Christianity 101 Defending the faith, avoid these things

[jbearnolimits]

Ok, moving on from the subject of the different Bible translations I think it is good now to talk about the defence of the faith. I have put together a study on this subject here: http://onthelineministries.com/defendingthefaith.php and I would like to know your thoughts.

I think too often we get tangled up in the fight and forget what the real goal is. In the study I relate this to a tree. We will never kill the tree by swinging at the branches that stem from the root. It is a waste of time and a distraction tactic of the enemy.

I think this is good advice for those who want to share the gospel.

 

[Emmy]

Dear jbearnolimits. What is our aim? I believe Jesus told us in Matthew 22: 35-40: " The first and great Commandment is: Love God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is like it:
Love thy neighbour as thyself." In verse 40, Jesus states this great fact: " On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." God is Love and God wants our Love. In Matthew 7: 7-10: we are told: " ask and you shall receive," we ask for Love and Joy, then thank God and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour. We keep asking and receiving, then thank God and share all Love and Joy with our neighbour. God will see our loving efforts, and God will approve and bless us. ( neighbour being: all we know and all we meet, friends and not friends)
The Bible tells us: "Repent and be Born Again," we change from being unloving and selfish, and be loving and compassionate, kind and always friendly. We might stumble and forget at times, but then we ask God to forgive us,
and carry on being as God wants us to be: loving, forgiving and kind. A Christian`s weapon is Love, with love we will overcome all anger and bad behaviour. Love is also very catching, and love covers a multitude of sins.
The Holy Spirit will help and guide us, and Jesus our Saviour, will lead us all the way: JESUS IS THE WAY.
Let our aim become: Love God with heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbour as we love ourselves.
I say this with love, jbearnolimits.
Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

 

[Holoman]

Thanks, your website is very interesting. I just have a question about the quote

Mark 11:28-33

28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? 29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. 31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? 32 But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. 33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

I don't really understand the question, or their reasoning, or what the point of the story is?

 

[jbearnolimits]

Thanks, your website is very interesting. I just have a question about the quote

Mark 11:28-33

28 And say unto him, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things? 29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer me. 31 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did ye not believe him? 32 But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. 33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, We cannot tell. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.

I don't really understand the question, or their reasoning, or what the point of the story is?

Thanks Holoman, this is the reason for the question, reasoning, and point of the story:

Jesus has just made a whip out of horse hairs and went into the temple the day before this quote. He overturned tables and drove out those who bought and sold in the temple. The chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders viewed this as a direct challenge to them and their authority.

So they wanted to find reason to kill Jesus. One way to do this was to accuse Him and get Him to say something blasphemous. So they wanted Him to say that His authority came from being God Himself.

This would of course be all the reason they needed...IF it was not true. But it WAS true. Jesus DID have the authority because it was HIS house.

But that wouldn't matter if they didn't believe it, or if they didn't want to admit it. They still would have killed Him before it was time.

Jesus knew they refused to believe who He was. So rather than answer their leading question, knowing that they would not believe the answer anyway, Jesus asked them a question.

He turned it back on them. They now had no choice but to admit who Jesus was, or be killed by the people themselves. In doing this Jesus removed Himself from "casting perils before the swine" so to speak. Since they would not believe His answer and it was only meant to trap Him, answering would have been pointless unless they could answer His question first.