Bible Info – BT6 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

 

Bible Info – BT6 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

 

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Who should be teaching one another?

 

 

When Paul talks about “ministry” it is never about a hierarchy but Body-of-Christ ministry, just as he does in Ephesians 4:7-15, where Christ gives grace-gifts to the Church (a) by the Spirit to function through not only the “equippers,” which are simply coaches and facilitators by definition, but especially through the “saints FOR the work of ministry to build up the Body-of-Christ . . . unto the stature of the fullness of Christ.”  Who is supposed to be the ministers to do the work?  And what is the purpose of the whole Body doing the ministry?  To “keep from being tossed around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning, by craftiness of deceitful schemes.”  This is subtly pointing at “some who desire to be teachers of the Torah Law of conditional-favor” (b), “false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery” (c), “false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them” (d), “certain people who have crept in unnoticed . . . ungodly people, who pervert the unconditional-favor-of-grace of our God into sensuality and deny our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (e).  And we know many of them were also “in it for the money” – not at all my motivation because I have a job – see Donations. <Notes> a) v. 4:7-8, b) 1 Timothy 1:7, c) Galatians 2:4, d) 2 Peter 2:1, e) Jude 1:4.

 

Now in Ephesians 4:15 Paul says that the Body-of-Christ “saints” should be the ones “speaking the truth in/by/with unconditional-love,” but this has absolutely nothing to do about “lovingly being honest with people,” which is just another “wind of doctrine” that has “tossed people about,” because in context it has to the with “the unity of The-trusting-relying-Faith” (a) and “The unconditional-Love” (b) that are always linked together in the NT, because they are the only 2 commandments of the New Covenant!  “The Truth” is always Jesus Christ, His Spirit, and His logos gospel message about Himself.  Do you see how false teaching gets started – taking verses out of context? <Notes> a) Ephesians 4:13, b) Ephesians 4:15-16.

 

So, if you are a Spirit-kind-of person, then please add your comments in this website – they are vitally important!  We absolutely need each other to sharpen each other’s revelations from the Lord to build the Church up and grow up into the fullness of God (a).  That’s what Paul proseuchomai conversationally-prays for Christians to experience! <Notes> a) Ephesians 3:14-19.

 

But Jesus says, “be wise as serpents” for a good reason as you minister (a)!  I wouldn’t even bother “casting your pearls to the pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you” (b), because again “the natural man absolutely in fact does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is in fact not able to understand them because they are Spirit-kind-of discerned” (c) – see New Covenant Ways – BT16.  You are wasting your breath! <Notes> a) Matthew 10:16, b) Matthew 7:6, c) 1 Corinthians 2:14.

 

 

As a Christian musician, what do you think your role as an “equipper” is and as a “saint doing the work of ministry?”

 

 

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Bible Info – BT5 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

 

Bible Info – BT5 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

 

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“Testing prophecy” or anything that anybody says against the bible?

 

 

Sure it was “nobler” for Jews in Berea to double-check what Paul referenced in the OT scripture (a), but these were unbelieving Jews that Paul was preaching the gospel to, the same doubters that beat him 3 times to the point of death!  They were not Gentiles nor where they even Christians!  Not one NT writer tells any Christian to “test prophecy against scripture” or even to “test prophecy against the bible.”  Not one!  Yet I’ve heard this stated 100s of times from church people!  What does the bible actually say about “testing” what others say?  You’ll see that I heavily document what I say, for those “doubting Thomas types” (b). <Notes> a) Acts 17:11, b) John 20:24-28.

 

1 John 4:1 says, “I strongly urge you to ongoingly have trusting-relying-faith [but] not in possibility in every spirit, but instead I strongly urge you ongoingly test/examine (a) the spirits (b) whether they actually, ongoingly are out from God, for many false prophets have already gone out, with ongoing results, into the world.”  I love the “gone out” play in words!  The Greek word order is so much more accurate than English translations – O, yes we should “ongoingly have trusting-relying-faith,” just “not in every spirit,” because John wants us to have it in the Holy Spirit!  The apostle John wants us to “investigate the spirits” because he wants us to find the real thing – the Holy Spirit.  This is not like the inquisitions of the Jews done to stamp out the gospel nor of the Catholics from 200AD on to stamp out the control of the Holy Spirit.  It is an enquiry to find the genuine Spirit<Notes> a) testing in order to prove what is genuine, b) including the Holy Spirit.

 

John’s “testing of spirits” is absolutely not what the “traditions of men” in the Church have made it out to be – “testing prophesy against the bible.”  Like I said, I’ve heard that 100s of times, but it’s not even biblical!  First of all, John tells what “the test” is in 1 John 4:2-3:  “By this you actually, ongoingly, experientially, relationally know (a) the Spirit of God.”  This is not gnosis info-knowledge you get from a book like the bible by reading, studying, or debating it like the Jews did, but what you can experience from the Holy Spirit if you do the following:  “Every ‘spirit’ that actually, ongoingly confesses (b) that Jesus Christ has already come, with ongoing results, in the flesh actually, ongoingly is from God (that means it’s the Holy Spirit), and/coupled every ‘spirit’ that does NOT in possibility actually, ongoingly confess (c) Jesus is absolutely in fact NOT from God.”  This is the entire “test!”  There is no referring to a book to see if IT said something, and certainly not OT scripture.  You have to ask these pointed questions of the prophet and listen with discernment to their response – see New Covenant Ways – BT16!  One of the Spirit’s grace-gifts is the “discernment of spirits” (c).  The Body-of-Christ was supposed to “weigh in on what was 2-3 prophets at a time said” (d).  “Everything was to be tested, holding on what is good” (e). <Notes> a) ginosko, b) homologeo: ‘speaks together’ the same logos message, c) 1 Corinthians 12:10, d) 1 Corinthians 14:29, e) 1 Thessalonians 5:21.

