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Interpretation of the verse "there is no fear in love"
1 John 4:16-18
"16-And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 17-Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 18-There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love"
What does it mean that "one dwells in love, in God?" It means that they love both God and people, especially their brethern.
1. How is it shown that we love God? Answer, John 14:21, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.". So our love for God is shown when we obey His commandments
2. How is it shown that we love our brethern? Answer, 1 John 3:16-18, "16-Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17-But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18-My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."
3. What is preceding, love for God or love for our brethern? 1 John 4:20-21, "20-If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 21-And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also"
4. What are the consequences if I hate my brethern? 1 John 3:14-15, "14-We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. he that loveth NOT his brother abideth in DEATH. 15-Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him"
1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.
(God stands in the congregation of the mighty people, the Lords and Judges of the nation of Israel, He judges between the mighty people that have authority on people's lives like they are Gods themselves, to imprison or to set free, to Kill or to spare life, God's representatives on Israel.)
2 How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
(But although I placed you in my position, in the position of the righteous God, you don't judge justly, ...)
3 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
(no interpretation needed)
4 Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.
(no interpretation needed)
5 They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
(no interpretation needed)
6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
( I have said that you are like God to people, it is like you are Gods yourselves, as if you were my children, you stand in my position, you have been given the power and the authority to rule and judge on Israel like God does).
7 But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.
(But because you are unjust princes my punishment will eventually come to you)
Just as Jacob's name was changed to Israel... the H.G. which is spirit the 3 RD PERSON is the ISRAEL OF GOD as Isaiah 49 tells us...There is truly gonna be an ISRAEL OF God from that good seed of Christ the word an order of Gods is the Israel of God that is gonna be born in everyman Jew or Gentile...By 1 spirit are we all baptised into the body of Christ Jew or Gentile...By the seed of Christ, That Living word ..God will be born in the hearts of everyman at the last trump...
Only the devil will tell you that man and God will neva be made 1...( There will neva be a marriage making man and God 1 ) I will make a man more precious then Gold...Even the golden wedge of Ophir...Simply b/c mankind is gonna birth a baby Christ the H.G. that Child of Promise...The vert fact that Jesus tells us The Kingdom of God is gona be within us means we are gonna be made 1 with God...impling a marriage to God almighty, i rest my case in Jesus name the bridegroom. impling multiplication TY Jesus.
There's a 74 year old woman lost in the woods since yesterday. Search and rescue cannot find her. I don't know if she's still alive.
Please pray with me for a miracle. She's a couple years younger than my own momma.
She was out on collecting mushrooms with her daughter. The daughter was found, but momma is out there alone somewhere.
Lord God, against all odds please let momma be found alive and bring her in, out of the elements.
Please help someone to find her somehow. Please comfort her daughter and family and friends who love her. Use this sad situation to save souls.
Lord I ask please save her soul tonight. If she isn't already born again.
In Jesus name I pray. Thank You Father!
Pray for their salvation. And forgiveness, that God would take their hate for us and soften it, leaving love in its place.
That God would give us an opportunity to show kindness to them in the physical and/or spiritual realm.
I'd like to ask that we all forgive someone today. The one who has hurt us the very most. Even if they have never asked for forgiveness.
In Jesus name
Matthew 6:14-15
Luke 6:27-36
Matthew 5:43-44
God Almighty was so passionate about this multiplication of Christ ... Gen. 22:17..( Jesus is God the son ) that he swore by his very self....And thats y the sower of the good seed wants to sow his precious seed in the hearts of humanity....The field being the world...Thats y Jesus is saying to whom the Word came it made them Gods....And the scripture cannot be broken....Like GiGi and Spencer is trying to do.. they cannot help it b/c these things are hid from the wise and prudent but revealed unto babes...Which is mankinds fruit unto God...The very reason the woman is giving birth in Rev 12:5 is b/c of the Sower and his seed...The Kingdom of God does not come till the woman gives birth to the Children.
