How do you do bible study?

[Truther]

No that is wrong!!!

God has not changed!!!!

He was always loving. He was always forgiving. He was always understanding. And He was always omni-present.

That is why those how sought God found God, but sin keeps us from seeking God, and that is true today. Jesus went to the cross to show us how much He loves us!

Now because the people said from the foot of the mountain, "Let not God speak to us..." God gave them the Law. So even then if somehow the people could follow the Law of God then they could get to heaven. Of course that was not going to be possible for them, because the very first thing in the Law is the you shall love the Lord your God, and they couldn't do that!!!!

If you indeed love someone who is always around, meaning omni-present, then you are going to talk to them! And if that person is God then you are going to listen to Him!! So anyone saying, "Let not God speak to us.." like the people at the foot of the mountain of God, do not love God!!! And God is certainly smart enough to understand that, even if you are not!!

So, the Law was not given to get them to God or heaven, but rather to show them their sin!! It is sin to not listen to the King, and they were not willing to do that. That is how people are - all of us!! So the Law, the cross, and all the Lord puts in front of us was all meant to turn us back to God, and that at all times!!

A few people did understand the love God has for us, and they have always been those who sought God, just like mentioned above. If you love the Lord your God you will seek Him, and it was written that all those who seek find. Did you not even read Isaiah??????

Is 1:2,3 Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks,
“Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me.
“An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master’s manger,
But Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”

Is 1:13 “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me.
New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies — I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly.

Is 1:17 Learn to do good; Seek justice,
Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.

Is 1: 18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD,
“Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.

LOOK CLOSE AT WHAT WAS EXPLAINED THROUGH ISAIAH:

First note that listening and hearing was for "O earth"!!!! So not just for Israel but everyone on earth!!! All people!!!
Do you not know that God made all peoples??? So all people are instructed as son to listen to Him!!

Still Israel which were a people specifically called out by Him, and who were the off-spring of Abraham who did hear the Lord, did not even know their master!! Perhaps the other peoples were given over to Satan, but not Israel - God still specifically keep the owner ship of them, and they still said, "Let not God speak to us." His specifically called people 'do not understand!!" And we Christain were grafted into the Jewish root - and so it is that neither do you understand!!!

God has not changed!! His has the same personality today that He has always had, and God is love!!

You don't understand that!! If you truly understood that God is love you would understand that we get to loving Him because we find out that He loved us first - even from the very beginning!! And that is what you are denying with you statements!! You are rejecting the Love of God, which is expressed in by His Word!!

A man wanting to show His love for a girl will give her things, but the reality of his love will come when she hears him say "I love you!"
That is when the girl puts together the all the fact, the things she got from him and the expression he showed by saying "I love you", and the truth occurs to her. But the girl saying in her heart, "Let not him speak to me" will never come to know the truth of the mans love for her. Of course I am talking about the Lord our God. He is love! He loves us and always had!!

So it was also written, "Come now, and let us reason together. Says the LORD,"Though your sins are as scarlet, They will ve as white as snow: Though your sins are red like crimson, They willl be like wool."

And that was well before the cross!! There is nothing about offering in it, but rather a statement before that the offerings, incense, and festivals, and assemblies were the things God could not endure! God was never into the religious things, He was always interested in the relationship with people!! And a person who does start hearing Him comes to understand that, whereas the person saying, "Let not God speak to us" will never understand that!!

Therefore, the only reason people in mass could not get the Holy Ghost in the Old Testament, is the exact same reason that people today cannot get the Holy Ghost in mass - and that is because they say in their hearts, "Let not God speak to us!!"

You just said for sinners to obey Acts 2:38 is wrong.

 

[Hippie]

The law was given to the Jews. The law was too hard for them to follow. Before Jesus came all the Pharisees spoke about was the law. When Jesus came he spoke the coming of the Kingdom. He gave us two commandments to follow. Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. You look at all the ten commandments and they all line up with those two commandments. Jesus proved that it is possible to follow the commandments by those two commandments. True they didn't have the holy spirit in the old testament. That is why Jesus came . He died for us all and rose from the dead. That was the beginning of the new covenant. Jesus made it possible for us to come to the Father. Nobody comes to the Father except through me. There is one mediator between God and man and that's Jesus our Lord. True we have to receive the holy spirit to be saved which is done through being baptized. With or without the holy spirit you can still speak to God. God hears our prayers which means we can speak to him. God knows our hearts better than we do. He knows what we want or need before we know. But he wants us to ask for it. Second Peter 3:8-9 We are told that God is not slow at keeping his promise he wants everyone to have the chance to repent. God operates outside of time. That's why a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. God speaks to us through his Word. We need to read his word to find out if the people or person that is talking to us about God is telling the truth. We cannot pick out of the bible what we want and think that the other stuff is not important or needed. people want to hear what their itchy ears want to hear.

 

[Davy]

How do you usually do bible study? Do you just read through the bible as it is? Do you make use of commentaries? I usually just read through the bible as it is, but want to go deeper in depth with my bible study. Will appreciate all helps I can get!

Then get yourself a copy of The Companion Bible, which is a KJV study Bible put together by 19th century Christian Bible scholar E.W. Bullinger. Just the research in the Appendixes in the back of it is worth having a copy.

What Bullinger did was put scholarly notes in a margin next to the KJV text. In the Bible text there's small circles above certain words which are elaborated upon and explained further in the side margin. Historical and and archaeological facts are also given in the side margins, along with cross-references to other Bible Scriptures where that same topic appears.

Also, The Companion Bible side notes for the Old Testament have many Massorah notes from Christian David Ginsburg's compilation and translation of some of the oldest and best Hebrew Massorah manuscripts. (Yes, Ginsburg was a Christian).

Another major help are the Scripture outlines given for each Bible chapter, and within the chapters, which are per The Holy Spirit markings of subject and object, so you always know what the subject being talking about is.

Using this study Bible, with the text markings, and taking time to look up the related Scripture references, will force... you to go slow in Bible study, but much, much more complete in Bible coverage. It is to basically do precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little type Bible study, like God showed to do in Isaiah 28. That is how you do it. Time is short, so I'd suggest get busy.

