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- June 25, 2006 at 9:25 am#20626malcolm ferrisParticipant
God is a spirit. God is a person. God is not a man that He should lie. God is the Father. A father is not merely a life force, a father is a person.
A father extends himself by the production of offspring, these offspring have the father's life in them. That is not to limit God, God made it thus, and He is able to confine Himself, to be expressed through humble vessels. Yet in all of this God is not diminished or limited, in fact it serves to magnify His glory.
So if He is pleased to declare in His Word that He was in His son, that He personally was working in and through Him. I am not going to limit that to my concept of how it can be.June 25, 2006 at 9:47 am#20630NickHassanParticipantHi Malcolm,
And I will not limit how
He can be in in heaven and
yet in His son and
yet be close to each one of us, as Paul told the Athenians.He is not limited by His creation
or by the concepts of the minds of created men.June 25, 2006 at 9:51 am#20633malcolm ferrisParticipantGod created His creation to speak of Him, to worship Him, to glorifiy Him.
His own creation does not limit Him, nor is He limited in it.
He chose and uses the concepts of fatherhood and sonship.
He dwells in Heaven,yet is able to dwell with us on earth, and promises that in the future Heaven and earth will co-exist in a new heavens and earth.
I am happy with it as I am sure you are also.June 25, 2006 at 9:53 am#20634NickHassanParticipantamen brother
June 25, 2006 at 9:53 am#20635malcolm ferrisParticipantGod created His creation to speak of Him, to worship Him, to glorifiy Him.
His own creation does not limit Him, nor is He limited in it.
He chose and uses the concepts of fatherhood and sonship.
He dwells in Heaven,yet is able to dwell with us on earth, and promises that in the future Heaven and earth will co-exist in a new heavens and earth.
I am happy with it as I am sure you are also.July 18, 2006 at 1:19 am#22327NickHassanParticipantHi,
1 Jn 27
” As for you the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you,
and you have no need for anyone to teach you;
but as His anointing teaches you about all things,
and is true and is not a lie,
and just as it has taught you,
you abide in Him”We all need the Spirit to teach us from the Word of God.
August 7, 2006 at 3:03 am#23742NickHassanParticipantHi,
From the official BU site;“We believe that “the Holy Spirit” is another name for God, while “holy spirit” is God's gift of His divine nature that a person receives when he is born again, the “spirit of truth” that Jesus promised. He differentiated between these two when He said, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Does any agree that this is true that the word THE scripturally divides the Spirit of God?
August 11, 2006 at 10:44 pm#24158NickHassanParticipantHi Oxy,
I Have pasted this here as discussion here is more appropriate.
You said“1Jo 5:7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.
This is a false KJV rendering added from a note in the margin .
1Pe 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
We are indeed foreknown by God, sprinkled by the blood of the Lamb and sanctified in sharing with Christ and God in the Spirit of God Himself Who is spirit.
Act 19:2 he said to them, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? And they said to him, We did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit is.
The Spirit of God Himself is the promise God has given to His children in Christ. We should know we are in Christ by the work of the Spirit of God in and through us.
Act 15:8 And God, who knows the hearts, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit even as to us.
God has poured out His Spirit [Joel 2]among those in His family
Rom 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
The Spirit in us is alive and teaches us of Christ, the scriptures and the ways of God:1jn2]
Heb 2:4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with different kinds of miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
God indeed has given witness to His children by sharing His Spirit with them and letting them work in His kingdom.
Not only that but his Spirit helps us know and worship our Father God.
The Spirit is the finger of God.
The Spirit is the Arm of God everywhere at work in His creation.
But He is in heavenYou said
“I hope these verses are helpful Kenrch. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the things of God, and can therefore not be God as such, but He is God as is the Father and Jesus. Acts 15:8 says God gave them the Holy Spirit. I think that is an excellent example.”August 11, 2006 at 11:00 pm#24165typrsnParticipantQuote (Nick Hassan @ Aug. 11 2006,23:44) Hi Oxy,
I Have pasted this here as discussion here is more appropriate.
You said“1Jo 5:7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.
