A common attitude toward the gift of prophecy is that those who exercise the gift may get it wrong from time to time, but that’s just the nature of the game. Prophecy is something that must be practiced. We learn the gift by trial and error. We are humans, after all, and we make mistakes. Sometimes we are “spot on”, and sometimes we “miss it.” So the story goes.
I find this view of the prophetic gift to be in stark contrast to the Biblical portrayal of prophecy. If a person claimed to speak for God, and what s/he prophesied did not come to pass, that person was considered a false prophet and was to be executed (Dt 18:20-22). We read of Samuel that “none of his prophecies fell to the ground unfulfilled. All Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba realized that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord” (1Sam 3:19-20). What confirmed Samuel as a prophet was that his prophecies were accurate 100% of the time.
Prophets had to get it right 100% of the time. There was no room for trial and error. Indeed, when you understand the nature of prophecy, it’s perfectly understandable why true prophets will always bat 1.000. Prophecy is God’s revelatory communication to humans via a particular individual. God never “misses it,” so how could it be that someone with the gift of prophecy could ever “miss it”?
Could there be a problem with the transmission? God tells the person what to say, but s/he misunderstands what God has spoken. But how could this be? God doesn’t try. He doesn’t try to communicate His message to the prophet but fails to do so. If God wants to communicate something to someone, He will surely succeed in doing so. While the human may choose not to pass on what God has communicated, God will ensure that His message is understood. That’s why God could say that a person who “missed it” even once should be executed. It’s because God is always clear in His communication, making it impossible for the prophet to “miss it.”
Perhaps someone could “miss it” because they mistakenly identify their own thoughts as God’s. But this presupposes that the way God communicates is so unclear that we can mistake our own thoughts for God’s. Where in Scripture do we see God speaking to people in an ambiguous manner? God spoke to both believers and unbelievers alike, and no one ever had any question as to who was speaking or what was spoken. If God desires to speak, He will make Himself and His message clear. There was no mistaking God’s message. No one in the Bible ever said “I think God is speaking to me” or “I think this is what God is saying to me.” Prophesying is not a skill someone learns. If God gives you a prophetic word, you will know it’s coming from God and you will know precisely what to say.
To think that those who prophesy today have the liberty to get it wrong from time to time, one must presuppose that the nature of prophecy in the NT era is different from that of the OT era, but why think this? Is there some NT text that says this? No. So why think NT saints using the gift of prophecy have room for error whereas OT saints using the gift of prophecy did not?
This brings me to my next point: The content of most modern-day prophecies do not resemble the prophetic gift as portrayed in Scripture.
Is it really prophecy?
What passes for prophecy these days rarely bears the marks of Biblical prophecy. The vast majority of prophecies do not predict anything, or communicate things that only God could know. They are usually just words of encouragement that – apart from the introduction “Thus says the Lord” – sound indistinguishable from a mini sermon.
The distinguishing mark of prophecy is that it is predictive in nature, as evidenced by God’s test for a prophet (Dt 18:20-22). According to YHWH, the Israelites could discern a true prophet from a false prophet by observing if their prophecy “came to pass” (Dt 18:22). Something can only come to pass if it pertains to the future. We read that none of Samuel’s prophecies went unfulfilled. A prophecy that has nothing to do with the future cannot be “fulfilled.” This is not to say that all prophecies are predictive in nature, but we should expect at least some prophecies to be predictive in nature.
There are only two examples in the NT where we see the gift of prophecy in operation, and both entailed a prediction regarding the future: Agabus predicted a (1) great famine in Acts 11:28 and (2) Paul’s arrest at Jerusalem in Acts 21:10-11. So why should we think that the gift of prophecy is only for encouragement rather than predicting something about the future?
A genuine prophetic utterance should typically tell us something about the future. Most purported prophetic utterances today, however, do not, and thus I have little reason to believe they are genuine prophetic utterances. It’s easy to speak some encouraging words. It’s not so easy to predict the future.
Wrapping up
Based on what prophecy is – God’s revelatory communication to man – it stands to reason that no one who genuinely has the gift of prophecy could ever “miss it.” They will be right 100% of the time because the God who gives them the information is right 100% of the time and ensures that the person will understand the source and message 100% of the time. If a person claims to be a prophet or claims to be used in the gift of prophecy, but they never give a predictive and testable prophecy, or if they have prophesied something that did not come to pass, then we know that such a person is not a prophet, is not being used in the gift of prophecy, and should not be trusted as an oracle of God.
