I feel compelled to point out that the Spirit-in-the-word-only-today proponents’ case is almost totally dependent upon twisting together two or more basically-unrelated passages of New Testament scripture into a logical argument, which usually runs like this:
Ephesians 3:17 says “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith….” Scripture says Christ dwells in our hearts and then tells us HOW He dwells in our hearts, “by faith.” The Holy Spirit dwells in a Christian the same way as Christ dwells in a Christian – by faith. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing the Word of God in Romans 10:17.
This logical argument depends upon several assumptions: first, that Christ dwells in a believer’s heart ONLY by faith; that the Holy Spirit dwells in a Christian the same way as Christ dwells in a Christian (unsubstantiated with scripture); that faith ONLY comes by hearing the Word of God; that these two passages were written with textual, contextual or subtextual purpose of establishing that the Holy Spirit dwells in the believer only in the form of the word or bodily; that this logical argument outweighs any other clear scripture (usually ignored, but sometimes explained away) which implies otherwise.
That’s a lot of assumptions. If any fail, the logical argument falters as well.
Let’s just deal with them:
Ephesians 3:17 is immediately surrounded by this context: “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” So it is surrounded by a prayer for the Spirit’s power in your inner being with no mention whatsoever of written scripture, which establishes a bodily surround for the Spirit.
Romans 10:17 is surrounded by the context:
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’ But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’ Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: ‘Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.’ “ So it is engulfed in a discussion about the importance of believing and the importance of hearing and preaching so that something crucial – the gospel – may be known and believed. There is no mention of the Spirit. (Though it is worth mentioning that the Spirit is deeply involved in the proclamation of the gospel … I was going to list scriptures here, but my previous posts establish that.)
- Neither passage establishes that it is directly related to the other by any key word or phrase or concept.
- Neither deals with the focus of the subject matter of the other.
- Neither establishes, on its own or together, that Christ or the Holy Spirit exists in the believer ONLY by faith (one would have to consider Saul’s experiences in 1 Samuel 10 and 19, certainly, before concluding that – neither mentions a prerequisite of faith on his part).
- Neither establishes, on its own or together, that faith comes only by hearing (and one would have to ponder about faith being given as a direct gift of the Holy Spirit per 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 before concluding that, especially verse 9).
- The second passage has no reference to the Holy Spirit; the subject simply isn’t in view. How could a conclusion drawn from it specifically apply to Him, especially if the context of the other scripture contradicts the conclusion?
- The other passages “explained away” by this logical argument speak clearly and explicitly to the Holy Spirit dwelling within the believer: John 14:16-17; Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 John 3:24. That is their subject and and at least part of their purpose in being written: to describe the way the Holy Spirit – a Person – truly “lives,” not figuratively but literally – in the heart of the welcoming believer.
Most of the supporting assumptions in this logical argument fail. When you knock the supporting legs off of a milkstool, it don’t stand up no more – and this argument is no different.
Blog In My Own Eye 
Keith, I believe your side of the discussion (I prefer to call it a discussion rather than argument) says we receive this “holy ghost ” at baptism, therefore Christians are privy to gifts,not given to others.
Question: do you believe Jesus would give instruction on how to become like God, that run contrary to that belief, if he did not do the same as he asked us to do.
( in other words, do you believe Jesus is a hypocrite)
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Mat 5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
Mat 5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others]? do not even the publicans so?
Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Jesus gave freely, the word of God, to all who would listen, I don’t believe there is any place where the “bible” is restricted to Christians only. (anymore that is)
I don’t believe God is reserved for “Christians only” either. I believe salvation is, but not the offer of salvation.
Laymond, I haven’t found anything in scripture to change my belief that the Holy Spirit Himself is given at God’s discretion to those who ask:
“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” ~ Luke 11:13
…. and spiritual gifts are given at the discretion of the Holy Spirit:
“All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” ~ 1 Corinthians 12:11
I grew up in a church that taught the “word only” view of the Holy Spirit and believed that view myself for a while. I obviously have changed my view and think the “word only” view is a great example of what happens when scripture is read in both a reactionary mode to Charismatic theology and read in a theological vacuum. I think most of the people who still attend the church I was raised in have abandoned this view because they, like most Christians, realize it cannot be sustained in the light of all scripture.
