Questions Queries and Quandaries

I have been taught several theologies over the years and some have raised questions for me…..fortunately, God doesn’t need us to be perfect before he can use us and so some of these questions don’t always need an answer. However, I would like to satisfy myself with some questions that I have and so I have listed some here and I intend to study each one as I progress with this blog and see how the bible answers these questions for me.

· God never gives us more than we can handle - what on earth does ‘handle’ actually mean? Does it indicate a win or a loss, a mess up or a glorious success, success at a price or failure with a consequence, is that with or without God's help? Does the statement generate an atmosphere of dependence on God or ourselves?

· By His stripes, we are healed – if this is so why do Christians die after we have prayed for them, why do many Christians die despite fervent prayers for healing. By this reckoning all Christians should live pain-free and continually healed lives…..but what about Timothy, Epaphroditus, Trophimus and Paul, they all remained sick and unhealed and they worked tirelessly for the gospel. Could it be that Isaiah 53 was really talking about our sin and atonement and our healing from the disease of sin and not physical sickness? Then there is Psalm 103 v3 that says God “forgives all your iniquity” and “heals all your diseases.” How exactly are we to read such verses, how can we derive comfort from them when we see those we have prayed for remaining unhealed or even worse. Many Psalms make idealistic promises, promises that seem far beyond what we normally experience in life, Psalm 91 for example. If we are not to take them as they are written, how are we then to read them, what joy and comfort can we take from them?

· I decree and declare – now this reminds me of a Christian version of abracadabra…the declaring I can deal with but decreeing….well that makes me very uncomfortable. To the best of my knowledge decrees can only be made by people who have the wherewithal to make their decrees come to fruition, for example, if I own a company, I can decree a pay increase for all and I have the authority and money to make sure it comes into being…simple. I know proponents sometimes quote from Job 22:28 “You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you;” Unfortunately this is Eliphaz speaking and not God and later on in Job Eliphaz was rebuked by God for saying things that God says were not true My wrath is kindled against you…because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has…”

Even if you give Eliphaz the benefit of the doubt should you be building your doctrine on someone’s statement who God has rebuked?...its a bit of a risk. To me decreeing is surely trying to exert my will, my desires over God's will and frankly, I don’t do it because I don’t dare to do it… and because I cant!

· Do we still prophesy – From my studies I believe that the New Testament gifts are available to those who ask earnestly and these gifts are intended for the common good of the church and to equip our mission to evangelise. 1 Corinthians 14:1 “Pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy”

We know from 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21 that Paul had to instruct the church not to suppress the spiritual gift of prophecy, Paul doesn’t say why but possibly the church had a bad experience of prophecies…perhaps some of them were just plain wacko but instead of exercising discernment between true and false prophecies the church was clamping down on the whole activity.

Will the gift of prophecy make one a prophet? I have heard words spoken by preachers during sermons that have been directed to individuals (without naming them but by describing their situations/sins/activities) and these individuals have been built up, encouraged, or in some cases chastised and turned around by the spoken words which have been clearly from God and clearly for their good. I would not identify those preachers as having the same function as the OT prophets, those who God placed His word in their mouths making their utterings God-inspired, scripture level, inerrant and infallible. To think otherwise would undermine the finality and sufficiency of scripture. I see these people as those who manifest the gift of prophecy, the same gift Paul speaks about in 1 Corinthians 14 where he states that if everybody in the church was prophesying an unbeliever or an inquirer will be affected, they will be convicted as their true intentions are made known leading them to acknowledge God’s presence.

I think that’s enough for now and I wonder if anyone reading has similar thoughts?

God willing, I intend to get down to some deeper study of the scriptures to give me more insight into my questions.

Sola Scriptura