Bible Questions & Discussion PAGE 396

Hi David.

I understand what you are saying and agree. The invitation goes out to the whole world as mentioned in 1 John 2:2 "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. The thing is many will not come, many will travel the wide gate as mentioned in Mathews 7:13. "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: "MANY WILL BE DECEIVED"

God knows who will come to him being he is omniscient; he is all-knowing in the sense that he is aware of the past present and future as he stands outside of time looking in.

I believe you see an example of this in Numbers 16:5 "And he spake unto Korah and unto all his company, saying, even to morrow the LORD will shew who are his, and who is holy; and will cause him to come near unto him: even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him.

"The knowing comes before the choosing"

WHEN IT COMES TO BACKSLIDING.

We can look at the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32 and those described as the dogs and pigs in 2 Peter 2:9-22.

The prodigal son and the pigs went back home!

THE PRODIGAL SON BACK TO HIS FATHERS HOUSE, and the dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

The son went the way of the world but he never lost his sonship, a lost child of God will always be found by the great shepherd!

He will return or he NEVER was a child of God.

Those described in 2 Peter 2:9-22 returned back to the world because they never were sheep.

You can "profess" Christ and go through all the motions and great deeds all your life and never have Christ and be told depart from me I never knew you. Mathews 7:21-23.

God bless.

Sorry, I wrote in my previous post, "Jesus answers him that Simon(his real name) is a stone(Peter) and upon this stonHe will build His church.", but I should had written "rock" instead of "stone".

Hello Alleylee

You will get many different answers to your question. My opinion...

There is the belief in many christian churches that the age of apostles and prophets ended in that early time. But there are many that do not accept this. God and His Word have not changed, it is people that have changed their beliefs unreasonably. Unreasonably because if something that is described clearly in the Bible does not exist in our church, then we should try to find out what is that we do (or believe) wrongly and stop trying cancelling the Word of God. So the best thing is one to go to their knees and ask God what is going wrong. If we are sincere about it God will definitely find a way to answer back, this is always the case.

So there are many christians that claim that God stopped talking to people after the Revelation was written, thus putting a duct tape on God's mouth. So God humbled and offered Himself for people suffering a horrible death but at the same time He is too arogant to speak to us now? Doesn't He want to talk to His children? Is this OK? Of course God talks and hears. In Acts it was God personally that ordained the 12 and Paul, it was the Spirit that led Paul and Barnabas to the gentiles. But Silas and Luke and Apollos and the rest were not pointed out by God directly but were chosen by Paul according to the wisdom given to him by the Lord. So when a minister anoints somebody else in the name of Jesus according to the instructions given in the Word of God, it is like God personally did it. So If God did all that at that time He can still do it today. He hasn't changed the way He acts

An apostle must have results in his mission, this is a proof that he was elected by God, 1 Cor 8:1-2. An "apostle" who has no results to show is not an apostle. Also read 2 Cor 12:12, one must prove that God sent him. People must be Spirit baptized, healings must occur etc, maybe not in the degree those occured in ancient times but still they should occur, Mark 16:15-18. GBU

I was not attempting to set any rules , mearly pointing out , in case Duncan wasn't aware , that this is a KJV site .

Have only met but one person who seem to have fit the bill of an Apostle ( in the light of scripture and pattern of Paul) But he denied it . Quite different I still think from many self proclaimed apostles .

Do you know that the word ' Christian' was first used in the book of Acts not by the church but by the world and a term of derision ?

Paul counted himself as the "offscouring "of the world . That's the scum that comes to the top of a cooking stew.

A far cry of many today .

Self proclaimed Christian's is one thing . When the world identifies you as one is another . But will not like for it .

You can go to a theological college and learn what they teach and fill your head with an historical ,intellectual parachute to the scriptures .

But it is the Holy Spirit that enlightens the mind and heart to understand the scriptures as they are meant to be understood .

Saul of Tarsus had a lot of head knowledge but no understanding .

It took over three years in the Arabian desert to unlearn what he had been taught and for the Holy Spirit of Christ to put all the scriptures in their rightful place . No man taught him .

And he said when he finally met the Apostles in Jerusalem to check if he had " preached in vain". They added nothing new to him"

His letters and confessions simply proved how qualified he was or has become .

Before he had zeal but without knowledge or understanding .

