Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 2531

I believe everything God created is good, man has created evil.

There is no sin; however, there is evil: take the holocaust, for example.

It seems to me that this statement, attributed to Jesus, is in conflict with his spiritual teachings. Behaving in a compassionate and loving way toward others, avoiding accumulation of wealth and respecting other living things should be the focus.

Thank you Bob. I believe that a baby, though born with a sin nature, cannot consciously sin. When a child arrives at the age of knowing between right & wrong (& that would be at quite an early age), then sin takes root & the child becomes a sinner. What a responsibility for Christian parents to include sharing the message of salvation to their child as well as nurturing them in other ways.

Proverbs 16:1

The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

seems to relate to

Romans 10:9

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

2 Timothy 3:16 |

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Not everyone would see it that way. God bless. Matthew 12:36-37

what happened to the watchers

That's a pretty good answer Chris ! Also what judgements will babies have against them ? None since they are unaccountable . God promises to take care of those that have no parents and these babies would apply in my opinion. Their lives where cut short , but God will have something for them that is better . My opinion based on reading the word many years .

Proverbs 8:22-31, as you would know, speaks of Wisdom. Here is Wisdom speaking of herself, that it was the LORD's possession before creation & time. So when we look at v 31, we shouldn't think of 'sons of men' as being Angels or super humans, but simply that Wisdom was there not only in God's creative Work but also finding her "delight with Adam, Eve & all their descendants".

Who is this woman? That's funny.

Thanks Kat for that great testimony of the Lord's Work in your life. And how it took an almost death experience to compel you to drop to your knees & cry out to Him for forgiveness. This is the Lord's Work & it is marvellous in our eyes. His Spirit always had His Eyes on you, never letting you go, & waiting for the right time to alert you to your real needs. Spend time in His Holy Word & in praise & prayer. There is nothing that can be compared to a child of God adoring & communing with her Heavenly Father. The Lord be with you always.

Donna, as with understanding any portion of Scripture, one needs to also learn something about the book one is reading & the times & situations that the book is written in. Zephaniah was a prophet of God, sent to help God's people (tribe of Judah) towards spiritual revival. You see, the people had become very wicked under the wicked kings of that day (Manasseh & Amon), & so Zephaniah came to call the people to repentance. After pronouncing God's Judgement on Judah & on the Gentile nations, the future promise to Judah was that if they turned back to the LORD, they would once again enjoy His Blessings. However, these blessings would not be fully realized by them, or even the Jews today, until Christ comes to reign on Earth in the Millennial period ( Zeph 3:11-20). The blessings? They would be purified (vv 10-13); Christ would be reigning in their midst (v 15); they would be secure (vv 16,17): how insecure Israel is today with enemies about her; her enemies would be punished (v 19: your query of this verse: God will drive out her enemies, bring Israel together again & receive the praise for dealing so with her enemies & for putting her to shame). What a joyful time for Israel again when they finally acknowledge Jesus Christ is indeed the Messiah they were looking for & the One they crucified over 2000 yrs ago. All the Muslim nations that are against her today (sons of Ishmael) will be left destitute & in judgement for how they have dealt with God's people in these days. I hope this short explanation has been helpful for you to understand this Book. God bless you as you read God's Holy Word.

Can you please answer my questions I asked you before I respond to more of yours?

Adam, thank you for alerting me to Mt 5:22: re: fool. That Scripture refers to the use of the word (Raca) when it is directed to the person in anger: Thou fool = you worthless, good for nothing idiot. How you can apply that word usage to describe someone's thoughts or standing before God as a risky position is beyond my knowledge of our language. Should I clarify further with Scriptures, of which there are many & you would be well aware of: Gal 3:1,3; Mt 7:26; 25:2,3,8; Rom 1:21, 2:20, 10:19. In all these references, which are akin to my usage, the word 'foolish' is lawful in its use, & not to be associated with direct 'name calling', which is undoubtedly under girded with the sin of anger. Blessings.

I would say that the gospel was preached by the apostles, in order to address Spiritual issues with the Word of God. Us; we here, preach the gospel because that is what has been taught.

