Does "all things" mean everything?

[NaLuvena]

Does all mean everything—like, in these verses:

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19.26)

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9.23)
​

Are we to believe that it is possible for me to sprout wings and fly if I just believe I can?

Or is “all things” in these verses a synecdoche, a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part. As, when we say “with all speed” or ”beyond all doubt” or “all showed up” or “it’s all good.” Does all, in the way Jesus used it in these verses, mean, everything or does it mean “any; any whatever; dominated by or as if by the conspicuous possession or use of a particular feature” (which are also definitions of the word “all” at Dictionary.com).

~ Hugh D’Mann

Contentment is not found in having what you want, but in wanting what you have​

I believe these verses are meant to be taken literally.

If we believe, all things are possible.

So how must one believe, to achieve what we say is impossible, like the often used moving of the mountain?

Romans 10:17

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Therefore, if we hear from God a command that says " Tell Mount Fuji to uproot and be thrown into the sea" and are certain of this, and believe it, when we say this, it will happen.

If you do not get the message from God, you cannot do anything. This is why Peter said this:

John 6:68

Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

One cannot make up their belief on their own, if it is not based on God, it is useless.

 

[razzelflabben]

You do not grow wings and fly because you do not believe it.
If I am forced to pick between you or Jesus....
No comparison.

but that's the point, I do believe, and further proof that there is more to it is children, before the age of about 9-11, they can't distinguish between what is real and what is fantasy...so why doesn't Santa exist, and the tooth fairy if all that Jesus told us is that if you believe it is done? Seems to me, either God is a liar, or there is something missing according to the evidence...which is it...

 

[JimB]

Does all mean everything—like, in these verses:

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19.26)

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9.23)
​

Are we to believe that it is possible for me to sprout wings and fly if I just believe I can?

Or is “all things” in these verses a synecdoche, a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or the whole for a part. As, when we say “with all speed” or ”beyond all doubt” or “all showed up” or “it’s all good.” Does all, in the way Jesus used it in these verses, mean, everything or does it mean “any; any whatever; dominated by or as if by the conspicuous possession or use of a particular feature” (which are also definitions of the word “all” at Dictionary.com).

~ Hugh D’Mann

Contentment is not found in having what you want, but in wanting what you have​

I believe these verses are meant to be taken literally.

*****

But ...

Should we take this verse literally in the same sense as we do the “all things” in the verse in the OP (above) then we have to believe that all people, saints and sinners, “all thing” will be reconciled based on Col. 1.20:

20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
​

This is one of the main proof texts used by Biblical Universalists who are also unwilling to recognize “all things” as a figure of speech, the use of superlatives as hyperbole or synecdoche. Here’s another of their favorites that fails to recognize this:

22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. (1 Cor. 15)
​

If you are a hyper-literalist you have to admit they have a point.

~Joe King

Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind. ~ Einstein​

​

 

[RyanLeeParis]

The mind is a very powerful entity. You are what you think - that is a fact. Will you sprout wings and fly if you believed? God may have made this possible (again the mind is very powerful), the problem is you yourself can't even believe it, for you yourself have never witnessed such a feat with your own eyes.

 

[razzelflabben]

The mind is a very powerful entity. You are what you think - that is a fact. Will you sprout wings and fly if you believed? God may have made this possible (again the mind is very powerful), the problem is you yourself can't even believe it, for you yourself have never witnessed such a feat with your own eyes.

there is much in our lives we believe that is not what we have witnessed with out own eyes. In fact, children do it all the time...again, if there was nothing more to the concept, children would be doing all kinds of amazing things...so the question is??? is it figurative, or is there more to understand than to simply believe?

 

[SavedByGrace3]

but that's the point, I do believe, and further proof that there is more to it is children, before the age of about 9-11, they can't distinguish between what is real and what is fantasy...so why doesn't Santa exist, and the tooth fairy if all that Jesus told us is that if you believe it is done? Seems to me, either God is a liar, or there is something missing according to the evidence...which is it...