He now became as much if not more zealous because of his lively knowledge of Jesus which he held above everything and in the light of which everything else he used to boast in " was as dung".

GiGi,

Thank you! I read through the guidelines and rules this morning and did not see anything about that either. I started to post something earlier but changed my mind.

I would like to add something though. What seemed to be in question was the word age vs world. Although the KJV does say world, other versions say age.

Personally, what I do in situations like this is go to the source of our multitude of English translations. When I go to the Greek text, it is the word age in Greek. So to say age would be proper.

I am hoping that Duncan will give his own response. Something else I have noticed is someone sharing their email address. Although I like the idea of being able to do that (if we do choose), if I am not mistaken, the rules forbid us from doing that.

It is essential .

For we have swathes of people deceived and deluded by a ' church' that has taken but ONE verse and built an edifice upon it built on sand .

" Come out from among her says the scriptures lest you become partakers of her judgements"

I present an argument in the sense of a logical and reasonable biblical steps which try test and prove the case .

An argument in its most base form is where two people bang heads together neither listening to the other .

Or one stubbornly holding to a position untenable in the light of scripture .

You judge .

Jesus is called the second and last Adam . He is then likened into the first .

Though in truth the scriptures say the " first Adam was a foreshadow of Him who was to come .

You say the Lord did not establish any church?

Yet the scruptures state " I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it"

Perhaps then it's your concept of the church that needs therefore adjusting?

Was not the first Adam created from the dust of the earth?

And did not Almighty God put Adam into a deep sleep and create Eve from the body of the man? Namely his rib.

If then the first Adam was a foreshadow of Him who was to come .The last Adam .

Then through the death of the last Adam another body the bride of Christ will come from His body .

Peter a great Apostle was none the less but a stone a pebble .

God is that ' rock of ages ' upon which the eternal church of God is built upon .

Your first question is answered in your own reply .

The Lord said " Thou art Peter a stone "

Upon this rock what Rock? " Thou art the Son of the living God "

2 Samuel 22:47

Deuteronomy 32:31

Psalm 62:7

And many more all found on a search God is the rock on this very app.

While any man can get it wrong for no man is infallible . Though some religionists foolishly claim otherwise . What does the scriptures say? "ALL scripture is given by inspiration if God and is good for correction reproof and instruction in righteousness "

Taking ONE verse to build your case is not only unwise it will inevitably lead to error . Which is why the Roman church is now full of it .

While you may be in doubt as with this one verse may mean .

ALL of scripture clearly states GOD is that rock .

Jesus being God manifested in the flesh it clearly means by the rest of scripture that it does not mean Peter but the Lord Himself .

To hold to anything else in the light of the rest of scripture is simply foolish at best .

At worse you judge ..

Hello Giannis,

You are one I trust to turn to if I'm looking for further clarification on the Greek. My question is, when Jesus said "upon this rock," is the word "this" used in the Near Demonstrative or Far Demonstrative?

That's my only question. Thanks!

Pt.4

Slept on my thoughts last night and was thinking about Jesus taking on the flesh and nature of humanity more.

Knowing that the Triune God by nature is Spirit and fills the universe, to think that the Son restricted Himself to fill a zygote with Himself and give it Personhood made me think of how much he humbled Himself to come to us. To be fully present in a single fertilized cell is astounding. And to allow Himself to grow and develop in the womb as a human even though He is the creator of all things fills me with wonder.

I also thought about conception of all other humans and about personhood. We can admit that the egg and sperm are human flesh (cells) but separately they are not persons. But when they unite together at conception, they then have personhood, as is our reasonable thoughts tell us. Human life begins at conception and the new life is a person from the point of fertilization on. Where does the "person" and "human nature" begin and how are the distinguished from one another. There cannot be a human nature without a person to possess it. And there cannot be a human person without a human nature to animate it.

So, in the case of Jesus, He was the Person that took on the human nature and flesh and life of this zygote. This zygote would not have existed in Jesus had not chosen to be the Person to possess it. It was not a person and then Jesus took over that person's flesh and life. He was the only Person connected to this zygote with its human nature and human life. But with all other zygotes, how does the "person" come to possess the human flesh and nature?

