*Ephesians 4:4-9 / *Eph. 4:4 -
This means that all people with the one faith in Jesus Christ, including believers during Old Testament times (John 8:56, Hebrews 11:24-26), and including all Jewish and Gentile Christians (1 Corinthians 12:13), are now part of the one, New Covenant/New Testament body of Christ (Ephesians 4:4-9, Hebrews 12:23-24), the Church (Colossians 1:18).
(See also 1 Peter 4:6 below)
~
(Re: How can all Christians be one, when, for example, Matthew 24:9 does not apply to all Christians?)
All Christians are one (John 17:20-21, Ephesians 4:4), but this does not mean that the same things have to happen to every Christian, just as we as individuals each having one physical body does not mean that the same things have to happen to every part of our body. For example, we can stub our toe without stubbing our finger. But our body can still suffer generally nonetheless (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26).
~
(Re: Is the RCC an *institution separate from Israel?)
The Church as a spiritual institution consists of all Christians (Ephesians 4:4-6), no matter what man-made denominations that they may mistakenly want to apply to themselves (1 Corinthians 1:12-13; 1 Corinthians 3:4). And the entire Church is Israel.
(See the "Tribes" section of Romans 11:17 above)
--
*Ephesians 4:5 / *Eph. 4:5 -
One thing can include multiple aspects, like how the Trinity is one God (Mark 12:29, John 10:30) and yet includes three Persons at the same time (Mark 1:9-11, Matthew 28:19). And Christian faith is one faith and yet includes multiple core beliefs, such as that Jesus Christ not only suffered and died on the Cross for our sins, but also physically rose from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Similarly, while Christian baptism is one baptism (Ephesians 4:5), it includes two different aspects: water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism (Acts 8:15-17, Acts 10:44-48).
(See also paragraphs 2-3 of Mark 16:16 above)
--
*Ephesians 4:9 / *Eph. 4:9 -
This does not mean that Jesus Christ's soul descended into hell when He died, but refers to His post-resurrection descent in 1 Peter 3:18c-19 and 1 Peter 4:6.
(See also Luke 23:46 above, and 1 Peter 4:6 below)
--
*Ephesians 4:11-12 / *Eph. 4:11 -
For the edification of the Church, God gives it not only pastors, teachers, and evangelists (Ephesians 4:11-12), but also prophets (Ephesians 4:11), tongues-speakers, and tongues-interpreters (1 Corinthians 14:4-5,12-13,26-31), and also those who are able to give miraculous words of knowledge and wisdom (1 Corinthians 12:8).
(See also 1 Corinthians 12:8 above)
~
(Re: Why bother with *pastors, when they cannot save anyone?)
No pastor can save anyone who does not in prayer personally come to Jesus Christ Himself (John 14:6, Acts 4:22). But anyone who does that may still need a pastor to help keep him on the strait and narrow (Ephesians 4:11-12, Matthew 7:14). Also, one needs a pastor (or least some other Christian) to baptize one, baptism being crucial to being a Christian (Galatians 3:27, Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Romans 6:3-5). Also, one needs a pastor (or at least some other Christian who is Spirit-filled and has the ability to impart the Spirit) to lay hands on one so that one may receive the Holy Spirit in the full measure intended for Christians (Acts 19:2,6, Acts 8:15-17). Also, one may need a pastor (or at least some other Christian who is a Bible teacher) to preach the Bible to one, and keep one in correct, Biblical doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16 to 4:4). Also, in being a Christian, one should be exhorting other Christians every day (such as on this forum), not forsaking assembling together with them (Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:25).
~
(Re: Do I have to believe everything that my pastor says?)
When a pastor teaches Christians a theological doctrine, they should not necessarily believe it to be true without first confirming for themselves that the Bible itself teaches that doctrine (Acts 17:11b; 2 Timothy 3:16 to 4:4).
If a Christian has received God's Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2,6; 1 Corinthians 2:11-16) and has read every verse of the Bible for himself with a completely open mind, over and over, and over again, he will learn so much directly from the Bible, through the Spirit, that when he goes to church or turns on the radio or TV to listen to preachers, he may find that he already knows everything that they are teaching (1 John 2:27, John 16:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). And he should also be able to immediately recognize anything in their teaching which is not in line with the Bible (cf. Acts 17:11), but is only meant to "tickle ears" (cf. 2 Timothy 4:3), and so increase donations (2 Peter 2:3; 1 Timothy 6:5b).
(See also Matthew 4:4 above)
~
(Re: My pastor kicked someone out of our church. Can he do that?)
Leaders in the Church should never exercise their authority in an imperious manner (1 Peter 5:3, Matthew 20:25-27), but neither should they shrink from their responsibility to expel from their congregation any Christian who is continuing in unrepentant sin (1 Corinthians 5:11-13). This expulsion can be done in a loving manner (2 Thessalonians 3:15), with the motive of hoping that it will wake up the expelled person to the seriousness of his spiritual situation, and so cause him to want to repent, instead of continuing in his sin until Jesus Christ returns and cuts him to pieces as a hypocrite (Matthew 24:48-51).
