gdemoss

I wonder how much of this we will be seeing in the near future. I am at home asking God to help me find others like myself who are tired of the lies within the modern churches. JohnDB, thanks for the read. Gary

When I became a believer in Christ I had an uphill battle to fight. I was so sick with lust and taken in it that I found myself surfing the television for 'skin'. My mind was a complete mess that was filled with violent thoughts in reaction to any unwanted stimuli from the real world as well as a real bend toward seeking out anything to please my self with through entertainment venues. I also had a vivid fantasy life where I could win the lottery and imagine all the ways that I would spend the money among other sicker fantasies. Not to mention I was addicted to certain substances as well. I was terrified that I was going to be judged because it all didn't immediately go away upon becoming a believer. Sometimes I would be overwhelmed by my thoughts and they would turn into actions as well. As others have mentioned, the bible is clear about what to do. Our minds are trainable. That is how mine got so horrible. God gave me over to a reprobate mind. But I read what God said about how to deal with my thoughts and have a very tight reign over all activity that goes on in my mind today. I found that I can't entertain even one small thought of pleasurable evil without drifting away from godly thoughts. God said the my imagination is wicked from my youth and I believed him, so I began to treat it as my enemy and disallow it to be active in my daily life. Instead I drew my mind to scripture memory or thought prayers etc. I found that 'devils' who try to fill your heart with garbage don't like it when you resist them. Just like God had James tell us, they flee quickly as not giving in really tears at their pride. If things were too heated, I would call a brother and talk to them. Confessing that which was on my mind and ask them to pray for me. I want to encourage you to fight hard using all of the resources God has given you. The bible says that even the thought of foolishness is sin and that pertains to using your mind in the manner Jesus spoke of on the mount, partaking in sin in the mind alone. God will not allow you to be tempted above that which you are able but I have found that if I decided to give in and flirt with sinful thoughts, God lets the whole thing start sliding quickly into slavery to sin. He is my biggest ally but he doesn't put up with me straying in my mind, nor should he. I love him so much for having a high standard for me as my standards have always paled in comparison. In Jesus Name, Gary

The topic of Love and Discrimination has to be in the top 5 most misunderstood topics of the bible by far. God is Love, but Love is not God because God has many other attributes that govern his Love such as his Righteousness, Justice, Mercy and Grace. Discrimination is known in the bible as "Respect of persons" which God does not do and nor should we. We ought to offer the Gospel of salvation to the rich and the poor without making them sit in different sections in the assembly. Now if one of them happens to be openly in sin, such as fornication, we are to give them over to Satan for the punishment of the flesh that the soul may be saved in that day. Jesus went out and ate with sinners of all kinds for the purpose of preaching the kingdom of God and calling them to repentance or their sin so that they might turn toward God. Purging out the old leaven is not discrimination, nor is it unloving as it may lead to the persons salvation. Holding your arms wide open daily in fellowship with someone who openly sins is sin in and of itself and not loving as both will come into judgment. Examples of true love found in the bible are: Jesus saying to Peter "Get behind me Satan!" Paul withstanding Peter to the face over being a hypocrite. Jesus laying down his life for the sheep. Accepting someone who is 'weak' in the faith but not in sin. Bearing anothers burden by not partaking in lawful things that might cause him to stumble. Casting out the fornicating sinner from your assembly only to find that he becomes repentant later. Warning people against being a pig or a dog, one who wallows in the mud after being washed or returns to their old vomit. You see, God is Love, so anything you do that directs people into becoming more like God is Loving Them. Sometimes it doesn't sound or look real pretty by human moral standards that question Gods ways, but it is necessary if we are to 'wash the feet' of our brothers in Christ. In Jesus Name, Gary

Hi Nathan, excellent response. It shows that once again I wasn't clear enough in my post to put in to words what I was trying to convey. I didn't say there were only 2 sets of individuals. I said 2 covenants, which is true. The understanding of what sin is changed with the new covenant is all. Is it wrong to follow Gods righteous law from the Old Testament? Only if you are seeking your righteousness through it. I am not quite sure about Jews and the law. The bible is quite clear that once a covenant has been established no man can disannul it. The book of Acts speaks of those who told Paul that he should "do this thing" so that those who were concerned that he was teaching Jews not to follow the law would see that he was living lawfully as a Jew and Paul had no objection. The new Covenant changed 2 things, one is the need for animal sacrifices, the other is allowing Gentiles in without bringing them under the Old Testament law. Please help me understand something as I can't find it in scripture. Where does one find the authority to declare the clothes, wine skins, and wine as typologies of righteousness? I have to admit that my own understanding does not come from scripture itself but the spirit that dwells in me taught me. It was the first experience of revelation that I experienced upon asking to be given understanding of scriptures. I was shown that the parable represented the two covenants and the differences in righteousness and life in the blood. I expect those who have the same spirit I do to bear the same witness of the scriptures. The bible openly declares that doctrines of devils are here in our present day being followed by those who are persuaded by them. I have trusted God not to be sending me wrong information but who am I to say to the potter how he should form me? I only ask him to make me a vessel unto honor who bears witness to the truth. Have an excellent day in the Lord! Gary

