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To: MarDav
If so, are there any I have mishandled, misrepresented?

Are there any instances where you see that there might be questions about how you have dealt with or interpreted or applied certain verses?

For example, you quote:Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

How do you know that that refers to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament? "The Word of God" does not necessarily or clearly denote only the Scriptures.

Similarly, while I'd entertain an argument that the quote from Psalm 119 refers to the Torah, I don't see that it indisputably refers to the Tanakh, much less to the NT.

I don't want to say, "You have mishandled this or that," but I can say that I think the conclusions you draw from the verses you cite are not proved by the verses.

6,383 posted on 06/17/2008 4:54:34 AM PDT by Mad Dawg (Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.)
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To: Mad Dawg

I would have copied and pasted the Bible in its entirety, but I think that would have been a bit much (;>}

I use scripture in my answers because I do not want to “mess up” what the Lord has said, mishandling or misrepresenting, notwithstanding—I am fallible, human and need to be checked, just as anyone else would. And that, I suppose, is the point. If the scriptures instruct us in this way or in that, and the scriptures are God’s word, then we owe it to our own eternal souls to listen to what they have to say (one was asking me if God “spoke” to me, and if so, how?—I think He was believing me to be getting some “special messages from above” or something). How do I know if the scriptures say what they say about a given area (grace, salvation, sin, etc)? I read them, I check them against other scriptures, I consider what other professing Christians have to say, I check them again, I re-read them, and on and on. Ultimately, God’s word settles the matter: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
God promised His followers that He would give to them His Spirit, Who is able to guide them into all truth...Who testifies of Me (Christ). God has given communication to man for as long as His special creation has been around (Adam communed with God in the garden) He is a revelatory God; for some reason He desires fellowship with His special creation:

Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”

It is in God’s nature to communicate. To speak.

You said,, “The Word of God” does not necessarily or clearly denote only the Scriptures.” I am not sure what you are trying to indicate here, but I know one on this thread was pointing out how Jesus “spoke” when He was revealing the mind of God, and I suppose the conclusion of the matter for that poster was that this means that all of scripture, all that God has to communicate, all that God has revealed of His full mind, His full intent, His full will has not been written down for us (I am not trying to put words in your mouth, feel free to clarify). To that I can only say, Amen, with a caveat. The Queen of Sheba, when she beheld Solomon’s wealth and wisdom concluded, “Surely, the half hath not been told!” Likewise, things concerning His will and intents for the future are part of His unfolding plan (prophetic books, such as The Revelation contain things that will become apparent, but are simply not fully apparent just now). But God has revealed in His scripture all that is necessary for things pertaining to salvation (2Tim. 3:15And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.)
The test, though, of whether something is or is not of God is that it must be brought up against what is known of God—His word. When I try to discern if something is like God, how do I discern this? I take it and place it against what I know about God. I can, I suppose, place it against what someone else has said about God and rely upon that one’s authority, but if I want to know for myself (it is, after all, my eternal soul that is at issue in these matters), I must do the assaying (and God, by His Spirit, graciously reveals Himself:

Phil. 3:10-15 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.”

I can, of course, draw lessons from history, look to those in the past who have made similar inquiries. But I still need to be sure that they have made their inquiries based on valid suppositions, evidences, etc. and that their intent was to discern the mind of God and not mishandle/misrepresent.

There are no private interpretations (so any conclusions I or someone else draws from scripture must be checked), but there are depths of understanding. I’m a school teacher. I have ‘A’ students, ‘B’ students, and you can go right on down the line. Each one has a level of understanding, an intellect. Was each accountable for what was on the final exam? You betcha. Did each pass? No. Did each receive the same grade? Uh-uh. Did some do better than others? Well, now, that’s an interesting question. I had some ‘B’ students who were actually a bit disappointing, and I had some ‘D’ students who were a pleasant surprise. Both students were able to enter into the joy of 11th grade! Likewise, with believers. All enter into the joy of the Lord (I’m talking about those who have accepted Christ as Savior), but not all with the same understanding. Some will not fully grasp the nature of grace the way others might, for example. Does God look disfavorably upon those that don’t fully understand? Only if they were not using the measure of grace God had given them to understand.

While it may well be true, as you point out, the verse from Psalm 119 may be pointing specifically to the Torah (how many of the histories, wisdom books, prophtetic books were written at the time? Not to mention, none of the NT), yet the application of what the psalmist mentions is indeed valid for all of scripture (the NT verse in Ephesians 5 I cited indicates the church is to cleanse itself by the “washing of water of the word”—the principle established in the Old is continued in the New. I’m not sure I see how that can be viewed any other way, as, when scripture is compared with scripture, there is consistency.


6,396 posted on 06/17/2008 6:07:32 AM PDT by MarDav
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