All Discussion PAGE 376

Hi Chris,

The Sin of Pride.

I agree that pride is a sin. When/if we receive praise/adulation we should not be internalizing it - but offering it back up to God where it rightfully belongs. We do all things to please God and all of the Glory adulation is His. If we do internalize it, I agree, it then becomes sin. I believe this verse is applicable here,

Matthew 5:16

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

GBU

Hello Texsis, Ginnas here.

You said (Hemorian as well) that the Acts is a transitional book between OT and NT. I wouldn't agree on that.

In my opinion the only transitional period between those 2 economies was the 3 and 1/2 years that Jesus ministered on earth. And I wouldn't use the word transitional. I would prefer to say that Jesus ministry worked as a bridge joining the old economy with the new one.

In the book of Acts we see that Jews who became christians were still following the Old Law. But that was permitted by the apostles only to give the necessary time to Jews to adapt themselves to the New Conenant. Paul himself didn't follow John's and James' (who were the heads in Jerusalem at that time) practise. Paul was crystal clear in his teachings and writtings that the Old covenant had to be abandoned.

Please read what John and James said to Paul when he visited Jerusalem,

Acts 21:20-23, "20And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: 21And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. 22What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. 23Do therefore this that we say to thee..." Pay attention to verse 21.

Paul this time followed their advice and found himself in a big trouble, in jail.

After Jesus' resurrection only the New Testament was valid. The Old died together with Jesus on the cross and the New came into life together with Jesus' ressurection. .

Now about that "rightly dividing the Word of God", a grk person understands that phrase as "rightly learning and teaching the Word of God", it has nothing to do with dividing.

GBU

Hello Alan Manson , I'm also quite new to posting on here but I've been reading this site a long time . Be aware that there are loads and loads of older posts to enjoy , in ' discussions ' 'testimonies ' and especially in ' encouraging comments ' some of them go back many years and there is plenty of meat back there for you and any of us to chew on :) .

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Hi Friend

There's two stages that we may obtain too in the work of regeneration, 1st to the state Adam was before the fall, then as we continue steadfast, faithful & confident unto the end, in exercising the Grace that brings salvation, He brings us into the 2nd state of being in Christ who never sin, although He was tempted. This show us that being tempted is not a sin, only in our submission to it.

I'm presently in this 1st stage & have fallen,

Sanctification is a progress work, & as we continue to exercise Grace appearance in our hearts. Hebrews 9:28 Rom 10:10 the wording of Scripture is "unto salvation", denoting this on going work. Philippians 2:12 There is no instant salvation! There will be encounter with the Lord, where His Spirit deals mighty within us, tearing down the strongholds of thoughts & imaginations that keeps us in bondage & separated from Him, this a part of the ongoing work of salvation.

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What I been given by the Spirit, & Scriptures is that the OT is our example.

God was ready to bring Israel into possession of the promise land, then after their 40yrs of wandering, they enter & came into a measure of it, but they stalled again & did not drive out all of there enemies, through doubt & unbelief, Hebrews 10:19 & the pleasures & comforts 1John 2:16 as then so now!

You say "Definitely not the 2nd case" they're cleaned & are continuously being clean. There is a state of Grace in the work of redemption that as one continues faithful to God, minding His reproofs & instructions in righteousness growing unto maturity in Christ, Hebrews 12:7-11 Hebrews 10:21-23 in judgment God remembers mercy. Our Father is a good one, He sees & discerns the intents of our hearts toward Him.

For instances, when we're learning how to walk, there's many falls, but at some point the child learns, doesn't fall any more. The same with coming out of sin, He takes us step by step, line upon line, bringing us through stages of deliverance. If we can overcome one sin, & continue in the exercising of His Grace we can eventually overcome all sin. Like the children of Israel we becomes content, grown fat, thus their miserable history of continuing in sin & ours. Oh, we keep up the outward appearance & lip service, but the inward work of His living Presence has ceased & now it just a memory of what He had wrought in us from past experiences, Grace is Divine Power to continue. 1Thess 5:24

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So what has happen? Jude1:4 when it states they deny our Lord & Savior, He's talking about Grace / Light spiritual appearance within our hearts, the still small Voice of conscience. So these intruders has change Grace meaning, & turning it as a means to continue in sin, this would put Jesus as a promoter of sin & making it easy for us to continue in sin; Meaning a Gospel with no Cross to bear & denial of self, which Cross would purges & cleanse us from all sin.