I think many well-meaning people are mistaking personal ideas/impressions/feelings (self-talk) as words from God, and attaching divine authority to them. Most of these people do not predict anything, but want to be considered prophets. If they do not have a track record of predicting events that have come to pass, then we have no reason to consider them a prophet or a person who is used in the gift of prophecy. Paul told us to judge prophecies (1Cor 14:29). We can only do so if we employ the Biblical criteria for prophecies: (1) they come to pass; (2) the person uttering them is a reliable spokesman for God, evidenced by the fact that s/he has never been mistaken in what s/he has prophesied.
August 13, 2007 at 8:47 am
Good topic Jason. I’ve only met one real prophet my whole life, but I have seen many who proported to ‘prophesy’ about this or that.
Concerning accuracy, sometimes prohesies don’t come to pass because they were conditional and dependant on a persons response to a directive, i.e. ” the Lord says stop commiting this certain sin or you will die in two weeks.” If the person stops sinning then the prophesy doesn’t come to pass.
I must say, when you’ve seen a real prophet in action it makes most preachers who get all herky-jerky spiritual in the pulpit look kinda stupid.
LikeLike
August 13, 2007 at 8:50 am
There are many failed prophecies in the Bible. We’ve discussed some of the NT prophecies recently, such as the claim that Jesus would return during the lifetime of the apostles. But the OT also contains failed prophecies. Here is one:
Ezekiel chapter 26 predicts that during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar [Ez 26:7] the city of Tyre will be UTTERLY DESTROYED, become a BARE ROCK [Ez 26:4; 26:14 – KJV says “like the top of a rock”; NIV says “scrape away the rubble and make a bare rock”], and NEVER BE REBUILT [Ez 26:14; 26:21]. The city was defeated in battle in 587 BC, during King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, but was NOT “utterly” destroyed or “never rebuilt.” In fact, today has more than 20,000 inhabitants at the core of a metropolitan area of more than 100,000 people! The city consists of what was originally mainland and island portions; both are mentioned in Ezekiel 26. Today the island portion is connected to the mainland so the city appears to have coastal, peninsula and island portions all joined. The original ruins were not even scraped clean like “bare rock” as the ancient ruins from all eras are preserved on both island and mainland portions and are popular tourist destinations. So the prophecy fails: the original city was defeated but NOT “utterly destroyed” and scraped clean like “bare rock” within the specified time frame, and both island and mainland portions were fully rebuilt, bigger than ever, and even joined by the peninsula area! Even within Bible times, long after the battle described by Ezekiel, Tyre had already been rebuilt and, in New Testament times it is still portrayed as a CITY (Mark 3:8) and as a harbor where ships could unload (Acts 21:3,7)
What does the Bible tell us about God and prophecy?
“And if a prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet.” Ezek 14:9
“Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets.” 2 Chron 18:22
“Now, therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil concerning thee.” 1 Kings 22:23
“For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” 2 Thess 2:11
“O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived.” Jer 20:7
“Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people.” Jer 4:10
LikeLike
August 16, 2007 at 11:30 am
Bradley,
Who is this prophet?
Yes, there are conditional prophecies, but when the conditions are met, and the judgment is stayed, I would not say it did not come to pass. In one sense it didn’t (the future judgment was stayed), but not in the sense that the Bible is speaking of. When the Bible talks about a prophecy not coming to pass it means it was a false prophecy.
Jason
LikeLike
August 16, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Arthur,
You have an uncanny ability to use a post as a spring-board to talk about unrelated topics, but I’ll bite the bait and respond.
Do you profess Christianity? I always thought so, but if you think Jesus made a failed prophecy, I am beginning to wonder if my assessment was wrong. Maybe you just have a low Christology (liberalism). I don’t say that as a jab. I’m just trying to assess where you are on the theological and religious map. Would you mind shedding some light on your theological position? I asked you in the past, but did not hear a response.
