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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: "I’m sick of hearing Calvinism is right and everything else is wrong." Well, Ed, you think I am as wrong as I think you are, and you have said so on numerous occasions. I do not get all bent out of shape about it or go off on a crusade to tear you down because of it. I defend the Reformed position when misrepresented or criticized not because I feel any need to boost my self-esteem, but because it is what I believe the Bible teaches. It is the same thing when someone comes on here promoting anti-Trinitarian doctrine or WOF teaching or the notion that the Bible is not a sufficient guide for faith and practice. I do not mind the hard questions at all. God put us together in a body -- a community -- so that we could wrestle with His revelation to know Him and obey Him more. The great orthodox creeds of the faith, such as the Nicene Creed, were by and large a product of wrangling and debate among brothers, which I am sure got very intense at times. I do not take it personally that you disagree with me and think I am wrong. What I am concerned about is that in a public forum a system of doctrine held to by many significant men of God dating as far back as Augustine of Hippo, a system that falls well within the bounds of orthodox Christianity, is not misrepresented or maligned. "If that were true it would be provable without question and this debate would have ended dare I say hundreds of years ago." Try telling that to Oneness pentecostals, or to those who believe in infant baptism or that tongues have ceased. You have a position on these as well, and all of these arguments have been going on. :) One of us HAS to be wrong; neither one of us is damnably wrong. I like what James White once said to a Mormon in a public debate (bringing us back on track!). He said that a significant reason so many denominations exist because people pick and choose what parts of the Bible thay are going to believe. I am certain I am guilty of that as well, and believe it or not, my Calvinist confession even backs up the idea of no church being 100 percent right. :) But I am convinced from the Bible that I am right on this one, and until I can be convinced from sacred Scripture that I am not, I am going to hold to this view. I didn't grow up Reformed; I examined it in great detail from both sides before affirming that that is what the Bible teaches. I can evaluate the other point of view because I used to subscribe to that point of view (since it was the one in which I was raised). That is why I bear no animosity toward you whatsoever, Ed, while at the same time I think that you are in error on this one. And it is a big one, even if it is not a salvific one. May God bless you! --Joe! |