Misc All Things Religious

[Iceagewhereartthou]

Curious to wether there's a divide on the inspiration of the old testament compared to the new testament. Because the writers were not filled with the holy spirit in the old testament but where or started to in the new testament. Either way God spoke to people in both times. God often used dreams as dreams where very frequent ways of communication for people back then. Even to this day my pastor tells us stories when he goes to Israel in the middle east that a lot of people ,Muslims included come to know of Jesus through dreams. Which is crazy to think of. But if you don't have the bible to be able to read God will find away. Most people know there is a higher being and seek out this higher being but get led astray with many many false gods that are unfruitful.

For the first bolded: just curious; how did you come to this conclusion? I think the Holy Spirit was certainly around well before the New Testament. I think we could point to many stories and times where we would see this but Genesis 1:2 may very well point to the Holy Spirit being present right after creation; "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the water."

I have read commentary, and heard sermons, on the involvement of the Trinity in creation. Here is a link to an article discussing this; not saying it's authoritative but a good read. https://theologyontheground.com/the-trinity-in-creation/
Here is an excerpt:

"And the whole Trinity was involved in creation.
In the opening lines of the book of Genesis, we read that “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2). Here we have God clearly identified as the creator. It’s usually assumed that the Father is the one being referenced here with the term “God.” What is interesting here is that we also have the presence of the Spirit in verse two. Now, as we have mentioned in this series, the Bible’s teaching on the Trinity doesn’t reach its full clarity until the New Testament, so it is likely that many of the original readers would not have seen the mention of the Holy Spirit as a reference to another divine person. But for those who believe that all scripture is inspired by God, it certainly makes it interesting to look at the inclusion of the Spirit here in light of what is taught about him being a separate divine person from the Father and the Son in the New Testament."

And here is a link for another article discussing some other mentions of the Holy Spirit in the OT. https://www.compellingtruth.org/Holy-Spirit-Old-Testament.html

For the second bold; I agree. OT followers of God obviously did not have a cannonized Bible and weren't even Christians in the sense of being followers of Christ. But the sacrifice of Jesus is not bound by time, so was retroactive, for all who followed God.

Edit:

Just wanted to add this about the divide in inspiration for OT vs NT; they are for two different covenants. The OT was specific to the Hebrews (Isrealites) as they were living in a pre -Messianic world. Even though the sacrifice of Jesus would be retroactive, they did not have His example to follow and still had to obey God. The NT is the new covenant after Jesus and the OT, The Law became obsolete. "By calling this covenant "new" he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear." Hebrews 8:13.

 

[NCSNOW]

1John 2:27
But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

The same Holy spirit that resides inside us as christians today, was the same one inspiring men to pen those books of the bible, men to canonize, and all those men,women throughout the old testament.

3 in 1, 1 in 3.

Hebrews 13:8-9
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. 9 Be not acarried about with divers and strange bdoctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

 

[Zander98al]

For the first bolded: just curious; how did you come to this conclusion? I think the Holy Spirit was certainly around well before the New Testament. I think we could point to many stories and times where we would see this but Genesis 1:2 may very well point to the Holy Spirit being present right after creation; "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the water."

I have read commentary, and heard sermons, on the involvement of the Trinity in creation. Here is a link to an article discussing this; not saying it's authoritative but a good read. https://theologyontheground.com/the-trinity-in-creation/
Here is an excerpt:

"And the whole Trinity was involved in creation.
In the opening lines of the book of Genesis, we read that “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2). Here we have God clearly identified as the creator. It’s usually assumed that the Father is the one being referenced here with the term “God.” What is interesting here is that we also have the presence of the Spirit in verse two. Now, as we have mentioned in this series, the Bible’s teaching on the Trinity doesn’t reach its full clarity until the New Testament, so it is likely that many of the original readers would not have seen the mention of the Holy Spirit as a reference to another divine person. But for those who believe that all scripture is inspired by God, it certainly makes it interesting to look at the inclusion of the Spirit here in light of what is taught about him being a separate divine person from the Father and the Son in the New Testament."

And here is a link for another article discussing some other mentions of the Holy Spirit in the OT. https://www.compellingtruth.org/Holy-Spirit-Old-Testament.html

For the second bold; I agree. OT followers of God obviously did not have a cannonized Bible and weren't even Christians in the sense of being followers of Christ. But the sacrifice of Jesus is not bound by time, so was retroactive, for all who followed God.

