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Useful Q & A

Post #1

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1» Was Jesus a Christian?

Jesus was a Jew thru and thru who believed and practiced the Old Testament in
compliance with the Prophets and the various covenants; most especially the one
that Moses' people agreed upon with God per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy. (Gal 4:4)
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Re: Useful Q & A

Post #41

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39» What Is Meant By The Quick And The Dead?


2Tim 4:1 . . Christ Jesus, who will judge the quick and the dead

The Greek word translated "quick" means living, i.e. alive.

The question pertains to judgments rather than spiritual conditions, For example John 5:24 speaks of spiritual conditions; whereas 2Tim 4:1, along with 1Pet 4:5, speaks of judgments.

There's a judgment for those alive depicted at Ezek 20:33-38 and another at Matt 25:31-46.

A judgment for those deceased is depicted at Rev 20:11-15.
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Re: Useful Q & A

Post #42

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40» How Can Death Be Thrown?


Rev 20:14 . . Death was cast into the lake of fire.

Seeing as how Death can't be picked up and thrown like a baseball or a javelin, then I suggest that casting, in this instance, is speaking of exile. (e.g. Matt 8:11-12)

Death is likely a category consisting of everything and anything one can possibly imagine that God considers dead to Himself; both visible and invisible. Whatever that amounts to, it will all be discarded in that fiery impound. In that respect, the lake of fire could be thought of as a sanitary landfill, viz: a dump for refuse disposal.
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Re: Useful Q & A

Post #43

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41» Why The Everlasting Gospel?

Most of the Bible teachers that I've listened to sincerely believe that Jesus' church will be completely gone from the Earth when the fourth chapter of Revelation begins coming to pass, viz: the era of the so-called great commission (a.k.a. the church age) will be over; there won't be any regenerated, Spirit-empowered Christian evangelists left anywhere on Earth preaching the gospel of Christ, yet according to Rev 7:9-17, many thousands of people will be saved out of the Tribulation during the church's absence.

In my opinion, some of those numbers can be attributed to the success of the everlasting gospel, which can be rightfully called the timeless gospel because it contains things that have been known all over the world since the very beginning, whereas Jesus' crucifixion, his resurrection, and his future kingdom on Earth are relatively new entries in the annals of time.


Rev 14:6-7 . . And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, announcing with a loud voice: Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

The everlasting gospel is very elementary; pretty much all it says is:

1) There's a supreme being.

2) He deserves respect and admiration.

3) There's a frightful reckoning looming on the horizon, and

4) The cosmos-- all of its forms of life, matter, and energy --is the product of intelligent design.
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Re: Useful Q & A

Post #44

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42» What's To Learn From Moses And The Snakes?


John 3:14-17 . . Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Long story short: Moses' people became sick and tired of living in the desert and eating manna all the time at every meal. But instead of courteously, and diplomatically, petitioning their divine benefactor for tastier food and better accommodations, they became hostile and confrontational.

In response to their insolence; God sent a swarm of deadly poisonous snakes among them; which began striking people; and every strike was 100% fatal, no exceptions. In no time at all, much people of Israel died. Then those not yet dead got nervous and appealed to Moses for help. In reply; The Lord instructed Moses to construct a replica of the beasts and hoist it up on a pole in plain view so that everyone dying from venom could look to it for immunity.

Now the key issue here is that the replica, lifted up, was the only God-given remedy for the people's terminal condition-- not purity, not sacrifices and offerings, not tithing, not church attendance, not missionary work, not confession, not holy days of obligation, not the Sabbath, not charity, not good deeds, not good behavior, not piety, not Bible study and Sunday school, not catechism or yeshiva, not one's religion of choice, not self denial and/or self control, not the so-called golden rule, not vows of poverty and/or chastity, not the Ten Commandments, not the Eucharist; no, none of that: not even prayers. That replica, lifted up, was it; viz: it was all or nothing at all-- there was no other option. Whoever failed to look to that replica, lifted up, for immunity died: no exceptions.

In other words then: Christ, lifted up on the cross to satisfy justice for the sins of the world, is the only God-given option for protection from the second death depicted at Rev 20:11-15. The default is terminal; no exceptions. People relying upon religion and piety, instead of putting all their trust in Christ's crucifixion, are dead men walking, no exceptions.


John 3:18 . .Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever disbelieves stands condemned already.
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Re: Useful Q & A

Post #45

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43» What Is Sheol?

Sheol is an Old Testament Hebrew word that's sometimes transliterated instead of translated; likely because there is so much controversy about its meaning.

During Jonah's nautical adventure, he spent some time in sheol (Jonah 2:2) which is a region that he placed at the bottoms of the mountains. (Jonah 2:6)

Well, Jonah's fish was under the sea rather than under the mountains, and seeing as how no part of a mountain is located in a fish's tummy, then we can be reasonably certain that Jonah and his body parted company; implying that Jonah was alive for some of the time during his three days and nights in the fish but not the whole time; which corroborates Jonah 2:9 that the prophet's body underwent putrefaction and would've been completely destroyed beyond recognition had not God resurrected Jonah in time to stop the process from getting out of hand.

Jesus appropriated Jonah's experience to illustrate his own. Jesus predicted that at some time during his three days and nights deceased, he would be in the heart of the Earth. (Matt 12:40)

Well; Jesus' body was laid to rest on the surface of the Earth; so in order for him to be down inside the Earth at same time, he and his body had to part company. In other words: Jesus spent some of his three days and nights at the bottoms of the mountains, i.e. sheol. And he too was resurrected in time to stop the process of putrefaction from getting out of hand. (Ps 16:8-10 and Acts 2:25-32)
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Re: Useful Q & A

Post #46

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44» How Could Abraham's Posterity Possibly Amount To The Stars?


