Not mud, but right on. This goes back to something I stated earlier - - some people take the old King James Version (not knocking it, just pointing out weaknesses) and use it as the ultimate authority on what the original writing is all about. The word in the original Hebrew that has been translated as "fear" is somewhat incorrect. In the Hebrew, the word means respect, honor, hold in high esteem. The usage in the New Testament, written in Greek, has likewise been translated as "fear," yet tracing the root word tranlates as being afraid, having respect, honor, realizing a consequence. There is a consequence of breaking the law - - I don't need to fear the policeman unless I break the law - - he is there to be my friend in my time of need. Even as I held my father in high esteem and respected him because of his character, I hold my Heavenly Father in high esteem for the same reasons. And, just as my earthly father was one of my best friends, my heavenly Father is my best friend. He created me to have "communion" with him, and this does not mean something we partake of in church - - it means a close relationship with. He lives in me - - I am not afraid of Him, I cherish His being with me. I also respect the consequences of my disobedience in following His plan for me or in not accepting His son as my Savior. When we accept the work of Jesus in salvation, the Godhead comes to dwell in us and we in the Godhead. That is why He created us. We are not to be afraid of Him, rather be His friend and He our friend.

 

So what you're saying is, you're hoping your father shows favoritism and overlooks the law! I'm sorry, I shouldn't make my usual sarcastic comments in a thread that you've taken the time to try and explain something I wanted to know in the first place. But you know me...

And yes, that DOES make sense.

Okay, my next question, (this is all starting to come together for me now, but it's also raising MORE questions in my slower than normal mind); Just how does one 'accept' Jesus. To my way of thinking, there's nothing to accept. He is Jesus, God's Son. He did what's been written, for me there's no disputing those facts and there-fore, nothing to accept. (maybe I've already accepted Him?) Acceptance of Him means to believe what's been written and do as He has asked, correct?

I think all those translations over the centuries is what has confused me the most. Just like this 'fear' issue that I've brought up, how many other writings have been taken out of their original context in translation? Not to dispute the actual intent of what's written, but the little things that may have been lost in translation may change some of the bigger things. Not to mention it confuses me!

All you guys have been great trying to explain things to me. I want you all to know I sincerely appreciate all that and hope you don't get frustrated with all my questions. I AM learning stuff that I didn't think I'd ever learn or know about.

 

I should be sleeping. Got up to pee and then started to think about this great thread, so came to check for the latest postings and got hooked. Good stuff here!

I see the subject of fear has been well addressed, but want to explore this just a bit more, so bear with me. When you purchase a new vehicle, it comes with a handbook that you consult when in doubt about the function of some part of that vehicle. God gave us a handbook to consult daily to allow us to go about our daily lives. It is called the Holy Bible. This book was written over a period of many years, by many different authors, but is amazingly consistent from book to book. (no contradictions) That is because man may have penned the words, but it was Divinely inspired. 2 Timothy 3:16 tell us that all scripture was inspired by God. Proverbs 9:10 is probably the most often quoted verse in regard to fear. It says: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Let me expand on this a bit. Are you a mocker or a wise person? You can tell by the way you respond to criticism. Instead of tossing back a quick put-down or a clever retort when rebuked, listen to what is being said. Learn from our critics; this is the path to wisdom. Wisdom begins with knowing God. He gives us insight into living because He created life. To know God is not just to know the facts about Him, but to stand in awe of Him and have a relationship with Him. (to be in awe of your Daddy) Do you really want to be wise? Get to know God better and better.

There are many other scriptures to support the above. Here are a few:
Job 28:28. And he said to man, 'The fear of the Lord--that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.

Psalm 111:10. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

Proverbs 2:5. Then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.

Proverbs 5:12. You will say, "How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction!

There are many more, but that is enough for now.

On the subject of people like Jim Jones. He called his group Christians but they were a cult, a sect. These people tend to have their own version of the Bible and follow one person. That person is not God, but some other god or gods.

