IS BAPTISM IMPORTANT?

There are those who think that baptism is of little importance. It is implied and sometimes said that baptism is only a symbol.

Let’s think about the importance of baptism for just a minute.

How important is baptism? Well, all of life on earth was destroyed as a symbol of baptism. 1 Pet 3:20&21 (NIV)(in part) AGod waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also‑‑not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ@. You can see that though baptism saves you it would have no power without the resurrection of Jesus.

I use to reverse this in my head. I use to think baptism was a symbol of the flood, instead of the flood symbolizing baptism. The symbol is of less importance than what it symbolizes, so destroying the whole world is of less importance than baptism. But anyway, anyone can see the Bible does say one is saved by baptism. Read it again Abaptism that now saves you also@.

God says you must be born of the water and the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God (1 John 3:5). In Mark 16:16 Jesus said, AWhoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.@ Some say, because He did not repeat baptism in the second part of the sentence only belief is important. If you think about it, if you don=t believe you will not be baptized, so it wasn=t necessary to say any more about baptism.

Look, if we were having a conversation about what was necessary for physical life (not spiritual life) and I said, Ayou must drink water and breathe air to live@ and later, in the same conversation, I said only that you must breathe air to live, not repeating the part about water, it would not change my first statement. How many times must God say something before it is true?

Baptism alone does not save, however salvation without baptism may not be possible. The man who is certain in his own mind that baptism is not necessary risks his eternal salvation for nothing more than his pride of being correct. The man who teaches that baptism is not necessary risks the eternal salvation of others for the same reason. But if I am wrong no one goes to hell because of it. One can only say that I am an idiot for saying what I have and do say. I would even agree with them, though I am not perfect and therefore not a perfect idiot (yes, I already know I should try harder).

Jesus said that among men there was none greater than John (Mat.11:11). Think about that for a second. He is greater than Abraham, the father of all who are faithful, Moses, who brought the law, and anyone who came before him (Jesus came after him). What do you think made him greater than any man before him? The way he dressed? What he ate? That he proclaimed the coming of the Lord? Had not many proclaimed this before John? If you still can not see it, he was greater than any man that came before him because he brought baptism.

Well, you can see that I believe that baptism is very important. Perhaps I will write another post on baptism; why you should be baptized.

astudent

If baptism seems important to you check out my post “What Baptism does”.

WHY WAS JESUS BAPTIZED?

If baptism is a baptism for repentance for the forgiveness of sin (Mark 1:4) and Jesus had no sin why was He baptized?  

That is a good question with a simple answer. Most questions have a simple answer. All we must do is ask God. The answer was written a long time before you, or I asked the question.  

The answer is in Matthew 3:15, (NIV)  Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.@.  

Sometimes (no usually) an answer will lead to another question. The next question for me was actually the same question, because I didn’t understand the answer given in the Bible. Anyway it was, “what did Jesus mean when He said to fulfill all righteousness”? The answer I believe I received from the Spirit is not stated “per se” in the Bible, however it fits so well and is so clear I accepted it.  

Baptism is to be buried with Jesus in the water (Rom 6:4). So it was necessary for Jesus to be buried in baptism also.  After Jesus was crucified He was buried in a tomb. If it is necessary for us to be buried with Christ in order for us to be raised with Him and if He was not buried in the water of baptism, we would have to go to his tomb and be buried with Him there. But He is not in the tomb. He has risen.  

Even if He was symbolically in the tomb it would create difficulties for many of the poor, and some who could not afford to go to Israel would be lost. But water is not far from anyone and free to all. 

If you have read any of my previous posts you probably think that I think I know everything. Well, I don’t. I am trying to do two things. One is to share what I believe God has revealed to me and the second is to get some new questions. Questions that I do not yet have answers for.  

If you have the Holy Spirit, the perfect teacher, all you need are the questions.  

Do you have any? 

astudent

I KNOW WHY WE ARE HERE!!!!

God has finally given me the answer. I have to admit that I’m not intelligent enough to figure it out myself: I really don’t think it could be figured out. I believe God gave me this answer. All I did was ask!

 

I’ll attempt to explain it to you, but in doing so I will tell you many things you already know so please bear with me as the end result will be worth it. To only tell you the answer wouldn’t work. You have to walk with me to the answer.

 

We know that God made everything that was made: the universe with all of the galaxies, nebulas, stars, planets, moons, everything. That includes man and then He put us right where He wanted us. He gave us the intelligence, physiques, wealth, and He even chose our parents that He wanted us to have.

