Monday, June 8, 2009

Are only certain Christians anointed by the HS?


I John 2:20, 27 Are only certain Christians anointed by the Holy Spirit?

Some well-meaning Christians describe certain preachers, songs, worship services, or sermons as "anointed," meaning that the person or event is able to evoke a strong sense of God's power. But to "anoint" in biblical terms means to consecrate or set apart for a special purpose. Kings and priests were anointed with oil in solemn ceremonies intended to designate them as civil and spiritual leaders.
In a similar yet figurative way, the Spirit of God anoints every believer upon conversion (1 Corinthians 12:13). Because each Christian has received this anointing, it becomes imperative to find and fulfill the special role each plays in the building of the church. All Christians have the Spirit's anointing—all are gifted and special in Gods eyes.

Friday, June 5, 2009

God loves the world, and we are to imitate God. Then we are told not to love the World. What does this all mean?


I John 2:15-18 God loves the world, and we are to imitate God. Then we are told not to love the world. What does this all mean?

Christians should love the world of people and be concerned for their eternal welfare (John 3:16). This means to have a compassionate heart. The command not to love the world in 1 John 2:15 has to do with the world of sin, the universal system organized by Satan against God and His rule. We must never become attached and devoted to the ways of the world. This is what is meant by worldliness.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Is it okay for a Christian to intensely dislike another believer?


I John 2:9 Is it okay for a Christian to intensely dislike another believer?

Several Bible passages emphasize a Christian's preeminent commitment to love—not merely a sentimental, warm feeling, but a choice of the will to put other people's welfare ahead of one's own by showing respect, considering their feelings, and praying on their behalf.
Not every Christian will enjoy a warm friendship with every other Christian. Some will be irritating, quirky, and obnoxious. A few brothers and sisters in Christ will rub us the wrong way. We will always encounter believers with whom our personalities clash. On the other hand, we will "click” be naturally drawn—to some people. The Christian’s goal is to choose to demonstrate concern regardless of warm or distant feelings, regardless of the degree of personality attachment we feel with the other. Love sees the beauty of people through God's eyes, even when our own vision is blurred by the others apparent ugliness. Love acts to fulfill God’s purpose for the other, even when the other does not seem to deserve it. That’s what God did for us and calls us to do for everyone. The road to reconciliation begins when one party is willing to talk and both are willing to listen. And there's no reason why you can not take the lead.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

What does FELLOWSHIP mean?


I John 1:6 What does “fellowship” mean?
"Fellowship" translates the Greek word koinonia, meaning association, communion, and close relationship. It implies participation in a mutual task and sharing possessions. In Christ, believers are able to enjoy this kind of intimacy with God and with fellow Christians.
Fellowship goes beyond friendship. Believers worldwide enjoy fellowship, though one's range of friendship is much smaller. Because of the bonds of fellowship, Christians who will never meet still feel the joy of participating in joint projects (missionary schools, for example) and often experience quick understanding when they do meet, despite language and cultural differences.
The idea of Christian fellowship makes rivalry interfaith warfare, and tribal suspi­cions nonsensical. Our bond in Christ overcomes social differences. Just as heaven will blend all God's creation, so fellowship blends and bonds people of different backgrounds into one church, one fellowship, one faith.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Why is God said to be "light"


I John 1:5 Why is God said to be “light”
In the Bible, light indicates what is good, pure, and holy. Darkness is synonymous with sin and evil. To say that God is light is to assert that God is perfectly pure and holy. Only God is without sin. He is the standard of perfection and truth by which everything is measured.
The sun—earth's source of light.
Light reveals. Light shows the true nature of things. When confronted by God, people become painfully aware of their own failures and sin. God's "light" brings this painful crisis, then liberates us into true freedom and joy. Like a brilliant spotlight, God guides His creatures out of the dangerous darkness of their sinful lives into a place of safety and peace. Darkness and light cannot coexist (I John 1:5-6). To know God, we must put aside sin.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Who were the Gnostics?


I John 1:1-6 Who were the Gnostics
Who were the Gnostics?
The readers of John's letters were confronted with an attractive yet dangerous challenge to the truth, a religious system called Gnosticism. This term comes from the Greek word for knowledge. The goal of this movement was to acquire secret spiritual insight and special knowledge and thereby achieve a state of existence higher than the norm: enlightenment.

The Gnostics believed in two spheres of reality. The physical world was evil and inferior while the spirit-mind world was good and worthy. One of Gnosticism's ideas, therefore, was that Christ could not have had an actual body. To be truly good, the real Jesus was necessarily a phantom or spirit.

Gnosticism produced two kinds of followers: those who pursued an ascetic life, shunning the evil physical world with its false sensual pleasures; and others who indulged in the physical world precisely because it was inferior. For this group, physical pleasure was okay because it was irrelevant to the "real world," namely, the spiritual.

Both versions of Gnosticism perverted biblical teaching about the value of material creation, the relevance of stewardship over the earth (including our bodies), and the importance of moral care. To imagine that Jesus was mere spirit was extremely dangerous to the Bibles consistent teaching that God became a man. To seek enlightenment in abstracted ideas was to direct the soul away from the personal God of love. John directed early believers to avoid this heresy, as we should today. Learn the faith from biblical Christians, not from followers of strange aberrations like this.