I recently read an interpretation of Ephesians 2:8-9 that said, "faith there is not the gift - salvation (the subject of the entire passage) is the gift of God. Faith is a feminine noun, while the demonstrative pronoun that ("it is" is not in the Greek) is neuter and could not refer to faith. The Greek will not permit "faith" to be the gift." How do you interpret this passage?
The way I understand this passage is that the Lord heard Cornelius' prayers. I don't know if He answered them, but I am in a quandary about the Lord hearing the prayers of unbelievers. I do not take from this passage that Cornelius was saved - it just states that he was a devout man that feared God. Can you shed some light on the subject for me?
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?
First of all I love Jesus with all my heart and believe that I am saved . I have been baptized and I have repented of my sins and have received the holy ghost. About 4 months ago I started at an apostolic church and we do receive our messages through scripture however it was brought to my attention that if I wasn't baptized in Jesus name I wouldn't enter the kingdom of God. I have truly believed in my salvation . I acknowledge Jesus and I have always believed that my baptism was right. I was shattered and so confused about this that I am asking for help in finding the scripture that will bring some comfort to my beliefs. If I have been baptized in the Father Son and Holy Ghost and he is one, isn't that the same as being baptized in Jesus name?
I am confused. I want to do things right...How do you lead someone into receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Are we suppose to what we call (tarry) with them?
