christians take heed of this warning, especially verse 8 for Jesus said we must "prove to be My disciples." I do agree with one of your statements. As long as we're in God's family, that is we have complied with His Terms and Conditions, yes we're entitled to receive that gift of salvation. BUT according to Rev 2:10, we also must be faithful till death. So it doesn't matter how long we've been a christian. What matters most is the condition of our soul and our conscience. Are we striving to get closer to God? OR are we content to "tread water" and maintain our status quo with our relationship to God? For the latter, I would refer you to the letter to the Laodiceans in Revelation. I can't think of anything more I could possibly say about this subject so I'll let you have the last word and trust all those reading these posts will make up their own mind as to who's closer to the truth. God bless you, friend. --Rowdy |
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846 | What do you like about the church? | Eph 2:22 | Rowdy | 117897 | ||
I have to agree with the spirit of Kalos' difficulty. Your question is far too vauge to be discussed intelligently on this Forum. There's a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience represented by the Forum participants. So why don't you help us out and pinpoint the particular aspect of the church to which you're referring? I'll even say pretty please with sugar on top. Thanks and God bless. --Rowdy |
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847 | What do you like about the church? | Eph 2:22 | Rowdy | 117902 | ||
I'll respond but I'm afraid I must ignore your scripture reference as it seems confusing in relation to your question. One of the most amazing things I like about the Lord's church is its amazing simplicity. Our Lord showed us the complex and difficult in the Jewish system of laws and its Temple. Yes, some things about it were simple but ultimately the OT left so many things unsaid that begged to be answered and the Jewish people didn't have the authority to fill in the blanks. Now with this dispensation, the Lord Christ our High Priest picked 12 of the best men he could find, with one possible exception. These men (most of them) were simple, humble and not very well educated. We see how incredibly humble they were in the way they directed the church in the early years. Christ gave them full authority to bind whatever they chose and to loose whatever they chose and He told them He would back them with their decisions. Their directives and commands as portrayed in the Bible are simple and to the point. They're practical and deal with the real issues of their day and are easily adaptable to our modern world and will be till the last day before that final trumpet is blown. I've lived a full life for being just 50 years old and I've seen quite a bit of this world. I've seen more than my fair share of the grief and heartache caused by mankind and our love for self and sin. We're very talented at messing up a beautiful world. But the apostles were incredibly humble and wise and did an outstanding job of getting the Lord's church off to a solid start. My main point is that this was God and His Son who gave us, His creation the opportunity to have a significant say in the details and mechanics of organizing and managing His Son's body here on earth. I'm amazed at this wonderful demonstration of love and compassion on us. Sometimes we still see mankind's love affair with idols but now they take the form of money or our job. Our idol might be our hobby, our sports whatever else we can dream of to get between us and our God. We had our chance to "dress up" the church as we saw fit through the Lord's ambassadors and they were wise enough to keep it simple. Thank God Almighty they did. The Lord's beauty and majesty is magnified in its simplicity. What do you think is best about the church? God bless. --Rowdy |
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848 | What do you like about the church? | Eph 2:22 | Rowdy | 118043 | ||
Okay, I'm hoping everyone on the Forum agrees that the church is only one thing: the church is the living, breathing human beings that make up its membership. All other physical aspects of the church are be used as aids to help accomplish the mission as directed by Her Lord, our High Priest. The building, song books, different versions of the Bible, all this represents tools to help us go to Heaven. My point is with this statement is to ask you one last time...what do you like about the church? Of course, I might have missed it in an earlier post. God bless. --Rowdy |
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849 | What do you like about the church? | Eph 2:22 | Rowdy | 118074 | ||
I really do sincerely appreciate your opening and starting this thread of dialouge. I sense you feel that it was a failure but I think it was and is a great success. I think it helps to remember that God created all of us and He wants ALL of His creation to come home BUT he knows only a "remnant" will find the way. This concept is well established in the OT and is maintained throughout the gospel story and on into the NT with Jesus' story of the straight and narrow to Heaven and the broad way to Hell. What am I saying: I'm saying that out of all our Lord's creation, He already knows there's only going to be a small portion to make it to Heaven. If it was any other way like a majority of us made to Heaven, then it would be too much like our world instead of His world. Remember our ways are NOT like God's ways; our thoughts are NOT like God's thoughts. His foolishness is far better than our highest thoughts. Isaiah 55:8 and 1 Cor 2:20. So in any given scenario of wide discussion with the kind of variety of backgrounds as represented by this Forum, we can only expect to see a similar response as the Lord gets to His Word. You may have noticed that a few of my posts to this Forum have met with a similar spirit of negative feeling. But I (one of many I'm sure) want to encourage you to keep the faith and keep studying. You're in good company with all those persecuted in the past 4,000 years plus. God bless. --Rowdy |
