#1 Corinthians 3:10-15

[thinkingonscripture]

Eternal Assurance: Trusting in Christ Alone

Back in the early 90’s I faced a crisis as I held to a works-based salvation and constantly lived in fear of my eternal destiny. I had no assurance of my salvation because I never knew if I’d performed enough good works to validate my salvation. It was a terrible place to be. The solution came when I began to study the Scriptures carefully, stopped looking at myself, and fixed my “eyes on Jesus,…

[givingchrist]

The Purpose of Your Life (Your Vocations)

In the course of your existence, this life is a relatively short and challenging piece. If you are connected to Christ through faith and baptism, then you can expect an unending time of joy, fun, awe when you leave this life. Check out my blog on eternal life, http://afterdeathsite.com, for a comprehensive look at what the Bible says about our after-death experience. Still, God does not…

[drshermaines-wisdomnuggets]

"ARE YOU A GOOD SOLDIER?"

2 Timothy 2:1-4, “So you, my son, be strong (strengthened inwardly) in the grace (spiritual blessing) that is [to be found only] in Christ Jesus. And the [instructions] which you have heard from me along with many witnesses, transmit and entrust [as a deposit] to reliable and faithful men who will be competent and qualified to teach others also.  Take [with me] your share of the…

[pastordin]

Chapter 4: Biblical Foundations and Theological Underpinnings

Chapter 4: Biblical Foundations and Theological Underpinnings | Pastordin.us Home | Media | Contact Chapter 4: Biblical Foundations and Theological Underpinnings “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” — Romans 8:28 (NIV) Published on: May 26, 2024 Part I: Foundations of Pastoral Theology Chapter 4:…

[touchofgoddotworld]

Acknowledge the Lord for All Good Things (272) - November 16 2024

Choose your Podcast App to Play this episode Focusing on Numbers chapter 20 this week and the incident at the Rock with Moses, Aaron and the Assembly of the Children of Israel. How important it is to be obedient to the Lord’s commandments, and be led by His voice within our conscience. The importance of acknowledging the Lord for all good things in our witness to others, especially the lost as…

[mindfulldsliving]

Trusting the Lord in Times of Suffering: An Expository Study of Alma 14

In our journey of faith, suffering can often feel insurmountable. It's in these moments that we must remember Christ's example and His ultimate sacrifice.

Alma the Younger and Amulek are led away from the fire that has consumed the believers in Ammonihah. Suffering is an inevitable part of the human experience, especially for believers striving to walk the path of righteousness. In Alma 14, we find a profound example of enduring faith amidst unimaginable trials. Alma and Amulek faced severe persecution and witnessed the martyrdom of the faithful,…

[just-bible-musings]

I actually have heard this, but it was from a racist who... well, they call themself Christian, anyway, so it wouldn't be right for me to definitely say they are not; although they gave me many other reasons to question the exact nature of their relationship with Jesus. I've also heard, from this same person, that maybe "Adam was white and Eve was black"- and I find it interesting that it's Eve, who is not only a woman but also the first person to sin, who is the "black" one, not Adam. I also happen to know that this person was only quoting other Christians that they had heard it from (although they chose to believe that either of these stories might be true).

In any case, I prefer the theory that Adam and Eve were both "brown," for lack of a better term. It's been proven that a medium skin tone can eventually produce all skin tones, eye colors, and hair colors, especially over the course of multiple generations. It gets even more probable when you consider the possibility that the gene pool has likely degenerated since the Fall. For more information on this topic and similar topics, I highly recommend you check out groups like Answers in Genesis and the Institute for Creation Research.

Also, from a historical perspective, it just makes sense. Jesus was NOT white! Nor was He black. The ancient Israelites were the same "brown" color as Middle Eastern people today. Now, God has a habit of using mirror images. You know how, in Star Wars, the Skywalkers just keep losing their right hands? God uses mirror images like that all. the. time. And it would make sense to me that Jesus, "the last Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45) would be the same skin color as the first Adam.

