Bible Questions & Discussion PAGE 200

Thank you Bro Dan, I feel the same. Thank you for your reply. It may be tomorrow or Tuesday when I can more thoughtfully meditate some more on your thoughts and my own on this subject. Stay the course!

Good evening all.

Let's make this clear, A Christian should do ALL he can to live a sinless life.

The question is, Can he do it?

John 1:29.

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, WHICH TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.

This is the penalty of sin!

Christ was the perfect sinless offering, God wouldn't take no less than the perfect sacrifice.

That's the only sacrifice that could be offered!

Who offered this perfect Lamb? God. John 3:16.

Would Jesus be the Lamb of God if he fell short and only committed one sin but did his best? No! It had to be perfect from the time he was born until his death on the cross.

Jesus didn't inherit a sin nature as a son from Adam as we.

Jesus was begotten of the Father!

This was a display of love from God in offering up his own son.

We can't offer up a sinless life in these sinful bodies.

Yes, we can do our best and have a good report in what we do in the body,

But we can never get from under the cover of the blood of Christ.

You could never make atonement for yourself and come to the Lord "NAKED"!

This is shown in Exodus 19:11-25.

No matter how well you do or how spiritual you are when you die you will not be sown incorruptible.

However, you will be SOWN IN CORRUPTION; SOWN IN DISHONOUR; And SOWN IN WEAKNESS;

When you are raised, you will be RAISED IN INCORRUPTION, RAISED IN GLORY, AND RAISED IN POWER:

Then you will cast off this body of sin and Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Corinthians 15:42-43.

Question;

Is doing your best enough for salvation?

If you do your best all your life "as most of us do" However, commit one sin, are we saved?

If so, Why?

God bless.

The Lord willing we can converse more! Hope your rest this eve is nice!

God Bless our faithfulness and care for one another.

Hi Carleton,

I am the one that appreciates the opportunity for this conversation. I read your posts, I have pulled those you speak of up and copied them, and I will reread and study them deeper in the context of this conversation. It's late here I will get back to you soon.

Your love for people shines in your words.

God bless,

RLW

Hi Jimbob,

I agree with you the KJV is the best translation into English, but from one language to another at best, there will be errors. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to show us the meaning of what we read and study.

A simple one, it is like in Acts 12:4 James was killed, and Peter was put in prison and was probably going to be killed after Passover, but they used the word Easter for the Greek word Passover, which means Passover.

In context, it is clear it should be Passover, even if they were thinking the Romans and Greeks probably celebrated Easter they would not end at the same time. This is a wrong translation, but it is clear the meaning whether it says Easter or Passover.

God has preserved His word for us today and the Holy Spirit is sent to help us understand it as it is the exact words God inspired the writer to write.

God bless,

RLW

Thank you Ronald for your kindness. A few more of my thoughts. I can believe that the persons of God have an order. God made in Jesus it seems all visible creation and for His own purpose. Jesus to please the Father's Will as the Son was Faithful in this endeavor even to enduring the Cross as the Second Adam. God's Spirit is this communication of Will. One great blessing for the regenerated believer is the abiding of this Spirit of God in our hearts and lives. This blessing does not make us by any means equal to God or God but we can know the Father because we were found by faith in the rest from our sins provided by the Son in the flesh. If we deny the person of God by not attributing Him as God in the flesh then we are in someways denying He came in the flesh. Likewise if we deny the abiding Comforter of our rest as a person of God then we do not please the Son which will not please the Father.

As a side note. The scriptures regarding the Son that I copied down yesterday and the day before and posted are on this subject and I believe there is an inspired order to them.

We can be faithful in Him.

I appreciate the opportunity for this conversation.

Concluding thoughts on the mundane

I work currently in a high school kitchen (location anonymous). My current circumstances made a part time job the best choice.