Grace and Peace,
K. Rex Butts
Rex, thanks for dropping in! I believe it’s an unsustainable doctrine, scripturally, but the truth opens doors to diffucult alternatives … and I haven’t really dared to go there yet.
Keith said: ” my belief that the Holy Spirit Himself is given at God’s discretion to those who ask:
Keith, please explain to me, exactly, what this “Holy Spirit” is and how you see it acting in a christian.
I have heard everything from “the spirit of Christ” to “the Spirit of God” , can you explain why it was not given to anyone except Jesus as long as he lived.
Your Christian theology includes “the trinity” which states God is made up of three seperate, but equal persons, “the father, the son and the holy spirit”
if they are equal,(what are they equal in? it certianly is not authority) how can Jesus recieve the spirit from the father, then later give that spirit to his sons the apostles.? Then as you say, someone gave him to us , to do our bidding.
I admit I don’t understand this at all, please help.
You are asking the wrong fellow, Laymond. I don’t understand how the relationship among Father, Son and Holy Spirit works. I don’t understand how they can be three and still One. I just accept it.
I accept what scripture says whether I fully or even partly understand it.
Now we see as in a mirror, dimly; but then, face to face.
I’m not in the business of telling God I won’t believe it until I understand it, in other words. It’s a bad business plan. I’m moving toward the business plan of “just do it” and I am asking God for help with that. If He wants to help me through His Holy Spirit, I’m fine with that.
I think denying the promise of the power or presence of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life is a bad business plan, because it tells God how He can or can’t work in my life.
So I wrote these posts to do all I could to refute a bad business plan.
Now I’m pretty tired of wasting time with a lot of talk and ready to get down to the business of “just do it.”
Thanks for asking and for letting me get the talk out of my system.
Keith,
From where are you getting your teaching about the Holy Spirit? I know that there are a lot of books in the brotherhood that talk about the subject. Do you study the word of God before presented in the pulpit? or just thinking that where I open the bible I am going to start preaching? one time I read an old illustration about a Man who use to belive that the Holy Spirit guide him literally and wants to know more the bible. He decided that he would just open his Bible to a passage and whatever it stated, that is what he would do. He opened the Bible and read the section where Judas hanged himself. Turning to another passage he read “do thou likewise.” Finally , he read “that thou doest, do quickly.” Thinking that he was obeying the Word of God, he went out and hanged himself. In the fictitious illustration above, each passage was in the word of God. However by not carefully considering the context, a person committed suicide! He drew wrong conclusion by not considering the context.Likewise, it is possible for people today to draw something “from the Bible” that God never intended!!
Christianity is a taught religion, as is all religion (Heb. 8:10-11, Matthew 28:20). We can not taugh wrong, and be right in our beliefs. The Bible therefore, It’s our guide in this world and final authority in matter of religion if we would be assured of faithfulness (James 1:25). No man can come to Christ for his salvation without being taught (John 6:44-45).
I hope it’s clear that the source for what I’ve posted – the sole source – is scripture.
Teaching from the scripture is the way teaching should be done … as long as the teacher does not go beyond what scripture says; adding words (like “only”) which aren’t there.
I’ve heard several versions of the anecdote about twisting together unrelated scriptures, but this is the first one I’ve encountered that ended in suicide! As I’ve commented to J. Richardson on another post recently, anecdotes can be charming but prove nothing about how the Holy Spirit works through believers.
” I don’t understand how they can be three and still One. I just accept it.”
Keith, can you at least tell me where to look to see this quote within the bible “three and still one” ? If it is there I would like to find it, if it is not there, then the thought enters my mind, that you believe the bible is insufficent for teaching.
Sure. Jesus quotes the Shema in Mark 12:29: “‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.'”