~
(Re: My pastor says that everyone in our congregation has to agree about everything)
A congregation which no longer has differences of opinions about the Bible's teachings could still be in error in its united opinion. For there could be another congregation which no longer has differences of opinions about the Bible's teachings which has a united opinion directly opposed to that of the first congregation. Both congregations cannot be right, yet they could both have perfect peace that they are right, having sunk themselves into cocoons of their own understanding, never questioning, never examining their beliefs to see if they actually hold water, to see if they can continually stand up to opposing interpretations, and prove themselves, from the Bible itself, to be correct, instead of mistaken (1 Corinthians 11:19).
Congregations can smother over all perennial questions like: When is the rapture in relation to the future Tribulation? What is the relationship between the Church and Israel? Are works necessary for salvation? Can salvation be lost? And other questions the answers to which people in opposing camps can never seem to convince each other about. Congregations can prohibit all discussion of such questions as evil, and say that this prohibition has brought peace to their congregations. But all they could have done is assume that their side of each position is the "obvious meaning of the Bible; no interpretation is required", while people in their congregations who may hold to the opposite position are squelched, whether by official warning to button their lip, or by an oppressive peer pressure to "not bring division".
But what good is peaceful unity if it is in error? And how can it be known whether or not it is in error unless it is continually tested against opposing views (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:19)?
Regarding views which are heresies, a heretic can be cast out of a congregation after a couple of warnings (Titus 3:10). Regarding what constitutes a heresy...
(See 2 Peter 2:1 below)
~
(Re: My pastor says that we have to agree with everything that our denomination teaches)
There is no denomination (unless it is very tiny) which does not contain at least some members who are divided in their beliefs regarding various matters, regardless of what that denomination's "official, headquarters" positions may be. So it is no good preaching any particular denomination, pretending that in that denomination there is a perfect unity of belief among its members. Also, even unity does not assure truth, as was discussed in the section above.
~
(Re: My church will not let anyone be a pastor who does not have a post-graduate degree from a reputable university)
God is not interested in worldly, man-made credentials which are highly esteemed among men. In fact, they can be an abomination to God (Luke 16:15).
God purposely goes out of His way to choose as His greatest servants those men who are most despised by the world (1 Corinthians 4:13), so that He can utterly confound with His divine wisdom those men who are most esteemed by the world (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
God will take a guy who herds cows and gathers fruit and send him off as a prophet to speak divine truth to the most powerful men in the land (Amos 7:10-17). He will take some unlearned and ignorant men and fill them with divine truth and power through their personal relationship with Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1-4) to where they utterly confound those with the highest formal religious credentials in the land (Acts 4:13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:28).
He will even send His divine Son as a human being with no credentials or reputation whatsoever (Philippians 2:6-8), as a newborn baby lying in a cow-feeding trough in a barn (Luke 2:7), and as a mere carpenter as an adult (Mark 6:3), all so that He can show His utter rejection of all worldly credentials (Luke 16:15), all the worthless idols of proud and haughty men (Isaiah 2:17-22).
As Christians, we should also forbear flashing any spiritual credentials even received from God Himself, if this will help people not to think of us above what we are actually saying and doing (2 Corinthians 12:6). For how many Christians blindly follow some "great spiritual leader" who is still alive today, because of some past glories on his part, while these Christians are actually being led today by him only into spiritual stagnation, lifelessness, even backsliding, as their "spiritual giant" withers and crumples over time into a dried up bag of complacency, laziness, and pride. And he is always asking for more money, more money.
(See also paragraph 4 of 2 Corinthians 11:8 above)
--
*Ephesians 4:12-16 / *Eph. 4:12 -
Ephesians 4:12,15-16 refers to the present, gradual changing of Christians while they presently see Jesus Christ figuratively as in a darkened mirror (2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 13:12), while Ephesians 4:13 refers to the future, instantaneous changing of all obedient Christians into perfection when they will literally see Jesus face to face at His Second Coming (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:10,12; 1 Corinthians 15:52).
(See also 1 Corinthians 13:12 above)
--
*Ephesians 4:16 / *Eph. 4:16 -
The original Greek word (sumbibazo: G4822) translated as "compacted" can mean "united" (Strong's Greek Dictionary).
The Greek word (auxesis: G0838) translated as "increase" can mean "growth".
--
*Ephesians 4:22 / *Eph. 4:22 -
(Conversation / G0391)
See section 3 of 1 Peter 1:18 below.
--
*Ephesians 4:26 / *Eph. 4:26 -
See paragraph 2b of section 2 of Isaiah 42:8 above.