I was perplexed a bit by this. Itis easy to think of the Son of God becoming human, but when you get down to conception and when human life begins and when personhood begins and where does the personhood come from since it is not fleshly, it boggles the mind bb it. Scripture does not really give us these answers except in saying the Father prepared the body for His Son to dwell in and thru.

Hi Gerald

You wrote, "An Apostle of God is not ordained by man at all ,but ordained by God ." and you are right. My question to you is, how does God ordain ministries? Does He speak, does He show visions,..., how?

Paul in 1 Ephesians 4:11 talks about the ministries in the church, some of them are apostles and prophets. So from your posts I think we agree that those ministries should still exist in the church, God and His Word haven't changed. But according to your opinion how does God points out who is what?

Hello Ryan.

Question. Where exactly in New Testament does it say that the age of apostles and prophets ended or is going to end sometime in the future? Because I cannot find anything written about it. Paul in 1 Cor 12,13,14 describes how the church should function when gathered together. Assuming that this is not the case anymore, how according to the scriptures should we function today?

Hello David, thanks for your reply.

Okay, I would like you to be the first person to say to someone who has called on the name of the Lord to be saved and believed the gospel, but has then turned away, that they were never really saved or born again when they first called on God to be saved, This makes God out to be a liar in His word and will likely cause someone to resist returning to such a God who will not truly save someone who seeks Him to be saved through Jesus. I know many people who have this history. My sons are among these, i will never tell them that, though believe since childhood and into their teens but then turned away that they were never saved or born again. This implies that children may not be truly saved when they believe the gospel. Or someone who was a strong believer for many years and through hardships or the draw of the world has turn away. You be the first to tell such a person, that God did not really save them when they believed all those years.

Jesus said that I have come to save the lost, even those who where "of His flock" and turned away. He leaves the 99 and seeks after the one who strayed. In the parable of the prodigal son, who was of His household, but walked away, upon his return the father said that his son was dead; but now he is alive.

But, David, I do not want to make an debate over this topic. I understand your viewpoint and respect that you are free to keep it, as I can do with mine.

Hello Gerald

1. Where exactly does it say that Peter was a "stone"?

2. I won't get into an argument about who is exactly the "rock" that Jesus meant. I don't think it is something essential, it is not a doctrine anyway. And to be honest I am not sure which one is right (the one that is the most acceptable in my church is the no. 2 in my previous post). But let's examine it. Firstly I want to say that I am in agreement with what you have written so far about Jesus on this topic. But lets see that conversation again. Peter says to Jesus that He is the Son of God. Jesus answers him that Simon(his real name) is a stone(Peter) and upon this stone He will build His church. So if you were a witness at that time what would you had assumed that Jesus meant? The obvious I think. Peter was a dynamic personality, that is why Jesus called him a "rock", he wasn't soft, he wasn't unstable. He had done some mistakes before Pentecost, but afterwards him and the rest and Jesus' brothers carried the load of spreading the Gospel everywhere. Of course Jesus(Word of God) is the foundation of our faith. But Jesus Himself didn't establish any church. The church was initiated on Pentecost after Peter's preaching to Jews, and from there on him and all the other apostles and disciples carried those good news all over the world under God's Grace.

The Catholics claim that he was the 1st Pope. But none of the 12 seems to had been a pastor. Peter in 1 Peter 5:1 calls himself an elder just like the other elders, not higher than them. In grk the terms elder and bishop are alternated in the text, they mean the same thing. Long later in some denominations like in Catholics the Bishop became a leader. But in Acts bishop is just another name for an elder. So Peter was an elder. Paul was not an elder, but an apostle. Similarly John seems to not had been an elder either. So that claim of Catholics' is not right. But even if it is right, this doesn't make the Bishop(Pope) of Rome higher than any other.

Thanks Ronald, for your prayers. Enjoy this time with family and friends.