 

Simply:  If the possibility arises where a ‘spirit’ in a prophet under ‘investigation’ doesn’t “confess Jesus came in the flesh” then you know for sure the prophet isn’t from God.  So the simple ‘test’ was to ask the prophet to “confess that Jesus has come in the flesh” (a).  Why that?  Because there was a early Christian heresy called “Docetism” that “affirmed that Christ did not have a real or natural body while on earth but only an apparent or phantom one” (b).  <Notes> a) cf. 2 John 1:7, b) Encyclopedia Britannica.

 

The NT speaks a lot about Jesus coming in the flesh, being made like us in every way but without sin, so that He can sympathize with us, and fully represent us as the “Son of Man” (a) and give His life in perfect exchange for our lives, which is called “propitiation” – sacrificial atonement by exchanging One life for many lives (b).  Interestingly, what John says: “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (c) corresponds exactly to what Barnabas (though possibly Paul) said:  “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. . . . Therefore He had to be made like His brethren in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.  For because He himself has suffered when [He was] tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted” (d).  When I wrote this I just broke out in tears – a confirmation from the Spirit how important this is for us!  A false prophet could not confess this – only the Spirit of God can! <Notes> a) Jesus called Himself the “Son of Man” 83 times, b) such as Isaiah 53:3-4; John 1:14; Philippians 2:5-8; Colossians 1:14-15; 2:8-10; Romans 3:25, 5:19, 8:3; Hebrews 2:9-11, 4:15; 1 John 1:1, 2:2, 4:10, c) 1 John 3:8, d) Hebrews 2:14-15, 17-18.

 

But what else from John’s context did Jesus say that the ‘spirit’ of prophets should be able to agree to in order to “confess Jesus?”  John just told us earlier in 1 John 3:23-24 that God only has one officially-decreed compound commandment (a) under the New Covenant Way – one commandment from the Father and one commandment from the Son coupled together:  “And this is His commandment:  That we have trusting-relying-faith in the name (b) of His Son Jesus Christ (c) and/coupled unconditionally-love one another reciprocally just as He (Jesus) has given us commandment (d). Whoever routinely keeps intact (e) His (Jesus) commandments (f) actually, ongoingly abides/lives/remains in God (the Father) and God in him.  And BY THIS we actually, ongoingly, experientially, relationally ginosko know that He (Father) actually, ongoingly abides/dwells in US, by the Spirit whom He (Father) has actually, already given US.”  Certainly, this is the true ‘test’ if someone is actually a Christian, and no actual Christian prophet would have any other ‘spirit’ prophesying within them! <Notes> a) entole, b) person and authority, c) John 6:29, 12:49-50, 15:10, d) John 13:34, 15:12, e) tereo: watches carefully to guard, f) in context:  the 2 of “faith and/coupled love” a Christ preached constantly – see Only 2 Commandments.

 

Now you know the immediate context of 1 John 4:1 “testing of spirits!”  These 2 universally-binding, official decrees of the New Covenant Church that Jesus kept (a) faithfully (b), are the ones the early Church were to also guard faithfully with their lives!  They were to guard them from the false prophets who would absolutely not confess them, let alone teach them!  The only people that will guard these are those whom the Spirit of God actually dwells within, because these are the only 2 entole commandments that Jesus ever entole commanded, for these come from “the Lord who is the Spirit” (c). <Notes> a) tereo = watched over carefully or guarded to keep, b) John 15:10, c) 2 Corinthians 3:18.

 

We also know this to be true from NT study of the coupling of “trusting-relying-faith and unconditional-love” (a) and from early Church records that this was indeed taught to people being prepared for their public “confession of Christ” at their water-baptism, which is called catechism training (b).  Therefore, John’s “testing the spirits” may have indeed included asking them what exactly they did say at their public “confession of Jesus Christ.”  False prophets would not have had such a ceremony and they sure wouldn’t have spouted off 1 John 3:23, because only the indwelling Spirit of God can agree to these things!  For more about this, read the New Covenant Ways page and the book:  Love Revolution:  Rediscovering the Lost Command of Jesus by Gaylord Enns. <Notes> a) 1 Thessalonians 3:6, 5:8; 1 Timothy 1:14, 2:15, 6:11; 2 Timothy 1:13; 2 Timothy 2:22; Revelation 2:19, b) katecheo: Luke 1:4; Galatians 6:6; 1 Corinthians 14:19; Acts 18:25 – see Teach One Another.

 

Paul also tells us how to test prophecy or anything people teach.

 

When the apostle Paul was challenged about what he said was from God, he didn’t tell Christians to examine the scriptures (a) but to call the prophets and other Spirit-kind-of people (b) to confirm God’s message from Paul.  In 1 Corinthians 14:37 he says:  “If anyone actually, ongoingly supposes (c) that he is presently a prophet or a Spirit-kind-of [person], I strongly urge that he genuinely, experientially, relationally epiginosko know that the [plural] things I am actually, presently writing to you are an officially-decreed [singular] entole commandment of the Lord.”  We know from extensive study of entole in the NT under the New Covenant that the only [singular] entole commandment of the Lord Jesus is “that you unconditionally-love one another as I have unconditionally-loved you.” (d).  That’s exactly the point of 1 Corinthians 12-14 – that in using Christ’s grace-gifts by the Spirit, received by trusting-relying-faith, they were to “unconditionally-love one another” in building up the Body through Body-of-Christ ministry<Notes> a) Acts 17:11 was addressed to doubting Jews, b) pneumatikos adjective of pneumaSpirit”, c) forms an opinion, d) John 13:34, 15:12; 1 John 3:23 – see Only 2 Commandments.

 

All the many plural “things” Paul talks about revolve around the completely different-in-kind “new commandment” of Jesus.  Paul didn’t even have them refer to any other of his previous writings to churches as so many Christians would have you do today!  A lot of Jews and Christians argued with Paul, but that was the simple ‘test’ Paul gave them.  Consult the other prophets!  That sounds like something they would do in some charismatic churches today, at least those not being dictated to by the pastor!

