Bible Discussion Thread

(Part 2)

In John Chapter 3, we all know John3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." But that verse is just the beginning of a more detailed introduction of the fact that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil, so they turned away from the light.

But then there are others who came to the light because they have a desire for the enlightenment. So everybody gets enlightened but not everybody responds in the same way. An enlightened person is not necessarily a saved person.

When everyone stands before God, their responsibility first of all and foremost will be what you did in response to the light. It won't be words.

It won't be that you get punished because you used the wrong translation of the bible and didn't understand a couple of words. It's what you did when you were enlightened. And you might not even have known when. Everyone is enlightened to the truth.

It says for those who were once enlightened. Secondly: and have tasted of the heavenly gift. They've participated with the things of Christ. They have participated with the Holy Spirit. They don't have Him living inside, but they tasted of that heavenly gift that God gives to His people. They're sitting in amongst God's people and they're participating and they're receiving.

Then it says "And were made partakers of the Holy Ghost." Notice the emphasis? They were partakers, that is, they were in this interaction and the Holy Spirit was ministering to them. They were partaking of the Holy Spirit as He was enlightening them.

But notice they were partakers of the Holy Spirit. The emphasis is the Holy Spirit, not Christ. The Holy Spirit's the one that's ministering. They didn't know Christ!