As for the Ezekiel prophecy, I see you got that information from http://www.wordwiz72.com/bible.html. Let me say a few words. I recognize that there are some difficult passages in our modern Bibles. But most of the “1001 contradictions in the Bible” type of sites exaggerate their claims, pointing out mistakes and contradictions that simply do not exist. They are invented, often because one fails to understand that cultural context in which they were written, the literary standards of the day, the genre in which they appear, the original languages in which they were written, the translation they are reading, etc. Only a handful are bonafide problems.
I also recognize that many Christians have attempted to address the bonafide problems. There are a host of resources out there on Christian apologetics, so whenever you come across a purported mistake in Scripture, it would do you well to see what Christians have to say in response to the charge. This was the first time I ever heard of this supposed problem with Ezekiel 26, so I went to the web to do some research. Within 15 minutes I had found and read several responses. You can read them here:
http://www.tektonics.org/uz/zeketyre.html
http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/tyre.htm
http://www.apocalipsis.org/rev-tyre.htm
The body of literature of those who actually respond to Christian counter-arguments to their so-called contradictions and mistakes is virtually nill, so if you find a rebuttal to the Christian counter-response point me to it. Otherwise, I think its safe to say that Ezek 26 is just another invented mistake by those who wish to find the Bible in error. One would not think it is a mistake if one read the text carefully and charitably.
BTW, I appreciate your posts here. You keep the conversation lively. Sometimes, you provide the only conversation!
Jason
LikeLike
August 16, 2007 at 3:05 pm
His name is Steve Grimsley.
LikeLike
August 17, 2007 at 7:23 am
Jason,
I’m a Trinitarian Christian.
The rebuttal in the second link first tries to distinguish “they” from Nebuchadnezzar, so as to use any event from the far-off future to justify a fulfillment of the prophecy. (The mention of Nebuchadnezzar immediately preceding what apparently nothing but coincidence.) Then, as to prophecy that Tyre would always remain ruins and never be rebuilt:
In verses 19-21, Ezekiel said that there would come a time when the city is “desolate,” “no longer inhabited,” and submerged underwater. I believe that this was fulfilled completely by Alexander… And from that point on, the Phoenician city of Tyre ceased to exist. A city cannot be more desolate or more uninhabited than one that no longer exists. And yes, there is indeed a city called Tyre in modern-day Lebanon, and indeed it might be sitting on the exact same spot as the original Tyre. But this is Lebanon’s Tyre – not the Phoenician Tyre that had taunted the Jews and had gloated over the destruction of the Holy City of Jerusalem. It was the Phoenician Tyre that Ezekiel was speaking of, and that city no longer exists
Tyre is uninhabited, despite people standing in that location, because Phoenician Tyre doesn’t exist anymore! To use this sort of reasoning is to call the Biblical prophecies misleading and deceiving. If a prophecy that a city will never be rebuilt, remaining forever desolate and uninhabited, is fulfilled when the city is rebuilt, inhabited and successful because the new rebuilt Tyre is in some sense “not the same city” as the old Tyre (!), then no prophecy can ever fail. Miss Cleo is never wrong, properly understood. As I’ve noted before, you can explain away Star Trek “contradictions” in the same manner.
Here’s the question: if the Bible were to have a prophecy that you would consider unfulfilled, then what would it have to say? Is there any prediction followed by any happening that would lead you to conclude it was a false prophecy, if it were in the Bible? Is that “testing” the prophecies or having blind faith in them?
LikeLike
August 17, 2007 at 7:36 am
As to the third link:
6. It would never be rebuilt
Not at least to it’s former glory. The fishing village can barely count.
I’m not sure how “not at least according to its former glory” is meaningful. Wikipedia says it is a city, not a village, with 117,100 inhabitants. The fourth largest city in Lebanon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyre_(Lebanon)
http://tyros.leb.net/tyre/
If this had been a Mormon prophecy or an Islamic prophecy, would it be a failed prophecy?
LikeLike
August 17, 2007 at 10:31 am
Arthur,
Thanks for the description, but it doesn’t tell me much. Evangelicals are Trinitarian Christians, and yet they wouldn’t say Jesus made a failed prophesy. What tradition are you from?
Read the first link. I agree with you that the guy in the second link had some poor reasoning. Not so in the first link. J.P. Holding makes it clear that grammatically speaking, there is a distinction in referents.
LikeLike
August 17, 2007 at 1:30 pm
Jason,
Not sure why it matters, but United Church of Christ.