 

Why did God create everything? Well, because “God is love” (1 John 4:8 & 16). Love needs someone or something to love, or love is not complete. Don’t think that I am claiming that God needs me to be complete, but know this I am, and will be eternally grateful that He made, and chose me to love.

 

It is common knowledge, by those who have thought about it, that God would not make robots to love Him. He could have made man and made man love him, but that is not true love.

 

If you made a robot and made it love you, you would need some psychological help.

 

God wanted those who He loves to love Him back. Just as we want whoever we love to love us in return. Would you want to live with a wife, or husband that did not love you?

 

You could say that God made everything as a test for us. A true test would demand that there could be absolutely no proof, either way that might bias the results. One might say that we are born with a scale of belief, a balance with “God” on one side and “no God” on the other. It is up to the person to place his beliefs on either side of the balance. If the person doesn’t care enough to place beliefs on either side, he is attesting to the fact that he doesn’t even care about God, so he shows no love.

 

This would explain why there is no proof of God and of course no proof that there is no God.

 

It should be apparent that we have to have the power to reject God and not believe Him. So He made everything to determine who really would love Him, right? Well, not really!

 

We know because the Bible tells us that God knows the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10) therefor we know that God already knows who will turn to Him. God could have made us all and immediately sorted us out (judgement), but because we had to be made with the power to disbelieve, we would not have believed Him if we were among the damned. For all of eternity we would think that God was unfair to us.

 

So there is the answer to the question that has plagued man kind since the beginning of time.   

               

               EVERYTHING THAT WAS MADE WAS MADE FOR THE UNBELIEVER.

 

God didn’t need time and all that happened, because He already knew the outcome. We don’t really need this, because we would have, and will believe God at judgment, and because man is free to sin, we have all suffered from sin (sin always hurts others) and even worse we have all sinned. Which is why we need a covering for our sin.

 

The unbeliever will know that he is guilty, because he actually lived and committed all of the offenses that God knew he would. The unbeliever will know and have to admit that God’s way is right and can not blame God for sending him away.

 

It bears repeating, EVERYTHING THAT WAS MADE WAS MADE FOR THE UNBELIEVER.   

                  (except for Jesus of course, but then Jesus was not made)

 

astudent

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?

It seems that both believers and unbelievers ask this question all the time. It is a hard question for unbelievers, but it should not be hard for believers.

 

The truth is that there are no Agood people@. The question, though it sounds like a valid question, is not. It is the same kind of question as, AWhat is the sound of one hand clapping@. When a ruler ask Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life and addressed Him as Agood teacher@, Jesus answered first, AWhy do you call me good? No one is good: except God alone.@(Luke 18:18&19 NIV)

 

The question really should be, AWhy do bad things happen to believers”. The question, when asked this way, does have an answer. Romans 8:28 (NIV) says, AAnd we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.@ The answer to the question, when asked this way, is Athere are no bad things@. Things which seem bad are allowed by God for the good of the believer. What seems bad at the time is only temporary. Something like an operation. When a doctor cuts out a tumor there is pain and suffering for a time, but it is for the good of the patient.

 

I don=t want to make too much of the importance of the believer. Actually we should be more interested in the good of God and less interested in the good of the believer. Our emphases should be on God and not on ourselves.

 

It seems to me that blessings naturally flow to us when we put God first. There is little need to ask for blessings when they are flowing to us naturally.

 

astudent

I’M A CHRISTIAN AND I CAN NOT FORGIVE MR. CHO

It’s really not possible for me to forgive Mr. Cho, nor is it possible for you. You see, he didn’t do anything to me, or to you. How could I forgive anyone for an attack that was not an assault on me? How could you?

 

That is not to say there is no one that was hurt. If you were one of those who were shot by Mr. Cho you might try to forgive him, but he isn’t here to be forgiven.

 

Will God forgive Mr. Cho?

 

If He would we would have to discard most of the Bible. Mr. Cho destroyed thirty three examples of the handicraft of God. He didn’t give any of them life and he had no right to take their lives. That includes his own life.

 

Mr. Cho’s sins were only against God as not one of the thirty three gave themselves life.

Every time something like this happens I hear much about how we must forgive. Well, it just doesn’t make sense to me and I don’t think it makes any sense to the people of the world either.

 

Would you do something that God would not do? Would you forgive Mr. Cho?

God went to great pains to give mankind a way to cover our sins. Mr. Cho did not listen to God. We know that he knew about Christianity because he mentioned us in his video.