When Jesus was born it was the multiplication of God in Mary...God was the fruit of her womb. He always refers to himself as the son of man is indicative that mankind is gona birth a baby Christ....Thats y he is saying unless you receive the Kingdon of God as a lil Child you will in no wise enter there in...Remember Jesus said that which is born of the spirit tis spirit...Thats the H.G. the Children of Promise....The multiplication of very God in humanity...REMEMBER GOD SWORE BY HIMSELF THAT Christ was gonna be multiplied....Remember Jesus said blessed are them that follow me in the Regeneration...God 1 with Man
When false teaching is given, either the false unregenerate teacher is under control of another spirit, or the believing teacher is convinced that the right position that he holds on a subject, must be what the Scripture teaches; whereas the opposite is true: what the Scripture teaches, must be what we ought to believe. In other words, his mind dictates his belief & therefore forces the Scriptures to fit his teaching. And those unlearned in the Word, can be easily convinced by such contorting of Scriptures, mixed with the teacher's oratory & emotive expressions and thus be led astray.
The Church during the apostolic days as even today, are warned of such dangers & to be alert & deal with such intrusions before they go viral & render God's people ignorant, ineffective, casting aside the Truths from God's Word. We've seen the proliferation of groups that have laid aside the teaching given within the Bible to bring out their own interpretations to fulfil their own purposes. And this they do to the destruction of their own souls & of others. But when believers begin studying & searching the Word for themselves, leaving the human intellect & imaginations aside, then Truth will begin to surface & release them from the errors they've received. Our beloved S. Spencer & Gigi have shared some important Truths lately around the question you raised here.
You are absolutely correct, We cannot usurp the power of God.
Keep forgiving. Teach only Love. Love never holds grievances.
Peace
GOD IS
Our holiness is not of us. It is not ours to be destroyed by sin. It is not ours to suffer from attack. Darkness can obscure it, but cannot put out its radiance, nor dim its light. It stands forever perfect and untouched. In it are all things healed, for it remains as God created it. And we can know our holiness. For Holiness Itself created us. And we can know our Source, because it is God's Will that He BE known. God will never decide against you, or He would be deciding against Himself. There is no second to God. There cannot, therefore, be anyone without his Holiness, nor anyone unworthy of His perfect Love. You are NOT guiltless in time, but in eternity. You have "sinned" in the past, but there is no past. The past is what we have taught our self; let it all go. God is always and only in the the eternal present. Thou shalt have no other gods, because there is none.
pg. 1
I've been reading some of your comments which I perceive as being towards someone who appears to think we are also gods. I hope you are not including me in this because I don't think I've said as such. Without searching back to my previous posts, I've stated or strongly suggested and purposely meant we are created in God's likeness, which agrees with scripture in Genesis. And of course you cannot deny it when the Bible says "God is Spirit." and, "God is Love." Therefore anything in God's likeness must be spirit and love, not a god nor even flesh. Thus in God's likeness we must have His attributes.
I'm intrigued why Spencer mentioned at one point some of God's loving attributes in which we are to strive in developing as ours, yet he never mentioned along with them the negative attributes you both obviously believe are also of God, i.e. fear, wrath, vengeance, punishment, condemnation, separation, rejection, etc. Surely then, should we not pursue those also? Or is it possible you realize we've mastered those characteristics already? And you would be correct. What attributes are left then for Satan? You must have faith that the "devil" has something in common with God. Very illogical and impossible.
We know, don't we, it is biblical that creatures and plants produce in their likeness? It is highly unlikely a frog produces a snake or a reptile produces a mammal. Or as in James, a fig tree makes olives? No.
One can project via the ego the fearful negative characteristics belonging to your OWN thinking mind onto a Holy God, but can never make them true. I admit though it would be convenient for the ego to believe this, for now the ego can justify its attacks on our brothers and consider it as righteousness through damnation.
see pg. 2
It is dangerous because it will cause people who believe it to believe falsely about God's' divinity and character. It is damning because those who believe it are committing the same sin as Satan did in thinking he could attain to be equal with God and even usurp Him. He will never be forgiven for this sin. There is no grace for Satan. He is forever damned. How can anyone think that God will not deal with humans who persist in the same sin any differently than He deals with Satan.
