U mean authority given by the father?

I do believe jesus can do something after given authority/permission by the father.

Hi friend,

You are correct, sometimes in Greek, the context has to determine the meaning of the word used.

In John's gospel, we see Jesus declared Himself 'I am' many times.
But when He said before Abraham was, I am, that was no doubt a divine declaration.

The jews understood that was the divine YHWH name because they picked up stones to try to kill Him. It was blasphemy to them.

So the english translators were correct to equate it to the YHWH/ I AM.

on that there is no doubt.


So Jesus answered them by saying, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son [in His turn] also does in the same way.
John 5:19 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/jhn.5.19.AMP

What is your real point to all these questions?

Well Bible truth or revelation needs the Holy Spirit to be made known.

Yes somethings in Bible can be understood plainly but bear mind, it can be plain to you but not plain to people who hates God.

I am in a way a scholar because I've great interest in God's word.

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You seem to be averse to the Christians' belief that "Jesus is God". .......
.

MATT.28: = The Women Worship the Risen Lord

9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” ...

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
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JOHN.1: = 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ...

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
.

1TIM.3: = 16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:

God was manifested in the flesh,
Justified in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world,
Received up in glory.
.

ISAIAH.9: = 6
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
.

This post has been edited by lurkingaround: Mar 17 2020, 11:15 AM

that is true,
however, people will always read what they want to see in no matter what text it is.

so there must be another basis other than religous text for one to determine what is true and what is not.

for Christians, I know that our personal experience with Jesus makes that difference.

when I personally invited Jesus into my life, i encountered the supernatural in ways no logic can explain. like the following:

i) experienced the difference between light and darkness,
ii) saw miracles happen.
iii) hear almost audibly, answers to my questions
iv) prayed for people and prophesied over them then see the prophesy come true many years later
v) see my own prayers answered, in seemingly impossible ways and situations, even when i did not know i needed that particular prayer/desire met.

i have tested this Jesus that the bible talks about and i have found Him both real and true to what He says.

i began to understand a little why the early believers kept their faith even unto death. they were persecuted, hunted down, killed, thrown into arenas to be eaten by lions, made into living torches by the mad emperor Nero

yet the number of believers grew instead of dying out.

Jesus' message was radical.
Love your God and your neighbor as yourself.
bless those who curse you
forgive those who abuse and use you
walk the second mile

it defies human logic.

then the manner and the significance of His death by crucifixition cannot be understated.

forgiveness of sins! not by our own merit but the grace and mercy of God. All that is needed is total surrender in our part.

every other religion teaches us our merit in doing good works/prayer helps or determines our entry to paradise/nirvana or something equivalent.

only Christianity teachs us salvation is by grace through faith. any good works is a natural result of a changed nature.

This, to me is the difference and the basis on why Christ is the only way back to God the Father.

@aral3005

Keep the Faith bro.

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The Word of God gave authority to Jesus Christ to forgive the sins/law-breaking of repentant Jewish sufferers = He removed their God-mandated curses/punishment of sickness, deformity/defect, demon-possession and even the death sentence(= by raising the dead). Hence at JOHN.5:14 & 8:11, He told the healed paralytic and death-escapee(= the Jewish adulteress) to go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon them. See HEB.2:4 for the reason why.
....... Similarly, the 1957 Federal Constitution of Malaya gave the Agong the authority to pardon/forgive reformed prisoners by commuting their jail sentences, even the death penalty. Same for the President of USA.

At JOHN.3:14-18 and ROMANS.5:12, the Word of God further gave Jesus Christ the authority to forgive the inherited Adam's Original Sin of repentant believers through His shed blood on the Cross(JOHN.1:29, HEB.9:22, LEV.17:11) and remove their God-mandated curse of eternal hell or spiritual death after their physical death(GENESIS.2:17). Those who believe in Jesus Christ and His Cross will be saved from hell when they die = inherit eternal/everlasting life in heaven.
....... The Agong and POTUS do not have the above authority or ability to save anyone from eternal hell, not even themselves. Of course the Muslim Agong has his own belief on how to be saved from hell, similarly for the Jewish President of Israel. The atheist/communist President of China does not even believe in hell or heaven = just die and return to dust/earth. "To each his own".
.

