John 3
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”
22 After these things, Jesus came with his disciples into the land of Judea. He stayed there with them, and baptized. 23 John also was baptizing in Enon near Salim, because there was much water there. They came, and were baptized. 24 For John was not yet thrown into prison.
25 There arose therefore a questioning on the part of John’s disciples with some Jews about purification. 26 They came to John, and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, the same baptizes, and everyone is coming to him.” 27 John answered, “A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This, my joy, therefore is made full. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the Earth belongs to the Earth, and speaks of the Earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies; and no one receives his witness. 33 He who has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. 36 One who believes in the Son has eternal life, but one who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”
Denny
Keep teaching the truth! Notice how just the Word of Adonai speaks for itself? I guess you do. And may all praise, honor and glory go to our Elohim.
777denny
Jeff Fenske
Denny,
Absolutely! May all the praise and worship go to our Lord, for those of us who realize we need to abide in Him literally, like the Bible really does say.
It’s amazing how the Bible interprets itself as long as we don’t let the tide of public opinion interfere, and we listen to God’s voice instead, honestly seeing what it says, not what we (or the demons that drive so many) want it to mean.
I think this demon thing inside of ‘Christians’ is way bigger than most realize.
Revival, real Christianity, ‘ONE’ really may be around the corner.
Hallelujah!!!
Many of us will be on Cloud 9 — forever this time (because we got our doctrine right)!!!!!!!
Jeff : )
PhileoTruth
@Jeff,
I agree with you on this, Jeff. (Now will you talk to me? 😛 LOL.)
Biblically, believing is demonstrated by obedience.
Jeff Fenske
PhileoTruth,
That sounds good, but are you obeying the Person directly or just His book? “In God” means in God.
21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”
“In God“ is like Paul’s “in Christ Jesus, who…walk…according to the Spirit. … Those who are led by the Spirit are the sons of God.”
Romans 8:1-19
And John 3:16 is the gospel of John, which of course has Jesus’ famous abiding-in-Himself passage.
John 15:1-14
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch, and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. 8 “In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. 9 Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love. 11 I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full. 12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.
Apart from Him we can do nothing.
Christianity is obeying God directly — being led by the Holy Spirit so we can then bear much fruit that will last — and this gives God glory. It’s not just about doing what His book says. Sola Scriptura is not biblical Christianity. It’s a dead, fruitless religion.
Jeff
PhileoTruth
Good to hear from you (and in a more civil tone), Jeff. I do appreciate it.
We absolutely do follow God, but not apart from His word. Otherwise, we have no distinction by which to determine that we are following God and not some other (false) deity or imagined leading. God did not give us folklore to hand down from generation to generation by oral tradition, but He codified His law in the sacred writings that have been compiled into the Bibles from which you and I both preach.
Sola Scriptura is the balance and the anchor that the body of Christ needs to return to to keep itself from these charismatic tangents that, when examined against scripture, actually deny various aspects of God. Scripture is given to us by God so that we may know Him and be able to put into words who/what He is. We would have no concept of the infinite except that God condescended to reveal Himself to us in the languages of men. Why denounce or downplay its significance and centrality in knowing Him or proclaiming Him?
Do you not buttress your assertions about God and the Christian life upon scripture? Do you not rely upon scripture, and not mere subjectivism, to validate your arguments? Are you not practicing Sola Scriptura, even if you denounce it as a “doctrine of demons”? Are you claiming divine revelation or are you relying upon the enlightenment of your reading and comprehension of the scriptures?
God has given us His word– the scriptures so that we may know Him– that we may have some finite grasp at who/what He is and is not. Apart from God’s sovereign self-disclosure through Scripture, we would have no knowledge of Him in the work of His three co-equal, co-eternal, uncreated persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
—
For the record, I am deeply offended that you insinuated in another post that I have anything at all to do with an “anti-trinitarian cult.” It was not only without any basis at all, but it also shows that you do not know me to make such an outlandish assertion, but also you do not know how deeply passionate I am at proclaiming (on other posts and in other venues) the teachings extrapolated from the historical Christian creeds.
FYI, the Apostles and Athanasian Creeds, the Nicean Creed, and the Belgic Confession are among my favorite pieces of literature. I am emphatic about the value of creeds, confessions, and yes, the “Solas” of the Reformation as means of summarizing important Biblical doctrines in layman’s terms for people to understand. Every opportunity that I have, I try to encourage other believers to read the creeds and confessions. (There are still a number that I must complete.) I can not more strongly disagree with you that Sola Scriptura is a doctrine of demons. For what demon would emphasize the centrality of the authority of God’s written word in the life of the believer?