DJ Grim, ONLY word tree in Psalms 105: in verse 33; "He smote(struck)their vines also & their fig trees; & brake (splintered) the trees of their coasts(territory)". Absolutely Nothing about being nailed to a tree. Praise goes to Jesus for our sins that HE was nailed to said cross.! Furthermore, He, God/Jesus remembers them (our sins) no more. We ask God for forgiveness in Jesus name hence 'through HIM we are saved'. To GOD be all glory *The word cross is mentioned 28 times in new testament. Esword dictionary states: From the base of G2476; a stake or post (as set upright), that is, (specifically) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment); figuratively exposure to death, that is, self denial; by implication the atonement 'of Christ':-cross. 'The cross' is the place where all the wounds of sin are healed. If you suffer from emotional problems--guilt, anxiety, depression, anger, or whatever-there is healing in the "cross of Christ". If you are going through tragedy or suffering, there is comfort in abundance as you contemplate the sufferings of the 'spotless Savior' on your behalf. Who was standing by "the Cross of Jesus"? Many a witness that HE was nailed to "a cross" Simply put, the meaning of "the cross" is death. "The Cross" is a great contradiction. A simple upright post with a transverse bar used crucifixion. It's a symbol of death, but so much more. Death and life, hate and love, violence and peace, accusation and forgiveness, sin and purity, brokenness & wholeness, all is lost yet everything is gained, destruction & restoration, defeat and victory. Once the cruelest form of execution, *yet now it is a symbol 'of abundant life*'. The Life JESUS gave to save anyone willing to except Him for dying for their sins. God showed great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners ( Romans 5:8). I feel, it's the unbelievers way to demean Jesus death & resurrection by calling it a tree. He died4U & loves you, RESPECT HIM PLEASE.!!

Hey Richard,

I agree an eclipse does not last for three hours, the dark time when Jesus was on the cross. I feel many things will not be clear until they start. Like what was said about the beast, Rev. 13:4 "who is able to make war with him?" In today's world what beast could be that China, the US, Russia, and the world would be defenseless to make war? We just need to be ready and watching.

My understanding is different, I know many believe in the rapture of the church and will be taken to heaven and the 7 years from Daniel placed at the end times. My understanding of Daniel 9:27 has been fulfilled, the whole prophecy was about the Messiah and the lost sheep of Israel. Jesus's ministry, the first 3.5 years and Jesus through His apostles the last 3.5 years, which ended the 70 weeks. Dan. 9:24 the things determined, then the gospel was taken to the Gentiles. The first was Philip the evangelist, Acts 8:5.

I feel it will start when Satan is cast out of heaven, Rev.12:8-9.

God bless,

RLW

RE: 2 Peter 3:5

Present day scoffers are willingly ignorant of literal 6 days creation written with the finger of God as stated in Exodus 20 and 31.

Specifically the creation and flood accounts in Genesis. Uniformitarianism, proclaimed by evolutionists, is anticipated and warned against. The flood account does not allow for millions of years but instead accounts for the evidence in nature.

God Bless,

Creation Truth

Thanks, GiGi hope you are feeling better, you are in my prayers, I don't post my prayers. Merry Christmas to you and all on this site.

God bless,

RLW

Praise be to GOD for our sins are nailed to a tree and He remembers them no more Hallelujah

GiGi,

I quote from your response to Adam...

"Adam has not said that we need to obey God to be saved or do any sort of "work". He does not say that we need to continue to obey God to stay saved. He does say that one can turn away from God once born again through disobedience. Our good works and obedience do not "keep" us saved, but our disobedience and apostasy will bring us back to a state of spiritual death."

If we have truly become "saved" it means that we have become Born Again, that God has given us a Resurrected Soul in which we will have an earnest ongoing desire to be obedient to what God reveals to us in the Bible, both in doctrine and in practice. It means that we have past from DEATH into LIFE in our Soul. It means that we are Eternaly Secure and CANNOT lose our salvation.

If we fall away it means that we in all likelyhood have not become Born Again and are still UNSAVED and remain in a condition of Spiritual Death. Not that we have returned to that state.

Wonderfully, however, that is not the end of the story. God continues to save His Elect right up until the very Last Day. Anyone that is still living, including ourselves, may be one of God's Elect and God has obligated Himself to save every one of His Elect.

But God's Elective program is GOD'S business; it is not OUR business. it's not our job to decide who are Elect and who are not. Only God knows.

If we are uncertain about our own Salvation it is still the Day of Salvation and we can still cry to God for His Mercy in the Hope that He might save us, Just like the Ninevites (Read Jonah 3 and Matt 12:41).

Psalm 34:18 Psalm 51:17

If we have loved ones or others for whom we are concerened about their salvation we can, and are in fact encouraged, to pray for their salvation, if it is His will. Knowing that if they are one of His Elect, they will certainly become saved.

