I believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This, I call the 'Godhead' and I think it's synomynous with 'Trinity.'
I do not deny the deity of Jesus nor do I deny the deity of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit.
Define 'baptism', and I'll tell you whether or not I agree 'baptism' can cause a remission of sin.
Yes, I agree there is one baptism for the remission of sin. Which is, the 'baptism of fire' by the Holy Spirit; first given by the grace of God to us at Pentecost, but given by the grace of God to all believers for the remission of sin.
I fail to see your point and how have you decided my 'Funk & Wagnall's Standard College Dictionary' is pagan, i.e. 1) One who is neither a Christian, a Jew, nor a Moslem; a heathen. 2) In early Christian use, an idol worshipper. 3) An irreligious person.
Perhaps you're referring to my 'Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary' as being pagan, i.e. "Pagan - a follower of a false god or a heathen religion; one who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods. After the return from Captivity, Ezra and Nehemiah carried on a vigorous campaign against the practice of marriage between Israelites and the pagan women of the land (Ezra 10:2, 10-18, 44; Neh. 13:26-27, 30).
I fail to notice any real difference in definitions between the two dictionaries, either for the words 'Trinity' and 'Godhead' or for the word 'pagan.'
Please provide the source the writers of the Nicean Creed used to define the words they used to write the creed.
As for the Athanasian Creed, please define 'touching' in this phrase, "equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood."
My Bible dictionary does not define the word 'touching.' My Funk & Wagnalls Standard College Dictionary has 22 definitions for the verb 'touch.' My Webster's has 29 definitions for the verb 'touch.' My American Heritage Dictionary has 20 definitions for the verb 'touch.'
The American Heritage Dictionary says this about 'touching' "adj. Eliciting a tender reaction. -prep. Archaic. Concerning, about." These two definitions for 'touching' are essentially echoed in the other two dictionaries.
My question is, "Do I assume the word 'touching' is being used as a verb, or an adjective, or as a preposition in the phrase "equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood?
Since you don't know for sure who wrote this creed nor when it was written, I won't bother to ask you to provide the source they used to define the words they used to write the creed.
Furthermore, they did not write their creeds in English. Who translated the creeds into English? What proof do you have the creeds were translated correctly?
In faith, I believe God has providentially given me His Word in a language I can understand. If that's not true, I'm lost, since I can't read Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. I have, however, received the Holy Spirit of God Who testifies to me. He testifies which Bible translations of Scripture are better or more suitable for the need I have.
Most often I use the NKJV, but not always. I trust the in-dwelling Holy Spirit to guide me through the process of discerning the meaning and significance of God's Word.
This does NOT in any way mean I don't agree with what was written in either creed you provided. I may or may not agree as confirmed to me by the power of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit of God, Who knows all things. He tells me what to believe and I trust His judgment implicitly. This is what FAITH is.
Faith is belief and trust in God as revealed in Scripture or by direct revelation from God. Thus, Abraham had faith in God although Scripture was not yet written. Therefore, it cannot be said that faith is only believing in the written Word of God.
Yet, the testimony of the Holy Spirit cannot contradict Scripture. The Holy Spirit teaches us the meaning of Scripture and the significance of Scripture in our lives.
Thus, one person will get a different significance from Scripture than someone else my get even though the meaning of the Scripture is the same. Therefore, one person may be strengthened by the Word, while another is convicted by the same Word and a third is corrected by the same Word.
Jesus said, "I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8 NKJV
Why would Jesus question whether faith could be found anywhere on the earth when He returns? Don't all churches claim to have faith? The problem is that you have reckless faith. You believe in your church doctrines, creeds, councils, etc. Instead, we should ALL be believing in the testimony of the in-dwelling Holy Spirit.
I don't know how to make it more clear to you than I already have. Scripture does not support some of your positions. You keep wanting to tell me your church doctrine is right, but everytime I show you where it is wrong and say I learned this from the Holy Spirit, you question my motives.
I'm telling you what the in-dwelling Holy Spirit testifies to me is true. It sometimes is different than your church doctrine. Are you claiming the Holy Spirit has lied to me? Are you saying I, a professing Christian, am a liar? If so, then prove it. If you believe I'm in error, show me my error in SCRIPTURE.
I have told you many, many times I will not accept ANY church doctrine, creed, council, statement of faith, etc. as having ANY AUTHORITY.
You're wasting your time posting 'traps' to see if I'm lying. I'M NOT LYING. I trust the Holy Spirit to tell me the truth. I know He has always told me the truth in the past. I know He is now always telling me the truth in the present. I believe He will continue to always tell me the truth in the future.
Why would I doubt God? Why would I doubt His Word? God has never given me any reason to doubt Him. He has always answered any questions I have asked in faith, exactly as written in Scripture (James 1:5-8). He does not keep me waiting for an answer either. How He tells me is not always the same, either.
If you don't believe me - go ask fredman. He knows exactly what I'm talking about, as does Dr. John MacArthur.
Your problem is you have taken God's grace for granted. I say this about you, because you almost never talk about faith, except your 'reckless faith' in believing Reformed Calvinist church doctrine without any reservation.
This is not to say ALL Reformed Calvinists are/were without faith. I have already said I greatly admire Dr. James M. Boice who was chairman of the board of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. He was a man of faith. But, I do not agree with EVERYTHING Dr. Boice taught. When he taught in error, I tried to show him his mistakes as well.
You believe you were pre-destined to salvation, but where is there any proof of that in how you treat a Christian, let alone how you treat your enemies? Examine yourself and if you're honest with yourself, you'll know what I'm saying is true.