And since Eve was taken directly from one of Adam's ribs, she was probably the same color as him.

And on top of all this, Colossians 3:10-11 makes it pretty clear that racism is ungodly:

And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

All of mankind was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and for this reason, God does not want any of us to die and go to hell (2 Peter 3:9). It just baffles me that anyone, especially a Christian, would think that the God of the Bible is racist.

Adam and Eve's kids could have been any color, and quite frankly, it really doesn't matter what color they were. And to prove this, I want to offer a counterpoint that I have NEVER heard:

Since we don't know what color Adam and Eve were, there's no reason they couldn't have both been black, instead of white. Meaning that "the mark of Cain" would have been albinism, instead of melanism!

See? Two sides to every coin. (BTW, I'm a white person saying all this.)

As for what mark of Cain really was... there's no way of knowing. Personally, I think he was just the first person to get a birthmark- it just didn't happen at birth. (And no, I'm not saying birthmarks are evil, either- I have two of them!)

On top of all this... I will never understand why people keep trying to make it out like the mark of Cain was meant as a bad thing. God marked Cain to PROTECT him (Genesis 4:15)! Cain, the world's first murderer, a man who verbally spoke to God and knew and believed that God is real and yet chose to whole-heartedly reject Him, STILL received a mark of God's love and mercy. I think of the mark of Cain as being a symbol of Jesus' blood dripping on him, and Cain just wouldn't accept it into his own heart and let it cleanse him from sin.

Ok, so I was trying to research ways in which the evolution theory was used to support racism in the past, and I found an article proclaiming that creationism is used to explain racism nowadays -- and I need to ask a question to the creationists following me, because I'm pretty sure that article was making a huge generalisation based on something that just a few fringe people think.

Do you actually know anyone who believes that Adam and Eve were definitely white as we understand it and black skin is the "mark of Cain"???

[garden-of-thoughts-fruit-of-lips]

Matthew 10:7

As you go, preach, saying: ‘The Kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.

Note the time the Devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world (Luke 4:5) "in an instant of time" saying that the world has been given over to him and he could give it to whomever he chose, and the Devil chose Christ. The Devil said to Christ, "I will give you all this authority and their glory" (Luke 4:5-8).

Who is the ruler of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), is it not the Devil (Revelation 12:9)? And what are the inhabitants of the earth saying? Are they not saying that Jesus is God, giving Jesus all his authority and their glory? The Devil wanted Jesus to do an act of worship before him by means of the Devil's image of the heavens (Isaiah 14: 12-14) and earth by giving breath of life to it by means of the fruit of his lips (Hebrews 13:15). But note how Jesus replied when being tempted by the Tempter (Matthew 4:1), "Then Jesus said to him: 'Go away, Satan! For it is written: 'It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service' (Matthew 4:10)." Because it was God at the beginning who created the heavens and earth and said let there be light through His Spirit (Genesis 1: 1-3).

Read one Bible verse or read them all! 📖📚

1 John 2:16

because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world

Isaiah 29:13

Jehovah says: “This people approach me with their mouth And they honor me with their lips, But their heart is far removed from me; And their fear of me is based on commands of men that they have been taught.

1 Thessalonians 3:5

is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn of your faithfulness, in case somehow the Tempter might have tempted you, and our labor might have turned out to be in vain.

2 Corinthians 11:14

And no wonder, for Satan himself keeps disguising himself as an angel of light.

Revelation 12:12

On this account be glad, you heavens and you who reside in them! Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing that he has a short period of time.”

2 Corinthians 11:3

But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent seduced Eve by its cunning, your minds might be corrupted away from the sincerity and the chastity that are due the Christ.

Revelation 13:13

And it performs great signs, even making fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the sight of mankind.

Luke 10:18

At that he said to them: “I see Satan already fallen like lightning from heaven.