--
*Ephesians 4:30 / *Eph. 4:30 -
Here the day of redemption, as in Ephesians 1:14, refers to when, at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming, the physical bodies of obedient Christians (of all times) will be redeemed (Romans 8:23-25) by being resurrected (if dead) or changed (if alive) into immortal flesh and bone bodies like Jesus Himself was resurrected into on the third day after His death (Luke 24:39,46; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4,21-23,51-53, Philippians 3:21).
Ephesians 4:30 and Ephesians 1:14 do not require that every Christian will receive ultimate salvation on the day of redemption.
(See paragraph 2b of John 5:28 above. Or see Matthew 24:48 above)
--
*Ephesians 5:8 / *Eph. 5:8 -
Christians are children of light because they believe in Jesus Christ the light (John 12:36, John 8:12). Knowing that they are children of light (1 Thessalonians 5:5) should spur them on to walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8). But what if they nonetheless wrongly employ their free will to commit a sin? Then they should not lose their faith in Jesus, nor should they think that they are no longer children of light. Instead, they should immediately repent, and confess their sin to God (1 John 1:9), and get right back up walking again as children of light, continuing to follow Jesus day by day (Luke 9:23).
(See also the "repentance" section of Hebrews 10:26 below)
--
*Ephesians 5:18 / *Eph. 5:18 -
The original Greek word (asotia: G0810) translated as "excess" can mean "riot" (Titus 1:6) in the sense of carousing. The word asotia could also literally mean a "lack of health", whether physical or spiritual, for it could be derived from the word sozo (G4982), which can refer to health, whether physical (Acts 14:9) or spiritual (Luke 8:36).
--
*Ephesians 5:22-32 / *Eph. 5:22 -
(Re: Does a singular bride of Christ mean that there are no aliens?)
Just as each individual Christian on the earth is a bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2) at the same time that the Church as a whole on the earth is a singular bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:31-32), so any Christians on other planets could be included in Christ's singular bride.
(See also section 2 of Psalms 8:3 above)
--
*Ephesians 5:29 / *Eph. 5:29 -
While in his right mind "no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it" (Ephesians 5:29), people in pathological self-hatred can still, for example, wrongly commit suicide, or cut themselves, or starve themselves to death via anorexia, or eat themselves into morbid obesity, or abuse themselves in sexual ways (1 Corinthians 6:9b). They can pathologically love death more than God or themselves or other people (Proverbs 8:36).
--
*Ephesians 5:30 / *Eph. 5:30 -
Christians are an extension of Jesus Christ in that they are figuratively His body (Ephesians 5:30) which His Spirit lives in (Ephesians 3:17, Galatians 4:6), and works through (Philippians 2:13, John 15:5). But this must be very explicitly distinguished from the New Age lie that we are all extensions of God in the sense of being little sparks of God Himself, so that we are all God Himself. For we are not God Himself, who alone is uncreated, from everlasting (Psalms 90:2, Micah 5:2c), and who alone has life in Himself (John 5:26; 1 Timothy 6:16). Instead, we are merely His finite creatures, who are and always will be wholly dependent upon Him for our continued existence (Acts 17:28, Colossians 1:17).
(See also Revelation 2:7 below)
--
*Ephesians 6:9 / *Eph. 6:9 -
(Respect of persons)
See Acts 10:34 above.
--
*Ephesians 6:10-18 / *Eph. 6:10 -
This refers to spiritual warfare, not necessarily to physical protection.
(See Luke 10:19 above)
--
*Ephesians 6:12 / *Eph. 6:12 -
(Re: Means that the future Antichrist and his False Prophet will not be humans?)
They will be humans, but Ephesians 6:12 means that even as humans their future persecution of the Church (Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4, Matthew 24:9-13) will be animated by Satanic power (Revelation 13:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:9), just as in the apostle Paul's time in the first century AD the human persecution of Christians, as of Jesus Christ Himself, was animated by Satanic power (John 8:44).
So in whatever time period, obedient Christians need to focus on the real, spiritual source of their persecution (Revelation 2:10, Revelation 12:17), and take spiritual measures against it (Ephesians 6:12-18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). And they should also pray that God would free their human persecutors (2 Timothy 3:12) from the grip of Satan (2 Timothy 2:25-26).
The future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") will be a human (2 Thessalonians 2:3, Revelation 13:18) who will say that he is God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36), and who will be worshipped by the world (Revelation 13:8), along with Lucifer (Satan) the dragon (Revelation 13:4, Revelation 12:9).
The Antichrist's False Prophet will also be a human, who will be cast into the lake of fire along with the Antichrist at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Revelation 19:20), which will occur 1,000 years before Satan himself is cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:7,10).
