The Bible
- Thread starter Trishann
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B-A-C
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That is a good question.
Do you know President Obama? I mean, you can know about him... where he was born, where he went to school, how old he is, his wifes names... a lot of facts about him. But that is not the same as knowing him on a personal level.
You could read a book someone wrote about president Obama, or you could read a book that he wrote himself. I wonder which book would teach you more about who he is?
If Jesus is the Word, .. and if all scripture is inspired by God...
Then to know the Word, is to know Jesus. I feel like almost every chapter of every book of the Bible reveals some divine nature of God.
We can go church and "hear about" God, (and this is a good thing) and we can watch religious televison shows (most are really not very good) and we can read books about what other people think about God and Jesus... this is a bit risky sometimes, as there are some very good books, and there are some very bad books that are really way out there.
So the best way... in my humble opinion... is to read God's own Words. The Word's he inspired. The Word's that are the essence of God's heart and his will for us. Otherwise.. how will you really know what that is?
Prayer is great, but it doesn't cover everything, and even though God answers prayer (and sometimes the answer is "no") the real way to know Jesus.. is to read the Bible. That way you can infer your own opinions about his Word's. Not just listen to what other people have to say about his Word's. There is certainly nothing wrong with that either, in fact I thik that is the main purpose of this website.
But how can you know how far off (or on) someone is portraying God's Word, if you don't know it yourself? We are told to "Study to show ourselves approved", we are told the Word "has the power to save our souls".
Besides, if you really love Jesus.. why wouldn't you want to know more about him?
Do you know President Obama? I mean, you can know about him... where he was born, where he went to school, how old he is, his wifes names... a lot of facts about him. But that is not the same as knowing him on a personal level.
You could read a book someone wrote about president Obama, or you could read a book that he wrote himself. I wonder which book would teach you more about who he is?
If Jesus is the Word, .. and if all scripture is inspired by God...
Then to know the Word, is to know Jesus. I feel like almost every chapter of every book of the Bible reveals some divine nature of God.
We can go church and "hear about" God, (and this is a good thing) and we can watch religious televison shows (most are really not very good) and we can read books about what other people think about God and Jesus... this is a bit risky sometimes, as there are some very good books, and there are some very bad books that are really way out there.
So the best way... in my humble opinion... is to read God's own Words. The Word's he inspired. The Word's that are the essence of God's heart and his will for us. Otherwise.. how will you really know what that is?
Prayer is great, but it doesn't cover everything, and even though God answers prayer (and sometimes the answer is "no") the real way to know Jesus.. is to read the Bible. That way you can infer your own opinions about his Word's. Not just listen to what other people have to say about his Word's. There is certainly nothing wrong with that either, in fact I thik that is the main purpose of this website.
But how can you know how far off (or on) someone is portraying God's Word, if you don't know it yourself? We are told to "Study to show ourselves approved", we are told the Word "has the power to save our souls".
Besides, if you really love Jesus.. why wouldn't you want to know more about him?
Coconut
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We know that:
The Bible = Scripture= Sacred Writings
The Word of God = Logos= Jesus Christ
2Ti 3:15 And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
I read here the Scripture is able to make me wise. competent, equipped for good works...(the millions who have read the Bible that remain ignorant, spiritually incompetent, and ill equipped, prove the necessity of the revelation of the Holy Spirit to make the Scripture profitable to me)
Job 32:8 But it is the Spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
What I dont read here is that Scripture is profitable for knowing Christ...again...I need the revelation of the Holy Spirit...
The real way to know Jesus can only be to have Him abide in me, and I abide in Him...
Joh 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
1Jn 2:27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie--just as it has taught you, abide in him.
If this were true, then for well over a thousand years, those Christians who did not possess a Bible, were left sadly incomplete....(and they didnt grow an inch to boot).... or ...
Perhaps they had the Holy Spirit (Christ in them) and so they lived in continual communion with Christ (praying always) and that "covered everything"
Col 2:9 For in him the whole fullness of God lives in bodily form. And you have been brought to fullness in Him.