Now going to try to answer the question of : “How does one accept God?” Excellent question! In spite of what some 'religions' teach, accepting God is very simple. It boils down to words. Words are very powerful. Go back to the very beginning of creation. Nothing happened until God spoke. Every time God spoke, something happened. He never 'thought' the world into existence, He spoke it into existence. The same happens to 'become' a Christian or to 'accept' God. You need to verbalize what you want. So what words do you say? There is no scripture that gives us the exact words to say, but there are some guidelines. This is what is commonly called the sinners prayer. Here is just one example of a prayer that can be said:

Lord God Almighty. I come to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I come to you with all the sins I've committed. I admit I am a sinner. I ask for your forgiveness. Please cleanse my body, soul and spirit from all this sin with the precious blood of your Son Jesus Christ. I believe your Son Jesus Christ died on the cross for MY sins and all those that believe in his name. I also believe that he rose from the dead so that I, too, may have victory over the works of the devil. I confess and accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and ask him to come into my heart and give me a new life that’s after your will and purposes. I want to serve you and obey all your ways. I want to live for you every day of my life. Please lead and guide me by your Holy Spirit into righteousness.

Thank you Lord, for the work of your Son Jesus shedding his blood for me and for hearing and answering my prayer. I’m now considered your son (or daughter) through the work of your Son Jesus. I have a new life. I have been born anew and by faith I believe it. In Jesus’ name, I have prayed. Amen.

Salvation is a gift from God. He is holding that gift out all the time, but unless one reaches up and actually takes that offered gift from the hand that is holding it out, it is nothing. The physical act of taking that gift and unwrapping it, now makes it ours and personal. So it is with salvation. We need to reach up and take that gift. Verbalize it. We need to give thanks for receiving the gift and the above sinners prayer is a way to do that.

There, rambled on enough. Going back to bed now before I ramble on even more. Hope I can sleep, because taking about my God (and Jesus) is exciting.

 

Scott, that's an excellent question. I'm going to refer to an explanation put out by Campus Crusade years ago to answer it.

Just as there are physical laws that govern
the physical universe, so are there spiritual laws
that govern your relationship with God.

Law 1

God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.

God's Love
"God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever
believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16, NIV).

God's Plan
[Christ speaking] "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly"
[that it might be full and meaningful] (John 10:10).

Why is it that most people are not experiencing that abundant life?

Because...

Law 2

Man is sinful and separated from God.
Therefore, he cannot know and experience
God's love and plan for his life.

Man is Sinful
"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his own stubborn
self-will, he chose to go his own independent way and fellowship with God was broken.
This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference,
is an evidence of what the Bible calls sin.

Man Is Separated
"The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God] (Romans 6:23).
Separation This diagram illustrates that God is holy and man is sinful. A great gulf separates the two. The arrows illustrate that man is continually trying to reach God and the abundant life through his own efforts, such as a good life, philosophy, or religion
-but he inevitably fails.



The third law explains the only way to bridge this gulf...

Law 3

Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin.
Through Him you can know and experience
God's love and plan for your life.

He Died In Our Place
"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

He Rose from the Dead
"Christ died for our sins... He was buried... He was raised on the third day,
according to the Scriptures... He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve.
After that He appeared to more than five hundred..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).

He Is the Only Way to God
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to
the Father but through Me'" (John 14:6).
Bridge The Gulf


This diagram illustrates that God has bridged the gulf that separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.



It is not enough just to know these three laws...

Law 4

We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord;
then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.

We Must Receive Christ
"As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children
of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).

We Receive Christ Through Faith
"By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God; not as result of works that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9).

When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth
"Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Jesus replied, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” (John 3:1-8. NIV)

We Receive Christ Through Personal Invitation
[Christ speaking] "Behold, I stand at the door and knock;
if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him" (Revelation 3:20).

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting
Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be.
Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross
for our sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience.
We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.