This is a false KJV rendering added from a note in the margin .
1Pe 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
We are indeed foreknown by God, sprinkled by the blood of the Lamb and sanctified in sharing with Christ and God in the Spirit of God Himself Who is spirit.
Act 19:2 he said to them, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? And they said to him, We did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit is.
The Spirit of God Himself is the promise God has given to His children in Christ. We should know we are in Christ by the work of the Spirit of God in and through us.
Act 15:8 And God, who knows the hearts, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit even as to us.
God has poured out His Spirit [Joel 2]among those in His family
Rom 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
The Spirit in us is alive and teaches us of Christ, the scriptures and the ways of God:1jn2]
Heb 2:4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with different kinds of miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?
God indeed has given witness to His children by sharing His Spirit with them and letting them work in His kingdom.
Not only that but his Spirit helps us know and worship our Father God.
The Spirit is the finger of God.
The Spirit is the Arm of God everywhere at work in His creation.
But He is in heavenYou said
“I hope these verses are helpful Kenrch. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the things of God, and can therefore not be God as such, but He is God as is the Father and Jesus. Acts 15:8 says God gave them the Holy Spirit. I think that is an excellent example.”
Nick,You stated “The Spirit is the finger of God.
The Spirit is the Arm of God everywhere at work in His creation. But He is in heaven”Are you sure the Father is in heaven only? Does not He fill heaven and earth? (Jer. 23:24; 1 Kings 8:27; Acts 7:49; Ps. 139:7,8).
August 11, 2006 at 11:03 pm#24167NickHassanParticipantHi T,
God is a Being and Jesus says we should pray to Him in heaven, which is His throne.But just because he is in heaven does not preclude Him from being throughout creation, so close to all of us as Paul told the Athenians in Acts 17, by His Spirit, His finger[ see Lk 11 and compare the verse in Mt 12].
August 11, 2006 at 11:15 pm#24172OxyParticipantFar out Nick, we disagree on 3 fronts now. lol.. this is getting a bit much
August 11, 2006 at 11:25 pm#24173typrsnParticipantQuote (Nick Hassan @ Aug. 12 2006,00:03) Hi T,
God is a Being and Jesus says we should pray to Him in heaven, which is His throne.But just because he is in heaven does not preclude Him from being throughout creation, so close to all of us as Paul told the Athenians in Acts 17, by His Spirit, His finger[ see Lk 11 and compare the verse in Mt 12].
Nick,I just wanted to be sure that we are on the same page. I do agree that His Spirit is not a seperate person from Himself. There is only one YHWH (Deut. 6:4). I believe the Holy Ghost to be that one YHWH in action/activity/influence. Of course, “finger of God”, is an anthromorphism as is “eyes of YHWH”, “His wings”, etc. The “finger of God” though, speaks of His power.
August 12, 2006 at 12:03 am#24182kenrchParticipantOxy,
God is able to share His Spirit. That is how God will be all in all (1Cor. 15:28).
The scriptures you gave don't suggest that the Spirit which is Holy is a seperate person. Just that the Father shares His Spirit.
Jesus prayed that we would be one in spirit as He and the Father are one in Spirit. If you and I agree in one thing then we share that spirit…We are one. (John 17:11)August 12, 2006 at 2:14 am#24189OxyParticipantThanks for that Kenrch
To be honest it's not that important to me. The Bible makes the distinction of Father Son and Holy Spirit, so I don't have a problem with it. If the Father and the Holy Spirit were one and the same, why would there be a distinction?
As far as I am concerned it's way more important to be out there talking to people in an attempt to win souls.
Bless you.
August 12, 2006 at 4:36 am#24200NickHassanParticipantHi Oxy,
God is in heaven and His Spirit which is never separate from Him, performs His works.August 12, 2006 at 6:53 am#24205malcolm ferrisParticipantQuote (Oxy @ Aug. 12 2006,03:14) Thanks for that Kenrch To be honest it's not that important to me. The Bible makes the distinction of Father Son and Holy Spirit, so I don't have a problem with it. If the Father and the Holy Spirit were one and the same, why would there be a distinction?
