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NASB | Acts 8:13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Acts 8:13 Even Simon believed [Philip's message of salvation]; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he watched the attesting signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. |
Subject: How do I make sense of the context? |
Bible Note: Hello Hank, Ezek 11:19 "And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, I realize that it is wearisome to cover old ground time and time again. But when one has explained their position a number of times and yet the other party still misunderstands, then the subject requires further explanation. You wrote: "There is a difference between showing someone a need and forcing them to change. I believe the Holy Spirit must reveal the need, I think someone must preach the solution but applying it God leaves up to the individual. If not then we are merely controlled." I do not believe that opening blind eyes to the truth by resurrecting the spiritual dead to spiritual life in any way constitutes the use force. Before regeneration I had no desire to be saved. It seemed to me to be a lot of foolishness and I could not understand why anyone would be so gullible as to believe it. I was a slave to sin and and a servant of my father the devil. My heart was made of stone, I was not seeking the God of the Bible, and was content in accumulating as much personal power as possible. My will was controlled by my desires and the intentions of my heart were always sinful. In other words I was just like every other son of Adam. What had to change before I would see my desperate need for Christ? My heart! I needed a new heart with new desires. A heart inclined to love God and a desire to be loved by Him. For reasons unknown to me, He took away my heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh. I saw my need, I was granted repentance, I believed the gospel and now I long to serve my King and joyfully anticipate meeting Him face to face. Do I sound like a victim of force? Of couse not. The only thing He forced was the prison door that held me bound in sin. He forced open "death row" and set me free to serve Him as a son serves His beloved Father. With all my heart, I hope you understand why it hurts me to hear said that my theology MUST mean that God "forced" me to believe. (john 6 and Romans 9) Your Brother, John |