Phil,
Very well stated. My hand hurts, so can't write much.
May I please forward this email to others in it's entirety? Please?
Keep up the excellent work.
Love and Blessings,
Pat Ferguson
At 05:23 PM 11/7/04, you wrote:
>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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