The job is something like work I did in restaurants many years back; notwithstanding a challenge for speed; rules and now the latest challenge on a cash register; where a job failed for me 20 years ago atttempting such work. I am thankful to have decent benefits and having also recieved bonuses and a significant pay raise this coming fall. Thankfully I have made incremental improvement on my evaluation; it will be seen if the full load of students on the register is something that doesn't mess me up bigtime in a few weeks when I start up again. Other than one other individual who I had a few good talks about the Lord with while washing dishes; there is simply too much to do and with loud music and other noise it is hard to have quality conversations on such matters. That makes the last post significant for me personally; seeing God at work. My last job in Pittsburgh gave me many opportunities with one employee an Accountant for many deep conversations about the Lord which I have missed lately. Of course there is the whole political agenda where I work as with many other places; being in the kitchen I am somewhat removed from those influences at least in order to keep my job; thankfully no one seems to get into politics.

Unlike those who say they should dominate the world as a cultural mandate; I propose that it is the "little people"; those with labor and other inauspicious jobs who are able to shine the brightest by working heartily unto the Lord; going the extra mile and whose presence makes the light of God; the fear of the Lord and the love of Christ be made apparent to those around them; whether or not they get it. Frankly NOT being cussed at on a regular basis made this position much superior to my earlier file clerk job in a law firm.

I praise God to have any work in this time.

Ordinary life and extraordinary circumstances

When a couple from my church went somewhere 60 miles from home and just happened to talk to my boss and another worker (who they didn't know and never met) then I knew it was a "God thing". It just so happens that I had a dream about a place where this couple went last year but I didn't know until a few months ago that was where my boss works in the summer. If I hadn't mentioned her by name before they went they may not have put two and two together; apparently last year they didn't meet up (since she works in a kitchen). Now it turns out she may come to one of our church events; I am hopeful for another young guy I work with as well who works with my boss; at least in talking more about God as he claims to believe but doesn't seem to show evidence of it. As for my boss; again I will be vague here; but some personal issues may have made her more amenable to hearing about the Gospel.

As you can see I'm being vague about specifics. I felt led to share to show how God is doing something specific in my life (although the dream itself for some vague reason only involved a parking garage somewhere outside this facility). As for myself I may be able to work at this place in a summer in the future; as for now it is too far from home and I need to be living here to take care of elderly parents.

There are other cases where I have heard friends of mine describe people they have met in other cities from where they first witnessed to particular individuals. My basic point here is that we need to persevere even if we have a mundane or difficult job and trust God will open doors when He wills. We shouldn't be hasty on moving on until God makes it clear; whether it is work or personal relationships. I also have the privilege of starting Bible Study number two; my first one that I started was only 6 months ago or less. The first case was after an inquiry of a social worker at church; the second a walk in on my end

Hi Carleton,

Thank you, brother, I know I differ in this fervently held belief from most, and not believing it is offensive to many. I just would like to share just a little of my understanding of where I am on this, I know many will disagree.

We cannot deny the divinity of Christ, He came forth from the Father. Do I believe Jesus was created? NO. Do I believe the Son of God began at Bethlehem, at His birth? NO. If we look at Micah 5:2 at the prophecy of His birth Micah says He will come forth, the Hebrew word yatsa means to go or come out.

"Whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting." The Hebrew word for everlasting is olam means long duration, antiquity, futurity, and days of eternity.

Jesus came forth and was the Son of God before creation as we see He is the beginning of creation all came through Him and for Him, Rev. 3:14 Colossians 1:16. Jesus is the only begotten Son of God who came forth from the Father, (came out of) not created. Does Jesus confirm this, John, 7:29 John 8:42 John 16:27 John 17:8?

My understanding is Jesus is the literal Son of God, truly begotten of the Father. Jesus came out from God, His true Son, of the same matter, and divinity as the Father with divine inheritance, John 5:26 John 6:57 Heb. 1:4, not a title as a part of God. God truly gave His true only begotten Son John 3:16.

As the Gospel of Jesus tells us, all who believeth that Jesus is truly the only begotten Son of God. My understanding is if I do not believe Jesus is truly the Son of God I deny Him. That brings in 1 John 2:22 if I say Jesus is God, I deny that there is a Father and a Son.

Just a little and thank you again for your caring reply, you do not have to reply I just wanted to tell just a little.

God bless,

RLW

Ronald Whittemore

Think about this, if you have 2 books and one of them is the original, the other is only a copy that changed the words to make it easier to read. Which book would you trust for complete Truth?

