MuttleyLaff:
Gehazi’s sin was covetousness.

Prophet Elisha, said his spirit was present when Gehazi lied. He didnt say Gehazi blasphemed or lied against the Holy Spirit, but Apostle Peter specified what really transpired between Ananias and Sapphira in regards with the Holy Spirit

Why did Gehazi get such a judgement for his sin? Is there any implication of his sin? Is there more to his sin than meet the eyes?

MuttleyLaff:

"²⁰Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the ^{man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
[sup]21} So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.
²²“Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered.
“My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’”
²³“By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi.
²⁴When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house.
He sent the men away and they left.
²⁵When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”
“Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.
²⁶But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you?
Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves?
²⁷Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow."
- 2 Kings 5:20-27

<sup>How long is a piece of string? I rather would have: Did A&E commit the unforgivable sin? Can what A&E did be termed unforgivable sin?

If King David who was a killer and adulterer has flouted Matthew 12:31-32, I dont see how Gehazi would have. Besides, Gehazi lied against a human being, not the Holy Spirit and the human being's spirit he lied against witnessed the lie. Clearly, there's no connect here in all this with Matthew 12:31-32.</sup>[/sup]

What’s up? What was Gehazi’s sin? You said he lied against man; did Ananias and Sapphira not lie against man, though from the Apostle’s reaction, it is made known that they lied against the Holy Spirit?

MaxInDHouse:
You're welcome Sir!

I can only quote and relate with what Jesus' true followers say about his identity, to them he is the son of God!

Yes, He is the Christ, the Son of God.

Praise the Lord

orisa37:
GENESIS CHAPTER ONE.

GOD IN GOD'SPHERE IS CHRIST-SAVIOUR-GOD.

LORD GOD IN HEAVEN'S SPHERE IS HOLY SPIRIT ALWAYS IN TRANSIT IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

JESUS IS THE LORD ON EARTH, THE FIRST EXAMPLE OF THE SON OF MAN WHO OBEYED ALL INSTRUCTIONS FROM ABOVE WAS CRUCIFIED DEAD AND BURIED. WE SEE HIM RESURRECTED THE THIRD DAY TO HEAVENS TO BECOME GOD, OUR INSTRUCTOR, DIRECTOR AND DISCERNMENT FOREVER. HAVEN EXPERIENCED THE WORLD, CHRIST IS ALSO OUR WISDOM KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING AND THE PROPITIATION FOR OUR SINS. BLESSED BE GREAT GOD KING OF THE UNIVERSE. MAY ALL HONOUR, GLORY, MAJESTY AND WORSHIP BE HIS FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN !!!

Nice composition but I wish you didn’t capitalize everything . Could you explain what God’s sphere means?

MaxInDHouse:
God's only begotten SON! Matthew 16:16-17

Yes. God is One. In the One God is a multiverse of expressions. In God-kind, is the Father, the Begotten Son and The Spirit; each of the same essence.

Thanks for the verse.

Cc: Prettygirl27

“If God were to come into the world as a man, he would come out Jesus Christ”.

---

Reference Text: Colossians 1:15-20

Well, the apostle Paul wants to help us understand who Jesus is. And I want you to look at your Bible to Colossians chapter 1. Among all of the passages of scripture that we might have looked at to see the reality of the child who was God, none is more grand than this one in the first chapter of Colossians. I want to read to you starting in verse 15. Listen to what the Bible says about Jesus Christ. “He is the image of the invisible God. The firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created by him and for him. And he is before him all things, and in him, all things hold together. He is also head of the body of the church, and he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead so that he himself might come to have first place in everything. For it was the father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him.”

Every one of those statements that were made from verse 15 through verse 19 is absolutely exclusive. They are true of him and nobody else. And the sum of them all is at the end of verse 18 where it says that he is to have the first place in everything. No one else is the image of the invisible God. No one else can be the firstborn of all creation. No one else can be the creator of things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible. No one else sits over the thrones and dominions and rulers and authorities, no one else is before all things and holds all things together. No one else is the head of the body, the church, the beginning, the first-born. No one else has all the fullness dwelling in him to the pleasure of the father. Those are all absolutely exclusive statements. And what they tell us is, that Jesus Christ is utterly unique. There is no one like him. He is beyond everyone else He is infinitely beyond everyone else.

Paul is writing against this background and he simply says to them, Jesus is the image of the invisible God. And in verse 16, by him, all things were created. Get rid of this ridiculous system that you have developed and understand this, there is one God and he created and that one God came into the world in the form of Jesus in human flesh, that’s true. In relation to God then, Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He is the replica, the Iconian. He is the reproduction (of God). In Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3, it says this, making really the same point, Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his nature. He is the radiance of God’s glory. That is to say, he is the shining forth of God. He is the exact, says the writer of Hebrews, representation of God’s person. He is not only the brightness, but he is the essence, the substance.

This term, ‘image’ is the classical Greek term for a die or a stamp. He replicates God. He’s the exact reproduction of God. As John tells us in his account of the birth of Christ, we beheld his glory, and what glory was it? The glory as of the only begotten of the father full of the same attributes that are characteristic of God. Paul writing in Philippians 2 says, Christ in one point was in the form of God. But divested himself of that and came in the form of a man. He is the precise copy, reproduction, a replica of God. He is the very substance and essence of God. He is the radiance of God’s shining glory in human form. That’s why he could say in John 14:9, if you have seen me, you have seen the father. In fact, he is not just a sketch of God, verse 9 of chapter 2, in Colossians it says, in him, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. And back in verse 19 of chapter 1, all the fullness is caused to dwell in him. In 2 Corinthians 4:4, Paul says, Christ who is the image of God. He is a full manifestation and revelation of God. Paul wants it crystal clear that there is no equivocation as to the identity of Jesus Christ. He is God in human flesh. That’s not unreasonable if you look at the life of Christ. Think of it this way, if God were a man, what would we expect him to be like?