He also instructs baptism in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Jesus speaks of the Spirit as both “Him” and “His” (John 14:16-17; John 16:15). The Spirit is described as that of Jesus (Acts 16:7; Philippians 1:19) and of God (Ephesians 4:30; 1 Corinthians 3:16). There is only one Spirit (Ephesians 2:18; 4:4; Philippians 1:27).
Galatians 4:6 speaks of the three of them in this way: “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.'”
As you can see, it is not a single quote, but it is an inescapable conclusion: the three are spoken of as persons, yet one.
(1 John 5:7 in the King James Version speaks of all three as witnesses, but there has been no verification that this phrasing was in the original texts – before the 1300s – and I don’t feel that I can rely upon it as authoritative on the matter.)
Laymond. 1 John 5:7 “For there are three that bear wittness in heaven, the father, the word, (Christ) and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.”
HOLY SPIRIT A PERSON
It is of primary importance that we understand who (what) the Holy Spirit is. He is God,Deity, a divine Person, one of the Godhead (Acts 17:29) There is One God who consist on three distinct personalities: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ( Matt. 28:19; Acts 5:3-4), John 4:24; John1:1-3,14) The Holy Spirit is not a “force”, a “puff of wind” or an “it”. The Spirit inspired men to give to us the Holy Scriptures (II Tim. 3:16-17; II Pet. 1:21; John 16:7-13; I Cor. 2:10-13; Eph. 3:3-5; Acts 1:16, 2 Sam. 23:2). Thus, being perfectly given, the Bible is an all-sufficient Book for man’s salvation. (cf.II John 9; I Tess. 2:13; Gal. 1:8-9).
Perry B. Cotham, conversion( A compilation of Sixteen tracts ( The Bible [God’s Inspired Book versus Direct Holy Spirit Guidence” ) 1814 Santa Cruz Grand Prairie, Texas . ) Pg. 291.
THE PERSONALITY AND DIVINITY OF THE SPIRIT
Two views have been entertained concerning the Holy Spirit: (1) That it is a divine influence proceeding from the Father, an emanation from or manifestation of the divine, or a mere impersonal force. (2) That he is a person and active in all the ways of a personality. That the latter view is the correct and Scriptural one is evident from the following considerations:
1. HIS WORKS PROCLAIM PERSONALITY.
(1) He speaks. “But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith” (1 Tim. 4:1). A speaker is a person; no influence or principle can speak.
(2) He testifies. “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall bear witness of me” (John 15: 26).
(3) He teaches and quickens the mind. “But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you” (John 14:26).
(4) He guides. “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye can not bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth” (John 16: 12, 13).
(5) He leads and forbids. “And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not” (Acts 16:6, 7).
(6) He searches. “But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10).
In the above passages the Holy Spirit is said to speak, to testify, to quicken, to teach, to guide disciples, to lead, to forbid and to search. All these things unite in showing the Holy Spirit to be a person, for nothing but a person can do them.
2. HE HAS THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A PERSON.
We will mention a few of them:
(1) Mind. “And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit” (Rom. 8:27).
(2) Knowledge. “Even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God” (1 Cor. 2:11).
(3) Affection. “Now I beseech you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me” (Rom. 15:30).
(4) Will. “But all these worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as he will” (1 Cor. 12:11).
(5) Goodness. “Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them” (Neh. 9:20). Goodness, will, affection, knowledge and mind are all characteristics of a person. By no stretch of the imagination can they be ascribed to a mere impersonal influence or principle. These five characteristics form the fingers in the hand of certainty by which we grasp the personality of the Holy Spirit.
(1) Z.T. Sweeny The Spirit and the Word, Gospel Advocate, Nashville Tennesee(Chapter 3)
Guest for truth said : “Two views have been entertained concerning the Holy Spirit: (1) That it is a divine influence proceeding from the Father, an emanation from or manifestation of the divine, or a mere impersonal force. (2) That he is a person and active in all the ways of a personality. That the latter view is the correct and Scriptural one is evident from the following considerations:
(We will take the example G f t. used to prove no one can bear witness, or testify except a person. Therefore the holy spirit has to be a person.)