 

Paul explains his reasoning in 1 Corinthians 2:6-15 “Among the mature (a) we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age . . . but we impart a mystery, already, with hidden [wisdom] with ongoing results, which God ordained before the world toward/reaching our [present] glory, yet absolutely not in fact one of the rulers of this age understood, . . . for unto us God has revealed [them] thru-the-realizing-channel-of (b) the Spirit . . . now we already have actually not absolutely in fact received the ‘spirit’ of the world, but instead the Spirit out from God, in order that we might already have, with ongoing results, mentally ‘seen’ to perceive/know (c) the things freely having been given to us by God.  And we impart this absolutely not in fact by teachings of human wisdom but in/by/with teachings of the Spirit, routinely interpreting (d) Spirit-kind-of [neuter: things] in/by/with Spirit-kind-of [things].  The natural man (masculine) does not absolutely in fact actually, ongoingly take ahold of [by the hand] the things [neuter: or people] of the Spirit of God for they actually, ongoingly are foolishness to him (masculine) and/coupled he (masculine) is absolutely in fact not actually, ongoingly having enabling-power to experientially, relationally ginosko know them because they are actually, ongoingly Spirit-kind-of (neuter) judged/critiqued-within (e).  Moreover, the Spirit-kind-of [neuter: things or people] actually, ongoingly judges/critiques-within truly every-of-a-kind-of (f) [neuter: things or people], but is to be ongoing judged/critiqued-within under no one (masculine).”  Notice the careful use of gender and pronouns!  Natural men (masculine) can’t judge Spirit-kind-of things (neuter)! <Notes> a) teleios: “consummated or mature from going through the necessary stages to reach the end-goal, thus developed into a consummating completion by fulfilling the necessary process or spiritual journey,” certainly not little children, b) dia, c) eido, d) sugkrino: ‘judge/critique with’ other things: comparing, contrasting, and combining, e) anakrino: to judge/distinguish vigorously ‘down to up’ by closely, even forensically, examining, investigating, or interrogating, thus careful study or evaluation, f) pas: every of a kind of, not the whole of.

 

In other words, Paul is saying that if you aren’t a Spirit-kind-of (neuter) person (‘we’ and ‘us’) but a natural man (masculine), then don’t even bother trying to judge/critique-within/discern Paul’s teaching (or ‘ours’), because you have no clue what you are talking about!  But if you are a Spirit-kind-of person like he and those he is writing to are, then Paul “is all ears” to your judgement/critique, because as this applies: “iron sharpens iron as one man sharpens another” (a).  Clay doesn’t sharpen iron, so how can what a person in the “might and power” of the natural man’s “flesh” be able to “judge/critique-within/discern” or “interpret” what is said “by the Spirit” that dwells in a Spirit-kind-of person? <Notes> a) Proverbs 27:17.

 

The wisdom of God that the Holy Spirit teaches is absolutely not accomplished through bible study, but routinely judging/critiquing the other things of the Spirit, which is only validly done by interpreting (a) the things of the Spirit with/against the things of the Spirit.  And in context, this is Paul’s words by the Spirit judged by other words by the Spirit from other people of the Spirit, like himself.  No judgment by the ignorant or outsiders (b) is valid!  These [neuter] “things” sure are not from sacred gramma writings collected into scripture, where graphe is in the femine gender, which I don’t think Paul overlooked! <Notes> a) comparing, contrasting, and combining with other things, b) agnoeo ‘not knowing’: 1 Corinthians 10:1, 12:1, 14:38.

 

As Christian musicians, we can’t fall into the trap of improperly judging prophecy from Christians that are 100% on fire for Jesus, the Son of Man and Son of God, on fire for His logos gospel message of The Truth, who are constantly “confessing” and “guarding to keep” the only 2 NT commandments of trusting-relying-faith and unconditional-love, criticizing them as if these Christian prophets were unbelievers or Jewish-teachers of the Law or Spanish Inquisition torturers!  These were the ones with the evil ‘spirit’ problem!  Yet, I’ve seen so many Christians and churches say they “couldn’t find it in the bible” so they must be false prophets!  Most of what the NT writers preached and taught wasn’t at all in the OT, and what was in many cases was only a “shadow or copy of things still to come” (a).  How much does a “shadow” look like “the substance or reality” casting the “shadow?”  That’s why most of the NT is completely-different-in-kind, the very definition of “new” (b).  We need to “earnestly desire that everybody prophesy” (c), draw even more attention to prophecy through “investigation” and “weighing in” (d) – not quench it through inappropriate criticism (e).  And let’s stop perpetuating that “wind of doctrine” that “all prophecy is to be tested against scripture.”  The NT doesn’t teach this!  Paul called for the “prophets and Spirit-kind-of people to acknowledge the things I am writing to you” and NT Spirit-kind-of people found consensus for “it has seemed good the Holy Spirit and to us” (f).  They didn’t do a bible-study! <Notes> a) Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:5, 9:23, 10:1; 1 Peter 3:21, b) chadash, kainos: fresh, completely different-in-kind, unprecedented, sharing nothing with its predecessors, unique, and superior, c) 1 Corinthians 14:1, 39, d) 1 Corinthians 14:29, e) 1 Thessalonians 5:19, f) 1 Corinthians 14:37; Acts 15:28.

 

As Christian musicians, what has your experience been with “testing/examining prophecy” – positive or negative, help or hindrance?

 

 

 

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Categories: Bible Info

Bible Info – BT4 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

 

Bible Info – BT4 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

 

 

Bible Info - BT4 - Spirit Music Meet-Ups

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I am NOT your teacher!