These two circles represent two kinds of lives:

[B]
On Left - Self-Directed Life
Self is on the throne
Christ is outside the life
Interests are directed by self, often resulting in discord and frustration

On Right - Christ-Directed Life
Christ is in the life and on the throne
Self is yielding to Christ, resulting in harmony with God's plan
Interests are directed by Christ, resulting in harmony with God's plan

Which circle best represents your life?
Which circle would you like to have represent your life?


The following explains how you can receive Christ:

You Can Receive Christ Right Now by Faith Through Prayer
(Prayer is talking with God)

God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life.
Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If it does, I invite you to pray this prayer right now, and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.

 

Two more great questions, Scott.
Question 1 - - How do I "accept" Jesus? The first step is to understand who Jesus is - - you seem to have that under control to a point - - that he is the son of God. You have believed that. So that leaves us with another question: why did he leave heaven in the first place. John 1:1, in the beginning was the WORD. The WORD was God. If we follow this passage, a recap is that Jesus is the WORD this speaks of, he was with his father in "the beginning" and through him all things were made. Gen 1:1, in the "beginning" God created the heavens and the earth and he SPOKE the world into being - - WORDS. So, if Jesus is one member of the triune godhead and, as we might say, "had it made" in heaven, why would he allow himself to become a man, live his first 30 years as a carpenter's helper, have no earthly goods to speak of, and live a very simple life? He created the earth - - he could have anything he wanted. This is the hard part possibly to come to grips with - - man blew it. Man had perfect communion with the Father and lived for some 2 - 100 years (at best guesses by most theologians) in that union in Eden. Then, with only one simple "thou shalt not" to follow, that crazee woman blew it - ha ha -- no, teasing. They both blew it by not obeying the commandment. Eating a piece of fruit might seem a minor infraction for all the grief that it caused, but it went far deeper than biting into some piece of fruit. Satan had caused doubt to come up in both their hearts and they succombed to his suggestions. Seeing the root of this was evil, God cursed both mankind and the earth. Why the earth, why not just mankind? Quick answer: we find God created the earth both for man and as a place for Lucifer, the highest angel in heaven - - but Lucifer (Satan) allowed pride to well up in his heart and sinned also against God. God cursed his abode and created within that same earth his final place of torment, Hell. Enough on that. Now we have the setting - - man has failed in his relationship with God even as sometimes a human will fail in a relationship such as marriage with devestating results. The end result for man was no longer would man live forever - - he would die a physical death and spiritual death. Jesus, understanding this, allowed himself to be placed on earth as a human baby, but was born without sin - - his seed was planted in Mary, a virgin, by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the only human ever born that can carry that designation, sinless. As such, Jesus is the only one that can then be a substitute in dying for our sins. He was perfect and sinless. (this whole story can best be found in the Old Testament studying about the temple in the wilderness, the establishment of the subsitutionary sacrifices of animals for the nation of Israel.) We will still die a physical death, but faith in the fact that Jesus became our substitute relieving us of the doom of spiritual death with his death on the cross. He then simply asks us to understand who he is, what he did for us, to realize we were born into sin and cannot save ourselves, bow before God and ask Him to forgive us the sins of our past life of not recognizing and living for him, and taking the sacrifice of Jesus as our own. This normally comes with a simple prayer - - Father, I realize I am a sinner and have not followed you - - I realize your son Jesus paid the death penalty for me and I wish to have him come and live in me. Teach me your ways, allow me to grow in you and experience the joy of knowing you better and that my sins are forgiven. Thank you for hearing my prayer. Amen. It can be that simple. With it should come changes in the life of the believer. Get into a good church and get involved, especially in a Sunday School class where you can meet other believers, ask questions, get answers and possibly find a mentor to guide you thru those first formative times of a new life in God.

Second question: You mention maybe the appearant nuances of translations have confused you. Don't let it - - they are so slight and miniscule compared to the overall content. The message and theme are all the same throughout the Bible. Some little things like "fear" and its real meaning are so minor compared to the total message as to be a non-entity. The message of the Bible is quite clear and concise. What is the old saying - - strain at a knat and swallow a camel - - that speaks well of that issue. You find those little things and address them in things like the Sunday School class.