Does God live in a Sacred Writing, or does He live ALL in Christ?
If He is ALL in Christ, then Christ is the only one who can complete me. Again...we are brought right back to the absolute necessity of the Holy Spirit.
Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Joh 5:39 You examine the Scriptures carefully because you suppose that in them you have eternal life. Yet they testify about Me.
So to answer the initial question, I love the Scripture (should be evident by now) but I never learned Christ by going to a Book, I learned Christ by going to Him.
The Bible = Scripture= Sacred Writings
The Word of God = Logos= Jesus Christ
2Ti 3:15 And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
I read here the Scripture is able to make me wise. competent, equipped for good works...(the millions who have read the Bible that remain ignorant, spiritually incompetent, and ill equipped, prove the necessity of the revelation of the Holy Spirit to make the Scripture profitable to me)
Job 32:8 But it is the Spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
What I dont read here is that Scripture is profitable for knowing Christ...again...I need the revelation of the Holy Spirit...
The real way to know Jesus can only be to have Him abide in me, and I abide in Him...
Joh 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
1Jn 2:27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie--just as it has taught you, abide in him.
If this were true, then for well over a thousand years, those Christians who did not possess a Bible, were left sadly incomplete....(and they didnt grow an inch to boot).... or ...
Perhaps they had the Holy Spirit (Christ in them) and so they lived in continual communion with Christ (praying always) and that "covered everything"
Col 2:9 For in him the whole fullness of God lives in bodily form. And you have been brought to fullness in Him.
Does God live in a Sacred Writing, or does He live ALL in Christ?
If He is ALL in Christ, then Christ is the only one who can complete me. Again...we are brought right back to the absolute necessity of the Holy Spirit.
Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Joh 5:39 You examine the Scriptures carefully because you suppose that in them you have eternal life. Yet they testify about Me.
So to answer the initial question, I love the Scripture (should be evident by now) but I never learned Christ by going to a Book, I learned Christ by going to Him.
I have learned Christ Jesus by the written word of God the Holy Bible.
I also have learned Christ Jesus by calling and going to Him.
I have learned Christ by the preaching of the Word of God.
I have learned Christ Jesus because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that is within me.
To receive the Word of God you have to hear it. Maybe by someone speaking the Word of God to you, or you read the Holy Bible.
I also have learned Christ Jesus by calling and going to Him.
I have learned Christ by the preaching of the Word of God.
I have learned Christ Jesus because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that is within me.
To receive the Word of God you have to hear it. Maybe by someone speaking the Word of God to you, or you read the Holy Bible.
Coconut
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Somewhat correct, but you seem alternate the Person for the Book, and the Book for the Person, at will, but that only causes confusion ...
Again, I have to disagree, to receive the Word of God, you have to hear HIM. The Word of God is a Person, not an "it"
To receive Christ, you have to hear Him.
Abraham didnt have a "Bible" so he had to hear....?
For hundreds of years Christians didnt have a "Bible" so they had to hear...?
John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. [again showing the absolute necessity of the Holy Spirit (not the written letter)
John 6:45 It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me-- not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes [FAITH] has eternal life.
Rom 10:8 But what does it say? "The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim)
1Pe 2:2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, [the Word = Christ] that by it you may grow up into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to Him...you are being built up...
You`ll find in the letters of the New Testament there was of course "reading of the OT Scriptures"....(NT was not yet compiled) and letters from the Apostles, but anywheres you see them "preaching"
the message was simply and only "Christ and Him crucified" (the Good News) -
Eph 3:7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. [Holy Spirit]
Eph 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Eph 3:9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things,
Eph 3:10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Eph 3:11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Eph 3:12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our Bible?
Again, I have to disagree, to receive the Word of God, you have to hear HIM. The Word of God is a Person, not an "it"
To receive Christ, you have to hear Him.
Abraham didnt have a "Bible" so he had to hear....?
For hundreds of years Christians didnt have a "Bible" so they had to hear...?
