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We know for a certainty that these 120000 Ninevites were saved because of Matthew 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
All True Believers will be resurrected and raptured to usher in the final judgment at the Last Day in condemnation of those that have not been saved. Their very resurrection and rapture is in itself a condemnation. This is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. I believe there is no other Biblical way to understand Matt 12:41.
Also, the Bible clearly teaches that the brokenness before God and repentance exhibited by these Ninevits is an Essential characteristic of those that God saves. They are in fact, one of the most dramatic pictures and examples of Salvation that we find in the Bible.
God is also demonstrating in this picture that He does not require an extensive knowledge of scripture to be saved. But He does require a "broken and contrite heart" and recognition of our sinful condition and need for God's Mercy, which can only come from God Himself.
If this is not Earl, then just know that your ideas and style of posting is very similar to Earl's, so
please forgive me if I am in error as to your identity.
I hope you are beginning to feel improved. I have prayed for you.
I will continue to pray for this infection to clear up and that you will soon be well. I know the feeling of coughing so much for days and days and having a very sore throat from the coughing. It kicks up my asthma pretty badly. I
Let me know how you are doing.
Cont.
Balaam asks if he should continue to go to Balak, God tells him yes, but he was not to curse Israel, but bless them and to only say what He tells Balaam to say.
Here the chapter ends. The rest of the account is in chapter 23.
It is unclear if Balaam was descendant of Abraham (through sons other than Isaac or through Esau) or a descendant of Lot, or otherwise a gentile. The chapter says that his God is YHWH, because the text uses this specific name. It does not say how He knows of YHWH or whether YHWH was the only God he worshipped of one of many. He may have heard of what occurred with the Israelites over the past 40 years. He may have known about the blessings God gave to all of Abraham's sons and the promises specific to Isaac since 400-500 years had passed since Abraham lived.
So there are many questions about Balaam's belief system. Regardless, Balaam did have a sense that YHWH is to be obeyed, having power and authority over men. Balaam seemed to attest to one thing but in his heart, he really was inclined to the opposite of what he attested to. We need to be careful to not be double-minded like Balaam. We need to be careful to not go along with people we know to be evil or against God, like Balaam did. We need to be careful to not put God to the test by not fully accepting His directions to us and continuing to seek to see if He would change His will, like Balaam tried to do.
If we know that an action or way is wrong for us to do or follow, we should not seek God to grant us permission to do something that is against His will. We also should not seek the counsel of anyone who is not a believer or any source that does not align with His Word, whether a Bible teacher or secular source.
Balaam could have told Balak, "No, I will bless Israel because God is with them and His will is for them to be blessed. I want to follow God and His command to me." But Balaam did not hold his ground before the princes of Balak and refuse.
This is the first part of the account of Balak and Balaam.
The Israelites had conquered many peoples of the east Jordan area and the king of Moab heard about these conquests.
The Israelites came into Moabite territory and camped across the Jordan from Jericho.
The king of Moab. Balak, was very alarmed and contacted the king of Midian to help them come against the Israelites and route them out of their land.
Balak sends some of his officials to the land of northern Mesapotamia to seek Balaam, who was a prophet that God spoke to and through but also he was a diviner and worker of evil prophecy, too. Balaam knew of the Israelites and of YHWH.
At first, after seeking God about going with the men to Moab to curse Isarael, God told him, No, Israel is blessed, so you are not to go and curse them. Balaam informed the men and they returned to Balak.
There is a second attempt to get Balaam to come to Balak and curse Israel. But God says no.
Then Balak sent his princes, men of more importance than the first group, and money for payment for his services. He again inquires of God about going with the princes to Balak and cursing the Israelites. God says that if the men come to them then he can go with them, but he must not curse the Israelites, only bless them. Balaam was to only say the words that God gives him to say.
As Balaam is on his way to Moab, riding on his donkey, God is angry at Ballam because He knows the intent of Balaam's heart event though Balaam affirms that he wants to do what God commands. The angel of the Lord appears and stands in the way. Although the donkey sees the angel, Balaam does not. Three times the donkey veers from the path to avoid the angel, but Balaam beats her each time. After the third beating, God makes the donkey speak to Balaam where she reveals that the angel is in her way and she was avoiding him. Then God allows Balaam to see the angel. He falls on his face, admits he has sinned.