(See also Revelation 13:11 below)
~
(*High places)
When Ephesians 6:12 refers to "high places", the original Greek word is "epouranios" (G2032), which means "above the sky" (Strong's Greek Dictionary). So Ephesians 6:12 means that some evil, spiritual forces reside in places above the earth's atmosphere, in outer space.
(See also 2 Corinthians 12:2(space) above)
--
*Ephesians 6:13-17 / *Eph. 6:13 -
(Re: Does the armor assure physical protection?)
No, it is an assurance of spiritual protection and survival. That is, for Christians to be able to maintain their salvation, they must remain in the truth (1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 4:2-4), and they must remain in righteousness (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21). And they must remain in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Colossians 1:23, Mark 8:35-38), and they must remain in the faith of Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 2:12, Hebrews 6:4-8). And they must remain in the salvation which comes only through faith in Jesus Christ (John 14:6, John 3:36, Acts 4:12), and they must remain in the Word of God, the Holy Bible (James 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:15-17).
None of these things assures the physical protection of Christians. Indeed, they are the very reason that Christian martyrs have been killed by non-Christians from the beginning of the Church down until today, and will be killed by non-Christians during the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:9-13, Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4). So Christians must not think that the armor of God assures their physical protection. But God still can physically protect them (Psalms 91, Psalms 121)
(See the "Protection" section of Revelation 7:4 below)
Also, regarding "the gospel of peace" (Ephesians 6:15), this can include reference to how Christians are never to teach or use physical violence against other people, even in self-defense.
(See Matthew 5:39 and Mark 13:9 above)
--
*Philippians 1:6 / *Philip. 1:6 -
(Re: OSAS?)
Philippians 1:6 does mean that God will complete the work which He has begun in Christians. But other passages show that He will do this only if they continue to cooperate with Him, work along with Him (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 5:9, Colossians 1:29, Philippians 2:12, Philippians 3:12-14), and do not wrongly employ their free will to, for example, become utterly lazy without repentance, to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Matthew 25:26,30, John 15:2a, Romans 2:6-8).
~
(Re: Full preterism?)
Philippians 1:6,10 does not require that the first century AD Philippian Christians (whom the apostle Paul was originally addressing) would be preserved physically "alive" until Jesus Christ's Second Coming, which remains unfulfilled today. Instead, it only requires that they could be "sincere and without offence" until His Second Coming, whether they were still physically alive by that time or had been physically dead for thousands of years.
(See also Acts 1:11 above, and section 2 of 2 Thessalonians 1:6 below)
--
*Philippians 1:8 / *Philip. 1:8 -
The original Greek word (splagchnon: G4698) translated as "bowels" can mean "inward affection" (2 Corinthians 7:15).
--
*Philippians 1:21,23 / *Philip. 1:21 -
See 2 Corinthians 5:8 above.
--
*Philippians 2:10-11 / *Philip. 2:10 -
(Re: Universal salvation?)
Philippians 2:10-11 does not mean that everyone will be saved from hell, for even unsaved people will call Jesus Christ Lord (Matthew 25:44) before they are sent away into everlasting suffering (Matthew 25:41-46; cf. Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11, Mark 9:45-46).
(See also section 2 of 1 Corinthians 15:27 above)
~
Philippians 2:10-11 could be fulfilled physically at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), which will not occur until sometime after the future Millennium (Revelation 20:4-15).
--
*Philippians 2:12b / *Philip. 2:12b -
While God makes it possible for Christians to do the right thing (Philippians 2:13), they still have to work out their own ultimate salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12b; 1 Peter 1:17, Romans 2:6-8).
(See also Matthew 24:48 above)
~
(Re: Is there no *peace for Christians?)
Christians should never become complacent, but should always be in a state of fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12b, Romans 11:20-22) that, for example, if they commit a sin and do not repent from it, then they will ultimately lose their salvation (Hebrews 10:26-29, Luke 12:45-46; 1 Corinthians 9:27). But if they do repent from an act of sin, and confess it to God, then they can have the peace that God has forgiven them completely for that act of sin (1 John 1:9).
--
*Philippians 2:13 / *Philip. 2:13 -
(Re: A *robot analogy)
While God makes it possible for Christians to do the right thing (Philippians 2:13, John 15:4-5), He does not take away their free will, turning them into robots, or into macabre flesh puppets, mere marionettes whom He forces to dance across the stage as He pulls on their strings. Instead, He leaves them as His real children with free will. And so they have to choose each and every day to deny themselves, to take up their crosses, and to follow Jesus Christ to the end (Luke 9:23, Matthew 24:13). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that (Matthew 25:26,30, Luke 12:45-46, Luke 8:13), because of free will.
(See also 2 Corinthians 5:9 above, and the "contract analogy" of Ephesians 2:8 above. Also see Titus 3:8 below)
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Dec 19, 2018
This means that all people with the one faith in Jesus Christ, including believers during Old Testament times (John 8:56, Hebrews 11:24-26), and including all Jewish and Gentile Christians (1 Corinthians 12:13), are now part of the one, New Covenant/New Testament body of Christ (Ephesians 4:4-9, Hebrews 12:23-24), the Church (Colossians 1:18).