 

[Hippie]

I use the entire bible commentaries amongst other things. I don't pick certain scriptures thinking that is the answer. Revelations 22:18-21 do not add or take anything that is already there. Several scriptures that are in the old testament talk about the coming of Jesus. Jesus came and did what he came to do which is die for our sins and give us the chance to come home to the father. Which can only be done through Jesus. We are the only creation that God wants because we were created in His image. We are his only creation that He created with a soul. When Adam and Eve failed that gave our enemy the keys to death. Jesus took the keys back and He has the keys to life. They couldn't hold Jesus down there cause he committed no sin. He took on the sins of the world. That is why we have a way to go back to God. We believe, we repent, we get baptized and do our best to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Who walked a perfect life. One thing about believing is if you believe you do what they say.

 

[Truther]

The law was given to the Jews. The law was too hard for them to follow. Before Jesus came all the Pharisees spoke about was the law. When Jesus came he spoke the coming of the Kingdom. He gave us two commandments to follow. Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. You look at all the ten commandments and they all line up with those two commandments. Jesus proved that it is possible to follow the commandments by those two commandments. True they didn't have the holy spirit in the old testament. That is why Jesus came . He died for us all and rose from the dead. That was the beginning of the new covenant. Jesus made it possible for us to come to the Father. Nobody comes to the Father except through me. There is one mediator between God and man and that's Jesus our Lord. True we have to receive the holy spirit to be saved which is done through being baptized. With or without the holy spirit you can still speak to God. God hears our prayers which means we can speak to him. God knows our hearts better than we do. He knows what we want or need before we know. But he wants us to ask for it. Second Peter 3:8-9 We are told that God is not slow at keeping his promise he wants everyone to have the chance to repent. God operates outside of time. That's why a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. God speaks to us through his Word. We need to read his word to find out if the people or person that is talking to us about God is telling the truth. We cannot pick out of the bible what we want and think that the other stuff is not important or needed. people want to hear what their itchy ears want to hear.

The Law is still in effect to bring us to Christ and consequentially be made free from the Law. Every human is under the condemnation of the Law unless they obey Acts 2:38 and proceed to walk in the Spirit.

 

[MatthewG]

The best way to study the Bible is to read a section of it over and over and over again.

Also to look at history to what you are reading, via perhaps a study bible; a subject study bible is also a good idea (Thompson Chain Reference Bible also has some information as to when the letters were supposed to be written).

Some letters are very short like James, Thessalonians, Galatians, Colossians, Ephesians, and if you can make yourself sit down and read it out loud to yourself, and write down the interesting things you find out throughout them, and do it again and again and you will start getting a picture of the context, and contents as you slowly go a long trying to get a grip on what was going on in that day in age, which was a lot. From the Old Testament, to the Apostolic Record (Or New Testament as some people call it), there is a lot of history, and the New Testament itself also has a history.

So I would say also understanding the cultures of the time, and what was going on then and then when the letters were written, even the older books from the Old Testament. Which does help further try to just overall understand what is being said, who is being spoken to, and what subjects do you wanna find out about something particular.

 

[Karl Peters]

You just said for sinners to obey Acts 2:38 is wrong.

No - I would never say that, because we are all sinners in need of Jesus Christ our Lord God.

You still lack understanding, and that is because understanding comes from the mouth of God and not your understanding.

Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

The sinners (us people) who get understanding are those who listen to the Lord and thus hear His voice. They are called Christians, because they actually follow the voice of the Lord by faith in Him - meaning they believe He is there to talk to them. That is counted to them as righteousness (not sinning). That does not mean everything they do is right, and all unrighteousness is sin, but rather that the Lord not count their sin againts them!!. They are still sinners in need of the Lord.

Gen 15:6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

The sinners (us people) those people who do not listen to the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ, because they don't believe He is there to be heard from, are not save by faith in Jesus Chrsit. The don't follow Him, but many of them still have a zeal for God but not according to actually knowing Him, the person of Jesus Christ! They say in their heart that the Lord is either still dead or perhaps in a far-away place called heaven, but either way the Word of God is not near them to be heard from!

Rom 10:2,3 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

Jesus Christ is the "righteousness of God", because He is the only One who does not, nor has not sinned!! He has only ever did and said exactly what His Father told Him. Which explains why He alone is called "The Word of God". Therefore we need sujbect ourselves to HIm, the righteousness of God, and of course that is done by listening to Him and trying to obey Him (not any verse in the Bible but the person of Jesus Christ whose name is called "The Word of God")

If a person like you or me was listening to the Lord they certainly understand that we do not obey verses in the Bible but rather the One who talks to us!!! I understand that - but someone thinking I am trying to follow a verse certainly does not understand! They are searching the Scriptures thinking in them they get eternal life.

Jn 5: 39,40,You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

You need to understand the above verse!

WE DO NOT OBEY SCRIPTURES WE FULFILL THE SCRIPTURES BY OBEY THE VOICE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST - WE OBEY HIM WHO SPEAKS TO US

Jesus told the Jews Jn 8:43 “Why do you not understand [fn]what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

If you don't seek the Lord and listen to Him you simply can not understand!

He once told me, "Karl, understanding is understanding that I am Understanding"

If you understood that He is Understanding then you would seek Him as a friend who gives you understanding from the words that proceed out of His mouth to you personally!!

Prov 7:4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your intimate friend;

Jas 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God.

You will never understand until you seek Jesus Christ by faith and listen to what He tell!!!! The Bible explains that but you don't even believe what is written in the Bible or you would be seeking Jesus Christ for what He has to tell you!!

Jn 5:46,47 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Abraham believed! It was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he knew the Lord personally as his friend. So as His sheep who hear His voice, we tell you to listen to Him by faith, like Abraham did! So we would never ever say to obey the Scriptures, but rather we say to obey the our Lord Jesus Christ - just like the Scriptures tell you to do!!

