God

[B-A-C]

I continue to be amazed at how many different views of God are here on TalkJesus.


1 Tim 2:5; For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Mal 2:10; "Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?

1 Cor 8:4; Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one.
1 Cor 8:5; For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,
1 Cor 8:6; yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

2 Sam 7:22; "For this reason You are great, O Lord GOD; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

1 Chron 17:20; "O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

Isa 43:10; "You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.

Rev 22:13; "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Isa 44:6; "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.

Deut 5:7; 'You shall have no other gods before Me.

Exod 20:3; "You shall have no other gods before Me.

First and foremost there is only ONE God. There are millions of false gods and idols, but there is only ONE God.

Exod 20:4; Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exod 20:5; Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

God is a jealous God, and doesn't want us to worship any other gods.

Mark 12:29; And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Gal 3:20; Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

 

[B-A-C]

We are supposed to love God. No where does the Bible says we are supposed to love "many gods"

Deut 6:5; "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

Deut 10:12; "Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deut 11:13; "It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul,
Deut 11:22; "For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him,

Deut 13:3; you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

There is plenty of talk these days about how much God loves us, but how much do you love Him? We are even "commanded" to love God. To some it is odd that loving God is a requirement.
After all you can't force love love can you? Nonetheless, it is the first and foremost commandment, Jesus said it was the greatest commandment.

Dan 9:4; I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed and said, "Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,

Matt 22:37; And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
Mark 12:30; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.'
Luke 10:27; And he answered, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."

Jude 1:21; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.

 

[Dave M]

are we suppose to demand things from God?

 

[B-A-C]

The Bible is full of warnings about those who follow after and worship other gods.

Exod 20:23; 'You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.
Exod 23:13; "Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.
Deut 5:7; 'You shall have no other gods before Me.
Deut 6:14; "You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you,
Deut 7:4; "For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.
Deut 8:19; "It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish.
Deut 11:16; "Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them.
Deut 11:28; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.


Deut 28:14; and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Deut 28:36; "The LORD will bring you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone.
Deut 28:64; "Moreover, the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known.

Josh 23:16; "When you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which He has given you."

Jdg 2:12; and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger.
Jdg 2:17; Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do as their fathers.

I found over 60 similar verses, I won't post them all here, but I think this enough that you get the idea. We are Not to follow after or worship any other gods.

2 Cor 6:16; Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

1Th 1:9; For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,
1Jn 5:21; Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

Rev 2:14; 'But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.

 

[B-A-C]

are we suppose to demand things from God?

I wouldn't say "demand". (Which one of you is God?). But I would say He wants us to ask for things.

 

[regibassman57]

@B-A-C,

I wouldn't say "demand". (Which one of you is God?). But I would say He wants us to ask for things.

Ask for "wisdom" because God knows the physical things of this world we have need of. If we seek God's Kingdom what we need will all be added. If a person is a babe in Christ, they "will" ask until they learn to trust God is always on time.

James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

But some Christians desiring this world believe they can ask God for the world. They believe that gain is godliness. They believe if they have this worlds goods, God has blessed them.

1 Timothy 6:6
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
1 Timothy 6:7
For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
1 Timothy 6:8
And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

 

[Wired 4 Fishen]

Greetings Brother @B-A-C
What I find is different groups of Believers here.

Of course you have the babies or new born mentality even with those who should be mature by now.

Then their are those who are Intellectual Believers who lack Spiritual Understanding.
They post tons of scripture to make their point Intellectually and miss out on real understanding just as any unsaved person can see when reading the Bible.

Then their are those who are under good teaching and have gained Spiritual Understanding but get jumped on by the other two groups simply because they have not yet gained understanding.

Folks don't grasp that even if you pull 50 different scriptures to back a claim, if their use violates even one other Scripture then they have not rightly divided scripture and their use or point is in error.

Then there are those who boggle the mind with their far fest claims.

People try to defend all the different denominations but in truth they are born because of what man WANTS to believe.
That's why they do not agree with each other and limit or remove The Things Of God for the N.T Believers.

Blessings and Love in Christ
Wired

 

[B-A-C]

Then their are those who are Intellectual Believers who lack Spiritual Understanding.
They post tons of scripture to make their point Intellectually and miss out on real understanding just as any unsaved person can see when reading the Bible.

Then their are those who are under good teaching and have gained Spiritual Understanding but get jumped on by the other two groups simply because they have not yet gained understanding.

Folks don't grasp that even if you pull 50 different scriptures to back a claim, if their use violates even one other Scripture then they have not rightly divided scripture and their use or point is in error.

Then there are those who boggle the mind with their far fest claims.

People try to defend all the different denominations but in truth they are born because of what man WANTS to believe.
That's why they do not agree with each other and limit or remove The Things Of God for the N.T Believers.

I agree with all you say here.
Yes of course, there are new immature believers.

There are also those who are convinced they are right (aren't we all).
But I've found as a rule, even if they post 50 scriptures, the vast majority is just "fluff"
and has very little to do with proving their point.

 

[Wired 4 Fishen]

But I've found as a rule, even if they post 50 scriptures, the vast majority is just "fluff"
and has very little to

Exactly!!
Like I told a Brother tonight, Having Scripture is very important However having Spiritual understanding is even more important.

Blessings Brother

 

[B-A-C]

Who is God? If the answer is simply some supreme being, then anyone or anything could be God.

But if God has specific attributes about who He is, then all other Gods are false gods that belong to false religions.

Of course Jesus is called God in several verses.

