Obedient Steps of Faith – BT10:  Our faith is the limiting factor to learning from God by the Spirit

 

 

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See also Obedient Steps of Faith – BT6. 

 

I can say from personal experience that if you stay in the limited paradigm/mindset of trusting-relying-faith in bible-study to only know gnosis information ABOUT God, no matter how sure you are of it as I once was, it will keep you “snared and trapped with a payback/retribution with your eyes staying darkened and your backs bent forever” (a), also with “a veil that will remain un-lifted to harden your heart” (b)  – see New Covenant Ways – BT17 and – BT18.  Being trapped by a religious book, your stubbornness will keep you from experiencing zoe genuine-life ‘by-the-means-of-the Spirit” (c).  <Notes> a) Romans 11:9-10 citing Psalm 69:22, b) 2 Corinthians 3:14, c) Zechariah 4:6.

 

Many Christians simply have not grasped the complete difference between the old covenant WAY of obedience FOR God that puts your trusting-relying-faith in your own “might and power” of Zechariah 4:6 and the completely-different-in-kind New Covenant “Living WAY” that puts your trusting-relying-faith  in “by-the-means-of My Spirit, says Yahweh of hosts” – see New Covenant Ways.

 

If you can’t get out of putting your trusting-relying-faith in the external resources and internal skills & intellectual prowess of your “might and power” or flesh, you simply can’t get into the realm of “by-the-means-of My Spirit resources and abilities (a).  You have to surrender control of the former to embrace the latter because the flesh and Spirit oppose each other (b)!  If you want the Apostle Paul’s experience, you have to make the same trade:  “Whatever gain-profit I had, I have already [with ongoing effects] counted as detrimental-loss dia through-the-realizing-channel-of The Christ.”  <Notes> a) Zechariah 4:6, b) Galatians 5:16-17, 25-26.

 

Paul continues:  “Therefore indeed I also presently/ongoingly count ALL things as detrimental-loss dia thru-the-realizing-channel-of the surpassing excellent-worth of the gnosis informational-knowledge (a) of/belonging-to Christ Jesus my Lord, dia through-the-realizing-channel-of Whom I have already experienced-the-loss of ALL things kai and/now presently/ongoingly count-as skubalon ‘garbage thrown to dogs’ in order that I may gain Christ and/coupled be found in Him, in-possibility-NOT having my-own righteousness that [is] ek out-from the Law, but instead that which [is] dia through-the-realizing-channel-of trusting-relying-faith of/belonging-to Christ, the righteousness ek out-from God [that is] upon [the base of] The Trusting-Relying-Faith” (The Christian Faith) (b).  In context, Paul had listed all His accomplishments as a dedicated student and teacher of the scriptures, but it was worthless to him now! <Notes> a) a rare moment that Paul ever speaks positively of gnosis, b) Philippians 3:7-11.

 

What keeps you stuck in “might and power” is pride, conceitedness, or arrogance, but “God opposes the proud but gives unconditional-loving-favor-of-grace to the humble” (a) who “reverentially-fear-with-awe Him” (b).  Otherwise you will “become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil” (c), becoming “arrogant people” (d), just as are all false-teachers (e).  “The pride of life . . . is from the world” (f) and is an “evil thing that comes from within to defile a person” (g), and such people God “scatters” (h).  The unconditional-love of the Spirit (i) simply is not arrogant (j).  Thus overseers-bishops-elders “must in-possibility-NOT be arrogant” (k).  However, the last days will see many people who are “lovers of self, . . . proud, arrogant . . . swollen with conceit” (l).

 

<Notes> a) James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5 citing Proverbs 3:34 and Isaiah 54:7; cf. Philippians 2:3, b) Romans 11:20, c) 1 Timothy 3:6, d) 1 Corinthians 4:19, e) 1 Timothy 6:3-4, f) 1 John 2:16, g) Mark 7:22-23; cf. James 4:16, h) Luke 1:51, i) Galatians 5:22; Romans 15:30; Colossians 1:8; 2 Timothy 1:7, j) 1 Corinthians 13:4, k) Titus 1:7, l) 2 Timothy 3:2-4.

 

Is your trusting-relying-faith limited to God only being able to speak to you through a bible of men’s writings who once had first-hand contact with God, but hundreds of years after this fact, were loosely collected by many other men, many who were no longer directly in contact with God, especially if you read the early Church writings to see that many were very politically motivated?  Then that is YOUR limitation.  If you can still do this after reading Bible Info and finding out that countless manuscripts have been lost or destroyed by the ravages of time and warring invasions, and that scholars are still arguing over what the actual text is from those manuscripts that we have found, let alone an accurate translation of them, then that’s YOUR limitation and you get what your trusting-relying-faith can accept!  Your reality is limited by your faith!

 

If you simply don’t believe these facts I’ve state, start using Wikipedia and other scholarly resources to dig into these topics:  Bible Manuscripts, Textual Variants, Textual Criticism, Bible Translation, and Bible Canon – see Bible Info – BT1.  You will be absolutely shocked that many of YOUR views of the bible gathered from pulpit and Christian book tidbits are just not based on much fact!

 

The NT writers didn’t intend for their letters to be collected into a book, which took 300 years!  There’s absolutely no evidence of this!  They spent most of their time preaching the gospel (a), as they were commissioned to this (b), not be a scribe (c) or teacher (d), even to bear-witness/testifying to the end of the ages, even despite persecution (e), not writing the bible!  When people akouo heard-to-understand/know Jesus speak/preach His gospel logos message, not read about Him in a book, that’s when they could respond with trusting-relying-faith (f), just as in the NT Church (g).

