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That's interesting. I hadn't given much thought to the malicious aspect of the tares. He you seen these folks in the church? If so, how do they work? Is there an agenda?By definition, Tares only pretend to be Christians so they might undermine Christianity. They are wolves in sheep's clothing.
It is often hard to tell the difference between them and real Christians who "just have not gotten the memo, yet."
We cannot always be sure, but there is no point in getting paranoid about them. Jesus just gave us a heads-up that they would successfully infiltrate the physical places of our churches (in the Last Days).He you seen these folks in the church? If so, how do they work? Is there an agenda?
Truth has not changed. God made all things simple. Man came up with many devices/deceptions.What is biblical truth when there is no consensus?
That's interesting. I hadn't given much thought to the malicious aspect of the tares. He you seen these folks in the church? If so, how do they work? Is there an agenda?
I have had the pleasure of being able to intensely study the Bible under great teachers and on my own. I used to think that the knowledge was infinite and it would improve me accordingly. However, I find it no easier to live my life according to the simple facts of the Bible that 99% of Christians agree. The parts that lack consensus among Christians have become less important but remain interesting.Steve,
The elect are in truth together otherwise they would be in deception and this wont happen according to Scripture.
But actually 'consensus' is the wrong word - the critical word is unity.
Consensus just indicates a common understanding of others beliefs in peace, and is not unity or unanimity.
My experience has been that there is a unity in the Spirit with a variety of believers from different denominations and groups. Being in Truth is an individual thing, not a gathering at this stage.
With persecution to come the face of the church will change and may go underground. Then the elect will be gathered.
It is up to each believer to maintain unity with other believers whether in the fellowships that gather today or not. If your fellowship is not in unity, that does not mean you don't need to be.
I have a small group of believers I trust and seek out when times get tough and most are not in my church.
This does not mean I am not in submission in the church I attend.
Some present their views as if they themselves are an authority on biblical interpretation.
Worst case, they attempt to end the discussion by claiming your argument is not with them.
Basically, playing the "God card".
Do we leave no room for the interpretations brought by others? Showing intolerance.
What is biblical truth when there is no consensus?
Neither. . .Thanks for your reply.
Your post made me ask myself...
Does truth come from what we agree on, or when it works in peoples lives?
Neither. . .
It comes from Scripture understood in the light of all Scripture.
I think the problem with lack of consensus is because God is infinite and we are finite. This sets up a problem for us because when talking about God we can only think and talk in finite terms our minds cannot comprehend infinite and that’s all we have to work with. This doesn’t bother me that much because I am in the Christian Universal Redemption camp and I know that in the end God will be all in all and we are still in that process, I don’t believe creation is not done till God is all in all and we are all on the New Heaven and Earth, then creation will be done, till then we are in the process of God refining all of us till his end is complete. That is why God , when he gave us scripture didn’t worry about boiling everything down so that every word was so precise that there would be no chance of misunderstanding or errors. For example when God says things like “ abomination of desecration “ he has left that up to us to figure it out and that’s why there is little consensus because we are all trying to figure things out but much of the time we don’t know what God meant till we look back and see and we say things like “ that’s what God was meaning “ again we are finite and we have limits.Some present their views as if they themselves are an authority on biblical interpretation.
Worst case, they attempt to end the discussion by claiming your argument is not with them.
Basically, playing the "God card".
Do we leave no room for the interpretations brought by others? Showing intolerance.
What is biblical truth when there is no consensus?
Neither. . .
It comes from Scripture understood in the light of all Scripture.
I think the problem with lack of consensus is because God is infinite and we are finite. This sets up a problem for us because when talking about God we can only think and talk in finite terms our minds cannot comprehend infinite and that’s all we have to work with. This doesn’t bother me that much because I am in the Christian Universal Redemption camp and I know that in the end God will be all in all and we are still in that process, I don’t believe creation is not done till God is all in all and we are all on the New Heaven and Earth, then creation will be done, till then we are in the process of God refining all of us till his end is complete. That is why God , when he gave us scripture didn’t worry about boiling everything down so that every word was so precise that there would be no chance of misunderstanding or errors. For example when God says things like “ abomination of desecration “ he has left that up to us to figure it out and that’s why there is little consensus because we are all trying to figure things out but much of the time we don’t know what God meant till we look back and see and we say things like “ that’s what God was meaning “ again we are finite and we have limits.
And the first test of whether our revelation is from the Holy Spirit is that revelation's agreement with the NT understood in the light of all Scripture.If I may elaborate,..... Truth comes from what The Holy Spirit reveals to us. Only GOD is true, and only He knows all the understandings of His word.
And amazingly enough, the Bible almost always interprets itself to agree with my doctrine. Amazing, innit?The Bible does and will interpret itself …on the things that God wants to reveal to us…. which is most everything.
And of course, I "rightly divide", but those who disagree with me "interpret".God never asks us to interpret the Word …just rightly divide it…..which to me…. is seeing how it fits in the verse, context, and throughout the entire Bible w/o contradiction.
So those who disagree with me are just those last 4 kinds of folks. I've always suspected that.The indwelling Holy Spirit knows the correct Biblical truth, we should get from the passage, you cannot expect the Spirit to help you if you're trying to sell more commentaries, have more invitations to speak, are trying to win an argument, just to know something or make yourself look good.
And the first test of whether our revelation is from the Holy Spirit is that revelation's agreement with the NT understood in the light of all Scripture.
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