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850 | references to church unity | Eph 4:3 | Rowdy | 122330 | ||
Although I would rejoice with you, dear friend about your growth, I must remind you that the Lord's second coming will happen when very, very few people will expect it. Both Jesus and Paul confirm this very clearly as follows: Matt 24:43 "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 1 Thess 5:2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. If we do things the Bible way, that is follow the pattern God gave us in the NT, we can't help but grow. The simplicity of God's Word and the simplicity of the church is very attractive. The Lord knows that the world needs His Grace and Forgiveness. God bless. --Rowdy |
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851 | What is "one baptism" in Eph. 4:5? | Eph 4:5 | Rowdy | 119445 | ||
Let's not forget the other verses from God's Word that describe this one baptism such as this one example: Acts 8:34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, "Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?" 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" 37 [And Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."] 38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. Of course, I'm already anticipating your response with a different opinion but I must ask if this one baptism from the Bible DOESN'T include immersion in water, how can you dismiss all the many scriptures which describe baptism in just this way? Don't you see the safer position is to assume the same position the Bible presents and that is that baptism includes ALL the features as ascribed to it. Yes, indeed it is about being baptized into our Lord Jesus AND it is being baptized into His death, putting that man of sin to death and raising up as a newborn babe in Christ. It's all done then and there at that very moment, forgiveness of sins, contact with the blood of Christ through faith. The act of baptism, being totally immersed is an act of humble submission to God's terms and conditions as set forth throughout the Book of Hebrews, as posted previously. God bless. --Rowdy |
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852 | What is "one baptism" in Eph. 4:5? | Eph 4:5 | Rowdy | 119469 | ||
You may have noticed my seeming to be almost obsessive about reflecting what I like to call a fully balanced thread from God's Word on any particular subject. You or some of the other scholars of the Bible are very good at digging up some really challenging questions. Sometimes the Bible doesn't answer all the questions on a particular topic. BUT when the Bible does give several different passages representing different facets on a particular subject, I like to TRY to do my part and make certain that balance is maintained. As you know, one of the most controversial subjects in all of Christendom is that of baptism as our dear friend CDBJ has just made obvious. IF by any chance at all, I assumed incorrectly that you have a different opinion, please accept my sincere apology. In my opinion, it is paramount that we as God's children represent God's Word as accurately as possible, especially when there are so many folks on this Forum with varying levels of Bible knowledge and a wide span on the spectrum of conservative to the liberal. I really do appreciate all the tremendous amount of Bible study and the amazing amount of time that you spend on the Forum, along with Hank, CDBJ, Mekarios, Kalos and all of the other Bible scholars I'm overlooking. In my mind our Lord is literally banking on this kind of teamwork to maximize the greatest number of human beings to make it to Heaven. It's this kind of exchange and discussion that keeps our "spiritual swords" sharp AND refines our other skills like loving souls and praying for them, compassion for their pains and their problems in life. Well I've "pontificated" enough now. I must say "kala mera," that's Good Day in Greek and God bless. --Rowdy |
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853 | Baptism or No? Our Forefathers said... | Eph 4:9 | Rowdy | 133984 | ||
Yet another article from from another christian, only this time, based on a man from long ago. Part 1 of 2. MARTIN LUTHER SPEAKS ON “FAITH ONLY” AND BAPTISM by Kyle Butt, M.A. One popular belief in many protestant denominations is the idea that God supplies salvation to each and every person based solely on the faith of that person, apart from any action taken by that individual. This idea, often called sola fide, says, that a person is saved by faith alone. Any number of quotations demonstrating this doctrine can be cited. In a debate with Thomas Warren in 1953, L.S. Ballard affirmed the position that “the alien sinner is saved the very moment he/she believes that Jesus Christ is the son of God” (Warren and Ballard, 1953). This particular belief is commonly worded like this: “People are saved through Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone.” According to the modern-day advocates of “faith alone” salvation, water baptism cannot be a requisite to salvation, because it is something “more than” faith. While space limitations prevent a thorough investigation of the biblical doctrine of baptism (see Lyons, 2003), it is interesting to note how far the “faith alone” doctrine has drifted from its original form. The idea of being saved by faith alone is often attributed to Martin Luther. Indeed, he and the other reformers challenged the Catholic Church that sold indulgences and offered a “works-based” type of salvation. Martin Luther often taught that salvation was based on faith alone, and not received based upon a person’s meritorious works. Martin Luther did not, however, take faith alone to mean that mere mental assent to Christ’s deity was sufficient to obtain salvation. In fact, Luther’s idea of faith alone does not conform to the modern-day idea that baptism cannot be required for salvation. While it is understood that the opinions of men are in no way authoritative