"Now the parable is this: THE SEED IS THE WORD OF GOD." ( Luke 8:11)
Another scripture verse is this that confirms that the word of God represents "seed" and in fact "incorruptible seed":
"Being born again, NOT OF CORRUPTIBLE SEED, but of INCORRUPTIBLE [seed], by THE WORD OF GOD, which liveth and abideth for ever." ( 1 Peter 1:23)
So, my dilemma is do I believe you - who (presumably) is a 'man' who has NOT died and has NOT risen from the dead and has NOT ascended in Heaven - OR, do I believe the words in the Bible spoken by Jesus Christ Himself - supported by the Apostle Peters words also thereby making TWO WITNESSES that agree:
"...In the mouth of two or three witnesses [Jesus and Peter] shall every word be established." ( 2 Corinthians 13:1)
If I was to believe what you wrote, I would then have to say that Jesus Christ is a liar. I couldn't do that.
Given that Jesus Christ has both died, risen from the dead and ascended into heaven according to the scriptures and as both He and the Apostle Peter have affirmed that "THE [incorruptible] SEED IS THE WORD OF GOD", I have to reject your false claims.
Matthew 5:4
"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."
1John 2:1 but then he moves on: 1John 3:9
You say, because we have this sin nature, Not if we're born again, 2Cor 5:17, His Spirit of Grace has brought us through the regeneration & renewing of the Holy Spirit unto the new creature, created in Ephesians 4:24 Col 3:10. By His Spirit of Grace, the Cross, the old nature has been deny, mortify & finally crucify Rom 6:6,7 & We have become partakers 2Pet 1:3,4
Its very true, as you stated we, in & of ourselves we cannot stop sinning, its a hopeless situation. But with God all things are possible! Jeremiah 32:27
Jesus stated, John 7:17,18 Meaning; if one is practicing in their lives the doctrines of faith they believe & its not having the results the Word of God clearly states, then their doctrine & faith is not of God & their speaking of themselves.Their faith is not Hebrews 12:2 Matt 7:14
Friend anyone who would not be prejudice, can perceive that throughtout the Scriptures God is calling His people to be holy.
He kick Lucifier out of heaven when he sinned, He put Adam & Eve out of paradise when they sinned, He kick the nation of Israel out of the promise land when they continue sinning. Do you really believe He's going to allow anyone into His holy Kingdom that's a sinner? Especially now that He has sent His Son, if He was going to allow sin into heaven, Jesus could have avoided that horrible humiliation & vicious suffering at the hands of ungodly men.
No, my friend, sinners will not enter the kingdom of God, it not happenning,
Last par; HEAVY LOAD ON THEIR SHOULDERS, it an evident token that they have not come to the True Jesus Matt 11:28 because He's the John 1:29
I kindly request that you read No Cross No Crown William Penn, Chap 1-8 & serious consider what discover in these pages.
freely on the net, No Cross No Crown project gutenberg
in love & truth
Can we honestly deduce from those two peoples & accounts, that their repentance eventually led them to salvation (looking forward to the Cross)? You may believe that this is how the account should be read & understood. Unfortunately, my understanding of how the OT (true) Israel & those believers post-Cross came to be accepted, cleansed, & brought into God's family is different, though certainly, the Cross is the focus that made it all happen. So blessings to you too brother as we walk together on this great journey of new life granted only by God's Mercies to us.
May you be comforted. Sixteen is so very young and anorexia is a disease that is hard for many to understand.
My prayers goes out to you and the family.
God bless you.
The above is very true but I believe God will take in Heaven christians who are sanctified but probably not perfect. There is a difference between sanctified and perfected, One may have not become perfect but they are striving to live holy and when they fail they get cleaned up (sanctified) with Jesus' Blood.
Anyway thanks for the conversation. GBU
I do understand where you want to come to. This is actually what John tell us in 1 John 2:1-2.
"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not."
It is clear that John asks us not to sin. But then he moves on,
"And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:".
Why? Because we still have a sinful nature and we CANNOT overcome sin. It is not that we don't want to but often we haven't got the ability to win against sin. There is a difference between God and people, God is not tempted at all (because His nature is so), but we, people, are tempted (because our nature is so) and fail. Let me give you an example. When I was a smoker, I had reached a point that I wanted to quit, so I decided to stop smoking, but in practise I realized that I couldn't manage to stop it. So it was a matter of capability, not a matter of decision. You may say that we are given the Spirit (or grace) of God to win sin. The Spirit is a "helper", He has not transformed our nature, it still remains a human nature with all the disadvantages that come with it.
Brother, as far as I am concerned, I am in the faith for more than 20 years and if the belief that a christiam must not sin at all is right then I have failed badly, and not only me but my wife, my relatives, all the other christians I know, everybody really. Because I don't think I have met so far somebody that claims that they don't sin at all.