You stated; New birth, regeneration & new creation does not mean a sinless state by no means. This is a total contradiction to the Holy Scriptures.

1Pet 1:23, 1John 3:9 & why? Because this Incorruptible Seed remains in him, who is Christ. They that are Christ has been buried with Him, meaning their dead unto sin, Rom 6 Which is indeed the Baptismal of the Holy Spirit purging out all the chaff. (sin) the old spiritual nature, were self is seen no more, & receiving Power to be witnesses unto Him, meaning we're conformed Rom 8:29 Christ the Head, we're the body, Ephesians 5:30 1Cor 6:17 Is Christ join to sin? Friend, you know that answer!

You say "we have limits all of us" I agree in the sense of different calling within His body for service, but not from excluding us to be free from all sin.

You say, "so sin does not only originate from the flesh, but from the spirit as well"

The body is just a vessel, being animated by the soul & spirit, if we are Rom 12:1,2 & are brought to the new birth in spirit, 2Pet 1:3,4 the body will be follow

You say "in life we have the Spirit partially" Gal 3:2 you decide the increase of you talent, Matt 9:29 there's no limit on how much of God we may inherit..

You say, "that Spirit has not transformed our nature" He transforms our carnal mind & put to death our carnal nature by the Cross/Grace/Light, & by His

2 Pet 1:3,4 God does nothing but through His Son & by His Spirit.

In love & truth

Amen Bro. Dan. The gospel is an empowering message! St. John 1:16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. Eph. 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. 2 Cor. 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: Roman 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. God Bless!

Hi Chris,

I am aware of the TR but that is not a manuscript rather the TR is a collection of MSS compiled and printed as a full edition of the NT.

I am looking for the source of the words "of Christ". I cannot find ANY manuscript or early church Father or early translation that has that phrase. This is why I thought it may be an explanatory inclusion.

Thanks for trying.

Hello Mariapelaez

About the name Jesus. The initial Hebrew name was "Yehoshua". Untill before the Babylonian captivity it remained as such. As any other living language Hebrew was developing through centuaries so "Yehoshua" was later shortened to "Yeshua".

The Gospel was written in Greek by Hebrews. When they wrote in grk, they didn't keep the Hebrew forms of names but used the grk form of them. They actually used the names written in the Septuagint (grk) version of the Old Testament. So Jeshua became Iesous (Jesus) in grk, Yohannan (Johanan) became Ioannes(John) in grk, Yaacob became Iakovos (Jacob) and so on. The writers of the NT also used the grk names of prophets of the OT when writting the NT. So Elijiah became Elias, Isaiah became Esias and so on. All that was done not by the Greeks but by the Hebrews themselves, some of them were Jesus' apostles. So if they considered right to use other than Hebrew names in their writtings, who are we who now claim that that is wrong and decide to go back to the original Hebrew ones? And since they modoified those names to fit the grk language, why is it wrong people from other languages to modify them to fit their own language? Of course one is free to keep the original Hebrew if they wish so but I don't think we can teach that as a doctrine. GBU

please remember me and my family today in your prayers

Thank you Bro. Dan. I can only deduce that you're assuming that I refer to Christians who sin, having sin's hold on them, as those wanting to 'hang onto their enjoyable worldly lives', even the "death grip hold to this worldly life we enjoy". I'm sorry if you were led to understand that was what I was referring to. Not in the slightest brother. 1 John 2:15.

I was hoping from my examples given earlier, both personal & otherwise, that I was never referring to a 'believer' who has one foot in the world & the other in his faith. I won't reiterate those here as they certainly did not indicate that I (& other true believers) could ever fuse the world's offerings to the holy & separated life we now have in Christ. Maybe James 4:17, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin" goes some way to reveal what sin is to me.

I realize that this verse means that when someone knows that he has before him the option to do what is proper, in line with God's Will, yet opts to not do according to the good inclinations of his heart, mind & the Spirit's Voice, then this becomes sin to him. However, I also include that 'doing good' means also doing what is right in the mind & not just at outward action, because sin also finds its secure harbor & breeding ground there.

So, I would refuse to let pride (sin) ever be my companion, but a friend showers me with much undeserved praise & flattery, which obviously would make me feel uncomfortable. Thanking him yet denying such worthiness, I let it go, but the mind continues to reflect on & off on the praise received, producing an undesired, unholy reflection on its veracity. This is not a personal example I share, as I've never ever received such praise, but an example of sin nevertheless. If you were the recipient of such adulation, what would be your response & would your mind ever come back to it for further reflection? To me, this is sin, but it may not be to you or others. I don't know. Blessings.