One of the most wonderful things about God is He will give you the desires of your heart. One of the most frightening things about God is He will give you the desires of your heart.

If you want to live with God and enjoy Him forever He will grant you your wishes and if you do not want to, if you want to try to be your own god, He will also grant you that wish, but because there is room for only one God in Heaven you will have to leave.

 

Mr. Cho chose to destroy the work of God and sealed his fate when he pointed the gun at himself and pulled the trigger.

 

Do you really want me to forgive that?

astudent

LET’S THINK ABOUT WINE.

The Bible says (Rom 14:20-22 NIV) Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. (21) It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. (22) So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 

It doesn’t say that if you believe that it is unacceptable to drink wine you have the right to disregard verse 22. The verse says whatever you believe about these things. Those who believe wine to be evil in some way have rolled obstacles in the way of many, even though much that they preach is true.

I’m going to attempt to dance around the subject a little without revealing what I believe about wine. 

Once when it seemed as though I was defending drinking the leader of a Bible study asked me “What good is wine?”. I have to admit that I was not prepared for that question and I could not answer. Now, I don’t know about you, but when someone asks me a question that I don’t know an answer for I rejoice, because I know I have something more to learn, and I know God will give me an answer. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating; if you have the perfect Teacher all you need are the questions. 

Because we can not talk (openly) about wine let’s think about yeast and Communion.

Yeast is used in the Bible as a symbol of sin (malice and wickedness- 1 Cor 5:8). The symbolism of bread without yeast is that Jesus came to this earth in bodily form with out any malice or wickedness.  In fully fermented wine all of the yeast is destroyed, so God chose wine to represent the blood of Jesus; which destroyed the power of sin.

Grape juice is not the symbol that God gave us; it is the symbol that those who have a knee jerk reaction to wine, and have chosen not to obey verse 22, have given us. Anytime we change anything God instituted, for any reason, we error. Even if our motives are good (remember Moses and divorce).

Think about this and perhaps you will see other problems preaching against wine has caused. I could list a few, if you so desire. I did not include those who preach wine is good, because I don’t know anyone who does so: but if there are any, I mean them also.

I had to edit this post as it could be construed as if I meant we should change the “emblem of the Blood” back to wine. I think this would create great riffs between my weaker brothers, so please understand that I did not mean this and please do not try to change the emblem without considering your brothers.

astudent

HOW TO REDUCE TERRORISM!!!

Terrorism has no power without the “News”. There would be no reason to kill innocent people if it were not reported as acts of terrorism. If those who constitute the business of “news” would only report a disaster and not add that it was an act of terrorism we certainly have less killing of the innocent. It could be said that the “NEWS” is at least 50% responsible for terrorism.

Here is my question to those who control the news media, “What is more important to the American people, that they know all of the details, or that you do what you can to stop terrorism?”

After all the news is only recent history. It’s already happened, you can not stop it, and if you know of it you still can not stop future events. Those who might be able to stop future events should know the news, but the average person is not going to stop anything.

The “NEWS” only serves to promote terrorism.

The Bible says (Phil 4:8 NIV)  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.

The “NEWS” is anything but what we should be thinking about. Because we do not listen to, or obey God, we have big problems.

astudent

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE ORIGINAL SIN IS?

It has always been said to me that the first sin in the Bible was eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and it seemed as though this was true. It is the first sin that is plainly stated. However when I really thought about it I came to a different conclusion: or rather God lead me to a different conclusion.

 

That is not to say it was not a sin to do something God told one not to do. So, of course, it was wrong to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: but was that the first sin?

 

I was told, by men, that the earth was made perfect and without sin, as was Adam and Eve. When I started to really examine this concept it seemed flawed. If Adam were perfect, he would not have sinned. Perfect people do not make mistakes, which is what both Adam and Eve did when they ate from the tree. God is perfect, and only God is perfect. God makes no mistakes, but all men do.

 

The thought of someone who is perfect making a mistake scares me. God is perfect and if one who is perfect could make a mistake then we are not eternally safe. Perhaps God would error someday and we will all die. Surely you know I am jesting about God making a mistake.

 

Though God said that all that He had made was very good (Gen. 1:31), He did not say it was perfect: so neither should we.