The whole problem seen in reading this thread is that "Christians" are not all saying that they study the Scriptures like our Lord Jesus Christ personally tells them to1 Instead it is obvious that many if not most "Christians" are not seeking the voice of the Lord for what to do!! Even for how they personally need to go about studying the Scriptures. If you take a class, does not the teacher give you the reading assignments? So why is not everyone posting on this thread saying they study the Bible like their Lord personally tells them???

If you want understanding seek Jesus Christ and make Him your Lord by doing what He tells you personally!!

Then you will understand - and what you will understand is the Jesus Christ is indeed Lord and that you can be His friend just like Abraham was. You will be reckoned as being righteous, even though you will still not being doing everything right (all unrighteous is sin)

 

[Truther]

No - I would never say that, because we are all sinners in need of Jesus Christ our Lord God.

You still lack understanding, and that is because understanding comes from the mouth of God and not your understanding.

Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

The sinners (us people) who get understanding are those who listen to the Lord and thus hear His voice. They are called Christians, because they actually follow the voice of the Lord by faith in Him - meaning they believe He is there to talk to them. That is counted to them as righteousness (not sinning). That does not mean everything they do is right, and all unrighteousness is sin, but rather that the Lord not count their sin againts them!!. They are still sinners in need of the Lord.

Gen 15:6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

The sinners (us people) those people who do not listen to the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ, because they don't believe He is there to be heard from, are not save by faith in Jesus Chrsit. The don't follow Him, but many of them still have a zeal for God but not according to actually knowing Him, the person of Jesus Christ! They say in their heart that the Lord is either still dead or perhaps in a far-away place called heaven, but either way the Word of God is not near them to be heard from!

Rom 10:2,3 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

Jesus Christ is the "righteousness of God", because He is the only One who does not, nor has not sinned!! He has only ever did and said exactly what His Father told Him. Which explains why He alone is called "The Word of God". Therefore we need sujbect ourselves to HIm, the righteousness of God, and of course that is done by listening to Him and trying to obey Him (not any verse in the Bible but the person of Jesus Christ whose name is called "The Word of God")

If a person like you or me was listening to the Lord they certainly understand that we do not obey verses in the Bible but rather the One who talks to us!!! I understand that - but someone thinking I am trying to follow a verse certainly does not understand! They are searching the Scriptures thinking in them they get eternal life.

Jn 5: 39,40,You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

You need to understand the above verse!

WE DO NOT OBEY SCRIPTURES WE FULFILL THE SCRIPTURES BY OBEY THE VOICE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST - WE OBEY HIM WHO SPEAKS TO US

Jesus told the Jews Jn 8:43 “Why do you not understand [fn]what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

If you don't seek the Lord and listen to Him you simply can not understand!

He once told me, "Karl, understanding is understanding that I am Understanding"

If you understood that He is Understanding then you would seek Him as a friend who gives you understanding from the words that proceed out of His mouth to you personally!!

Prov 7:4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your intimate friend;

Jas 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS,” and he was called the friend of God.

You will never understand until you seek Jesus Christ by faith and listen to what He tell!!!! The Bible explains that but you don't even believe what is written in the Bible or you would be seeking Jesus Christ for what He has to tell you!!

Jn 5:46,47 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Abraham believed! It was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he knew the Lord personally as his friend. So as His sheep who hear His voice, we tell you to listen to Him by faith, like Abraham did! So we would never ever say to obey the Scriptures, but rather we say to obey the our Lord Jesus Christ - just like the Scriptures tell you to do!!

The whole problem seen in reading this thread is that "Christians" are not all saying that they study the Scriptures like our Lord Jesus Christ personally tells them to1 Instead it is obvious that many if not most "Christians" are not seeking the voice of the Lord for what to do!! Even for how they personally need to go about studying the Scriptures. If you take a class, does not the teacher give you the reading assignments? So why is not everyone posting on this thread saying they study the Bible like their Lord personally tells them???

If you want understanding seek Jesus Christ and make Him your Lord by doing what He tells you personally!!

Then you will understand - and what you will understand is the Jesus Christ is indeed Lord and that you can be His friend just like Abraham was. You will be reckoned as being righteous, even though you will still not being doing everything right (all unrighteous is sin)

Karl, did you do this and do you teach sinners to do this?....

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.


...yes or no?

 

[Karl Peters]

Karl, did you do this and do you teach sinners to do this?....

38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.


...yes or no?

Yes - but I doubt it is the baptism you are thinking about!

Jesus said He stands at the door and knocks and if anyone hears His voice and opens the door He will come in and eat with them and them with Him - so we are talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and not a baptism with H2O. The water baptism is a symbolic act done to indicate a request of a spiritual act.

The Holy Spirit takes the words of God which belong to Jesus Christ, who is The Word of God (not you Bible incase you are confused, but the Son of God who is God because He had the words of God), and the Holy Spirit speaks them to His sheep, who hear His voice!! So the flesh profits nothing!! Your being pushed under water in a symbolic act accomplishes nothing!! But the desire to be submerged in the Holy Spirit, meaning. that you are opening the door to Jesus Christ to speak to you via His Holy Spirit means life to you - but that means Jesus Christ hearing by faith, and those words of His we find in our heart and sometimes we find them in out mouth too, because the Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit and we believe, so we hear from Jesus Christ our Lord.

I suspect you don't really understand what "In the name of Jesus Christ" really means,nor how "the remission of sins" really works, nor even what receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost means either, because it appears your thoughts are only on water baptism and thinking saying "in the name of Jesus Christ" over at the time of going under water is "in the name of Jesus Christ. That is not so.

If you do something in the name of a king, like an ambassador might do or say something in the name of the king, it means you heard from the king and are acting very specifically according to the instructions you heard from the king. That is what it means to do something in the name of Jesus Christ, because He is the King of kings! So if you do something but have not heard from Him very specifically, then you are not doing something in His name!!!

I think we went over that, but you still don't seem to understand. So why are you still trying to get a yes or no from Me. Why are you not still talking to Him!!! If you had He would have explained this to you.