In the book of Revelation, John has an amazing experience in chapter 5 as he is taken by means of a vision into the very throne room of heaven and the presence of God. He sees God seated on a throne and in the hand of God is a scroll. That scroll represents the title deed to the universe. The universe at the present is in the hands of a usurper, Satan, the archenemy of God, and the destroyer of souls. And Satan now is the God of this world. The ruler of this age, but God is seen in the picture of Revelation 5 holding a title deed to the earth and to the universe in his hand and saying, who is worthy to take the title deed and to open its seals and to take back the world and the universe. And as John looks, all of heaven and earth is scanned and no one is found worthy, absolutely no one. No great intellect, no great academician. NO great military leader. No great monarch, ruler, king, emperor, no great religious man, no one is found and John begins to weep and he is weeping because no one has the authority or the ability to rise to take back the universe from the usurper. And in the midst of his tears, he can discern one stepping forward from the throne who is both a lamb and a lion, none other than Jesus Christ and he reaches to the father’s hand and he takes the scroll.

In all the universe, He alone is worthy. In all the universe, He alone has that authority and that ability. There is none like him. And if ever there is a celebration for anyone, there should be a celebration for him. And to exclude him from the celebration is the most profound kind of blaspheme. He is God in human flesh come to save. But to see the greatness of his person, one needs only to go back to the text, which we read. Now, I must admit to you that I had a little struggle in my heart between this text and Hebrews 1:1 to 3, so I’m going to throw Hebrews 1:1 to 3 in along the way, okay? Because they are so parallel. And I want you to see a portrait painted by the apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that gives us a series of strokes that reveal Jesus Christ and each of these five strokes represents a particular relationship. We see Christ and his relationship to God and then in his relationship to the created universe, then to the unseen world, then to the church, and then to all other revelations. Let’s start with Jesus in his relation to God. Verse 15, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. Now you need a little bit of background. I won’t take a long time on this, but just to help you know the setting, the church in Colossi was confronted by typical religious error at that time as churches are today, there were false teachers then as there are now. People purveying lies as if they were religious truths. And there was a group of these religious teachers and they thought that they had the super knowledge, the superior knowledge. They were the supposed spiritual intellectuals of their time. And they thought that Christianity was a common mundane low-level kind of religion and they had elevated themselves to a much higher one.

Well, if God were a man, I would expect him to be sinless. Jesus was. He was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Even Pontius who sat as his judge after all the hullabaloo that had gone on, came to this conclusion, I find in him what? No fault. The Roman centurion came to the same conclusion and so did the thief on the cross. Nobody could ever bring an accusation against him. A trial before Annas, a trial before Caiaphas, a trial before Herod passed back to Pilate, nobody could come up with anything. If God were a man, I would expect him to be sinless. The record of history and the affirmation of apostolic testimony and the truth is, Jesus was sinless. If God were a man, I would expect him to speak the most profound and greatest words ever spoken, wouldn’t you? Jesus did.

I would also expect that if he were God he would have that kind of influence. Now if God were a man, I would also expect him to do miracles. Jesus did, repeatedly, publicly, unarguable, dramatically, prolifically, and if God were a man, I would expect him to know the future. Jesus did. He predicted things about himself, things about the nation of Israel, details about the future, the end of the world. If God were a man, I would expect him to show us what God was like. He did. We saw in him love and kindness and mercy and grace that was absolutely and utterly and beyond anything any human could ever experience.

And we saw in him a level of virtue, fairness, wisdom, the likes of which the world has never seen. Any way you look at it, if God were to come into the world as a man, he would come out Jesus Christ and that’s the case. Jesus Christ is the exact reproduction of the invisible God he makes the invisible God visible. If you trivialize the birth of Christ, as I said earlier, that is a monumental form of blasphemy because that is a striking of a blow against the revelation of the eternal God in Christ. Furthermore, verse 15 identifies Jesus as the firstborn of all creation. That is not a reference to time. He wasn’t the first person born in creation. Adam was made and then Eve was formed out of his rib and then they started having babies. There were plenty of them before he was born. It doesn’t mean that he was the first person ever born in all of creation. What it means is that of all of creation he is the prtotokos. That is to say, the ranking one. In ancient one, the first born meant the heir. The supreme one, the superior one. The one with the right of inheritance. The one with the rights of privilege and prestige and honor. Jacob was not born first, but he was the prtotokos. He was the heir.

Perhaps you can understand it if you can understand Psalm 89:27, God says, I will also make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. Firstborn being defined as the king of kings, the supreme one. Hebrews 1 also speaks of this, verse 2, his son whom he appointed heir of all things. That’s the issue and that’s why in verse 3 at the end he sits down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He sits down on the very throne of God. And Paul is saying in relation to God, he is the exact representation of God and of all who have been created, he is the heir, he is the supreme one. He is the ranking one. He is the ultimate one. Paul declares then that Jesus is God, the exact replica of God. The supreme being of all who have ever existed.