 

When I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior I received the Holy Spirit or the mind of Christ to instruct me (1 Cor 2:16). His mind in my mind. Though I do not hear an audible voice from God, if I am quiet enough and listen to what seems to be my own thoughts, I do hear from God. One has to be careful so as not to claim credit for some revelation God has given. So know this, if I say I thought about something and reached a conclusion about it, I am not saying I reasoned it out because of my great mental powers. Only that I kept asking God until He gave me the answer that not only fit the part of the Bible I was not understanding, but other parts as well, for a revelation which does not fit another part of the Bible is no revelation.  

 

To get back to my subject, Genesis 2:25 kept bothering me. I thought that if I were walking and talking with God, and I was naked, I certainly would feel shame: wouldn=t you? I have the knowledge of good and evil. It was passed on to me along with the gift of life, just as it is given to everyone. So I know I would feel shame, because it would be a sin. It would not be showing proper respect to, and for, our Heavenly Father.

 

If you think I am wrong, consider yourself walking with God naked. I think you can see that walking naked with anyone, other than your mate, would be wrong. You would be embarrassed and ashamed of your nakedness. Your mate has become one with you and therefore you would not be walking naked with someone else if you were only with your mate.

 

You know this would be wrong, because you also have the knowledge of good and evil. Can you see that if it is a sin for you today, when you know it is a sin, it would still be a sin, even if you did not know it was?  

This became apparent to both Adam and Eve as soon as they acquired the knowledge of sin. The first thing they did was to try to clothe themselves. The second thing they did was to hide from God. They were afraid of God because they knew they had sinned by appearing naked before Him. If they didn=t consider this a sin they would not have been afraid, as they had already clothed themselves, but they were afraid because they knew they had sinned.

 

Consider Genesis 2:25 (NIV) Athe man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.@ They felt no shame because they did not yet understand that it was wrong. As soon as they knew sin they tried to cloth themselves (Gen 3:7). Adam did not say “I hid from you because I disobeyed you by eating from the tree in the middle of the garden.” Adam said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

 

There is something which I must try to clear up, even though it has not yet been brought up. I was trying to explain the first sin to my Bible class (I love those guys, but some times I am hard to love in return), and one of them said that God had seen him naked in the shower that very morning, because God sees everything. He implied that it was not a sin for God to see a Christian naked. This seemed almost logical until I had time to think about it, or it would be better said to reason with the Lord. The Lord reminded me that I was clothed with Christ and was always clothed with Christ, so I can not, at anytime, walk with God naked. It is not that God could not see me unclothed, but that God will not see me unclothed. There are two ways to be unclothed: physical and spiritual. God sees everything, so even if God saw me in the shower this morning, though He did see me physically nude, He did not look at my sin. God uses the physical world, which we know, to illustrate spiritual truths. After all we only know this world. We do not know about spiritual matters, because we have only lived in this world. How could, or would you explain Hawaii to someone who only knows the North Pole?

 

Look how fair God is. Adam and Eve didn=t know it was wrong to walk with God unclothed and God knew they did not understand. So God did not condemn them for it. However as soon as they understood, God did condemn them for their sin, but even though He condemned their actions He made a covering for them.

 

Do you see how this fits with the Bible as a whole? The most important possession a person can have is a proper covering for his or her sin, and that covering is Jesus. Everyone who has life also has the knowledge of good and evil. It was not sin that entered into mankind when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit; it was the knowledge of sin. Along with the knowledge of sin came the realization they needed a covering for the sin they had already committed.

 

This seems to me to be the most important message of the Bible, or the plan that God has for each person. That all mankind are born to sin, and need a covering for their sin, so God does not see their sin when He looks at them. God, Himself, has made a proper covering for our sin. This concept is laid out, through symbolism, in the first story about the first man and the first woman.

 

I believe the key that the Holy Spirit gave me for understanding this is the forbidden fruit Adam and Eve ate was from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, not the tree of good and evil.

 

If you still believe Adam and Eve were made perfect, you will have to reconcile how a perfect person made a mistake. Perhaps you are applying a different definition to the word Aperfect@ than I am. By perfect I mean ABeing without defect or blemish@ (American Heritage Dictionary). It would be a defect if Adam could sin.

 

Not to confuse anyone, but do you see the symbolism I spoke of in a earlier post about women in ministry? The woman representing man was tempted by Satan ( Adam, representing Jesus, did not yield to temptation). She brought the fruit to Adam, who represents Jesus and he ate of it. All mankind sin and we bring our sin to Jesus, and for us He became sin.