And you are still thinking that you are not a sinner, or why else did you write: " do you teach sinners to do this?" and we went over that too:

1 Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

We are all sinners in need of Jesus Christ!! If we believe in Him, then He does not count our sin against us, but that does not mean we suddenly start doing everything right - and all unrighteousness is sin. If you don't listen to Him and let you teach you, then you have no clue how far off you are from doing everything right, because He reproves those He loves, and that is what you find out when you find Him and listen to Him!

Therefore, knowing Him and listening to Him make you more aware of all what a sinner you are, not the other way around. But again, you wrote: " do you teach sinners to do this?" as opposed to asking if I just recommend it!

I indeed recommend water baptism, but as for me I explain that it is a symbolic act we do to indicate what we want Jesus Christ to submerge us in His Holy Spirit so we will hear from Him through-out the day! You should understand this, but understanding comes from His mouth, not your leaning on your understanding of the Bible!!

Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

But have we not gone over and over this, and you still are not seeking Jesus Christ and the words He has for you!! If you were you would stop seeking me for teaching, but He would explain all that I mentioned to you. He might not do that instantly, but you would hear that you need to listen to Him. That is the main message from the Father, and He does and says only what the Father tells Him!

Mat 17:5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

If you pray the Lord's prayer, which is to the Father, and listen afterward you will often hear Him tell you to listen to His Son. That is the most common thing I hear from the Father - and everything comes through the Son ( that is why the Lord's prayer starts "Our Father' and then the Holy Spirit brings it to your spirit.

This should be so easy to explain, and would be if you heard from the Lord. But listening to Jesus Christ is almost impossible to explain to those who refuse to seek Him and listen to the words of God Jesus Christ has for them!

Heb 5: 11 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

So please start seeking Jesus Christ and listen to what He has to say to you by faith that He is there for you!!

Then and then only will you properly understand that being dunked in water and saying "In the name of Jesus Christ" even though you have not actually heard Him instruct you so that you instruct others to seek Him and listen to Him, will not accomplish anything. Water baptism, while a good thing to do, is just a symbolic act that is meant to get a person seeking Jesus Christ and hearing Him via His Holy Spirit! Hearing from Him via Him sending His Holy Spirit with His words for you, is the real baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And hearing from Him for understanding instead of leaning on your understanding is what it means to repent of your ways!!!

 

[Truther]

Yes - but I doubt it is the baptism you are thinking about!

Jesus said He stands at the door and knocks and if anyone hears His voice and opens the door He will come in and eat with them and them with Him - so we are talking about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and not a baptism with H2O. The water baptism is a symbolic act done to indicate a request of a spiritual act.

The Holy Spirit takes the words of God which belong to Jesus Christ, who is The Word of God (not you Bible incase you are confused, but the Son of God who is God because He had the words of God), and the Holy Spirit speaks them to His sheep, who hear His voice!! So the flesh profits nothing!! Your being pushed under water in a symbolic act accomplishes nothing!! But the desire to be submerged in the Holy Spirit, meaning. that you are opening the door to Jesus Christ to speak to you via His Holy Spirit means life to you - but that means Jesus Christ hearing by faith, and those words of His we find in our heart and sometimes we find them in out mouth too, because the Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit and we believe, so we hear from Jesus Christ our Lord.

I suspect you don't really understand what "In the name of Jesus Christ" really means,nor how "the remission of sins" really works, nor even what receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost means either, because it appears your thoughts are only on water baptism and thinking saying "in the name of Jesus Christ" over at the time of going under water is "in the name of Jesus Christ. That is not so.

If you do something in the name of a king, like an ambassador might do or say something in the name of the king, it means you heard from the king and are acting very specifically according to the instructions you heard from the king. That is what it means to do something in the name of Jesus Christ, because He is the King of kings! So if you do something but have not heard from Him very specifically, then you are not doing something in His name!!!

I think we went over that, but you still don't seem to understand. So why are you still trying to get a yes or no from Me. Why are you not still talking to Him!!! If you had He would have explained this to you.

And you are still thinking that you are not a sinner, or why else did you write: " do you teach sinners to do this?" and we went over that too:

1 Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

We are all sinners in need of Jesus Christ!! If we believe in Him, then He does not count our sin against us, but that does not mean we suddenly start doing everything right - and all unrighteousness is sin. If you don't listen to Him and let you teach you, then you have no clue how far off you are from doing everything right, because He reproves those He loves, and that is what you find out when you find Him and listen to Him!

Therefore, knowing Him and listening to Him make you more aware of all what a sinner you are, not the other way around. But again, you wrote: " do you teach sinners to do this?" as opposed to asking if I just recommend it!

I indeed recommend water baptism, but as for me I explain that it is a symbolic act we do to indicate what we want Jesus Christ to submerge us in His Holy Spirit so we will hear from Him through-out the day! You should understand this, but understanding comes from His mouth, not your leaning on your understanding of the Bible!!

Prov 2:6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

But have we not gone over and over this, and you still are not seeking Jesus Christ and the words He has for you!! If you were you would stop seeking me for teaching, but He would explain all that I mentioned to you. He might not do that instantly, but you would hear that you need to listen to Him. That is the main message from the Father, and He does and says only what the Father tells Him!

Mat 17:5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

If you pray the Lord's prayer, which is to the Father, and listen afterward you will often hear Him tell you to listen to His Son. That is the most common thing I hear from the Father - and everything comes through the Son ( that is why the Lord's prayer starts "Our Father' and then the Holy Spirit brings it to your spirit.

This should be so easy to explain, and would be if you heard from the Lord. But listening to Jesus Christ is almost impossible to explain to those who refuse to seek Him and listen to the words of God Jesus Christ has for them!

Heb 5: 11 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

So please start seeking Jesus Christ and listen to what He has to say to you by faith that He is there for you!!