As to the article on theosis, it was very informative concerning this doctrine that has been re-affirmed over and over again through the centuries. I agree with it. Our theosis is by association with Jesus through grace. We partake of the divine nature through our union with Christ. We never change our substance as humans and become divine. But, by the sanctifying grace of God through the Holy Spirit in us, we become more and more perfected humanity, like that of Jesus' humanity, with the end goal being the attainment of the highest degree of Christlikeness possible for a human to become. We'll become perfected humanity in the resurrection. But we will not have any divinity in our nature. Divinity belongs wholly and solely to God and Him alone.
As believers we should greatly desire to be the most like Jesus as is possible, on the one hand, but on the other hand, we should be humble and realize that God is so different and so unlike us that we can only apprehend Him through Jesus. We definitely NOT desire to be gods. That comes from pride, the same pride that caused Satan to fall from his high position in heaven as a created being. He will occupy the lowest position in all of creation in the lake of fire. Those who think like him will join him there, also.
Part 2 and final.
The attributes of God. While the scriptures teach that God's people are to progressively become more Godlike in character, they do not teach that they will or can become God in the essential traits and elements which constitute deity. God is self-existent ( Jn. 5: 26), enjoys eternality ( Rom. 1: 20), has unlimited power ( Matt. 19: 26), infinite knowledge ( Acts 2: 23, 15: 18), absolute holiness, and truthfulness ( I Jn. 1: 5, Heb. 6: 18). Moreover, God has creative power ( Rom. 11: 36). To teach graduated Godhead, there must of necessity be the attendant teaching of polytheism or many gods. Again, we quote Joseph Smith:
"Hence, the doctrine of a plurality of Gods is as prominent in the Bible as any other doctrine. It is all over the face of the Bible . . . Paul says there are Gods many and Lords many . . . but to us there is but one God--that is pertaining to us; and he is in all and through all" (History of the Church, Vol. 6, page 474). "In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 5).
Beloved, the scriptures teach and affirm there is only one God ( Deut. 4: 35-39). The state of Godhead, being God, consists of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit ( Rom. 1: 7, Heb. 1: 8, Acts 5: 4, 5). God declared: "that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me" ( Isa. 43: 10). Before God, there was no God. After God there shall be no God formed. Hence, man cannot so develop and graduate as to become God himself.
AGAIN!
Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, NEITHER SHALL THERE BE AFTER ME.
NETHER SHALL THERE BE AFTER ME!
GOD BLESS.
Part 1.
There are different religions extant which teach that Godhood is a graduated experience (God was once man) and that man can actually attain the level of Godhood. The number of religions which teach this is increasing as more polytheistic, Eastern religions are being introduced to America. Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism) taught the following:
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens...I say, if you were to see him to-day, you would see him like a man in form -- like yourselves, in all the person, image, and very form as a man....it is necessary that we should understand the character and being of God, and how he came to be so; for I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity, I will refute that idea, and will take away and do away the veil, so that you may see....and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did." (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 3).
Verses used to teach man can become God. The apostle Peter wrote of being "partakers of the divine nature" ( 2 Pet. 1: 4). A careful study of the text reveals the apostle is teaching that we are to acquire traits of God, such as "godliness," "virtue,", etc. (vs. 5-11). Indeed, we are to be Godlike and partake of the divine nature in this sense. Jesus used the word god in an accommodative sense in John 10: 34, 35. "God," as used in John 10 and Psalms 82: 6, is applied to superior people, rulers. Jesus, however, is not teaching that these rulers had become God as God is God.
See Part 2.
Isaiah 42:8.
God bless.
Part 5 or perhaps 6 and Final.
Participation also implies difference. God does not simply have more power than man, God's power is of a wholly different kind. The same goes for all of God's attributes: presence, knowledge, love, goodness, etc. God's presence is also entirely unlike that of us human persons, as we must be in a particular place, while God is everywhere. So to say than God is present at church is not the same thing as saying a man is present at church. Similarly, even if a man were to somehow know all things, he would not be omniscient in the way God is. God knows all things as their creator - their first cause. This gives God a kind of knowledge man will never have, even if man could in theory learn all facts.