 

 

I also would not presume to be your teacher (f) because I certainly don’t want to receive greater judgment (a).  Out of 58 uses of “teacher” only 8 (b); or 14% are used of Christians, and the others are either positively referring to Jesus, negatively of the Jewish Law-teachers, or very negatively of demonically-inspired teachers.  I will still side with Jesus when He said, “One is your teacher, so in no possibility call a man ‘teacher’ (c) for you are ALL brethren” (d).  I agree with the apostle John who was closest to Jesus:  “The anointing that you already received from Him (Christ) ongoingly abides/dwell in you, and so you have in fact absolutely no need that anyone should teach you . . . His anointing actually, ongoingly teaches you about ALL things” (e).  Didn’t Jesus say that “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, who the Father will send in My name/authority, He will teach you ALL things” (g), “for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (h), because “when the Spirit of The Truth comes, He will guide you into all The Truth” (i).  So if there are to be other human teachers, they better be teaching what the Holy Spirit is teaching! <Notes> a) James 3:1, b) 1 Corinthians 12:28-29; 1 Timothy 1:11; 2 Timothy 1:1; James 3:1; Ephesians 4:11; Acts 13:1; Hebrews 5:12, c) Hebrew rabbi in Greek is didaskalos: teacher d) Matthew 23:8 – see Teach One Another – BT10, e) 1 John 2:20, 27, f) rabbi, didaskalos, g) John 14:26, h) Luke 12:12, i) John 16:13.

 

So if you feel I am teaching you, I’m only doing what everyone in the Body of Christ should be doing.  About 99% of what I write is simply organizing and presenting the original languages in an unfiltered way, relaying what has already been taught by God, Jesus, His apostles, and prophets throughout the centuries. I write in order to plainly-state biblical truth in a topical fashion so that we can stay focused on “the main things,” so we don’t end up “majoring in the minors.”  I think it was Stephen Covey that said, “The main thing is to keep the main things the main things!”  Again, I don’t consider myself a rabbi or teacher, so please go the Lord yourself in conversational-prayer to get your answers!

 

In this detailed study I’ve included every verse that has anything to do with teaching so that you get the “whole counsel of God” (a) on the subject and not just a few “proof” texts, like so many false teachers do, so be like the “nobler Bereans (b) who examined the OT scriptures daily to see if what the apostle Paul said was true” (c).  Yes, many Jews would care about their OT scriptures, certainly the “nobler” ones.  Paul uses a lot of OT prophetic scripture references to Christ and the New Covenant Way, so that’s what they were checking Paul on. Paul knows his audience, so he certainly wouldn’t speak to Athens and other foreign philosophical Gentiles that way, which was Paul’s next stop after Berea.  He only quotes one thing from the OT and it’s naturally very philosophical (d)! <Notes> a) Acts 20:27, b) Christianity Today notes they were Jews, c) Acts 17:11, d) Acts 17:18-34.

 

Better yet, simply ask the Holy Spirit to simply “guide you into all The Truth (a) so that “you have all informational knowledge (b)” that you need to know on this subject so that “you have absolutely in fact no need that anyone should teach you, but as His anointing actually, ongoingly teaches you about ALL things, and/coupled is trustworthy and thus no lie, just as it has already taught you, remain in/by/with Him” (c). <Notes> a) John 16:13, b) gnosis, c) 1 John 2:20, 27.

 

 

As Christian musicians, what is your input?

 

 

 

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Categories: Bible Info

Bible Info – BT3 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

 

Bible Info – BT3 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

 

 

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Video – Intro to Spirit Music Meetups

 

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My Bible Credentials, Writing Style and Approach for this BLOG website

 

 

 

Because I was a straight-A student in so many classes from 5 bible colleges (a), maybe enough for a Masters in Divinity degree in Exegetical Theology, my training is to do very long, exhaustive studies on biblical topics referencing every bible verse and excerpt from Church history.  I wanted to be absolutely sure about what I believed and spoke about.  So you will see a lot of this from various studies I’ve done over many years.  However, the Lord really delivered me from this obsession a couple of years ago, believe it or not!  He showed me that the scholarly “way” to know Him through “painstakingly searching the scriptures supposing that in them I might lay hold of zoe genuine-life eternal” (b) and accumulating this gnosis info-knowledge about God only “puffs your head up” (c), and my study “table” also turned out to be a “trap or snare” like it did from the scribes and Pharisees who rolled out their scrolls to compare, contrast, study, and debate them – and their study came with a “retribution” or curse of “darkened eyes and bent backs forever” with “a spirit of stupor” (d) – see New Covenant Ways – BT17.  So you won’t see as much of that from me nowadays, I sure hope! <Notes> a) Calvary Chapel Bible College, Moody Bible Institute, Southwest Bible College, Arizona Christian University, and Fuller Theological Seminary, b) John 5:39, c) 1 Corinthians 8:1, d) Psalms 69:22-23; Romans 11:9-10.

 

Once I found out that the NT actually points Christians away from ALL this gnosis info-knowledge toward prophetic visionary eido ‘seeing’ knowledge and toward directly-spoken/heard prophetic rhema words of God in order to gain the Holy Spirit’s connect-the-dots sunesis understanding, then apply this correctly by God’s revelational sophia wisdom, and that this only comes through a genuine, experiential, relational epignosis knowledge of God, I finally could ask the Lord to break my trusting-relying-faith (a) in bible study and instead put my trusting-relying-faith in direct communication with Him through directly-spoken/heard prophetic rhema words and eido mental ‘seeing” to perceive/know visions and dreams.  It’s been a growing process with a few obedient steps of faith forward and then one back, but the Lord is moving me forward.  As I do move forward, I’m getting dreams, visions, and directly-spoken/heard prophetic rhema words almost daily, some of which I will share with you.  The difference between what I had even 1 year ago with bible study and now with direct revelation from God is a night and day experience that I desire for you all.  Jesus, “Open their eyes to eido ‘see’ to perceive/know and open their hearts to feel to genuinely, experientially, relationally epiginosko know You, Amen!” <Notes> a) pistis: relational conviction of trusting reliance.

