“Believest Thou the Scriptures?”by Lary R. Hale “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away… Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth… But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution… But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (II Tim. 3:1-5,7,10-12,14-17). In the great scriptural passage above, we see two sides of the coin. One of those sides is the condition of supposed people of faith in these days that we are living in, and the other side is the wonderful example of the true man of faith that the apostle Paul was. It is evident that he was speaking first of people professing faith in Christ, by his statement that they would have “a form of godliness,” but that they would “deny the power thereof.” He wasn’t saying here that these formal, double minded believers would deny God’s miracle power working in such things as divine healing and spiritual gifts. No, the first things that he mentioned bore witness to the fact that he was saying that those who would “deny the power thereof” would disbelieve the power of God for literally taking away and keeping sin out of their lives. And that is what we see with Christianity today. Miracles are fine, at least in the Pentecostal sects, as long as we don’t claim that the power of God’s Spirit will remove sin from our lives totally and preserve us in true holiness. Funny, I always thought that “with God, NOTHING shall be impossible” (Lk. 1:37). No wonder Paul said that “all who live GODLY in Christ Jesus SHALL suffer persecution.” And no wonder he extolled the scriptures so highly to Timothy, seeing that the scriptures bear witness that we not only CAN obtain true holiness, but that we must KEEP it in intact till the end in order to be saved (Mat. 5:8; Mat. 5:48; Mat. 24:12,13; Eph. 5:3-7; Tit. 2:11-15; Heb. 12:14; I Jn. 3:3; Rev. 20:6). Well, I surely know which side of that coin that I am determined to be on and stay on. How about you friend? Original Post at By One Spirit Ministries Facebook page May 19, 2012  
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“Believest Thou the Scriptures?”
by Lary R. Hale

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away… Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth… But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution… But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (II Tim. 3:1-5,7,10-12,14-17). 

In the great scriptural passage above, we see two sides of the coin. One of those sides is the condition of supposed people of faith in these days that we are living in, and the other side is the wonderful example of the true man of faith that the apostle Paul was. It is evident that he was speaking first of people professing faith in Christ, by his statement that they would have “a form of godliness,” but that they would “deny the power thereof.” He wasn’t saying here that these formal, double minded believers would deny God’s miracle power working in such things as divine healing and spiritual gifts. No, the first things that he mentioned bore witness to the fact that he was saying that those who would “deny the power thereof” would disbelieve the power of God for literally taking away and keeping sin out of their lives. And that is what we see with Christianity today. Miracles are fine, at least in the Pentecostal sects, as long as we don’t claim that the power of God’s Spirit will remove sin from our lives totally and preserve us in true holiness. Funny, I always thought that “with God, NOTHING shall be impossible” (Lk. 1:37). No wonder Paul said that “all who live GODLY in Christ Jesus SHALL suffer persecution.” And no wonder he extolled the scriptures so highly to Timothy, seeing that the scriptures bear witness that we not only CAN obtain true holiness, but that we must KEEP it in intact till the end in order to be saved (Mat. 5:8; Mat. 5:48; Mat. 24:12,13; Eph. 5:3-7; Tit. 2:11-15; Heb. 12:14; I Jn. 3:3; Rev. 20:6). Well, I surely know which side of that coin that I am determined to be on and stay on. How about you friend?

Original Post at By One Spirit Ministries Facebook page May 19, 2012  

Source: byonespirit.com