Amen.
We get in healthy debates that helps us all search the
Word to find what it really says.
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/apr2008/shelvas416.htm
The Bible
says that "Iron sharpens Iron". It doesn't say that the
sharpening stone sharpens iron. (I don't think - Maybe I should research
this?) We may not be clashing with real swords of iron but we
do have to defend what we believe by researching it in the Bible.
And what we find can indeed change what we had previously thought was
true.
In regard
to the misquoted by many, Bible verse:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me. John 14:6
Yes,
technically it is LIFE, not LIGHT.
This verse
is the main scripture proof text referenced when the Presidential Candidates
are asked whether they believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to
Heaven. Also, technically, the verse doesn't say that no man goes to
Heaven except by Jesus Christ. Instead, Jesus states that no man
goes to the Father, (God the Father), except through Him. If you can't
pray to God the Father or go to God the Father in Heaven when you die, except
through Jesus Christ, (He is the "gatekeeper" not Peter),
then we assume that means it is impossible to get to Heaven except
through Jesus Christ. The alternative is to believe that God the Father
is not in Heaven.
John also
reemphasizes the point about LIFE, not LIGHT in the following verses:
And
Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never
hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35
Jesus
said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live: John 11:25
However, it
could be argued that John emphasizes LIGHT in the following verse, and even
equates LIGHT WITH LIFE at the end.
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the
world: he that followeth me shall not walk in
darkness, but shall have the light of life. John
8:12
So, it
could be argued that this twist of the scripture, while not in the Bible,
is still true and does not rise to the level of satan's many examples with Jesus of even quoting
the Bible and misapplying it. Or there may be hidden reasons to lump
"way", "truth", and "life" together that
lose their meaning when "light" is substituted. I don't know.
One thing I
could relate to in Shelva's post was researching in
the Bible for support of a particular opinion, and then changing my opinion
once I reread the Scripture. As I was writing the post, "When
Was Your Name Written in the Lamb's Book of Life?":
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/mar2008/tedp320.htm
I thought a
possibility was that everyone who descended from Adam and Eve, all people that
had ever been born or were going to be born, had their name written in the
Lamb's book of Life before the foundation of the world. Then, all overcomers would be clothed in white and their name
would not be blotted out of the book of life as recorded in
Revelation 3:5.
He that
overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white
raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will
confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. Revelation 3:5
In fact I
even hinted at this earlier in the post and never noticed to go back
and change it when I realized this was not a possibility according to
Scripture. I had not carefully looked at Revelation 13:8 and
17:8. Revelation 17:8 states in part:
...whose
names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world...
I had
left out in my mind the all important word NOT. In my memory, I
thought the Bible only talked about those names that WERE WRITTEN in
the Book of Life FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. By the Bible stating
there were also names that specifically WERE NOT written in the book of life to
begin with, (from the foundation of the world), it proved the possibility false
that everyone in the world that ever lived or would live had their
name written in the Lambs book of life from the foundation of the world.
And I had to modify my post.
Shalom,
Ted Porter