when it comes to God’s plan for salvation, it is nonetheless interesting to note that Martin Luther believed wholeheartedly in the necessity of baptism as a requisite for salvation. In his Large Catechism, Luther wrote: [I] affirm that Baptism is no human trifle, but that it was established by God Himself. Moreover, He earnestly and solemnly commanded that we must be baptized or we shall not be saved. No one is to think that it is an optional matter like putting on a red coat. It is of greatest importance that we hold Baptism in high esteem as something splendid and glorious. The reason why we are striving and battling so strenuously for this view of Baptism is that the world nowadays is full of sects that loudly proclaim that Baptism is merely an external form and that external forms are useless…. Although Baptism is indeed performed by human hands, yet it is truly God’s own action (1978, pp. 98-99). From Luther’s comments about baptism, it is obvious that he viewed water baptism as essential for salvation. Many of the protestant denominations that attribute their ideas about “faith only” to Martin Luther have not been taught that Luther’s concept of faith alone was not in opposition to works of God (like baptism and repentance), but in opposition to meritorious works by which a person believes that he or she “earns” salvation. What, then, would Martin Luther say to those today who teach that “faith alone” excludes baptism? Listen to his words pertaining to this teaching: But our know-it-alls, the new spirit people, claim that faith alone saves and that human works and outward forms contribute nothing to this. We answer: It is of course true that nothing in us does it except faith, as we shall hear later. But these blind leaders of the blind refuse to see that faith must have something in which it believes, that is, something it clings to, something on which to plant its feet and into which to sink its roots. Thus faith clings to the water and believes Baptism to be something in which there is pure salvation and life, not through the water, as I have emphasized often enough, but because God’s name is joined to it…. It follows from this that whoever rejects Baptism rejects God’s word, faith, and the Christ who directs us to Baptism and binds us to it (1978, pp. 101-102). Martin Luther was a man. He made many mistakes and believed things about the Bible that were not true. It should be noted, however, that the “faith only” doctrine attributed so often to him has been misrepresented on a grand scale. Martin Luther’s words are unambiguous and clear. His “faith only” doctrine did not exclude baptism as necessary for salvation. Could it be the case that those who loudly tout the “faith only” mantra have not thoroughly investigated the works of the man to whom the doctrine is so often attributed? Please see Part 2 of 2. God bless. Rowdy |
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854 | Baptism or No? Our Forefathers said... | Eph 4:9 | Rowdy | 133992 | ||
I must admit, dear friend Tim, I read your posts and sometimes I can't tell whether you're on my side arguing in favor of my posts or on the other side arguing against. "Faith is a complete trust in God. It is a surrender to His will. It even includes obedience to His commands. But, faith is not 'mere mental assent'! "Would you care to show me anywhere in Scripture where faith is defined as 'mere mental assent'?" I'll mention here again there is, by the Forum's count exactly 87 verses from the NT to add to this discussion. (Just be sure to insert the word "bapti" in the Word Search to get them all.) Please don't misunderstand me, I'd be literally the last person in the world to deny the solid truth behind every one of the scriptures you cited above. But please take another look at the article with the quote from Martin Luther. Even he agreed to baptism being essential to one's salvation. "[I] affirm that Baptism is no human trifle, but that it was established by God Himself. Moreover, He earnestly and solemnly commanded that we must be baptized or we shall not be saved. No one is to think that it is an optional matter like putting on a red coat. It is of greatest importance that we hold Baptism in high esteem as something splendid and glorious. The reason why we are striving and battling so strenuously for this view of Baptism is that the world nowadays is full of sects that loudly proclaim that Baptism is merely an external form and that external forms are useless…. Although Baptism is indeed performed by human hands, yet it is truly God’s own action" (1978, pp. 98-99). Don't you see baptism is merely the real and genuine demonstration of real and genuine faith just like you've described above? It is the same principle Naaman discovered in being healed from leporsy. It's the same principle the Israelites discovered when they accepted the gift of the promised land. Although it was a gift of the Promised Land, they still had to obey God in conquering the Cannanites who were there first. God even told them to kill everyone, men, women and children. That too wasn't easy, I'm sure but God said it and Joshua obeyed. King David discovered this principle when he obeyed God, He knew with genuine, absolute confidence that God was with him. How else could he have conquered giant Goliath at least twice as tall as he and at twice the warrior as David? How? Because Goliath was dwarfed when placed beside David AND his God Almighty. When we're baptized and obey ALL of God's other commands then and only then can we approach God with absolute confidence, even to the moment of Judgment Day, as per 1 John 2. With reference to your question about "mere mental assent," that's the modern way to emphasize the point of complete obedience that our friend, Kyle Butt is trying to make. If we as humans hold anything back but absolute obedience to ALL of God's commands, we might as well as stay home. It has the same effect as "mere mental assent." Again, don't you see, King Saul discovered this very important principle when Samuel told him "It's better to obey than to offer sacrifice." When we do/say anything less, it's like we're telling God "OK God, I'll obey but I gotta do it my way, on my terms and conditions; here's my counter-offer." Ananais and Sapphira discovered this principle in Acts 5 and paid with their lives AND their souls. When we hold back from God and actually choose NOT to obey His commands, how can we truly call Him Father and then dare to think we're good to go to Heaven where only the faithful and the obedient with the blood of His dear Son covers their sin? No, my friend, I would beseech you. Study ALL of this article, the truths contained therein but most especially keep studying and praying on this matter. I'll keep on praying for you and God bless. Rowdy |
