I have stated I am not a literalist like you. Jesus' resurrection is real.. He is real to me. Is Jesus not real to you? I think he is and how you see Jesus' reality is not physical.BusyTarpDuster2017 said:You told us what you believe. You told us you believe the scriptural claims of the nature of Jesus' resurrection body being physical isn't literal or real; so why do you believe the scriptural claims of the nature of God, that He is love and spirit, is literal and real?Waco1947 said:Stop telling me what I believe. I read the actual texts. Respond to me with your knowledge not what you "make up" about me.BusyTarpDuster2017 said:But how do you know God is spirit? You are getting this information from the text that you believe is all made up, right? I mean, if the text clearly indicates Jesus' resurrected body was physical, but you dismiss that as just a made up story, then how come the text saying God is spirit isn't made up as well?Waco1947 said:Come in the flesh, lived in the flesh, and died in the flesh. Again the text is clear about the nature of God which you are ignoring.BusyTarpDuster2017 said:Come.....in the flesh, right? So no, you don't.Waco1947 said:I did and here it. is Sure confessing that Jesus is come is important (and I do) but the text is clear about the nature of God.JXL said:Waco1947 said:
I John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
This is the verse before your citation. We are called to "test the spirits whether they are from God>'
I John is clear about the meaning of "from God." 'From God' goes to the heart of the nature of God which is "love." If a spirit fails that test then it is not of God.
Read the entire passage. The way you test the spirits is if they confess that Jesus Christ is come (not "was come," past tense, but "is come," present tense) in the flesh. The passage is talking about those early Gnostics who taught that the resurrected Christ was not flesh but spirit.
https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/gnosticism-11629621.html
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
The text is also quite clear about the physical nature of Jesus' resurrection too. But that doesn't stop you.
Waco1947