Sola Scriptura does not imply that the Holy Spirit does not illuminate our understanding of the scripture as to how to apply it. Sola Scriptura rather affirms our reliance upon the scripture as what God has declared and the guidelines by which we may know how His Spirit is leading us. It is in no way a denunciation of the work of the Holy Spirit to direct us back to Christ and guide us in our day-by-day decisions. Sola Scriptura emphasizes the authority of God’s word as the final arbiter of all things in life and for eternity.
Jeff Fenske
PhileoTruth,
Can you now say that those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God?
Jeff
PhileoTruth
I have never denied that those led of the Spirit of God are the children of God. There is no “now” to my stating it. However, you are proposing a false dichotomy of being led by the Spirit OR Sola Scriptura. The Holy Spirit works in conjunction with the Scriptures– to lead the believer. Why is this even a debate?
Jeff Fenske
PhileoTruth,
There is a debate because of what you’ve said, as well as how you started out are discussions by slamming Sid Roth, and there and elsewhere making fun of charismatics.
You say here:
I have never denied that those led of the Spirit of God are the children of God.
But you said previously, which sounds like a denial to me:
Sola Scriptura is one of the Five Solas of the Reformation. No one who properly understands the concept of Sola Scriptura could EVER conclude that the Bible is to be exalted above God. For in the Scriptures is the self-disclosure of God to humanity. Clearly, the intent of reading the Bible is to come to know God. You do NOT know God apart from Scriptures.
I have said that the Bible is totally true, but doesn’t contain all truth. I said this:
We’re supposed to be led by the Holy Spirit Who will lead us into all truth. Jesus laid this out clearly in John 14-16, and John said this in 1 John 2:
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who would lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.
Do you still hold to your statement “You do NOT know God apart from Scriptures,” or are we getting more on the same page, which would be great!
Jeff
PhileoTruth
Jeff,
As I have commented in previous posts (and it applies very strongly here), you come to false conclusions. Affirming the Solas of the Reformation is not a denunciation of the work of the Holy Spirit. And I do stand by my statement that you do not know God apart from the Scriptures. “Lo, in the volume of the book, it is written of Me” (Heb 10:7) as a specific reference to Christ. The scriptures were written so that the readers may know Christ and that He is God. This is re-affirmed in a different context in John 20:31. The Bible is clear that the Scriptures are given (referring to itself) so that we may know God– and particularly through Christ.
No one living– not through any alleged vision, dream, or encounter– can know Christ apart from what is written in the Bible. We can not know the work of the Holy Spirit except the Bible outline His work for us. We can not discern these things without the reference point of the Scriptures. Period. What’s the debate?
If by “discernment” people (even Christians) could discern the nature and character of God, then why would He leave Scriptures (i.e., a written document) for His own? If He thought that our discernment, even by means of Himself– the Holy Spirit, was sufficient to know Him, then why give to us Scriptures?
—
My grievance with charismatics should be clarified: hyper-charismatics are prone to error and fallacious conclusions even when basing their assertions on Scripture. Anyone who is born-again, is by nature, “charismatic” as the Holy Spirit indwells us and gives us spiritual gifts. Granted. The hyper-charismatics, whom Reformers referred to as “enthusiasts” are those who profess such powers and insights that exceed the Scriptures. By such means, (hyper)charismatics tend to deceive themselves and others.
Yes, I absolutely hold to Roth as being a false prophet according to what you posted. He has no Scriptural basis to assert that and therefore it must have come from some “charismatic”, ecstatic experience that he supposedly had. The church is divided and many are led astray following after people who use their public ministries to promote their subjective, private, fanciful fantasies as doctrines. If you care for God’s people, you should also be on alert for such.
—
Last point– I mentioned that I am emphatic about the historical creeds as summaries of the Christian faith. I mentioned that because of your unfounded ascription to me of being “antitrinitarian.” My point (in case you didn’t get it) was that the creeds definitively affirm the Trinity and I wholly endorse the creeds and the doctrine of the Trinity.
You are setting a false dichotomy that if one holds to Sola Scriptura then one has to deny the work or person of the Holy Spirit (and by implication, the trinity). This is another false and dangerous conclusion that you have put forth which is patently unfounded.