Some people may be confused about whether Jesus claimed this, certainly the Jewish people of his time weren’t, they wanted to stone him for blasphemy, John 10:33 says, because they said, you being a man, make yourself God. Indeed, he was God. Thomas had it right when he reached out his hand and commented my Lord and my God. Look at the second relationship in verses 16 and 17, not only do we see Jesus in his relationship to God, but in his relationship to the world or to creation. Verse 16 says, for by him all things were created both in the heavens and on earth. Visible and invisible. And then at the end of the verse, all things have been created by him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things hold together. We are dealing here not with a man, not just with a great man, we are dealing here with the creator and the sustainer of the whole universe. Whatever is in heaven and in earth. Whatever is visible or invisible. It is all crated by him. It is all created before him. He is before all of it and in him, all of it hangs together. He is the creator and again, that is exactly what we read in Hebrews 1:2, through whom also he made the world. Or literally, dia by whom he made the world. The whole universe, the whole cosmos. The whole material universe was made by Jesus Christ.

The very angels who said that night, glory to God in the highest, were the servants of the baby in the manger. They had been created by him. Angels, whether elect angles, holy angles or fallen angels are subject to Christ. They would not exist apart from his creative power and they could not continue to exist apart from his sustaining power. In Hebrews, again, chapter 1 verse 7, it says that it makes his angels wins. It’s talking about a creative act. And his ministers a flame of fire, but of the son he says, thy throne, oh God is forever and ever, when God made angels, by his creative act. When Christ made angels by his creative act, he made them minsters. That’s word for servants. But when God sent his son, he wasn’t a servant. He said, they throne, oh God is forever and ever and the angels worship him because he is the sovereign. Verse 6, when he again brings the firstborn into the world he says, and let all the angels of God worship him. Angels are servants. He is the one to be served. He is the king. He is the sovereign. There is a fourth relationship here that I would point out to you.

Look at verse 18. We have seen Jesus in his relation to God, to the created universe, and to the unseen world of angels. Now Jesus and his relationship with the church. He is also head of the body - the church. He is the beginning, the first born of from the dead so he himself might come to have first place in everything. Some tremendous truths here. He is the head of the body, the church. Biblically the metaphor of the body is often used. The church is like a body and Christ is like its head. That’s comprehensible to us. It means what we would assume it means, the ability to produce growth in your brain, at the base of your skull is a small cavity. In that cavity is contained a gland that is called the pituitary gland, that is related to growth. It carries the growth hormone among others that stimulate growth; and growth of the body is directly related to the power provided by the head. Our cerebrum controls parts of the body; the cerebellum has been called the harmonizers of muscle action. All the functions of the human body are under the control of the brain, both voluntary and involuntary. They are stimulated by what goes on in the head, growth, guidance, and certainly, all the thought process are contained in the mind and the head, that gives the direction to all that we do and say and think.

And that simply illustrates the fact that Christ is the source of all truth, all knowledge, all wisdom, all growth, and all guidance in his church. He is the head of the church. Secondly, he says, he is the beginning. He is the beginning of the church. He is the source of the church. Matthew 16, Jesus said, I will build my church. That is the idea here. The church is the creation of Christ. He is the source of its existence. And truthfully, it’s the most prominent member by virtue of resurrection which we shall see immediately in a moment. He is the arch, He is the pioneer. He is the forerunner. He is the leader. He is the source of the church. Not just its head, but its creator, its source. And then follow along in verse 18, he is also the firstborn from the dead, there is that prototokos again. It’s not that he’s the first person ever resurrected. There were people in the Old Testament resurrected. There were people that Jesus raised from the dead before he himself was resurrected. We are not talking about first in time, but of all who have ever been raised or ever will be raised, he is the prototokos He is the supreme one. Here Paul zeroes in on the resurrection. He was born, but he was raised from the dead. The firstfruits of them that slept. His resurrection is a guarantee of the ultimate resurrection into eternal life of all men. He is not a dead hero. [b]He is a resurrected God-man. And of all who have ever come from the dead, he is the supreme one, the superior one[/b]. You can’t dismiss Jesus as some dead historical figure, he is alive. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the source, the imitator of the body, the church, and he has given birth from death to the whole church by his own resurrection.

As a result of all of these things, as a result of being the very reproduction and replica of the invisible God, the most ranking individual of all those created, as a result of being the creator himself, who made everything in the universe visible and invisible, as a result of being the sovereign over all the spiritual world, as a result of being sovereign in leader and authority and source and life for the church, the end of verse 18 says, he himself has come to have first place in everything. He is absolutely preeminent. And it stands to reason, doesn’t it, that one who is first to rank in the universe, who is the point of reference, who is agent, goal, forerunner, sustainer, the governor in the sphere of creation, one who is head of the church, beginning and first in rank of those resurrected would be the preeminent one.

And then just to make sure nothing gets left out after having said it all in verse 19, Paul adds a word about Jesus in his relationship to all other revelations. It was the father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him. All the powers of deity, all the attributes of deity, verse 3 of chapter 2 says all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, verse 9 says, all the fullness of deity, everything is in him. Everything is in him. He is the fullness of God’s essence, God’s glory and it’s in him and him alone. And that is to say, if somebody comes along after this and says, I’m God, don’t believe it he needs no supplement, he had no rivals. There are no more revelations. It’s in him and him alone that God has put all the fullness of his own deity because it pleased him to do that. Now the closing question is why? And the answer comes in verse 20, listen, and through him to reconcile all things to himself having made peace through the blood of his cross, from him I say whether things on earth or things in heaven, and although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind and engaged in evil deeds, yet he has yet reconciled you in His fleshly body through death in order to present you before Him, holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Why did Christ come into the world? To save sinners. To go to a cross, to shed his blood through death, pay the price for sin in order that he might present you to God, holy and blameless and beyond reproach.