The first link explains away the prophecy of permanent destruction as God just “talking trash” (!) and not meant to be taken seriously or literally. I don’t find that credible. But if you allow Ezekiel that kind of flexibility, then you should allow other religions and modern prophets that kind of flexibility.
Arthur
LikeLike
August 20, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Hyperbole is another word for that. And we have clear usage of that in all sorts of writings, including the Bible.
It seems to me that Holding’s explanation gives weight to both grammar and literary norms.
One thing I find difficult when dialoguing with people about supposed Biblical contradictions or mistakes is how uncharitable they are with the text. They try to make the Bible conform to modern standards of writing, or are excessively literal in their reading, not paying attention to genre, or conventions of the day. If we are going to admit a contradiction or mistake, it should only be after we have given the text the most charitable reading we can in light of our background knowledge.
Jason
LikeLike
October 7, 2007 at 6:10 pm
I agree and can’t understand why others in pentecost don’t agree with me. I have made that same point among those with whom I am associated. Now, that being said, I am left with having heard many false prophets and none whom I consider true. If I understand you, then you agree that one should not remain where a pastor who purports to be a prophet or gives credibility to those who do if they are not right 100% of the time. I too have witnessed, as one responder did, these conditional prophecies where evidently some condition was met that stayed the judgement (the vast majority of “prophecies” I’ve heard) or where the prophecy is given out metaphorically and people later find something to make it come to pass which others wouldn’t know if it had not been pointed out to them. That being said, I still have no reason too not believe GOD could have a prophet today. A follow up question for you: preceding Paul’s arrest Acts 21:4 Paul was warned by disciples “through the Spirit” not to go to Jerusalem, which of course he ignored (Acts 21:5) then came the subsequent prophecy from Agabus. Now when one speaks “through the Spirit” or a phrase more commonly used today “in the Holy Ghost” does that neccesarily mean it it God’s will that you obey? It seems to me that God was in favor of Paul’s trip to Jerusalem despite the disciples warning through the Spirit. This has been somewhat puzzling to me. Unfortunately my experiences with people speakin in the Holy Ghost are about like my experiences with prophecy.
btw Josh McDowell addresses the Ezekial prophecy concerning Tyre in one of his “evidence that demands a verdict” books. It has been a long time since I’ve read it but I found it to be pretty convincing at the time.
LikeLike
October 8, 2007 at 3:44 pm
I’m not saying that one necessarily needs to leave a church where such abuses of prophecy exist, but I am saying we need to be aware of such abuses both in practice and in theology.
I have no doubt that prophets still exist, but they are few in number.
I don’t think there is any difference between speaking through the Spirit and prophecy. I think speaking through the Spirit is prophecy. The passages about Paul are perplexing. It seems to me that the Spirit was warning Paul of what would happen to him if he went (not commanding him not to go), but Paul decided the cost was worth it.
Jason
LikeLike
July 8, 2017 at 1:26 pm
I do agree with this it’s interesting because I was just discussing this with my mom a few days ago that a prophet is not a prophet if what they say is not true or does not come to pass.An evangelist that came to her church was labeled a prophet and he supposedly could call people out and tell them stuff that noone knew but from what I heard he was not as accurate as he should have been told my mom her thyroid was healed when she never had a thyroid condition so I don’t want to speak ill of a man of God but if you go by the bible he cannot be a prophet maybe he does have some discernment gifts but prophecy is not a hit and miss gift. Its really something these preachers are supposed to be students of the bible but it seems like they will disregard parts too if they don’t fit into something they believe or whatever.That evangelist should not be labeled a prophet and that goes by the bible he preaches out of but nope he goes around doing cold readings is what it appears according to some sources who were there I just think its a shame because yes he is a preacher God does use him but doing the other stuff I don’t know if God is a part of that I just dont think it is of God.I am not the judge only God can do that and I am sure he will deal with it in his time.
LikeLike
July 8, 2017 at 10:02 pm
T. G.-P.
We oftentimes believe that a prophet is a person with psychic power and ability to see the future. While many wise men of discernment can foresee the trending currents in society there are no psychics. But there are men who take the trending winds and bring inventions and progress to pass that win them acclamation for their “insight”.
Prophets of old were sometimes self appointed as those with a 911 mentally are prone to pursue a career in helping people, others would attend schools to study a certain “Trade”: a Blacksmith, a Carpenter, a Priest or Minister that studied his desired trade, the Bible, the farmer, the shepherd and the like.
