Tag Archives: faith

The Bible and Science – Creation Qualities #2

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When I am lifted up, I will draw everyone to me. John 12:32 (NIV)

A very simple definition of a force is a push or pull (draw) on an object.  Movement of some kind is the result of a force being applied to an object.  In the first Creation Qualities post, I saw three things that keep our world as we know it.  Then, I compared those things (atomic forces, light, and gravity) to Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. 

Now, I want to compare three Bible forces to these natural forces. (Light is a force because photons can physically push things.). The Biblical forces are – love, faith, and hope.  (See my post Faith, Hope, and Love)

Love holds this world together.  Father God is love, He is the glue in our existence. 1 Corinthians 13 states that love is the greatest of these three forces.

Faith – Faith shines from believers lighting the way for unbelievers to find Jesus.  Faith, like light, has two parts.  There is an invisible part of faith, but there is also the physical side of faith.  Faith will grow and change you.  This causes you to do and say things that are the result of the internal work in you (works of faith).  

Hope – Our hope draws people to us. Hope joins faith and love together. Like gravity the more you have (bigger you are) the more things are drawn in.  If you could lose all gravity nothing would be attracted to you.  Hope has the same effect.  The more you have the more people want to be around you.  If you are without hope people are not drawn to you.

Things Paul Wrote About

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Paul, as the Apostle to the Gentiles, is responsible for many of the Books of the New Testament. Because of all of the different Churches, his circumstances, and the various needs of the people, he addresses many topics.  He likes to list things in his writings, and we love to form our beliefs around those lists.  But he does vary those lists according to the Churches/people he is writing too.  In this post I want to explore two topics he lists and how they are related.  The topics are: 1. “Armor” 2. “Faith, Hope, Love”.  I have previously written post on these topics, so if you want to see them they are: Faith, Hope, and Love; Putting On.

I think it would be safe to say that Paul’s habit of listing things has its foundations in the Old Testament.  One that he expounds on for this study is Isaiah 59: 17.  Isaiah is stating that the Lord was displeased because no one intervened for the sake of justice, so He clothed Himself with righteousness, salvation, vengeance, and zeal.  We love to use Ephesians 6: 14 as the Armor of God that we are to put on, but Paul uses the idea of armor and “putting on” in other Letters.  I think we focus on this one because it is a more complete list, and who does not want to be dressed up in armor!

1 Corinthians 13: 13 is our favorite verse for faith, hope, and love.  This in part is due to the beautiful explanation of love, and maybe because he uses the word “greatest.”

In 1 Thessalonians 5: 8 Paul brings these two themes together; faith and love are the breastplate with hope of salvation as the helmet.  In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 faith is paired with works; love prompts labor; and endurance is from hope in Jesus.

He weaves faith, hope, and love together in Colossians 1:4+5 with what is stored for us in heaven.  Changing ideas slightly Colossians 3:12 uses the idea of “clothe yourself” with a list that sounds like the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: 22.

To keep this mix going, in Romans 13:11 – 14 Paul tells us to “put on the armor of light” and “clothe yourself” with Jesus in order to “put off” deeds of darkness, which are listed.

Trying to “split hairs” over these lists is not in the spirit of Paul’s writings, and it would be better to combine all of these various thoughts to get the big picture/message.  One “big picture” I saw in doing this post is from 1 Thessalonians 5: 8 faith and love covers your heart, and hope covers your mind.

Faith

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I looked up the word “faith” in my Strong’s Concordance/Vines Bible dictionary and this is

Screen Shot 2015-09-13 at 8.59.35 AMwhat I found.

In the Greek, the most used word for faith is pistis, which deals the concept of truth or the truthfulness of God.

The word “faith” in the King James Bible is used mostly in the New Testament. In the KJV it is used twice in the Old Testament. Once in Deuteronomy 32: 20 where Moses is describing the Children of Israel that came out of Egypt as having no faith. The other use is in Habakkuk 2:4 “the righteous one will live by his faith.” (HCSB)

The number of times the word “faith” is used in the KJV is interesting – 247. It might be trying to tell us something. Faith should be a 24/7 thing in our lives.

The spelling of our English word also carries an interesting message. The letter “I” is in the middle of the word. So “I” better stay in faith.

Faith, Hope, Love

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Faith, Hope, Love

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Colossians 1:5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel

1 Thessalonians 1:3 We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

  • Faith has its definition and examples in Hebrews 11.
  • Love has its descriptors in 1 Corinthians 13.
  • Does Hope have a chapter or verse?
  • Hope as defined in the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary is:

HOPE, noun [Latin cupio.]

  1.  A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. hope differs from wish and desire in this, that it implies some expectation of obtaining the good desired or the possibility of possessing it. hope therefore always gives pleasure or joy; whereas wish and desire may produce or be accompanied with pain and anxiety.
  2.  Confidence in a future event; the highest degree of well-founded expectation of good; as a hope founded on God’s gracious promises; a scriptural sense.

HOPE, verb intransitive  To place confidence in; to trust in with the confident expectation of good.

A chapter or verse just for Hope – no.  It’s not even a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).  Well, maybe there is one place but it is a stretch – 2 Peter 1:5-7(NIV) 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your

  • faith
  • goodness; and to goodness,
  • knowledge;6 and to knowledge,
  • self-control; and to self-control,
  • perseverance; and to perseverance,
  • godliness;7 and to godliness,
  • mutual affection; and to mutual affection, (early editions have brotherly kindness)
  • love.

 In defense of my thinking.  No, those six things are not really in the definition of hope but you are not going to have hope if you do not have those qualities.

For more on the word HOPE (Just click, it is a previous post.)

http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Home?word=Hope

Verses were retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=faith+hope+love&qs_version=NIV

All verses used are New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®

 

The Man of the Gadarenes and Me

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The Man of the Gadarenes and Me

by Mark

Among the tombs, lost from those who cared, lost from those who feared.

In the bars hiding from today.

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Clothed in broken chains meant to bind him.

Never good enough, fear of rejection, tired of trying

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Solitary among the dead, like them, only breathing.

Is this all there is?

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You’re too close, the chains would warn.

Join this, try that, buy another beer

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His shrieks and cries were calls of help; anger was heard.

Anger lashing out at those who love you

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When he saw the Master, the One that could save, his demons yelled.

I am ok, I was raised in church

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Though fear held on, he came to rest at His feet.

Jesus forgive me, thanks for never letting go

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Clothed and in his right mind, willing to follow Him anywhere.

Freed, not perfect but ready to try again

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His new Master said, “Go tell.”

Write your testimony on the blank lines.