01-28-2005, 06:03 PM
Quote:When God gives a man faith, it becomes his own because it is fully given to him; he cannot truly boast, however, for it is not of
himself.
I would say that is incorrect Dave, nothing is of our own, that is why we cannot boast in the first place. It never does fully become our own. All good things procede from Him and I'm in full recognition of this once I receive the new birth and continue in the footsteps and the path His Son laid out for us to follow. But I cannot claim anything. Even the faith I had to reach up and ask for Jesus to come into my life and heart was not my own, He did that and enabled me to be able to look up and ask. The "few chosen" statement rings true here.
The same ideal is contained in the following:
Mark 1:14
And after that John was delivered up, Jesus came to Galilee, and He was preaching the gospel of GOD, saying:
"The time is accomplished and the kingdom of GOD hath arrived; repent ye, and believe in HIS gospel."
This is from the Old Syriac and shows Jesus following the same principles, He being our perfect example. You won't find this in the standardized versions, such as the syriac (peshitta) and the greek. The ideal is the same though, hence the reasons I look for superior readings other than the standardized texts.