Does YHWH have a secret meaning?
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“God is not pleased by the herculean efforts some people go to look so hard for hidden meanings—whether linguistic or allegorical or what have you—that they miss the simple point of what he said.” - Mark Ward
As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“God is not pleased by the herculean efforts some people go to look so hard for hidden meanings—whether linguistic or allegorical or what have you—that they miss the simple point of what he said.” - Mark Ward
“it’s safe to say that they didn’t consider God’s name too sacred to use in transliteration. Finally, we can eliminate the idea that they did so out of fear of the Jews…. let’s explore some other possibilities.” - Text & Canon
Can you lose your salvation? Some teach that you can. Others feel like they have. But what does the Word of God promise regarding the eternal security of those who have truly trusted Christ as their Savior?
Read the series.
(Psalm 2:7-9; Psalm 91:1; Matthew 4:5-7, 10)
In the last installment, we began to ponder the temptation of Jesus from the angle of rabbinic debate and midrash, Satan pitted against Jesus. We introduced this subject and looked at the first temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Today we will discuss Yeshua’s final two temptations. It is probable Jesus and Satan engaged in much more discussion than is recorded. We must remember that the Gospels are brief summaries.
“Theologians in the Great Tradition testified to God’s self-disclosure in creation, but they were not satisfied to merely acknowledge the existence of natural revelation. No, they wanted to read and exposit God’s ‘second book’ ” - Credo
“Repeatedly, Solomon encourages us first to find and take joy in these ordinary aspects of life. And second, he urges us to recognize that these are good gifts from God” - Ligonier
“This Scripture-first approach has produced powerful and important insights into such thorny issues as God’s will, human freedom and divine foreknowledge.” - CPost
“Three questions guide the investigation: 1) Does this clause belong in the Creed in the first place? 2) To what does it refer, and 3) where is it taught in Scripture?” - DBTS Blog
“Although I agree that Paul does not provide all the particulars of his thorn in the flesh, he nevertheless identifies the thorn directly as ‘a messenger of Satan.’” - Wyatt Graham
Most of us would say that if you truly have turned from your sin and trusted in the work of Jesus Christ for your salvation, you will definitely be saved.
But how can your be sure that your faith is genuine? There lies the issue.
Many of us were told, based upon I John 5:13, that we could and should be sure we are saved. I believe there is merit in such an application. Yet, at the same time, “these things” refers to the evidences of genuine conversion John has just mentioned in his letter.
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