While I had gone to Alice's house for a couple of Thursday gatherings with people from Puyallup Foursquare, last Thursday was our first official "Bible Buddy Study". Alice, Shelly and I gathered around Alice's table. I had emailed Alice a few questions before hand and she had researched the answers.
My questions were as follows:
1. Where do people get the power to act in God's name? We were taught in LDS study that it was by the laying on of hands by those who already had been "blessed" with the authority... ???
2. When you pray, do you kneel? Or do you just say prayers in your mind? Do you say them out loud?
3. In LDS study they teach that we were in existence before this life... is that true in the rest of Christianity also? Life before life?
Alice was so prepared with answers... from the Bible!!!
1. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gave His power to everyone! He told his disciples to go out and baptize so that they could teach others and continue the cycle of discipleship. In Acts 8:38, Phillip, who was not of the original 12 apostles Jesus chose, baptized someone. In other words, the power of God was not just with the original 12. It was perpetuated as they taught others, who taught others, etc. Jesus' role while he was here was to teach us how to live so we could teach others.
2. In 1 Timothy 2:8 is speaks about lifting up holy hands in prayer. In John 17:1 is says to look toward heaven. In Luke 22:41-44 it talks about kneeling to pray. In Matthew 26:38-39 it tells about praying with your face to the ground. In 1 Chronicles 17:16, King David sat before the Lord. Ultimately, prayer is a personal thing that when done with the "fear" or respect of God, can be done in many ways!
3. In Genesis 2:7, God breathed the breath of life into Adam. In 1 Corinthians 15:45-47 it speaks of there being man first, then spirit. In other words, there is not a life before this life, but God puts life into us when we are formed.
We also talked about how the Pharisees had so many "rules" that they thought they needed to follow as part of their religion, but Jesus fulfilled the old law with his sacrifice. Strict rules aren't really what the gospel is all about. Salvation is a gift from God. We don't have to do anything but accept and believe in Christ. The things that we do, our works, stem from loving God and showing him that love by keeping his commandments - not because we have to, but because we love him.
Coming up for Thursday the 4th of March - Communion and Blessed Oil; the "Son of Man" reference; "Saved" - How and When!
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