FreeGrace

Still can't respond as the text does't appear.

Well, when I clicked the "quote" button, I get this blank post, so not able to respond. If the post is fixable, I will respond.

potato, potahtoe. No difference. To have a universe (matter) requires energy. So, can scientists tell us where this energy came from? Only the Bible tells us. You're quoting a government newsroom to get your information?? Of course all the angels were present when God created the heavens and earth. The Bible says so. And Ezek 28:11-15 is rather clear as to where Satan was before he rebelled.

Because God didn't give any details before He started the human race. If Lewis was referring to Satan as the "witch", of course he knew what existed before the beginning of the universe/earth. He was created before all that and lived in the abode of God. The issue is not accepting a beginning of the universe, but rather, the 'who' and 'how' of the beginning. Everyone has to accept that we have a universe, which should result in understanding that it has a beginning. There is no evidence that any matter can come from non matter. And simple logic and common sense knows that.

Do any of them know how the rapid expansion occurred? I didn't get anything wrong. I was repeating what has been taught. Why would it matter? I already know the how and why God created the heavens and earth. Of course. Since science was created by God, the Bible never contradicts science. God's supernatural powers exceed what science can measure/etc. Many apparently have not found that to be the case. Such as Hawkins, Dawkins, etc.

Since there is clear evidence that the universe had a beginning, why do many scientists continue to believe the universe always existed? Failed?? I wasn't tested on Darwin or what he wrote. I just reported on what seems to be the majority opinion about him and his theory. I've done better. I read the Bible, written by The Creator. And I know the universe had a beginning AND that it was a very long time ago.

Yes, I've met some. Do you mean that atheistic scientists, or at least some, believe that the universe always existed? Then why do they all give an age to the universe? It would seem the atheists use the figure of speech to explain what they cannot explain: that non matter created matter. Or words to that effect. Seems to me the whole problem is how one understands evolution. There seems to be a lot of people who think that Darwin left God out of creation. I never read his book "Origin of the species", but I've read a number of authors who have commented on it. My recollection of their writings makes Darwin out to be an atheist who believed that all life crawled/slithered/etc out of primordial sludge, or some such teaching.

Whether evolution begins with some random amoeba crawling out of some primordial slime, or is just how organisms change over time, isn't the issue. I learned about those random amoeba from my secondary schooling. And it was presented as evolution. However, the so-called argument about whether creation is science or not, vs evolution, which is so-called science, isn't the issue either. Consider from where the "big bang theory" comes from, which isn't the creationists, but from evolutionists. However, since creationism, as understood from what the Bible actually says, God spoke creation into existence. It would seem such a creation as the universe, as unmeasurably large as it is, would certainly make a noise. The only real difference is where matter actually comes from. Not sure what evolutions believe, though it seems pretty clear they reject what the Bible says. But what everyone should understand is that matter cannot come from non matter. Therefore, all matter has a Cause. Even secular science cannot argue against that.

One way of looking at it........... Seems to be all I see. When those with opposing ideas about what the Bible teaches are shown verses that plainly refute their claims, they double down on their claims, and whatever verses they quote/cite don't even say what they say. After pointing that out to them numerous times, they either just quit posting or get banned for getting all personal and such. Consider 2 Thess 2:3 - Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. The Greek word for 'rebellion' is the word that is transliterated as "apostasy". Makes me wonder if this prophecy refers to now, where so many among evangelicals do not agree with each other and don't see their error when shown verses that plainly refute their claims. In about 20 years of participating on Christian forums, I cannot recall a single p0ster who actually realized their error and admitted it on the forum. Much less thanking the poster who gave them the verse that refuted their error. So, one doesn't have to ask, "what is this world coming to?" It seems quite clear that we are in the very end of the "last days". Buckle up, folks. Gonna be a rough ride.

He was telling believers to grow up, be mature in the faith.

It was going just great. I provided interesting information, gathered from biblehub.com and explained why most of the translations put the end quote at the wrong spot, which made no sense. If you or anyone else who reads this thread can show how it makes sense, rather than where the 6 translations did put it, which does make sense, please proceed. It only goes nowhere when one quits posting.