It’s a tremendous truth, as Joab you remember in the Old Testament pleaded for Absalom the wayward rebel’s son, and brought him to David and David kissed him. So Jesus Christ brings us to the kiss of God so that we might be reconciled.


John MacArthur

Dtruthspeaker:


<sup>If I lie, there are many here who will not waste a milli second to call me a Liar!

And this is Extreme Hatred you have for me!

I thank God that I have heard the Truth in your soul for I did not know you Hate Me So, but Now I do.



THANK YOU FOR PROVING THE TRUTH OF MY CASE FOR ME!

For the Penal Code is part of Your Laws in Jurisdiction called Nigeria. And Not Only the Penal Code but Also the Criminal Code Act, Most Applicable in Southern Nigerian where those Who Believe in the Principles of the Bible predominantly reside, By Section 30 of The Criminal Code, it Clearly and Expressly States that "any person under the age of 7 years is not criminally responsible for any act or omission."</sup>

In the multitude of words, a liar will lie there. I thank you for being a liar. Go about your ego-tripping.

Let me bust your bubble: The Criminal Code, S. 30.35, provides: "A person under the age of twelve years is not criminally responsible for any act or omission unless it is proved that at the time of doing the act or making the omission he had the capacity to know that he ought not to do the act or make the omission."


If you want to make you defense in Sharia Law because you are a Muslim, say it. Section 39 of the BauchiState Shari'ah Penal Code Law, 2001. The age of maturity is not defined. Some other states' Shari'a penal codes contain a slightly different wording. For example, the Shari'a penal code of ZamfaraState specifies that the consent of a "a person who is under eighteen years of age or has not attained puberty" is not considered as consent.

If I hate you, it’s because you are a liar.

Dtruthspeaker:


Wow! You have now become a LortReedian?
God's Word is Sure!

That aside, are you not a lawyer again that you do not know that it is your law, contained in your law books that a Child below 7years is not Criminally Responsible?

Shame be on you!

I may be a LordReedian but you are an ignorant Muslim; In the northern states, the Penal Code 1960 specifies that seven is the minimum age of criminal responsibility and categorizes juvenile offenders as those under 17. According to the Sharia laws, children are eligible for hadd (for which the prescribed punishment is mandatory) and qisas (punished by retaliation) punishments from the age of puberty. [Constitution of Nigeria, Article 175(1).]

The minimum age of criminal responsibility varies among Nigerian states. The federal Children’s Rights Act 2003 does not specify a minimum age of criminal responsibility.

I remember someone saying this about you ( hope I am not mistaken): He just finally discovered what's wrong with your brain: on the left side there is nothing right and on the right side, there is nothing left. I now know you aren't saved since 2 Timothy 2:15 has no hold on you, hence, you spew lies instead of the truth.

Dtruthspeaker:


You had to ask a stupid question? Really

You could have gone the whole mile and as well asked if a 32 year old lunatic is also accounted for in my statement? Shame on you!

I don't know who would have read your comment on the age of accountability being seven years old and wouldn't think you are the 32 years old lunatic.

CC: LordReed

[quote author=MuttleyLaff post=96159144]

Of course, I have the power within me to be silent, pretending that it isn’t me, but then the "someone mentions your moniker" will get away with committing the proverbial murder and I'll be complicit for keeping shtum.

“Boju-Boju o. Oloro n bo. E para mo. Oju n ro mi o. Se ki n si?”

I wonder how many of our traditional children’s games you played as a child; how many times were you caught or even beaten because you fell prey to the seeker or the caller (eg. awon kin pe ele meta). Ignore, if you can. If you can’t, don’t use a sledgehammer.

Smiling. Blessed are you, Acehart, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.

Please be kind enough to share all what you "knew what those verses in Leviticus meant years ago" sic. Also kindly please, explain the verses' connection and their commonality in regards how "they are closely related to the instructions where a man was commanded not to wear women’s clothing and vice-versa" sic

I don’t I have time between today and the end of this year to do justice to those verses in Leviticus. But I want anyone reading this to those that those instructions were temple instructions. Since our temple is Christ, those abominations don’t exist today; if they ever exist, it can only be in places that reject Christ as the Temple of God, and replace Him with Cathedrals, Synagogues, Camps and buildings made of things mined from the earth.

I dont mind being Bob the Builder. I am more than happy to iron sharpen iron edify a brother, because a candle doesn't lose light from lightning another candle but what I see written here, reiterating, is nothing other than, a sense of entitlement, wanting something, without so much having anything to do with any heavy lifting work and/or pushes first, by yourself. It is a common, pitiful lazybones, despairing trend and not good at all sight to behold. I wasn't handed anything to pick on the surface nor on a platter of gold, or with almost no effort to dig and dig deeper on my side

Thanks. I’ll be glad when you sharpen me. I don’t find even a few that sharpen me but the Spirit has been faithful to me. Regarding the lazybones, the rot in our educational system is diabolic and yeye must smell. I doubt if many of the posters or commentators on Quora have more than a college degree but the depth of their research and the construction of their thoughts is outstanding. But here, people who haven’t read 500 words in the Bible or even a newspaper shout like they have comprehended all the wisdom of the heavens and the worlds. Their arrogance is a stench that bleach can’t quench.

