Good comments and reminder to all of us who call ourselves Christians.
Vicki
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, November 07, 2004 4:23 PM
Subject: The Bible Is The Word Of God
> The United States has survived for over 200 years because of its
> constitution. To be more precise, this country has survived based
> upon the words of the constitution. No one today, unless they
> proclaim to be an atheist, lives without believing in some word of
> somebody's. you may not believe in the Word of the Bible, or what
> is referred to as the Word Of God, but you believe in somebody's
> word. In other words, you haven't just made up your own idea but
> what you believe and live by came from someone else and what they
> believe. In the case of the United States citizen, he believes in
> the basic wording of the constitution. Yes, he can choose not to
> believe in everything the constitution says but he cannot, if he
> plans to live in this country, choose to break its laws without
> suffering the results. Interestingly enough, the U S constitution
> protects your rights to believe any way you wish but again, if you
> break its laws, the government upon which the constitution is
> based, will punish you. In short, the constitution of the United
> States is the final word. Of course, we have a supreme court who
> decides on matters of application of the interpretation of the
> constitution but again, the constitution is the final word upon
> what is right and wrong for U S citizens. the Bible works in the
> same way. it is God's final Word on all that governs a Christians
> life. It is not a matter of personal interpretation but it may be
> a matter of personal application based upon your interpretive
> methods. Many people today think you can interpret the Bible any
> way you wish. This is untrue. The Bible interprets itself, if
> studied systematically, and thus the personal application can
> become standardized. For example, the Bible clearly states how
> one becomes a Christian, that is, the doctrine of eternal
> salvation is easily discerned from Scriptural evidence. Those who
> have chosen to tamper with Biblical interpretive methods sometimes
> think that the only way you can become a Christian and enjoy a
> relationship with God is to join their church. Of course, The
> bible does not say what church is the right church but it does say
> who is the right and only way to salvation and how you experience
> that salvation. Then, too, the Bible clearly states the existence
> of Heaven and Hell. Some may choose to believe there is no Heaven
> or Hell but this does not negate the validity of the Biblical
> record and God's feelings on the matter. It is also true that
> some pick and choose what they wish to believe from the Bible but
> those that do so are simply stating they do not wish to live by
> everything they find in the Bible. This is, of course, their
> right. Those who choose to believe only certain parts of the
> bible likewise refuse to except the biblical evidence that the
> Word of God is inspired by the writers whom God chose to express
> his Word. If one, however, does not accept the Bible as the Word
> of God, then license is given to pick and choose as one wills.
> If, on the other hand, one comes to the realization that the Bible
> is truly the Word of God, his view of the Bible will be far
> different in all matters of daily life. One may ask, then why are
> there so many different interpretations and so many different
> religions. The answer is obvious. Is the bible the Word of God?
> Those who believe the Bible was just written by men who didn't
> have anything better to do with their time will likely just think
> its a nice book but nothing to take seriously. Those who pick and
> choose what they like, and don't like, will be confused in
> personal application of Biblical principals and doctrine. Those
> who claim biblical authority, that is, those who except by faith
> the bible is the Word of God, will begin to attempt to understand
> Scriptural considerations as it applies to their daily life. In
> other words, they will take the bible and then apply it personally
> to their life. Another way of saying this is considering the
> Bible as a measuring device. The Bible believing Christian
> measures his life based upon what the Bible says. If the bible,
> therefore, says thou shalt not steal, he will believe stealing is
> wrong. If it says, thou shalt not commit adultery, he will
> likewise believe it is wrong to commit adultery. Of course, I
> could continue by offering dozens of other such ideas but by now
> you get my meaning. The real issue is this. Do you believe the
> Bible to be the infallible inerrant Word of God. If not, we have
> no bases for personal application. If, on the other hand, you say
> that you do believe the Bible is God's eternal Word, then we can
> get down to exactly how the bible is interpreted. There are valid
> methods of interpretation of the Scriptures just as there are
> scientific methods used to determine fact from theory. This is
> true when interpreting any language or document. But who has the
> last word, you say? God, of course.
>
> Phil.
>
>
> I Flew Kites With Jesus
> www.SafePlaceFellowship.com
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