How to Know God?

[Immanuel Can]

We are a slave to sin so surrender, admit our nothingness, and become a slave to Christ's help for our own salvation

Almost right, Nick. But not quite.

Christ has no "slaves." He has only "children." Those born again become "sons of God," not slaves.

Rom. 8:15 "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons..."

Here's what you need to do, Nick: stick to the text. Let the Scriptures form your thinking and tell you which terms to use, when and how. Let the text tell you how it is. Don't just come up with theories that are not what the Scripture says, and don't add lesser "authorities" into your thinking as if they could speak for the text. If you do, you will simply invariably put yourself out of step with what God has said about these things.

And after all, He would know, right?

[Nick_A]

We are a slave to sin so surrender, admit our nothingness, and become a slave to Christ's help for our own salvation

Almost right, Nick. But not quite.

Christ has no "slaves." He has only "children." Those born again become "sons of God," not slaves.

Rom. 8:15 "For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons..."

Here's what you need to do, Nick: stick to the text. Let the Scriptures form your thinking and tell you which terms to use, when and how. Let the text tell you how it is. Don't just come up with theories that are not what the Scripture says, and don't add lesser "authorities" into your thinking as if they could speak for the text. If you do, you will simply invariably put yourself out of step with what God has said about these things.

And after all, He would know, right?

This is from Romans 7

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.

No feelgoodism here. Paul lays it on the line. He has no need to make up stories serving self esteem. He is what he is and willing to admit it.

[Immanuel Can]

This is from Romans 7

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.

Yes, it is. But read the context, the sentences and paragraphs around it.

Paul is not talking about people who are in a right state of thinking. He's speaking about those who are "wretched" because they don't understand how to escape the sinful nature (Rom. 7:24). And his answer is that the only person who can "set me free from the body of this death" is Christ. You need to realize that the chapter breaks in our modern Bibles are absent from the originals. So chapter 7 rolls straight into chapter 8, which is the answer to the whole problem. Read the first few verses of Chapter 8, and you'll see I'm right. What you'll see is that Paul's not recommending or applauding this kind of thinking: he's exhorting his audience to look beyond it, and to "walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh." (Gal. 5:16-18)

Let the text teach you. Don't try to teach the text what it should say to you.

[Nick_A]

This is from Romans 7

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin.

Yes, it is. But read the context, the sentences and paragraphs around it.

Paul is not talking about people who are in a right state of thinking. He's speaking about those who are "wretched" because they don't understand how to escape the sinful nature (Rom. 7:24). And his answer is that the only person who can "set me free from the body of this death" is Christ. You need to realize that the chapter breaks in our modern Bibles are absent from the originals. So chapter 7 rolls straight into chapter 8, which is the answer to the whole problem. Read the first few verses of Chapter 8, and you'll see I'm right. What you'll see is that Paul's not recommending or applauding this kind of thinking: he's exhorting his audience to look beyond it, and to "walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh." (Gal. 5:16-18)

Let the text teach you. Don't try to teach the text what it should say to you.

Agreed. Paul writes of the inner struggle between the duality of his will and his habits. He can only be freed by the third force or the reconciling influence of the Christ from a higher perspective: the path to the New Man.

The rich man wanted to be freed and asked Jesus what to do in Matthew 19 since he had done everything. Jesus said sell your possessions. He couldn't. This is our situation. We really don't own anything but our attachments to imagination are very strong.

[Immanuel Can]

...the path to the New Man.

This path is in no way latent in, or possible to, the natural Man, though. It is not as though God cultivates or prompts some "seed" already in side us to come to life. Dead is dead. There's nothing in there to prompt. So Man does not get a sort of "spiritual wake-up call" or "enlightenment" that lets him, by his own potential, come to life; rather "you must be born again," as Jesus says; "born from above."

The rich man wanted to be freed and asked Jesus what to do in Matthew 19 since he had done everything. Jesus said sell your possessions. He couldn't.

He could. He didn't. They were his possessions, and the market was open. He wasn't willing. The bottom line was that he was already too attached to what he already had to take hold of what he wanted. Ironically, he already knew, he sensed in his restless heart, that his possessions and his human obedience to God's laws were not getting him eternal life -- that is precisely why he asked Jesus what he still lacked. He'd been a good guy from his youth, he said, and Christ did not deny that he had. But it wasn't enough to get him the certainty he wanted, the guarantee of eternal life.

Jesus offered him the missing piece: give up all that, and "follow Me".

Nope. He couldn't do it. He had to keep holding onto what he already had. And so long as he did, he couldn't have what he was missing; because it was keeping him from wholesale identification with Christ -- he really needed Christ, and nothing else.

Paul speaks of the same thing concerning himself; except Paul had made the right deal. He wrote:

"If anyone else thinks he is confident in the flesh, I have more reason: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Phil 3:4-11)

The same eternal life the Rich Young Ruler sought was found by Paul, by his having given up exactly what the RYR would not give up, to embrace what the RYR would not embrace.