Gen 22:17 . . In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore;

I think it best to interpret stars and sand as ancient idioms representing overwhelming numbers of just about anything. Compare Heb 12:1 where "cloud" is a term for the same purpose.

But as a matter of interest: back in Abram's day, prior to the invention of optics, the only stars that people could see with their own eyes were those in our home galaxy, the Milky Way; which consists of an estimated 100-400 billion stars. But many of those estimated billions of stars appear to the naked eye not as stars but as glowing clouds; viz: they cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye so those didn't matter to Abram when it came to actually tallying the heavens.

The entire global sky contains roughly five or six thousand stars visible to the naked eye. However, we can't see all those stars at once; only the ones when the sky is dark. So then; in Abram's day, he could see at most three thousand discernible stars from dark till dawn. God had said "if you are able to count them" (Gen 15:5). Well; even at only three thousand, the task would be difficult.
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Re: Useful Q & A

Post #47

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45» Why Was Jesus Baptized?


Matt 3:13-15 . .Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying: I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? Jesus replied: Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness. Then John consented.

An important point worth noting is that everything Jesus did, it was to please his Father. (John 8:29)

Also, Jesus did nothing on his own initiative. His daily itinerary was planned for him (John 6:38 and John 8:28). In other words: Jesus was micro managed.

However, John's baptism was unto repentance (Matt 3:11). This is curious because according to Isa 53:9, John 8:29, 2Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15, 1Pet 2:22, and 1John 3:9; Jesus committed no sins of his own; and as he always pleased his Father, then there was never a time when Jesus needed to ponder his life's direction and think about turning from evil and returning to God.

The reason for Jesus' baptism is very simple: his Father required it. Even if Jesus didn't know the reason why God wanted him to submit to John's baptism, it was the right thing for Jesus to do at the time because it was God's will; just as baptizing Israel was the right thing for John to do at the time because it was God's will. Both men were acting in compliance with God's directions. (John 14:31)

Obedience fulfills righteousness. For example Eph 6:1 where it's said:

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right."


NOTE: Orwellian societies-- e.g. Communist China --tend to ban religions like Christianity because one of their means of control is to turn children against their parents. This particular management practice was put into full swing during the Cultural Revolution under Chairman Mao Zedong back in the era 1966-1976. (cf. Malachi 4:6)
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Re: Useful Q & A

Post #48

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46» Isn't Christianity's Human Sacrifice Against The Laws Of God?

God's codified law per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy is very narrow, viz: any human sacrifice-- whether underage children or consenting adults --is illegal because none are specified.


Deut 4:2 …You shall not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, but keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I enjoin upon you.

Deut 5:29-30 …Be careful, then, to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left: follow only the path that the Lord your God has enjoined upon you.

However: the codified law isn't retroactive (Deut 5:2-4, Rom 4:15, Rom 5:13, Gal 3:17) This is extremely important because Jesus was designated, and scheduled, to give his life a sacrifice for the sins of the world not only prior to God's codified law, but also prior to God creating even a single atom for the current cosmos. (1Pet 1:18-21 & Rev 13:8)

The past-tense grammar of the passage below reflects that ancient pre cosmos determination.

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and Jehovah has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isa 53:6)

That passage isn't a prediction, rather, it's a statement of facts, i.e. a telling of things reckoned already gone by prior to Isaiah writing them down more than 700 years before Christ was born.
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Post #49

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47» What Is Meant By Proverbs 27:17?

"As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."

The Hebrew word translated "countenance" has to do with one's face rather than their mind.

A friendly face is usually soft and mellow; whereas a hostile face is usually accented with tight lips and glaring narrow eyes; and sometimes even bared teeth. We call that kind of look "knives" and/or "daggers" --and if those kinds of looks could kill; they would.

No sharpening of two metals rubbing together can take place without them wearing on each other. However, in Prov 27:17 only one of the metals experiences wear while the other is the cause of it.

In my judicious opinion, that proverb is not speaking of building your friend up but instead speaks of tearing him down by means of chafing, i.e. relentless fault finding, mockery, and/or carping criticism; none of which are acceptable social skills for making friends and influencing people.


Job 16:9 . . He teareth me in his wrath, who hateth me: he gnasheth upon me with his teeth; mine enemy sharpeneth his eyes upon me.

The eyes of Job's enemy were knives, and reveals that causing somebody's countenance to sharpen should not be construed a good thing. In point of fact some of Webster's definitions related to "sharp" in include:

severe and/or harsh: such as

a : inclined to or marked by irritability or anger a sharp temper

b : causing intense mental or physical distress a sharp pain

c : cutting in language or import


NOTE: The Hebrew word for "friend" in Prov 27:17 doesn't necessarily indicate a buddy; but includes a variety of others, i.e. companions, associates, fellows, husbands, lovers, neighbors, etc. --just about anybody with whom we come into personal contact whether temporary or extended, e.g. waitresses, taxi drivers, retail clerks, fast food workers, gas station attendants, dog walkers, flight attendants, druggists, coffee barristers, food cart vendors, doctors, dentists, nurses, et al.

I think everyone, Christians especially, ought to avoid rubbing people the wrong way lest we become known as a toxic influence that the world would be a better place without.
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Re: Useful Q & A

Post #50

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48» Did Jesus Wed And Have Children?

According to Isa 53:8, Jesus left behind no one to carry on his name.
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