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NASB | Mark 12:34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Mark 12:34 When Jesus saw that he answered thoughtfully and intelligently, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions. |
Subject: Natural man understanding truth? |
Bible Note: You caught me again, Ray, and now I think I will never get this capitalization thing down pat. I do not even think of it when I am responding to others. In this case I was cutting and pasting and it did not occur to me to change the form of the words. But I agree. It is the Spirit who gives life. He brings us to life and makes us able to respond to the Gospel. If we do not respond to the Gospel, then we die the second death. My point to Huron was that when we are unsaved we are indeed dead in sin. However, that is not a problem to God. He brings us to life and renders us capable of responding. It is not a matter that a man who is dead in sin is nevertheless close to understanding about God? There is no such thing as being almost a child of God. You are either alive or dead. However, the Holy Spirit is able to awaken us to our responsibility toward God, to the need for repentance, and while under His influence we can respond. Without Him we are not able. Every person is near to the kingdom of God. We need to be awakened to that fact. One might wonder why Jesus said those words to that man. Was he near to the kingdom while others were far. There is a song we sing that says, “I’ve wandered far away from God”. Was that man nearer to the kingdom than others? I think that Jesus said that to him because he was asking about it. But it is Acts 17:30 that tells us specifically that God is not far from “any one of us”. I trust that Huron will be able to use some of these verses when he talks again with that particular person, or any others like them. If what we say here is true, then the Holy Spirit will bring them to life. |