Do you have any burning questions… please post your questions / comments below.
6 thoughts on “Burning Questions”
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Do you have any burning questions… please post your questions / comments below.
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Pastor,
During Bible study the three parts of the natural body were discussed (water, spirit, and blood). Could you please explain / provide insight as to what form of Christ Jesus went to preach to the souls in Abraham’s bosom; was it His spirit only? At what point was His Spirit resurrected with His Body?
Ecclesiastes 12: 7Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. 8Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
1 Peter 3:18For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
Revelation 6:9And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? 11And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
First Thessalonians 5:23 states that we are the part beings; spirit, soul and body. Genesis states that that the Spirit comes from God and the body from the dust of the earth. The soul is the uniting of the the spirit and the body.
At death the spirit leaves the body and Goes back to God as stated in Ecclesiastes.
Therefore when Christ Jesus our Lord died the body was placed in the tomb but the Spirit went to Heaven where the righteous were. This place in Luke 16 was called the Bosom of Abraham. This is where the righteous went before Christ Jesus came in the flesh.
It was in the Spirit that Christ preached to the spirits as stated in 1 Peter 3. We also see people alive after death in Revelations 6.
The resurrection is the reuniting of the Spirit with the Body. Instead of being a body-spirit, we become a spiritual-body. We shall be like Christ. Unable to die, able to move from Heaven to earth and perfectly healed of all infirmities.
When we die our soul/spirit goes to either Heaven or hell. It is only in the resurrection or rapture that our soul/spirit is reunited with our body.
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Our response to sin is not based on what the offending party does but what God commands. Christ Jesus our Lord said in the last days that because iniquities abound/increase the love of many shall wax/grow cold. And those that live Godly shall suffer persecution. You are experiencing the results of being a Christian. Christ told us to rejoice when we are persecuted for righteousness sake for great is your reward in Heaven. Look at what you have and ask yourself has God been faithful to you. And if God has been faithful to you why would you choose not to obey His Word. The love of God in the marriage is embodied in Jeremiah 3:14 and 15 where He says He is married to the backslider. Such great love that we should be called the children of God, whereby we cry Abba Father.
God’s mercy is Him helping the afflicted or showing pity to a person regardless of how the person got there. Mercy does not save you, it only prevents your natural situation from getting worse. His grace is God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Grace is the Work of God compared to the works of man as stated in Galatians 2:8,9. Unmerited favor is another way used by people to describe grace. Grace requires the action of faith to be activated. Faith is more than a confession from the mouth. The word faith is translated in three different ways in the Old Testament. Set Office, Truth and Faithfulness/Steady. In other words faith is action in applying the Truth to Office/position that God has called you to Faithfully.
2.Lewdness are abominable actions committed with intent; such as infidelity, homosexuality, whoremongering. Lasciviousness is unbridled lust.
3.Marriage is a covenant. The reasons given for marriage in the Bible are companionship, sex, security, provisions and children. To divorce a person violates the covenant agreement by encouraging the person to have sexual relations with someone else. God the Father said He hates divorce and Christ Jesus our Lord picked up on the same point when He proclaimed that marriage was until death. God spoke so much about marriage because it shows how forgiving He is to us. In a marriage we know each others innermost dark secrets just like God knows ours. But just like He forgives us over and over God wants us to do likewise. The Apostle Paul realized that some people lives would be in jeopardy and therefore said there are situations where you can be separated and remain unmarried or be reconciled to your spouse. God is teaching us how to love. Hebrews states that God scourges everyone that comes to Him. A scourging is a most horrific beating, almost to the point of death. When we come to God He strips us all pretentiousness when it comes to Him by placing us in situations where He asks us lovest thou me more than these. Trials in life are never meant to break you, only to strengthen you in your resolve to serve God. After all the scriptures say that all things work together for the good to those that love Him. Ultimately divorce is actions between people irrespective of what God says. Divorce does not damn a person to hell but disobedience does.
I agree with most of your response, however; what if the injured spouse is not seeking a divorce in order to be free to marry another. The guilty spouse has been having an affair with the same person for many years, has not apologized but actually blames the injured spouse because he/she left the home after years of abuse. He/she does not ask for forgiveness nor accepts responsibility for the hurt they have caused. As Christians we are to forgive those who have hurt/offended us, but do we continue to accept the blatant acts of infidelity when the guilty spouse does not ask for forgiveness or shows any remorse? When a sinner comes to Jesus seeking salvation, he must acknowledge his sins, ask for forgiveness/repent, turn from his sinful lifestyle, surround himself with other believers for support/nurture and proclaim and confess Jesus as his Savior. Didn’t Adam and King Saul break their covenant with God through acts of disobedience? Matthew 7:17 -23 begins with Jesus speaking about bearing “good fruit (followers of Christ) versus bad fruit (unsaved sinners)” and that we will be known by our fruits. Verse 23 ” And then will I profess unto them (unsaved sinners), I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity”. Isn’t the Lord, in a way, divorcing Himself from the unsaved? I am trying to understand how is it wrong to “set aside/divorce” your cheating, unrepentant spouse who does not acknowledge their guilt nor makes an effort to stop the infidelity. And, as far as the marriage covenant, the cheating spouse is the one who broke the covenant.
Pastor Williams,
1)Please explain the difference between God’s mercy, His grace and “unmerited favor”. I could not find “unmerited favor” in my Strong’s Concordance. Is this a phrase coined by man?
2)What is the difference between lewdness and lasciviousness?
3)How is one spouse held accountable for the other spouse’s possibly committing adultery when he/she files for a divorce? If the other spouse’s multiple acts of adultery were the reason for the separation in the first place, how can the injured spouse be responsible for continued acts of adultery already perpetrated by the guilty spouse; who is non-repentive and flaunts the ongoing affair? I know that God hates divorce, but there must be circumstances where it is acceptable. What if the injured spouse is ready to be done with the guilty spouse’s continued adultery, verbal and emotional abuse, and does not want to be responsible for his/her debts should death occur. Does divorce damn a person to Hell?