This is not in response to anyone else’s post; it is just on my heart.

I believe God speaks to us through His Word; He reveals Himself, His will, and His character. What amazes me is how much people complain about not knowing God’s will or confused about what doctrines are correct and what to believe and these are the people who seemingly are NOT reading the Bible. Many religions have their own written traditions included in their belief system and they equalize them to the Bible. The test of Christian orthodoxy is not antiquity, but Scripture. I have Bible tools for research, and favorite Bible teachers, but if anything or anyone does not line up with the Word, I choose the Word. I choose to test everything by the Bible.

Now that is not to say I understand the scriptures from cover to cover, certainly not in this lifetime. I simply have a standard and a structure and that is the Bible. My choice of believing in the infallible Word is based upon two factors: 1. Fulfilled Prophecy 2. The survival of scripture through evil dynasties and kingdoms that could not erase Christianity or the Word from the earth. My personal study on these subjects satisfied me thus far, and I have only scratched the surface. I need structure and a standard in my life and God provided it. We have within our possession the written words of God to us. I put my name in every verse that has instruction or a promise! Dogmatic theology or the elementary teaching about Jesus Christ is concerned with the essential truths of Christianity. Christian dogma is not defined by a church, but by the Bible alone. One must believe these essential truths to be a real Christian. I believe it is impossible for someone who rejects substitutes or adds to these essential truths to be a true Christian. Specifically, I Cor. 15:3-4 sums up the Gospel as the truth about the person and work of Christ - the God-Man who died for our sins and rose again. James, the half-brother of Jesus, and son of Mary makes a good point about knowing God.

James 2:19 “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble!”

In Ingmar Bergman’s play, "The Seventh Seal," there is a knight, who is binding a young witch to the stake. He wants to tell the witch that he wants to speak to the Devil. The witch says, "Why?" He says, "Because I want to learn about God. And who would know more about God than the Devil."

James says, "Even the demons believe.” I dare to say that I doubt the demons sit around and argue about the virgin birth. I doubt Satan and his legions sit around and debate whether Jesus rose bodily from the dead or whether Jesus Christ alone is the Intercessor of Heaven. Even Satan and his demons know that the Bible IS the inspired Word of God, so why are Christians dumber about the Bible than the demons!?

Psalm 119:105 “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

Psalm 12:6 “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.”

Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”

Psalm 138:2 “For You have magnified Your word above Your name.”

Psalm 119:49-50 “Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.”

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

2 Timothy 2:14 “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

Matthew 5:18 “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle [a tiny part of the original spelling of a word] will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled."

Matthew 4: 4 “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

Proverbs 4:5 “Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.”

Proverbs 30:5-6 “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.” (NIV)

1 Peter 1:23-25”For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.” (NIV)

2 Peter 1:19-2:1 “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.” (NIV)

1 Peter 3:15 “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”

Colossians 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Mark 13:31 “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.”

Mark 4:14-20 “The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.” (NIV)

Isaiah 55:8-11 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (NIV)

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Eph 6:10-18a “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” (NIV)

1 Cor. 4:6 “Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, Do not go beyond what is written. Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.” (NIV)

Luke 16:17 "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail."

Deuteronomy 4:1-2 “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you."

Deuteronomy 12:32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it."

Revelation 22:18-19 "If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."


In Christ,
justme

In answer to your title question, "Does the devil know God better than you?" I'm sure he does, he has talked to God many times. That's how he takes advantage of us, because the devil knows His Word better than many of us do.

But we are not ignorant of the devils devices. Just like he deceived Eve, asking her, "Did God really say?"
That's all it took, undermining God's Word by suggesting Eve disbelieve what God said and go by what she felt, being led by her desires instead of trusting a Loving God who gave perfect instructions to keep them safe.

When we believe we know better than God how we should live and ignore His Word, that's where we miss the target and troubles begins. Every time satan tried to make Jesus sin, Jesus answer was to refute the devil with Scripture. That was ALWAYS His only answer and nothing else. When we saturate our minds and hearts in His Word, there not much room left for error.

Great post Justme, Thankyou!!!

HIS GRACE AND WISDOM,
ROSE




PSALM 89
34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

IT'S A LOVE THAT NEVER ENDS
TRET FURE

I agree with Rose, justme, your insight is right-on.

Building on your foundation that you've thoughtfully laid out, I'd be interested to know what you do with the "clobber passages," since they are also part of the Holy Word and are used as sledge hammers against us??

I don’t really do anything with the clobber verses. I feel the defense is well argued.