Simply... because you do not believe in santa or the tooth fairy. Faith does not come by reading fantasy books or fairy tails. Nor does it come because you concentrate real hard, memorize vast amounts of data, shout things at the top of your lungs, or make pretend that something is true. What you have been talking about and continue to talk about is merely mental assent. You THINK these things (santa etc). Jesus did not say "nothing shall be impossible for those who think."
Not to be rude here, and I do not want to further embarras you as I am sure others are wondering this also. That is I am wondering if you have the mental capacity to see the difference... because despite several attempts to clarify, you continue to fail to differentiate the two: "thinking verses believing."
Let me try to use an old 3rd grade Sunday School lesson. Please observe and take note of what part of a man is associated with faith and believing(I have tried to help you by making the important parts bold and red) :

Mark 11:23 KJV
"...and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe...

Mark 16:14-16 KJV
"...upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not..."

Luke 8:12
"...then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe...

Luke 24:25
"...O fools, and slow of heart to believe..."

John 14:1
"...Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me..."

Acts 8:37
"...And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart..."

Romans 10:9
"...shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead..."

Romans 10:10
"...For with the heart man believeth..."

Hebrews 3:12
"...lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief..."

And finally the topper:

Galatians 5:22 KJV
(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is... faith,


If you are still having trouble understanding the difference between "thinking " (with your head) and "believing" (with your heart) then take a break, get some milk and cookies, and come back later. Get someone to help you if you have to. I am sure you can get this if you try.

 

[enoch son]

Is God all things? Yes! Did Jesus believe ALL THINGS? YES! Did He do ALL THINGS the Father ask? YES! Can you? that simple. NO. Not one of you has fallen to the ground and Said "AMEN, MY LORD AND GOD, YOU ARE THE ONLY POTENTATE, LORD, FAITH, MEDIATOR AND HIGH PTRIST, KING AND SAVIOR" instead you open your mouths and speak of your greatest to him in your understanding. LORD I FALL TO MY FACE YOU ARE FACT AND WHAT I THINK DOESN'T MATTER FOR A SLAVE HAS NO VOICE.

 

[razzelflabben]

Simply... because you do not believe in santa or the tooth fairy. Faith does not come by reading fantasy books or fairy tails. Nor does it come because you concentrate real hard, memorize vast amounts of data, shout things at the top of your lungs, or make pretend that something is true. What you have been talking about and continue to talk about is merely mental assent. You THINK these things (santa etc). Jesus did not say "nothing shall be impossible for those who think."
Not to be rude here, and I do not want to further embarras you as I am sure others are wondering this also. That is I am wondering if you have the mental capacity to see the difference... because despite several attempts to clarify, you continue to fail to differentiate the two: "thinking verses believing."
Let me try to use an old 3rd grade Sunday School lesson. Please observe and take note of what part of a man is associated with faith and believing(I have tried to help you by making the important parts bold and red) :

Mark 11:23 KJV
"...and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe...

Mark 16:14-16 KJV
"...upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not..."

Luke 8:12
"...then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe...

Luke 24:25
"...O fools, and slow of heart to believe..."

John 14:1
"...Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me..."

Acts 8:37
"...And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart..."

Romans 10:9
"...shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead..."

Romans 10:10
"...For with the heart man believeth..."

Hebrews 3:12
"...lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief..."

And finally the topper:

Galatians 5:22 KJV
(22) But the fruit of the Spirit is... faith,


If you are still having trouble understanding the difference between "thinking " (with your head) and "believing" (with your heart) then take a break, get some milk and cookies, and come back later. Get someone to help you if you have to. I am sure you can get this if you try.

I know the difference well which is why I asked you if we needed kiddie phych 101 for you to review. There is simply more to it, or God is a liar, I choose the first and study the word to see what I was missing before...you choose to insult and belittle and ignore what is real..that's your choice, have a good day...

 

[razzelflabben]

Is God all things? Yes! Did Jesus believe ALL THINGS? YES! Did He do ALL THINGS the Father ask? YES! Can you? that simple. NO. Not one of you has fallen to the ground and Said "AMEN, MY LORD AND GOD, YOU ARE THE ONLY POTENTATE, LORD, FAITH, MEDIATOR AND HIGH PTRIST, KING AND SAVIOR" instead you open your mouths and speak of your greatest to him in your understanding. LORD I FALL TO MY FACE YOU ARE FACT AND WHAT I THINK DOESN'T MATTER FOR A SLAVE HAS NO VOICE.

who are you to judge? Can you, a mere man know my heart?

