Has anyone found secret messages in the bible?

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Cameron143

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Mar 1, 2022
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Nobody is born converted.
I think it's admirable to make every effort to persuade the lost. I merely suggesting to you that absent a work of God in the heart of an individual, all will be for naught.
 

selahsays

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May 31, 2023
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I thought you had to be converted to be saved.
Very true indeed. And to be converted, we need to be drawn by Jesus through the Gospel.

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

- Ephesians 1:10,12-13 (KJV)
 

NTNT58

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Sep 20, 2023
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I think it's admirable to make every effort to persuade the lost. I merely suggesting to you that absent a work of God in heart of an individual, all will be for naught.
I understand that. How do you answer when somebody says the Bible is corrupt, Christians are divided into countless denominations, and if it were true, then God would not have allowed it to happen?
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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I think it's admirable to make every effort to persuade the lost. I merely suggesting
to you that absent a work of God in heart of an individual, all will be for naught.
Perhaps naught as in = it takes the work of God moving in a person's life to bring them to belief.

For myself, I learned an awful lot speaking with non-believers. Some of it was shocking, like finding
out how much they hated Christians, and largely blamed the woes of humanity squarely on Christians.
And finding out that there was no length they would not go, in order to try to destroy the faith of a believer.
Sadly, I did witness such tragedies. But that did not cause me to falter, even as I witnessed others crashing.
If anything, it helped to shape and strengthen what I was already doing.
 

selahsays

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May 31, 2023
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Hebrews 4:2 is talking about the lost. I'm talking about the saved who haven't been converted yet. Nobody is born a believer.
. . .
Those chosen before the foundation of the world are. :)

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

- Romans 8:29-30 (KJV)
 

Magenta

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Jul 3, 2015
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Those chosen before the foundation of the world are. :)
I was not born a believer. I was raised in a fairly strict religious environment but rebelled against it.
 

NTNT58

Active member
Sep 20, 2023
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. . .
Those chosen before the foundation of the world are. :)

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

- Romans 8:29-30 (KJV)
Does that mean we should just ignore anyone's questions about validity of the Bible?
 

selahsays

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May 31, 2023
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I was not born a believer.
Well, let me say a little bit more. None of us know who the elect are, and we all need to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. However, the elect will always accept Jesus upon hearing the Gospel. There’s no question.

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

- John 10:14,26-28 (KJV)
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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Well, let me say a little bit more. None of us know who the elect are, and we all need to accept Jesus Christ
as our Savior. However, the elect will always accept Jesus upon hearing the Gospel. There’s no question.
How many times did you hear the gospel before you believed?
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
56,758
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I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. But ye believe not,
because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know
them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. - John 10:14,26-28 (KJV)

John 10:27-28
:)
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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Wow. Well, I was brought up in a religious home. I cannot say how many times I heard it.
Maybe I never heard it in all those years. Don't we need ears to hear? Who gives us those?


Many agricultural terms are used in the descriptions of how one comes to belief. My mind
certainly needed a lot of plowing and turning over to soften it to the point of acceptance.
 

selahsays

Well-known member
May 31, 2023
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Wow. Well, I was brought up in a religious home. I cannot say how many times I heard it.
Maybe I never heard it in all those years. Don't we need ears to hear? Who gives us those?
the LORD does. IMG_5750.gif
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
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I understand that. How do you answer when somebody says the Bible is corrupt, Christians are divided into countless denominations, and if it were true, then God would not have allowed it to happen?
These and many others are good questions. Asking questions can be just an attempt to put forth one's beliefs or it could be a work of God and the beginning of faith. As to answering the questions, it would depend on the audience and my familiarity with them. If I know them and regularly speak with them I would probably give longer and more detailed answers. If I didn't know the audience well, I would probably be the one asking questions. All that to say, the circumstances generally dictate the answer. But in either case, I would expect God to give me what to say...whether through study or in the moment.
If you want me to answer the questions individually, I have no problem doing that. But I would need a defined audience.
 

Sipsey

Well-known member
Sep 27, 2018
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I understand that. How do you answer when somebody says the Bible is corrupt, Christians are divided into countless denominations, and if it were true, then God would not have allowed it to happen?
Maybe you can teach younger believers to better answer objections to Scripture or God. I have engaged unbelievers over the years and without God stepping in, it don’t matter how good or detailed your answers are.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
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I'm not sidestepping anything. I've answered all your questions as you've thrown the Bible under the bus while desperately trying to make yourself look right.
"Thrown the Bible under the bus"? Whatever!

I have demonstrated that the KJV is not without error, and thereby refuted your position. That you can't accept the presence of error in the KJV is your delusional problem. Don't worry, you have plenty of company on this board.
 

FRB72

Active member
Sep 27, 2023
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England
i understand and have followed this debate for some time now.
i am just mentioning that Erasmus did write the TR was not to be accepted as the Completed Translation.
he also wrote, many were pressuring him to finish and basically, they took his TR and turned it into a very incorrect Version of the Bible.
I wonder…

Despite the fact that I am certainly a TR advocate, the wider question is the admissibility and authority of the CT to modify the Greek text that most translations take as their source. I certainly hold that God had a hand in the production of the KJV but I understand that others are more sceptical.

“KJV only” aside, is there not room for a reasoned position based on a re-assessment of the core text toward TR based translations?