(See also 1 Peter 4:6 below)
~
(Re: How can all Christians be one, when, for example, Matthew 24:9 does not apply to all Christians?)
All Christians are one (John 17:20-21, Ephesians 4:4), but this does not mean that the same things have to happen to every Christian, just as we as individuals each having one physical body does not mean that the same things have to happen to every part of our body. For example, we can stub our toe without stubbing our finger. But our body can still suffer generally nonetheless (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26).
~
(Re: Is the RCC an *institution separate from Israel?)
The Church as a spiritual institution consists of all Christians (Ephesians 4:4-6), no matter what man-made denominations that they may mistakenly want to apply to themselves (1 Corinthians 1:12-13; 1 Corinthians 3:4). And the entire Church is Israel.
(See the "Tribes" section of Romans 11:17 above)
--
*Ephesians 4:5 / *Eph. 4:5 -
One thing can include multiple aspects, like how the Trinity is one God (Mark 12:29, John 10:30) and yet includes three Persons at the same time (Mark 1:9-11, Matthew 28:19). And Christian faith is one faith and yet includes multiple core beliefs, such as that Jesus Christ not only suffered and died on the Cross for our sins, but also physically rose from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Similarly, while Christian baptism is one baptism (Ephesians 4:5), it includes two different aspects: water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism (Acts 8:15-17, Acts 10:44-48).
(See also paragraphs 2-3 of Mark 16:16 above)
--
*Ephesians 4:9 / *Eph. 4:9 -
This does not mean that Jesus Christ's soul descended into hell when He died, but refers to His post-resurrection descent in 1 Peter 3:18c-19 and 1 Peter 4:6.
(See also Luke 23:46 above, and 1 Peter 4:6 below)
--
*Ephesians 4:11-12 / *Eph. 4:11 -
For the edification of the Church, God gives it not only pastors, teachers, and evangelists (Ephesians 4:11-12), but also prophets (Ephesians 4:11), tongues-speakers, and tongues-interpreters (1 Corinthians 14:4-5,12-13,26-31), and also those who are able to give miraculous words of knowledge and wisdom (1 Corinthians 12:8).
(See also 1 Corinthians 12:8 above)
~
(Re: Why bother with *pastors, when they cannot save anyone?)
No pastor can save anyone who does not in prayer personally come to Jesus Christ Himself (John 14:6, Acts 4:22). But anyone who does that may still need a pastor to help keep him on the strait and narrow (Ephesians 4:11-12, Matthew 7:14). Also, one needs a pastor (or least some other Christian) to baptize one, baptism being crucial to being a Christian (Galatians 3:27, Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21, Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Romans 6:3-5). Also, one needs a pastor (or at least some other Christian who is Spirit-filled and has the ability to impart the Spirit) to lay hands on one so that one may receive the Holy Spirit in the full measure intended for Christians (Acts 19:2,6, Acts 8:15-17). Also, one may need a pastor (or at least some other Christian who is a Bible teacher) to preach the Bible to one, and keep one in correct, Biblical doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16 to 4:4). Also, in being a Christian, one should be exhorting other Christians every day (such as on this forum), not forsaking assembling together with them (Hebrews 3:13, Hebrews 10:25).
~
(Re: Do I have to believe everything that my pastor says?)
When a pastor teaches Christians a theological doctrine, they should not necessarily believe it to be true without first confirming for themselves that the Bible itself teaches that doctrine (Acts 17:11b; 2 Timothy 3:16 to 4:4).
If a Christian has received God's Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2,6; 1 Corinthians 2:11-16) and has read every verse of the Bible for himself with a completely open mind, over and over, and over again, he will learn so much directly from the Bible, through the Spirit, that when he goes to church or turns on the radio or TV to listen to preachers, he may find that he already knows everything that they are teaching (1 John 2:27, John 16:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). And he should also be able to immediately recognize anything in their teaching which is not in line with the Bible (cf. Acts 17:11), but is only meant to "tickle ears" (cf. 2 Timothy 4:3), and so increase donations (2 Peter 2:3; 1 Timothy 6:5b).
(See also Matthew 4:4 above)
~
(Re: My pastor kicked someone out of our church. Can he do that?)
Leaders in the Church should never exercise their authority in an imperious manner (1 Peter 5:3, Matthew 20:25-27), but neither should they shrink from their responsibility to expel from their congregation any Christian who is continuing in unrepentant sin (1 Corinthians 5:11-13). This expulsion can be done in a loving manner (2 Thessalonians 3:15), with the motive of hoping that it will wake up the expelled person to the seriousness of his spiritual situation, and so cause him to want to repent, instead of continuing in his sin until Jesus Christ returns and cuts him to pieces as a hypocrite (Matthew 24:48-51).