[Nick_A]

I C

In Mark 4 Jesus introduces the parable of the Sower. What in Man receives the Word and can grow with it as a seed does in the world? Natural Man may not have this seed which responds to the Word but I am referring to the part of Man which can. This part may be asleep and totally caught up in life but can awaken or as they say: "see the light."

The purpose of Christianity is to further awakening rather than being moral. Sleeping Man trying to awaken sleeping Man only creates deeper sleep. A seeker of truth must learn how to separate the wheat from the tares in their search to know God and return home

[Immanuel Can]

In Mark 4 Jesus introduces the parable of the Sower.

Yes. Now notice the text: who sows the seed?

What in Man receives the Word and can grow with it as a seed does in the world?

Check again: the "seed" is not something in Man; it's God's word (Luke 8:11). Man is represented by the soils, not the seeds. Text again.

I am referring to the part of Man which can.

The soil starts off with no seeds. What makes the difference? How one chooses to hear. This is why Jesus says, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Text again.

Text, text, text, Nick. If we pay attention to what is actually said, we won't go wrong. If we just use bits of the text to "springboard" some idea of our own, then launch off into realms of whimsey and speculation, we will get confused and never find out what God is saying. Back to the text.

[Nick_A]

I C

Jesus explains the Parable of the Sower:

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”

Some people are like seed along the path but this isn't to say they are the soil. The rest suggests that the seed is Man only able to root in good soil. A true seeker of truth IMO will ask what creates good soil? Plato described it as a good metaxu. But who even knows what it is anymore much less its value.

[Immanuel Can]

Some people are like seed along the path but this isn't to say they are the soil.

The seed is the Word. Christ explicitly says so. Luke 8:11 -- “Now this is the parable: the seed is the word of God."

The rest suggests that the seed is Man only able to root in good soil.

It does not, actually. Check the text.

Notice seed dispersal #3: it roots, springs up, and dies. Only the fourth dispersal is lastingly successful. But even seed dispersal #2 roots long enough to spring up. It's only seed dispersal #1 that is entirely unsuccessful.

So the seed can root in three types of soil, and only one has endurance.

[Nick_A]

I C

13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown.

We agree God sows the word. Then Jesus says some people are like seed where the word is sown. Clearly people are like seed rather than the soil . Am I missing something?

[Immanuel Can]

Jesus says some people are like seed...

Chapter and verse for that please, Nick. (The text, again: let's be ruled by what it actually says.)

[attofishpi]

How to Know God?

ANALYSE EVERYTHING & DON'T ACCEPT EVERYTHING

When I say, analyse everything, I mean right down to peoples names in your past, and if there is any corresponding relationship to your experience of that person. For example, back in 1997 when God introduced itself to me, it made continuous suggestion for me to analyse the English LAN_gauge to a great degree - homophones, phonetics EVERYTHING.

The girl that introduced me to the girl that cause my 'sin' was called Michelle Parker (Me shall park her).
A good friend of mine is called Rommie - she is very spiritually in tune (nowhere near my level now) and she really helped me back in 1997. ROM - she doesn't listen to my Christian stuff much. A street I grew up on was ROMSEY rd. YES_MOR.

A man's best friend is a dog - reversed - God.
It is very hard to LIVE when God is putting you through the (LIVE-EVIL) TEST_amen_T.

Our reality is EXTREMELY like a virtual reality when you see how powerful this entity is - REAL_IT_Y?

When people laugh at the story of Christ converting water to wine - my only quest_ion is what wine? Cabernet Savignon, Shiraz, Merlot etc..?

WIN_e


Mount SIN-AI - Red Sea to scale



God forced me out of office work to do this ART project - still working on some of the pics. When I was short on cash I said to God or my sage - I need money - that week $4500 was deposited into my back account with the transaction title:- BT Portfolio. BT is my true initials. If you don't have FAITH you have DOUBT - DO_U_BT?
https://www.androcies.com/galleryscroll.php

[attofishpi]

Case in point.

I just watched:- Reflection 62. Kiesza - Hideaway (my sage music thread)

...and spotted FAV BTC (BT see) graffitied on a wall. 1:47 in.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=28859&start=60

[Nick_A]

"Do you wish to know God? Learn first to know yourself." - Abba Evagrius the Monk.

The Bible says Man is made in the image of God. Of course this refers to Man before the Fall. After the fall of Man on earth, the Wretched Man, became satisfied as creatures of reaction with fantastic ideas to justify itself. For example It even calls itself an artist" for only egoistic reasons. What will they think of next I wonder?

[attofishpi]

"Do you wish to know God? Learn first to know yourself." - Abba Evagrius the Monk.

The Bible says Man is made in the image of God. Of course this refers to Man before the Fall. After the fall of Man on earth, the Wretched Man, became satisfied as creatures of reaction with fantastic ideas to justify itself. For example It even calls itself an artist" for only egoistic reasons. What will they think of next I wonder?

Fall? U R one.

How gullible U R to even consider the buy_bull as ALL truth.

Who arts in heaven? I do. Je sus - I sussed IT out.