Hello Scotty. This is not a "mere explanatory inclusion" in the KJV. The inclusion of the words, "of Christ", in the KJV is because the NT manuscript that the KJV was translated from was the Textus Receptus (TR or, the Received Text). Even though it was a much later manuscript than the older ones used in the translation of most of the other versions of the Bible, we understand that it is the more reliable one, as it was not corrupted by the deletions, additions and amendments of the Minority Texts.

The following Bibles have used the TR: the Tyndale Bible, Bishop's Bible, Geneva Bible, & the King James Bible. As well, Young's Literal Translation (1862) also used the TR in his translation work, hence the verse in question there reads, "for I am not ashamed of the good news of the Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to every one who is believing, both to Jew first, and to Greek." And this phrase, "of Christ" is omitted by the other translations, though the meaning & intent of the verse remains the same, as the Apostle Paul could refer to no other Gospel than the one associated to the Savior Jesus Christ & for Whom He was prepared to lay down his life.

Hello Carleton, I was just thinking about you earlier today. How good it is to hear from you.

Most Amish have left off teaching being born again therefore having an assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ. Some conservative Anabaptists have mission posts for trying to bring any longing souls back into the fold. As far as hard working, most folks raised around the agricultural field learn to work, but this does not always bring peace by the Holy Spirit.

"Of Christ" refers to the Cross of Christ, the main subject of the entire Bible, Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. The sacrifice Jesus gave of himself on the Cross is the answer to all: our salvation, our victory, our healing, our everything.

Verleen, This is for the questions asked about the Holy Ghost. I am a messianic believer of Jesus {Yashua is his real name, Ya=God. Shua=Salvation} I pray I can clarify some of your doubts.

1.{ John 3:16} God so loved the world, that he sent his only begotten son, that whoever believed on him shall not perish but have everlasting life, this is Jesus who was, and still is the savior of mankind, he came to teach us on how we can have everlasting life. he gave us the example that we should be baptized as he was. The Holy Spirit descended upon him and abode in him, { Luke 4:1}, {Mathew 3:16} this was necessary for him to begin his ministry to the people of Israel. It was through the Holy spirit that he performed the miracles mentioned in the Bible. { Mark 5:41} and by whom he taught with authority.

2. The New Testament Church became to being through the four Gospels of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John, these four were witnesses, of Jesus's Divine teachings. Jesus, he told them he will send his Holy Spirit, { John 14:26}, { Acts 2:4}, { Acts 4:31}

Here again, the Holy Spirit enabled them to perform miracles and teach others {also the Gentiles} about the Kingdom of God. { Acts 10:19}

3. There are true Believers who worship God, in truth and in the Spirit, for God is a Spirit so we must worship in the Spirit. This of course is after believing that God sent his Son, as the word says, that whoever believes in Jesus as our Savior must be Baptized in his real name, as the Hebrew Bible instructs us, his name is "Yashua" He is a newborn person, therefore, this born-again person will also receive the Holy Spirit. {Psalm32:8}, { John 16:13}, { john 3:5}. I hope that these verses from the Bible, will help you understand the Importance the Holy Spirit has had in the life of Jesus in his teachings, the New Testament brought about by the four gospels of the Apostles, and to our very own lives today. This is a wonderful promise given to us who believe in the Savior, { Numbers 23;19} God Bless you.

Hello Moha4med.

You write that Jesus is; "a normal creature and not God".

What is the source of this data? It is not the Bible.

Whether we believe it or not, the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is not "a normal creature".

And whether we believe it or not, the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ, Immanuel, the Word made flesh, God, and the Son of God. It is simply a FACT that the Bible teaches this.

See these references: Mat 16:16, Mat 1:23, Isa 7:14, Joh 1:1, Joh 1:14, Mat 8:29, Mk 3:11, 2 Cor 5:10, Rom 14:10, Rev 6:16.

Your noetic challenge is to work out HOW a divine person can be incarnate, suffer on a cross, die and is rise from the dead.

It may delight you to also work out the ontological limitations of a true human nature even when united to an unlimited divine person.

Only once you gather all the data from the reliable sources and understand the full picture all the pieces will fit together. Then, and then only, will you understand the COMPLEX PERSON of Jesus Christ in the Bible is a spectacular sight.