~
(Re: My pastor says that everyone in our congregation has to agree about everything)
A congregation which no longer has differences of opinions about the Bible's teachings could still be in error in its united opinion. For there could be another congregation which no longer has differences of opinions about the Bible's teachings which has a united opinion directly opposed to that of the first congregation. Both congregations cannot be right, yet they could both have perfect peace that they are right, having sunk themselves into cocoons of their own understanding, never questioning, never examining their beliefs to see if they actually hold water, to see if they can continually stand up to opposing interpretations, and prove themselves, from the Bible itself, to be correct, instead of mistaken (1 Corinthians 11:19).
Congregations can smother over all perennial questions like: When is the rapture in relation to the future Tribulation? What is the relationship between the Church and Israel? Are works necessary for salvation? Can salvation be lost? And other questions the answers to which people in opposing camps can never seem to convince each other about. Congregations can prohibit all discussion of such questions as evil, and say that this prohibition has brought peace to their congregations. But all they could have done is assume that their side of each position is the "obvious meaning of the Bible; no interpretation is required", while people in their congregations who may hold to the opposite position are squelched, whether by official warning to button their lip, or by an oppressive peer pressure to "not bring division".
But what good is peaceful unity if it is in error? And how can it be known whether or not it is in error unless it is continually tested against opposing views (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:19)?
Regarding views which are heresies, a heretic can be cast out of a congregation after a couple of warnings (Titus 3:10). Regarding what constitutes a heresy...
(See 2 Peter 2:1 below)
~
(Re: My pastor says that we have to agree with everything that our denomination teaches)
There is no denomination (unless it is very tiny) which does not contain at least some members who are divided in their beliefs regarding various matters, regardless of what that denomination's "official, headquarters" positions may be. So it is no good preaching any particular denomination, pretending that in that denomination there is a perfect unity of belief among its members. Also, even unity does not assure truth, as was discussed in the section above.
~
(Re: My church will not let anyone be a pastor who does not have a post-graduate degree from a reputable university)
God is not interested in worldly, man-made credentials which are highly esteemed among men. In fact, they can be an abomination to God (Luke 16:15).
God purposely goes out of His way to choose as His greatest servants those men who are most despised by the world (1 Corinthians 4:13), so that He can utterly confound with His divine wisdom those men who are most esteemed by the world (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
God will take a guy who herds cows and gathers fruit and send him off as a prophet to speak divine truth to the most powerful men in the land (Amos 7:10-17). He will take some unlearned and ignorant men and fill them with divine truth and power through their personal relationship with Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1-4) to where they utterly confound those with the highest formal religious credentials in the land (Acts 4:13-14; 1 Corinthians 1:28).
He will even send His divine Son as a human being with no credentials or reputation whatsoever (Philippians 2:6-8), as a newborn baby lying in a cow-feeding trough in a barn (Luke 2:7), and as a mere carpenter as an adult (Mark 6:3), all so that He can show His utter rejection of all worldly credentials (Luke 16:15), all the worthless idols of proud and haughty men (Isaiah 2:17-22).
As Christians, we should also forbear flashing any spiritual credentials even received from God Himself, if this will help people not to think of us above what we are actually saying and doing (2 Corinthians 12:6). For how many Christians blindly follow some "great spiritual leader" who is still alive today, because of some past glories on his part, while these Christians are actually being led today by him only into spiritual stagnation, lifelessness, even backsliding, as their "spiritual giant" withers and crumples over time into a dried up bag of complacency, laziness, and pride. And he is always asking for more money, more money.
(See also paragraph 4 of 2 Corinthians 11:8 above)
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*Ephesians 4:12-16 / *Eph. 4:12 -
Ephesians 4:12,15-16 refers to the present, gradual changing of Christians while they presently see Jesus Christ figuratively as in a darkened mirror (2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 13:12), while Ephesians 4:13 refers to the future, instantaneous changing of all obedient Christians into perfection when they will literally see Jesus face to face at His Second Coming (1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:10,12; 1 Corinthians 15:52).
(See also 1 Corinthians 13:12 above)
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*Ephesians 4:16 / *Eph. 4:16 -
The original Greek word (sumbibazo: G4822) translated as "compacted" can mean "united" (Strong's Greek Dictionary).
The Greek word (auxesis: G0838) translated as "increase" can mean "growth".
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*Ephesians 4:22 / *Eph. 4:22 -
(Conversation / G0391)
See section 3 of 1 Peter 1:18 below.
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*Ephesians 4:26 / *Eph. 4:26 -
See paragraph 2b of section 2 of Isaiah 42:8 above.