And something else. It is not right that some christians sin easily, they don't even try to resist. One must be strict to them. On the other hand there are christians that whatever they do, they feel guilty and blame themselves all the time because they think they never please God with their life and behavior. The belief of "not doing a sin at all" will place such a heavy load on their shoulders that they will eventually collapse. A christian should feel joy, it is a fruit of the Holly Spirit, and not guilt all the time.
GBU
Plus, the Bible already tells us that Jesus chose to limit Himself and become a servant in the form of a man on earth. Many tend to assume that the way Jesus was as a temporary man must be the way He is all the time. Some can't possibly imagine Him any other way, failing to realize that the whole becoming a man thing was a temporary. If He didn't allow Himself to be a man within the parameters of human beings it might seem to defeat the original intent on becoming a man and being an example for us to follow.
Phil 2:5-11
I'd like to respond to your post and challenge your assumptions.
You wrote: "Well, here the Messiah says that he doesn't know the Hour, which makes him a normal creature and not God. If he truly were God, he would know the timing of the Hour and his return, but he said that he doesn't know."
It sounds like you are assuming God has limitations based on your human logic. I think your logical assumptions are flawed, however.
Isn't God big enough to choose to know or not know things? God can also change His mind. He made all things and is powerful enough to do all things including choose to operate on our time frame or dimension or not. You're assuming that God can't do that, and so you're assuming that God must have that limitation while also claiming that he has no limitations. Doesn't your assumption contradict itself?
John 1:1-3 says the Word (Jesus [verse 14]) is God, has always existed, and made all things? If you believe the Bible why would you not believe this verse?
God bless.
We have already been warned about you.
Acts 20:28-30
Matthew 7:15-16
The sheep you are looking for - do not hear your voice.
Matthew 10:27-30
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.
God asks us to love Him more than anything or anybody else. Why? Because 1. He deserves it, and 2 this is our assurance that we will never leave Him and that we will keep walking the narrow path till the end. In the Bible there are many examples of people who although started their godly life well, afterwards their deceitful heart loved something else more than Him and led them away from God. In the parable of the Seed, Jesus warns us not to let our ambitions and pleasures of this life to fill our heart. If yes then our field will become fruitless. There is a moto in the world lately, "Follow your heart". How wrong it is if our heart drives us away from our creator.
GBU
We; being the Body of Christ only have individual functions-each part being essential in the ministry of the Holy Spirit coming from Christ in the heavenly places. Christ; of course ( John 3:34-35) had the Spirit without limit. As a member of the Godhead He also wouldn't have had to rely on anything from the Spirit in His own Divinity; but He did when on earth He was strengthened by the Spirit as well as angels in time of greatest struggle (such as after the 40 day fast and Satan's interrogation and in Gethsemene).
When Jesus was stated to know what people were thinking; it seems never to be good. It was a general statement to the Pharisees; where large chunks of scripture were dedicated to rebuke for hypocrisy along with the section for the same treatment for the lawyers of the time. Luke 7:36-50 is a fascinating section where the thoughts of the Pharisee were revealed to Christ; but He chose instead to talk to Peter about how such a "sinner" could be justified and put everyone to shame. The "blasphemy" of Him forgiving her sins trumped all earlier issues no doubt at the end of this section.
The "word of knowledge" which seems to be most apparent is the statement to Peter about denying Him. Again; that fit into prophecy as did the running away of everyone in Mark 14:50. Also; the statement of being betrayed was prophetically in scripture along with the whole section of Isaiah 53 and everything else predicted to happen to Him in the crucifixion and later raising from the dead. I can't think of anything offhand that isn't in the Old Testament that Christ revealed; short of the further implications of the law in what was to be the new covenant of grace. The scriptures were further revealed from the concealed passages of hidden meanings in the Old Testament; and will be further still at the Second Coming. What is new is statements of what would happen specifically with Peter in the Book of Acts.
There is only ONE SIN ..... UNBELIEF .....all other sins are COVERED by the blood of Christ.
John 16:8 And when HE IS COME, he (the Holy Ghost) will reprove the world of SIN .... UNBELIEF ..... the HOLY Ghost is going to rule the world with a rod or iron (truth and mercy)
John 16:9 OF SIN, because they BELIEVE NOT on me (THE WORD) .....
Most believe Jesus came for the WORKS of the cross ..... they don't BELIEVE those WORKS ....