The holy spirit was around, but not within people. Couldn't be filled with the holy spirit until after Jesus Christ died, I've heard that the holy spirit was characterized as a "moving wind apon the earth" in it's days before formerly becoming apart of a saved Christian. It's why people in the old testament before the holy spirit and Jesus died, were spoken To in dreams and by angels a lot

 

[NCSNOW]

Copy and pasting this.

The Holy Spirit was the agent of creation. In the account of creation at the very beginning of the Bible, we are told: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:1–2). The Hebrew word translated as “Spirit” here is ruach, which also can mean “breath.” The ruach elohim, “the Breath of the Almighty,” is the agent in creation. It is not the immateriality of the Spirit that is in view here, but rather His power and energy; the picture is of God’s energy breathing out creation, as it were, speaking the worlds

Heres the whole article.

5 Things You Should Know about the Holy Spirit

Jesus said: “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send hi

www.ligonier.org

 

[Zander98al]

Copy and pasting this.

The Holy Spirit was the agent of creation. In the account of creation at the very beginning of the Bible, we are told: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:1–2). The Hebrew word translated as “Spirit” here is ruach, which also can mean “breath.” The ruach elohim, “the Breath of the Almighty,” is the agent in creation. It is not the immateriality of the Spirit that is in view here, but rather His power and energy; the picture is of God’s energy breathing out creation, as it were, speaking the worlds

Heres the whole article.

5 Things You Should Know about the Holy Spirit

Jesus said: “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send hi

www.ligonier.org

I wonder if this is where the phrase breath of life is derived ?

 

[Iceagewhereartthou]

I have to agree 100% in regards to all the rewrites. I consider myself Christian.. HOWEVER.. I also believe their are many many paths one can take to ultimately transition to "heaven" when our human bodies pass.
What is most concerning is that society as we know it is mostly a result of ONE religion which is of course Christianity.
That being said I left organized religion for decades but returned because I refuse to let bigots decide who does or doesn't belong!!

I think I understand your point here but I just wanted to say (with regards to the bold) the truth is no people (bigoted or not) decide who does or does not belong in Heaven. That decision is a matter that is solely between God and each individual. God's grace and the sacrifice of Jesus makes us "worthy" to be in relationship with God again after sin separated us. Being with God eternally is Heaven, separated eternally is Hell. Each individual has a choice about whether they want to be with Him or not. I am not sure in what sense you are using the word "bigot" here, but every person, certainly Christians and myself included, are flawed and fall short of representing Christ accurately.

 

[NCSNOW]

Being filled with the holy spirit is a continual process, not a one time event. How we grow as christians . The more we submit and follow the Holy Spirit leading, the more we grow as christians. Its sobbering as a modern day christian, reading about several men and women through out the Bible and how spirit filled they where, fully surrendered. Who was it Elijah with his son on the altar and a ram comes out of the thicket at the last second. Man you talk about Faith,Obedience in the lord. They had to be filled with the spirit of God.
The earliest reference to be filled with the Spirit is Ex 31:2–5 “"See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut ...

 

[NCSNOW]

Enjoy reading everyones thoughts in here tonight. Pray I never muddy up Gods word, will, plan speaking anything but his truth. Sure im not alone and appreciate everyone asking questions,posting thoughts, questions etc., letting me and everyone else participate, chime in.
Made me do some research, thinking I wouldbt have otherwise done.
Jesus sent,promised the Holy spirit to come for beleivers and dwell with them right before he ascended up to heaven. But its clear, the holy spirit has been around and working since the begining of time. Agent of divine interaction between God and Man.

 

[Zander98al]

Being filled with the holy spirit is a continual process, not a one time event. How we grow as christians . The more we submit and follow the Holy Spirit leading, the more we grow as christians. Its sobbering as a modern day christian, reading about several men and women through out the Bible and how spirit filled they where, fully surrendered. Who was it Elijah with his son on the altar and a ram comes out of the thicket at the last second. Man you talk about Faith,Obedience in the lord. They had to be filled with the spirit of God.
The earliest reference to be filled with the Spirit is Ex 31:2–5 “"See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut ...