In the Old Testament we are told in ( Ps 12:6-7) v6 "The words of the LORD are pure words" Do you believe the Words of the LORD are pure Words? I believe that is 100% Truth!

I believe EVERY WORD of God is pure! ( Prov 30:5-6) v6 "Add thou not unto his words" All modern versions add to His Words!

v7 "Thou shalt (keep them), O LORD, thou shalt (preserve) them from this generation for ever".

I don't understand how anybody could believe that God would preserve His Words in the Manuscripts but not preserve His Words for the people in the last generation, for us today and for ever? How could that help us today?

That would mean God didn't care if we have ((His Truth)) written down in a book to study in the Lastdays, or if we didn't have ( 2 Tim 2:15) How do we rightly divide the word of truth if we don't have the word of truth today? If He didn't preserve His Words for this generation then all we have to study right now is the words of men, which would NOT be the word of truth. that would mean these verses are a lie.

These verses and all of the KJB verses are 100% Truth!

If we do not have the pure Words of the LORD today then how do you know what is truth and what is not? You would not know.

The Holy Spirit will not lead us into all truth if we are studying a book, or a copy that was written by men and is not the truth, not the Words of the LORD. There is only one truth!

We must study the word of truth, to be led into the truth! We should all speak the same thing ( 1 Cor 1:10) and be perfectly joined together in the same mind.

Anybody who thinks the KJB is just another translation written by men please show how you come up with that from the word of God. I will put the Word of God over any interpretation of any man, any day!

God's Word is Truth!

Blessings to you.

Hi Carleton,

Always nice to hear from you, and thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I see it as: It is His way, not our way. Regarding the kingdom, hopefully it should be residing in us as in Luke 17:21 but we must be aware of 1 John 3:28 and Matt 6:24 as well as trying to save our lives, and surely we need to Matt 16:24 and must surely die to this life/world Matt 16:25.

And finally, Matthew 16:26

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

GBU

Brother CJF asked if

Is the Godhead one God or 3 persons

See,in my view,what matters and prevails is the Word of our GOD. First of all, the Word is GOD-Jo.1:1-,self-executing/self-executable, great mystery, well, it's the Power.As we all know, the Word was made flesh,i.e. materialized in human form exactly according the EXPRESS IMAGE(is written in the Bible,in the book of the Lord)of the Person of GOD-Heb.1:3;Phil.2:6-11 combined with Col.1:15-19,among other references,and the NAME that the Person of GOD chose for He Himself was JESUS/YESHUA Mat 1:20-21

By the way,JESUS has Genealogia,He is the stone which was set at nought of you builders(the Jews),which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other NAME UNDER HEAVEN given among MEN, whereby we must be saved- Acts 4:11-12-EXCEPT JESUS/YESHUA.(NOTE:Adonai,Jehovah,Yahweh,HaShem,Yehovah,Elohim,Yahusha, YEHshia,YEHvah has nothing to do with salvation or for salvation),neither for to bow before this colection of"God pseudonyme"

Concerning the person of the Holy Spirit,who is like our Lord JESUS- Revelation 1:12-13, in fact he is unknown as a person, mainly because he has no Genealogy as JESUS has, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days,nor end of life;but made like unto the Son of God;abides a priest continually,something after the similitude of Melchisedec

It's a profound mystery-1Cor.2:9-11&7

9 But as it is written,Eye hath not seen,nor ear heard,neither have entered into the heart of man,the things which GOD has prepared for them that love him

10 But GOD hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:for the Spirit searches all things,yea, the deep things of GOD

11 For what man knoweth the things of a man,save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of GOD knows no man,but the Spirit of GOD

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory

Thank you Jema for your reply

Our Lord JESUS said: John 17:22-23

22 The glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in One; and that THE WORLD MAY KNOW that thou hast sent me, and hast loved THEM, as thou hast loved me.

This union is a very difficult work to accomplish, but for our GOD nothing is impossible

Hello Chris

I have read your comment but I still have some things that prevent me from believing that the Israelites were forgiven during the OT era.