From the earliest times, prophets had been recognized as teachers divinely appointed. In the highest sense the prophet was one who spoke by direct inspiration, communicating to the people the messages he had received from God. But the name was given also to those who, though not so directly inspired, were divinely called to instruct the people in the works and ways of God. For the training of such a class of teachers, Samuel, by the Lord’s direction, established the schools of the prophets.
These schools were intended to serve as a barrier against the wide-spreading corruption, to provide for the mental and spiritual welfare of the youth, and to promote the prosperity of the nation by furnishing it with men qualified to act in the fear of God as leaders and counselors. To this end, Samuel gathered companies of young men who were pious, intelligent, and studious. These were called the sons of the prophets…”
The schools of the prophets, established by Samuel, had fallen into decay during the years of Israel’s apostasy. Elijah re-established these schools, making provision for young men to gain an education that would lead them to magnify the law and make it honorable. Three of these schools, one at Gilgal, one at Bethel, and one at Jericho, are mentioned in the record.…
The Schools of the Prophets And Their Curriculum
“The chief subjects of study in these schools were the law of God, with the instruction given to Moses, sacred history, sacred music, and poetry. In the records of sacred history were traced the footsteps of Jehovah. The great truths set forth by the types in the service of the sanctuary were brought to view, and faith grasped the central object of all that system—the Lamb of God, that was to take away the sin of the world. A spirit of devotion was cherished. Not only were the students taught the duty of prayer, but they were taught how to pray, how to approach their Creator, how to exercise faith in Him, and how to understand and obey the teachings of His Spirit. Sanctified intellect brought forth from the treasure house of God things new and old, and the Spirit of God was manifested in prophecy and sacred song“.
“The art of sacred melody was diligently cultivated. No frivolous waltz was heard, nor flippant song that should extol man and divert the attention from God; but sacred, solemn psalms of praise to the Creator, exalting His name and recounting His wondrous works. Thus music was made to serve a holy purpose, to lift the thoughts to that which was pure and noble and elevating, and to awaken in the soul devotion and gratitude to God.”
We get a little carried away when we talk about terms like prophet. The term profit is like the term Sanctification but that all a Prophet is, all that a Preacher is expected to be, like a Holy Man, you see SANCTIFICATION is little known word like Prophet
Sanctification. Beautiful word.
We get a bit frightened at the word sanctification because we’ve sort of given it a musty connotation, We made it sort of drip religion. There’s nothing pompous or pious about sanctification, beautiful word. It simply means set apart. That’s what a Prophet is, what a Saint is: not a stain glass window, sort of, with a halo hanging around his neck; a Saint, same root word is somebody set apart in sanctification, set apart for the intelligent purpose for which intelligently created, that’s sanctification. Anything can be sanctified. When I put my shoes on my feet and walk down the street with them on my feet, I sanctify them. I could of course put them on my head and go barefoot; you’d think I was a little unusual; you’d be right.
When you look at your watch, you sanctify it; you use it for the intelligent purpose for which it was intelligently created, to tell you how late it is. You’ll probably sanctify your watch several times before this night is out.
I could use my glasses to stir my coffee in an emergency but that wasn’t really in the mind of the person who made them; his idea was that I’d stick them on my nose so that I could see the better. Now I’m sanctifying them. These glasses are a little unusual because they have double vision lenses and I don’t need the top half when I’m reading so they’re only half sanctified when I wear them.
The word sanctification simply means that you recognize the intelligent purpose for which God made you and you understand the intelligent way in which he made you so you can implement that intelligent purpose and then you let him as God who created you for that intelligent purpose use you to that end; that’s sanctification. And it will involve your spirit, conjunction, and soul, conjunction, and body.
The very God of peace sanctify you holy, I pray God your whole spirit, and soul and body be preserved blameless until the coming within you, of our Lord Jesus; in other words, live on earth the intelligent quality of life which is true fulfillment for which God made you as man so that all, in your presence, will become compellingly aware of what God is like.
