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3
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Holy
Spirit - That God's Spirit refers to his breath and
power through which he has achieved all things and is
everywhere present. It is Holy because it is 'of God'
and used by him for specific activities - revelation of
his thoughts, conception of his Son, establishment of
the early Christian community and the guidance of nations
and individuals to achieve his purpose. It is always his
power, never man's - in the past men possessed that power
to heal and to teach at the direction of God. They were
specifically given that power for 'a season', which was
subsequently withdrawn. Today, God's power is now revealed
to us in His word "you received the word of God ...
which also effectually works in you that believe."
(1 Thessalonians 2:13) |
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4
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Sin
& Death -That in the beginning, God created man
and woman and placed them in a 'garden', where they were
tempted by a literal serpent. They failed the test. They
were judged guilty by God and punished. The resultant
'nature' of humankind has been inherited by all without
exception, in other words:- man is mortal, prone to sin
and cursed as a result of Adam's sin. ".. through
one man sin entered the world, and death through sin,
and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned."
(Romans 5:12)
Sin in the life of individuals is as the result of this
inherited nature and not because of a supernatural devil
or satan seeking to entice men and women away from God;
"Each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his
own desire and enticed. Then when desire has conceived,
it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown, brings
forth death." (James 1:14-15) Man is therefore a
dying creature - he returns to dust. His soul, life or
disposition ceases to exist - it perishes in the ground.
The only hope of life is resurrection for the believer,
at the return of Christ. |
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