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Can God's people be united today? |
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John 17:11
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Jesus prayed for unity. In His time there were Jewish parties, or sects -- Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Herodians, Essenes -- but the vast majority of the people were not a member of any of these parties. Today Christianity is severed into hundreds of factions each claiming to be "the church" or a part of "the church" of the Lord Jesus Christ. How can this be? Why is "the church" so splintered? Are there any unifying principles that can bring God's people together in our time? |
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Did the disciples use 'sidearms'? |
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John 18:10
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Nolan ... Luke 22:36-38 is interesting. It appears that only two people were carrying swords. They probably Simon the Zealot - that was his background and Simon Peter, who only got the ear of Malchus. Jesus got after Peter (vs 11) and healed the ear (Luke 22:51). I do not think he was usuing it in self-defense.
I do not think it advocates the use of sidearms or even a sword. Since there were no sidearms around in the Bible, we cannot say if the Bible advocates them. I also do not see anything saying we should have a weapon ... only 2 of them had one. They faced a lot more swords.
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Did the disciples use 'sidearms'? |
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John 18:10
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Thanks Steve. After reviewing several passages such as John 18:10, Matthew 26 and Luke 22:36-38, I have come to the conclusion that the disciples did not wear or use or advocate the use of sidearms. As you have said, the only two that did so were the two Simons- Simon the Zealot and Simon Peter. |
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Is the Word-Faith movement biblical ? |
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John 10:27
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Dear Radioman,
You break my heart. Forgive you? You are no way near the 7 X 70. I love a hot head, it's proof of a soldier's heart and if you look at the 12 Jesus chose, two were the Son's of Thunder, one was a Zealot and we all know about Peter. Jesus keeps company with the likes of you; calling you friend instead of servant.
By the way, your stray bullet just might have been ordained for me (Ps 76:10), for much of what you said was a warning how close I get to a line I should never cross.
Friends? I sincerely hope so.
Brothers? I pray you judge me so.
mrk |
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Bible references on leadership |
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NT general
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For leadership in the Bible, one can carry out a study by looking at the lives of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, and Deborah..
If we look at Abraham, we see how his children regarded him in Matt. 3:9; Luke 13:16,28; 19:9; John 8:33-40, 52-59. He was unselfish (Gen. 13:9; 21:25-30) and independent in character (Gen. 14:23; 23:6-16). He was a friend of God (Isaiah 41:8; 2 Chr. 20:7; James 2:23) and had faith (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:1-22; Gal. 3:6-9; Heb. 11:8-10, 17-19; James 2:21-24). These are some of the characteristics that would define a good leader.
As for Moses, he was commissioned as leader of the Israelites (Ex. 3:10-22; 6:13) and leads them out of Egypt (Ex. 13). He institutes a system of government (Ex. 18:13-26; Num. 11:16-30; Deut. 1:9-18). He was not afraid to confront his subordinates (Ex. 32:22-23; Lev. 10:16-20; Num. 12). Moses was impatient (Ex. 5:22-23; 6:12; 32:19; Num. 11:10-15; 16:15; 20:10; 31:14) and respected and feared (Ex. 33:8). Moses had faith (Num. 10:29; Deut. 9:1-3; Heb. 11:23-28). Moses was called the 'man of God' (Deut. 33:1). Moses was meek (Ex. 14:13-14; 15:24-25; 16:2-3,7-8; Num. 12:3; 16:4-11). Moses was obedient (Ex. 7:6; 40:16,19,21) and unaspiring (Num. 14:12-20; Deut. 9:13-29, with Ex. 32:30). But most of all, Moses was willing to 'stand in the gap' and intercede for Israel before God (Psalm 106:23), even taking responsibility for Israel's sins on himself! (Ex. 32:11-14). John Maxwell once said, "You cannot be an effective leader until you can show that person knows how much you care."
Joshua was associated with Moses (Ex. 24:13; 32:17; 33:11) and was a religious zealot (Num. 11:28). He was rewarded for his courage and fidelity (Num. 14:30,38; 32:12) and commissioned to follow Moses in leadership (Num. 27:18-23; Deut. 1:38; 3:28; 31:3,7,23; 34:9). Joshua was divinely inspired (Num. 27:18; Josh. 1:5,9; 3:7; 8:8). Joshua leads the people into Canaan (Joshua 1-4; Acts 7:45) and allots the land (Joshua 13-19). Joshua was held in high esteem (Josh. 1:16-18) and was a man of faith (Josh. 6:16).
Gideon leads the army of Israel (Judg. 6:33-35; 7; 8:4-12). Israel desires him to be king, but he refuses (Judg. 8:22-23). He was also a man of faith (Heb. 11:32).