ALL BODIES DIED (yours, mine, and Christ's) on the cross 2000 years ago; ONLY ONE BODY arose, the BODY of CHRIST.
1 Corinthians 12:27 ... NOW ye are the BODY of Christ ..... who did NO SIN .....
There is NO .... I, me, myself ... ONLY ONE BODY .... the body of Christ ..... all creation, the NEW CREATION ....
John 17:22 And the glory that thou (the Spirit that raised Christ) has given me, I have GIVEN THEM (the new creation) that they may be ONE as we are ONE.
If you don't BELIEVE his WORDS your continuing in SIN ..... if you BELIEVE his WORDS you CANNOT SIN .... your just doing what Christ WILLS and Causes you TO DO.
Colossians 1:27 ..... this MYSTERY .... Christ in YOU ......
Ezekiel 36:27 And I (the Holy Ghost) will put my Spirit IN YOU (his body) and CAUSE you to walk in my statutes, and keep my judgements, and DO THEM.
Philippians 2:13 For it is God that WORKETH IN YOU both to WILL and to do his good pleasure.
Most don't BELIEVE the WORD.
God is giving you eyes to SEE his truth, your Christ's BODY, he is causing you to DO his good pleasure; therefore, you; his body, CANNOT SIN, because it's HIS WORKS, not your works.
Revelation 2:26 ....and he that keepeth MY WORKS to the end, to him will I give power over the nations ....as I have been given of my Father .....
God bless you as Christ CAUSES us to walk in TRUTH.
I know I said I would leave off this discussion, but I am curious about a few questions regarding your understanding of the Nature of Salvation, if I may.
If I'm understanding you correctly, Abraham and other Old Testament "believers" were "saved" because of some INHERENT faith within themselves, not given to them by God, but that they must exercise in appropriating the promises of God. Where then did that faith come from if they were SPIRITUALLY DEAD as we read in Psalm 53:2,3 and Psalm 14:2,3 and Romans 3:11-18?
How do you understand "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" in Rev 13:8 relative to Christ's atonement and its application to Believers throughout time?
What is your understanding of election and predestination? Are these terms applicable to every True Believer throughout time or only to a specific group of Believers during a specific time period in history?
Was Christ's atonement a general atonement for all of mankind that we must appropriate by "accepting Christ" or "exercising our inherent faith" of our "free will" in order to be saved? And if so, what does it mean to be "in bondage to sin and Satan"?
Or was Christ's atonement specific and limited to those Spiritually Dead sinners whom He chose to save by His Mercy from before the foundation of the world, and that Christ would draw them and apply this atonement in Salvation to their life by His Grace Alone?
What does it mean to be Born Again?
Thank you in advance for your responses.
.......The last 2 k yrs have been nothing but wars and senseless killings.....The 2 days he was in the tomb is translating to 2 k yrs of Spiritual darkness for humanity......As Isaiah 60:2.....said darkness was gona cover the earth and gross darkness the ppl.....Churches and bibles on every corner but our world has become another Sodom and Gomarrah.
......I am the light of the world but the night is coming when no man can work.....Israel has become a nation again after 2 k yrs....Thus the Israel of God cannot be far behind.....When the book will be opened that he wrote with his own blood.....Sin will come to an end simply b/c the manchild which is the H.G.is gonna reprove this world of sin and righteousness and JUDGEMENT.....The prince of this world that lives in humanity is gona be Judged.....As our God is a consuming fire.....
.....But what happened to the early Church....They were a great Army.....But God gave them up....Till the woman is in travail and Child birth.... Micah 5 :3 Therefore shall he give them up till she that is in travail has given birth....The woman in Rev 12 :5 that is giving birth to the man child the H.G. that is gonna reprove the world of sin and righteousness and Judgement.....But Jesus said 4 times in John 6... I will raise them up AGAIN THE LAST DAY.....Ezek. dried bones...Gbu
Someone might come and say that he didn't know the Hour in his human nature when he descended and that he chose that. Well, my friend, you are saying that before he descended, he was God and knew everything, and when he descended, he became incarnate in a human body, but he is still God and human at the same time, and this is a contradiction because human nature is ignorant, while divine nature encompasses everything. So, if Christ knows everything and at the same time does not know everything, this is ignorance and contradiction in the book. Moreover, Christ is not self-existent because he relies on others, and this makes him not God because God is self-existent and does not rely on others. From the perspective of Christ, he relied on his mother Mary's milk, and this is a great contradiction: to worship a child who drinks milk and claim that he is God. If he is God and has the ability to do everything, why doesn't he produce milk by himself?