Who is the hunter Kiefer

Kenneth... I don't understand why you believe that sin no longer exists in the world when from the time Adam & Eve allowed that first seed of sin to enter them, sin has been growing in this world. Per the prophesies throughout the bible sin is getting worse with every generation. Also, the Messiah became the sacrificial lamb for us when He completed His Father's will and died for our sins. In His death sin was not removed. Forgiveness was given. If He did not die we would still me sacrificing animals on alters but the sin of the world grew to such degrees that we could no longer sustain that practice, hence the Messiah. If sin is done away with then there is no need for Him to come back in the manner that He will return. Then there is the prophesy of the 144,000... can you explain that. There are too many prophesies that are manifested today that proves that sin still exists in the world. To believe that it does not is playing into satan's agenda

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Rod the gospels are the story and life of JESUS CHRIST.Paul,s Epistles were to the seven Churches scattered through out Asia Minor,Greece and Rome.The Gospel is for JESUS CHURCH throughout the WORLD.Those who believe in Him.FOR HIS SHEEP>THE ones who hear HIS VOICE and follow Him.And I want to mention this to Adam;Try to be obedient because it,s the right thing to do.Christ was obedient to His Father.Be an imitator of CHRIST.You try,and try again,keep trying.In Ephesians 6:1 children are told to obey their parents.Shouldn,t we try to obey our Heaven Father even more?Be CHRIST like He obeyed His FATHER by the finish work on the cross for us.(all for us).GOD BLESS.

>You say you can be tempted to sin and the Holy Spirit can convict you, but you can still choose to sin?

Absolutely, that's the definition of freewill. If you believe a Christian is incapable of being tempted and sinning then you don't believe in freewill, which defeats the whole purpose of life on earth and Jesus dying on the cross for you so that you have the opportunity to CHOOSE whether you want to follow Him or not, and if you do then you everyday make the same decision on whether you want to continue to follow Him. It's not a one time task that you check off your list then go back to being in the world. It's a life transforming decision that requires regular discipline. If avoiding sin was automatic then why do Christians struggle with sin so much both in the Bible and today? Paul described his struggle in Romans 7:19. If he was incapable of sin then he wouldn't struggle. If followers couldn't sin Jesus wouldn't have warned his disciples so many times to avoid sin and be obedient and wouldn't have taught them or others so many lessons.

>a true genuine believer cannot live a lifestyle of continuous sin, the lifestyle they lived prior to salvation. It's impossible.

If impossible then why does it happen so often? It sounds like if someone sins beyond a certain point then you don't believe they are a Christian. Why is that? Who do you think is a Christian then? Is someone who repents, confesses, believes Jesus is Lord, is baptized and follows Him a genuine-enough Christian? What if they later turn from Christianity, were they suddenly never a 'genuine' Christian then? Since you don't know anyone's future actions can you ever be 100% sure of anyone being a 'genuine believer'? I believe the Bible is clear that anyone can be saved and can start their journey to follow Jesus and are a Christian. They still have freewill though and some later turn away. Maybe you've never met them but some Christians do this. Hebrews 6:4 Hope this helps.

Thank you for your comments & your sad account of your accident in 1972. You say you had a near death experience & given vision of the heavenlies, just as apostle Paul had received ( 2 Cor 12:1-4). However, Paul saw & heard wondrous things that we understand were in line with what he also preached, & of course he saw things that weren't "lawful" for him to utter. In any case, God's Word to us or by vision or revelation to the prophets & apostles, were given in clear & meaningful terms (not always understood within their culture & times), & not veiled in double meanings. In your (re)interpretation of God's Word, I think of others who have done likewise (e.g. the Bahai's) who have given meanings to Scripture that are not consistent with the clear intent of it, but have interpreted them to suit their theology. Of course, you believe that you now have gained further light on biblical Truths & able to give their 'new' meaning from applying other external factors. Well, this is not the way to read the Bible; it needs to be read & understood in its natural & proper way, whether in the original languages or translations. If that were the case to reinterpret other writings, one could do so with anything published, & in so doing gain some personal excitement in some new find, but leaving other recipients floundering in wonderment & disbelief. I appreciate your time on this, as I was interested to learn your beliefs & from whence they came, but staying true to the original meaning of the Scriptures (or for that matter any writing) is to me far more reliable & certain, than anything another could add or reinterpret it to be.

