How do you check your belief in God’s ways for accuracy?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
#22
Locoponydirtman said: ]I think all that research, and scholarship is wonderful. Its just not available to the vast majority of believers, and in many ways its just not necessary.

Blik responds: Please reconsider that based on that our church today is not a power that God's ways would give it. Ideas and ways of the occult have crept in. None of our holidays are from scripture direction. There isn't even agreement about how to be saved, how does faith and works apply. Did Christ get rid of the ten commandments? Arguing about it isn't helping. What WOULD help is going back to when the disagreement started and finding out what the issues were then.

A wipe clean job needs to be done, and research WOULD help.
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
#23
If the Lord was addressing truth then within the Church, then that truth still holds for the Church today. Culture never dictates truth, but truth should dictate the culture.
That is it exactly, God's truth is the foundation of our world and it MUST be front and center. I find the culture and traditions have become the leader at times and the church is accepting that instead of putting God first. We argue about it, and that isn't working to clean it up. If we go back in history to find out when it started and what the motives were of the people who started it we could see clearly to wipe out culture leading and put God and God's ways in the lead.
 

breno785au

Senior Member
Jul 23, 2013
6,002
767
113
39
Australia
#24
I just ask the Holy Spirit to continually lead me into Truth and right understanding and I let Him do the rest.
 

Dan_473

Senior Member
Mar 11, 2014
9,054
1,051
113
#25
If it was true that the Holy Spirit guides to the truth then there would be great agreement in the church and there isn't. Either there are multitudes of church members without the Holy Spirit, or the Holy Spirit needs a mind that is filled with the word to work for us.
Amen to a mind filled with the word! Of course, that's not the same as intense, highly literate study. As the scripture says
I have hidden your word in my heart.
That's where it makes a difference, in the heart. And that's what the spirit can work with, even just a small amount of word, a mustard seed, that has seeped down into the heart
 
L

Locoponydirtman

Guest
#26
Locoponydirtman said: ]I think all that research, and scholarship is wonderful. Its just not available to the vast majority of believers, and in many ways its just not necessary.

Blik responds: Please reconsider that based on that our church today is not a power that God's ways would give it. Ideas and ways of the occult have crept in. None of our holidays are from scripture direction. There isn't even agreement about how to be saved, how does faith and works apply. Did Christ get rid of the ten commandments? Arguing about it isn't helping. What WOULD help is going back to when the disagreement started and finding out what the issues were then.

A wipe clean job needs to be done, and research WOULD help.
No, not really. What in have found is that all that is actually quite clearly written in the Bible and that answering those foolish arguments is a matter of a simple contextual reading of the scriptures. Here is a prime example. Every one wants to argue what makes or gets a person saved? Well, the answer is given right in the text in simple language;

But what does it say? “The word is near you , in your mouth and in your heart ”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “W hoever believes in Him will not be disappointed .”
ROMANS 10:8‭-‬11 NASB

It don't get much more plain than this.

So some would say what purpose does baptism serve? Which seems like a complex question until you look at the text. So what did Jesus say when he was baptized, that is arguably the most important baptism ever.

But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
MATTHEW 3:15 NASB
Also numerous other scriptures give us the full answer.
1corinthians 12:13
1 Peter 3:22
Acts 10:48 and 22:16
Colossians 2:12
Galatians 3:27
Mark 16:16
Romans 6: 1-18
So what purpose does being baptized serve? It's an important part of the salvation experience, " believe and be baptized and you will be saved, if you don't believe you are condemned." So it's part of believing, it full fills all righteousness, joins us to the body of believers so that we are one in Christ, it washes away sin, it is how we are buried with Christ in his death, it's how we put on Christ.
Its very clear in the text. Even I can understand it, and I'm no smarter than anyone else. In fact I'm quite simple about all these things. I attended college 1 day. It didn't take me long to figure out that I wasn't cut out for all that stuff. But I can figure out this Bible stuff.
 

Melach

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2019
2,055
1,524
113
#27
"Take a little wine for your stomach and your frequent illnesses" (1 Timothy 5:23).

Relevant today or not? Sound medical advice today for every ailment, or not?

Drink up, Melach. : )
yes relevant. wine is good for stomach ache
 

Deade

Called of God
Dec 17, 2017
16,724
10,531
113
78
Vinita, Oklahoma, USA
yeshuaofisrael.org
#28
Locoponydirtman said: ]I think all that research, and scholarship is wonderful. Its just not available to the vast majority of believers, and in many ways its just not necessary.

Blik responds: Please reconsider that based on that our church today is not a power that God's ways would give it. Ideas and ways of the occult have crept in. None of our holidays are from scripture direction. There isn't even agreement about how to be saved, how does faith and works apply. Did Christ get rid of the ten commandments? Arguing about it isn't helping. What WOULD help is going back to when the disagreement started and finding out what the issues were then.