Deborah was a prophetess and judge of Israel (Judg. 4:4-5, 5:7). She inspires Barak to defeat Sisera (Judg. 4:6-16) and lead Israel in a triumphant song (Judg. 5). She was also a woman of faith (Judg. 4:9).
Are there common 'traits' or characteristics of the above mentioned leaders of Israel that would define or characterize leadership in the Bible (and therefore: for today)? Yes! :)
Hope this helps!
Nolan (with the aid of Nave's Topical Bible) |
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For Joe. |
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Bible general Archive 1
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Dear Joe!
"Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." 1 Peter 2:12 NASB
My point is that not all are converted from Gentile to perfected believer (like yourself?) in an instant, nor are all brought up in an environment that recognizes Christ. Indeed, you are zealous, but I believe that we should all know the difference between zealousy for Jesus, and being a religious zealot, often intolerant and bigoted.
Joe, the letters to Timothy are written by Paul to his most accomplished disciple. We cannot expect all Christians to be at this level, can we? I know that I may not yet be there, but I apsire to it. However, intemperate views can, and often do, discourage the less mature, and we are responsible for that.
Friend, do you really expect everyone that logs in to this Forum to be as responsible as that? I don't.
Blessings and peace in Jesus' name, charis |
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Zealot, are you a sinner or saint? |
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Rom 8:10
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Zealot, thanks for your answer. You have indeed laided out a good explanation. But, brother, I ask you to consider one thing. Not everyone is a sinner. 63 times in the New Testament, believers are referred to as saints. In fact, Paul never addresses his letters, "To the sinners at Corinth, To the sinners at Ephesus, To the sinners at Philippi, etc." You have rightly stated that our spirits are made alive with Christ. This being the case, we are born again spiritually and your new birth determines your identity, not your actions. We were all born sinners the first time. But at new birth, we are born in righteousness and holiness and God never refers to us again as sinners. If you'd like to do any interesting study, look up the word 'sinner' in the NT context. It is used almost exclusively of Gentiles and unbelievers. If God calls you a saint 63 times in the NT, then that is pretty good proof that you are no longer a sinner. Do you still sin? Yes. But that is not who you are. How would you like to go through your entire life labeled by your one major weakness?
If you run around your house barking, chewing on the furniture, soiling the rug, and panting, does that make you a dog? No. Why? Because, no matter how you act, you were born a human.
If you put clothes on your dog (some do, ya know), seat him at the dinner table, and teach him to use the commode, does that make him a human? No. Why? He was born a dog and a dog he will remain.
Likewise, we are spiritually born again and, though we may ACT like sinners occasionally, we will NEVER be sinners again.
Why is this important? Because the Bible says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. If you believe, at your deepest level, that you are a sinner, then how will you act? If you believe that you are a saint, then how will you act? You will act out whatever you believe is true of yourself. I am not spouting some 'name-it-and-claim-it' wishful thinking. God says unequivically that we are saints. What He says is true, regardless of my actions. What do you think? |
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Kindly explain this verse to me. |
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Rom 8:10
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Hi Delaro, Hi also to Zealot; welcome to the forum. I believe that this was your first post here.
Steve and Zealot have given you their understanding using the small s "spirit". If you go to the NKJ you will see a reading of "yet the Spirit is alive because of righteousness." I have decided on Spirit and will speak to you from that perspective.
1) If (Christ) is in you: verse 9, ..if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. ***I would interpret 9b as "If anyone does not believe in the Deity of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
2) though the body is dead: The Greek says"the" body so it could be yours or Christ's. To be honest, I don't know if the Greek word for "body" would allow a plural. Since we are sinners and not righteous, and since this is God's word, let's go with Christ's body. He gave up His spirit; He died as an offering for sin, verse 3.
3) Yet the Spirit is alive because of righteousness. This living Spirit is what will give life to your mortal bodies because of His righteousness. Verse 11, "through His (Spirit) who dwells in you.
4) Here we come to another choice for verse 15. You can find it spirit or Spirit in the translations. In the last months I've leaned toward Spirit so it would read like this, "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a Spirit of adoption as sons..."
5) Verse 16, "The Spirit (Himself) testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God..." Compare also Gal 4:7 heirs through God. The parentheses are for comparison.
Later, Ray |
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Hebrews 11:32 Who was sawed in two? |
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Hebrews
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I don't have any Biblical proof of this but I saw in a Catholic Book of the Saints, that Simon the Zealot (Apostle-Cananean) was sawn in half. It said that he and the Apostle Jude traveled together and were martyred by some Priests. |
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False prophets glorify God? |
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1 Pet 2:12
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Dear Steve,
Greetings in the name of Jesus!