 

While I am on the subject of sin, have you ever wondered why God hates sin? It seems to me He hates sin because it always hurts someone else. We always view sin from our own selfish perception. We think of ourselves and realize that we must pay a penalty for sin and it will hurt us in the long run. Therefore we should not sin. Now if you think about it sin always hurts someone else. The murderer hurts the victim, the thief hurts those he steals from, the lie deceives someone else, and the idolater hurts the feelings, or heart, of God.

 

It is said that God loves the sinner, but God also loves the victim and when one sins he, or she, always hurts one whom God loves. After all, God gave the victim life and wealth and it is wrong to attempt to change anything that God has done. If God wants you, or me, to be rich He will make it so: in His time and in His way, and it would be a sin for someone else to steal it for themselves, just as it would be a sin for you to take something that God had put in another=s care.

 

That is my view of the first sin. Surely, if you have read any of my post, you did not think it would be the same view as you had: did you?

astudent

MY UNDERSTANDING OF TONGUES

The LORD confused the language of men at the city of Babel. The account of this is given in Genesis chapter eleven, verses one through nine. The reason given for confusing the language was so that men will no longer understand each other (Gen. 11:7). Nowhere, in the Bible, are we told God reversed this action. It seems logical He would not, because if He did so, verse six would again apply to mankind and nothing we plan to do would be impossible for us.

 

Before I go on let me say that when I first read this I thought it was kind of a curse. Verse six states nothing men plan to do will be impossible for them if they all speak the same language. I pictured men doing great and wonderful things. But as I studied men in the light of the Word, and looked inward at myself, I know we would not do great and wonderful things. We would do terrible and awful things. The more I study the Bible , the better I understand, God is always right, always just, and always does everything out of love, for those who love Him, and so God confused the language for our good and it was not a curse.

 

When I first read this story I thought to myself, this is why we have different languages, such as English, German, French, Spanish, and so forth. But I see with even more clarity now. Even if we speak the same language we can not understand each other and it is because all language is still confused.

 

Pick almost any word in the English language, or any language for that matter. Look up the meaning in a dictionary and you will find more than one definition for it. The meaning of the word will sometimes vary wildly, with many different definitions. When you use a word you know which definition you mean to apply to it, but the person you are speaking to, or reading what you write, may, or may not, apply the same definition.

 

Now if you string seven or nine words together in a sentence as you speak to someone, and each word has more than one definition, how could the person being spoken to, possibly understand, completely, what you are trying to convey to him? He will probably get a general understanding, but the odds are against him understanding exactly what you mean. Ideas are not conveyed with one word, or one sentence, but with paragraphs, pages, and books. The more words, the more opportunities to confuse. Sometimes one word can be the root of many books which disagree about it=s meaning. Predestination comes to mind, as does baptism, and trinity. If you have studied God=s word, even briefly, you know of the confusion surrounding these words.

 

Haven=t you at one time or another been trying to explain something to someone and no matter how hard you try, they just don=t get it. You know exactly what you are trying to convey to them, and it seems so clear to you, but they just can=t quite grasp it. Now it does not seem so frustrating to me when I know it just might not be possible. You know, As iron sharpens iron………

 

Do you see the humor in this post? I=m writing in English, and I know you don=t fully understand what I am attempting to convey to you. One could say I=m trying to explain to you, that you don=t understand these words, by using words that you don=t understand. Oh well, I never claimed to be a mental heavyweight.

Do you see the truth fitting together? Genesis chapter 11:1 thru 9 that I am speaking about here and how it fits with Proverbs 27:17? We are all students. There are no teachers of God=s children except God. There are no leaders except Christ, we are all just sheep going in the same direction.

That is not to say there are no teachers of any kind. The children of this world need teachers and I will be eternally grateful to, and for, the minister which God used to lead me to Himself. Once I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and was Baptized into Christ, God gave me His Holy spirit to teach and guide me. That minister which once led me is now walking in the same direction, still calling to the unsaved, but no longer to me.

It seems to me that the leaders of the Church have the most important job of anyone on earth, and we should support them as much as possible. Provided they are trying to follow the Bible as best as they can (no one is perfect).

 

So far this post has been about language, but one must understand language to understand Atongues@. This is a word which has generated much confusion to say the least. This word deserves a complete book.

 

However, instead of clarifying anything, let me add to the confusion. From my side of the table, the AGift of Tongues@ is really the AGift of Ears@. It was those who heard what was said that received the gift, or blessing, not those who spoke. If a person speaks in tongues and no one understands, there is no blessing. If everyone at a meeting speaks the same language why would anyone speak in a tongue when no one else understands it? It is often said the person who is speaking in tongues is speaking to God, but I speak English, and God understands English. Why would I babble in some language no one else understands? This only disrupts the meeting and as I see it, blesses no one: not the hearer, or the speaker.

