Discernment

You were saying patience isnt a gift.

How is a fruit different from a gift. um...gift is given, we cant earn it. We can put our gifts to use. But its not something we can pick or choose or GET I suppose, its given by God. We just receive it.
Fruits needs to be cultivated and shared. We can sow seeds that will bear these fruits. They come as as a response to the gifts...?

I dont know what do you think? Working out our own salvation isnt the same as developing it. Its already complete. GOd doesnt give us an incomplete salvation, but it might puzzle us at first how to use it, like, when I was given this ipad I had to work out or figure out how to use it.
 
Lanolin said:
You were saying patience isnt a gift.

How is a fruit different from a gift. um...gift is given, we cant earn it. We can put our gifts to use. But its not something we can pick or choose or GET I suppose, its given by God. We just receive it.
Fruits needs to be cultivated and shared. We can sow seeds that will bear these fruits. They come as as a response to the gifts...?

I dont know what do you think? Working out our own salvation isnt the same as developing it. Its already complete. GOd doesnt give us an incomplete salvation, but it might puzzle us at first how to use it, like, when I was given this ipad I had to work out or figure out how to use it.
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The phrase of "continue to work out your salvation" is found in Philippians 2:12-13......….
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his purpose.”

The original word here of "fear" in the context Paul uses it means reverence/respect.

Over the years this verse has been misused by those who want to believe that we can lose our salvation but is certainly does not mean that.

Also, the original Greek of "work out" does not mean that we are to go to the gym to exercise our bodies but it means to bring something to a completion.
Paul encourages us in
 
Major said:
The phrase of "continue to work out your salvation" is found in Philippians 2:12-13......….
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his purpose.”

The original word here of "fear" in the context Paul uses it means reverence/respect.

Over the years this verse has been misused by those who want to believe that we can lose our salvation but is certainly does not mean that.
Click to expand...

Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).
13 [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the whileeffectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure andsatisfaction and delight.

Since I am the one who first used this as an example , I can say it has been taken and used in a way I did not.

I said Salvation is a Free Gift and yet we still need to walk it out or work it out.
It's totally up to us to do something with our salvation otherwise it never fulfills God's plan on one's life. It sits dormant and undeveloped and this says nothing about losing it.
Blessings
FCJ
 
I agree witb your post FCJ totally however I dont think anyone ever said anything about losing salvation FCJ. You seem to go off in tangents that nobody has even mentioned...?!

Maybe its thought if this way if you dont use it you lose it. Which i dont believe is quite true but in some respects is a way of explaining unopened gifts. For example if you are given a bible and you just leave it on the shelf, never read it, you could forget its there and end up.losing it cos you dont know where it is.
 
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Ok to put another way to explain say you given a jigsaw puzzle as a gift. It has all the pieces there already. But it isnt already put together. You are the one that needs to figure out to put it together. But there are no missing pieces in this gift.
 
Major said:
The phrase of "continue to work out your salvation" is found in Philippians 2:12-13......….
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his purpose.”

The original word here of "fear" in the context Paul uses it means reverence/respect.

Over the years this verse has been misused by those who want to believe that we can lose our salvation but is certainly does not mean that.

Also, the original Greek of "work out" does not mean that we are to go to the gym to exercise our bodies but it means to bring something to a completion.
Paul encourages us in
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Ok sorry I missed this post. To me 'work out' means figure out. Like as I said a jigsaw puzzle or a maths equation.

I dont understsnd why people would want to believe we can lose our salvation. That makes no sense! Salvation is about being found, not being lost.
 
Lanolin said:
Ok sorry I missed this post. To me 'work out' means figure out. Like as I said a jigsaw puzzle or a maths equation.

I dont understsnd why people would want to believe we can lose our salvation. That makes no sense! Salvation is about being found, not being lost.
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You are correct. To think that we can do anything to be saved is not the meaning of "Work out". in any way.

I wish that we could talk about that but the rules of the forum will not allow us to do so.
 
Let go back to OP about discernment, can I add that the more you read the Bible, the better your discernment is.
Then you will have the knowledge to discern good from evil, and thus the ability to choose.
PAul wrote to Timothy on being a good workman and rightly dividing the word of God. Timothy was a young minister but he had known scriptures from his youth, and was diligently taught by his grandmother. PAul took about 14 years to learn what God was saying to him before he set out on his mission. He already thought he knew everything being a Pharisee, but no, he had to learn again and really study the scriptures.

Another thing about discernment, is, when you read the Bible, and I emphasise this, is read it IN ORDER. Dont just read a few verses here and there and skip around. You would never read a novel/story like this, picking and choosing only the sentences you want to read. You would read the whole thing so you know what the story is about! Then you will get the gist of what God wants you to know.