Then and then only will you properly understand that being dunked in water and saying "In the name of Jesus Christ" even though you have not actually heard Him instruct you so that you instruct others to seek Him and listen to Him, will not accomplish anything. Water baptism, while a good thing to do, is just a symbolic act that is meant to get a person seeking Jesus Christ and hearing Him via His Holy Spirit! Hearing from Him via Him sending His Holy Spirit with His words for you, is the real baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And hearing from Him for understanding instead of leaning on your understanding is what it means to repent of your ways!!!

So someone while immersing you said "I baptize you in the name of Jesus"?

 

[Karl Peters]

So someone while immersing you said "I baptize you in the name of Jesus"?

Really? I was being "immersed" so do you really think I was thinking about what they said?????

The problem is that you think that what a person says is important, rather than thinking what the Lord says is important!

And me explaining that to you doesn't get you to thinking about actually listening to the Lord!!!

My friend - you are missing the fact that Jesus Christ is the Word of God, which means He will and indeed wants to talk to you - and that is truly the ONLY THING THAT IS NECESSARY!!

You could have figured that out from reading the Bible and believing it is correct, but somehow you don't that!! And it shows everytime you write something!

It is not what a person says over me, it is what the King of king says over me! And that applies to you also!

So will you hear Him say, "I never knew you", or have you already passed out of judgement because you already hear His voice and thus try to do what He asks?

Both times I got baptized I picked up Him via the Holy Spirit, even the first time when I was ten. Yet that first time the Holy Spirit communicating to me came across as a warm, wonderful, peaceful, feeling, exactly when the pastor of that Baptist church ask for people to come forward if they believed. And because I understood that was God communicating with me I went forward - but I don't remember what the pastor said over me when being baptized! I remember that God was communicating with me!! That was the important thing!!

And later, after I turned 40 and the Lord really came into my life, speaking to me with words which came from His Holy Spirit to my spirit, so that we walked and talked together and the Lord and myself became friends, I wanted to get baptized again; just to show my Lord how I cared for Him.

When a religious spirit overcomes a person, that person makes it about the things of God instead of the relationship with Jesus Christ the Lord our God!! And is shows up in what they do and say!!

You want to make it about the water baptism instead of the relationship we have from listening to Him, which is just another way of saying you are overcome by an evil religious spirit, who wanting to turn you away from our Lord has turned you to religious things. That is why Paul wrote to the Galatians:

Gal 3: 1,2 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

The Galatians, who were early Christians, that were "bewitched" - attacked by evil spirits -, and those spirit which could be called "Religious spirits", because they turned the Galatians away from Jesus Christ in order to try a folllow a religious rule (the Law of their faith), had successfully gotten the Galatians to make it about the religious rule instead of actually turning to Jesus Christ and listening to Him via His Holy Spirit!

Therefore, the ONLY THING Paul needed them to answer concerned whether they were hearing by faith or not!!

But you have made it about "baptism" just like they had made it about "circumcision" and Judaism! Silly, silly Galatians. Having begun with Jesus Christ they turned back to religion (men's understanding of God) instead of continuing to listen to Jesus Christ for God's understanding! And so Paul reproved and rebuke them hard, for their own sakes!!

Gal 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

Gal 1:9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

Do you still not understand that a "religious act", does not save you, but believing in Jesus Christ which means you will walk and talk with Him does save you!! It is the only thing that is truly needed!!

And if you want to know how I know that - it is because it Jesus Christ was revealed to me - just like Paul explained!!

Gal 1:11,12 For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

I know Jesus Christ!! We walk and talk together!! We talk together while I eat! We talk while I am in the shower - and sitting in my favorite chair, and often while I work and run the little business He gave me. We talk about my son's soccer team. We talk about my wife and her garden. We talk and we talk - but still I confess that I don't talk to Him and listen to Him as much as I should, maybe only a dozen different times a day, everyday called "Today".

If you even had a little clue as to what it really means to know Jesus Christ, you could not write what you do!!

But people come to this forum and write - which is a good thing - because it makes it possible to write back and tell them about Jesus Christ and the good news which is that He stands at the door and knocks and if anyone (even those people who have been 'bewitched' so that they preach a gospel contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ' decides to open up to Jesus Christ and hear from Him, then He will come into them and eat with them and they with Him! That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, because He sends His Holy Spirit to indwell us so we can hear His words and find them near us, even in our heart and coming out our mouth! That is the Word of God which we are preaching!!

Rev 3:20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Rom 10:8 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Rom 10:8But 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,


Is 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD,
“Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin;

Is 30:9 For this is a rebellious people, false sons,
Sons who [refuse to listen
To the instruction of the LORD;

If we want to execute His plan we have to listen to Him to know what He wants us to do. Those who refuse to listen to Him, don't understand this and it shows in what they write and say.

Therefore, I got baptized twice, because He communicated with me, but neither baptism by water was the important thing, the talking back and forth with the Lord was the important thing. So I don't remember nor need to remember what the person baptizing said!! I need to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ wants to talk with me!! And anyone preaching a different gospel will be accursed! Not by me, but by Him they refused to listen to!

Mal 2:2 “If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the LORD of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.

Do we even know His name being referred to by Malachi?

Mal 1:1 The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.

An oracle is something spoken, so the one speaking to Malachi was called "the word of the Lord" Malachi was explaining that "the word of the Lord" was giving him the oracle that he was writing!

Rev 19:13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

Jesus Christ has always been named "The Word of God" because He has the words of God for us!! So to honor His name, means we listen to Him! It does not mean we just go around saying, "In the name of Jesus Christ" like that was some magic phrase like "alakazam"!! That is just demonic! But Christians do that - they start using His name "In the name of Jesus Christ" as if that was the magic phrase! That is not honoring His name. To honor His name you seek Him. Listen to Him. Go about obeying Him and thus doing what He asks you to do, because He is indeed your Lord and not just in saying 'your Lord". So we say, "In the name of Jesus Christ" to mean that He asked us to do or say thing - and I mean personally asked you, not you reading something He told someone 2,000 years ago to say. The Word of God we (Jesus Christ) preach is near us!!

 

[Truther]

Really? I was being "immersed" so do you really think I was thinking about what they said?????

The problem is that you think that what a person says is important, rather than thinking what the Lord says is important!