We see in scripture that Christians are going to be caught up. Ever read the end of a book first? We all have that ability to see, to be taught to see, that something amazing is going to take place at sometime in the near future. (since signs of it are appearing on a prophetic time clock)

If one was buying tickets to go to the super bowl; you'd buy those tickets way in advance. (Go Denver)

Point is: we know the catching away is going to happen. We'll be going to a wedding. Right now we should be in a war room praying for those sitting on a fence in the Valley of Decision.

Time now is for us to be ready to go.

Time now is for us to be praying to THE LORD OF THE HARVEST to send laborers into the harvest to capture souls on their way to hell on earth with a very angry AntiChrist. (His spirit is already here)

Choose this day who you're going to spend eternity with. Jesus or Satan? Get your oil lamps ready.

Did you know you can go on YouTube and see people having chips put in their hands and heads? I asked God once, is Antichrist going to trick people into getting that mark? He said it's going to be a conscious decision. That is scary.

Jesus is the ARK. God told Noah to get everyone and everything in the Ark. I think it's time for Christians to be witnessing to people & family around us. Oral Roberts once said that GO YE can mean the world, OR your own neighborhood. If you've prayed up to the Lord of the Harvest, stand back, cause you will love how the Lord brings people to you. People are going to open the door to you, or do nothing. They may get saved after the (may I say it?) Rapture, but they are facing death probably.

Let me invite you to watch one of my favorite evangelists on YouTube preaching "What To Do If You Miss The Rapture". His name is Dwight Thompson. Before you call him a blood sucking tv evangelist... just listen with your own spirit. Don't Judge a brother or sister ok?

Everything you question, may be answered in that

Hi Jesse, I appreciate your time in sharing your perspective. My interest is how someone justifies the once saved, always saved belief when so many scriptures do not appear to support that idea. I'm a Christian saved by grace and I believe Christianity is an active religion involving following Jesus, which requires pursuing Him, not standing still or running the opposite way. I also believe in freewill just like the Bible says and believe that Christians can commit blasphemy and there are examples of that happening today in addition to those in the Bible. I believe there's a dangerous trend where people are told in some churches that it's ok to not try, to not obey Jesus, to not care, that it's ok to sin as much as they want with no consequence.

For instance since Hitler attended mass while growing up and may have accepted Christ during that time before he became an atheist, and this OSAS teaching would say his later actions are all covered by grace according to this teaching. The Bible says most people will go to hell Matthew 7:13 and there's currently 2.5 billion claiming to be Christians and if they all made it in that would be a very wide gate. A % don't follow Jesus anymore and love committing sodomy, fornication, lust, drunkenness, murder, and variety of sins. Some do this because they believe a teaching that says they'll already go to heaven so their sins don't matter. So, I think souls will be lost due to the OSAS teaching which doesn't seem to be from God or supported by scripture. All other questions seem to be distractions from this important salvation issue. I believe exactly what Jesus says that many will be surprised they learn they won't go to heaven: Matthew 7:13. The audience Jesus spoke to was both non-Christian and Christian, but that specific verse was talking to people who believed they were a Christian follower and thought they would be saved. James 2 explains this.

The sin in the KJVB, is sin of the third day of the Creation, by water only. The KJVB offers the Revelation of Jesus Christ in the days of the Creation.

Adam, you have freewill, yes? How do you exercise your free will? I've already explained how I exercise mine. If you believe your "freewill" is stronger than God's will for your life, go ahead and put it to the test. Everyone I've come across that believes salvation can be lost always bring up freewill and they say that those who believe in eternal security think they can go out and sin all they want. Why is that? You say you can be tempted to sin and the Holy Spirit can convict you, but you can still choose to sin?

Every believer can be tempted to sin, and every believer does commit single acts of sin. However, a true genuine believer cannot live a lifestyle of continuous sin, the lifestyle they lived prior to salvation. It's impossible. I tried to explain my view to you, but this becoming Hitler, committing mass murder, and worshipping Satan doesn't even come close to the view I presented to you.