[walkswithmyfather]

“What does 1 Corinthians 3:16 mean?” By Bibleref.com:

“Verse Commentary: This verse creates the third metaphors that Paul uses to describe the local church in Corinth. First, he compared them to a field being planted and watered by himself and Apollos as God's workers (1 Corinthians 3:5–9). Then, he compared their community of Christians to a building being constructed on top of the foundation of Jesus Christ by other teachers and leaders (1 Corinthians 3:10–15).

Now Paul compares them to the temple of God. The word for "you" here is plural, not singular. He is asking his readers, as the local church in Corinth, if they understand that they together are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in them.

This would likely have been an unusual idea to those living in this area. Those who had seen it would likely have pictured the massive, sprawling Jewish temple in Jerusalem, truly an impressive structure. By comparison, the church in Corinth likely had no building of their own, meeting instead in smaller groups in the homes of various members. How could they possibly be God's temple?

Paul's answer is to the point: God's Spirit lives in them (1 Corinthians 2:12; 6:19). To be clear, God's Spirit lives in each believer individually, but Paul shows here that in this way the Holy Spirit occupies the collected believers known as the church. Thus, they become the temple of God, even without a physical structure to meet in. As Christians often say, "the church" is the people, not the building.”

Amen! 🙏🕊️🙌

[girlbloggercher]

how to read the Bible

this is in order!

1. John

2. Mark

3. Matthew

4. Luke

5. Genesis

6. Exodus

7. Leviticus

8. Numbers

9. Dueteronomy

10. Romans

11. Galatians

12. Colossians

13. Proverbs

14. Ecclesiastes

15. Job

16. 1 Peter

17. 1 Corinthians

18. 2 Corinthians

19. Ephesians

20. Philippians

21. 1 Thessalonians

22. 2 Thessalonians

23. 1 Timothy

24. 2 Timothy

25. James

26. 2 Peter

27. 1 John

28. 2 John

29. 3 John

30. Jude

31. Psalms

32. Joshua

33. Judges

34. 1 Samuel

35. 2 Samuel

36. 1 Kings

37. 2 Kings

38. 1 Chronicles

39. 2 Chronicles

40. Ezra

41. Nehemiah

42. Jeremiah

43. Lamentations

44. Ezekiel

45. Joel

46. Amos

47. Obadiah

48. Nahum

49. Habakkuk

50. Zephaniah

51. Haggai

52. Zechariah

53. Malachi

54. Micah

55. Hosea

56. Luke

57. Esther

58. Jonah

59. Song of Solomon

60. Acts

61. Titus

62. Philemon

63. Hebrew

64. Isaiah

65. Daniel

66. Revelation

[katakaluptastrophy]

@greatandquestionablecontent noted that my discussion of Paul and St Paul didn't touch on the latter's awful views on women and sexuality.

And while I very much hope those aren't relevant for our new Lyctor-ish buddy Paul, they very much do haunt the narrative of The Locked Tomb.

We get one in-world bit of theology in Gideon the Ninth: the Sermon on Necromancers and Cavaliers, which talks about how the Houses understand the relationship between necromancer and cavalier and god. And it's pretty much St Paul's Letter to the Ephesians, ctrl + F'd for necromancy, with a few other infamous Pauline verses thrown in for good measure, especially from 1 Corinthians:

A necromancer who must leave her House and fight requires a swordswoman./For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh. - Ephesians 5:31

Our necromantic characteristics make us more like the Emperor...the necromancer and the cavalier are no different./[A man] is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of the man. - 1 Cor 11:7

As [the Emperor] was once man, and became God...so were we dead and became alive./And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. - 1 Cor 15:22

Their love is the love that fears only for the other: the love of service on both sides. Some have tried to characterise this relationship as the cavalier’s obedience to the necromancer, but the necromancer must be in turn obedient to the needs of the cavalier without being asked or prompted: theirs is arguably the heavier burden./Loving one another with the charity of brotherhood, with honour preventing [anticipating] one another. - Romans 12:10 (I suspect this one is also meant to call to mind Ephesians 5's instructions for wives to submit to their husbands, while husbands are asked to love their wives like Christ loves the church - an instruction proponents of so-called Biblical gender roles will often describe in language similar to the Sermon as being the bigger ask.)