As one Latin writing theologian put it; CUR DEUS ET HOMO.

Enjoy the journey and protect your happiness.

Fear of God

And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. (PHillipians 1:28)."

And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. ( Joshua 2:11).

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom ( Proverbs 9:10). Continuing with some ideas from my previous post; it seems that when it comes to supposed testimonies of hell; the fear of the Lord and a sense of it being His wrath as a great part of the terror is lost in accounts of suffering. The same thing makes us even more suspect with those testimonies about heaven; even Moses who knew God unlike any other man at the time ( Exodus 33:11) and spoke to Him as a friend still had fear when He appeared in all His glory ( Deut. 9:19). WE ALL SHOULD TAKE THIS ADMONITION SERIOUSLY as to fear and AWE of Him no matter how long we have been believers (sorry but I felt caps were needed here).

The assurance of salvation and the evident blessings being present on someone brings meaning to the first quote from Philippians; and the fact that we will return with Him ( Rev. 19:14) will strike fear in those whose eyes are now opened;

along with the fear of judgment to come.

The concept of our enemies also needs to be addressed along with our own enmity toward God that we now have reconciled.

Romans 11:28 shows how the unbeliving Jews were enemies in one sense; yet Paul wished that he himself could be accursed to save them ( Romans 9:3). We are to love our enemies; but not fraternize to gain reputation as the world does; for what is honorable among men is an abomination to God ( Luke 16:15 also could be "highly esteemed"). We should have no part fellowshipping with those who preach a false Gospel; and in no uncertain terms testify to the peril the unsaved is in apart from repentance.

Hello One eighty,

I recently joined this discussion board and am therefore unfamiliar with those who have been here much longer.

I see scripture passages and verses as being similar to jigsaw puzzle pieces that God expects each of us to understand and appropriately place together throughout our lifetime, so as to be able to SEE the kingdom of God as one might view a beautiful picture.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, HE CANNOT SEE the kingdom of God." ( John 3:3)

SEEING God's kingdom is vital, as this act defines whether Salvation is ultimately achievable or not - John 3:5-8.

I have been on numerous Bible discussion boards seeking to partake in some "strong, Bible-based meat" ( Hebrews 5:14) in which to 'chew' on, so that similarly-minded Christians could also share what they had each discovered - so that collectively, we might each piece together what the Lord had revealed to each of us. Sadly, I have been unable to find any such discussions.

Therefore, when your questions deviated into impossible areas that could never be responded to in scripture, I felt the response I provided was necessary.

So - no offence was intended One eighty. I guess that sometimes incidents like this need to happen so that we can each learn a little bit more about each other and why we are here.

Blessings, One eighty.

Alan

Isn't it John 11:35? "Jesus wept."

Some helpful points there.

However, how can people be alienated from His presence before coming to faith if God is omnipresent?

Perhaps you mean alienated from God's favour.

I have a question about Romans 1:16.

Can someone tell me the source of the words "of Christ"? Is this a mere explanatory inclusion?

Thank you for any help you can give.

Common issues with online testimonies.

The last posting discusses repentance. John 16:8 is a theme I have repeated several times in regard to sin; righteousness and judgment to come being the primary purpose of the Holy Spirit today. In many testimonies there is little emphasis on sin that

someone is saved from; especially a grasp of the sin NATURE. God's love is usually described in some detail; but any concept of a foreign righteousness that we experience (such as with Daniel; Isaiah and John the Revelator when they encountered the risen Christ; or Paul's Damascus Road experience in Acts 9 which brings us flat on our faces is often lacking.

We see these issues especially with the heaven and hell encounters that are described (whether real or fallacious). Trying to

sort out fact from fiction is too involved to have a detailed analysis in this posting. In these type of testimonies especially; but also in many others we see the concept of "losing one's salvation" as a common theme. A general warning here in such a mindset is discarding clear scriptures on the subject as well as taking hope away for those who truly love Christ by causing them to live in constant fear that a particular sin can make them be lost. This needs to be balanced with those who are too confident that they are saved who haven't tested themselves to see if they are in the faith ( 2 Cor. 13:5-6).

It is understandable with a number of young people especially who had an initial faith in God or exposure to the Gospel who repent as a Prodigal son after a time of rebellion may see how the love of Christ was a constant thing in their lives in the background. What we don't see is too many people who clearly understand that we are enemies of God; and alienated from His presence before coming to faith ( Romans 5:10 etal).