And why do you believe Judas was a Christian? I would like to know how you come to that conclusion. Judas betrayed Christ because it was prophesied that he would. When God prophesies something, it will happen. And Peter was told ahead of time that he would deny Christ. Peter learned his lesson, wouldn't you say? Why did Jesus ask Peter three times "Do you love me?" Since you say both Judas and Peter were Christians, and one denied Christ, and one betrayed Him, did they lose their salvation?

Let me ask you this. What makes a person a Christian? Can a person be a Christian if they don't have the Spirit of Christ living in them?

Let me give you another answer you ask of me. You ask why do we see Christian pastors and worship leaders periodically leave and denounce the faith? Many professing believers do leave and denounce the faith. I don't disagree with that. But you want to know why they leave. 1 John 2:19 tells you why. They leave because they were not genuine believers. Pretty simple!

I hope you take the time to answer my questions, as I have answered yours.

I know I'm a sinner saved by Grace. I'm conscious of it day and night. I never forget what God pulled me out of. I know at the Cross, my sins past, present and future have been thrown as far as the east is to the west. When I sin, I pray from 1 John. I thank God that his mercies are new every morning. I turn off media and turn on praise. I believe in "I will keep in perfect peace whose mind has stayed on Me. For me God is at my house every day. I'm conscious of His presence. There are times when I mumble what the speed limit is, but I just move out of the way & don't get upset. I actually pray for those people to find Jesus. We have choices. I've had my fill of worldliness long time ago. I'm content. I love my family and play with my grand son, often as I can. I used to read him Psalms at nap time. I tell him Bible stories. Somewhere in this world system we all live in, is the great whore of Babylon. I avoid that contamination much as possible.

We all fall short of perfect, but God gave us Jesus our Lord. Each one of us choose the narrow gate or the wide one, every day.

I love studying in this discussion group. It gives me a lot of encouragement to widen my scope when it's just me and a Bible. Seeing what troubles other people, helps me to pray better. When I was unsaved, I used to sit in the dark and rock, and pray over and over, "somebody help me." The first thing God did for me, was peel me like an onion. Everything I trusted in was removed. It lasted a year and a half. Then I was ready to meet my Savior.

How do you turn your back on that? I'm grateful. There's a sense of Divine romance. You tell Him your stories (which He already knows) and you read His stories in his Word. It should get sweeter and deeper.

Contending with compromise diminishes the sweetness. It doesn't matter if you're male or female.

God is exactly what the unsaved sinners want. Someone they can trust. Good night all.

Rod, yes

Tell me this, how can a day be both, one day as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. It is talking about the two days yet to come, the fifth day and the sixth day. Did you get the comment on a, "thousand years?"

Adam, you've asked me several questions today, and I have respectfully answered all your questions so far. But before I answer anymore, I think it would be fair for me to ask you a few, and I hope you would in turn give me the time I gave you.

If you are saved, which I believe you are, but since we cannot save ourselves, once you were saved and until the day you depart this earthly life, who are you trusting in to remain saved, yourself, or God?

What does it mean to you to surrender your life to Christ?

Who are you placing your trust in as far as your salvation goes, God, or yourself?

Do you personally yourself believe that between now and the time you depart this earthly life, you will reject Christ and turn away?

If you yourself one day decide to reject Christ and turn back to being a slave to sin, because a person is either a slave to Christ or a slave to sin, how are you going to get rid of Christ inside of you when He said He will never leave you?

What is your understanding of the phrase "sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption?"

And to the moderators of this site, thank you so much for adding more character space. God Bless!

The fact is that all is because of the faith of Jesus Christ. The faith of any other individual is absolutely uninvolved. However, we have been told that the, "faith," in Ephesians 2:8, is our faith, changed surreptitiously to gain control? It is "not that of yourselves." It is only the faith of Christ Jesus that we need, which is made clear in 2Timothy 3:15. Now, we can update our understanding of John 3:16, in which Jesus Christ is in the word, "whosoever," believeth the Word, identified with, "him."