My thoughts are: We know that sin separates us from God. Father God even took His eyes away from His crucified Son as He was laying on the cross full with mankind's sins. God can not live with sin, with sinful people. So we go back to the OT. Why did God send the "saints" (as considered in the OT) of the OT into Hades and not in Heaven to live together with Him if they were sinless, forgiven? You said He didn't send them together with that rich man to be in torment. Yes but He couldn't do that to people who strived to live according to His commandements (but still failed/sinned sometimes). That would be unjust. Those people had never heard of Jesus' Blood (which would occur centuaries later) and they had no escape exit from their sins. But on the other hand God couldn't move them to Heaven with Him since they had sins. So God in His wisdom found a way out. He created a place of comfort in Hades, a place of temporary residence for the rightous people of the OT where they waitng for the right time to come, the time of Jesus' Resurrection when they were carried by Jesus into Heaven since their sins were now covered by His Blood. I think this was God's plan. So why did God ordered those sacrifices and things in the OT? They pointed to Jesus' sacrifice, a shadow of things to come. So were they of no real use? Since they couldn't erase sins, what was their actual use apart from being symbolic of Jesus' sacrifice? It was not the sacrifices that sent people to Abraham's bosom, but obedience to His commandements. This is the way I understand it, Chris.

Prophecy: How to remain balanced scripturally.

No man knows the day or hour. I will let the reader find the reference; but most believers are familiar with that verse. Let us focus on what we do know. The full wrath of God is being held back; restrained until the Lord removes the restrainer. ( 2 Thess. 2:7). Everything as we know it is being stacked up like dominoes; economic collapse; war; societal upheaval; natural disasters; plagues; etc. With those who struggle today we need to trust God as Psalm 56:8 states where a book actually is said to record every tear in a bottle (it says "your bottle" to be precise). Part of faithfulness is appreciating the miracle that any of us can still have any sort of life today; food and clothing with 1/5 of the earth going hungry can't be taken lightly. The issues are overwhelming; truly we have more than enough to spend all of our spare time on our knees in prayer. The fact that Roe vs Wade was overturned; and such movies as the Sound of Freedom can come out show at least a temporary counterculture as it were against the onslaught of today's moral tidal wave of doom.

Overall; with the plans for one world domination with organizations we are all too familiar with there is no need to put specifics here. God will determine how soon or yet distant Satan's fruition will be; as the first seal CANNOT open until CHRIST HIMSELF opens it and that appears from my viewpoint to be after the Rapture of the true church. I don't agree with Post Mil ideas but will agree with one tenet that they claim that many Christians have shrugged their shoulders giving the Devil the upperhand rather than continuing to trust the Lord is still able to work through the remnant church at least to push back. We can't go the other extreme either and say that Christ can't come back until the church is ready; if that is the case we may as well give up because scripture says many fall away in the last days. Let us follow Matt. 10:16!!!

Dear Ronald, Jesus is the way, the life and the truth. His divinity and his coming in the flesh inThe likeness of man is the Gospel that matters. One side of the message alone is not enough to preach salvation. I can believe that some can find salvation with part of the message though.

To CJF, Derek, and all,

First, I ask your forgiveness, and say the KJV is one of the most trustworthy English translations, but they are not perfect. When we study pray, and the Holy Spirit will give us understanding, we can trust the Holy Spirit will lead and teach us because the Spirit is truth, 1 John 5:6 do not doubt that. Believe the Scripture by being led by the Holy Spirit, not the traditions of man.

(Milk, then meat) it is a lifelong walk, and some answers will not be known but the one answer that matters is Jesus is the way.

John's gospel, his letters, and Revelation have one thing in common, to show and give evidence that Jesus is the Christ/Messiah, the only begotten Son of God who the Father sent, and in Him is life, our salvation, eternal life. Acts 4:11-12 The Father sent the Son John 4:34 John 5:30 John 6:29 Jesus came down from heaven to do the will of the Father John 6:38.

Jesus came out from God John 16:27 Jesus is the beginning of creation Rev. 3:14 Before Mary could touch Him, He said I ascend unto my Father, and to my God John 20:17 John's writings are full of who Jesus was, is, and will be.