Acehart, do not laissez-faire those verses in Leviticus nor any other similar elsewhere, but push the latch, to open the hood/bonnet, lift it up fully and safely propped for you to now next, 2 Timothy 2:15 start to look underneath the hood and see inside exactly, specifically and precisely what the verses are talking about.

Let’s see how it goes. I would touch those verses sooner or later- I have a lot of assignments to cover. Do you know what: someone sent me a private message, expressing concern about my support for your homosexuality views after I had been against it for a while. I told the person that if from the first day you were clear about your position, I would have stood with you from that day to this day.

The internet never forgets. You've not grieved me, so there is nothing for me to forgive you about, lmso, however borrowing the famous words, I'll say: "Go and sin no more", lmso

Thank you, sir

livingchrist:
yes faith causes repentance but when it comes to faith in Jesus it certainly is preceded by repentance.
Look at what Jesus said for example,

John 5:46
For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.

You see, if the jews had believed moses (faith) it would have lead to a change of heart (repentance) to believe christ.

You are right to say that faith lead to repentance and also those who say repentance lead to faith are also right, it depends on the context used.

Please read my response to MaxinHouse. You two are right based on your perspective, howbeit different perspective. Yet, the two experiences occur at the same time, holding hands side-by-side.

Dtruthspeaker:


On Repentance!
From the age of 7 years, every soul knows that which is "Good" from that which is "not good" and they do whichever pleased them.

Repentance is when a soul Agrees that, that which it does, should No Longer Be Done. And then, the Repenter, Sets himself, To- Not-DO, That, which he has said, he shall No Longer Do.


eg Tamaratonye, LortReed CAPSLOCK and others have set themselves to hate God, being former, what the world calls "christians". They are said to have Repented.

Does a child with cerebral palsy or autism or Down syndrome know what is good at the age of 7?

MaxInDHouse:
You're welcome Sir!

But you aren’t 100% correct o. The gospel causes a reflection on one’s ways firstly, and based on the faith (trust) on what the gospel offered, the person responds to the gospel - repentance. If I am right, I’d like to proceed.

There is a tension between faith and repentance based on the direction one looks at them. For you, you looked from behind. For livingchrist, he is looking from the front. Though the word comes first, faith doesn’t follow immediately; a consideration to repent comes next -remember when Agrippa said to Paul: "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?". So for those who contend that repentance comes next, No! conviction comes next, and conviction can be crushed (Rom 1:18-19). But when conviction survives, it leads to faith (trusting in Christ); it also leads to repentance (or a desire to repent) at the same time because contemplation (conviction) survived and meets with faith.

MaxInDHouse:
FAITH comes first!


People needs to hear heart touching words {Romans 10:14} they are moved to believe in a God that detests some habits {Act 17:23} they ask questions to be sure that the God in question is the real Creator. Act 17:11

It's after they're fully convinced that they now feel touched to turn around in order to conform their ways to what they were convinced to believe. Hebrew 4:12

So it's the faith that is implanted in the heart of a listener that leads to repentance! Act 2:37-38
God bless you!

Very good response. Thank you.

livingchrist:
the greek word for repentance is metanoia which literally mean a change of mind.

Repentance is a change of minding/thinking or a change of heart which can lead to a change of actions.

I like your definition. I’d like to ask: what causes a change of mind, as nothing happens without a cause?

livingchrist:
that is because you have a wrong definition of repentance

What is your definition of repentance?

livingchrist:
she met christ does not mean she believed, when you come to the cross of calvary, you will not believe until you repent, do you realise that repentance means a change of heart? How can you believe without a change of heart?
In the bible repentance always come before faith.

That means you preach a doctrine of works. You say: my works will drive me to faith.

livingchrist:
I am not talking of when she met Jesus, but when she believed, John had to come with the gospel of repentance before Jesus? Is it not to prepare the heart of the people so that they can recieve christ?
Anyone who has believed in Christ has already repented,
Without repentance there cannot be faith,
Acts 19:4
Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

Acts 20:21
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

You didn’t answer my questions.

livingchrist:
Repentance first and then faith, without repentance there cannot be faith.

<sup>Repentance means a change of heart towards God and his word, for example you dont take God and his word serious but when you repent your mindset changes you begin to take God and his word serious, when you take God's word serious then you actually hear the gospel intimately and then you believe it then salvation.
Change of life comes after salvation, it is wrong for preachers to preach change for life as a requirement to be saved.

What people need is repentance towards God and then faith in Jesus christ and then sanctification commences by God of course but through constant teaching and spiritual upbringing, telling sinners to change their life will only create hypocrites and religionists, the change in a born again comes by the working of the holy spirit in that person through constant hearing of the word only after they are saved.</sup>

Do you repent before you get to the Cross of Calvary or you repent after you have been to the Cross of Calvary? Let me make it easier: did the adulterous woman repent before she met Jesus or after she met Jesus?

jamesid29:

This is a good summary of the tension between true repentance and faith/believe in Christ ,in my opinion.

Great write up boss.

Thank you, sir.

chatinent:
Reexplain using pidgin mbok.

