Eliptic01

If that was so then what about John 4:1-2? "When Jesus realized that the Pharisees were aware that He was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John (although it was not Jesus who baptized, but His disciples)" Since those baptisms were being done under the authority of Jesus Christ Himself, then they were "Christ-ordered" or ordained. So that means that at least from the imprisonment of John the Baptist until the death of Jesus Christ, which would have been about six years, there were those who were baptized under His ministry personally, making it very much "in effect".

As God's chosen ones, we seek to cry out day and night for our needs as well as those of others.

Dear Betha, by citing this verse, you essentially appear to contradict yourself: Ephesians 2:10: "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life." Therefore we need not worry whether our works are or can be "good enough", since all the works we can do were ready for us to do before we were born: Jeremiah 1:5: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart" As for doing them, we have free will, but an Omnipotent God is an Omnipresent Inescapable God, as Jonah found out after spending three days and nights in a big fish, and although he was reluctant, he realized he was up against an "Irresistible God". The scripture does not actually say that we "fall away" of our own accord, but are in fact "led away" by deceivers, which if we do and are in God's Grace, then He will bring us back as in accordance with the parable of the Prodigal Son.

My "two cents": Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So if you try to convince me that I have to worry abut a sin not yet committed, you are "outa gas". Now you might think of repenting of misrepresenting the true Gospel.

You did not state a reference source to support your statement that this was a parable. Do you have a specific reference or is that the general approach that your personal theology takes towards the biblical/historical account of the Kings of Israel? Assuming it was a parabolic account, being that it is inspired scripture, that would not exclude it from nevertheless having a truism or truth in it, that is God having to grant the lying spirit to do so even as much as Satan needed God's permission in Job to bring evil on him: Job 1:12 "The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” If on the other hand, you reject the Bible as being the inerrant word of God, then your reply is your personal opinion only, completely lacking any other authority.

Do you also see the book of Job as a parable?

Additional scriptural references: 2 Thessalonians 2:11 For this reason, God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, Judges 9:23 God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem and caused them to treat Abimelech deceitfully, 1 Samuel 16:14 After the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him. 1 Samuel 18:10 The next day a spirit of distress sent from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house while David played the harp as usual. Now Saul was holding a spear, 1 Samuel 19:9 But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp,

I Kings 22:21, 22, 23: …21Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ asked the LORD. 22And he replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’‘You will surely entice him and prevail,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’ 23So you see, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has pronounced disaster against you.”… Using this scripture as his key to the argument, the noted Christian author Gordon H. Clark states the following in his well published book God and Evil: "But, while God is the ultimate cause of sin, He is not the author of sin" Fellow Christians: "Do your best" in commenting ?

Now, once again,I adresses this question earlier when I gave you this link: https://answersingenesis.org/jesus-christ/resurrection/three-days-and-nights/ Which you obviously did not take time to read, which once again tell me that your mind is closed to objectively receiving answers to your questions. But for the record, the portion of the article that offers "Scriptural proof", I quote: There we have both plain scriptures and clear explanation that most of us seem to understand If you wish to deny the resurrection and it's significance and importance for the believer, that is your prerogative, but please do not be disrespectful by falsely say we have offered no scriptural proofs JC.

Well, JC, it looks to me like you do not want any "scriptural proof" outside of the limited passages you refer to. For the record, as for a Sunday Resurrection, I posited and quoted the following SCRIPTURE: You have yet to address this plain scriptural statement that Jesus was resurrected on the "first day of the week". Now unless you by refusing to acknowledge the obvious are seeking to justify either of these formerly established positions in your mind-set: You are an atheist who is trying to justify his unbelief. You are a Gnostic who denies the death and resurrection completely. A confused seeker who due to his restricted and sheltered environment cannot see beyond his own self- imposed limited culturally-bound thinking. Answer this question: Just what is it about this passage that is not scriptural or suitable for proof?

Well, Joe, I am not the official answer man here, but here is my understanding. Mark 16:9: 8So they left the tomb and ran away, overwhelmed with shock and amazement. And in their fear they did not say a word to anyone. 9After Jesus had risen, early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had driven out seven demons. 10She went and told those who had been with Him, who were now mourning and weeping.… So this scripture plainly tells me that He did. As for the three days and nights argument, that takes a bit of scholarship and reading outside of the confines of the Catholic Church to further understand. Here is a link to a very good article that answers the three days and nights controversy: https://answersingenesis.org/jesus-christ/resurrection/three-days-and-nights/ Also, for your information, at the time Our Lord walked the earth they had not yet invented the 24 hour clock. So the days were divided into 12 hours by using the sun's shadow during the day, and the nights into three "Night Watches": https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/watches-of-night/ Hope this helps

I would say it depended on God's purpose for the unbeliever.