Are yuo suggesting I not rely o nthe gifts God gave these folks to correctly interpret His word in context?
That's just the point. How do you determine who is the one who correctly interprets His word? Is it Benny Hinn? And if not why not? Is it your pastor? And if so, why?
Nothing that you wrote in your previous statement is supported by Scripture. Nowhere does Scripture say that God halted all gifts of miracles, prophesy or healing.
God gifts soem men and women with the ability and authority to correctly interpret His word, authority in spiritual matters, that most of us are not gifted with- It is the gift whereby the Spirit appoints certain Christians to lead, inspire, and develop the churches of God
But don't you see the fallacy of what you have been saying. These gifts are included with those of prophesy, miracles and healings. If those three are no longer effective, neither is the ability to interpret His Word, nor authority. Either all go, or all stay. And furthermore, how do you know the person you are listening to has been granted that "authority"?
You need to be able to read God's Word for what It says, not what someone says it says. The best thing you can do is get a reasonable translation...and I said "translation"...read it without the bias of what you have been taught...and you have been biased by men's thoughts.
[[Nothing that you wrote in your previous statement is supported by Scripture. Nowhere does Scripture say that God halted all gifts of miracles, prophesy or healing.]]
Again, where are the miracles of today?- the true miracles? I keep asking and you keep avoiding the question. Everythign that was said was infact supported by Scriptures- and the scriptures coincide with life’s experiences- and observances- where are the miracles? there haven’t been ANY TRUE miracles for a long long time now- why is that? Is God’s power slowly diminishing away? Are men of faith losing faith and not able to perform the ‘really big miracles’ anymore?
[[But don’t you see the fallacy of what you have been saying. These gifts are included with those of prophesy, miracles and healings. If those three are no longer effective, neither is the ability to interpret His Word, nor authority.]]
Once again- there are 2 types of gifts- the gifts of the Holy Spirit for ALL Christians, and the miracle gifts that were for a VERY specific purpose when they were performed, as I’ve explained over and over again
[[Either all go, or all stay.]]
Really? According to whom I might ask? All or nothing? Again- show me the ‘really big miracles’ then- present hte evidence- The FACT is that the ‘really big miracles’ that superceede nature are NOT occuring today nor have they for a long time now- observance tells us that- so it seems the ‘all or nothing’ claim doesn’t hold up here- IF you can provide evidence that the ‘really big miracles’ that superceede nature are occurign today, then you have yourcase for miracles occuring even after hte days of the apostles- but these ‘really big nature superceeding miracles are NOT occuring today- and were they occuring, the papers and news would be filled with such spectacular works of God so that there woudl be no doubt, no confusion, no possible natural explanations- but again, that’s not what we see-
[[And furthermore, how do you know the person you are listening to has been granted that “authority”? ]]
God gives TRUE Chrisstians the ability to recognize their own, and the ability to know false teachings, and to spot charlatans- He even outlines how to do so in His word- and those that are of God display the fruit that is visible to all TRUE Christians- it’s really not that hard- Again the Holy Spirit also guides so that God’s children will know Him when they see Him through others
[[You need to be able to read God’s Word for what It says, not what someone says it says.]]
I am sorry- but htis is wrong- there are folks who are called by God to thoroughly study God’s word, to put many 1000’s of hours- dedicated to correctly dividing and understanding God’s word, and when the TRUTH is in them, the TRUTH is obvious to htose who know God- and I frankly have no problem listenign to those who have dedicated their lives to better udnerstandign God’s word, and have no problems supportign htose who have taken on the arduous task of doing so to better further my own understanding in steps that I can handle both spiritually and itnellectually- We’re not all gifted the same ways ,however, we all do have common gifts that help us to know TRUTH when we hear it- this is a gift from God to us to know Him- left to our own devices as before salvation, there is NOTHING in us that causes us to want to even get to know God on our own- Yet after salvation, we have that precious Gift from God that spurs us to know Him intimately, and learned men and women of God’s word know Him much deeper than we can on our own because they know more of the little nuggets of truth that to the lay folks liek us are not apaprent unless deep study takes place- when these nuggets are revealed, they perfectly coincide with ALL of God’s word, and help to further out knowledge beyond what we’re capable of at hte present.
Having said that- if you wish to go it alone, not trusting anyone- then whatever- but there is much growth to be had listenign to those who have heeded the call of God to study His word DEEPLY and to understand what is at fiorst glances, not immediately obvious to casual readers like ourselves
If you still dissagree- then we’ll have to part ways here simply agreeign to dissagree