Faith be like person wey believe wetin teacher talk for class; repentance be like person wey wetin teacher talk provoke am so tey him go library go read wetin teacher talk.

If you look am well well, him don go library for him mind as he dey class. So you see say Faith and repentance happen for that student mind at the same time.

Now, how do you put together all these statements? Is there a contradiction here? No, there is no contradiction here. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the figure of speech known as "hendiadys." Not sure that they teach it in schools any longer or perhaps ever taught it in English speaking schools. It's Greek for "One through two." That is when you say one thing, but you use two expressions to convey the whole.

And the language of repentance and faith in the New Testament is essentially a hendiadys. That, the same reality of coming to Christ is being viewed from two different perspectives. One, in relationship to the sinful life, the other in relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. So that sometimes, one of the terms will stand for both terms. "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved," means as you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you will turn away from sin.

You cannot go to Jesus Christ without leaving where you have been, or repent in response to the gospel. What does it mean to repent in response to the gospel? Well, he's talking about that coming to Jesus Christ in faith, but from the perspective of, "Therefore leaving behind the old lifestyle in which you once lived," or "Repent and believe the gospel." Exactly the same thing.

In other words, repentance and faith are not joined together like two links in a chain so that we're left asking the question, "Well, is the first link repentance and then faith, or is the first link faith and then repentance?" No, repentance and faith are not abstract phenomena that exist out there.

They (repentance and faith) are simply ways of describing what happens when we are united to Jesus Christ and trust Him.

-Sinclair Ferguson

@Finallydead

<sup>NB: In case you're wondering why it's called blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which hearing you may expect that someone curses the Holy Spirit.

So when he speaks of blasphemy of the Spirit, this meaning is maintained, as also explained in the excerpt, and only a believer who has already known the things of the Spirit (an unbeliever never has such knowledge) can commit this sin by rejecting Christ and hence, the Spirit of God that dwells in him. Take note that those that do the same to Father, (like the sons of Israel), and to the Son(like the Pharisees) can still be forgiven because He would still die on the cross for their sins and they can receive the Spirit in their hearts but after this, whoever does it to the Spirit,(believers) have nothing left to hope on</sup>.

Continuation:



"Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace. The just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul". - 10:26-29, 38-39.

I feel sad that I have to conclude this response with an exposition when I need not as the concluding paragraph of the chapter states unequivocally that a believer cannot apostatize. The writer states in clearly that we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.. Why? We are justified and kept by faith alone.

In the Pauline Epistles, Paul in the same doleful spirit as the writer of the Book to the Hebrews, writes to his siblings:

"As a matter of fact, my siblings, I could not talk to you as I talk to people who have the Spirit; I had to talk to you as though you belonged to this world".

Apostle Paul, when writing to the Gentiles, uses strong languages regarding the ceremonies of the Law, calling the receiving of them a falling from grace, and the preaching of another gospel (Gal. 5:4, 1:6). In the same vein, the writer of the Book of Hebrews presents to the believing Hebrews that entanglement in the ceremonies of the Law is a falling from grace (Heb.10:38).


I'd like to have a panoramic view of the subject of Hebrew 10 in hopes that I may arrive at the true meaning of the distinctive use of the word "sanctify" (in verse 29)- without ambiguity, and without falling into the peril of running contrary to true doctrine. While I do this, I have an eye on Jesus' saying: "for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me"; which tells me that anyone who has drunk the power of the Holy Spirit, the Sanhedrin blasphemed, can ne'er blaspheme the Lord.


The theme of this chapter centered around the fellowship of God with His people, Israel, through the sacrifices for sin; and the danger of the Hebrew believers' renouncement of the faith of Christ. Two words used (by the writer) to describe the purpose of the temple sacrifices for sin are: "purge" (9:14) and sanctify (2:11,10:10, 10:14,10:29 and 13:12).

Purge: In the first chapter, the term "purge" is used to describe the purification of sins (1:3); to describe how the blood of bulls sanctifies in reference to the purity of the flesh (9:22); to describe how much more (in contrast with the blood of bulls) the blood of Christ purifies their conscience from dead works (9:14).

Chapter 9:22 states that almost say all things according to the Law are purified with blood; for then would they (Old Testament sacrifices) not have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers once purified would have no more conscience of sins (10:2). Yet, not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! (Rom.9:6) even after the sacrifices.



From these passages in the Book, we see :

1. That what made purification necessary was sins, dead works, a conscience of sins etc - that is, sins of those in covenant -Israel, which obstructed the covenant fellowship of God with the people.

2. The medium through which purification of sins, evil conscience, heavenly things and their replicas, and the flesh, is accomplished is blood or sacrifice. (For those who think The blood of Jesus is a substance for pleading on roads, furniture, on people; it just means the Sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary for sins)

3. Remission of sins follows the sacrifice (10:18)

4. Genuine purification, whether of sins or the conscience or of heavenly things themselves, has been attained through the blood of Christ.

5. Purification, which one we the effect of the sacrifice, ensures the service of God is not interrupted.

When defilement is spoken of as adhering to the body, the conscience, or the heavenly things, or their replicas, by the sprinkling of blood purifies. However, under the two, purification is repeatedly done on the occasion of sin.