Jhn 15:26 ¶ But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, [even] the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Jhn 15:27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning. (As we can see, (those who can read and care to do so) that #1 is mentioned in Jhn:15: 26 I see nowhere that this spirit is described as an indivigual person)
Jhn 5:36 But I have greater witness than [that] of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.
(Gft’s flawed conclusion, is also born out by, Jn: 5:36, unless of course you wish us to believe WORKS are persons also.)
Jhn 5:37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
Jhn 8:18 I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
( I won’t go through all the other flawed reasonings you state, because all the things you name can not be accomplished except they come from “THE FATHER” as we see if we read carefully, even Jesus proceeded from “GOD THE FATHER”
Laymod, Did you read carefully Jn 15:26? when you use the word “Whom” is not talking about somebody?
sorry! laymond, When Jesus said: “Whom” Not you.
Laymond, According to the Scriptures. How many witnesses do you need affirm a testimony is true? because that’s the whole point in Jn. 5:36. John came first giving testimony of Jesus as the true and God the Father. Matthew 18:16 “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” It was told in the law of moses (Deuteronomy 17:6). That they need to hear 2 or 3 witnesses to belive not “one”. When our Lord Jesus was baptize in Matthew 3:16-17 you can read the manifestation of the Godhead. and the testimony of the Father and Holy Spirit. another occasion when Jesus took Peter , James, and John his brother and the father gave testimony of Jesus and he told them: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” (Matthew 17:1-5).
(After Jesus’ resurection, Mary went and told some of the apostles what had happened.)
Mar 16:11 And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
(They went and told the rest. they didn’t believe it either.)
Mar 16:13 And they went and told [it] unto the residue: neither believed they them.
Mar 16:14 ¶ Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
(Keith, if you truly believe Jesus was talking to you here, do you have enough faith to do as he said without fear of harm?, I am not suggesting that you do, for you will surely die. He was only speaking to the non-believing apostles.)
Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Mar 16:18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
(Keith, until you can do all these things,Jesus promised, (take up snakes and drink poison, without harm) don’t expect me to believe you recieved the same “Holy Ghost” that the apostles did.)
(I read where some idiots, in Kentucky, tryed this and they died.)
Don’t you think “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” applies here? (Matthew 4:7; Luke 4:12)
As I understand it, the Spirit’s gifts were to benefit others, not one’s self. (Acts 28:3-8, for instance; if the viper had killed Paul, he wouldn’t have been able to heal Publius’ servant.)
Keith, I don’t envy you one bit here. I don’t have much interest in debating such topics, and even less tolerance for those who are disagreeable about it. I’m thankful that God Himself resides in His church and in individual Christians, and look forward to the day when, following resurrection and judgment, the whole creation receives His manifest glory.
And I’m NOT subscribing to follow-up comments!
😉
Wise choice, Adam.
Mar 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe.
Sounds more like a test of your faith, than a challenge to the Lord.
you surely don’t believe the “Golden Serpent” was a test of God’s power, it was a test of the people’s faith.
And Keith, you do have the patients of Job. as the bible says we should all be willing to discuss what we believe.
Thanks, brother. We can certainly agree that it’s good to discuss and defend what we believe. (2 Timothy 4:2; 1 Peter 3:15)
Keith, you and I have proven that a discussion does not have to become “nasty” or fatal, as long as you use the sword Jesus gave us, God’s Word.
And I still consider you as one of, or the most “godly man ” on the blogs. none of what I say is meant to be dispiteful, and I take none of yours in that manner.
God Bless.
Mr. Gonnerman, I do not intend to start a conversation with you on this because I don’t know you. but Just a bit of advice, not from me.
1Pe 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:
( I believe this describes brother Brenton pretty well, but everyone is not like Keith)
Just a statement of my own, you said “you have less tolerance for those who are disagreeable”
I don’t know of any debate, where both parties were not disagreeable.
