So “but little gods,” which I bolded above. You say “we are gods.” And above that, you say there is God. Now, by my lights you have:
God - that’s one God
little gods - a multitude of gods.
So 1 God + many gods = polytheism.
You have elevated yourself to some kind of godlike status, which is completely the opposite of Biblical Christianity. It is the opposite of the whole Bible! Jesus himself had the entire Jewish establishment after him for saying he was God. They crucified him for saying he was God, because the entire OT is about people who were supposed to worship YHWH, and instead, they worshiped other gods.
Have you ever even read the OT? Because it is all about the unfaithful Israelites, who chased after foreign gods, when God said, “You shall have no other gods before me!” Have you ever read the prophets? They are all about false gods, and false prophets. So, the WoF manages to be both! A bunch of false prophets telling people they are gods, turning from the living God, to call themselves gods. What blasphemy!
As far as being partakers of the divine nature, probably best to look at the whole passage. These kinds of gross errors always coming from ripping verses out of context.
”I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. 4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith excellence, to excellence, knowledge; 6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; to perseverance, godliness; 7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish love. 8 For if these things are really yours and are continually increasing, they will keep you from becoming ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately. 9 But concerning the one who lacks such things—he is blind. That is to say, he is nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. For by doing this you will never stumble into sin. 11 For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.” 2 Peter 1:3-11 NET
So, God saves us and gives us a new nature! I agree totally. As born again believers, the Holy Spirit does dwell within us. BUT, that does not make US divine. This is the WoF lie. Look above at the verses I posted in modern English, because I do not understand KJV. We escape worldly corruption produced by evil desire, by being “in Christ.” Absolutely.
Then, it adds qualities the Holy Spirit is developing in us. Peter is admonishing believers to use the gifts God has given us, to be changed into different people. Read verses 5-7 for this.
Then, it says these things (which are the qualities, not some kind of divine godhead!) and continually increasing. Do you know anything about God? He is perfect and complete. We are not! That alone makes us not gods. And we need to be “continually increasing” so we are not ineffective and unproductive. In what? In knowing our Lord Jesus Christ better.
Peter ends with a startling comment in verses 10-11. He tells us to be sure of our calling, so we do not stumble, into sin. If we were gods, would that possibility be there? Gods don’t generally stumble and sin. Well, I guess the Roman, Greek and probably Egyptian and Babylonian gods did sin. The stories are rife with gods who lose their powers, get tied up, demoted, because they came against higher gods who defeated them.
But in fact, those panopolies of gods are not really gods, are they? They are the false gods Isaiah talks about.
"Their land is full of worthless idols;
they worship the product of their own hands,
what their own fingers have fashioned.
9 Men bow down to them in homage,
they lie flat on the ground in worship.
Don’t spare them!
10 Go up into the rocky cliffs,
hide in the ground.
Get away from the dreadful judgment of the Lord,
from his royal splendor!
11 Proud men will be brought low,
arrogant men will be humiliated;
the Lord alone will be exalted
in that day." Isa. 2:8-11
They worship worthless idols. You have made yourself a worthless idol, by claiming you are a god. Word of Faith believers are proud men and they will be brought low, arrogant men who will be humiliated.
It really doesn't get more arrogant and proud than for a mere mortal to claim he is a god, based on a verse pulled out of context.
This is the foundational lie of the WoF movement. Because if we are gods, of course we should be able to command things with our mouths, and speak things into existence that were not, as God does.
BUT, we are NOT GODS! Not lower case, or upper case! We are mortals, and God has graciously saved us, and made us new "creatures" in Christ. Or a new creation.
even the very word "creatures" tells us we had someone else do the creating, because we are not gods. So, does that mean we suddenly became gods? No, it means we mortals have the power of God dwelling in our lives, to change and grow in character, and to do the works he prepared for us. And those works are NOT commanding things into existence, which only a real God can do.
No, those works are helping the poor, those in prison, those who are hungry, thirsty, and naked. (see Matt 25:31-40) But where is that in the WoF doctrine? I have never heard a WoF person talk about Matt 25. Or the entire book of Isaiah, Jeremiah, in that they were written to return a rebellious and evil generation back to God. Those works are spreading the gospel. Those works are being transformed by the Holy Spirit, finding your gifts and then doing them.
Then there is this, you write, which is a complete twisting and distortion of a simple verse, whether KJV or a totally modern version.
"having the faith of God, as Jesus stated in verse 22 in the book of Mk."
