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NASB | John 8:47 "He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 8:47 "Whoever is of God and belongs to Him hears [the truth of] God's words; for this reason you do not hear them: because you are not of God and you are not in fellowship with Him." |
Subject: Can believers not be of God? |
Bible Note: Whoever is of God listens to God. [Those who belong to God hear the words of God.] (AMPLIFIED) John 8:47a. In this verse in the Amplified Bible, the first sentence is amplified and explained by the words in brackets, "Those who belong to God hear the WORDS of God" (emphasis added). Dayoak: You have cited a good scripture and made a good point. I was thinking that hearing FROM the Father is not necessarily the same thing as hearing the Father. God speaks to us THROUGH His word and the preachers and witnesses He sends. I suppose one could say that in a sense he has heard God. But it seems to me that in a literal sense when one hears the Word preached, what he hears is the Word preached. He does not actually hear God. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. John 5:24 (ESV) Notice here Jesus does not say, "Whoever hears ME." Instead he says "whoever hears MY WORD." (Although it could be argued that, in a sense, "hears my word" is roughly equivalent to "hears me".) But how are they to call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? Romans 10:14 (ESV) This verse does not say, "And how are they to believe in him WHOM they have never heard?" Instead it says, "And how are they to believe in him OF WHOM they have never heard?" My point is that in these two verses we learn that for a person to believe and be saved, he must hear God's WORD. He must hear OF GOD. But, to be exact, he need not hear GOD. My intent here is not to win an argument or prove a point. I only meant that in the way I use language and in the way the Bible uses language, the Bible doesn't actually say that before people can be saved "they would have to hear God". I mean no offense to you. It is truly good to read your questions. If I have offended you in my previous post, then I apologize. Grace and peace, Kalos |