Bible Discussion Thread

 
  • Fredscanlan - 1 year ago
    How does the Holy Spirit work within us? What are some of its attributes?

    If you have experienced them, what are they and how do they influence you? If in fact the Spirit is one ,does it effect us all the same, or can it be free to express itself in a time of uncertainty, unto each one of us differently?

    Does it influence us unto goodness? Does it reveal sin in the world, and if so how do we know it is true? How can the Holy Spirit work in a "woke world", and bring peace ,while revealing itself to the same?

    Is the Holy Spirit the "new conspiracy". A conspiracy of revelation ? Or are these the falsehoods spoken of in the scripture that would happen before the return of Christ!

    Our church has once again brought in another interpretation of scripture, this one the worse of all! The Holy Spirit speaks , and yet I hesitate to speak out because of retribution. Are these things from the Holy Spirit, or am I conniving another conspiracy theory!

    The jab, is it the fetus that I hate that is within it, or the idea that they can do what they wish! Another conspiracy theory?

    Beloved I pray that this site has not been compromised, Again is this spirit from above, or from beneath.

    Or as I am as the one crying in the wilderness prepare Ye the way of the Lord, or this another theory?

    Please help me is this p.t.s., or are the revelations I am having are true! Or am I made enough to bind on a leather girdle eating locust and wild honey! I would love to hear from you all! In Christ, Fred
  • One eighty - In Reply - 1 year ago
    Hi Adam,

    Well said.

    To believe taking communion is the literal drinking and eating of flesh and blood of Jesus reminds me of something one might see in an Indiana Jones flick, or of that you would expect to hear about in occultism. How terrorizing, fearful and unloving. Obviously it is a metaphor. No disrespect intended to those who believe otherwise.

    Peace

    GOD IS
  • GiGi - In Reply - 1 year ago
    Hello again Fred

    I wanted to speak to your questions about what are the Holy Spirit's attributes.

    The Holy Spirit is God, the third Person of the Godhead as Jesus indicated in Matt. 28:18-19. The Holy Spirit is a He, not an it. And He shares the divine nature with the Father and the Son fully. This means that He has all of the same infinite, perfect, limitless attributes as the Father and the Son as far as His nature. So, anything we can say of the Father and of the Son as to their deity, we can say of the Holy Spirit. The difference is in the relationships within the Godhead. The Spirit is not the Father nor the Son. He was sent by Jesus and the Father, therefore, in relationship, He is subordinate to the Father and the Son, just as the son was subordinate to the Father relationally. He is not subordinate in nature, though. All three Persons possess the divine nature fully and equally so.

    The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit inter-dwell one another. Jesus said that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. So, Paul also says that the Spirit lives within us and also Jesus lives within us. Jesus said that both the Father and the Son will come and live within believers and also that the Holy Spirit will live within us. They are a unified One in three distinct Persons.

    Even though they inter-dwell one another, The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are everywhere present and specifically present. Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. The Holy Spirit dwells within believers. The Father dwells in unapproachable light, and the Son is forever united with humanity in the body and Person of Jesus.

    The Holy Spirit is all-knowing, like the Father and the Son. He knows all of our thoughts, all of history, both past, present, and future. He knows all that there is to be known. He is all-powerful, like the Father and the Son, and is able to make alive those who are spiritually dead, participated with the Father and the Son in creating the world and sustains it
  • Richard H Priday - In Reply - 1 year ago
    I thought that I would attempt a couple answers to your question and commentary.

    In regard to the "jab" as it were there were only some at least in earlier versions that came originally from fetus material (then were genetic reproductions or some such thing). Some of them; at least from what they said weren't and that was a determining factor when I took it with the initial rounds (the only ones I took) in early 2020. There was much falsehood about this being the mark of the Beast which it clearly was not; and that forced me to stop listening to one particular individual online.

    Our society is certainly being conditioned for the Antichrist 666; but He who restrains will continue to do so until taken out of the way.

    God is not the author of confusion. There is; arguably some prophecy which predicts specific things (such as Agabus in the Book of Acts) that are meant for a certain people; time and place. More general admonitions certainly can be effective using scriptures but of course those "date setters" have not only been proven wrong; but as I have posted recently may have given us the wrong START date to the beginning of the "last generation" which of course will give many the excuse to mock God and say that He delays His coming; and so forth. There are certain things that become clearer as we head toward the Tribulation; for instance the likelihood of a Mediterranean and/or Muslim confederacy of 10 nations rather than just a European conglomorate from the EU.