 

That is not to say Tongues do not exist today. Tongues are very much alive and well today. Ministers have the gift of tongues. The Holy Spirit is the interpreter. He takes the words ministers speak and reveals the meanings to those who have not yet turned to the Lord. Some will hear, understand, turn, and be healed and some will not. Those who will not turn and be healed cannot claim they did not understand.

 

I have heard stories where some people have told ministers about things they heard in a sermon, yet the minister did not say them. I think the Holy Spirit took the words the minister used and applied the definitions He wanted the person to understand. Can you see the truth in 1 Corinthians 14:22 ? (NIV) Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. Once the unbeliever begins to believe and is baptized into Christ he or she no longer needs someone else to explain the Word of God. He will have the Mind of Christ (the Holy Spirit) as part of himself to explain to him all that God wants him to know. Or perhaps all that he asks, so ask for all!

 

The word tongue has many definitions and causes many arguments, because the listener applies a different definition to the word than the speaker means. The small dictionary which I use (The American Heritage) lists 17 possible definitions for the word tongue. Some are similar, such as language, which are, in some sentences, easy to use, or hear rather, in the wrong context. Even with 17 definitions my dictionary does not list Awords@ as a possible definition, yet a language is only words strung together. I use to apply the definition of words to tongues, but now I think the word tongues, as used in the Bible means languages.

I also have the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) on my computer. It lists some phrases one of which is Athe gift of tongues@. It says,Athe gift of tongues the power of speaking in unknown languages, regarded as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2)@. Now I try not to take myself too seriously. So right now I am having a good laugh. You see I am about to disagree with a definition in the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Language is probably my weakest subject. I can, and do, stump the spell checker on my computer, and not infrequently I might add. However the tongues that are spoken about in the second chapter of Acts are not unknown. The crowed that heard the apostles heard them in each one of their own languages, so the Agift of tongues@ is not the power of speaking in unknown languages. It really is the power to speak to someone and they will understand exactly what you are saying. In other words the hearers will apply the same definitions to the words as the speaker.

One could say Athe gift of tongues@ is the ability to communicate in thoughts no matter what words are used.

 

Perhaps God will apply definitions to these words so that you can understand what I am trying to convey to you. Well, don=t just sit there, ask Him! Anyway that=s Genesis 11:1 thru 9, along with languages and tongues, as I see it.

astudent

THE TRINITY AS YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD IT. GUARANTEED!

After you have read this please consider my latest post on the Trinity. “THE TRINITY REVISITED”

 

 

The word trinity is not used in the Bible. Actually the Bible says God the Father and Jesus are one (John 10:30, 17:11&22), not two parts of three. The trinity is a concept that we humans have invented in our attempt to understand the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I have heard the trinity explained many ways. One of them using water as an analogy. Water can have three forms and yet still be water. Water can be a liquid, or a solid, or it can be a vapor. This is a pretty good analogy. An even better one when you realize water can be all three at the same time. Picture an iceberg in the Arctic on a fogy morning. The iceberg is water, floating on water, with water hovering over both. You can see that water always exists in three forms. At any point in time, on this earth, water is always in all three forms. There is a line of separation, sometimes large, sometimes small, between water, ice, and vapor, but water always has, does, and I assume always will exists in three forms at the same time. 

This becomes an even better analogy when you apply the understanding of death as separation. If death is separation, and Jesus died for us, by putting two and two together we can see that Jesus was separated from God the Father for us, just as ice is separated from water! The two (ice and water) are of the exact same composition, yet separated.  The Holy Spirit, like water vapor is always hovering over both, and it also has the exact same composition.

Analogies are good ways to clarify and explain concepts that we have, but we have the Bible and the Holy Spirit to teach us about what most Christians consider the three persons of God. Come on over to my side of the table and let=s examine the Bible from this view.