It should be recognized that in the first covenant, purification was performed (on the Day of Atonement) on behalf of all Israel, yet all people, though in covenant with God, were not sinless e.g Korah. Only sins against the covenant were followed by damnation. (I must not forget that daily offerings for sins were offered by individuals). The sins against the covenant had a bandwagon effect and the Book of Hebrews indicates the falling away from Grace back to the Law as having a bandwagon effect.

2. Sanctify: We know this word has quite a lot of meaning; they include: “to be or make holy”, “to consecrate”, “to dedicate“, “to purify”, or “to be hallowed”. I had written about how the objective of purification was to ensure that the service to God is uninterrupted (we see how the writer encourages the believers not to forsake the assembly of saints); however, it doesn’t suggest that the objective has been fully attained.

On the other hand, sanctify or “to sanctify” is to make a thing or person belong to God. To sanctify is to dedicate to God; to sanctify a people means to consecrate them as a worshipping people. Chapter 13:12 says, Jesus that He might sanctify the People through His blood... This verse shows that sanctification is a once and for all process.

When we look at chapter 10:29 and 9:13, we see an indication of:

1. Sanctification being spoken of when the covenant or people is paramount.

2. Blood or sacrifice is the means of purification.

3. Sanctification and purification are acts done once and for all.

4. The people of the new covenant have been truly sanctified to God through the Blood of Jesus.

Having said all these, the true meaning of the terms “purify” and “sanctify” as fitting the letter, are:

1. Purify: it doesn’t refer to the the moral state of the mind. It doesn’t mean to change the mind from a state of defilement to a state of purity. It bears upon the conscience or the sense of guilt.

2. Sanctification describes the bringing of the people into the relation with God as a worshipping people.

Just like I asserted in my first response, verse 26-31 shows that “Sin willfully” does not describe an act of sin, but a condition. The writer goes on to a supposition- “if we are (found) willful sinners i.e. apostates from the faith of Christ”. He ends with a correction for you -“But we are not of those drawing back to destruction, but of faith to the preserving of the soul.”

Unbelief after the revelation of the light of God and after interaction with the power that declares Christ, is the unforgivable sin, and it leads to apostasy.

Blasphemy is the sin of the unsaved

- Rev. Terry Anderson.

Samchimezie:




Much Appreciation Thanks. I Pray God Enlarge You In Wisdom Amen.

Amen

Samchimezie:



Wow! Meaningful and Understandable one thanks best.

How About A Situation Where One Isn't a Farmer But With A White Colar Job, What Actually Will Be His Or Her First Fruit?

Christ is the firstfruit. Let such a person, whether a farmer or a teacher, come to Jesus at the first opportunity he/she has (in every circumstance).

[quote author=Finallydead post=95800652]

Hello,

When I read your comment last week, I felt some things weren’t right; nevertheless, I refrained from responding because I felt you did a good job in your exposition and no one can fault your conclusion. On the other hand, I was steered to read your comment again, and I was troubled; after pondering on your comment for a while, these were my concerns:

1. Your conclusion didn’t fit smoothly into the entire narrative of Matthew 12:38-42.

2. You envisaged how the passage may challenge the doctrine of eternal security, yet, your exposition with its conclusion have undertones contrary to the doctrine of eternal security. (I know it isn’t your intention to follow that path).

Regarding my first concern: The exchange between Jesus Christ and the Sanhedrin began with the latter’s request for a sign to prove the veracity of Jesus’ claim to be “The One”. He retorted with the narrative of two witnesses- Nineveh and The Queen of the South.

Does your conclusion, apostasy, apply to these foreign nations if they refused the testimony of Jonah and Solomon? Of course not. In all scriptures, only the people of God, His sanctified (a set apart people), can apostatize. But we know Nineveh and Ethiopia were heathen nations, so how could they apostatize?

You correctly submitted that the malicious sin of the Sanhedrin (in this text) was attributing Jesus‘ power to the power of the Lord of Flies, Baal. Blasphemy because they referred to the Holy Spirit as an evil spirit. If we stick strictly to the context, your submissions from the Book to the Hebrews shouldn’t be admitted. However, there is a fine thread that joins your submission with OP’s reference text - willful sin - willful rejection.

Nineveh, was a bustling coastal city (Nahum 2:; which had a booming economy from its marine trade (Nah.3:16). What could have made a city like this stand still for three days to listen to the proclamation of the word of the Lord than one reinforced by the magnitude of the sign of a man being vomited by a fish on its coast in broad daylight? The scriptures says: “Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.” Perhaps, Nineveh ascribed to Jonah honour as one of their chief deities through the wonder they witnessed, and this paved way for the acceptance of Jonah’s proclamation.

With a minimal sign and the proclamation of a weakling, Nineveh was saved. Yet in Israel, where no man had ever done the miracles Christ did, many didn’t ascribe to Him honour as a deity (For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God) nor listen to Him as a messenger. Preceding the narrative, Jesus says: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." (Luke 11:28); so their “obedience or disobedience” or “holding fast or disregard” or “observation or lack of it” was the issue. (The word “Observe”, phulassō in Greek, has the following interpretations: to consider, to discern, to acknowledge, to guard, to maintain, to keep, etc.)

Regarding my second concern: You said the following:

The succeeding verses also confirm he referred to believers, the only people who could ever have been sanctified by the blood of the Son.

So what exactly is the willful sin? It is not just any sin a believer commits, of course. It is only the sin of apostasy- an outright turning back on faith in the Lord that one once held(which faith is the only means of salvation) i.e. when the believer no longer wants Jesus as his Lord

.

only a believer who has already known the things of the Spirit (an unbeliever never has such knowledge) can commit this sin by rejecting Christ and hence, the Spirit of God that dwells in him.