Always recognizing that God determines who and when He saves anyone. God does all the work of salvation on His time table

"M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S EVERYONE & AN EVEN HAPPIER NEW YEAR (and the year to come).! JESUS IS THE BEST GIFT YOU CAN GIVE ANYONE. WE MAY NOT HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER, YET TOGETHER WE HAVE IT ALL! This time of year most ppl want to help everyone so first pray allowing God to guide you & give you proper discernment for He knows all truth & who is really in need or merely wanting the next fix. Not what you think yet, that feeling you get-well, it's Him so follow it". Ohtay, if electric goes out, I wanna pray for each & everyone of y'all to have the best holiday season ever.! Love as He first Loved us. Forgive & you Will be forgiven. Praise God for Everything, even the hard times cuz through those, we grow in His wisdom. When you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours! Every now & then, pay it forward, like if your going through a drive thru, to the person behind you. To a grocery store clerk, waitress, person in uniform or a Teacher. God bless & be w/each & everyone, Amen. oh wait, that wasn't a prayer..lol haven't slept all night I'm so excited I already cleaned & now I get to cook yeeha.. My 2 faves.! Prayers I get the fireplace to stay burnin, Brrr its cccold , bbfn fellow KJV 1611s p.s same to the owners of this site too. p.s.s (if there is such thing, haha) Keep praying for the evil in this lovely world. Love the sinner not the sin.

I once had a number of conversations with a Muslim ,a sincere man but one quite ignorant of God .

Who in one of our last conversations in which he held in his hand the Koran in Arabic and the opposite page an English translation . He surprised me by saying " only the Koran in Arabic is the true word of God " ( so he believed) Astonished ,I replied " have you been lying to me then ?He answered no! I pointing to his book asked is that book lying then? His answer was the same .is God an Arab then? He equally astonished said "No".

I said is God an Englishman ? One time they thought perhaos he was . But He isn't .

Is God Chinese? and other examples to prove the point .

For God is none of them , you might argue that Jesus was a Jew after the flesh but still you cannot argue God is .

All those languages then are all mans langauge . God must therefore if you will have His own language.

Who " humbles himself to speak to man"

It is not then the langauge it is translated into that is the " original" but God who inspired men so to write what it is written .

The devil changed that "Word of God that came forth out of His mouth" into a lie .

Men still do it today and still boast in their " better understanding" of the original texts but prove otherwise .

An overconfidence in understanding or having a knowledge of Greek or Hebrew has led many into gross error .

Even as an overconfidence in one's intellectual abilities has as well .

In the same measure as the Holy Spirit was needed to inspire men to,so write the scriptures so He is needed to understand what is written in what ever language it is written in .

We are very fortunate in this country to have had the KJV for so long but men in their pride have cast it aside and think otherwise and by many in the church it is despised and rejected .

While other versions are held in high esteem ,for reasons which escape me and they would be hard to explain .

Yet Paul does not fit that criteria .

The trouble with this is that which usually goes along with it .

That the gifts of the Spirit no longer happen as too miracles etc .

This clearly is not true .

God has not changed yet we seem to have made our God set in aspic or stone .

And many have " heard of thee" but how many " now seeeth thee"?

Moses had heard of God as he grew up . But a day came when he met the Living God .

Gideon had heard of God but he too had a day when he met the living God and the lines of a lively communication were established .

Samuel had heard of God and had served in the temple for a number of years but he "knew not the Word of the Lord "

It could even be said of Isiah .

And what about Saul of Tarsus ?

and others .

An assertion is not an ' argument' and to assert all three are applicable has to be substantiated with an argument .

The Lord stating thou art Peter a " stone" not a rock he clearly differentiated Himself " the Son of the living God" the Rock ,from Peter ,the stone .

GB

" NOW faith is.."

It is written that because He loved them he delayed going to them . Mary said if you had come earlier you could have healed him .

Her faith was in the past and was thus ineffective .

Martha said that she believed Hecwouid raise him up at the end . Her faith was in the future and thus ineffective.

Jesus replied to her " I AM the resurrection and the life "

The Lord is always present ,now .

And while we may and should have a "sure and certain hope" for the future , our faith must always be and can only operate in the

"Now"

Merry Christmas to you as well & a Happier New Year.!