If there were no disagrement, there would be no debate.
You said “And I’m NOT subscribing to follow-up comments!”
wouldn’t that be nice we could say anything we want with no challenge to the truth of it.
Keith do we actually believe that God sent “another person” to earth to do as he would,as he willed, as “guest for truth” indicated.
Jhn 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
After reading what Jesus said, I just can’t bring myself to believe that.
I actually believe that Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit with power to do good works:
“You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached – how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” – Acts 10:36-38
In this passage peter is giving the testimony (He was a witness) about the Godhead working the same purpose to save the mankind from their sins.
God said: “Let Us”
A Good question to consider would be, to whom was God speaking in Gen. 1:26, when he said:” Let us make man? To whom was God talking? Was he just talking to himself? Were there no other persons to whom he could say, “Let us make man? It is obvious that he was not talking to man. There were no men! If the theory is true that there is only one person in the Godhead. To whom could God have been speaking when he said, “ Let us make man in our own image? In contrast with this passage in the new testament about us 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jhn 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,full of grace and truth. (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) (I believe the parentheses indicates this was not in the original)
Jhn 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Jhn 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
(the words that I speak unto you, are spirit, and life.) (would that not make the “words” spoken by Jesus “the spirit of truth?)
Jhn 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received [them], and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Jhn 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (isn’t this the same as was said of Jesus?)
Jhn 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Jhn 17:18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
Jhn 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. (thy word is truth. refer to vs. 17)
Jhn 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. ( I understand this to say, we will be judged by the “word of God) (how do you read this?)
Jhn 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
Jhn 17:8 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received [them], and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
As I read and understand all this, Jesus brought the “spirit of truth” “God’s word” when he left he gave this same “spirit of truth” to the apostles so they could carry on God’s work, without flaw. No the “holy ghost is not a person,it is the holy word of God, “the spirit of truth” in-trusted first to Jesus then later to the apostles through the breath of Jesus. This “spirit of truth”/ the word of God was later in-trusted to the writings of the apostles, the bible.
Laymond, The Holy Spirit is a person (invisible because is a spirit like God the father)nobody has seem God (1 Jn 4:12) but our lord Jesus has show us the father. The Holy Spirit is God too and the instrument that the Godhead use is his word because is the way we can understand humanly. Have you read the preposition (3) the Spirit dwell in the christian through the medium of the written word, His law (Romans 8:2) and by one’s obedience to that word. (1 Peter 1:23).
As we see, from Genesis through Revelation, the power of God is his spoken word, whether he spoke through angels, the prophets, or through his son, and finally through Jesus’ apostles. In the beginning he, himself spoke to man, before the fall.
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 3:9 ¶ And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?
so we know God could talk to man if he so desired, but I believe it is said God does not associate with sin. so he has chosen to speak through others.
Ah, but Laymond, God asked Adam, “Where are you?” AFTER Adam had sinned. So it doesn’t really make sense to use that verse to say that God can’t talk to man anymore because of sin…
In fact, the others that He gave His inspired Word to were also sinners.
God, and His Spirit have always interacted with people in a literal way. So why would anyone maintain that all of a sudden He doesn’t anymore? Especially when He’s said that He would be with us?
MM I do believe you mis-read what I said.I believe I said God had chosen to, not that he couldn’t, my whole point was, he could if he was so inclined.
MM said “In fact, the others that He gave His inspired Word to were also sinners.”
surely you are not accusing Jesus Christ of sin. I don’t know of any others he “gave it to”
“God does not associate with sin. So he has chosen to speak through others.”.
Laymond, your comment implied that it was because of man’s sin that God chooses not to speak to man anymore.
But then you say He spoke through others. Who are those others, if not also men?
I mean, I know you discount the inspiration of Paul’s writing, but do you honestly think that none of the writers of the Bible were given the Holy Spirit?
No, Jesus was not sinful, He was perfect. But He promised to give His Spirit to men who were not perfect.