How does Christianity differ from other religions?

[Soldier4Christ]

Hello Marios,

Welcome to Christians Unite.

Unfortunately there are those today that take this teaching much too far. When God promises riches He is speaking of spiritual riches not earthly riches. today we see a Health and Wealth theology that is also called the Prosperity Gospel. It is a false gospel teaching. If it were true then no Christian would grow old and die or suffer from the many physical ailments that go with a fleshy body, especially those that accompany an aging body. Meeting our needs does not mean providing health and wealth.

[David_james]

Amen Brother Roger!

[Brother Jerry]

Amen.

Perfect example number 1
The Apostles all left wealthy positions to follow Christ.  They were getting their needs supplied but left it all behind to follow Christ and they did not get eartlly rewards.

Perfect example number 2.
What did Jesus tell the young rich ruler?  Give all your stuff to the poor and follow me.
That is what Jesus said to the young ruler and he left saying that he could not accomplish that task

[Soldier4Christ]

Amen and we can see many more such examples throughout the Bible in addition to these two.

[Marios Pontos]

Hello Marios,

Welcome to Christians Unite.

Unfortunately there are those today that take this teaching much too far. When God promises riches He is speaking of spiritual riches not earthly riches. today we see a Health and Wealth theology that is also called the Prosperity Gospel. It is a false gospel teaching. If it were true then no Christian would grow old and die or suffer from the many physical ailments that go with a fleshy body, especially those that accompany an aging body. Meeting our needs does not mean providing health and wealth.[/color]

Hello, Pastor Roger
Apostle Paul says to us,as far as concerning those who takes this teaching much too far,and they  supposing that gain is godliness ,that we should stay away from them. I TIM.6:5. Also he warned us that if we make purpose for our lives to become rich, this we lead us to destruction and perdition, because the LOVE of money(not the money) is the root of all evil. 1TIM.6:9-10.
Paul saying all these things,in the same letter,he is advising the rich of this world to not be proud and to not put their trust in the uncertain riches(he doesn't say that they should get rid of them) but in the living God,who gives us RICHLY ALL THINGS to enjoy. I think we should be careful,not out of fear of one extreme to fall in the other. God is a good Father,cares for His children more that we care for our own. Pastor Roger, did you pray ever for your children that somehow God will put them in poverty and lack? You don't want the best for them? I am sured you do. How much more our heavenly Father wants the best for us.
Let us go to the issue of healing. Is there an earthly father,who wants his child sick? The answer is obvious. How someone could come to the conclusion that God's will for us is sickness out of the Bible is amazing. The God of the Bible created man healthy and put him in paradise. This God makes covenant with Israel in His blessing is healing. He sent His Son to do His will and one main part of His ministry is healing the sick. The Lord Jesus sent His disciples to heal the sick. He commissioned all believers,of all times to lay their hands on the sick, promising that they shall recover and  after all these, God wants us sick,God wants to heals some not all, God sends sickness as a disguised blessing(but in the mean time we run to the doctor to get rid of the blessing).   

[David_james]

Marios, please type outside the quote box.

God doesn't want us sick or make us sick.

[nChrist]

Hello Marios,

There is NO hint that GOD gives worldly wealth and physical health to Christians in this short life. In fact, there is no hint that things will be easy for Christians in this short life - just the opposite. The Apostle Paul was sick for most of his ministry, and the Apostle Paul also suffered LACK. You are confusing a specific ministry that was for a specific TIME, and that TIME is not now.

2 Corinthians 1:1-11 NASB  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia:  2  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  4  who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  5  For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.  6  But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer;  7  and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort.  8  For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;  9  indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;  10  who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,  11  you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.


Romans 8:16-28 NASB  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,  17  and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.  18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  19  For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.  20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope  21  that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  22  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.  23  And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.  24  For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?  25  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.  26  In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;  27  and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.  28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.


2 Corinthians 5:1-21 NASB  For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  2  For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,  3  inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.  4  For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.  5  Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge.  6  Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord--  7  for we walk by faith, not by sight--  8  we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.  9  Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.  10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.  11  Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.  12  We are not again commending ourselves to you but are giving you an occasion to be proud of us, so that you will have an answer for those who take pride in appearance and not in heart.  13  For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.  14  For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;  15  and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.  16  Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  17  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  18  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,  19  namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.  20  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  21  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.


All Christians eventually get sick and die, even the strongest Christians. So, it just isn't true that illness is from a lack of faith. It also isn't true that Christians are supposed to be rich in this short life if they are right with GOD. Many of the strongest Christians have very little of what this world calls wealth. This is simply false teaching. This world is not our HOME, and we are not to love this world NOR the things in this world. Our Citizenship is in HEAVEN.