 

[JimB]

Is God all things? Yes! Did Jesus believe ALL THINGS? YES! Did He do ALL THINGS the Father ask? YES! Can you? that simple. NO. Not one of you has fallen to the ground and Said "AMEN, MY LORD AND GOD, YOU ARE THE ONLY POTENTATE, LORD, FAITH, MEDIATOR AND HIGH PTRIST, KING AND SAVIOR" instead you open your mouths and speak of your greatest to him in your understanding. LORD I FALL TO MY FACE YOU ARE FACT AND WHAT I THINK DOESN'T MATTER FOR A SLAVE HAS NO VOICE.

Um ...

If I may may say so, you are not above this criticism either, Son. So, why are you trying to extract the motes from our eyes?

~Joe King

Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind. ~ Einstein​

​

 

[pdudgeon]

Does all mean everything—like, in these verses:
But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19.26)

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9.23)

the key words here are 'with God".

that's how Jesus did everything--with God--working in the same way He saw His Father working, doing the things He saw the Father doing.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

I know the difference well which is why I asked you if we needed kiddie phych 101 for you to review. There is simply more to it, or God is a liar, I choose the first and study the word to see what I was missing before...you choose to insult and belittle and ignore what is real..that's your choice, have a good day...

LOL... I do not have to insult and belittle. When you dance naked in the street.. nothing more has to be said. You do it to yourself by offering what can only be called stupid responses and then pretend that you have made some intelligent point. I realize that the mere theist mindset requires that you redefine words, reject logic and reasoning, and place a premium on NOT knowing things about God... but at some point you are going to lose your integrity and your audience as you make yourself look more and more like, well, a clown.
It is unfortunate that this issue had to be pressed to such extremes before you would relent.
But since you FINALLY have resolved that their is a difference between believing and thinking.. perhaps we can put this to bed.
The reason you do not sprout wings and fly is because you are only mentally convinced of this and do not spiritually believe it.
I realize why you want to run away now, seeing as we have pulled you little sand castle down.
So while you feign offense at the previous post, realize that you cannot continually condesend to people, treat them like fools, and engage in back handed insults without someone eventually calling out on this and exposing your obfuscation.
You did this to yourself. If you want to engage in intelligent adult conversation... then cut the crap.

 

[JimfromOhio]

Does "all" means when "the whole city is celebrating their team's championship game"? Whole means "all". So, did ALL the citizens celebrate?

When we heard Jesus' great commission:"Go . . . and make disciples of all nations". Will each of us will be able to go to "all" nations?

Whatever God says, I believe however, at the same time, I can't imagine what "all" really means because only God knows. When we step beyond the Word of God, we have overstepped the bounds of our authority. No matter how much knowledge we have in the Mystery of God, we will never fully comprehend God until we die. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says, "My thoughts are completely different from yours, and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

Our minds could never fathom the awesomeness of God. He is described in the Bible as One with no beginning and no ending, the Alpha and Omega. God is omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, meaning that He has unlimited powers, He is universally present, and knows all things.

 

[JimB]

Does "all" means when "the whole city is celebrating their team's championship game"? Whole means "all". So, did ALL the citizens celebrate?

When we heard Jesus' great commission:"Go . . . and make disciples of all nations". Will each of us will be able to go to "all" nations?

Whatever God says, I believe however, at the same time, I can't imagine what "all" really means because only God knows. When we step beyond the Word of God, we have overstepped the bounds of our authority. No matter how much knowledge we have in the Mystery of God, we will never fully comprehend God until we die. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says, "My thoughts are completely different from yours, and my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

Our minds could never fathom the awesomeness of God. He is described in the Bible as One with no beginning and no ending, the Alpha and Omega. God is omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, meaning that He has unlimited powers, He is universally present, and knows all things.

Some (hyper-literalists) refuse to see figures of speech, like metaphor and hyperbole, in the Bible. At least that’s what they claim. Except they have yet to pluck out their eye or hack off their hand or become eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake, which means they either 1). are not really, deep down, the literalists they claim to be or 2). they have yet to be offended by what they see or do or 3). they lack the commitment to the gospel enough to hyper-circumcise themselves.