Are you kidding me? Did you not read the verse you have posted? Mark 11:22? The fact is, this is what the verse says.
"Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God." Mark 11:22 NET
"And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God." Mark 11:22 KJV
The entire incident of Jesus in verses 22:12-14 & 20-21 is very interesting. First, it is not known whether verses 22-25 are even connected to the fig tree incident. Bibles often put them together.
Second, and please think on this, cursing the fig tree is a destructive act. Throwing a mountain into the sea is a destructive act, and obviously proverbial. I cannot believe that Jesus meant these things literally, although he certainly curses and killed the fig tree. But why?
Jesus was offering an "acted" parable showing God's judgement on "unfruitful" Israel. Mark's structuring of this section suggests such an interpretation, and it is supported by the prophetic use of fig trees and their fruit, (especially early or first ripe fruit, which would have been what the fig tree would have on it around Passover, when this takes place), to symbolize the people of God and their obedience.
See:
"I will take away their harvests, says the Lord.
There will be no grapes on their vines.
There will be no figs on their fig trees.
Even the leaves on their trees will wither.
The crops that I gave them will be taken away.’”Jeremiah 8:13 NET
"The Lord showed me two baskets of figs sitting before his temple. This happened after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deported Jehoiakim’s son, King Jeconiah of Judah. He deported him and the leaders of Judah, along with the craftsmen and metal workers, and took them to Babylon. 2 One basket had very good-looking figs in it. They looked like those that had ripened early. The other basket had very bad-looking figs in it, so bad they could not be eaten. 3 The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “I see figs. The good ones look very good. But the bad ones look very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”4 The Lord said to me, 5 “I, the Lord, the God of Israel, say: ‘The exiles whom I sent away from here to the land of Babylon are like those good figs. I consider them to be good. 6 I will look after their welfare and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land and will not uproot them. 7 I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I am the Lord. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly return to me.’
8 “I, the Lord, also solemnly assert: ‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people who remain in Jerusalem or who have gone to live in Egypt are like those bad figs. I consider them to be just like those bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. 9 I will bring such disaster on them that all the kingdoms of the earth will be horrified. I will make them an object of reproach, a proverbial example of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule, an example to be used in curses. That is how they will be remembered wherever I banish them. 10 I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them until they are completely destroyed from the land I gave them and their ancestors.’” Jer. 24:1-10
Other verses include: Hosea 9:10, 16-17; Micah 7:1 and in the NT Luke 13:6-9.
The evidence suggests that Mark and his readers would have had no difficulty in recognizing the symbolism of the unsuccessful search for fruit.
So, think prophet destruction when you read these verses, and that the answer is to have faith in God!
Much more to comment on, but it is very late, and I've written enough!
I have read your post ma'am, and will reply in kind to some of your assertions in another post, but for this one I would like to ask you a few questions.
I normally quote scripture to back up much of what I say, but putting that aside for now, I would like to appeal to some common logical sense.
You obviously have read the bible and believe most of what is written.
I say most, because you ignore and/or deny a great deal of what is written when it comes to the power of God operating in a person's life, which I will get to.
You have read, how God the Father did many mighty works through Jesus, for Jesus Himself said, that the Father does the works, and that would mean, through Him. John 14:10
And you don't doubt that God the Father did those works through Jesus, who is The Son of God.
I am
not The Son of God,
nor am I God, but
a son of God, and God said He would do the greater works
THROUGH US, His children, than He did through Jesus, if that be true. This is something you do not believe, even though it is written.
Now, others and myself have told you and everyone who reads our posts, some of the works God has done through us, and they are either ignored or passed off as a lie.
At what point would you stop calling us a liar, and start believing what we say is
FACT, and NOT FICTION. And if all the testimonies are actual facts, then when do you start asking, who is doing the good works in our lives, God or the devil?
I don't make up stories. If I did, first, I would be a wicked and deceitful person, and second, I would come up with some outlandish miracles. I have told you that I have cursed things to die and be removed, like warts, cysts, lumps, poisonous brown recluse spider bite, arthritis, kidney stones, colds, flues, ...and the list goes on, but you don't believe God the Father did that through me, or the many other works He did
through others.