 

<Notes> a) Acts 4:31, 6:2, 7, 8:14, 25, 40, 10:36, 11:1, 12:24, 13:5, 7, 46, 14:7, 21, 15:17, 16:10, 17:13, 18:11; Romans 1:15, 20, 16:25; 1 Corinthians 1:17, 9:14, 16, 18, 15:1; 2 Corinthians 2:12, 8:18, 10:16, 11:4, 7; Galatians 1:8-9, 11, 2:2, 3:8, 4:13; Ephesians 6:19; Philippians 1:14; Colossians 1:23, 25; 2 Timothy 2:8-9; 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 8, 2:9, 13; 2 Thessalonians 3:1; Titus 2:5; 1 Peter 4:6; Hebrews 13:7; Revelation 14:6, b) Matthew 24:14, 26:13; Mark 13:10, 14:9, 16:15; Luke 24:47-48; Acts 1:2, 10:42; Titus 1:3; 1 Corinthians 9:14, c) 1 Corinthians 1:20, d) Matthew 23:8, e) Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:9; Luke 21:13; John 15:27, 21:24; Acts 8:25, 20:24; Philippians 1:13-14; 2 Timothy 1:8; Revelation 12:11, f) John 2:22, 4:42, 50, 5:24; Luke 8:12-15, g) Acts 4:4, 13:48, 15:7, 18:8, 21:20; Romans 10:14, 16; Ephesians 1:13.

 

However, the preached gospel was also taught as the sound doctrine of trusting-relying-faith, unconditional-love, and godliness to preachers-in-training of high moral character to correct those who would contradict it (a).  THIS is the “logos message of/belonging-to Christ that is to dwell in us richly” (b).  It is the “logos message of God” that dwells [by the Holy Spirit] in Christians to overcome the evil one (c).  The “logos message of God” that makes all things (d) holy isn’t the OT but the preached gospel logos messages of The-Trusting-Relying-Faith (The Christian Faith) (e); the “goodness (f) of the preached gospel “logos message of God and/coupled the dunamis enabling-power [of the Holy Spirit] of the age to come” that early Jewish-Christians had already “tasted” (g), and in context that was signs, wonders, and miracles. <Notes> a) Galatians 6:6; 1 Timothy 1:10, 4:6, 6:3; 2 Timothy 1:13; Titus 1:9, 2:1, 5, b) Colossians 3:16; 1 John 1:10, c) 1 John 2:14, d) even that forbidden by the OT, e) 1 Timothy 4:5-6, f) see ‘good grace-gifts’ of Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13, g) Hebrews 6:5.

 

But when the disciples did write, it usually was to individuals (a), individual churches (b) or individual groups within churches (c) to address specific issues like combating deception from teachers (d), rarely to explain the gospel (e), and often because they couldn’t speak in person (f).  <Notes> a) Philemon 1:19, 21; 2 John 1:1, 12; 3 John 1:1, b) 1 Corinthians 4:14; 2 Corinthians 9:1; Philippians 3:1; Colossians 4:18; 2 Thessalonians 3:17; 1 John 2:13-14; Revelation 1:11, c) Gentiles in Acts 15:19-20, d) 1 John 2:21, 26; Jude 1:3; 1 Timothy 1:3-4, cf. 1 John 3:7, 2 John 1:7, e) Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1, f) 2 Corinthians 13:10; 3 John 1:13.

 

If the NT writers did write something for a general audience, their stated purpose sure wasn’t for later analysis, study, dogma, creeds, apologetics or theology as religious men later have treated them!  They would be appalled we have done with their writings!  Case in point is the stated purpose of John’s gospel to the general public:  “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are absolutely-in-fact-NOT written in this book; but these things are written so that you might presently/ongoingly have trusting-relying-faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and/thus in order that you’all routinely/habitually have trusting-relying-faith [then] you’all might take-hold-to-have zoe genuine-life in His name/authority” (a) and ends with “This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things,  . . . Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”  Evidently, that was NOT their mission! <Notes> a) John 20:30-31.

 

Furthermore in his later letter to Christians, John said:  “I write these things to you’all in order that you might presently/ongoingly eido mentally ‘see’ to perceive/know (a) that you presently/ongoing have zoe genuine-life everlasting, those who are routinely/habitually having trusting-relying-faith in the name/authority of the Son of God” (b).  Paul’s treatise to the Roman world states his purpose for his preaching in the beginning:  “to bring about the obedience of trusting-relying-faith for the sake of Christ’s name/authority among all the nations” (c) and at the end says:  “made known to all nations . . . to bring about the obedience of trusting-relying-faith (d).  Jude says:  “I found it necessary to write to you parakaleo close-beside-encouraging to focus-on-contending for The Trusting-Relying-Faith (The Christian Faith) that was once for all delivered to the saints” (e). <Notes> a) based on a past action: perfect tense, b) 1 John 5:13, c) Romans 1:5, d) Romans 16:26, e) Jude 1:3.

 

However, if you have trusting-relying-faith in God’s promised-Spirit that you can akouo hear first-hand just as much as the original writers did, even from such verses about “The Promise” as Acts 1:4, 2:17-18, 33, 39, then that’s exactly what you will get also!  Our trusting-relying-faith is the only thing that limits our ability to have genuine, full, experiential, relational epignosis knowledge of God thru proseuche conversational-prayer.

 

 

 

 

 

Spiritual Education, Faith in only bible-study to know God is a trap of darkened eyes & bent backs, Paul was an expert bible-student but counted it as LOSS compared to personally knowing Christ, Pride of bible-knowledge is opposed by God, Bible-knowledge is fraught with SO MANY inaccuracies so it’s not the basis of solid faith, Apostles commission to preach the gospel NOT write, Limited specific reasons that anything was written, New Testament writers never envisions a bible, Faith to know God the same way the early disciples did – by the Spirit thru prayer