 

Then why am I including a lot of bible study and Church history in this BLOG website?  Because I realize that many of you are exactly where I was a few years ago!  I wanted biblical proof for everything or I just wouldn’t believe it!  So although I would rather just share with you all that God has personally communicated (b) to me, sadly many of you just won’t believe it.  Your level of trusting-relying-faith just isn’t there yet, and I totally understand.  The NT writers expressed this same frustration, wanting to give their readers “solid food” as if they were “Spirit-kind-of [people],” but actually having to go back to infant’s “milk” as if they were just born-again out of the world if being “flesh-kind-of [people]” (a). <Notes> a) 1 Corinthians 3:1-2; Hebrew 5:12-13, b) see Prophetic Rhema and Knowledge pages.

 

But as Christian musicians, I can say from experience that if you stay in the limited paradigm/mindset of “trusting-relying-faith in bible study to know God,” no matter how sure you are of it, as I once was, it will keep you “snared and trapped” and “your eyes will stay darkened and your backs bent forever” with “a veil that will remain to harden your heart” (e). Your stubbornness will keep you from experiencing zoe genuine-life by the Spirit (a).  If you can’t get out of the “might and power” flesh circle of skill and intellectual prowess, you can’t get into the circle of “in/by/with My Spirit” (b).  You have to surrender control of the former to embrace the latter!  But, like the apostle Paul in this respect for your sake, “I will become all things to all people that by all means I might save (c) some” (d). <Notes> a) Romans chapter 8; John 6:63; 2 Corinthians 3:6 b) Zechariah 4:6, c) soteria: rescue, restore, heal, d) 1 Corinthians 9:22, e) 2 Corinthians 3:7-17.

 

What is your experience with all of this as a Christian musician?

 

 

 

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Categories: Bible Info

Bible Info – BT2 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

 

Bible Info – BT2 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

 

Bible Info - BT2 - Spirit Music Meet-Ups

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Video:  God’s Old Testament “Promise” for the New Covenant is NOT more Scripture to study!

 

 

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I admit the way of the scholar is extremely difficult, but there is a much easier way!

 

 

 

For more on this subject, see New Covenant Ways – BT16 and Least Among You – BT8 .

 

Even after so many years of doing this intense exegetical examination of scripture I’ve found it to be extremely difficult and time-consuming.  Even the scholars disagree with what the actual text and canon really is, let along the meaning of the words.  This really begs the question:  If a perfect God wanted us to perfectly understand sacred gramma writings, wouldn’t he have put them in a language everybody could understand and preserved them perfectly.  Anybody that tells you that everybody really has a good grip on this is selling you property in the Everglades!  This is totally dishonest!  This used to really shake my trusting-relying-faith in the Lord, until I realized that the entire bible keeps saying that God wanted to directly teach us all along and that rejection of this “Plan A” resulted in the Torah Law of conditional-favor written in second-hand logos messages with sacred gramma letters collected into graphe scripture, but Christ came to restore “Plan A,” which is directly-spoken/heard prophetic rhema words through dreams and visions.  We will talk about this also, because this is crucial to a Spirit-powered Christian life and of course worship music!

 

So instead of all this complicated study, you could take an amazingly easy, childlike step of faith to better understand the truth:  You can go “boldly before the throne of unconditional-favor-of-grace” (a) and “routinely be asking, seeking, and knocking until you receive, until you find, and until the door is opened” (b), and for the “eyes of your heart to be enlightened, that you may mentally ‘see’ to perceive/know (c)” (d) in order that “you may be filled with the genuine, experiential, relational epignosis knowledge of His will by the means of every kind of Spirit-kind-of sophia wisdom and related sunesis connect-the-dots understanding” (e).  That really is the “easy button!”  The NT does not have much good to say for bible students of their day but does about being like a child (f). <Notes> a) Hebrews 4:16, b) Matthew 7:7-8; Luke 11:9-19, c) eido, d) Ephesians 1:18, e) Colossian 1:9, f) Matthew 11:25, 18:3, 19:14; Luke 10:21; John 5:39-40.

 

What is your experience with all of this as a Christian musician?

 

 

 

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Categories: Bible Info

Bible Info – BT1 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

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Bible Info – BT1 – Spirit Music Meet-Ups

 

 

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Bible Info – YouTube Playlist

 

Video – Intro to Spirit Music Meetups

 

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Note:  On your phone, PDF documents may only open if you choose the “Save, Replace, or Keep Both” option and then it will be downloaded and notify you of this on the top of your screen.  Open it there or in your Downloads folder and it will give you the option to Open with Adobe Acrobat, Drive, or some other PDF app you have installed on your phone.  If you watch the associated video, it will open in another tab/window so that you can easily bounce back & forth between the PDF doc and the video.  If your screen is big enough you can even arrange the windows next to each other!

 

 

 

The Bible resources and information used in this website - Spirit Music Meet-Ups

The Bible resources and information used in this website:

 

 

The bible verse references from the Old Testament (OT) and New Testament (NT) are from the English Standard Version (ESV), which is well recognized for its “Formal Equivalence” word-for-word accuracy, but I’ve added key words in italics, and sometimes in (parenthesis) or [brackets] from the original Hebrew and Greek texts.  If from the OT, then from the Hebrew Masoretic text, followed by Greek Septuagint LXX text using https://biblehub.com/interlinear/ and https://biblehub.com/interlinear/apostolic/genesis/1.htm, respectively, and confirmed by http://classic.net.bible.org.   However, if from the NT, then the Greek UBS/Nestles critical text is used from https://biblehub.com/interlinear/ and http://classic.net.bible.org.  In the OT, I’ve combined the Greek and Hebrew definitions since Textual Criticism often debates what is a better reading, so why ‘play an all-knowing God’ but instead allow for both possibilities, or leave it to you to research further and/or pray about it.  I often insert the definitions into the text like the Amplified Bible (AMP), Expanded Bible (EXB), and The Passion Translation (TPT) do, especially to fit the contextual meaning, which is always the final step for selecting a word’s meaning.  However, if the definitions are lengthy, I will put them in the <notes> section under the paragraph.  All of these things can nevertheless make my writing more difficult to read, so I apologize for the choppiness, but there’s no other way short of writing excessive commentary to convey the original meaning of the bible!  Still it’s a far cry better than any of the 55 translations I’ve seen at www.biblegateway.com!