Tit 2:13; looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,

2 Pet 1:1; Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

Heb 1:8; But of the Son He says, "YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM.

There are other verses that "infer" Jesus is God.

John 1:1; In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2; He was in the beginning with God.
John 1:3; All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

The "Word" is God. OK, that's nice... who is the Word?

John 1:14; And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:15; John *testified about Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'"

Who is this Word that became flesh and dwelt among us? Who is this Word that John the Baptist testified about, and said He existed before I did.

Luke 3:16; John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Luke 3:17; "His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
Luke 3:21; Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,
Luke 3:22; and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."

Acts 13:25; "And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.'

It is of course talking about Jesus.

There are several more also....
But even though Jesus is God, God is not only Jesus.

 

[B-A-C]

There is another part of God known as the Father.

John 6:27; "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal."

John 8:54; Jesus answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, 'He is our God';

John 20:17; Jesus *said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'"

Rom 1:7; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 15:6; so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Cor 1:3; Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Cor 8:6; yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
1 Cor 15:24; then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.
2 Cor 1:2; Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Cor 1:3; Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
2 Cor 11:31; The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
Gal 1:1; Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),
Gal 1:3; Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,

I was able find over a hundred verses,... 100... that call God the Father. I won't post them all here,

If Jesus is God and the Father is God... there must be two Gods, right? No there is only one God, made up of more than one individual.
Jesus and the Father are God, but God isn't just Jesus and the Father.

... to be continued ...

 

[B-A-C]

Eph 4:30; Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Some believe the Holy Spirit is just an impersonal force, or just the will of God. However an impersonal force cannot be grieved, however the Holy Spirit can be.

Heb 10:29; How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

An impersonal will cannot be insulted, a will has no feelings.

Rom 8:26; In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

An impersonal force has no conscience, no intellect, it doesn't know right from wrong, yet the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. The Holy Spirit helps us. The verse above
say the Spirit "Himself" intercedes for us. The Spirit is a him-"Self". A self aware being. An impersonal force cannot be a "self".

Matt 28:19; "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

The Father has a name, the Son has a name, and the Holy Spirit has a name.

1 Jn 5:6; This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
1 Jn 5:7; For there are three that testify:

An impersonal force cannot testify. Verse 5 above says it is the Spirit "who" testifies. The Spirit is a who. A person with a conscience.

John 16:7; "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

I will send "Him" to you. The Holy Spirit is a "Him". A being that can be sent to us. Who can comfort us. Who can help us.

So we have the Son (Jesus), the Father, and the Holy Spirit. So are there three Gods? No it's one God made up of three beings.

If God is a supreme being, OK... what are His attributes? If your God is not the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, it's a different God than the God in the Bible.
It's a false god. I would say any other god is is of Satan. Satan himself is called the god of this world.

2 Cor 4:4; in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

The Bible says Satan can disguise himself "as an angel of light".

2 Cor 11:14; No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

There are hundreds of verses in the Bible about the consequences of following after other gods. Make sure you're following the right One.

 

[Quantrill]

I continue to be amazed at how many different views of God are here on TalkJesus.


1 Tim 2:5; For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Mal 2:10; "Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?

1 Cor 8:4; Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one.
1 Cor 8:5; For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,
1 Cor 8:6; yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

2 Sam 7:22; "For this reason You are great, O Lord GOD; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

1 Chron 17:20; "O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

Isa 43:10; "You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.

Rev 22:13; "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Isa 44:6; "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.

Deut 5:7; 'You shall have no other gods before Me.

Exod 20:3; "You shall have no other gods before Me.

First and foremost there is only ONE God. There are millions of false gods and idols, but there is only ONE God.

Exod 20:4; Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exod 20:5; Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

God is a jealous God, and doesn't want us to worship any other gods.

Mark 12:29; And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
Gal 3:20; Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.

While we must strive to be correct in our doctrine from the Bible, when dealing with true believers of God, we always have to allow for differences of emphasis about God. Even if two people have the same exact doctrine and that doctrine is correct, you will still have their own personal relationship with God which is always unique to each believer. You will also have different levels of maturity that you must allow for. Plus, you have God who has given each a different emphasis based on what He is doing with them.

This doesn't mean we allow for false doctrine or teaching. We expose and seek to correct such. But in many other areas we just have to give way. We must know our Source of knowledge and understanding. Whether it be from the Person of God, or the written Word of God. Who is the God we worship? He is the God found in the Bible. What is the Bible? It is the 66 books of the Old and New Testament. That is the only inspired written Word of God on earth.

Quantrill

 

[B-A-C]

you will still have their own personal relationship with God which is always unique to each believer. You will also have different levels of maturity that you must allow for.

Well I don't think God has different doctrines for each unique believer.
But I do agree with you that there are different level of maturity. A new believer who just got saved today may not know all of the attributes of God. I believe there is grace for that.
But this is quite different from people quoting from books, and partial verses that promote a different god to follow.

 

[Quantrill]

Well I don't think God has different doctrines for each unique believer.
But I do agree with you that there are different level of maturity. A new believer who just got saved today may not know all of the attributes of God. I believe there is grace for that.
But this is quite different from people quoting from books, and partial verses that promote a different god to follow.

I started by saying correct doctrine is important and that I was addressing true believers. If you're making a distinction between believers and non-believers , then it doesn't matter what the doctrine of the non-believer is or how mature he is. Are you addressing non-believers on the forum?

As for believers having different doctrines, there is only one way to be saved, but there is without doubt a difference in many doctrines in the Bible.

Quantrill