If you want to understand the origins of Jesus study the arm of the LORD. Isaiah 53:1(NIV) says, AWho has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?@ Then the rest of the chapter goes on to reveal the arm of the LORD. God had already said a little through Isaiah, revealing the arm of the Lord.. Consider Isaiah 51:5(NIV), AMy righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm.@ Who is it that we wait in hope for? Is it not Jesus? Still don=t see it? Consider Isaiah 59:16 where the LORD says, AHe saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.@

You can see the arm of the LORD is Jesus. Once you understand this many verses become clearer. We know that Jesus is our salvation (Acts 4:12) & yet Isaiah 59:16 says the LORD=s own arm worked salvation for Him. If both verses are true, and we know they are, because they are from the Bible, then Jesus is the arm of the LORD. If you have trouble with this concept remember Adam and Eve. Eve was made from one of Adams ribs. When you think of Eve, do you picture one of Adams ribs, or do you picture a woman? If God can create woman from the rib of a man, can=t He create Jesus from His own arm? (Now that=s a loaded question, God can do anything, and we know it.).

Look at Isa.63:11-12 (NIV), AThen his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people‑‑ where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them, who sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses’ right hand, who divided the waters before them, to gain for himself everlasting renown,@ Then compare it with 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 (NIV), AFor I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.@ Can you see that the glorious arm of power and the spiritual rock are one and the same? 

Notice in Isaiah 66:14 (NIV) when the end times are described, AWhen you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes.@ (the hand is part of the arm). Look at Isaiah 52:10 (NIV) where the end times are spoken of, AThe LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.@

We are told in Isaiah 40:10 that when the Sovereign Lord comes His arm will rule for Him.

Jesus died for us. Understanding that death is separation we can see that Jesus was separated from God, the Father, for us. Jesus the man died a physical death and Jesus the arm of God was separated from God for us. Separation from God is the second death and this is what we deserve. Jesus didn=t die the first death for us. We all still must face the first death. He died the second death for us. As horrible as the death Jesus died on the cross was (and it was) it was only symbolic of the second death. That death was, and is, separation from The Father.  This makes Leviticus 16:7-10 clearer. Jesus is represented by both goats. One was slain (the man) and the other was separated (the Spirit) by sending it into the desert.

One only begins to understand the pain and suffering both our Heavenly Father and Jesus endured for us, when you realize God gave His own arm for us. The account of the death of Jesus in the Gospels is a description of His physical death. I wonder, how much more did it hurt Him, and His Father, to be separated from God the Father for us? Separation from God was our punishment for our sin. If Jesus bore our punishment He had to be separated from God, because our punishment for sin is separation from God. In order to be separated He would have had to be part of God to begin with.

I am a sinner and sometimes I think there is little love in me. I have to admit when I started to study the Bible and someone would say God gave His only Son for us I would think to myself, it=s not like He gave Himself for us. I would think, if I were in His position, it would be right to give myself as a sacrifice to show my love rather than to give someone else: even a son. Of course I could not see how God, Himself, could die for my sins and yet the universe could still exist , but I am only beginning to understand what God has done.

John 1:1&2 says, AIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.@ The key word here is Awas@. From my side of the table understanding that Jesus was the arm of God clarifies most, if not all, of the difficult verses about Jesus. God=s arm was always God=s arm, is God=s arm, and will always be God=s arm, whether it is separated or not. So verses which refer to Jesus as God refer to the arm of God. Jesus, the man, was born, or had a beginning when He became flesh, but Jesus the arm of God had no beginning. This concept also brings light to John 10:28-30. In verse 28 Jesus says no one can snatch His sheep out of His hand and He repeats this saying in verse 29 by saying no one can snatch them out of His Father=s hand. The hand is the same hand, just a different way of saying it. This is clarified in verse 30 when He says, AI and the Father are one@.

Many ask the question, AIs Jesus God?@. My answer would be, AYes and no@. Yes, because He was God (John1:2), but no, because He was separated from God in my place: for my sin. That is the second death that I deserved. This is basic understanding of salvation. Of course God=s arm will always be God=s arm even though separated, so it is not wrong to refer to Jesus as God.

That was Jesus from my side of the table. Now let me tell you how I view the Holy Spirit.  To understand the Holy Spirit study the verses which include the word mind. Perhaps you will reach the same conclusion I have reached and that is, the Holy Spirit is the mind of God.

1 Corinthians 2:16 (NIV) says. A“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.@ It becomes apparent from the Bible that a Christian has the mind of God to teach him or her about spiritual things as John 14:26 (NIV) says, ABut the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.@

The mind of Christ is the same as the mind of God, because both are perfect. We know and believe that God is perfect, and we believe that Jesus is perfect, because He had to be in order to be able to die for our sins. We have Jesus=s mind in our mind! Notice that Jesus said only what the Father told Him. He could do this because He had the Mind of His Father. He received it when He was baptized (Mat 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, & John 1:32).

