Posted on 07/22/2007 7:40:38 PM PDT by xzins
Ego could be the very reason FOR allegory.. i.e. this divine gambit..
i.e. Outsmarting smart-alecks/clergy/theosophers.. ..
Its all spiritually discerned.. ;)..
[.. -How is an eternal conclusion differentiated from one that is not? ..]
Non eternal conclusions are not eternal...
What is eternal is also spiritually discerned..
Without the Holy Spirit you are up an unsanitary tributary..
I got that all by myself. :)
Its all spiritually discerned..
Perhaps you could offer a little more specificity. How is it discerned?
It would also be helpful if you gave an example of what you would categorize as a ‘greater fact’ in the meaning we are discussing.
thanks..
***”His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
That’s right! Just go with the flow...***
Perhaps he doesn’t believe in Matthew 6, either.
In your spirit.. Spiritual discernment happens in the spirit..
What is the spirit?.. Life.. Human life is in the spirit not in the flesh.. The difference between live DNA and dead DNA is the spirit.. When the spirit goes, DNA dies.. Are carrots alive?.. I suppose.. I'm not smart enough to be a Spiritologist.. I'm cursed or blessed to the Bible.. to know about spiritual things.. even then with the help of the Holy Spirit as much my spirit CAN RECEIVE..
Some people are smarter than me.. some people are smarter than GOD..
Greater than what?.. Science?, Physical science?... Facts greater than scientific fact?..
Spiritual fact(s).. How do you test spiritual fact?..
You cannot.. If you could "faith" would be nonsense..
***You know a loving God would have made things a lot easier for an average dummy to understand and believe. Perhaps that’s what God intended, but then all sorts of egos got in the way.***
Here is why people hear but do not understand: Matthew 13:
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
“‘You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
These were my questions, that you began proposing answers to here in response to my questions to another poster here.
I thought you were answering because you had the answers. :)
I guess we should just wait together.
I gave you some "answers".. WHo has the last word on anything?.. Can God REPENT?.. i.e. change course?, make course corrections?, be creative?.. start out one way and decide to go another?..
A Robotic all knowing God probably cannot.. You know, like the Buddhistic Robotic God or the strange christian God that some pray mechanical prayers too.. like the buddhists do..
I do hope God is a "lifeform", a living being, not a robotic mechanism.. or force.. or cartoonish Super-hero, or a real one... I don't think I am making God anthromorphic.. How can "he" be my "father" if I cannot relate to "him"?.. i.e. Jesus lesson on how to pray..
Some worry God can be made anthromorphic I on the other hand "worry" that God is being made a "ROBOT", in many cases.. Me being a computer programmer for 40+ years.. will not worship or reverence a ROBOT.. Some christians INDEED worship a Robotic God..
The Great Commission is a commandment FK, not something left up to Southern Baptists to fit to their own taste.
Sure, but the physical performing of commandments is not what saves us. That is, unless you are under the Law for your salvation. If so, then I wish you the best of luck and hope that you get a very high score. I think I'll stick with grace for my salvation. :)
FK: "Baptists see the water baptism as being symbolic of the already accomplished Spirit baptism."
The two must go hand in hand, FK. He said teach all nations (so that they may believe), and baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
No problem. We (Baptists) teach that water baptism should ideally be very soon after belief.
This word baptize comes from the Greek word baptiso which, in Greek, means numerous immersions (as opposed to the word bapto, which is a single immersion).
I couldn't find any reference for this. Here is what Strong's says:
NT:907 - baptizo (bap-tid'-zo); from a derivative of NT:911; to immerse, submerge; to make overwhelmed (i.e. fully wet); used only (in the N. T.) of ceremonial ablution, especially (technically) of the ordinance of Christian baptism: KJV - Baptist, baptize, wash.
There is no indication of multiple immersions there. Plus, we both know that scriptures never say or imply triple immersion. In fact, Matt. 3:16 says "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. ...". This would make no sense if He went up and down three times first.
Amen Brother!!
And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, (Romans 9:23 KJV)
That is why I carefully nuanced my reply. I said that God, a spiritual being, is present wherever He has an effect. Since God maintains being in existence, technically speaking, He never fully leaves a person. However, His "effect" is drastically limited when we turn away from Him and refuse to repent. Didn't Jesus make that clear to the Pharisees???
Regards
Yes. Maybe, just thinking out loud, it could be that:
- while we cannot properly view the Triune God like a human;
- we can relate more closely to God the Word Incarnate since He shared in our human nature. (which is a key point of the Incarnation).
- we can also relate to the first person of the Trinity;
- the most truthful way we humans can do this is as God the Father.
I believe, and you might agree, that the loving relationship of God the Father is an important part of what Jesus brought to us as the good news - and it was new.
How we relate, or view, God with or without anthropomorphizing is a most interesting question. I know there's a lot more to it than I know.
Thanks for your post..
“Verses 15-17 are about one thing (brother sinning again you). Verse 18 is about something else (Christ’s promise to the Apostles). They are not related.”
That interpretation makes no sense where the sentence is positioned. There were no verse distinctions until 1500 A.D.. When John wrote the passage it was a continuous thought about discipline in the church and the fact if the church puts the unrepentant brother out of fellowship it would be acknowledged and if he repented and they took him back that too would be acknowledged. That thought continues through the next sentences about “where two agree” or “where two or three are gathered”. It is in the body that the loosing and binding takes place just as Paul demonstrated with the man having incestuous relations with his step mother.
Do you count yourself amongst the chosen elite? If so, it makes this philosophy a very tempting and comforting one.
I believe that it was FK (pray correct me if I am wrong) that identified that God may lie to us for His purposes. If so, the eight may not have been the only ones. If not, then He has identified the rest of the world as so wicked that He caused them to perish.
Notice: wicked. It is what they have done, not what they have not done.
Right? I dare say that God has the right to do as He choses. It departs from the Gospels and from much of the Bible, though, to discard the greatest of His creations - man - to roast in hellfire forever for His pleasure.
I’d throw out a bunch of lawyer jokes here, but I’m afraid I’d be sued.
Why don’t lawyers eat Mississippi catfish? Professional courtesy...
Either we have free will or we don’t.
We don’t have part time free will, either time- or otherwise- constrained. If our intended purpose to freely worship God for ever, then we can’t do it if we are robot slaves.
If God made man in His own image, then who of us are not His children?
Are you saying that some of us are not men? Who are we? DEVO?
A man is not a car.
God knew before time what would happen and who would do what and when and why.
Why would God discard men; why would you compare them to cars, when all Christ’s teachings refer to us as children and not mere mechanical creations to be used and discarded at whim?
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