Greetings to all of you who came before me over the last 9 pages. Very interesting discussion. My stance on this issue is not popular to say the least. What the argument boils down to is the offense of the cross. There is an Old Covenant which dealt with covering sin with the blood of bulls and goats. It was replaced with the New Covenant of taking away the sins of man through the blood of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. Jesus summed up the changes in the two covenants in one sentence. "No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better." The Old Covenant had laws and ordinances that revealed the sin of the people. It provided the people with ways to repeatedly have their sins 'covered' through sacrifices. Every year the same people would keep sinning and bringing in their sacrifices according to the law. In Proverbs we even see the strange woman who got all of her duties of the law taken care of and was ready for action because her husband was out of town. The New Covenant brings in the entrance of Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God manifest in the flesh. The Glory of the law being shown for the true dim light that it was as it did not cover much of the true sin that was in man but merely a small portion. Jesus pointed out the weakness and unprofitableness of the law by magnifying the law in the sermon on the mount. Many a man wants to go back to the old law and simply follow them because taking up your cross and dying to yourself as Jesus did is very painful to the flesh that must die in order for sin to cease within a man. The offense of the cross isn't that you can't be good enough, but that you must pick up yours and follow Jesus or you cannot be his disciple. If the law had been done away with completely then Paul would have never mentioned that it could be used lawfully. But he speaks of the proper place of the law. The law was made for an unrighteous man. Those who God considers righteous are not under the law. Such as David who Jesus openly said broke the law but was innocent of wrong doing, or his own disciples who broke the Sabbath, or the priests who profane the Sabbath and are blameless. There is much debate about how sin is dealt with under the New Covenant but there should be no argument about the law itself as we understand now that righteousness cannot be known by the law in its entirety but we only know righteousness through the person of Jesus Christ and his selfless love to all. We cleanse our hands and purify our hearts and worship God almighty through emulating Jesus Christ and living in the power of his spirit. Christ did not do away with the law....He magnified it. We don't follow the law...we follow Christ...putting on Christ....carrying our own cross....presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice....perfecting holiness in the fear of God. No man who has tasted the old desireth the new....he says the old is better. Gary

Thank you for taking the time to share your mind on these scriptures. It is interesting to hear you say that there was always meant to be twelve Apostles from the beginning and I assume you mean that it was part of the original plan that was put together before the first word was spoken. I remember when I came acrossed this and wondered about the whole 12 and if these guys made a mistake because God meant for Paul to be the replacement. I have come to believe that Peter and the other 10 did the right thing when they chose to ask God to show them, through the casting of lots, who would be Judas' replacement. The twelve apostles were told that they would sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Paul was selected to be the apostle to the Gentiles. I am quite sure that God has great plans for Paul and the role he will fulfill in the new Earth. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts. Gary

My favorite part about it all is the aspect that God is personal to each one of his children. I remember this stage of my relationship with him, so glorious a time. Especially knowing that I didn't need to question what I was reading in the bible. Very important to desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. God has some truly wonderful things he plans on using you to do. I pray that he form you into a vessel unto honor in his great house! In Jesus Name, Gary

Hi again, I received your response and I must say I am ready to learn what you have to teach me as it appears you have understanding that I do not possess. Please take some time if you will and help me understand your responses so that I may understand the error that you see in my post. Please teach me how to determine what a context demands when it comes to the translation of this Greek word. How does one come to the understanding that it 'requires' in and not by? Can you please explain how such an understanding violates the context exactly? Can you please share how you have determined what the exact intent of the author was? Can you please elaborate on how my suggestion misses Paul's point entirely? How did you come to the conclusion that I took the passage 'far afield' of what Paul intended? What was Paul's exact intention? A person should refrain from having their understanding of a scriptural text rooted in their understanding of God? According to scripture, God is the author. Wouldn't knowing the author play a role in understanding what he was intending to write? Before I knew God, I didn't interpret most things he said correctly. As I have come to know him, I have a better understanding. There is only ONE line of thought in any of the passages that that word is translated, yet they have translated it 'by' a few hundred times. Please help me understand what you mean by 'ONE line of thought'. Same with the context, there is only one context in any passage as I understand it. I agree that it isn't arbitrary as to what word to use as the author only said one thing. The difficulty that I have is not understanding the knowledge that you possess to determine with such great accuracy and authority that it is impossible for it to be correctly translated either way. Thank you in advance for taking the time to expand upon your answers so that I may learn and grow from this experience with you as that is what Christians do. I await to be edified with excitement. I love learning new things. Especially about proper translation of the Greek scriptures to English. Gary

Hi shiloh357! Nice to meet you. I was reading the thread as it is an interesting topic, and I saw what you posted and wanted to make sure that you knew that the word translated 'in' is also correctly translated as 'by'. The ratio is 1902 'in' to 163 'by' so it does carry more weight as 'in' but cannot be counted out as 'by'. That said, a great point was brought up earlier about those women who do not marry and bear children as they cannot be saved 'by childbearing'. As was pointing out in 1 Cor 7, women not given in marriage so that they can serve the Lord with their whole life is considered a very worthy objective. I just try to remember that our 'works' are just that, they are our 'works'. Our 'works' will either justify our faith or they will condemn us as not having true saving faith which is all that matters. So when Paul makes a statement like this and says she will be 'saved' in childbearing, what's not to say that in this particular case that these aren't the 'works' that justify her faith? But only for those who are married and raising children unto the Lord. Either way it is the 'grace' that saves through 'faith' justified by 'works'. All we need is convicting evidence that proves we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for our sins and is Lord over all. Paul spoke similarly in Philippians when he said that their prayer and the supply of the spirit of Christ would turn to his salvation. The spirit who teaches me, leads me to believe that Paul is simply pointing out that all that prayer is a cloud of witnesses for him that he is indeed a Christian. Anyway, just some food for thought. I hate to see someone holding a position by using a single word when that particular word can be rightly translated either way. for what it is worth, God bless you in all of your studies. Gary