Oh boy, this one got long. Keep asking and I will keep trying to help - - love it. Helps me keep sucking air.

Bob

ps: excellent post ahead of this snuck in while I was writing this. I looked for my pamphlet and couldn't find it. I think I gave my last one to someone.

 

Let's look at this starting with the big picture -

The Bible was written over a span of 1500 years by forty different human authors in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek), on hundreds of subjects. And yet there is one consistent, noncontradictory theme that runs through it all: God’s redemption of humankind. Clearly, statistical probability is a powerful indicator of the trustworthiness of Scripture.

Now getting down to the little things that you referred to -

We have more than 14,000 manuscripts and fragments of the Old Testament of three main types: (a) approximately 10,000 from the Cairo Geniza (storeroom) find of 1897, dating back as far as about AD. 800; (b) about 190 from the Dead Sea Scrolls find of 1947-1955, the oldest dating back to 250-200 B.C.; and (c) at least 4,314 assorted other copies. The short time between the original Old Testament manuscripts (completed around 400 B.C.) and the first extensive copies (about 250 B.C.) — coupled with the more than 14,000 copies that have been discovered — ensures the trustworthiness of the Old Testament text. The earliest quoted verses (Num. 6:24-26) date from 800-700 B.C.

The same is true of the New Testament text. The abundance of textual witnesses is amazing. We possess over 5,300 manuscripts or portions of the (Greek) New Testament — almost 800 copied before A.D. 1000. The time between the original composition and our earliest copies is an unbelievably short 60 years or so. The overwhelming bibliographic reliability of the Bible is clearly evident. (Statistics thanks to equip.org)

Because modern day translations are done by fallible humans, mistakes can happen. In 1631, a reprint of the King James Version of the Bible omitted the word "not" from the seventh commandment making it read "Thou shalt commit adultery"; however, because of the volume of historical manuscripts and fragments that do exist, we can be confident in the accuracy of most modern translations. Like Bob said, these things are slight and miniscule. I personally like to use a parallel Bible that shows 3 or 4 translations side by side so that I can compare and contrast the differences and use that to help my understanding.

Thanks for all your questions.

 

Is there anything that isnt covered in the bible ?


I havent found anything in my life that the bible hasnt covered....from finances to how to treat your own body...divorce....love.....marriage...the list goes on and on.

 

Im still here. Some good stuff in this thread.

 

As I'm reading all the responses from all of you, I think I'm having, for lack of better words, 'flashbacks' of my youth. I can see so many parallels from what I learned from the tribal elders and I find myself sitting here in what I guess is a daydream remembering it all. I thought I just sat down here to check on what all of you may have posted and now I see I've been here for over 2 1/2 hours. Some of it is getting a bit unnerving actually.

I'm sure I'm going to have even more questions, but for now I have to take a break I think.

Thanks again everyone!

 

Scott, thanks for taking the time to read these sometimes lengthy responses. Please feel free to ask more questions as you continue your search for God and for truth.

My apologies to IROC for hijacking his thread. Thanks to everyone else for their contributions and for allowing this line of questions and answers to continue.

 

He wasn't ready for you yet! God bless(ed) you, Bob!

I have to agree that is some good advice and a good thread to start 2012 with.

Regret and hypocrisy are my two biggest demons.

 

Thanks for posting this...hits home...Today I can say I am on the right side of this. Not always that way though.

For many years during my oblivious drinking days after rebelling from my parents making me go to Church and Sunday School. I told people around me that God works through people and I am one of them. The problem in this statement lies with me and how I used the in some not so nice ways. Those days have passed...and its taken some time.
Gratitude for where I am today is an understatement.

Scott, some of what you ask is what I ask as well.


Time to head over to the break room and soil the pho0o pot.