John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. [again showing the absolute necessity of the Holy Spirit (not the written letter)
John 6:45 It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me-- not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes [FAITH] has eternal life.
Rom 10:8 But what does it say? "The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim)
1Pe 2:2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, [the Word = Christ] that by it you may grow up into salvation-- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to Him...you are being built up...
You`ll find in the letters of the New Testament there was of course "reading of the OT Scriptures"....(NT was not yet compiled) and letters from the Apostles, but anywheres you see them "preaching"
the message was simply and only "Christ and Him crucified" (the Good News) -
Eph 3:7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. [Holy Spirit]
Eph 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Eph 3:9 and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things,
Eph 3:10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
Eph 3:11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Eph 3:12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our Bible?
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JoshuaDavid
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Reading the Bible is the only way you can really understand Who Jesus Christ really is. It gives you the truth about Jesus not what others have to say .
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Please post scripture to support your opinions.
Got any scripture to support your statement?
Because what your stating is lining up with scripture or history:shock:
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jesus'daughter
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the bible says that faith comes by hearing- hearing the word of God... reading the word is as important as prayer and holiness... these three are the pillars of christianity
Does anyone participating in this thread notice any difference between "reading" and "hearing". Has any of you studied any historical accounts of the "early church" The truth is most did not have a bible before the 15th century, first, they were extremely expensive, secondly, many were not eduacated enough to read on their own, and third, most bibles were in latin, which was not a common language.
Apply some coommon sense here, there are many around the world that do not have the liberty to even posses a bible in any language, like in China and some of the other places where believers are persecuted for their faith. To say;
or;
is to say that those who could not read the bible because they couldn't read or had no bible never grew spiritually and or never understood who Jesus really is.
Coconut
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I must surely love the Scripture, cause I cant seem to stop quoting it...
I think i`ve shown ample proof of what is most necessary for the child of God to know HIM and grow in HIM...according to scripture...perhaps those disciples of Christ sitting behind the iron curtain of communism without a Bible, or those sitting in dungeons without a Bible, or the countless persons in centuries past who did`nt know either how to read, or were never were privileged enough to lay their eyes on a Bible, would agree with me... If anyone does not, i`ll leave you to work it out twixt yourselves.
Jud 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
Eph 3:11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Eph 3:12 in [HIM] whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
Eph 3:13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
Eph 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
Eph 3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
Eph 3:16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
Eph 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
Eph 3:19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
Eph 3:21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
I think i`ve shown ample proof of what is most necessary for the child of God to know HIM and grow in HIM...according to scripture...perhaps those disciples of Christ sitting behind the iron curtain of communism without a Bible, or those sitting in dungeons without a Bible, or the countless persons in centuries past who did`nt know either how to read, or were never were privileged enough to lay their eyes on a Bible, would agree with me... If anyone does not, i`ll leave you to work it out twixt yourselves.
Jud 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
Eph 3:11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Eph 3:12 in [HIM] whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
Eph 3:13 So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.
Eph 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
Eph 3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
Eph 3:16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
Eph 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
Eph 3:19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
Eph 3:21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Boanerges
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They indeed had bibles in Soviet Russia. I know folks that used to smuggle them in. They would divide the bibles by Books and spread them around exchanging them when and where possible so that if they were caught the whole Word would not be lost.
The fact that bibles were smuggled into soviet Russia doesn't mean that all believers there had bibles or even access to bibles and IMO doesn't justify the above statements that one must read the bible to grow and know Jesus.:wink:
Amen sister, agree with you.
Boanerges
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Perhaps not but I do not know of anyone who does not grow spiritually when reading the Word and receiving revelation from the Holy Spirit.
Personally I find it life changing.
If we had not written Word we would have no spoken Word as history would have long obscured it's true form.
Jesus Himself as a practicing Jew read, studied and revered the written Word.
Either way though I respect your right to your view.
Much love in Christ, brother Larry.
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See I guess this is where we disagree because I believe that down through history some of the translations of the scriptures are corrupted.