Now you see, we’re without excuse because the Lord Jesus deliberately chose to sanctify himself, so that we in him would know the truth whereby we too may be sanctified. Sanctify them through thy word, they word is truth; in other words, God’s word contains a principle; it’s a principle to live by. I don’t mean pretty little bible stories that you simply know, textually, so that you can tell the story of Daniel and the lion’s den; or, David and Goliath, all part of God’s inspired word but you see if you just memorize bible stories or for that matter memorize bible verses but you don’t understand the truth, the principle that God is communicating, then you might just as well recite three blind mice and this is the tragedy with countless evangelical, born again believers, they have a bible that they’ve come to know textually but they’ve never learned the truth!
If I were to come to your home and found you reading a book, and it’s my first visit to your home I probably wouldn’t be discourteous and ask you what the book you were reading. I’d just notice you were reading a book. And you’d look up maybe and engage in conversation. But next time I visit you, you’re still reading the same book. Maybe even on that occasion I don’t happen to mention it but I notice it’s the same book. And I come again and you’re still reading that book, and every time I come you’re still reading the same book; well finally, I’d pluck up enough courage and say that book must be very fascinating.
“Oh yes you see, I get up at six o’clock every morning; I get up and I read several chapters; as a matter of fact I’ve analyzed several chapters.”
“Well”, I’d say, “it must be very, very intriguing and….”
“Oh it is”, you’d say; “as a matter of fact I’ve set several verses to music, I bought a guitar and I sing it”.
“Well great”,
“As a matter of fact I’m training a choir”.
“Well fine. What is the book”?
“Why, it’s the manual on my new car. And you see, we’re going to sing at the next motor show”.
“Well great. Tell me about the car. Tremendous acceleration? Great braking power? Rides smoothly over all the bumps?”
“Uh uh”, you might say, “I really don’t know. Because you see it’s in the garage; I’ve never been for a ride”.
Well wouldn’t that be an exercise in stupidity? To analyze a book, read it every morning, sing it, set it to music, memorize it, and never go for a ride.
Sane Sermons Serving Simple Saints:
WHY GOD IS WITHIN YOU.
PART FOUR
CONVERSION:
There are countless converted men and women who can say I made my decision for Jesus. And now they read the bible, memorize some verses, set it to music, buy a guitar, train choirs but quite frankly, never been for a ride. This was like the Scribes and the Pharisees. The Lord Jesus said to them: “You search the scriptures.” In the original it’s the imperative. Or rather it’s a categorical statement of fact, not just the imperative. He didn’t say “search the scriptures”, he said, “You search the scriptures” because he knew they did. This was their stock in trade; this was their text book.
“You search the scriptures; in them you think you have eternal life.”
There’s no eternal life to be found in the bible. I believe the bible from cover to cover, I believe it to be divinely inspired, I believe it is authored by the holy ghost. But there’s no eternal life to be found in the bible. Said the Lord Jesus:
“These scriptures are they that testify of me and you will not come to me that you might have life.” So you’ve got a bible you study and you flatter yourself on your biblical scholarship. You derive from it your theological and philosophical propositions but you examine that book without any revelation of the one who authored it and you fail to recognize the one of whom it testifies and because you will not come to me, that in me you might have that life that only I can give you, you’ve got a dead bible and a dead religion and it won’t be long before you have a dead Christ because you see if you study the bible long enough without coming to the one of whom it speaks you’ll crucify him. And then you’ll say,
“We buried him in our generation”.
Said the Lord Jesus, your word is truth. It contains those vital principles that must govern man’s relationship to God and God’s relationship to man. Sanctify them Father, through this truth. As thou Father has sent me into the world even so have I sent them into the world. Because Father when I came into the world, by agreement, between yourself, myself and the holy spirit, I deliberately stepped out of eternity into time, I came from heaven to earth and I assumed their humanity. That those principles Father that we designed should govern man’s relationship to God and God’s relationship to man should be operable. In my humanity Father in terms of my relationship to you and your relationship to me. And so for their sakes Father, having been born a human being, have assumed their flesh and blood for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified through the truth because if they can’t grasp the truth, if they can’t just understand what it’s all about Father, all they have to do is look at me. And they’ll see demonstrated in my humanity and in my disposition Father that I adopt toward you that let’s you be God in the man, they’ll understand at last that I one day, as God, will demand to be God in them, they’ll know the truth. He sanctified himself.
Well how’d he do it?
If you have an interest to know how he did it, let me know and I’ll tell you in the next post.
LikeLike