PhileoTruth
Jeff,
Let me clarify one thing: I am not pitting the value of the Holy Spirit against the Scriptures– as you seem to be doing with your denunciation of Sola Scriptura. It is not an either-or between being indwelt and led of the Holy Spirit and having the Scriptures. GOD WORKS THROUGH MEANS! God the Holy Spirit does lead us using the means of Scriptures! God has condescended to make Himself and His will known to us in human languages that we can understand. We have the written documents– the Scriputres/the Bible so that we may know Him. The Holy Spirit clearly empowers us to understand the things of the God– even those written in Scripture (1 Cor 2:12-16).
Note: and because the text does say that these things are “discerned by the Spirit” does not mean preclude that God uses the Scripture that He has given us. God informs/leads/instructs us through the means of Scripture– which we are empowered to understand by His Spirit indwelling us. No either-or.
—
Let me ask you– what are your thoughts on 1 John 2:20, 27? Do you assert that believers do not need teaching because we are “led of the Spirit”? Curious.
Jeff Fenske
PhileoTruth,
We just did all of this dialogue and we’re basically back to ground zero, with just one slight difference, apparently:
You do believe we’re to be led by the Holy Spirit but He can only lead us through the written word of God, the Bible.
And you say the Gospels don’t apply to us as well as the scriptures that speak of the gifts of the Spirit. So you don’t have much left for the Holy Spirit to lead you through.
And so often you twist what I say, which is unfair to me and the readers. I said “borders on being an anti-Trinitarian cult”:
Not all Calvinists are cessationists and sola scriptura (scripture alone) adherents. But for those who are, I’ve been lately thinking this actually borders on a being an anti-trinitarian cult. They aren’t saying that the Holy Spirit isn’t God. They just relegate Him out our lives. Now that we have the written word, the Bible, we don’t need to be led by the Holy Spirit even though numerous texts say otherwise.
So you do allow the Holy Spirit to have some influence in your life, but just an infinitesimal amount compared to what the Bible says He should have.
So I really should go back to my original plan. I have better things to do right now with my time. I’m not interested in your opinion related to these things, which is what I thought God was telling me should be my perspective. You are pushing your views that aren’t founded on Scripture. This type of Calvinism really does feel to me to be a type of cult.
I thought of you, recently, when I read this; even though, you’re not into the latter part, that I know of — and I understand that your Calvinist belief is fairly mainstream — which makes the deception even worse — so many lead astray:
[WordPOWER!] 1 Timothy 4:1 — “The Spirit says expressly that IN LATER TIMES some will FALL AWAY from the faith, paying attention to SEDUCING SPIRITS and DOCTRINES OF DEMONS”
The Devil loves to keep people from obeying the entire New Testament and following the Holy Spirit directly in their lives. This is a doctrine of demons, big-time — and really is leading many astray. I don’t want anything to do with it.
You can do what you want, but I’m not interested in you pushing your narrow perspective that is not Biblical on myself or others.
“God the Holy Spirit does lead us using the means of Scriptures!” is absolutely true. But to teach this is the only way He leads is pathetic and very, very sad.
You do what you want with your version of ‘Christianity.’ You have a free will. But I’m not interested.
I think you just like to argue. You don’t seem to have anything to offer here.
jeff
PhileoTruth
Jeff,
You are a provincial hypercharismatic teacher who can’t stand the truth when it exposes you for the false teacher that you are. There’s no argument about that!
PhileoTruth
Only a false teacher can show the contempt that you show for God’s word. You use it to validate your fanciful ideas. I doubt that you are even a Christian for your obvious hatred (via slander) of me, one of Christ’s own. If you loved the truth as I do, you would not be as venomous against me as you are. But the lie always rails against the truth. I love the Truth and the truth of God’s word and the singular God in all of His three Persons! This is what I have brought to the table here.
Your blog– your deception to propagate. Just remember James 3:1.
PhileoTruth
Hey Jeff,
Do you conclude that the other four “Solas” of the Reformation are “doctrines of demons” also?
Sola Christus= Christ alone
Sola Fide= Faith alone
Sola Gratia= by Grace alone
Soli Deo Gloria= For God’s glory alone
Again, what demon would direct a believer’s heart toward God in Christ through faith for His glory?
(I don’t care if you think I want to argue– this is worth contending with a false teacher like you about.)