Hi all,
Well, we can certainly debate as to whether a name makes any difference and certainly if we restrict our study to just a name, then there would very well be some confusion.
However, this issue is not about a name. It is about what the one teaches us over the other. There is only one name by which men may be saved, and that is the name of Jesus, according to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The other god not only teaches that that isn't true, but that there is enmity between the practitioners of the two faiths.
Example: Those who believe in the god that goes by the name of Allah have put forth a lot of effort in punishing anyone among them who would attempt to raise the name of Jesus among them as the sole Savior of man.
Simple question: If the two deities are the same, then why would the practitioners of one harm the practitioners of the other? Does not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob teach us to love one another and specifically those who are a part of His children? Why is it then, that the children of these two deities, are not able to live with love for one another?
For me, that's the simple answer. If they worshiped the same god, then their practices would generally be the same. But above all, they would desire to proclaim the salvation that is only available to man through one person, Jesus. God is not divided in what He teaches and what He asks His children to do.
So, let's just push aside this idea of the name Allah being the same as the name God and rather look at what they each teach their followers to do.
In predominantly muslim countries it is a very, very dangerous thing to publicly proclaim that Jesus, the only one who was put to death and then rose to life as testimony to us that he is the Son of the living God, is the Savior of mankind. If the two deities were the same, this would not be the case.
God bless you all,
In Christ, Ted
I agree and scripture attests to that
Hosea 2:16
"At that time,"declares the Lord,
"you will call, ‘My husband’
you will never again call me ‘My master.
　
The MT reads תִּקְרְאִי (tiqrÿ’i, "you will call"; Qal imperfect 2nd person feminine singular).
There are wordplays on the termsאִישׁ (’ish) and בַּעַל (ba’al) here. The term אִישִׁי (’ishi, "my man, husband") is a title of affection (Gen 2:23; 3:6, 16) as the counterpart to אִשָּׁה (’ishah, "woman, wife")
　
And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord,… The Gospel day, the times of the Gospel, the latter part of them; at the time of the conversion of the Jews, and the bringing in of the fulness of the Gentiles; at the time when God will allure and persuade them to seek the Messiah, and they shall turn to him; when he shall speak comfortably to them, and give them a door of hope, and all spiritual blessings, and cause them to sing as when they came out of Egypt:
　
that thou shalt call me Ishi; or, "my husband"
　
Returning to Christ their first husband, and being received by Him, their desire to Him, and full assurance of it; shall not only be allowed to call him their husband and say as the church did, "my beloved is mine, and I am his", Song 8:14, or, "my man"
　
The man the Lord, the man Jehovah's fellow, Immanuel God with us, God in human nature; and so more manifestly points at Christ, who stands in the relation of a husband to his people: or, "my strength", as some interpret it; the husband being the strength, protection, and defence of the wife, the weaker vessel; so Christ is the strength of his saints, in whom they have righteousness and strength, and through whose strength they can do all things:
　
Isaiah 45:5
I am the Lord. There is no other God;
I am the only God.
I will make you strong,
even though you don't know me,
　
and shalt call me no more Baali; which means "my master" "Baali" represents lordship and fear.
Saints don't have the spirit of bondage to fear, but the spirit of adoption, whereby they call God their Father, and Christ their husband.It shouldn't ne mentioed because it may led to thinking of that idol, and remember him, which the Lord would not be linked to.
Hosea 2:17
I will never let her say the names of Baal again;
people won't use their names anymore.
　
Exodus 23:13
"Be sure to do all that I have said to you. You must not even say the names of other gods; those names must not come out of your mouth.
　
Zechariah 13:2
The Lord All-Powerful says, "At that time I will get rid of the names of the idols from the land; no one will remember them anymore. I will also remove the prophets and unclean spirits from the land.
　"And it comes to pass in that day, is the saying of Jehovah, thou wilt call, My husband; and thou wilt no more call to me, My Baal." The church will then enter once more into the right relation to its God. That is, the church as the feminine singular and the Lord as the man.
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