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855 | Pearls of Wisdom from the pen of bumpas5 | Eph 4:14 | Rowdy | 121768 | ||
I'm not sure how to respond to this post. Is this done in jest? It seems most of this statement is submitted for entertainment. Portions of it are kinda funny but surely you're not serious about all of it, are you? I also noticed quite a few typos/errors, far more than your usual well written and proofed work. So this was done to show us something of Bumpas5' quality of work, correct? Maybe I'm a little dense, if so, please explain. Thanks. God bless. --Rowdy |
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856 | Pearls of Wisdom from the pen of bumpas5 | Eph 4:14 | Rowdy | 121775 | ||
He did seem a rather "strange bedfellow." I'm glad there are folks watching the flock. God bless you, dear friend. --Rowdy | ||||||
857 | Pearls of Wisdom from the pen of bumpas5 | Eph 4:14 | Rowdy | 121776 | ||
Thanks for your note but I've already been schooled by BradK's and Tim's notes on his AKAs. God bless. --Rowdy |
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858 | what this meen | Eph 5:19 | Rowdy | 121071 | ||
We must read God's Word in its context. That means several things, including the following: 1) Who wrote the book? What is his intent? What is he dealing with? 2) To whom was it written? What is their background? 3) Where was it written? Under what conditions? 4) When was it written? What were the dominant factors in that timeframe? Some of the questions might not be so easy to answer for instance, the book of Job is very tough to figure out in this regard. Now as to your question, in the first century you remember psalms, hymns and songs were nothing like you and I enjoy today. Those folks knew nothing about four part (or any part) harmony. Most of them didn't have a clue about playing a musical instrument and most didn't get training on singing either. Most songs, especially in the religious OT realm were chants or so it is thought, like those found in the Song of Solomon and the Book of Psalms. I do think it is important that our songs that we sing in the worship assembly reflect good sound Bible principles and truths from His Word. Secondly, we should sing those songs with understanding so as to encourage us to be faithful to God's Word. Thirdly, we should worship in spirit and in truth but also we should act like God's children and behave decently and in order like Paul tells in 1 Cor 14:40. Our number one priority in worship is to please God and comply with His pattern that we see in His Word and not be tempted to please ourselves. In this regard, we should pay heed to Samuel's words to King Saul in 1 Sam 15:22 Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. You see, the way God sees it, He knows that worship on our terms comes easy. He wants us to worship Him on His terms in accordance with His pattern. That's the real test of sacrifice, our willingness to submit our will to that of our God and Father. For us to worship God on anyone else's terms is like worshipping an idol of our fashioning. In this instance, we're inclined to reshape the Lord's church to our liking and the same with our worship. Hope this helps and God bless. --Rowdy |
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859 | wife supposed to wait husband go church | Eph 5:23 | Rowdy | 111465 | ||
If you're unable to persuade your husband to go with you, I would urge you to commit yourself to your own personal relationship with God the Father, His Son and the church for which He died. Yes, it's ideal to be a christian with your spouse at your side but our Lord will judge us all by the words we say and the actions we take. So we must ultimately take responsibility for our own actions but keeping praying that our loved ones will take heed of our choices. Who knows, maybe your husband will think long and hard about the wonderful example you're setting for him and listen to his conscience. You're in good company. There's been millions of spouses before you who led their life-long partner to Christ after they gave their own life to Him. We'll all pray for you and wish God's blessings on you. Be strong for Him. |
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860 | i need a little more information | Eph 6:14 | Rowdy | 118933 | ||
It's always best to look at these kind of verses in context. Eph 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. So you see verse 14 is just one part of the whole armor of God. It's a good exercise to do some soul searching every once in a while throughout one's whole life to check this passage and see where our armor might be suffering and need some maintenance. (If you're curious about some of the items of armor themselves, look them up in a encyclopedia; it'll be quite interesting as they come from the era of the Roman army.) That's one reason why I like to refer to the Bible as the Perfect Maintenance Manual. Upon doing that introspection and discovering we're a little weak in one or more areas, we should study God's Word and brush up on our knowledge and wisdom in that area. IF by any chance we think we're getting fairly close to being ready to meet our Lord, then we need to check out Paul's words in Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Hope this helps and God bless. --Rowdy |
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