 

Also, I’ve kept some vital information in (parenthesis) because it’s for important clarification, especially important verse references, but as I said before, sometimes key Greek and Hebrew words and their special meanings like rabbi (Hebrew for “teacher“), but I often will simply footnote this at the bottom of the paragraph (a) to make it easier for you to read.  Also, I’ve kept some words in [brackets] to show they are added in from the word-meaning or context to help the sentence flow, as when Paul calls for the prophets or Spirit-kind-of [persons] to experientially recognize Paul’s teaching is from the Lord (b) – he didn’t say “test my prophecy against the Old Testament scripture or any of my writings you may be lucky to have,” as too many in church people scream!  Here, Paul uses an adjective pneumatikos Spirit-kind-of” as a noun for the “kind of” people that should do the “testing” – see Bible Info – BT5.  Another example is the definite article “the” that doesn’t always need to be specified for the noun to be considered definite or specific:  “Worshiping by [singular] Spirit and/coupled [singular] Truth” (c) that Jesus calls all Christians to, is NOT human spirit or any other spirits and also is NOT general truth or even “sincerity” as some translators force it to be!  Everywhere in the NT that you see these 2 [singular] words associated, in context they always refer to The Holy Spirit and/coupled Jesus Christ, especially since Jesus said He was “The Truth” (d) – see Intro to Spirit-Promise. <Notes> a) Hebrew rabbi in Greek is didaskalos: teacher, b) 1 Corinthians 14:37, c) John 4:23, d) John 1:14, 17, 14:6; 1 John 5:20; Ephesians 4:21.

 

Many NT Greek words are contextually used completely different from their OT Septuagint use.  For example, logos communication that emphasizes message content in the OT is almost exclusively the holy gramma letters collected into graphe scriptures, thought in the NT logos is only used that way about 1% of the time.  The other 99% of the time it is used for the person of Jesus Christ, called “The logos Word/Message of God” or it refers to His “Great News” gospel logos message of The Truth about Himself (b), and His New (a) Covenant plan of salvation<Notes> a) chadash, kainos: fresh, completely different-in-kind, unprecedented, sharing nothing with its predecessors, unique, and superior, b) John 1:14, 17, 14:6; 1 John 5:20; Ephesians 4:21.

 

 

 

Old Testament Shadows point to New Testament Realities

Old Testament Shadows point to New Testament Realities:

 

 

The NT writers, any good teacher would, purposely use terms Jews are familiar with, but they use them in a completely-different-in-kind way, and they justify this because many verses say that the OT is but “a copy and/coupled shadow of the heavenly things, of the things to come, but the reality belongs to Christ” (a).  It’s entirely ignorant to hold the OT bible up and say “This IS the Word of God” when the NT makes it abundantly clear that the OT “WAS ONCE the logos “Word of God.”  And I’m not saying that accurately either because logos is best translated “message” since it focuses on “rational understanding of the content” of God’s communication through Jesus Christ, the Living & Active Logos! <Notes> a) Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:5, 9:23, 10:1; 1 Peter 3:21.

 

The directly-spoken/heard “Word of God” has always been the prophetic rhema words throughout the OT and NT.  All the promises of actual fellowship, sunesis connect-the-dots understanding, sophia wisdom, genuine-experiential-relational-epignosis knowledge, zoe genuine-life, and Spirit-Power are related to revealed prophetic rhema words, never to studied logos messages of the OT.  Furthermore, these promises are only realized through the gospel’s logos message of the The Truth found in the NT as it refers to Jesus Christ, “the Living & Active Logos of God,” thus becoming the “gospel of our salvation” (a). <Notes> a) Ephesians 1:13; Acts 8:25, 13:26, 15:7; Colossians 1:5.

 

Therefore, “rightly-handling the logos message of The Truth” (a) has absolutely nothing to do with studying/using OT scripture or even any NT writings that aren’t specifically about Jesus and His gospel message!  It’s not even about the study of gnosis bible info-knowledge at all!  We have to remember that biblical words are defined by the consistent contextual use of their writers, not dictionaries, and certainly not by definitions used 100s or 1000s of years earlier under a completely-different-in-kind OT covenant agreement between God and His people – see New Covenant Ways<Notes> a) 2 Timothy 2:15.

 

 

 

The Bible wasn’t written in English and often meaning is “lost in translation”

 

 

There are also many unique Greek and Hebrew idioms that can easily be “lost” in English translations.  For example, “in the name of Jesus” actually means “in the person and authority of Jesus,” like when a policeman says “stop in the name of the law” – see Salvation – BT7.  What they really are saying is “I’ve been given delegated authority and thus represent the full authority of the police department, so you better listen to me!”  Proseuchomai conversational-praying “in the name of Jesus” is using your delegated authority to boldly come before the throne of God as His child washed clean by the blood of Christ – see Salvation – BT6.  Another example, is when Paul says:  “a righteousness that is by faith to faith, just as it is written: ‘the righteous shall live by faith’” (c).  The common Greek idiom “faith to faith” means from “the first step to the last step” on the “walking-all-about journey of life,” especially since Paul often talks about “keeping in step with the Spirit” (a) as you “walk-all-about by-the-means-of the Spirit” (b).  This is similar to “glory to glory” in 2 Corinthians 3:18, which means “one level of glory to another level of glory metamorphic-transformation” that we will experience if we “gaze-with-wide-open-eyes, as with a mirror, at the glory of the Lord . . . for this comes from the Lord [Jesus Christ] who is the Spirit.”  I will endeavor to translate idioms correctly as only SOME bibles do. <Notes> a) Galatians 5:25, b) 2 Corinthians 12:18; Galatians 5:16, c) Romans 1:17 where pistis means “trust, dependence or reliance, and a leaning on of a trustworthy one” – see Obedient Steps of Faith.