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*Ephesians 4:30 / *Eph. 4:30 -
Here the day of redemption, as in Ephesians 1:14, refers to when, at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming, the physical bodies of obedient Christians (of all times) will be redeemed (Romans 8:23-25) by being resurrected (if dead) or changed (if alive) into immortal flesh and bone bodies like Jesus Himself was resurrected into on the third day after His death (Luke 24:39,46; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4,21-23,51-53, Philippians 3:21).
Ephesians 4:30 and Ephesians 1:14 do not require that every Christian will receive ultimate salvation on the day of redemption.
(See paragraph 2b of John 5:28 above. Or see Matthew 24:48 above)
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*Ephesians 5:8 / *Eph. 5:8 -
Christians are children of light because they believe in Jesus Christ the light (John 12:36, John 8:12). Knowing that they are children of light (1 Thessalonians 5:5) should spur them on to walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8). But what if they nonetheless wrongly employ their free will to commit a sin? Then they should not lose their faith in Jesus, nor should they think that they are no longer children of light. Instead, they should immediately repent, and confess their sin to God (1 John 1:9), and get right back up walking again as children of light, continuing to follow Jesus day by day (Luke 9:23).
(See also the "repentance" section of Hebrews 10:26 below)
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*Ephesians 5:18 / *Eph. 5:18 -
The original Greek word (asotia: G0810) translated as "excess" can mean "riot" (Titus 1:6) in the sense of carousing. The word asotia could also literally mean a "lack of health", whether physical or spiritual, for it could be derived from the word sozo (G4982), which can refer to health, whether physical (Acts 14:9) or spiritual (Luke 8:36).
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*Ephesians 5:22-32 / *Eph. 5:22 -
(Re: Does a singular bride of Christ mean that there are no aliens?)
Just as each individual Christian on the earth is a bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2) at the same time that the Church as a whole on the earth is a singular bride of Christ (Ephesians 5:31-32), so any Christians on other planets could be included in Christ's singular bride.
(See also section 2 of Psalms 8:3 above)
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*Ephesians 5:29 / *Eph. 5:29 -
While in his right mind "no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it" (Ephesians 5:29), people in pathological self-hatred can still, for example, wrongly commit suicide, or cut themselves, or starve themselves to death via anorexia, or eat themselves into morbid obesity, or abuse themselves in sexual ways (1 Corinthians 6:9b). They can pathologically love death more than God or themselves or other people (Proverbs 8:36).
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*Ephesians 5:30 / *Eph. 5:30 -
Christians are an extension of Jesus Christ in that they are figuratively His body (Ephesians 5:30) which His Spirit lives in (Ephesians 3:17, Galatians 4:6), and works through (Philippians 2:13, John 15:5). But this must be very explicitly distinguished from the New Age lie that we are all extensions of God in the sense of being little sparks of God Himself, so that we are all God Himself. For we are not God Himself, who alone is uncreated, from everlasting (Psalms 90:2, Micah 5:2c), and who alone has life in Himself (John 5:26; 1 Timothy 6:16). Instead, we are merely His finite creatures, who are and always will be wholly dependent upon Him for our continued existence (Acts 17:28, Colossians 1:17).
(See also Revelation 2:7 below)
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*Ephesians 6:9 / *Eph. 6:9 -
(Respect of persons)
See Acts 10:34 above.
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*Ephesians 6:10-18 / *Eph. 6:10 -
This refers to spiritual warfare, not necessarily to physical protection.
(See Luke 10:19 above)
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*Ephesians 6:12 / *Eph. 6:12 -
(Re: Means that the future Antichrist and his False Prophet will not be humans?)
They will be humans, but Ephesians 6:12 means that even as humans their future persecution of the Church (Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4, Matthew 24:9-13) will be animated by Satanic power (Revelation 13:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:9), just as in the apostle Paul's time in the first century AD the human persecution of Christians, as of Jesus Christ Himself, was animated by Satanic power (John 8:44).
So in whatever time period, obedient Christians need to focus on the real, spiritual source of their persecution (Revelation 2:10, Revelation 12:17), and take spiritual measures against it (Ephesians 6:12-18; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5). And they should also pray that God would free their human persecutors (2 Timothy 3:12) from the grip of Satan (2 Timothy 2:25-26).
The future Antichrist (the individual-man aspect of Revelation's "beast") will be a human (2 Thessalonians 2:3, Revelation 13:18) who will say that he is God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36), and who will be worshipped by the world (Revelation 13:8), along with Lucifer (Satan) the dragon (Revelation 13:4, Revelation 12:9).
The Antichrist's False Prophet will also be a human, who will be cast into the lake of fire along with the Antichrist at Jesus Christ's future, Second Coming (Revelation 19:20), which will occur 1,000 years before Satan himself is cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:7,10).