As far as I am concerned it's way more important to be out there talking to people in an attempt to win souls.
Bless you.
So who is the Father of Jesus Christ then?
God the Father? … or … the Holy Spirit?I read we are made in His image.
We have eyes, ears, hands, arms, a spirit, a soul, bowels, loins, a heart, fingers, feet…
We read that God also has such things.
Yet in the attempt to keep God 'unlimited' it seems many have to limit Him so that – although He declares Himself to have such attributes – they are only figurative – he is not in possession of any such things.
God is not confined by any human constraints but is pleased to define Himself by and within His own Word.
So where then did hands, fingers, feet, eyes, faces, hair… come from? His mind? no doubt – as thoughts brought forth into word…
To what end? To express Himself in an image? it would seem so.
No wonder Jesus could say – if you see me you see the Father…
No wonder he is called the express image of His (God's) being.
God tabernacled with men in the flesh of His son.Jesus consistently declared as do the writings of the new testament authors – that his Father was dwelling IN him.
I don't read anywhere him saying that the spirit of his Father was dwelling in him. He said it was the Father Himself in him doing the works and saying the words.
We are told we are saved by the blood of God, how? who did they kill? the Son of God. And so doing they crucified God, who cannot die. Why did they kill Jesus? because of what he did?
No! because of what he said!And he only ever said what his Father told him. So effectively they were not rejecting him and his words but God, and His Word.
He said if you cannot believe my words (cos they could not recieve the fact that he was God in flesh represented to them – God in His Son – indwelling Him) so he said if this is too much to take this idea that God would be in me making me the declared Son of God – then believe it for the very works sake which prove it is, in fact, God in me both doing and saying…
They wanted him dead not for any good work he did but because he made himself equal with God. How? By speaking as God, they saw a man and said – we know him, he's just a man, how can he say such things…
And no matter how much he tried to explain to them that it was God in Christ reconciling the world – yet they could not see past the weak human vessel that stood before them. Even though God thoroughly proved it to them by the works that no man could do, to utterly vindicate that he was indeed a prophet like unto Moses – that prophet that was to come.
Moses was in God's own words – God to the people. If they truly could grasp that then they should have been able to see that this one was the same – not in part, not in a shadow of the law but in the fulness of God's grace for the work of redemption.
Why could they not see it, why did they fail to recognize him? becuase it was not revealed to them.
Same reason it is not commonly percieved today.
But in all fairness – they were blinded for our sakes.
While on the other hand we are said to be wilfully blind – like the church at Laodicea – called by God : wretched, poor, miserable, naked and blind and unaware of this condition but rather considering themselves – rich, increased in goods, having need of nothing…
In the days of Jesus – he forgave them for calling him Beelzebub – for saying that he could tell the thoughts and intents of their hearts by the power of the Devil – when, in fact, he did so by the power of the Word of God. He said – I forgive you for that but when the Holy Spirit comes and does the same thing it will never be forgiven in this world or that to come.
Why? because when Jesus was doing it, they were blinded by God through their traditions in order that they might reject their Messiah so that we Gentiles might be brought in.
But today – it is by the Holy Spirit that God declares Himself the same yesterday, today and forever. And when He does so and men call it a devil or the work of a devil – there is no forgiveness only a certain looking forward to a fiery judgement to come.
August 12, 2006 at 7:08 am#24206OxyParticipantWell that's quite a rave Malcolm. Don't forget that Jesus said and did more than was ever recorded in Scripture. The Holy Spirit does and makes known the will of the Father, therefore Jesus is the Son of the Father because God is one, yet God is three.
I definately do not limit God and probably most of what you say does not apply to me, but thanks for taking the time.
August 12, 2006 at 7:41 am#24214NickHassanParticipantHi Malcolm,
Was God still in heaven while Jesus was on earth?August 12, 2006 at 8:50 am#24216malcolm ferrisParticipantHeaven is a place right?
August 12, 2006 at 8:58 am#24217OxyParticipantAnd I thought God was omnipresent… doesn't that mean everywhere? But hang on, omnipresent doesn't appear to be in the Bible either.
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