In saving mankind, God's grace does not destroy nature, but perfects it; yet, even a perfected human nature is still limited to being what it is. It will always remain finite - and the distance between finite and infinite is so great that it is not a difference so much as a complete distinction. The same will always be true of God and man. God is absolutely unique and the infinite chasm between the Creator and the creature can never be crossed. It is clear from the writings of those who make such statements that no orthodox theologian is confused on this point, and such statements need to be read with the above distinctions in mind.
"If anyone desire in this way to be Godlike, he commits no sin; provided that he desires such likeness in proper order, that is to say, that he may obtain it of God. But he would sin were he to desire to be like unto God even in the right way, as of his own, and not of God's power." (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologi I, Q.63, A.3)
End Article.
If the notion that we all will become Gods is not sinister enough, there's those amongst us that say ALL men become Gods no matter what you have done, and there are no consequences for sin!
That is as bad as it gets!
God bless.
Part 4
Saints Augustine and Aquinas are the heaviest of the theological heavyweights in the Church. Their theological qualifications concerning deification can be applied to similar statements of orthodox theologians, apologists, doctors, and saints of the Church even when they do not indicate it in every particular statement. (Note: even when this distinction is not stated plainly, it is most often implied by terms such as "of" or "with" that can be easily glossed over if one is not looking for them.)
But what does this notion of participation mean?
The distinction between participation in grace and generation by nature is critical if one is to understand what these orthodox theologians are saying - one that, if missed or misunderstood, can lead to the kind of metaphysical confusion one finds in Mormonism or the Word Faith movement.
Here an illustration might help. St. John of Damascus speaks of being our "inflamed and deified by the participation in the divine fire." Fire makes for a good analogy for participation. Consider a frying pan being heated over a fire. When the pan is put into contact with fire, it participates in the fire's heat (i.e., it becomes hot). Now, the heat of the fire is what the fire is by nature, but the heat of the pan is that which it has by participation. When fire heats the pan, heat can be said to be part of what the pan is - but both the fire and the pan remain unchanged according to their basic natures. The pan becomes hot but it never becomes fire - hot or not, it remains a pan. Because both the fire and the pan can be said to "be" heat, there is an analogical sense in which the pan can be said to "be" fire - but this must be understood as referring literally to the pan's participation in the fire's heat - not that the pan literally becomes fire by nature. In the same way that we can say (accurately, but only analogically), that the pan can "become" fire, we can say that man can "become" God.
See Part 5
The rest that are made gods, are made by His own Grace, are not born of His Substance, that they should be the same as He, but that by favor they should come to Him, and be fellow-heirs with Christ. (Exposition on Psalm 50, 2)"
St. Thomas Aquinas is helpful here as well, because he more regularly states the qualifications that are needed. Note that in the quotes below, the highlighted statements sound quite "clear" until clarifying terms such as "sharers in" or "participation in" are added into the equation. Throughout his writings, Aquinas is adamant that the ontological distance between God and man (or any creature) is so far (namely, infinite!) that the two cannot even be compared on the same scale. God is so utterly "other" than mankind that human knowledge cannot comprehend God's essence, nor can our language adequately communicate God's essence.
Aquinas's language concerning deification, then, must be understood in accordance with this position. Thus, in his theology of deification, he says things such as this:
But the Son did not love the disciples in either of these ways. For he did not love them to the point of their being gods by nature, nor to the point that they would be united to God so as to form one person with him. But he did love them up to a similar point: he loved them to the extent that they would be gods by their participation in grace "I say, 'You are gods'" ( Ps 82:6); "He has granted to us precious and very great promises, that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature" ( 2 Pet 1:4) and he loved them to the extent that they would be united to God in affection: "He who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him" ( 1 Cor. 6:17); "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son" ( Rom 8:29). Thus the Father communicated to the Son a greater good, with respect to each nature of the Son, than the Son did to his disciples; yet there is a similarity, as was said.
See 4
Part 2.