And me explaining that to you doesn't get you to thinking about actually listening to the Lord!!!

My friend - you are missing the fact that Jesus Christ is the Word of God, which means He will and indeed wants to talk to you - and that is truly the ONLY THING THAT IS NECESSARY!!

You could have figured that out from reading the Bible and believing it is correct, but somehow you don't that!! And it shows everytime you write something!

It is not what a person says over me, it is what the King of king says over me! And that applies to you also!

So will you hear Him say, "I never knew you", or have you already passed out of judgement because you already hear His voice and thus try to do what He asks?

Both times I got baptized I picked up Him via the Holy Spirit, even the first time when I was ten. Yet that first time the Holy Spirit communicating to me came across as a warm, wonderful, peaceful, feeling, exactly when the pastor of that Baptist church ask for people to come forward if they believed. And because I understood that was God communicating with me I went forward - but I don't remember what the pastor said over me when being baptized! I remember that God was communicating with me!! That was the important thing!!

And later, after I turned 40 and the Lord really came into my life, speaking to me with words which came from His Holy Spirit to my spirit, so that we walked and talked together and the Lord and myself became friends, I wanted to get baptized again; just to show my Lord how I cared for Him.

When a religious spirit overcomes a person, that person makes it about the things of God instead of the relationship with Jesus Christ the Lord our God!! And is shows up in what they do and say!!

You want to make it about the water baptism instead of the relationship we have from listening to Him, which is just another way of saying you are overcome by an evil religious spirit, who wanting to turn you away from our Lord has turned you to religious things. That is why Paul wrote to the Galatians:

Gal 3: 1,2 You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

The Galatians, who were early Christians, that were "bewitched" - attacked by evil spirits -, and those spirit which could be called "Religious spirits", because they turned the Galatians away from Jesus Christ in order to try a folllow a religious rule (the Law of their faith), had successfully gotten the Galatians to make it about the religious rule instead of actually turning to Jesus Christ and listening to Him via His Holy Spirit!

Therefore, the ONLY THING Paul needed them to answer concerned whether they were hearing by faith or not!!

But you have made it about "baptism" just like they had made it about "circumcision" and Judaism! Silly, silly Galatians. Having begun with Jesus Christ they turned back to religion (men's understanding of God) instead of continuing to listen to Jesus Christ for God's understanding! And so Paul reproved and rebuke them hard, for their own sakes!!

Gal 1:8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!

Gal 1:9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

Do you still not understand that a "religious act", does not save you, but believing in Jesus Christ which means you will walk and talk with Him does save you!! It is the only thing that is truly needed!!

And if you want to know how I know that - it is because it Jesus Christ was revealed to me - just like Paul explained!!

Gal 1:11,12 For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

I know Jesus Christ!! We walk and talk together!! We talk together while I eat! We talk while I am in the shower - and sitting in my favorite chair, and often while I work and run the little business He gave me. We talk about my son's soccer team. We talk about my wife and her garden. We talk and we talk - but still I confess that I don't talk to Him and listen to Him as much as I should, maybe only a dozen different times a day, everyday called "Today".

If you even had a little clue as to what it really means to know Jesus Christ, you could not write what you do!!

But people come to this forum and write - which is a good thing - because it makes it possible to write back and tell them about Jesus Christ and the good news which is that He stands at the door and knocks and if anyone (even those people who have been 'bewitched' so that they preach a gospel contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ' decides to open up to Jesus Christ and hear from Him, then He will come into them and eat with them and they with Him! That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, because He sends His Holy Spirit to indwell us so we can hear His words and find them near us, even in our heart and coming out our mouth! That is the Word of God which we are preaching!!

Rev 3:20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Rom 10:8 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Rom 10:8But 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,


Is 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD,
“Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin;

Is 30:9 For this is a rebellious people, false sons,
Sons who [refuse to listen
To the instruction of the LORD;

If we want to execute His plan we have to listen to Him to know what He wants us to do. Those who refuse to listen to Him, don't understand this and it shows in what they write and say.

Therefore, I got baptized twice, because He communicated with me, but neither baptism by water was the important thing, the talking back and forth with the Lord was the important thing. So I don't remember nor need to remember what the person baptizing said!! I need to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ wants to talk with me!! And anyone preaching a different gospel will be accursed! Not by me, but by Him they refused to listen to!

Mal 2:2 “If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the LORD of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart.

Do we even know His name being referred to by Malachi?

Mal 1:1 The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.

An oracle is something spoken, so the one speaking to Malachi was called "the word of the Lord" Malachi was explaining that "the word of the Lord" was giving him the oracle that he was writing!

Rev 19:13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

Jesus Christ has always been named "The Word of God" because He has the words of God for us!! So to honor His name, means we listen to Him! It does not mean we just go around saying, "In the name of Jesus Christ" like that was some magic phrase like "alakazam"!! That is just demonic! But Christians do that - they start using His name "In the name of Jesus Christ" as if that was the magic phrase! That is not honoring His name. To honor His name you seek Him. Listen to Him. Go about obeying Him and thus doing what He asks you to do, because He is indeed your Lord and not just in saying 'your Lord". So we say, "In the name of Jesus Christ" to mean that He asked us to do or say thing - and I mean personally asked you, not you reading something He told someone 2,000 years ago to say. The Word of God we (Jesus Christ) preach is near us!!

If you don't remember what they said when you were immersed, you must be rebaptized in the name of Jesus to be sure you hear His name invoked over you. By our WORDS we are justified....Jesus said.

 

[Karl Peters]

If you don't remember what they said when you were immersed, you must be rebaptized in the name of Jesus to be sure you hear His name invoked over you. By our WORDS we are justified....Jesus said.

Jesus said:

Luke 10:41,42 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Mary was just sitting there listening to the Lord!!! That is the only thing "necessary" according to what Jesus said!!!!

So you need to ask Him why your thinking does not match with His thinking!!!

But I have been telling you to ask Him and listen and you have not done the "only one thing" which is necessary like Mary. You want to clean the house by dunking it is water instead!!