    I'm not sure what specific things you are referring to. I would warn against things that Satan is planning; as demons of darkness can cause oppression based on all the things they would like to do now. It is God that determines the timing; but it is true that the Tribulation must come. Hence; all attempts to stop it are in some sense; in vain. We should continue to be "salt and light" with time remaining; as well as warning folks to flee the wrath to come.
  • Fredscanlan - In Reply - 1 year ago
    While receiving holy communion, my new pastor wanted to make sure that we understood that the body and blood were only "symbols". Of course Paul nor Jesus use this language when distributing the Holy sacrament.

    Remembering being taught differently, I didn't give it a second thought, until the Spirit revealed something much different!

    At first I never gave it a thought until one day I asked the asst. pastor about the stone and if the angels and the light of their appearance when the stone was removed from the tomb?

    He looked puzzled at my question, and I am sure He must have thought I was strange? Then it was the Holy Spirit that made me realize, they were not believing the words of the bible literally. Fables, perhaps as Paul speaks of!

    If you do not recognize the body and blood to be literal, why would you take anything else literally? Such as Peter escaping with the angels help from jail. Or when Saul was literally blinded for 3 days. Or when the apostles saw Jesus alive, or when Jesus showed up and told Thomas to put his fingers into His hands? Or the most important the raising of Jesus friend Lazarus?

    You are absolutely correct about the deity of God. Literally speaking the Holy Spirit is distinct and equal at the same time! This is very important ,because "He" is with us and in us! He is literally in the believer as you have said! His thoughts are those of both the Father and the Son, yet separate.

    Once we understand this in its essence and perfection, their is a perfect sense, or essence of our God and who He literally is!

    Profound to Know that God the Father is the one who holds all things together with His word "Literally"!

    Thank you for your quick response In , Christ Fred
  • GiGi - In Reply - 1 year ago
    Fred, Like you and Giannis here, My church also believes that the body and blood of Jesus is really present and that those who partake are thus receiving the nourishment of His body and blood (real flesh and real blood) as Jesus said in John 6) by faith.

    This was also the belief, teaching, and practice of the early church from the time of the apostles into the time of the leaders the apostles personally appointed at varlous churches and areas. Ignatius of Antioch was leader over the area of Syria, Clement of Rome, in Rome, and Polycarp of Smyna and parts of Asia Minor are but three that lived and were taught under the apostles, primarily Paul, Peter, and John, having lived between 50 A.D. and until John's death in the 90's and into the 2nd century. They knew the teachings of the apostles concerning this.

    The belief that Jesus' body and blood are present and taken in by the one partaking has been a consistent teaching of the Christian church since the time of the apostles. But, with the Anabaptists and then the Reformation, many churches abandoned this belief for the one so current in so many Protestant churches that the bread and wine are only symbolic. I belong to a Protestant denomination that teaches that the bread and wine are indeed the body and blood of Jesus in a way we truly do not know, but true all the same.
  • Giannis - In Reply - 1 year ago
    Hello Fredscanlan

    My church believes in receiving literally the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ in Communion, too.

    Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-33 talks about the Holly Communion. In verse 27 he says, "Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.". Also in verse 29, " For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body." If the bread and wine were just symbols nothing would happen when one receives them when having a sin, exactly because they are symbols (you can not sin against symbols). But exactly because they are not symbols but they are literally the Body and Blood of Jesus when one receives inside them Holly things when they are unclean, then damnation awaits for them.

    How does the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The answer is by faith, no transformation of matter takes place(i.e. like the Catholics say), they are the Blood and Body of Christ by faith.

    When should the church take communion? Many take Communion every 2-3 months or once a year, etc, etc. Although in the ancient Jewish church it seems that believers were receving the Communion everyday ( Acts 2:46), (although there is a dispute whether the specific verse talks about meals or communion), Paul in Acts 20:7 says, "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." Paul uses a definite article "the", not an "a" (it is more clear in greek). In modern English it would be: on Sunday, not on a Sunday. So it is every Sunday. Every Sunday believers must take care of themselves to repent for anything they have done during the past week and ask for forgiveness and then have Holly Communion and start the new week nice and clean. GBU
  • Fredscanlan - In Reply - 1 year ago
    Learning from some one else's experience, if I can, I will share the joy that comes through my understanding of who God is and what He wants for us . If I can open up the doors of faith through experiencing the Savior, this is what I want to do!