These passages suggest what theologians have called the "Formula of Exchange" a teaching directly tied to the role of Jesus' Incarnation's in our salvation. However, neither these nor any other verses mean that human nature can be changed into the divine nature of God. What they mean is that human nature can partake in the divine nature of God.
So, if quotes from Church fathers, doctors, saints, popes, etc. are found that seem to indicate otherwise, they are not being understood correctly. While it is easy to compile quotes from various writers that "clearly" state that man can become God, there is always a theological context that must be kept in mind.
The guiding principle concerning these sorts of statements is that when divinity is predicated of humanity, it is according to participation in grace, not to generation by nature. In other words, "divinity" in these cases does not refer to a change in what something is, but rather what it is like. For example, when we participate in the Eucharist, we "become the body of Christ" (see 1 Cor. 10:16-17) but we do not become the divine savior of the world!
St. Augustine makes this all-important distinction clear when he says,
He has called men gods, that are deified of His Grace, not born of His Substance. For He does justify, who is just through His own self, and not of another; and He does deify who is God through Himself, not by the partaking of another. But He that justifies does Himself deify, in that by justifying He does make sons of God. "For He has given them power to become the sons of God." John 1:12 If we have been made sons of God, we have also been made gods: but this is the effect of Grace adopting, not of nature generating. For the only Son of God, God, and one God with the Father, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, was in the beginning the Word, and the Word with God, the Word God. The rest that are made gods, are made by His own Grace, are not born of His Substance,
See 3
Man will always be finite, even as his nature is perfected by God's grace
DOUGLAS M. BEAUMONT 9/23/2019
Part 1.
One thing that saints like Athanasius, Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas all have in common is that they asserted that creatures can become God. This idea is also reflected in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "The Son of God became man so that we might become God" (CCC 460). Both Saints Irenaeus in the West and Maximus in the East made similar assertions-in fact, they are who the Catechism cites.
How is this teaching not heretical, or completely insane?
The idea that man can become God has been called "Theosis," "Deification," or "Divinization," and it actually has a solid pedigree among orthodox theologians, apologists, fathers, doctors, and saints of the Church. But where did they get this idea? After all, Scripture clearly teaches that there is only one God. This is evident from writings in both testaments including historical, prophetic, poetic books as well as gospels and epistles (e.g., Dt. 6:4, 2 Kgs. 19:19; Isa. 45:5; Ps. 86:10; Jn. 5:44; 1 Cor. 8:4; etc.). Further, it is clear from Scripture that men are not God and vice versa (e.g., Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Hos. 11:9, etc.).
However, Scripture also teaches that man can become God-like.
"I say, 'You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you'" ( Ps. 82:6 cf. Jn. 10:34)
"The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one" ( Jn. 17:22-23)
"Know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" ( Eph. 3:19)
"You may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature" ( 2 Pet. 1:4)
"Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him" ( 1 Jn. 3:2)
See Part 2.
Well stated.!
God bless you.
Nor have question your level or spirituality. But as it is, I am not at all fazed nor deterred by your estimation of me.
Lastly, I will say that when you continue to put together a cacophony of bits of Scripture ripped out of context mixed with your own erroneous doctrinal ideas and repeatedly post it over and over again, this in no way transforms your false ideas into truth. Nor does doing this repetition offer any sound proofs of your ideas. Your hermeneutics lack logic and correct application of the Scriptures leading to interpretations that are out of sync with Scriptures and common Christian thought.
You may not like it when I say this about your ideas. I can understand that. I enjoy conversing with you on the rare occasions you do not wax into your usual monologue of false ideas. I think that we have much more we can talk about besides this too often repeated narrative of yours. I invite you to discuss other matters of faith besides this with me and others on this site.
All of this is said in love, as I take all of what you say to me is said in love, too. We are brethren, neither of us are reprobates and we have the same Holy Spirit within us to guide us, sanctify us, and change us to become more and more like Jesus in His perfect humanity. This same Spirit can bring us to the unity of the faith. I pray for that whenever I think of you. God bless you tonight.
My hands are getting tired from typing, but not too bad. Glad to be able to use both hands somewhat now.