The love of the cavalier for the necromancer, and the necromancer for the cavalier...cannot be libidinous./But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity...because these are improper for God’s holy people. - Ephesians 5:3

So cavaliership very much reproduces the gendered asymmetries of power found in many traditional Pauline-flavoured interpretations of Christian marriage.

But when you look at some of the invective around a romantic or sexual necromancer/cavalier relationship, it's coded rather more as homophobia.

The Sermon on Necromancers and Cavaliers hedges around explicitly condemning necro/cav relationships as specifically against the will of god, but makes it clear that's very much a view held within the Houses:

"after a myriad of thought about the matter, marrying your cavalier remains taboo at best. There have been those who have argued eloquently that it is traitorous to the ideals of the Necrolord Prime."

While St Paul isn't the only source of egregiously homophobic Bible verses, he's responsible for a good chunk of them, and the idea of this specifically defying the designs of God is a recurring theme...

It's worth noting that not all of what's generally described as St Paul's writing likely actually is. And Ephesians, which features so strongly here, is one of those "pseudo-Pauline" letters - a sort of Pauline fanfiction written to fill in perceived gaps or deal with issues as they arose.

But it feels oddly appropriate that the Houses' theology of gender cavaliership, itself an imitation of St Paul, is so strongly inspired by an imitation of St Paul...

[thinkingonscripture]

Unlimited Atonement

Unlimited atonement is the biblical teaching that Jesus died for everyone. Through His sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus bore the wrath of God by taking upon Himself the sins of all humanity and bearing the punishment that was due for our sins.

Unlimited atonement is the biblical teaching that Jesus died for everyone. Through His sacrificial death on the cross, Jesus bore the wrath of God by taking upon Himself the sins of all humanity and bearing the punishment that was due for our sins. His death on the cross paid the price for the sins of everyone. Jesus’ death for sins is the foundation for reconciliation with God because God judged…

[viridianstarlight]

Do you know who you are?

To the world these days, or at least my generation and younger, personal identity matters a whole lot to people.And to these same people, your identity can be whatever you want it to be.

You are identified by your gender, and they say your gender can be whatever you want on any day.

You are identified by your sexuality and relationship status.

You are identified by the colour of your skin.

You are identified by your job.

There’s more, but I think you get the idea.

So in the eyes of these people, I am male, straight and single, white, and a cafe worker. But I don’t really think that describes ‘Cory’.

But we Christians have a different view of identity. Here’s what the Bible says about who we are.

Psalm 139: 15-16 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

To start with, God knows exactly who you are. He knows everything there is to know about you. So if anyone can show you who you are, it is God.

1 John 3: 1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

We are called God’s children. We are adopted in to the King’s family.

Romans 8:16-18 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

By being adopted in to the King’s family, we are made co-heirs with Christ, sharing in His sufferings and glory.

Isaiah 43:1 But now, this is what the Lord says— He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

We belong to God.

Romans 6:6 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

Thanks to Christ’s death and resurrection, our faith in Him clothes us in His righteousness and redeems us of our sins. God looks upon us and sees the perfection of Christ.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

God is perfect, and so is everything He creates. God does not make mistakes. You are His masterpiece, the crowning reflection of His perfect creativity.

1 Corinthians 6:19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?

Your body is a holy space where God dwells.

Ephesians 1: 4 Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. 

God created the world in the first chapter of Genesis, and even before then, He knew you perfectly and has loved you perfectly since then.

1 Corinthians 12: 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

You belong as part of something greater than yourself, and you cannot function to your greatest potential separate to the body.

You were created to do things that other parts of the body cannot do, and you were created to benefit the body just as other parts were created to benefit you.

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

You are a royal priest of the King. In the old testament, only the high priests could enter the holy of holies within God’s temple. But we, belonging totally to God and being chosen by Him, can enter the presence of God at any time.

