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Of course he can talk to God, but how can he know the path to salvation without the Scriptures and someone to explain it to him?
Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent?...
Hi stillkit,
In spite of the verses above, I can't believe the notion that man cannot know salvation apart from a preacher. I believe salvation is hidden away in the heart of all mankind, the Voice is there "knocking" when it chooses.
In your Romans chapter 10 above, in verse 19 we read this:
"But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world."
And what about here:
"20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened." Rom. 1
A friend of mine once asked, "do you think that if a person didn't have access to a bible, that God could teach him it?"
I said, yes.
Is God limited by our printing presses??
Why would man need something "man-made" in order to know the salvation of God?
Hi HotinAZ,
we do indeed have a lot of different doctrines floating around already, and this is precisely because people take the Bible as the word, and interpret it in various ways.
Don't you think that if God speaks to your heart, the same message will be spoken in the heart of someone else? There is where you will have confirmation. Unity of the Spirit is possible, if we believe. But many don't believe, and so God's Voice is not heard.
The scriptures are the testimony of what others heard; but just reading it doesn't do anything for a person. The actual words coming from God Himself is what converts the person, not simply because it was written thousands of years ago.
There is the Voice, and there is the writing of the Voice. We need to hear the first one, because it "energizes" us and lifts our souls in joy and comfort. The second one is what people think is sufficient, and leads us only into more confusion. Imo, of course...
Blessings HotinAZ!
brian
Your unity of the spirit theory is just people agreeing with people and it happens everyday in evil environments.
I think that is a point taken from the original poster here.
And that churches are basically man controling man and God may be involved or not.And when I say God I mean God's Good Spirits not his evil one's.
No one can naturally discern good from evil because every inclination of the heart is evil Genesis 8:21 (and God said that after the flood).
Hi twin,
I disagree, because the inclination to do evil does not mean that they didn't know the difference between good and evil. They did know the difference.
They preferred the evil.
Jesus refered to "the scriptures"...
Jesus read from the "scriptures"
And the disciples admitted what they wrote was "scriptures"
Amen.....
Jesus taught from the OT, He even as a young boy went to the synagogue to read the scripture and it amazed the people. And also the disciples were taught from the OT before Jesus was on the scene, yet, when Jesus came His life confirmed to the people and the disciples the truth of God's written word the OT scriptures !!
I disagree. What is under attack is man's pre-conceived ideas of it.
While it is viewed as a history book of another, it will never be anything but that. When you see yourself all through its pages, it is doing what it sent out for.It is not a book of belief's either,that we can prove each other who is right or wrong.
All the characters in it are us,all the good,bad and ugly is us(including Sodom and Gomorrah and the lake of fire),there is nothing in it that is not us. The history we are reading in it is the history of our salvation.We do not avoid any of it.
Nice post!
I would like to add that it can be all so obvious when observing churches or members going into tantrums such as wanting the fist of God to strike down people that disagree with them.
It shows the evidence of the spirit that resides in them.
Hi twin,
I disagree, because the inclination to do evil does not mean that they didn't know the difference between good and evil. They did know the difference.
They preferred the evil.
See the difference?
Blessings,
brian
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