 

[Karl Peters]

This thread was about how to study the Bible.

My friends - if you don't make it about listening to Jesus Christ you have a problem!

Therefore, when you study the Bible you need to seek our Lord Jesus Christ for His advice, comments, teachings, and wisdom - otherwise you are just leaning on your own understanding and that will leave you far short of what you need to know!!

That is what we see in this thread!!

Some do seek Him, but most are just leaning on their own understanding about how to study their Bible!!!

Just look at the thread and how people responded. It is clear that us Christians, as a group, do not seek Him like we should, even when it comes to studying the Bible! So how often do we seek Him about the other things in our lives??

Face it - we just don't seek Him like we should!! We are at best 'people of little faith' in Him!

 

[Jim B]

This thread was about how to study the Bible.

My friends - if you don't make it about listening to Jesus Christ you have a problem!

Therefore, when you study the Bible you need to seek our Lord Jesus Christ for His advice, comments, teachings, and wisdom - otherwise you are just leaning on your own understanding and that will leave you far short of what you need to know!!

That is what we see in this thread!!

Some do seek Him, but most are just leaning on their own understanding about how to study their Bible!!!

Just look at the thread and how people responded. It is clear that us Christians, as a group, do not seek Him like we should, even when it comes to studying the Bible! So how often do we seek Him about the other things in our lives??

Face it - we just don't seek Him like we should!! We are at best 'people of little faith' in Him!

The thread is about studying the Bible. So how, in your opinion, should we study the Bible?

Also, does Jesus read aloud to you when you read the Bible? That is what you imply when you write "if you don't make it about listening to Jesus Christ you have a problem". You seem to think that you alone are guided by Jesus Christ and that others are not, which is arrogance.

When I read "most are just leaning on their own understanding about how to study their Bible" the first thing that comes to mind is that how do you know what "most" do? Have you made an extensive survey of the body of Christ or are you just being arrogant and judgmental? To me, it's clearly the latter.

"Face it - we just don't seek Him like we should!! We are at best 'people of little faith' in Him!" => Speak for yourself <=

 

[Jim B]

Jesus said:

Luke 10:41,42 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Mary was just sitting there listening to the Lord!!! That is the only thing "necessary" according to what Jesus said!!!!

So you need to ask Him why your thinking does not match with His thinking!!!

But I have been telling you to ask Him and listen and you have not done the "only one thing" which is necessary like Mary. You want to clean the house by dunking it is water instead!!

Again, you're being arrogant. Sitting and listening is not the only thing that Christians should be doing. We are directed to lead active lives, loving others and doing good to them. You need to ask Him why your thinking does not match with His thinking.

Again, stop judging people whom you have never met.

You should read this parable carefully... "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other, for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14, with my emphases.

 

[Truther]

Jesus said:

Luke 10:41,42 But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Mary was just sitting there listening to the Lord!!! That is the only thing "necessary" according to what Jesus said!!!!

So you need to ask Him why your thinking does not match with His thinking!!!

But I have been telling you to ask Him and listen and you have not done the "only one thing" which is necessary like Mary. You want to clean the house by dunking it is water instead!!

Why didn't Jesus also tell Peter not to worry about commanding this?...


38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, ...

 

[Karl Peters]

Again, you're being arrogant. Sitting and listening is not the only thing that Christians should be doing. We are directed to lead active lives, loving others and doing good to them. You need to ask Him why your thinking does not match with His thinking.

Again, stop judging people whom you have never met.

You should read this parable carefully... "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other, for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14, with my emphases.

"Arrogant" is a judgement and your judgment. It is not His judgement, because trying to get people to talk to Him is not arrogant - trying to get people to turn people to us would be, but trying to get people to turn to Him and listen to Him is humility!!! - It is the idea that is it not us but Him (God) who we all need to listen to. So you do indeed need to listen to Him!!

And it is like Jesus told Martha = only one thing is necessary - which is listening to Him!!

But that is not your message, is it? It should be.

If a person listens to Jesus Christ our Lord and God, and believe that He is God, then they will do things based upon what He tells them. Not all the time of course, because we get busy, we become forgetful, we even get rebellious - still He is forgiving and patent, and you will start doing some of the things He tells you. You might even want to do other things for Him, like getting baptized in water as a sign that you do listen to Him.

A believer might not always seek the Lord for how to study their Bible, but a real believer in Him will certainly seek Him and listen to what He says concerning the Bible and how to study it. But that Pharisees did not listen to Him but only pretended obedience to Him. So they made it about religious acts (acts based upon their understanding of God instead of listen to God for His understanding). So why again are you so concerned about "baptism", as opposed to actually seeking His voice? Why do you not understand that turning people to Him is not the same thing as turning people to water baptism? Why do you not understand why only one thing is truely needed, just like Jesus said and is recorded in the Bible??? Why do you not understand what He said in the Bible, about only one thing being necessary, which was listening to Him like Mary was doing?

Jesus explained to those religious people back then, and there is nothing new under the sun.

Jn 8: 43 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

If indeed a person does hear from Him know that happens only when they figure out that they need to repent of their ways, because their religion (their understanding of God) does not get it done. They have to figure out that only His ways are good, and to figure out His ways they have to listen to Him!!

Being a man like any other man, I too often don't seek Him and made decisions based on my understanding. However, being a believer In the Great I Am who is also the Word of God, who is also Jesus Christ, who is also The Wonderful Counselor, who is also The Teacher; I do remember to turn back to Him everyday, and usually about a dozen times a day. That is not from pride and arrogance that I turn back to Him, it is from the fact that I realize (at least at times) that I need Him in my life. That is humility, and the more humble a man is the more often they do indeed, and I do mean in deed, turn back to Him and listen to Him.


It is written as you judge, so shall you be judged, and also that the word of God can be found in our mouth. So have you not put it together; that by calling me "arrogant" because I am telling you that listening to Him is the only thing really needed just like He said also, means that you are judged as being arrogant and that you are not seeking Him because you do repent. The water baptism that John did was design to address that very issue in people, that they are arrogant and lean on their own understanding instead of seeking Jesus Christ. But if after being dunked in water as a sign that you are planning to repent and thus seek Jesus Christ, you did not do that, then the water baptism did no good for you!!!