God said He would back up His word with signs following and we are testifying to all of you of the signs that have followed us, but
because you have not seen it with your own eyes, such as hospitals cleared out, literal mountains removed, stars rearranged, nor having created any new ones, with the same said eyes, you refuse to believe what we have said. And because you have NO UNDERSTANDING of how faith works, or even what it is, you impose such ridiculous standard of works of faith on us, that if YOU DON'T SEE THEM WITH YOUR OWN EYES, THEN YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE, and therefore, it CANNOT BE POSSIBLE. All because you cannot believe it.
Or is it because that "faith stuff" didn't work for you, a family member, or good friend, because they refused medication or treatment, and as a result, died? Or is it because the faith crowd
blamed you for not having enough faith, and were shunned and made a cast out because you didn't receive your healing?
Whatever the reason may be, what about the fact that these things we are saying are actual facts?
Sure, we haven't created any worlds lately, nor have we cast any mountains or fig tree in one of the oceans, and most of us haven't walked on water, or raised the dead, but many of us have done much smaller things, PURPOSELY, and that was because that was what we had faith for. Right now, I can't believe for a mountain to be cast in the seas if I tell it to,
so it's not going to happen.
It's just that simple.
But you can't believe that either, because like Jesus, we would be telling God what He is going to do for or to us, or for that of others.
You are
interpreting scripture based on
what you believe, instead of interpreting and believing scripture based solely on
what is written.
We receive BECAUSE WE FIRST BELIEVED, and we believed because, IT IS WRITTEN, in spite of all the rancorous belittling, NOT because we had to SEE IT FIRST, or because one of the disciples didn't do it first, or because so and so's testimony said otherwise and then they died.
God does nothing through you, and those who believe as you do, but talk. There can be no Christ like power in the life of the born again believer, BECAUSE there is NO power in your life. NOT because it is written, but because of person experiences and that of others.
You don't believe God is allowed to move through His children in His power, and you deny that He does in other people's lives, calling them liars, while belittling and mocking them with nonsensical scenarios that are almost absurd in nature, to say the least. And all because you don't believe, in spite of what is written.
Was Jesus led or directed by the Father to heal and/or deliver
EVERY person that
approached Him?
So was it God Himself who was telling Jesus what to do or directing Him, or was it the people who approached Him in faith, believing for their healing or deliverance, that directed or told God what He was going to do through Jesus?
If someone approached you, asking if you would pray for them, like they did with Jesus, who would be doing the directing when you tell them that God doesn't heal anymore like He did with Jesus, or that the gift of healing and miracles went out with the apostles, or it might not be the "will of God", or "God might be using this to teach them something", or to humble them, or simply that they should accept their fate and go with God to their grave?
Are you a child of God, or are you a servant/serf/slave?
Are you a righteous saint, or a sinner/worker of iniquity?
As children, we all called to serve, NOT to think of ourselves as a serfs.
We have been called to rule and reign in life in and through Christ, as Adam was, EVERY PART of our lives,
IN THE POWER OF GOD, NOT to walk around sick and defeated with nothing but comforting words. Like someone said, "a post with the gospel nailed to it".
Apparently, you think it is better for a person to have an "
EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF", to die with
NO HOPE for their healing, than it would be to
give them a hope to be healed,
that they might live and bring glory to God.
Sure they might receive their healing and live, but which is better?
I say what the bible says. It is better to believe, than it is to doubt, or to cause one to doubt.
If you applied that line of thinking to all the things you have tried to do in your life, you would not have even bother trying, much less, ask God for His assistance or intervention.
You wouldn't even pray, and why would you, why bother, if you were
stripped of all hope of God even hearing your prayer?
One CANNOT have "faith in God", when ALL faith has been taken from them.
Tell me, what is faith?
You might say it is trusting in God or having confidence in Him, or maybe even believing that He will hear your prayer.
If that is what faith is, then how can a person have
ANY FAITH when you tell them that God won't heal them (because first, you yourself CAN'T BELIEVE for their healing), or it MIGHT NOT BE HIS WILL for them to be healed, or "GOD LOVES YOU" (that's a good one to help them believe), or whatever else you concoct? Tell me, how can anyone have any faith, or even hope, for their healing, when you feed them YOUR GOSPEL of no hope?
Without hope, a person quits before they even start.
But hey, at least you told them and gave them a hope that when they die, they will go to heaven.
First off, you don't know that. You don't know if that person will go to heaven or hell, because you don't know their heart, nor do you know if God called them, or if it was His will for them to be born again, or if He created them for destruction. You simply don't know and you can't say you do.
I have to cut this shorter than I wanted, as I need to get going for now.
Will continue, when I get the time.