 

I’ve also added important grammatical information that is sadly lost in many English translations. Greek is much more specific with words than English is!  For example, the Greek verb’s present tense isn’t just “present” but also “ongoing,” and the present participle adds the idea of “a routine, habitual, lifestyle action.” Whereas the aorist tense would convey the idea of “definitive action, the action viewed as a whole,” not just “an already-past action,” and the perfect tense adds “ongoing results or effects” to an “already-past action.”  Furthermore, to convey the future indicative, I translate “shall” or “shall actually” or “shall actually, in the future” for even more clarity.  English can be very limiting!  For example, the Greek verb esti in the present tense takes more than just the word “is” to convey its full meaning:  most bibles just say “God IS Love” from 1 John 4:8, 16 but it really should be translated “God IS actually, ongoingly defined/exists as Unconditional-Love.”  Yes, that’s a mouthful, but much more accurate!

 

There are even problems with simple prepositions!  If the Greek preposition en is followed by a word in the dative case, scholars will argue that the context rightly determines if it means “IN the location or sphere of,” or “BY the means/instrument of,” or “WITH the company of.”  But God told me when it comes to the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit that all three are true, even though at least 1 scholar I found argues that en pneumati always is limited to “by the means/instrument of The Holy Spirit.”  I will often leave any “in/by/with God” references as is, but if it’s clear by the context that “by the means/instrument of” is intended, that’s what I will do – see my 10-24-20 Dream of running into The Fortress Rock of Christ for rest and safety against demonic attacks.

 

 

 

Greek Prepositions convey far more meaning than English words do:

 

 

For example, the Greek preposition dia, where we get ‘diagnoses’ or ‘diameter,’ means far more than simply “through” or “by.”  It means more than “motion towards/reaching a destination” like pros does, and certainly not “motion into or penetrating toward a destination” like eis does.  Instead dia means “across to the other side, to cross all the way over THRU A CHANNEL, conduit, avenue, or way successfully or thoroughly (back and forth) to REALIZE a destination or goal, especially when used as a prefix.”  For example, dia + krino means “to judge thru-the-realizing-channel-of thoroughly, thus to investigate or discriminate thoroughly either rightly by close-reasoning or wrongly by going too far or vacillating back and forth, as determined by the context.”  An example is our word ‘diagnoses’ that comes from dia + gnosis that means “to informationally-know by thoroughly travelling across or through the subject as if travelling along a CHANNEL of investigation.”

 

Another example of dia used by Peter is:  “Water-baptism now saves you also (a) – not the removal of dirt from the body – but [how you ask? – ] the answer/pledge of a good/clear conscience toward/reaching God [how you ask? – ] dia thru-the-realizing-channel-of the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (b).  Our surrendering “good confession of The-Trusting-Relying-Faith in the presence of many witnesses” (c) doesn’t save us, either more than an ark sitting on dry ground would!  And the water we “actually bury ourselves under, as if dead, that actually joins us to Christ in His burial” (h), doesn’t actually wash sin off us, anymore than the flood waters did for Noah’s family – their “waters” actually washed away the sin of the entire world as a form of judgment!  Why any aspect of water-baptism works for salvation as “deliverance from sin,” is ‘because’ the resurrection of Christ is the REALIZING-CHANNEL – just as Paul says:  “If the Spirit of Him (Father-God) who raised Jesus (Son-God) from the dead is living in you, He (The Spirit) who raised Christ from the dead will also give zoe [eternal] genuine-life to your mortal bodies dia THRU-THE-REALIZING-CHANNEL-OF (g) His (Father-God) Spirit that lives in you” (d).  The Spirit is the “enabling-power of God” (e), so “by His enabling-power God [the Father] raised the Lord [Jesus, His Son] from the dead, and so He (Father-God) will raise us also [by that same enabling-power]” (f).  However, as mentioned earlier, we more often see the use of en pneumati in the dative case to express “by-the-means-of the Spirit.”  See how much is lost in English translations!  <Notes> a) like Noah’s family  was delivered/saved by the means of the ark but THRU-THE-REALIZING-CHANNEL-OF the flood waters to dry ground, b) 1 Peter 3:21, c) 1 Timothy 6:12, d) Romans 8:11, e) Luke 1:35; Romans 15:13, 19; 2 Timothy 1:7, f) 1 Corinthians 6:14, g) the genitive is preferred over the accusative ‘because’, h) Romans 6:4.

 

Another important Greek preposition is kata, which is also used as a prefix as with many prepositions.  It doesn’t just mean “according to or in the same manner as” that English bibles often translate.  It properly means “down from a higher to lower plane with special reference to the end-point,” and as a prefix it often means “to bring down exactly or completely.”  For example, Paul says: “For they who routinely are kata down-from/according-to the flesh (c) actually, presently/ongoingly have a mindset/paradigm/worldview (b) on the things of the flesh, but those kata down-from/according-to the Spirit the things of the Spirit” (a).  In context, people are either getting their commands/dictates down-from “the flesh” or “The Holy Spirit,” each having dominion over the person’s identity.  And you can tell ‘whose who’ by looking at where their “mindset-paradigm” concerning this world is!  <Notes> a) 8:5, 12-13, b) phroneo, c) see Man’s Might and Power and Man’s Identity

 

 

 

Other Greek Grammar conveys far more meaning than English does:

 

 

There are even problems with simple conjunctions!  For example, the Greek conjunction kai often translated “and” is misleading because de is used when simply adding items to a list, like “this, that, and (de) the other thing,” whereas kai most often means “and coupled” to indicate an integral relationship, so I translate it as “and/coupled.”  However, sometimes kai has a cumulative force as “and thus, even, moreover, indeed,” which I will translate variously as best fits the context.  A good example is 1 John 3:23 that clearly indicates only 1 commandment from God for the completely-different-in-kind New Covenant, but then breaks this into 2 commandments integrally linked together with kaitrusting-relying-faith in God’s Son Jesus kai and/coupled unconditionally-loving one another.

