1 Thessalonians 5:19 – ‘Do not extinguish the Spirit’

Walking With Giants Posted on by

1 Thessalonians 5:19 (NET) — Do not extinguish the Spirit.

Is the reference here primarily to the ethical fruit of the Spirit (see Gal 5:22f), or to the charismatic gifts of the Spirit (or neither, or both)?

Let’s consider the possibilities.

1. It refers to ethical behaviour (the ‘fruit’ of the Spirit)

In support of this interpretation, note that joy and thankfulness have just been mentioned, and these are closely linked with the fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5.…

Cessationism – representative voices

Walking With Giants Posted on by

‘Cessationism’ is the name given to the view that the miraculous or extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased at the end of the apostolic age, when the canon of Scripture was complete.

Following are some representative voices (from this source).  I have seen the originals of some of these quotations, but not all of them.

John Calvin (1509-1564): ‘…the gift of healing, like the rest of the miracles, which the Lord willed to be brought forth for a time, has vanished away in order to make the preaching of the Gospel marvellous for ever’ (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Bk IV:19, 18).…

Ex 20:8 – “Remember the Sabbath day”

Walking With Giants Posted on by
20:8 “Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy. 20:9 For six days you may labor and do all your work, 20:10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates. 20:11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.
…

‘Texts of terror’: eight interpretative options

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Following Roger Olson, Matthew Lynch has outlined eight ways in which we might seek to understand the violence of the Old Testament.

I summarise.

1. Rejection.  Marcion and his followers rejected the Old Testament in its entirety.  Its wicked and violent God has been replaced by the kind and loving God of Jesus and the New Testament.

Objection: Fatal for this view is the fact that it rejects much of the New Testament as well.  For, (a) the New Testament endorses the Old Testament in its entirety; (b) the New Testament has its own share of problematic teaching. …

John 14:16 – ‘Another Advocate’

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Jn 14:16 – “Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—14:17 the Spirit of truth.”

Summary

There are two Greek words for ‘another’.  In classical Greek, ‘allos’ meant ‘another of the same kind’, whereas ‘heteros’ meant ‘another of a different kind’.  By NT times, however, the distinction had become less pronounced.  In the present passage, there are contextual reasons for concluding that the Holy Spirit is an Advocate of the same kind as Jesus.…

1 Kings 7:23; 2 Chron 4:2 – the dimensions of ‘The Sea’

Walking With Giants Posted on by

1 Kings 7:23 He also made the large bronze basin called “The Sea.” It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven-and-a-half feet high. Its circumference was 45 feet.

2 Chron 4:2 He also made the big bronze basin called “The Sea.” It measured 15 feet from rim to rim, was circular in shape, and stood seven and one-half feet high. Its circumference was 45 feet.

How precise are the dimensions given in these passages for the bronze basin (15 feet in diameter, 45 feet in circumference)?…

Jn 20:18 – “I have seen the Lord!”

Walking With Giants Posted on by

Recently, this Easter message was published in the Eastern Daily Press.

It is based on the account of Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene on that very first Easter morning (John 20:1-18).

Here are the main points.

It was dark (v1) – ‘Easter itself begins in darkness. Not only the dim light before dawn, but the deeper darkness of grief, confusion, and fear. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it is still dark because that is how the world felt to her.…

Jn 21:15-19 – “Do you love me?”

Walking With Giants Posted on by

21:15 Then when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these do?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him, “Feed my lambs.” 21:16 Jesus said a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus told him, “Shepherd my sheep.” 21:17 Jesus said a third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?…

Mk 10:18 – “Why do you call me good?”

Walking With Giants Posted on by

10:17 Now as Jesus was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

See also Luke 18:19

At first sight, this appears to be a denial of ‘goodness’ on Jesus’ part, to undermine the doctrine of his sinlessness, and therefore to call into question his divinity.…

Prov 23:7 – ‘As a man thinketh, so is he’

Walking With Giants Posted on by

23:6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person,
do not crave his delicacies;
23:7 for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind.
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you;
23:8 you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten,
and will have wasted your pleasant words.

We might well agree that the meaning of this proverb is accurately summarised by the Faithlife Study Bible:

‘This proverb warns against eating with a stingy person.

…