~Phil McCavity

Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind. ~ Einstein​

 

[razzelflabben]

LOL... I do not have to insult and belittle. When you dance naked in the street.. nothing more has to be said. You do it to yourself by offering what can only be called stupid responses and then pretend that you have made some intelligent point. I realize that the mere theist mindset requires that you redefine words, reject logic and reasoning, and place a premium on NOT knowing things about God... but at some point you are going to lose your integrity and your audience as you make yourself look more and more like, well, a clown.
It is unfortunate that this issue had to be pressed to such extremes before you would relent.

well since I'm not just going to exchange insults with you, I'll let you show a lack of love and move on to what I was saying to you. Children before they are the age of between 9-11 or 12, cannot distinguish between real and make believe. they see everything as real...so for example, when we talk about Santa, young children cannot conceive in their minds that Santa is not real, to them, Santa is as real as their parents are. They do not live by the rule of what I see or touch, but rather that everything they conceive is real. So...logically speaking then...if the passage was not intending to include God's will/purpose....or if the passage was not speaking figuratively....then everything our children could conceive in their minds would happen, from monsters under the bed to flying with wings. If all this is possible only through belief, then our children would do some truly amazing things...so let's take this one step further logically speaking that is...if this verse is to be taken literally...then there must be something else missing, as I and others have suggested, it is that it is the will of God...now I will also say this here...I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that if my sprouting wings and flying would in some way help to advance the Kingdom of God, God would indeed grow me wings and I would fly...not a second of doubt...

But since you FINALLY have resolved that their is a difference between believing and thinking.. perhaps we can put this to bed.

actually, I told you that, but you decided it was more intelligent and loving to attack me and what I am saying rather than to deal with my words.

The reason you do not sprout wings and fly is because you are only mentally convinced of this and do not spiritually believe it.
I realize why you want to run away now, seeing as we have pulled you little sand castle down.

actually, it is the spiritual part of me that believes it is possible, the physical part of me thinks it's impossible...

So while you feign offense at the previous post, realize that you cannot continually condesend to people, treat them like fools, and engage in back handed insults without someone eventually calling out on this and exposing your obfuscation.

yeah, what ever, why not stop attacking and deal with what I actually said?

You did this to yourself. If you want to engage in intelligent adult conversation... then cut the crap.

I did what to myself? I offered you educated, adult argument and you dismissed it to assert yourself as being above it...sounds to me like your making your own self sound stupid all the while proclaiming yourself to be smarter than anyone else, but that is just what it appears to be, I'm sure you wouldn't put others down just so you could pretend to be what you are not. In fact, we learn about children pyschology by studying it in university, not by pretending to be what we are not.

 

[razzelflabben]

Some (hyper-literalists) refuse to see figures of speech, like metaphor and hyperbole, in the Bible. At least that’s what they claim. Except they have yet to pluck out their eye or hack off their hand or become eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake, which means they either 1). are not really, deep down, the literalists they claim to be or 2). they have yet to be offended by what they see or do or 3). they lack the commitment to the gospel enough to hyper-circumcise themselves.

~Phil McCavity

Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind. ~ Einstein​

I agree and yet in this case, I think it has to be all things, or anything being that God's authority is over all...iow's He demonstrated power over elements, life and death, sickness, etc. so with that demonstration backing this verse, I can't think of anything that would be outside His authority...the problem is we forget that it has to be according to His authority...so we put ourselves into this role of God or at least knowing God's heart, assuming that He will listen to our hearts desires rather than allowing Him to conform our hearts desires to HIs will.

 

[map4]

the key words here are 'with God".

that's how Jesus did everything--with God--working in the same way He saw His Father working, doing the things He saw the Father doing.

this bears repeating!

 

[Elijah2]

ALL THINGS also includes those "earthly and heavenly things" of the natural and supernatural realms.

Blessings!

 

[razzelflabben]

Dids~Just a side note for you, information that you forgot to acquire before you made your accusations. The book I am working on, the one in which I am writing a Sci Fi for my kids~the one in which I told you I believe that everything in it can be real~it's centered around biblical prophecy, and yes, I believe with everything I am capable of that every prophecy in the bible will be true, therefore everything I am writing about is to me belief, not just thought up...

 

[enoch son]

Not one bent knee my Lord. I see your point. talk is cheep. for it is written "Not everyone one on that day who say's lord,lord."