I think the spirit of God it was talking about here is different than the holy spirit. I may be wrong but I think it's specifically uses Spirit of God and Holy Spirit as two different things.

 

[Zander98al]

I think the spirit of God it was talking about here is different than the holy spirit. I may be wrong but I think it's specifically uses Spirit of God and Holy Spirit as two different things.

Context and language are very important, because meanings of even simple sentences can be changed when we understand the true meaning and context of a verse or phrase. Another thing that's good in figuring out and understanding meaning is by cross referencing through different bible versions Like KJV to NIV and etc.

 

[Iceagewhereartthou]

I feel like women chasing and sex in general is the big problem of my current generation. There's so many avenues to be a part of it, and the language other guys use a lot of the time. Still don't understand the pressures of women staying virgins but guys not being virgins as early as possible. I got so tired of the constant lustful images and things put in my face from Instagram, tik tok all that junk I just eventually deleted them. Like the saying in the bible if your eye causes you to sin gouge it out. I'm not literally gouging my eye out, which the bible I'm pretty sure isn't using literally but figuratively. It means to get rid of what causes you to sin and move on and live life. I had a hard time with women chasing before I started dating my now wife, and had to really gouge out some things to stop the lustful cycle. Social media was a big part because so many half naked women are thrown at your screen without warning. And just the thought of it will trigger deviations which the devil is so well at manipulating and using.

But I know if I fail I just get back up again, God doesn't hold your failures and sins in front of you and say look how bad you are. God is the one to pick you up and say let's try again son. And open the doorway to start afresh. God's grace is so prevailing.

Sex outside of marriage has always been a great temptation for many generations of people and it has only gotten worse with the technology we have in existence today. It is really an obstacle for today's young people as you stated to get around in the Christian walk of faith. What used to be confined to the adult book stores and the seedy strip clubs is so easily accessible for anyone with a cell phone or computer and so much of the entertainment today is sensual in nature.

The Lord's Prayer that Jesus gave his disciples has the request "lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil" in it. I think that is something every Christian should be saying to oneself even more than ever in this day and time. God is always there to pick us up when we fall if we are saved but we also should do our best to avoid situations where we might become enticed into a situation that would be damaging to our testimony and our relationship with God.

It's truly amazing how much pain and destruction our culture has caused by it's ongoing portrayal of sex and sexuality. Obviously sex can be an amazing experience and is necessary for procreation, but just like anything, it can be twisted and abused. When it is, the consequences are often disastrous for both individuals and societies. Not trying to get preachy here, but I believe sex was ordained by God to truly bind together a husband and wife emotionally, mentally, relationally, spiritually, and of course, physically. The crazy thing about our culture is we try to reduce it to just being physical (leaving out all the other dimensions), completely devaluing sex, yet can't control ourselves with it at all. It really creates quite a paradox; if it's not that big of a deal and it's just a casual physical act, why can't we control ourselves and be responsible? If it's such a big deal that we can't do without then why do we cheapen it by removing the emotional, mental, relational, and spiritual dimensions? I guess it all boils down to our fallen nature and wanting to do what we want to regardless of how much we take away from it or how much it hurts us or those around us. And societies (since the beginning) have found ways to completely pervert and profit from it, and American culture has been no better than the rest. Heck, much of what we argue about in our culture today center around sex and sexuality.

It is so sad what we have done to the gift of sex, and given it's appeal and importance to our whole selves, nearly impossible to navigate the confusing and destructive waters of our culture. Unfortunately culture is not going to change, our sin nature will not be fully healed in this life, and sexual temptation will not go away. As a Christian man, I admit that lust and impure thoughts towards women has been my biggest struggle and many times I lament our culture and technology for constantly stoking that fire. It certainly makes it more difficult but deep down I know it is a heart issue with me and I am called to fight the battle faithfully when I must, though too often I fail. I pray that God will give me, and all Christian men strength to honor Him and our wives, girlfriends, fellow human females, and sisters in Christ!

 

[NCSNOW]

AW Tozer once said that what comes to mind when you think about God is the most important thing about you. Why? Because the way you see God shapes the way you see everything else. It is so critical we see God for who he really is, and the wise man will let God define that and not man, himself, or pleading ignorance.. " I didn't know."

 

[Arcc]

After listening to several really good sermons by Stephen Davey, I’ve come to the conclusion that one of our biggest sins as Christians is not calling sin for what it is, sin.

