Recent content by def

I agree that "In the beginning" was a phrase to take us back to Genesis 1.1. The Spirit of God was upon the waters. The WORD was not explicitly mentioned in Genesis. So how did we get the the WORD was with God at the beginning? God "said" and things happened. God's WORD turn things into reality...

1. Jesus chose Paul to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9). 2. Paul makes it clear that Jesus revealed the gospel to him (Galatians 1). 3. Peter testifies that wisdom was given to Paul to write (2 Peter 3). The two teachings are related, you have to work out the relationships.

Please enlighten me, what are the primary sources of Calvin's research?

No, I have not heard of the Synod of Dort. TULIP appears to me as a list of premises, and from these premises, a hypothesis is developed. The hypothesis rests on those premises. It reminds me of "proof by axioms." On this forum alone, "L" and "P" are vigorously challenged. Given that mankind...

These verses apply to Christians - God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Christians need to find grace to help in times of need (Hebrews 4:16). Christians would not find grace if they are proud.

I think Calvin created TULIP because he could not find any proof texts for his doctrine.

"treat the interpretation of every passage as independent." Well said! Unfortunately, many Christians have approached the gospel in a reductionist manner. A reductionist will see the kingdom of God and grace as separate doctrines because they can't see the relationship between the two.

The Bible is divided into the Old and New Testaments. The teachings of the kingdom and grace are in the New Testament. Kingdom is the rule of God, grace is how God rules the kingdom.

A dream inspired me.

Unless you are born of water and spirit - Jesus is referring to spiritual birth (born again) and the event requires water (the symbol of the Holy Spirit) and spirit (a person's spirit). Born again, the spirit of a person lives. Indeed, Jesus is referring to Ezekiel's prophecy.

I am left with two sub-units (justified by works and faith of Christ) and can't really decide. a) Those justified by faith enter the kingdom of God on the basis of good works that God has prepared for them. Thus, justified by works to enter the kingdom. Versus, b) Those who have the faith of...

The OP declared that justification is related to the New Covenant, and the relationship is proven by connecting their sub-units. Scriptures provide teachings to support the connections. The clearest connections are made first. Sub-unit #2: I will put my Spirit in you - justified by faith...

I would not give the credit to Satan. The problem lies with the failure to recognise that Bible interpretation is a chaotic problem. A chaotic problem is one that is very sensitive to initial input. For example, if one says that justify is 'to declare a person righteous', then 'declared...

The original texts do not capitalise, so it would have to be 'born of spirit and spirit'. Try to work that out! Instead, the function that only the Holy Spirit can perform is used, and that is the function of rebirth through the washing by the Holy Spirit - born of water and spirit.

1) Net Bible and World English Bible do not capitalise 'spirit' in John 3:5. The original texts do not capitalise 'spirit'. 2) The context of John 3:5 is that a person has to be born from above (verses 3 and 7), and Jesus concludes in verse 8 that one has to be born of the Spirit. Therefore...