What I posted was not a lie, it is a fact, maybe I should not have posted it on an open forum like this. I wanted to inspire the study, searching for the truth, and not causing doubt. It touches on a subject that many consider non-discussable, the Trinity doctrine.

This is from my heart; this doctrine has been placed equal to the gospel of Jesus. In many Churches, you are not saved and are not a Christian if you do not believe and confess this doctrine. Does the Church have the authority to say this?

Is there any Scripture that says our salvation is dependent on this doctrine that was 400 years after the Scriptures we have? Was it even discussed by Peter, John, Paul, or in any of the letters we have? I'll leave it there.

I am sorry if I have offended you.

Love you all and God bless,

RLW

Good morning Bro Dan,

I agree that obedience to God by following His commandments is what we are to do as believers and it does take work and will to do so. But this effort and will is not all of our own strength. We cooperate and submit ourselves to the work and power of the Holy Spirit in us. This is the only way that we are made holy and are made to be Christlike. The Spirit gives us the strength and power to say no to what is wrong and more so to say yes to what is right and good. I do not denigrate the importance of obedience to the commands of our Lord. I rejoice in them and it is a blessing for me to do what Jesus told us to do. What is good and right from the heart with gratitude will always make us more like Jesus and make us fit for the eternal life that we enter after this mortal life is over.

Paul was responding to things that had been said by others to subvert the truth and cause anxiety concerning the return of Jesus. People were saying the return was imminent and would happen even right then. Thus, Satan was seeking to cause undue and inordinate anxiety among the new converts to where they might be preoccupied with their own souls so much that they would not reach out to others with the message of salvation. Today, many are still taken with this preocccupation with the "any moment" return of Jesus, which Paul said was not part of his message, but rather that that Day would not come until there was "a falling away first (people leaving the faith) and the man of sin is revealed." Therefore, as believers we can see the signs of the end play out and observe the gradual progression toward a day of firm expectation of the then imminent return of Jesus after many signs written in the Bible well ahead of time have happened. Thus "you are not in darkness that that Day should ovetake you as a thief." should be the quiet and faithful testimonial of every Christian believer after they shall have learned the word of God on this subject.

CJF,

When we talk about the nature of God and the "God Head" we are walking on very holy ground and we must recognize that our finite peanut minds cannot sort this out. We must accept by faith what the Bible declares about God Himself and not try to go beyond that.

We know from the Bible that God the Father is Eternal God Himself; that the Lord Jesus Christ is Eternal God Himself; that the Holy Spirit is Eternal God Himself. And we know that there is only ONE God.

We know that when Christ, Eternal God Himself, paid for the sins of all whom He saves, He endured the Wrath of God Himself and actually DIED as God Himself, as their substitute. And God describes his character and attributes throughout the Bible in many many ways. All of which are absolutely true.

How can all this be?

So again, our finite minds cannot sort this out and "explain" God. And when we think we have it is a certainty that we have not. We read what God declares about Himself and must accept it by faith.

Chris,

And I Chris, find no Biblical support for your understanding of the Salvation of Old Testament Believers.

What you have said is not supported when comparing scripture with scripture throughout the WHOLE Bible. And your understanding does not address the many verses I have quoted regarding this subject and stems, I believe and am sorry to say, from a failure to recognize that that the Bible Alone and in its Entirety is, in fact, the ONE TRUE GODPEL OF SALVATION.

When you say that the Holy Spirit was not active in Salvation during the OT you are in essence saying that God was not active in Salvation.

When you say that the there was some efficacy toward Salvation in the sacrifices of the OT it is like saying that there is some efficacy in water baptism during the Church Age toward Salvation. And that is a Gospel of Grace plus Works which CANNOT save.

Noah was a sinner, just like everyone that God saves during the NT. "But Noah found GRACE in the eyes of the LORD." Genesis 6:8; just like every True Believer throughout the history of the world. And when Noah died physically, his body returned to the dust and he went to be with Christ in Heaven in his soul existence, just like every True Believer throughout the history of the world. He did not go to a place called Hades. Why? Because God had given him a new Resurrected Soul when God saved him, just like every True Believer throughout the history of the world. And the basis for Noah's Salvation was the Atonement of Christ, God Himself, Just like every true believer throughout the history of the world.