I’m not talking about sins we all can think of, but not reading our Bible faithfully isn’t “I should do better” it is sin. Not praying faithfully isn’t “I need to correct that” it is sin. Not working for the Lord in our life because of whatever isn’t “I need to learn to give more to God” it is a sin. If we dealt more with these sins as sins, we would live more complete lives.

 

[Rain Cold]

John MacArthur ftw

 

[Cad Wedge NC]

Being filled with the holy spirit is a continual process, not a one time event. How we grow as christians . The more we submit and follow the Holy Spirit leading, the more we grow as christians. Its sobbering as a modern day christian, reading about several men and women through out the Bible and how spirit filled they where, fully surrendered. Who was it Elijah with his son on the altar and a ram comes out of the thicket at the last second. Man you talk about Faith,Obedience in the lord. They had to be filled with the spirit of God.
The earliest reference to be filled with the Spirit is Ex 31:2–5 “"See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut ...

That was Abraham and his son Isaac was on the altar.

 

[Zander98al]

Have any of y'all ever had a experience where your positive God revealed, spoke, showed you something? I had one 3 days ago for the first time in a while..

I was driving back to work, and I have been wondering for quite a bit of time, probably a year.. what kind of gifts or things I could help contribute with in my church for. And when I was driving it was like God showed me a revelation through a series of memories placed in certain order of my gift, and it was clear it was almost like a euphoria but a bit different. It's a complete peace. Ive felt it before when God has revealed things to me. And I instantly knew it was god. But a resounding word kept flooding my mind during this, it was "discernment". I knew I had to talk about it. And so I discussed it with my pastor and he said that was a important spiritual gift talked about in 1st Corinthians. I still don't understand it all completely so I will have to go and have a sit down and discuss it, cause I texted him telling him about it.

 

[pcbjr]

Have any of y'all ever had a experience where your positive God revealed, spoke, showed you something? I had one 3 days ago for the first time in a while..

I was driving back to work, and I have been wondering for quite a bit of time, probably a year.. what kind of gifts or things I could help contribute with in my church for. And when I was driving it was like God showed me a revelation through a series of memories placed in certain order of my gift, and it was clear it was almost like a euphoria but a bit different. It's a complete peace. Ive felt it before when God has revealed things to me. And I instantly knew it was god. But a resounding word kept flooding my mind during this, it was "discernment". I knew I had to talk about it. And so I discussed it with my pastor and he said that was a important spiritual gift talked about in 1st Corinthians. I still don't understand it all completely so I will have to go and have a sit down and discuss it, cause I texted him telling him about it.

Yeah ... prayer is a conversation ... just wish I knew how to listen ...

 

[YetAnotherRDUGuy]

Have any of y'all ever had a experience where your positive God revealed, spoke, showed you something? I had one 3 days ago for the first time in a while..

I was driving back to work, and I have been wondering for quite a bit of time, probably a year.. what kind of gifts or things I could help contribute with in my church for. And when I was driving it was like God showed me a revelation through a series of memories placed in certain order of my gift, and it was clear it was almost like a euphoria but a bit different. It's a complete peace. Ive felt it before when God has revealed things to me. And I instantly knew it was god. But a resounding word kept flooding my mind during this, it was "discernment". I knew I had to talk about it. And so I discussed it with my pastor and he said that was a important spiritual gift talked about in 1st Corinthians. I still don't understand it all completely so I will have to go and have a sit down and discuss it, cause I texted him telling him about it.

1 Corinthians is one of my favorites. Really shows the challenges Paul faced in keeping congregations together in the early church. Church quarrels breaking out. Countering immorality and pagan influence. Corinth must have been an exciting place back in those days!

 

[NCSNOW]

That was Abraham and his son Isaac was on the altar.

I knew I was having a brain freeze when typing that in. Should have went and looked. Thanks for correcting

 

[NCSNOW]

Revelation 22:18-19​

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Isaiah 40:8​

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Communist China Is Reportedly Rewriting the Bible and Calling Jesus a 'Sinner.' But That's Not All...

The Chinese Communist Party, China’s ruling regime, has been on a mission to rewrite the Bible through a communist lens. This quest has reportedly resulted in shocking distortions of Scripture and Gospel truth.

www1.cbn.com