Can you tell me what the flower that is "the lily of the valley" symbolically referred to Christ? I would like to know if this is the same 'lily' promoted as the 'Easter lily'. After examining some of the roots of the holiday called "Easter", it is easy to see that most of this 'holiday' has nothing to do with the Resurrection of Christ. I have read information that the "Easter Lily" falls into the category of non-Christ related holiday decorations... however, my mother says Christ was the Lily of the Valley. Can you tell me more about this flower and whether or not it truly is Biblical with the "Easter" celebration?
I've been having a heated discussion with a fellow church member about the differences between James and Paul. How James was under a different dispensation than Paul, my friend can't buy that. I was wondering what scriptures I could show him that would back up my argument? I tried to explain how James was a legalist, that his teaching was faith plus works for salvation, and Paul's teaching is Faith. Can you help?
In the question and answer section of your website on doubting your salvation, the writer quotes Galatians 2:16 and indicates "the faith OF Christ" refers not to faith IN Christ, but Christ's actual faith. That verse is referred to also in the same way in the section on "how to lose your salvation." JF&B, Matthew Henry, Luther, and Wiersbe all seem to indicate that this verse refers to faith IN Christ. Can you tell me of any other sources that support your interpretation?
Recently, I have been discussing man being made in the image of God. Some say that God's essence is spirit and, therefore, that image is mind, will, and emotions (or similar variations) and cannot include anything physical like a body.Some put forth that the image is spirit, soul, and body. But even most of those admit that the body is looking forward to Jesus as God in the flesh. My question for you is, why couldn't the Word have had a spiritual/physical body before the incarnation and, thus, man being made in God's image would be body, soul, and spirit?
Is the church the body of Christ? Why?