And this is all thanks to Christ leaving heaven to become a man, taking our sin to the cross and dying in our place, taking our judgement, and in return sharing His righteousness with us.

Do you know who you are? God does.

[drshermaines-wisdomnuggets]

"THERE'S DANGER IN TWISTING SCRIPTURE!"

Deuteronomy 4:2, “Now listen, Israel, listen carefully to the rules and regulations that I am teaching you to follow so that you may live and enter and take possession of the land that God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, is giving to you. DON’T ADD A WORD TO WHAT I COMMAND YOU, AND DON’T REMOVE A WORD FROM IT. Keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you.” (MSG) Ecclesiastes 3:14-15,…

[apilgrimpassingby]

Seven Theories of Atonement

While all Christians agree that, as of first importance, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3), they've disagreed with each other about the specifics of it and come up with different theories about it. Hence, I'm going to describe seven theories of atonement in short. (Also, many people from the Protestant world are unaware of theories other than penal substitution, and I want to do a little to alter that).

Recapitulation Theory

"For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22)

First proposed by St. Irenaeus of Lyons in the late 2nd century, this posits that Christ atoned for us by leading a sinless life, hence succeeding where Adam failed and becoming the new head of the human race, taking away our guilt. While pretty much no-one holds this as their primary view of atonement anymore, it's become a component part of pretty much all views of atonement.

Ransom Theory

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

First proposed by Origen of Alexandria in the mid-3rd century, this posits that Christ was given to the Devil in exchange for the Devil relinquishing his hold on humanity, but the Devil could not claim Christ due to His sinlessness, and the Devil was left empty-handed. While almost extinct in the West, it's still popular among the Orthodox.

Satisfaction Theory

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10)

First proposed by Anselm of Canterbury in the late 11th century, this posits that Christ's death was a sacrifice that gave infinite honour to God, and hence removed the dishonour of our sins. This became and remains the most common Roman Catholic view of atonement.

Moral Influence Theory

"...but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

First proposed by Peter Abelard in the early 12th century, this posits that Christ's death revealed to humans that God who was merciful and self-sacrificing rather than judgemental and angry, and hence moved us to repentance. This was condemned as heretical at the time, but was later adopted by theological liberals of all stripes and has become their standard theory of atonement.

Penal Substitutionary Theory

"For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21)

First proposed by Martin Luther in the early 16th century, this posits that Christ's death saved us because he was punished for our sins in lieu of us, fulfilling God's justice while allowing Him to be merciful. While there are some exceptions, this has become the standard view among Protestants, particularly ones of a Calvinistic tendency.

Governmental Theory

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit..." (1 Peter 3:18)

First proposed by Hugo Grotius in the early 17th century, this posits a variant of penal substitution, wherein Christ was punished as a demonstration of God's wrath, not for specific sins. This is the dominant view among Arminian Christians such as Methodists.

Christus Victor Theory

"He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him." (Colossians 2:15)

First proposed by Gustaf Aulen in the early 20th century, this posits a re-interpretation of ransom theory, wherein Christ saved us by defeating sin, the Devil and death - defeating sin by being accursed under the Law due to death on a cross despite being sinless and hence discrediting the Law, defeating the Devil by being sinless and so giving the Devil no claim on Him, and defeating death by resurrecting. While it doesn't have as many followers as the others due to being very recent, it's rapidly growing in popularity, particularly among Evangelicals and Anabaptists.

[touchofgoddotworld]

The Armor of God (Part 3) (261) - August 31 2024

Choose your Podcast App to Play this episode Catrice teaches on the application of the Armor of God for today’s world. Effective spiritual Armor for spiritual attacks. This program covers the following Scriptures from the Amplified Classic version (AMPC): Ephesians 6:13-18; John 1:1; Philippians 4:7; Isaiah 55:11; John 8:32; 2 Corinthians 5:21; John 15:4; Romans 8:11; Romans 8:14; 2 Corinthians…