Replies

I'll post the passage again, just for you. BTW, thanks for this chance to post it again; perhaps the confused DU poster will better comprhend the incident with a rereading of the original post.

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. ... Notice how James doesn't say 'ask if something is untrue' or 'ask if it is not true.' Wisdom is not 'delineating what is untruth'; wisdom is knowing The Truth for to know The Truth you are freed from the untruth because it cannot stand in the light of Truth.

I have prayed the faulty prayer dictated to me by Mormon missionaries more than two decades ago, then I began reading the B of M. I got an 'answer' all right, a very negative one; not an answer directly tied to the truth or falsehood of the B of M, a very clear rebuke for asking something that has at its root the implication that God has not provided sufficiently for me a new faither in Christ Jesus. Satan used that trick with Eve, implying that God had left out something vital to Eve and Adam. It took a mature Christian to explain to me why I got a rebuke. Thankfully, he was there to guide me at a time when confusion was growing. Again I declare, at the root of Mormonism is the demonic lie that that which Jesus said would not be defeated by the gates of hell, was actually defeated for a season of approx. 1700 years, and in need of 'restoration' with a lying, adulterous, treasure divining false prophet who fabricated materials he claimed were 'from God' and even rewrote the Bible to try and fabricate prophesies of his 'coming in these latter days.' THAT great heresy that God has lost or left off something vital is the same lie sown by Satan in the Garden!

Mormonism Apologists will often try to counter the above assertion by pleading to look at the fruits of Mormonism in adherents of that religion. I have yet to read a Mormonism Apologist explain to me the difference between fruit of the spirit and fruit of the striving flesh. They can cite Bible verses which enumerate fruit of the spirit, but they haven't a clue how that is evidenced in contrast with fruit of the flesh striving 'to do all that they can do' to earn exaltation. It is a huge blind spot for Mormons ... they cannot fathom that good works are not fruit of the spirit so they strive to do 'the good works that God has ordained for us to walk in' but they accomplish all they can without the indwelling Holy Spirit as author of fruit so they believe they are acting 'godly' in their behavior cited as good fruit but is actually fruit of the flesh as show to pretend God is bring that fruit out of them.

Fruit of the Spirit is a very individual thing authored by the indwelling Holy Spirit as the transformational work Jesus taught us to comprehend through the teachings of the Apostle Paul whom He chose to unfold that great mystery! The natural mind cannot produce righteousness in the natural man/woman. The natural mind can imitate, but it cannot produce that which ONLY GOD can create. The Blood of Christ cleanses the human spirit throne of 'self' and then the Holy Spirit of God comes to reside there, transforming the one believing in Jesus by the renewing of the mind of the soul. [Jesus gave notice of this relationship of spirit and soul when he spoke of 'let the dead go bury the dead'.]

Faith is an action word, not static. I can 'believe' I have a truck in the driveway that will take me to the store, but until I pick up the keys, walk out to the truck and insert the key and try the engine, I have a 'not yet living faith'. James tried to explain the contrast in the ~~letter~~ he wrote. He failed because his mind was steeped in 'works of the law'. James failed to explain it as the entire rest of the Bible teaches because James himself couldn't release his mind from the 'authority of the law' --and the contrast is in the Bible for our edification, to show what is not the 'believed God and it was counted for him righteousness.' Faith is better understood by seeing it as 'to faithe', an action term.

ONLY the human soul with the Holy Spirit indwelling the human spirit will have fruit of the Spirit. Oh, it's no secret that lots of leafy show gets paraded out as 'fruit of the spirit', but there are no figs there so the showy tree is accursed; the truth in the Bible teaches that fruit of the spirit is individual and internal, first, then it flows out for the world to witness as that listed in the Bible. Jesus even illustrated this principle with a fig tree He cursed for not having fruit but lots of leafy show, with the parable of the lamps and oil, and the sower and the seed.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is a thing; faithe is a life being lived by direction form the source of Life. Deliverer faith is something, some One, Who comes in the minute one believes Jesus is the Christ and God has raised Him from the dead. Delivering faith is a day-by-day leaning upon the promise of God to transform the faither. Fruit of this transformation is first individually internal, then it manifests outwardly from the new 'flesh' (read self) God's Holy Spirit is gestating by His work; faithe is not 'all that we can do', it is all that He does in use to transform us. We are to submit, He will transform.