It is however very rare for a true believer to commit such a sin. It is noteworthy that the impossibility of redeeming such believers is not because God's mercy can ever be exhausted but because sin automatically hardens the conscience hence a believer who continues in sin to a certain point becomes totally hardened in heart and deceived by sin

In your comments regarding apostasy, you mentioned believers more than three times the number of times you did mention unbelievers; if it means you don’t believe in eternal security of the believer, then I should walk away because any response to refute eternal security would put paid to any further comment from me. But if you believe, your conclusion betrays you because you said: “hence a believer who continues in sin to a certain point becomes totally hardened in heart and deceived by sin“.

You referenced five verses from the Book to the Hebrews as opposed to three from other Books combined. However, it is the verses from the tenth chapter of the Book to the Hebrews that reinforced your conclusion. Therefore, I’d like to speak about your main references in a bid to correct a brother.

Finallydead, we know it is not in the will of man of man to save himself from sin; man’s willfulness not to be saved is according to his nature; So the will of man is not a case of saying “Yes” or “No”, it is a case of man perpetually saying “No”.

I’d like us to see what is “willful sin” means from an OT text:

He who is often rebuked and stiffens his neck will be destroyed suddenly, with no remedy. - Prov.29:1

This verse shows four things:

1. The obstinacy of the wicked.
2. The frequency of the rebuke, corrections and warnings the wicked often receives.
3. The futility of the reproof of the wicked right from inception. (See Psa.58:3-5)
4. His sudden, irreparable, wounding by God.

How does reproof come by to the wicked? through parents and friends, by magistrates and ministers, by the providence of God and by their own consciences, have had their sins set in order before them and fair warning given them of the consequences of them. Yet, all is in vain as they harden their heart. The Mikthtam of David likens them to a deaf cobra that stops up its ear, So that it does not hear the voice of charmers, Or a skillful caster of spells. The problem with this generation of vipers, the Scribes and Pharisees, is their rejection of God’s word, yet they spoke blasphemies. When they spoke blasphemous words, it was because (as Jesus said): “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

The scriptures show that the heart of the wicked is the problem -it has not been regenerated or sanctified, and it is continuously unrighteous (Psa. 58:2): The wicked says: How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof (Prov.5:12). This is in contrast to the heart of the righteous of whom it is written: the law of God is in his heart (Isa. 51.7); it pours out good things (Prov.15:28); He holds fast to righteousness (Job 27:6).

So how do these preambles relate to the intention of writer of Hebrews 10? If Paul is really the writer of the Book, he wouldn’t contradict himself in his writing to Titus: Reject a factious man after a first and second warning knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.

We know that a factious man is a sectarian; Paul spoke exhaustively about such people in his epistles; in one place he wrote: Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. The sectarians troubled Paul and the church with the propagation of another gospel -the circumcising of the flesh by the Gentiles, the place of the Law of Moses in the new covenant, and the place of ‘works’ (Col. 2:16) in our salvation, whose sole purpose was to nullify the Cross of Christ. The sectarians tried to divide the Israel of God along racial lines; teaching distinctions between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman. They taught things which they ought not;

In Paul’s anger, he said: But even if we (or an angel from heaven) should preach a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be condemned to hell! :They were condemned for their blasphemies (falsehood) against the Cross of Christ. Then, at the height of their heresies, Paul and/or his Brother-in-Christ wrote to their brethren, the Hebrews.

It is worthy to note that the sectarians were Hebrews and weren’t persuaded by the new covenant (Heb.10:19-22); They did not hold fast to the confession of the hope in Christ, but wavered. (Heb.10:23); They didn’t recognize Christ as High Priest and always referred to the Mosaic order of things (Heb.10:1-4,18) for salvation; but most importantly, they disregarded the knowledge of the truth (Heb.10:26). In their unbelief, they afflicted those inclined to believing in Christ with their venom.

The Christian Hebrews had received the gospel from those who heard from the Lord directly (Heb.2:3); and those who heard from the Lord directly worked many wonders in attestation to their preaching (Heb.2:4). They had become dull of hearing and “had need of milk” -faith. The danger of their situation was this: Coldness was creeping in; there were signs that mistrust for their teachers was developing, and misgivings of their teaching grew, perhaps owing to the influences of the sectarians (13:17,18) which led them to be carried aside by strange teachings, forgetful of the teaching of those who first delivered to them the Word of God (8:17-19).

Therefore, the writer warned any ‘unbelieving person‘ with these words: Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God; lest there be any root of bitterness among them, or any profane person like Esau, having more respect to worldly advantages and sensual pleasures than the Holy blessings of the new covenant (3:12, 4:1, 12:16). It is clear that the one who apostatizes didn’t have any root in Christ, but was like Esau who found no place for repentance from sin.

It is clear that unbelief was the root cause of apostasy. In your writeup, Finallydead, you made the effect the cause (contrary to 3:12); you wrote: There is only one sin that can't be forgiven and it's not unbelief. It is not just any sin a believer commits, of course. It is only the sin of apostasy.

You were misled by your interpretation of the word “sanctify” in the tenth chapter -How much severer punishment ...blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified?

To be continued...

At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it... See, I have told you ahead of time.

- Matthew 24:23,25