The Holy Spirit does not overpower us and keep us from sinning, but thinks to, and with, us to teach us not to sin: and to teach us about God. What we think of as a conscience, seems to me, is the Holy Spirit: the Counselor. He does not talk audibly to me, but there is no doubt He speaks to me in my mind. The Holy Spirit is the friend who sticks closer than a brother as it is said in Proverbs 18:24.

If you have trouble connecting mind with Spirit look inward. In your mind you can be anywhere and do anything. You can be at the North Pole, freezing with your breath clearly visible, and the next second be on a tropical island, warm and feeling a balmy breeze. You can walk through walls, leap tall buildings and be faster than a speeding bullet. We call that imagination, but that is really where we live. I don=t mean we live in our imagination, but in our mind. Imagination is spirit without power. One has the thoughts, or mind, to dream of wonderful things, but not the power to actually do them.  We are chained to the body, but all our true being is in our mind. In our mind is where we love, hate, scheme, desire, etc. If I were looking for a word most of us could understand to describe Aspirit@ it would be mind.

If you substitute the word mind for the word spirit as you read the Bible I think this concept will become clearer. Until you reach 1 Corinthians 14:14-15.  If you are using the New International version. It says (NIV), AFor if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.@ Here the Greek word Anous@ is translated Amind@, but Strong=s Concordance list the first definition of nous as Aintellect@ and then says i.e. (that is) mind. Now, I am not a Greek scholar, but if you examine the Greek language you will find Greek words also have more than one meaning. The word nous can mean (according to Strong=s) the intellect, mind (divine or human; in thought, feeling, or will); by impl. meaning:Bmind, understanding. If one applies the definition of nous as intellect, not making the assumption the N.I.V. makes (that the intellect is the mind in this case, for the mind encompasses many attributes such as emotions, which have little to do with intellect) the verses become much clearer. Clearer that is if you believe, as I do, that the Holy Spirit is the mind of God.

Let me digress for just a minute. I am not saying that I am a Greek scholar. I am saying that if one compares the New International translation to the King James, there is a difference in the way the Greek word nous is translated in 1 Cor. 14:14-15.

I have somewhat of a problem with someone who would say, or infer, AI know Greek and because of this I understand better than you@. Really! The New International Version was translated by over a hundred scholars working for more than a year. The details are more than I care to list here, however they are listed in the preface of the Book if you care to know them. I am more inclined to go along with over one hundred of the worlds best scholars than one scholar that disagrees with the hundred.

My personal choice of translations of the Bible is the New International Version, because it is written in the language of today, however I think one should use all of the translations. This is a good example of a particular version saying the same thing in a slightly different way.

Consider John 4:23&24 as you consider spirit and mind are the same. These verses say we must worship in spirit and in truth. A man may pray and worship loudly with his mouth, but a man who prays and worships in his mind does so in truth. It is not possible to fake worship to yourself, in your own mind. If you can=t even fake it to yourself, you certainly can=t fake it to God, because God knows our thoughts.

If you know anything about computers and computer games, picture this world as a virtual reality game. Our body is the interface to the game. Everything that happens in the game we feel through the body, but it is not the real world: it=s a world and a body created for this game. The real world is the spiritual world. We leave the game when we die (separation). We win the game when we admit we are sinful and realizing what God has done, and is doing for us, and we turn, accept and acknowledge it. We loose the game if we die before we accept and acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Savior. I say before we die, because everyone will acknowledge Jesus after the game is ended, and the game ends for each individual when that person dies.

I no longer need analogies to explain the Trinity. The Trinity, to me, consist of the Father, His arm, and His mind. All three are the Father. The Father is the greatest and includes, or included, all three, because He is, or was, all three. Verses such as John 14:28 have become clear to me. Look at Isaiah 9:6(NIV), AFor to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.@ Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor, because we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor., 2:16 ) to instruct us. He was, or is, The Mighty God because He was, or is, the Arm of God. He was the Everlasting Father, because He was the Father, and He is The Prince of Peace, because He allowed Himself to be sacrificed (separated from God) to bring peace between man and God.

This concept also explains those verses where Jesus said the Father knows things that the Son does not know, that the father is greater than Him, and yet He said, AI and the Father are one@(John 10:30).

Again I say, be a Berean, test what I have said. To tell you the truth, and I certainly don=t want to tell anything but the truth, I don=t know why you are reading this. This is written by a man: just a student. You have a book written by God. Why are you reading this when you could be reading AThe Book@?