Col. 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
There are things that capture our attention and divert our energy. So Paul counsels his readers to focus on the eternal, the beneficial, and the noble:
Ph. 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.
So our attention is toward heavenly things, and our words ought to be as well:
1Co. 2:13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
There is a lot in the NT about our words, which should not only include the way we speak to and about ourselves, but also how we would speak to and about others:
Ep. 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
So if our general words ought to be governed by spiritual principles, how does that apply to decreeing and declaring?
The Psalmists made many declarations:
Ps. 22:22 I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.
Ps. 51:15 Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
Ps. 89:2 I will declare that your love stands firm for ever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
We would say therefore that declarations first involve the speaking of the greatness and glory of God. Further, declarations would involve the communication of Holy precepts:
De. 5:1 Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, O Israel, the decrees and the laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them.
Ro. 6:18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Ro. 6:9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
Col. 2:9-10 For in Christ all the fulness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fulness in Christ, who is the Head over every power and authority.
Mt. 26:65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses (martus)? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy."
1Ti. 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses (martus).
Those saints are witnesses to us because their lives testify about the value of trusting God no matter what hardships we face. They are active witnesses who speak to us by their example; not passive witnesses who watch us with their eyes.
Ac. 1:21-22 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness (martus) with us of his resurrection.
God omnisciently directing the universe and the affairs of humankind with wise benevolence.This is also known as as "ordinary providence," where God uses the mechanisms and circumstances of the natural world He created in order to effect His will. This is in contradistinction to miracles (or "extraordinary providence"), which is God working
directly, and without the secondary causes.
1Co. 12:28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
...more “miracles” happen in the Muslim world among Christians than in the Western world, because in the Muslim world, believers there “expect” more miracles.
Jn. 4:22-24 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.
Found here. Our comments in bold.
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We are delighted find a Bible teacher who makes an excellent point about an often-overlooked issue in the NT. The use of pronouns is important, because it tells us to whom Paul is referring in his letters. Too often Christians insert themselves into the narrative when they simply don't belong there.
We find it particularly interesting that he focuses on Ephesians, since this letter is the source of some misunderstood teachings for the very reason Mr. Eliff describes. Though he alludes to chapter one, he doesn't discuss it, preferring to discuss chapter two. We suspect the reason he focused on chapter two is because chapter one is one of the sources of the predestination doctrine:
Ep. 1:4-5, 11 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ... 11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined...
This is where predestinationists inappropriately insert themselves. If we were to follow Mr. Eliff's advice, we would pay careful attention to determine who Paul is actually talking about. We would discover that these verses are not referring to Paul's audience. Paul applies these verses to himself and his company:
Ep. 1:12 ...in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
So the predestined ones are "we" (those who were first to hope in Christ). "We," in Mr. Eliff's terms, are those “who were born Jews but are now believers.”
In the next verse Paul turns to his audience:
Ep. 1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.You also were included in Christ... When did this happen? ...when you heard the word of truth... The Ephesians were not predestined. They were included when they believed, as opposed to the Jews who came to faith because of predestination.
Found here. Our comments in bold.
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Ms. Lesley is hung up on women pastors. She has written extensively about them. However, we have discovered that she lacks the skills to write coherently about the issue.
Her first mistake is to place the pastor at the top of the leadership structure of the local church, when it should be the elders (1Pe. 5:1-3).
Her second mistake is to accept the traditional explanation of 1Ti. 2:12 as being directed against women pastors when it is not:
1Ti. 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
Though she doesn't reference or quote 1Ti. 2:12, she does vaguely appeal to it as evidence:
John would not have commended someone that Paul’s epistles rebuke.
We discuss 1Ti. 2:12 in great depth here.
Her third mistake is to carry her doctrine regarding women pastors into 2 John, which colors her interpretation of that epistle. But if John is actually writing to a church leader who happens to be a woman, then her interpretation of 1Ti. 2:12 needs to be reconsidered. So she has it backwards.
Now, it should be clear that John would not be writing to some unnotable woman. John wrote commands to her. He wrote encouragements. He wrote warnings about false teachers. He wrote about doctrine. He wanted to see her in person, face to face. In fact, he wrote to her in a similar manner to what Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus.
For some reason she thinks Timothy and Titus were pastors, which is false (see her mistake number one, above), but dismisses the possible leadership of the "chosen lady" despite the similar manner of the letters to each. Or to put it another way, her reasons in favor of Timothy and Titus are the very same reasons against the "chosen lady." This is twisted thinking.
The "chosen lady" must have been someone important in that local church. Dare we say that she was a leader? We admit we are only making a supposition, but so is Ms. Lesley. We therefore give ourselves permission to speculate in a like manner.
If she was a leader, then Ms. Lesley would do well to rethink traditional doctrines about women in leadership.
And in fact, that is what we have done. Women leaders are not prohibited in the Bible. Women elders are, however. Women pastors? The Bible has almost nothing to say about pastors in leadership, let alone women pastors.
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