Talk is Cheap

[missmuffet]

Observe a person's words along with their actions. That will tell of their character, integrity, morals and values. 

[TheBlade]

This "Once upon a time a man's word was his bond. " I am old enough to remember. You'd hear "well he gave his word.. he will never brake that". Praise God.. our Father is exactly that. We have it.. and He will never ever brake His word.

[Ray12614]

21 hours ago, JTC said:

This is why that we who are true Christians have to prove it through our behavior.

Agreed. Sorry if I got off base a little. Yes, true belief will cause altering ones behavior and attitudes. If I really believe that it is going to rain, I will go outside and roll-up my car windows, and close the windows of my house to keep things from getting wet. If I really believe that Jesus is my Lord and Savior, I will begin to find out what He expects from me, and change my life to conform to His will for me. Now, I have found over the years that sometimes, my personal stubborn will, gets in the way of me doing that, sometimes I stray from reading His word, and applying His word in my life. That does not mean I am not saved, but it always means that I need to repent and conform to His will for my life. Thankfully, I have always had an 'awakening' to the seriousness of my straying, and returned to Jesus my Lord. Its His Goodness that caused me to repent. Thank you Jesus!!!

And yes, what I believe DID change my actions, as the Book of James declares - faith without works is dead . .  

Hope that put your thread back on course just a little.

Ray .  .  

[JTC]

It seems so obvious that when you accept Jesus as Lord you have to do certain things, or actually you usually have to stop doing certain things. I think it's obvious but a lot of people deny this, they want their words to mean more than their actions. Maybe that was true 2000 yrs ago but isn't true anymore. That's the main point of this thread.

[BibleStudent100]

On 6/3/2020 at 12:20 PM, JTC said:

The professor wanted to explain why Paul tells the story of what happened to him on the road to Damascus 3 separate times and the reason surprised me.

Thank you for sharing these thoughts, but I did not realize that Paul told his conversion story three times, but yes he did:

• Acts 9:3-8 
• Acts 22:6-11 
• Acts 26:12-18

Even though the thread went in different directions, I would like to go back to an original thought of yours: why would Paul tell how his conversion occurred three different times?  I would be interested in the views of the contributors in this forum.

My thoughts are that by telling the story more than once, he could inject additional clarifying points (e.g. in one version a voice is heard, but in another version, that voice is speaking in Hebrew); it could also be that he was retelling the story three times for emphasis, as that story is powerful: the transformative power of conversion, especially of those who work against God.  And now, with your thought that a person's personal word that is verbalized carried more weight than the person's word in print (opposite of today, wherein anything legally important must be written) could be why Paul told his conversion story three times.  

Very fascinating and thank you for sharing
 

 

[BibleStudent100]

On 6/3/2020 at 12:20 PM, JTC said:

The professor wanted to explain why Paul tells the story of what happened to him on the road to Damascus 3 separate times and the reason surprised me.

Thank you for sharing these thoughts, but I did not realize that Paul told his conversion story three times, but yes he did:

• Acts 9:3-8 
• Acts 22:6-11 
• Acts 26:12-18

Even though the thread went in different directions, I would like to go back to an original thought of yours: why would Paul tell how his conversion occurred three different times?  I would be interested in the views of the contributors in this forum.

My thoughts are that by telling the story more than once, he could inject additional clarifying points (e.g. in one version a voice is heard, but in another version, that voice is speaking in Hebrew); it could also be that he was retelling the story three times for emphasis, as that story is powerful: the transformative power of conversion, especially of those who work against God.  And now, with your thought that a person's personal word that is verbalized carried more weight than the person's word in print (opposite of today, wherein anything legally important must be written) could be why Paul told his conversion story three times.  

Very fascinating and thank you for sharing
 

 

[Salvation67]

On 6/4/2020 at 9:58 AM, leah777 said:

I dont have to prove I am a true Christian to anyone. God sees the changes and working out in my heart and mind. That is sufficient. Likewise for every other person. 

There are still many people of integrity on this planet. I dont understand the negativity about our fellow humans in general. 

I would expect words of some men to have been useless all though time. Jesus spent some time calling certain ones hypocrites, for example. There are many psalms about those who lie and break their word.

You absolutely right, I feel the same. I owe no man an explanation of my walk with God. I know I have many areas I need improvement on and areas I need to change and will not deny it. He is working on me with those issues and thats what I tell people.

[Prycejosh1987]

I half agree with that. It is true that behaviour counts, but the main focus is belief in Jesus and following his teaching. To believe in Jesus fully is the only way a person can be saved as there needs to be a payment for sin. Only Jesus being the lamb of god, can pay for our sin because he is eternal from past to future.

[Prycejosh1987]

It depends because you can have to behaviour but still not be saved, behaviour in belief is a proof that you are saved.

[Sower]

On 6/4/2020 at 6:29 AM, Ray12614 said:

My dad's word and hand shake was binding to him even if it was not beneficial to him. I love and appreciate my dad for all he taught me.

Ray  . . .  

Well done is better than

well said....