A wipe clean job needs to be done, and research WOULD help.
Amen to this. Had the Protestant Reformation done a complete wipe of what had become the norm of the apostate church they might have received the Holy Spirit. All the councils and decisions have done nothing to further God's word. The hardest part I had was to unlearn everything I understood about Christianity to see what God is doing. The more I learn, the more I see myself not like God at all. Thank God for the blood of the Lamb. :cool:
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,495
13,800
113
#29
yes relevant. wine is good for stomach ache
Is it good for someone with an alcohol sensitivity or an addiction, or who has made a moral decision to avoid alcohol? What about someone who has other issues with alcohol or other wine components, or who takes medication that reacts with it?

Sorry, but your view of "relevance" on this matter is simplistic and ignorant. My statement stands. On some matters, we do know better.
 

Melach

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2019
2,055
1,524
113
#30
Is it good for someone with an alcohol sensitivity or an addiction, or who has made a moral decision to avoid alcohol? What about someone who has other issues with alcohol or other wine components, or who takes medication that reacts with it?

Sorry, but your view of "relevance" on this matter is simplistic and ignorant. My statement stands. On some matters, we do know better.
but then it reduces it to word of man and not word of God.
 

Nehemiah6

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2017
26,074
13,777
113
#31
Culture never dictates truth, but truth should dictate the culture.
Precisely. God's truth and Bible truth transcends all cultures and all ages.

And while it is interesting to delve into all kinds of subjects, it is not essential nor mandatory. The Christians's focus must be on Christ as seen from Genesis to Revelation.
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
#32
No, not really. What in have found is that all that is actually quite clearly written in the Bible and that answering those foolish arguments is a matter of a simple contextual reading of the scriptures. Here is a prime example. Every one wants to argue what makes or gets a person saved? Well, the answer is given right in the text in simple language;

But what does it say? “The word is near you , in your mouth and in your heart ”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “W hoever believes in Him will not be disappointed .”
ROMANS 10:8‭-‬11 NASB

It don't get much more plain than this.

So some would say what purpose does baptism serve? Which seems like a complex question until you look at the text. So what did Jesus say when he was baptized, that is arguably the most important baptism ever.

But Jesus answering said to him, “Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
MATTHEW 3:15 NASB
Also numerous other scriptures give us the full answer.
1corinthians 12:13
1 Peter 3:22
Acts 10:48 and 22:16
Colossians 2:12
Galatians 3:27
Mark 16:16
Romans 6: 1-18
So what purpose does being baptized serve? It's an important part of the salvation experience, " believe and be baptized and you will be saved, if you don't believe you are condemned." So it's part of believing, it full fills all righteousness, joins us to the body of believers so that we are one in Christ, it washes away sin, it is how we are buried with Christ in his death, it's how we put on Christ.
Its very clear in the text. Even I can understand it, and I'm no smarter than anyone else. In fact I'm quite simple about all these things. I attended college 1 day. It didn't take me long to figure out that I wasn't cut out for all that stuff. But I can figure out this Bible stuff.
I agree with you completely, except I think you are closing much of God out when you will not learn how the church grew. I found that the reason stated for changing Easter was "we must not do anything the Jews do". That is not what God tells us to base our worship practices on. I found the reason for denying that Christ fulfilled all the OT told of him was based on anti-semitism. That is the reason the church tells us to not learn from the sacrificial system. I found that when the wars between Rome and Jerusalem happened, the Jews lost so completely the leadership of the Christian church changed from people who knew scripture to people so steeped in idol worship and superstition that they carried over some of their ideas into Christianity. The Holy Spirit has not managed to get these things cleared up. Scripture study alone has not been able to get these things cleared up. It takes dedication and, as scripture tells us, putting on the whole armor of the Lord. The enemies need to be looked at squarely and gotten rid of and you can't do that by ignoring them.
 
K

KnowMe

Guest
#33
I use my heart...
 

Blik

Senior Member
Dec 6, 2016
7,312
2,428
113
#34
Precisely. God's truth and Bible truth transcends all cultures and all ages.

And while it is interesting to delve into all kinds of subjects, it is not essential nor mandatory. The Christians's focus must be on Christ as seen from Genesis to Revelation.
This post is changing the entire meaning of the thread around to a thread advocating putting culture and history ahead of God. The thread is addressed to people who put God first. It advocates study of ways culture and outside influences have infringed on God's ways and getting back to God. This post is addressing putting culture and outside influences first.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,495
13,800
113
#35
but then it reduces it to word of man and not word of God.
If you use a black-and-white perspective, you will get an untenable conclusion. If you accept the possibility of "gray", you will have capacity for discerning relevant truth.
 

Melach

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2019
2,055
1,524
113
#36
If you use a black-and-white perspective, you will get an untenable conclusion. If you accept the possibility of "gray", you will have capacity for discerning relevant truth.
how do you choose which parts are true and which we know better in ?
 
K

KnowMe

Guest
#38
not a good idea. heart is deceitful and wicked above all things bible says :giggle:
Are you implying my heart is deceitful?, there’s as well verses about the heart that is not deceitful it’s a good idea to know which is which and how to apply them.
 
K

KnowMe

Guest
#39
Psalm 73
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
 
K

KnowMe

Guest
#40
not a good idea. heart is deceitful and wicked above all things bible says :giggle:
And if you don’t trust your heart than it can be a challenge for this to happen within you.

Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.