And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. (PHillipians 1:28).

Amen Jesse,

God bless,

RLW

National repentance vs. individual repentance

Nineveh and Babylon appear to be two nations that had a wholesale turn toward God; initiated in both cases by the rulers at hand.

Sackcloth and ashes were worn by the King in the first example; along with a mandatory fast. In the second case; it appears that

Nebuchadnezzar may have recognized God's power in his declaration of Daniel 3:29; as to not saying anything against God; but his own personal understanding appears to have come later as predicted in Daniel 4:25. In our nation revivals in the 1700s seemed to eclipse even George Washington's noteriety with individuals like Whitfield and similar things happened in Europe with the Wesleyan revival.

In both cases from scripture we see the ruler being warned about sin; with Jonah it was just a general declaration of judgment to come; with Nebuchadnezzar a direct plea from Daniel in Daniel 4:27 to turn from sin was given. I believe the same thing

happened with a challenge to a President in our country in the 1800s; maybe someone has that information here.

Proverbs 14:34 explains how sin is a reproach to any nation; which is contrasted by righteousness exalting a nation in the first part of the verse. Truly a nation is made up of individuals; hance as someone comes to faith it may change the balance to

forestall judgment for a time. As with nations; individuals also can extend their lives ( 2 Kings 20:6); and the wicked as a

principle will not live out half their days ( Psalm 55:23). Nahum shows how judgment was only forestalled and delayed not averted; and we can read the rest of Jeremiah to see how Babylon fared; with an end time parallel in Revelation 18.

As we see from the above examples; righteous leadership can bring benefits to all; even if not all individuals are actually saved.

The same principle applies with the wheat and the tares in churches. Some only secretly desire worldly comforts or prestige who surround themselves around repentant saints.

WEM,

1 Timothy 5:13 reads, " And with this they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers, (and that's literally the word gossipers). And busybodies, speaking things that they ought not."



So he says these people you have to refuse because they don't have much to do, and if the church takes care of them, they're going to have a lot of idle time, and they're going to be going from house to house getting involved in conversations and gossip, and slander, and saying things against people that they shouldn't say.

Blessings!

Is gossiping about others a Sin?

Please pray for Kaya. she now supports LBGT.

Hi Chris,

Regarding the subject: "Our Addiction to Sin"

You state: "Do you really think that you will reach that perfection in this life? " Chris, I have faith in God that He would not tell us to do something that we can't do. John 5:14 John 8:11 Nothing is impossible for God! He can change us in the twinkling of an eye! If this is our goal he can help us accomplish it, but it requires Faith and never giving up!

You state: "And what happens in the meantime, when what he believes is possible, actually is impossible - sin ever revealing itself without abating? " I would answer by saying that if you think that it's impossible, and you CAN'T do it, then it will probably never happen for you, until you exchange Can't do - for Can do. Also speaking for myself, for me to say it can't happen is to call God a liar, because he tells us we can James 4:7-10 So, it must be something we are doing, or not doing.

You state: "You may have a different take on this, but I see that as with Paul, so also with us, the struggle with sin will never cease." I agree that Paul struggled against sin during his life, as all of us do, and Paul also states Romans 6:6-7 God tells us he will give us no temptation/sin that we can't overcome 1 Corinthians 10:13

A ever increasing thought: One major obstacle in our lives that may be keeping us from achieving the perfect relationship with God is our death grip hold to this worldly life we enjoy.

See page 2

Chris, Page 2

2 Corinthians 5:15

"And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."

Are we living unto ourselves by wanting to enjoy this worldly life and all those things associated with it? As of late, I'm beginning to believe that this is a very big obstacle preventing us (Christians) from achieving the perfect union with Him/God.

I've thought like other Christians for years that we could live a enjoyable life on this earth and walk with God at the same time. The more I read and believe the scriptures I am beginning to believe I am wrong. God is telling us he want's us completely.

Letting go of this fleshy world is a big hurdle, maybe too big for most of us. Hence, our need to find a compromise in our minds to mold/reinterpret the scripture to achieve a message that will accommodate us hanging on to our enjoyable worldly lives. Are we fooling ourselves?

Could this be a large part of why we haven't be able to achieve our perfect walk with God and become sin free? The overriding Bible message is we can't have the world and God - it's one or the other.

GBU