E-MAIL QUESTIONS ANSWERED
DAVID L. ODOM
>David,
>I would describe myself as a Christian without a church who hasn't given
much time to >studying the Word because I could never understand it. It
sounds like Greek (no pun >intended) to me. I have recently been reading the
"Left Behind" fictional series (I hope >you are familiar with it)
and I have come to realize that I need to study the Word for >myself. I went
on-line and yours was one of the first sites I discovered. I have been
>bouncing all over your site and I am hopeful that it will be most useful to
me. I just >wanted to introduce myself and let you know I will be searching
for my own answers and I >appreciate your help in advance. Bless you and
please pray for me.
Hello 'New Seeker', it is good to hear from you.
I'm thankful to the Lord that you have found my web site. I trust I will be
able to help you to be simply a 'true worshipper' (John 4:23,24) in God's
sight, just a christian, a Bible christian.
I would encourage you to go completely through my initial Bible study through
the 'ENTER' sign. I try to be brief, yet hit on many of the basic 'beliefs'
that divide the religious world today. I will do my best to try and answer any
questions you might have.
I want you to know that I am NOT supernaturally inspired in any sense of the
term. I believe the Bible teaches that the direct operation of the Holy Spirit
upon man ceased with the apostles and prophets of the first century. What this
means is that you and I are on an equal footing. I may have knowledge I can
impart to you, but I am not above you, in fact, I am your servant in
proclaiming to you God's inspired Word, that you might be
well-pleasing unto Him.
No, I'm not familiar with "Left Behind". But it is good to encourage
you to study God's inspired Word!! Yes, I will be praying that you continue to
have the good attitude that you are showing now, to study God's Word and seek
only His truth. I will be interested in helping you to put all of you faith and
trust in God's Holy Word, for this is where the power of God is to be found for
mankind. (II Timothy 3:16,17; Hebrews 4:12; Romans 1:16,17)
Your servant in Christ,
David L. Odom
>David,
>Thank-you for the encouraging reply to my first e-mail. I have since gone
through all >your intros and I have also contacted the book store in
Kentucky for their catalog.
>Your explanation of why the Bible must be taken as the literal word of God
had an impact >on me but I had always leaned toward that thinking for the
Old Testament. My problem
>lies with the New Testament. Do you also believe that those writers are
imparting the >literal word of our Lord Jesus as he delivered it? What about
Revelation? The only other >question I have today comes from Genesis1:26.
Let us make man in our image, after our >likeness. Why does God use US and
OUR in this passage? >Have a blessed day.
Hi _____, good to hear from you.
I'm really happy that you are seeking God's Truth. The true seeker will find
the Truth, that God promises us! Yes, the New Testament is inspired as the Old
Testament is, from the Creator! There are many passages of Scripture that are
fulfilled in the New Testament concerning the prophecies about the coming
Messiah that could NEVER have been successfully pulled off by a 'fake' messiah!
When you read your New Testament, especially Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, you
will find many Old Testament prophecies being fulfilled concerning Jesus
Christ. These fulfillment's tie the Old Testament and New Testament together to
confirm that they are from the Creator! You will also find that Jesus
nailed the Old Covenant, the Old Law, to the cross when He died there, so that
He could establish the Second, or New Covenant (Study Colossians 2:14; II
Corinthians 3:14; Hebrews 10:9 [context]; Galatians 3:15-29). This means that
we cannot follow the Old Testament as law today, for we are under the New Law.
Thus, all that we practice religiously must be authorized within the New
Covenant.
>Do you also believe that those
writers are imparting the literal word of our Lord Jesus as >he delivered
it?
Yes _____, I most certainly do, and even much more than He revealed when upon
this earth (John 16: 12,13)! Read II Timothy 3:16,17 = This is all we need to
be furnished completely unto every good work! Jesus told the apostles that they
would not need to remember (rely upon their own memory) His Words, the Holy
Spirit would: Mark 13:11. Study John 14:16,17,26,27; 15:26,27; 16:7-15. And
also, this Word is 'verbal inspiration', not 'thought inspiration', in other
words, the Holy Spirit chose the very words (out of the individual apostle or
prophets vocabulary, that is why each writer has his own 'style' of writing)
that were written down: I Corinthians 2:6-13. Notice verse 13
"...combining spiritual things with spiritual (words)".
>What about Revelation?
Revelation means 'an uncovering'. Christ uncovered the veil of darkness
covering the Gentiles: Luke 2:32 as an example. But this word is used for
different 'uncoverings' in the New Testament. Do you have a complete
concordance such as 'Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible' (KJV);
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible' (KJV); or the New American
Standard Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible' (NAS)? One of these will help you
to locate the passages of Scripture when looking for specific words,
such as 'revelation'.
>The only other question I have
today comes from Genesis1:26. Let us make man in our >image, after our
likeness. Why does God use US and OUR in this passage?
Genesis 1:26 shows the true picture of God! (also Gen. 3:22; 11:5-8; Isaiah
6:8). God is not one being, God is Deity, Divinity, a Godhead! Look closely at
that verse, and the others like it! God is spoken of as being singular, AND
plural. 'God', 'Us', 'Our'. Then, in the very next verse (27), we find 'God',
'His', 'He'. Yet, we are told Jehovah God is ONE
Jehovah (Deuteronomy 6:4)! But is that one 'Being', or one 'Deity' with
multiple Beings?
I believe, for many reasons as is shown in the Bible, that there is only ONE
Deity, one GOD (Isaiah 44:6), but that this GOD is made up of 'three' Beings
that have existed forever! They refer to themselves as the Father, the Son (the
Logos), and the Holy Spirit. Notice that the Father is called God: Romans 1:7;
the Son is called God: John 1:1; and the Holy Spirit is called God: Acts 5:1-4.
Since there is only ONE God, we have no other alternative but to believe the
Truth. I do not use the term 'trinity' because it is NOT
used in the Bible. But the 'concept' is from the Bible. I just try not to use
terms that the Holy Spirit didn't use in the Inspired Word, so I use 'Godhead',
'Deity', 'Divinity'.
I Hope this gives you some meat to study on these subjects.
God bless,
David
