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Are U "religious" if you mostly hear God through the Bible and "test the spirits"?
People who mostly hear God through the Bible, are often compared to the pharisees/religious teachers of Jesus' day.
People who rigorously "test the spirits", and reject "manifestations" that don't line up with the Bible, or aren't found in the Bible, are often compared to those lifeless religious teachers who wouldn't accept the work of the Spirit through Jesus when he walked on this earth.
Are such comparisons correct?
I think those comparisons are incorrect. Both situations are totally different.
When you hear God through his word, and accept the words of Jesus as spoken in the Bible, how in the world can you be compared to a pharisee/religious teacher who rejected those very same words of Jesus? Such a thought is total nonsense.
Some would say you're "dry" and "lifeless" if you mostly hear God from the word, and don't accept the revelations/manifestations/oracles/words without rigorously testing them first. Such a statement is nonsense.
Jesus said his very words are Spirit and life.
"the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63
Are you telling me that if I rely on the words of Jesus in the Bible, and not on some unverified "manifestation" that I'm lifeless? To do such speaks against the very words of Jesus who says his words in the Bible are life.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us the word is living and powerful.
"12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
How can someone be called lifeless if they're mostly relying on and hearing from something that is itself called living and active?
This whole line of reasoning that calls mostly hearing God through the word as lifeless and dry, is total nonsense, and goes against the very God some claim to be speaking for!
Pharisees and religious teachers wouldn't accept the revelation of Jesus. The revelation of Jesus is in the Bible. If you accept it, there is NO WAY you can be compared to those who rejected him.
Also, are you a cold religious Pharisee if you rigorously test the spirits/manifestations some claim to be getting and giving in God's name?
No, you're not! You're actually encouraged to test, and then accept or reject.
1 John 4
4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 Thes 5
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
We're also warned about people who honestly think they know and hear and speak for God. Some will be told to depart, because although they thought they knew, heard and spoke for him, they didn't know him.
Matthew 7
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Conclusion.
You're not a dry cold pharisee if you mostly hear from God through his word and rigorously test the spirits. God's word is living, active, and life. We're told to test all things.
People who mostly hear God through the Bible, are often compared to the pharisees/religious teachers of Jesus' day.
People who rigorously "test the spirits", and reject "manifestations" that don't line up with the Bible, or aren't found in the Bible, are often compared to those lifeless religious teachers who wouldn't accept the work of the Spirit through Jesus when he walked on this earth.
Are such comparisons correct?
I think those comparisons are incorrect. Both situations are totally different.
When you hear God through his word, and accept the words of Jesus as spoken in the Bible, how in the world can you be compared to a pharisee/religious teacher who rejected those very same words of Jesus? Such a thought is total nonsense.
Some would say you're "dry" and "lifeless" if you mostly hear God from the word, and don't accept the revelations/manifestations/oracles/words without rigorously testing them first. Such a statement is nonsense.
Jesus said his very words are Spirit and life.
"the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63
Are you telling me that if I rely on the words of Jesus in the Bible, and not on some unverified "manifestation" that I'm lifeless? To do such speaks against the very words of Jesus who says his words in the Bible are life.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us the word is living and powerful.
"12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
How can someone be called lifeless if they're mostly relying on and hearing from something that is itself called living and active?
This whole line of reasoning that calls mostly hearing God through the word as lifeless and dry, is total nonsense, and goes against the very God some claim to be speaking for!
Pharisees and religious teachers wouldn't accept the revelation of Jesus. The revelation of Jesus is in the Bible. If you accept it, there is NO WAY you can be compared to those who rejected him.
Also, are you a cold religious Pharisee if you rigorously test the spirits/manifestations some claim to be getting and giving in God's name?
No, you're not! You're actually encouraged to test, and then accept or reject.
1 John 4
4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 Thes 5
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.
We're also warned about people who honestly think they know and hear and speak for God. Some will be told to depart, because although they thought they knew, heard and spoke for him, they didn't know him.
Matthew 7
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Conclusion.
You're not a dry cold pharisee if you mostly hear from God through his word and rigorously test the spirits. God's word is living, active, and life. We're told to test all things.
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