Now I would recommend that you go back, remembering that the water baptism is supposed to get you to repent and turn to Jesus Christ for instructions, and get baptized in water again. Still, you don't need to listen to Me. Just start talking to Him and listening to Him, but that is going to mean repenting of your ways else you won't turn to Him for His instructions. Thus if you do start seeking Him and listening to Him, then you would have already accomplished the purpose of water baptism! Thus your getting baptized again would just be a sign that you did repent and are not turning to Him - which is what water baptism was always meant to be!!

 

[Jim B]

"Arrogant" is a judgement and your judgment. It is not His judgement, because trying to get people to talk to Him is not arrogant - trying to get people to turn people to us would be, but trying to get people to turn to Him and listen to Him is humility!!! - It is the idea that is it not us but Him (God) who we all need to listen to. So you do indeed need to listen to Him!!

And it is like Jesus told Martha = only one thing is necessary - which is listening to Him!!

But that is not your message, is it? It should be.

If a person listens to Jesus Christ our Lord and God, and believe that He is God, then they will do things based upon what He tells them. Not all the time of course, because we get busy, we become forgetful, we even get rebellious - still He is forgiving and patent, and you will start doing some of the things He tells you. You might even want to do other things for Him, like getting baptized in water as a sign that you do listen to Him.

A believer might not always seek the Lord for how to study their Bible, but a real believer in Him will certainly seek Him and listen to what He says concerning the Bible and how to study it. But that Pharisees did not listen to Him but only pretended obedience to Him. So they made it about religious acts (acts based upon their understanding of God instead of listen to God for His understanding). So why again are you so concerned about "baptism", as opposed to actually seeking His voice? Why do you not understand that turning people to Him is not the same thing as turning people to water baptism? Why do you not understand why only one thing is truely needed, just like Jesus said and is recorded in the Bible??? Why do you not understand what He said in the Bible, about only one thing being necessary, which was listening to Him like Mary was doing?

Jesus explained to those religious people back then, and there is nothing new under the sun.

Jn 8: 43 “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.

If indeed a person does hear from Him know that happens only when they figure out that they need to repent of their ways, because their religion (their understanding of God) does not get it done. They have to figure out that only His ways are good, and to figure out His ways they have to listen to Him!!

Being a man like any other man, I too often don't seek Him and made decisions based on my understanding. However, being a believer In the Great I Am who is also the Word of God, who is also Jesus Christ, who is also The Wonderful Counselor, who is also The Teacher; I do remember to turn back to Him everyday, and usually about a dozen times a day. That is not from pride and arrogance that I turn back to Him, it is from the fact that I realize (at least at times) that I need Him in my life. That is humility, and the more humble a man is the more often they do indeed, and I do mean in deed, turn back to Him and listen to Him.


It is written as you judge, so shall you be judged, and also that the word of God can be found in our mouth. So have you not put it together; that by calling me "arrogant" because I am telling you that listening to Him is the only thing really needed just like He said also, means that you are judged as being arrogant and that you are not seeking Him because you do repent. The water baptism that John did was design to address that very issue in people, that they are arrogant and lean on their own understanding instead of seeking Jesus Christ. But if after being dunked in water as a sign that you are planning to repent and thus seek Jesus Christ, you did not do that, then the water baptism did no good for you!!!

Now I would recommend that you go back, remembering that the water baptism is supposed to get you to repent and turn to Jesus Christ for instructions, and get baptized in water again. Still, you don't need to listen to Me. Just start talking to Him and listening to Him, but that is going to mean repenting of your ways else you won't turn to Him for His instructions. Thus if you do start seeking Him and listening to Him, then you would have already accomplished the purpose of water baptism! Thus your getting baptized again would just be a sign that you did repent and are not turning to Him - which is what water baptism was always meant to be!!

So according to you, all Christians have to do is sit around and "listen" to Jesus? They don't have to have active lives, serve others, raise families, etc. Just sit around???

The rest of your long post isn't worth replying to.

 

[Karl Peters]

So according to you, all Christians have to do is sit around and "listen" to Jesus? They don't have to have active lives, serve others, raise families, etc. Just sit around???

The rest of your long post isn't worth replying to.

Have you not every heard the Christian song that goes "I walk with Him and I talk with Him, and He tells me I am His own"??

Amazingly you missed it because with all my telling you to listen to Him you thought it was about sitting!!

It is about listening!!

Do you not even know what the foremost commandment is??

It is not found in the Law, it is found in the relationship, but Moses spoke it clearly!

The greatest commandment is the one commandment that is truly necessary!!
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It is "Hear, O Israel"

You do not understand what I am saying, because you do not understand that I am saying the same thing as those like Moses!

Deaut 6:4 “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!

Mark 12: 28,29 One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;

Is 1:2 Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; For the LORD speaks,
“Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me.

Is 30: 9 For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD;

If you in deed, would have read the Bible and done what it told you, then you would have sought the Lord and fulfilled the foremost commandment, which has always been about hearing Him, and by that command you fulfill all the commandments in the Law!

If you in deed love the Lord your God with all your heart... , then you would be listening to Him because He is always with you! Therefore your not listening to Him and thus being upset with someone saying we all need to listen to Him, shows you are not fulfilling the Law handed down by Him through Moses, nor the foremost commandment Moses and others including Jesus Christ also explained.

It if for that reason that He went to the cross, because you kill the Word of God by not listening to Him!! Yet even then He forgives you and is standing there knocking with His voice, so that if anyone - including you - were to open up to Him and hear what He has to say to you personally, then He will come into you and eat with you and you with Him. If you want to eat standing up, that is ok. If you want to eat while walking with Him, that is ok. But perhaps it might be easier if you simply start by sitting down in a nice quiet place with Him?

So in deed - do stop writing me until you start talking to Him! Please - I have only ever been advising you to listen to Him - so do it!