Everytime you read the Bible, if you dont understand something, just keep reading. You can pray and ask the author Himself for help and guidance! He will open scripture to you.
 
Discernment is to know the truth. It is the working relationship between the faithful and the Spirit of Truth. Discernment is a by product of handing one's will and life over to the care of God (God's-will). The knowing part comes to you from the Spirit of Truth, and not from ones own knowledge of the bible. Discernment is not us looking for truth, but truth presenting itself because we allow it to. It comes through because we are not present in our own consciousness. We make a channel by surrendering self (self-will) so God's-will can flow through. When we let go, we see the light (enlightened) and not what we think we are looking for.

If you ever saw the movie 'Horse Whisperer', you won't get the horse by chasing it. As God said, "Be still and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10), and the truth will come to you. Knowing that it is God's work, not your own, which bares the truth. Simply put, discernment is an act of faith.
 
But you can ask God for discernment and He gives you scripture. He confirms it with his Word in the Bible. you dont go looking first, you ask Him first. It might be a passage that you havent even looked at or not even known.
 
Lanolin said:
But you can ask God for discernment and He gives you scripture. He confirms it with his Word in the Bible. you dont go looking first, you ask Him first. It might be a passage that you havent even looked at or not even known.
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Discernment is more then just understanding scripture.
 
Lanolin said:
But you can ask God for discernment and He gives you scripture. He confirms it with his Word in the Bible. you dont go looking first, you ask Him first. It might be a passage that you havent even looked at or not even known.
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True, because you are a scripture person.
God gives you the truth in a way that suits you best. Two people may ask the same question and get two different answers/scriptures. God discerns the heart. We need to open our heart to God for His discernment.
 
Peter Luke said:
True, because you are a scripture person.
God gives you the truth in a way that suits you best. Two people may ask the same question and get two different answers/scriptures. God discerns the heart. We need to open our heart to God for His discernment.
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Of course but He does that for everyone. Not just me. You can ask Him and He will give you scripture and it will be just for you pertaining to that situation.
For some people He gives them dreams and visions I've found that if scripture is not readily available He often speaks to people through dreams. But those dreams/visions still need interpretation, and thats where discernment can come in.

The word of wisdom that people receive comes not from ourselves, but from God. One cant know it only that God gives it. But it will be confirmed through scripture. Which is why it is still important for us to read the Bible. This is how you can sharpen discernement...which is basically the ability to see what is good and what is evil. Eve lacked discernment when she chose the forbidden fruit, she believed it made her wise, and started to believe what the serpent told her, that it wasnt poison. Well it was. And too late she ate it. You know when you eat something poisonous and it doesnt kill you right away, but it starts a chain reaction in your body. She didnt die straight away, but she and adam started dying that very day they ate of it. When the serpent asked her hath God said? Eve could have said YES God said and 'it is written' which is what Jesus said to get rid of the devil when he was being tempted. Devil cant argue with scripture.
 
Yes Lanolin. I know that God helps those with scripture too. I often ask for a verse and then open the bible and the first verse I see is the one.

Sorry that you always think that I am somewhat kidding myself about my experiences of faith. We all have our own unique experiences. Be careful not to think that only those who are identical, or close to your own experiences, are genuine. Religions, denominations, and sects operate that way. The twelve disciples of Jesus Christ share similar stories but have very different experiences to each other _ and that was also meant to be for our benefit.

Lanolin said:
Devil cant (sic) argue with scripture.
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Neither can Christians.
The devil knows scripture better than we, and can manipulate it.

Scripture, coupled with righteous intent (what's true in the heart), discerns (pierces) even the devil.

May your heart be always filled with God's Grace.
 
I dont think you kidding yourself, have no idea know where you got that from. Everyone is diferent, unique and special because God made us individuals not clones of each other!

Also He gives us each different gifts thought that was quite clear in Corinthians as we are different members of the body of Christ. Not everyone is an ear, an eye or a nose, or..a toe.
 
The eunuch was sitting in his chariot reading scripture from Isiaiah, but he needed help understanding what he was reading, so Phillip got alongside him and showed him what it meant. GOds word doesnt return back empty and has the ability to transform our lives if we are open to receive it.

All the jewish people are scripture people, right? They had the oracles given to them by God to preserve but do you think many of them accepted Jesus? Many of them did not, even when scripture spoke of Him. That was because scripture was not open to them, not that they were scripture people. Please understand what I am saying, its not because I read a lot of scripture or am a book worm. Its because I ask God first and am open to receiving His wisdom and discernment from the Bible. There have been so many times I had to make a choice and it was really difficult, that I couldnt rely on my own limited judgment I had to ask God and He would show me through His word what I needed to do.
 
1 Corinthians 2:13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

So there is discernment of the physical world and also discernment of the Spiritual things.

How many things do we not discern because we find it foolish?
 
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