(See also Revelation 13:11 below)
~
(*High places)
When Ephesians 6:12 refers to "high places", the original Greek word is "epouranios" (G2032), which means "above the sky" (Strong's Greek Dictionary). So Ephesians 6:12 means that some evil, spiritual forces reside in places above the earth's atmosphere, in outer space.
(See also 2 Corinthians 12:2(space) above)
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*Ephesians 6:13-17 / *Eph. 6:13 -
(Re: Does the armor assure physical protection?)
No, it is an assurance of spiritual protection and survival. That is, for Christians to be able to maintain their salvation, they must remain in the truth (1 Timothy 4:16; 2 Timothy 4:2-4), and they must remain in righteousness (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21). And they must remain in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Colossians 1:23, Mark 8:35-38), and they must remain in the faith of Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 2:12, Hebrews 6:4-8). And they must remain in the salvation which comes only through faith in Jesus Christ (John 14:6, John 3:36, Acts 4:12), and they must remain in the Word of God, the Holy Bible (James 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:15-17).
None of these things assures the physical protection of Christians. Indeed, they are the very reason that Christian martyrs have been killed by non-Christians from the beginning of the Church down until today, and will be killed by non-Christians during the future Tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24 (Matthew 24:9-13, Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4). So Christians must not think that the armor of God assures their physical protection. But God still can physically protect them (Psalms 91, Psalms 121)
(See the "Protection" section of Revelation 7:4 below)
Also, regarding "the gospel of peace" (Ephesians 6:15), this can include reference to how Christians are never to teach or use physical violence against other people, even in self-defense.
(See Matthew 5:39 and Mark 13:9 above)
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*Philippians 1:6 / *Philip. 1:6 -
(Re: OSAS?)
Philippians 1:6 does mean that God will complete the work which He has begun in Christians. But other passages show that He will do this only if they continue to cooperate with Him, work along with Him (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 5:9, Colossians 1:29, Philippians 2:12, Philippians 3:12-14), and do not wrongly employ their free will to, for example, become utterly lazy without repentance, to the ultimate loss of their salvation (Matthew 25:26,30, John 15:2a, Romans 2:6-8).
~
(Re: Full preterism?)
Philippians 1:6,10 does not require that the first century AD Philippian Christians (whom the apostle Paul was originally addressing) would be preserved physically "alive" until Jesus Christ's Second Coming, which remains unfulfilled today. Instead, it only requires that they could be "sincere and without offence" until His Second Coming, whether they were still physically alive by that time or had been physically dead for thousands of years.
(See also Acts 1:11 above, and section 2 of 2 Thessalonians 1:6 below)
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*Philippians 1:8 / *Philip. 1:8 -
The original Greek word (splagchnon: G4698) translated as "bowels" can mean "inward affection" (2 Corinthians 7:15).
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*Philippians 1:21,23 / *Philip. 1:21 -
See 2 Corinthians 5:8 above.
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*Philippians 2:10-11 / *Philip. 2:10 -
(Re: Universal salvation?)
Philippians 2:10-11 does not mean that everyone will be saved from hell, for even unsaved people will call Jesus Christ Lord (Matthew 25:44) before they are sent away into everlasting suffering (Matthew 25:41-46; cf. Revelation 20:10,15, Revelation 14:10-11, Mark 9:45-46).
(See also section 2 of 1 Corinthians 15:27 above)
~
Philippians 2:10-11 could be fulfilled physically at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15), which will not occur until sometime after the future Millennium (Revelation 20:4-15).
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*Philippians 2:12b / *Philip. 2:12b -
While God makes it possible for Christians to do the right thing (Philippians 2:13), they still have to work out their own ultimate salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12b; 1 Peter 1:17, Romans 2:6-8).
(See also Matthew 24:48 above)
~
(Re: Is there no *peace for Christians?)
Christians should never become complacent, but should always be in a state of fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12b, Romans 11:20-22) that, for example, if they commit a sin and do not repent from it, then they will ultimately lose their salvation (Hebrews 10:26-29, Luke 12:45-46; 1 Corinthians 9:27). But if they do repent from an act of sin, and confess it to God, then they can have the peace that God has forgiven them completely for that act of sin (1 John 1:9).
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*Philippians 2:13 / *Philip. 2:13 -
(Re: A *robot analogy)
While God makes it possible for Christians to do the right thing (Philippians 2:13, John 15:4-5), He does not take away their free will, turning them into robots, or into macabre flesh puppets, mere marionettes whom He forces to dance across the stage as He pulls on their strings. Instead, He leaves them as His real children with free will. And so they have to choose each and every day to deny themselves, to take up their crosses, and to follow Jesus Christ to the end (Luke 9:23, Matthew 24:13). And there is no assurance that they will choose to do that (Matthew 25:26,30, Luke 12:45-46, Luke 8:13), because of free will.
(See also 2 Corinthians 5:9 above, and the "contract analogy" of Ephesians 2:8 above. Also see Titus 3:8 below)
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