P S - According to MATT.5:17-48, the moment a person has immoral sexual lust, hate, anger, greed, selfishness and jealousy in his/her heart, he/she is already bound for hell. He/she does not need to actually commit murder, adultery/fornication, rape, stealing, hoarding, lying/cheating, etc to be bound for hell. So, the keeping of Moses Law or any Law will not save anyone from hell, even though he/she would still be blessed by God with a good and long life on earth, eg good and law-abiding atheists, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, etc.
....... The only way to be saved from hell is to accept Jesus as the Christ/Messiah/Mahdi and believe in Him. .......

JOHN.14: = 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. ...

1 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
.

This post has been edited by lurkingaround: Mar 17 2020, 12:51 PM

In my previous post i mentioned about the jews earlier question, they hardly accept when jesus compare himself to great prophet abraham as a prophet and how they react to it by try to stone jesus.

They are following Deuteronomy 18:20 that false prophets must be killed.

Or perhaps u can find a verse where the jews must kill false god in the bible?

True that jesus by himself can do nothing except what's been given to him by the father - listen, speak, miracles, knowledge all come from the father

Indicates jesus has lower authority than the father

I believe to be a scholar u must be objective and critical while doing research and study.

Most verses are clear, some needs to be interpreted by an expert to the true meaning

Where do u study the bible?

as an ordinary human being, I am not privy to divine authority levels nor am i able to understand even I am privy to it, so it is moot to me.

what i do know and personally experienced is sufficient for me to believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God as He claims to be, whatever that title may actually mean.

to try go further is an exercise in futility.

i would rather spend my time and energy serving my God as He leads me in everyday life. it gives me joy and fulfillment to see the blessing others receive when i do that.

True

But we have been given the bible as the primary source of knowledge and faith in christianity. The bible is the ultimate guide for christian followers.

Personal experience can be different from a person to a person. Those not guided by the bible that actually give birth to heresy in christianity.

Do not go further from what has been given to us - jesus teachings and the bible.

I do serve by adding knowledge by reading the bible.
Without following the bible it will be just a blind faith.

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The Father is eternally in heaven, ie not on earth. Jesus Christ or God-in-the-flesh or God-in-the-Spirit(2COR.3:17, JOHN.6:63) was/is/will be on earth. Of course the Father in heaven is greater or has more authority than the Son on earth because of the where of God, ie in heaven or on earth. As permitted by God, the ruler of this rotten earth is Satan, not God/Jesus - REV.12:9, JOHN.14:30 & 16:11.

Similarly, the Agong is great in power and authority in Malaysia, eg to pardon prisoners, appoint the PM, dissolve Parliament, etc, but once he is outside Malaysia, eg in China or USA or Europe, he is very much less powerful. Same for the Arab kings and rulers in the Middle-East.

At present, USA is the superpower of the world. The Agong and PM8 are very much less powerful on the world stage = like jaguh kampung.
.

Objective and Critical yes but not in terms of human understanding.

The word of God is not human originated.

What I'm trying to say is that you cannot interpret the word of God according to human critical reasoning.

Do you understand the term Bible interpret Bible?

This post has been edited by unknown warrior: Mar 17 2020, 02:37 PM

The bible is mostly straight forward and easy to understand. Granted there are some very obscure passages.

From my personal experience, these passages usually become clear when I have a need to understand them

yes what you say is correct, but at the same time there is a balance and a limit on how we are to read and dig into the shades of meanings found in the bible.

Paul wrote to Timothy

Let as many bondservants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed. And those who have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather serve them because those who are benefited are believers and beloved. Teach and exhort these things. If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.
I Timothy 6:1‭-‬5 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/1ti.6.1-5.NKJV


so unless there is a need for me , i usually put those questions in a mental "when I meet God face to face i am going to ask Him what this means" notebook.

in general, following Micah's advice is sufficient for us to live a life of faith.

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/mic.6.8.NKJV

Not human originated - yes
But reveal to human - yes

Throughout the bible jesus use simple language that easy to be understand by the people at that time.

When the people is not believe of him to be the prophet even though explained repeatedly, then jesus say:

John 8:43
"Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message."

The reason some people not believe him is bcz they are unable to accept his message.

One do not need to be a genius to learn the bible, let alone be one infused/possessed by holy spirit to be able to read the bible normally.

Does a non christian need to be in special condition to read the bible?

So u agree the father has higher authority than jesus? And they are not co-equal?are they even from same being/person if can differ so much?

Agree on most of verses in the bible have clear meaning without even a need for explanation.

Great reading there bro.

Thanks for posting with verses related to your expalanation.

Thanks.

Now I have a question for you.

Would you consider christians who follow the biblical teachings, even when they don't fully understand them, as people who have blind faith?