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NASB | Ecclesiastes 12:7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ecclesiastes 12:7 then the dust [out of which God made man's body] will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. |
Subject: At what moment do we go to heaven? |
Bible Note: Hi Bows44, In Matthew 7:16-18, Jesus is speaking of false prophets. I do not think you are a false prophet. I accept you at face value, as you present yourself, and will do so until you give me cause to do otherwise, which would really surprise me if you did! :-) It does take longer to get to know each other just communicating on the web, but it will happen if we stick with it. We often do mix experience with the teaching of the Bible, and it is our constant chore to make certain that our experiences to not cause us to modify the teaching of the Bible. 2 Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: Titus 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. Paul, writing to Titus, makes the point of holding to the Word that we have been taught, that being the source of our doctrine. God's Word is inspired, and frankly, our experiences are not. Let me say also, as far as I know, your experience was and meant what you think it does. But is it useful for teaching doctine? We know that when we die we are with Jesus, because the Bible tells us so, as Tim mentioned earlier. What if I had a near death experience, and I found myself in a sealed chamber, with neither hot nor cold, day not night, and I was there alone for 1000 years, until a hole opened in the floor, the voice of a little girl invited me to be alive again, and I accepted. We would know that this was deceptive, because it did not agree with scripture, although I could still be a sincere, fruit bearing Christian. Now of your experience, it does not have such blatant contrast to what the Bible says. As far as I can tell, I really have no problen with it, I just am not comfortable with answering questions of doctrine based on a personal experience. Using my made-up example, I would answer, combining the Bible with experience, that when we die, we go to be with Jesus, but first its really boring for a long time, and we only go on if the little girl lets us. I'm not trying to make fun of you, please don't take it that way. I just want to point out that we need to keep to what God has certified and sealed, namely the Bible, for what we teach others. Scripture truly stands alone. There is nothing from our experiences that we can add to it, only to use our experiences to illustrate what the Word already clearly teaches. Its not, "I know because the Bible says and I experienced..." Its "I know because that's what the Bible says." your brother in Christ, mark |