What is the gift of the Holy Ghost?
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?
Since the word "doctrine" means teaching, I always thought that the doctrine of Christ is the whole Bible. I've recently been told that the doctrine of Christ is to love God and love your neighbor. I admit this is very hard to do and am familiar with the verse that tells us these are the greatest commandments. However, I constantly hear that Jesus is the issue and doctrine is not important. How can one love Jesus and not be at all interested in His teachings. My Bible says that Jesus hates the false doctrine of the Nicolaitans. How, then, can one know false doctrine if one is not interested in knowing the doctrine of Christ. (The Bible).
Why does Jesus hate anything or anyone? Revelation 2:6 says, "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of Nicolaitans, which I also hate."