 

There are other grammatical nuances invisible to English.  For example, I also insert [singular] or [plural] into the text when the “number” of the noun is significant to the meaning.  For example, oftentimes a [singular] number of a noun has the force of the definite article “the,” like pnuema (a) or aletheia (b).  Number is also helpful in personal pronouns like “you” [singular] or “you-all” [plural].  I insert “actually” for the indicative case, since it really happens, whereas I insert “may” or “might” for the subjunctive case of “possibility.”  I insert “I strongly urge you” for the imperative case. <Notes> a) The Holy Spirit, not human or a demonic spirit, b) The aletheia Absolute Objective Truth about God as Jesus Christ or His gospel logos message of The Truth, not personal subjective truth or sincerity as too many bibles err.

 

Furthermore, there are many other very specific Greek words that it takes many English words to describe!  For example, “faith” and “believe” in English are 2 different words with 2 different English meanings, albeit with some overlap as “a mental agreement,” but in Greek they are respectively a noun pistis and verb pisteuo of the SAME Greek word that means the SAME thing, which has little to do with mere “mental agreement” but instead means “relational conviction of trusting, depending reliance” – you can’t have New Testament “trusting-relying-faith” in a thing, only a person, and it’s a ‘conviction’ to the degree we have some kind of relationship with that person we are having trusting-relying-faith in!  It’s really “trust in a trustworthy one” or “faith in a faithful one!”  You would never get this reading your English bible!

 

The Dynamite-like Enabling Power of God is the Holy Spirit:

 

 

Another example, is the Hebrew chayil or Greek dunamis which means “strength, ability, or enabling-power to perform or achieve,” where we get the word ‘dynamic’ or ‘dynamite.’  It’s often used to describe the supernatural enabling-power of the Holy Spirit.  Remember than en pneumati similarly means:  “by-the-means-of [singular] Spirit” as the “Doer or Action-Hero” of God!  This is often contrasted to the Hebrew koach or Greek ishus describing man’s “internal capacity of firmness, vigor, strength, might, ability, efficiency, force, and power or control over external things including immediate resistance,” which is exactly the “power” of Zechariah 4:6’s “might and power” that God is replacing with “by-the-means-of My Spirit” for the New Covenant.  You would never get this reading your English bible!

 

Another example is the English words “joy” and “grace,” that appear to be unrelated.  But in Greek respectively, chari is “the awareness, acknowledgment, or experiential, relational ginosko knowledge of charis,” which is “the unearned, unmerited, unconditional-favor of God.”  Also, Torah/Nomos Law of conditional-favor and charis unconditionally-loving-favor-of-grace are exactly opposite in their very nature (a):  The Law is based on the “earned, merited, deserved, conditional-favor” of God, thus like a “wage obligated/due for our work/doing” (c) FOR God.  However, grace is defined as the opposite:  “the unearned, unmerited, undeserved, unconditional-favor” of God, thus a “free grace-gift of God based solely on His unconditional-love, so that no one can boast” (b).  Therefore, I’ve inserted into the text these key meanings whenever possible. <Notes> a) John 1:17; Romans 6:14-15; Galatians 2:21, 5:4, b) Ephesians 2:8-9, c) Romans 4:4.

 

 

 

 

 

Nevertheless, there are good translations, especially the more “Formal-Equivalent” ones like:  English Standard Version (their study bible has great notes), The Passion Translation (great notes), New American Standard Bible, Disciples’ Literal New Testament, Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament, Green’s Literal Translation, and Young’s Literal Translation.  The Amplified Bible and Expanded Bible are great to see more word meaning possibilities, but are still inserting it into the next makes for slow reading and I’ve found they still aren’t thorough enough.  Although I agree with the approach of dynamic-equivalent “thought-for-thought” bibles, I have found that many of these have interjected a lot of theological bias and modern words that actually convey different ideas than what was originally intended, especially:  New International Version, New Living Translation, and New Revised Standard Version.  I like the Good News Bible (Today’s English Version) for the illustrations and ease of reading. Lastly, most ‘Free’ translations have too many translational errors in them, like:  Message Bible and the Living Bible.  The J.B. Phillips New Testament is scholastically sharp!  The New Century Versions and The Voice give you a good perspective while making it easy to read, but don’t build doctrine off them!  Actually I personally wouldn’t build doctrine off of any English translation!

 

 

 

Good Bible Study Resources - Spirit Music Meet-Ups

Good Bible Study Resources:

 

 

Good online resources are:  biblegateway.com for comparing multiple translations to alert you to apparent discrepancies; classic.net.bible.org is the online NET bible for original languages, emphasizes word order, grammar, and has good definitions; biblehub.com is excellent for definitions and Septuagint text confirmation; wikipedia.org is great for Church history and subject research, wiktionary.org is great for definitions, and earlychristianwritings.com is vital for early church documents.

 

Good reference books are:  Strong’s Lexicon and Exhaustive Concordance, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature (a), Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament  (b) , Commentary on the Old Testament (c), Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (d), Sparkling Gems from the Greek (f), and New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology and Exegesis (e). I used to have 100s of great books, but now the computer is much faster! <Notes> a) Danker, b) Kittel, c) Keil & Delitzsch, d) Harris & Waltke, e) Silva, f) Renner.

 

Good Church history resources are:  Right Here, Right Now – Living the Anointed Life with Jesus and Each Other by www.HeavenReigns.com, Pagan Christianity – Exploring the Roots of Church Practices by Frank Viola and George Barna, Re-imagining Church – Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity by Frank Viola, and Christian Mythology – Revelations of Pagan Origins and Christianity – the Origins of a Pagan Religion by Philippe Walter.  Other books are mentioned through the website.

 

 

Do you have any resources or advise for those that really want to go to all this trouble to exegetically determine what the bible really says?  If so, please add to the comments below.

 

 

 

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