    God is love.

    He has given His only begotten Son in this flesh body so we can know Him!

    Outside of being with Him in person, we have the next best thing ,His word! All the other stuff, anything that is outside of this, is trivial.

    Stay focused on His word , reading , instant in prayer, we soon will see the grace that evolves out of our sinful nature. Sin is with us all the time, never let the idea that you must rid yourself of it get you down. You will never rid yourself of this nature, in fact God will use it to draw others unto Him, through your experiences and witness of Him and His kingdom, both in the here, and in the now, even into eternal life! You will find that the Holy Ghost will lead ,guide , and direct you into the paths that He chooses for you. Only According to your wisdom, and understanding !

    GBU. In Christ, Fred Scanlan
  • Adam - In Reply - 1 year ago
    Hi Fred,

    I'd like to respond to your following comment: "If you do not recognize the body and blood to be literal, why would you take anything else literally?"

    I too believe 100% in the Bible and that it's God's inspired word and take it seriously. Some people say they take something literally but actually mean seriously. I think in this case you mean every word in the Bible is literal, so I'd like to politely challenge that.

    When Jesus said He's the bread of life do you believe he's literally made of bread? John 6:35. I would call that a metaphor. He's also called the Word, so if I believed that was literal that would mean He only a word spelled out as characters and nothing else?

    When it says we're sheep, do you think we are literally sheep?

    Jesus said He's a vine. Does that mean He wasn't a man on earth, but just a vine of a plant? John 15:1

    The parables are all symbolic metaphors that have a deeper meaning, so if someone believes it's literal does that mean it no longer has a deeper meaning? Like the parable of the sower.

    The abundance of symbolism and metaphors in the Bible in no way takes away from the meaning or seriousness for how it applies to our lives. I personally don't believe I'm literally engaging in cannibalism and eating Jesus when I take communion, but believe its deeply symbolic just like all the other symbolic things in the Bible. The symbolism of parables Jesus talked in was actually explained here: Matthew 13:10-11.

    God bless.
  • S Spencer - In Reply - 1 year ago
    Amen Adam.

    I hold that view also.

    Very well spoken.

    God bless.
  • GiGi - In Reply - 1 year ago
    Hi Richard, In my research on the Covid shot, in the development of the vaccine, reproduced fetal cells from a baby back in the 70's were used. This also has been done with other medicines commonly used. The reproduced cells are not the original ones taken from the baby. The vaccine themselves do not contain any fetal cells, from what I read.

    But even if they did contain these cells reproduced from this baby, does it make it any more immoral to use such cells that were obtained from a sinful death of this baby than to use an organ or tissue donated from someone who was shot to death, stabbed to death, or any other sinful way of bringing death to the one whose body elements are being donated? I don't think so. None of us caused that baby to be put to death, as none of us caused the sinful deaths of many donors. For me, I do not have a moral dilemma about benefitting from receiving body elements from those who have died not matter how they died as long as I am in no way responsible or condoning sinful taking of life. The death has occurred in the past and any benefit received to those not associated with the death are unrelated to the sin that caused the death.

    Others may differ on this. And I would never condone the killing of any person to harvest cells, organs, tissue, etc. as I see that as immoral.
  • Fredscanlan - In Reply - 1 year ago
    Thank you for your insight Richard! Of course we share the same Spirit. The Spirit of righteousness!
  • GiGi - In Reply - 1 year ago
    Dear Fred, It sounds as if the Holy Spirit is pressing into you to act in an uncomfortable situation. I have been there. I suggest that you pray for understanding, direction and the assurance that you are walking in God's will. Obedience is important in such situations once one is sure that the Holy Spirit is, indeed, the one impressing you to act.

    I will pray for you, Fred, as I desire for you to be completely led by the Holy Spirit and no other. I pray that you will have clarity and a sure direction forward from the Holy Spirit as to what you should say or do, and especially what your thinking should be.

    Thank you for bringing this forward. God at times brings a burden to us and we feel so compelled or it is as if His hands are on our shoulders like a weight to only go in a certain direction. But once one has obeyed, there is peace in our hearts that we have followed the lead of The Holy Spirit.
  • Fredscanlan - In Reply - 1 year ago
    Thank you GiGi for such a quick response .

    I will pray, as you say. Hoping for an answer.

    I will let you know the outcome!

    Knowing our God, it may be awhile!



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