No we don't. Nowhere does the Bible teach works for salvation, which your comment says. The ONLY WAY to have eternal life is through faith in Jesus Christ. Trusting in His WORK on the cross on y0ur behalf. There is nothing you can to receive eternal life other than trusting in His work. Any and everything else is just a form of Pharisee salvation by works. Can you provide any verses that support your claims here: that doing any of these things will result in receiving eternal life? No, the Bible tells us plainly what qualifies people for hellfire here: John 3:18 - Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 2 Thess 2:12 - and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. The words "have not believed" in both verses means "have NEVER believed". That is what qualifies people for condemnation and being cast into the LOF. And Rev 20:14,15 confirms that. James 2:14-26 has been rather poorly taught through the centuries. Even Luther failed to understand James, which he called a "right strawy epistle". biblehub.com quotes James 2:18 from 43 translations. Of them, only 13 do not include quote marks. Of the other 30, 6 translations have the end quote mark at the END of the verse, whereas all the other 26 only have the first part of the what James tells us what the "someone" said. Here is the verse from the NASB: But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” The 26 translations that have the end quote mark after "I have works", make no sense. It should be obvious that the "someone" SAYS the whole rest of the verse. iow, he may well say, "you have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works". If this "someone" only says "you have faith and I have works", what follows doesn't make sense. It only makes sense that he was challenging the one 'with faith' to show his faith without works, and he was clearly indicating that he himself HAD faith as well, not only works.

To be technically accurate, James was encouraging believers to demonstrate their faith by their works, per v.18. There are no texts that teach that works are a "side effect" of faith. Even Eph 2:10 doesn't say "will" but rather "should/ought". If works always followed faith, then there would be no need for all the commands for holy living, and all the encouragement to "keep the faith". I gave an example of the evangelist who mentored Billy Graham who left the faith after leading thousands to Christ. Please don't say he didn't have "real faith". And Jesus noted that there are people who "believe for a while" but fall away from their faith in times of testing/temptation. Luke 8:13

Thanks for this very important and thoughtful post! Believers can't be warned enough, or encouraged enough regarding our spiritual lives. I think of the spiritual life as having 2 sides, like a coin. One side is the command to "be filled with the Spirit" per Eph 5:18. On the other side are 2 commands: stop quenching the Spirit and stop grieving the Spirit, per Eph 4:30. It seems very few pastors even preach/teach on this subject. Almost as if assuming believers are generally filled with the Spirit by the things they do, otherwise known as the "spiritual disciplines". However, there is nothing in the Bible that indicates such a thing as being filled with the Spirit through lifestyle/behaviors. Since being filled with the Spirit is a command to obey (imperative mood), we must know HOW to obey that command. As a command, it is not either automatic or guaranteed. There are specific things that must be done in order to be filled with the Spirit. But first, we must understand the issue of being in fellowship with the Lord. 1 John 1 mentions "fellowship" 4 times in 3 verses, so this is a very important issue. Just like in a marriage, the couple out of fellowship with each other is a very poor relationship. We don't want that to be the case in our relationship with the Lord. And what causes a believer to be out of fellowship with the Lord? Sin. In fact, it's so serious that when out of fellowship, our prayers will not be heard! Psa 66:18 - If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. So sin offends the Lord. Not only that, but all "energy of the flesh", which can be all the moral and decent things people do also offend God. Isa 64:6 - Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind. The literal Hebrew for 'filthy rags' means "used menstral rags". So think about it. If believers are not confessing their sins regularly, they are out of fellowship and no matter how moral, upright and honest/etc they may be, and helpful around the church, that all comes from their own flesh, and not the Holy Spirit. So, both sin and morality from the flesh offend God, and put the believer out of fellowship. So the only way to restore fellowship with the Lord is to "keep short accounts" by confessing (admitting) our sins to God. That alone restores fellowship. Now the believer is in a position to obey the command to be filled with the Spirit. When Jesus was teaching the apostles how to pray, He ended by saying this, in Luke 11:13 - So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” To be clear, Jesus said this in an age when the Holy Spirit did not universally indwell every believer, but only those who had special jobs, etc. He was telling His disciples to ASK for the Holy Spirit. I believe this applies today for the filling of the Spirit. Every believer is indwelt with the Holy Spirit, who is given at the moment a person believes in Christ. 1 John 5:14 - And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 - And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. He only hears the believer when the believer is in fellowship with Him. So when we "know that He hears us" we also "know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him".

I find it interesting when people are presented with FACTS and see what they do with them. And sad.