It is my opinion that the Bible addresses immoral behavior, not sexual orientation. In each case where homosexuality is mentioned, Scripture is not referring to homosexual orientation, but to immoral homosexual acts, and in most cases, they were committed by heterosexuals acting out of lust. This is all I need to know. I am really not concerned with the clobber verses. I can carry on a knowledgeable conversation, but I am not obsessed with defending this topic. The Bible can be used to discriminate against Jews, African Americans, Women, and Homosexuals (there are more I am sure). Christianity itself suffered horrific abuse and martyrdom from Rome. The Jewish Christians were not going to allow the Gentile Christians entrance into the faith because Gentiles in that day were esteemed as unclean, sinful and barbarian. Today we do not think of such exclusion to ban gentiles from the body of Christ. So, in much the same way, the rejection of Christian homosexuals today is just like the rejection of Gentile Christians of the early church. Misunderstanding and misinterpretation of more important scriptures thrill me more. I would argue justification by faith against justification by works before I would defend the clobber verses. I would argue the deity of Jesus Christ against any form of Mary worship before I would argue the clobber verses. I would pick my battle. You see, the clobber verses deal with such elasticity of man’s opinion and bias and it profits me nothing even if I change someone’s opinion. It does not change me. I want to be changed. I am much more interested in the weapons of my warfare and how to defeat the devil and his strategy in my life. I am much more interested in studying prophecy from Hal Lindsay and Grant Jeffery about how the Bible predicts the rise of a global superpower in the last days, consisting of a ten-nation confederacy arising out of the ashes of the old Roman Empire! I have studied prophecy since I was 19 yrs. old and I still can’t get enough! I love to study the gifts of the Spirit and how to live a Holy Spirit-filled, Holy Spirit-led life, or study the authority of the Bible and the authority of the name of Jesus! I am so much more interested in studying about the blood of Jesus and what His blood did for me and how my Lord defeated satan! Sorry, my enthusiasm for these topics really thrills me! Can you tell!

Of course the clobber verses are important, but not priority to me.

In Christ,
justme

Never apologize for your enthusiasm, justme. I, too, am a student, ever since the 1970s, of eschatology. NOTHING is more thrilling to me than Bible prophecy.

Your thoughts echo mine, but it's always good to get reaffirmation from a sister.

As you surely know, this walk can be lonely . . . my only sane society where I can be myself is this web site and the sisters I've found here, (like Sweet Rose among many others!).

Thank you again, justme.



Thank you again.

Justme, I too have thought that after looking at the "clobber" passages that it was a matter of immoral behavior and not the specific issue of gender orientation itself. Too often general society has come to "think" that gay society is simply immoral in itself. Homosexual to many means pedaphile, bath houses, orgies and the like. But as you have pointed out because you took the time to really look at it, all too often it is the heterosexual community that is engaged in this immoral behavior and becaue there is immorality in all communities the gay community is simply an easy target.

No matter what are personal performance might be all must come to the reality that Jesus Christ is my justice and certainly my all and only righteousness. In point of fact it is one of the very name's of God-- Jehovah-tsidkenu Jer 33:16.

I also know that for many that have been in open society as gay have met with many a hostility that causes bitterness, dismay and confusion as well as pain. So I can understand why there is a need for topical discussions of how one reconciles in their own mind being Christian and gay. But I also understand that we should not be stuck on that point only.

One of the greatest helps to me has been looking at who God is from His own word. Somehow this has helped me to understand more about myself as a result.

It would be wonderful to have a discussion on spiritul warfare, the comming of Jesus Christ again or that effectaul walking in the Spirit. It would be grand to discuss the things of God and then see how we come to a better understanding of a result of who we are and where and what He would have us do as a result.

Looking forward -

Deb

Excellent! Deb.......oh, justme here, just under a new name!

"Jehovah-tsidkenu" - Our righteousness!

I agree 100% that it is a morality issue, not a gender issue. I am not condemned when I conduct myself morally and appropriately. I have experienced both sides of morality as probably all of us on this website so we all know the difference. The church and most of our country lump all gay people into the same category of hyper, horny, humping, homo's with no exception. I find it insulting. Even on my most immoral day, I still was not a hyper humper!

Even though I feel in my own personal journey with Jesus in my desire to know more of Him, I also believe it is necessary to equip myself with a knowledge of defense, but I just do not spend the quantity of my time on it because I have settled the morality issue and man is not my judge.

Deb,why don't you start a topic on spiritual warfare. I would join in! We talk all too little about who our enemy is. I think that is a relevant topic to know about on a daily basis. Who is our enemy? Where is he? What does he do? Can we recognize him? Can we fight him?

Eph 6:10-12 "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

Every Christian has been given the promise of victory over the devil:

Isaiah 54:17 "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord ..."


Luke 10:19 "Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you."

Romans 8:38-39 "For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers ... nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

James 4:7 " ... Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

1 John 4:4 "You ... have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world."

2 Cor. 10:3- "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. 14Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints."

So....does the devil know more about the word and what it says about him than we do? Even the devil knows he is defeated. Do most Christians? Just read the Word.

crimson