Friend, I am not quite sure what you are saying. (but feel free to vent! we all do! :-))
Are you saying that God uses even the false prophets for His glory? If so, I would respectfully disagree. I see many Christian zealots doing great damage to the name of Christ and the credibility of the church. The fact that some DO find the Lord through these 'ministries' is only God's grace to those with faith, not an attribute of the questionable (or downright wrong) teaching.
My point is that though God can use charlatans and buffoons to touch a few, many more are turned away from God, sometimes irreversibly. Some even become campaigners against Christ because of these antics of 'zeal.'
So... zeal must be tempered with knowlege (as Hank pointed out below) or our 'un-excellent' behavior can be a detriment to the church.
In Christ Jesus, charis |
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You shall not Murder, then told too?? |
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OT general
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If they were 12 "strong men" with two swords then why would they hide as they did after the death of Jesus? The Zealots were much better armed and they took on the Romans. Given the context about going out and being supplied by faith divine grace woould provide them with the necessary provisions it is far more likely that Jesus was basically saying that if you don't have faith then with the sword you could take what ever you thought you would need. I forget which commentary I read that in. Perhaps if you looked you'd find it (I just got up from a half sleep after a 16 hour shift so I'm still brain-dead here.). |
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Explaination of Mark 13:28-31 |
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Mark 13:28
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Greetings SRN!
Thanks for the response!
Not to be rude, but without evidence, an opinion is meaningless. There is not any historical evidence that Jesus lead a rebellion against Rome.
In fact, there is evidence to the contrary. Consider the following:
1) John 16:15 - "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself."
Here was the perfect opportunity to lead a rebellion against Rome, but He rejected it.
2) John 18:28 - " Jesus said, ‘‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”"
Here Jesus plaining denies having any earthly kingdom or desiring to fight for a kingdom.
3) Mark 12:14: Here the pharisees tried to trick Jesus with the loaded question, "Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?". If Jesus had been a political zealot seeking to overthrow Rome, He would have been forced to answer 'no'. The zealots held that it was "unlawful to acknowledge the sovereignty of a Gentile ruler." (F. F. Bruce, "New Testament History", pg. 96.)
Yet, He acknowledges that it is okay to pay taxes to Rome.
So, since there is no historical or Biblical evidence to support that Jesus was a politial leader or that "fig tree" referred to a political group, I would have to reject that opinion.
Your Brother in Christ,
Tim Moran |
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Is baptism done only once? |
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Eph 4:5
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Ac 11:15
And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
Ac 11:16
Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized
with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Acts 10:44-48 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.
You have Peter saying That the Baptism of the Holy Spirit of all those believers gathered in Cornelius house was a fulfillment of what Jesus told them,and even with that knowledge Peter has them baptized in water also which serves a purpose (though you do not see the purpose). Then you do not have any apostle ever saying that one know longer needs to be baptized in water but you are willing to make that leap in you doctrine. This is adding to the scripture.
Acts 19:2-7 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And all the men were about twelve.
So here we have Paul making a difference between being Baptized under John's ministry (who was not baptizing them in the Name of Jesus but did not even know the name of Jesus until after Jesus came to be baptized of John. So afterwards the disciples of Christ baptized in Jesus name and that baptism is a fuller revelation of what God was doing in reconciling man to God through Christ of which John only had hints or but not the full understanding. These 12 men had been baptized in Johns baptism, and yet they still needed a revelation of Christ. Paul undoubtedly preaches Christ to them and has them Baptized in the name of Jesus, though I do not think Paul did the baptizing but rather he had helpers. After these 12 were baptized then Paul laid hands on them to recieve the Holy Ghost and they spoke in tongues and prophecied. God is still doing this today. New Believers are saved by believing, and if they will go all the way with God they will publically pledge allegiance to Christ (which in that day they were truly taking a stand to be willing to die if need be) Today baptism in water and publically pledging allegiance to Christ is acceptable, in that day it was like stepping over the line and saying you are now ready to die for your faith.
This sort of commitment is the purpose behind baptism in water. It is the initiation rite into this elite organization of zealots for God.
You are either with Christ or you are against Him
The Baptism in the Holy Ghost is also available to all believers that will ask and expect it.
God Bless you All in the Study of His Word! |
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Was Clopas Cleopas? |
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NT general
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Greetings, songbird!!
Yes, the Clopas in John(or, Cleophas in the KJV) is indeed the same as Cleopas in Luke 24. Why the different spellings, I do not know.
As far as Simon, I believe that is also Peter. It may, however, be another of the apostles, Simon the Zealot.
Peace be with you always!!
2nd Samuel 22 |
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