So once again, Chris, there is one and only one Salvation. One and only one True Gospel. And that gospel is circumscribed by the Bible ALONE and it's ENTIRETY.

Will do....and thanks!

Why did hide the treu original torah the official word in the book of daniel that spore about this anoinded one who was cutt off it has nothing with the New testament this anoinded was eliminated in the times of greek mightied army during the revolth of the maccabee

Hi GiGi,

Thanks and bless you for sharing your thoughts. Firstly, none of us could be saved without the work of Christ. In Him we can receive forgiveness if we believed, repent, get baptized, become Born Again. But some of the most important things we are required to do and are conveniently overlooked: we are asked to pick up our cross and follow Christ including all that Jesus detailed in the gospel and scriptures. We are commanded to do things that take an effort on our part.

This is Jesus speaking in the book of Revelations to apostle John about 65 years after his death on the cross, and about 18 years after apostle Pauls death.

Revelation 22:14

"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

I have to believe here; that Jesus is telling us in addition to being born again, that we will need to follow God's Commandments if we want to have the right to the tree of life and enter in through the gates and everlasting life. Is this not Salvation?

Wouldn't you agree that following God's Commandments certainly takes effort on our part to comply?

Many Christians today feel they can receive salvation without following God's Commandments. This mindset completely ignores what Jesus said we need to do in this very important verse above. I believe we need to participate in our salvation, because God requires it in so much scripture.

GBU

More confusion to me

Thanks David0921. I guess we'll have to leave this one as I simply cannot reconcile what you suggest takes place when an OT believer 'becomes saved'. I however, do agree that Christ's Death did apply to all who turned to God (& His Son) in faith (pre & post Cross), but I fail to understand how an OT believer can become born again when they were alive & operating under the Old Covenant. They could certainly await that day when God would apply the merits of the Cross upon their lives (if they even knew about such an event), but in their day, every OT person/believer was kept bound to that Covenant of Law that gave no present hope, but only looking expectantly to the future. Could one even be born again without the Work & subsequent indwelling of the Holy Spirit? That's too much for me to accept from my readings of the Word. Thank you again for your input.

Shaunm1963 , great post , thanks so much for sharing that . My great great grandad was a Methodist minister . I am not but I do know a few and they seem to be on the ball , I hope it goes well for you there , if it doesn't , please remember that you yourself are a miniature temple :) . Come back and let us know how it goes please . May God bless you and keep you close to Him , through Christ our Sinless Redeemer .

Thank you for that very interesting post .

I believe the same as you do :) .

Dear Bro Dan , I agree with everything you said in response to me . There's just one problem , try as I might I can't stop sinning ! Ok , so I'm not a murderer or a thief , I've never been a jealous person , I help to look after my atheist and aggressive alcoholic parents , for no earthly reward and without grudging , I only drink a small amount of alcohol , I never refuse to give to anyone who asks from me , I've visited people in prison , I've given away clothes , I've taken in homeless people , I do all kinds for my mother in law who doesn't like me much :) , I could go on . Despite all of this I'm still a sinner . 100 per cent sinful flesh . I'm happily married with one aging cat . I'm not poor but definitely not rich either , I have everything I could ever want or need and most importantly I belive in the Holy One of Israel and His Son , which means I try very hard not to worry about or get too entangled in the things of this life but , I still sin . I still think bad thoughts about people sometimes . That's a sin and I still do it . There are others . The day that I'm not a sinner will be the day that I die . Being sinless isn't about obeying the law . It's about having Christ in your heart 24/7 and behaving exactly as he did . It's about having a pure heart , being only good at all times in spite of the provocations and temptations of this life . If keeping the law made us sinless we wouldn't need Christ . Keeping rules doesn't give us the Spirit of Truth , that's about love and faith , unwavering 100 percent and 24/7 . I try every day and I fail every day . In this life , I shall always fall short of the standard of Christ , that doesn't mean that I don't try , I do , every single day for about 29 years now . I believe that every Christian tries every day . We shall be perfect when we are no longer bound by this world and our sinful flesh . We shall be like him then . Clean and pure because of our faith and the way that we have behaved because of our faith.