Love In Christ,
Tom

Christian Quotes 158 -
The house collapsed, and all your children are dead!
"Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the desert and
hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all
your children are dead!" Job 1:19
The wind is often contrary, and God means it to be so.
"He let loose the east wind from the heavens and
led forth the south wind by His power." Psalms 78:26
"He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He
sends the lightning with the rain and releases
the wind from His storehouses." Psalms 135:7
 -- John MacDuff  1895

[Brother Jerry]

Marios

He commissioned all believers,of all times to lay their hands on the sick, promising that they shall recover and  after all these,

Do you think you could provide a verse that tells us that if we lay hands on a person then they will be healed? 
I think you will find that there are none.  And you will also find that there are no verses where we are to promise someone a miracle.  We have no control over the miracles of God.
The one thing we do find throughout the Bible is that God will answer our prayers.  But there is nothing that says He will answer it in the manner we would like...in other words He could say "No."

There is nothing in the Bible that also describes that if a person is a strong Christian then they are guaranteed to have wealth and good health.  But what is in the Bible is that God will provide what we need and will never push us beyond what we can handle.  To consider that in order to be a good Christian you will have lots of money, is assuming that only good Christians can handle their money exceptionally well.  And that is not the case. 

The concept of the prosperity gospel falls flat every time when you consider what the Bible has to say.  And it is incredibly harmful in that good people with a heart for Jesus and a will to do God's will feel weak and ineffective because they are not rolling in financial wealth.   

[Marios Pontos]

Hello brothers, God bless you all.
These verses are for you brother Jerry.
And He said unto them,go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.He that believes and is baptized shall be saved;but he that believe not shallbe damned. And these signs shall follow THEM THAT BELIEVE;IN MY NAME SHALL THEY(the believers not the Apostoles)cast out devils;they shall speak with new tongues;they shall drink any deadly thing,it shall not hurt them ,THEY SHALL LAY HANDS ON THE SICK,AND THEY SHALL RECOVER.MARK 16:15-18
Is any sick among you?let him call for the elders of the church;and let them pray OVER HIM,anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;and the PRAYER OF FAITH SHALL SAVE THE SICK,ANDTHE LORD SHALL,RAISE HIM UP....JAMES 5:14-15
Did you notice in both cases is a definite "yes" answer,they shall recover and the Lord shall raise him up?
If we don't know God's will for an issue,the only prayer we can pray is "God reveal your wil for me on this issue" or if you want to answer you with yes or no, you ask "God is this your will?" The basic prerequisite to pray the prayer of faith YOU MUST KNOW GOD'S WILL.
Brother Tom, are you saying that there was a time God was healing the sick and now only comforts them?

[Brother Jerry]

So Marios.  Do you believe that Paul could heal anyone he wanted too at any time? 

[Marios Pontos]

Brother Jerry,of course not,as he couldn't lead to salvation anyone he wanted. The Lord Jesus in His town He COULDN'T(not wouldn't) heal anyone He wanted! Mark 6:5. 

[Brother Jerry]

But you were trying to use the verses mentioned above that we can cast out devils, heal the sick and sorts of other fun stuff.  As if any believer can simply smack the skull of a sick person and cast out the illness.

What you are failing to identify is that those gifts were being removed even from the Apostles.  For Paul mentions in 2 Timothy 4 that Paul left Trophimus in Miletum sick.  Paul could not heal him.  The miracle powers were waning in the Apostles, it was moving more and more towards a faith movement.

[Soldier4Christ]

Marios,

The verse Mark 6:5 is misleading. Jesus could have done anything that He so desired to do, after all He is very God. If we look at the same verse in Mat and in the preceding and following verses in Mark we see the entire story here. Jesus did not do any mighty works here because the people did not believe not because He "couldn't". This is not necessarily the same thing with Paul as Paul is not the one that did the healing. It was God working through Paul and we see several times that Paul prayed for healing for himself and for others where the healing did not take place nor was this due to a lack of faith. None were of more faith than Paul who saw the miracles of God first hand.

Much of your comments here seem to indicate that you are of the Word of Faith movement. This is a false gospel that is being taught in many modern churches. Yes, God does have the power to heal anyone that He so chooses both physically and spiritually. It is not done in the manner that so many in this movement claims it to be done.

[Marios Pontos]

Brother Jerry,you asked me for a verse promising that the believers when they lay their hands on the sick they would recover. I just wrote these verses as an answer. These funny stuff as you call it,I didn't say it, Jesus said it.
Now let us see how much the miracle power waned in Apostle Paul based on the 2Tim.4 as you said.
After a few years (not before)that he had left Trofimus at Miletum sick(Acts 20)in Acts 28 we see Paul be bitten by a venomous viper and nothing happens to him....... and it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux;to whom Paul entered in and prayed, and laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came,and were healed ACTS 28:8-9.   
But I would agree that after the early church,  we see the church loosing her first glory and enter into the darkness of the middle ages(if we can call church that thing). Every good thing waned in the church but it wasn't God's will. Out of  that darkness the church emerged and God is restoring her first glory until the coming of the Lord. 
God never removed His gifts or His power from us,we are the ones,that we don't take what is freely given to us. We think that we can make it without the manifestation of the Spirit,something that even the Apostles couldn't do it .

Pastor Roger
When  Mark says that Jesus couldn't do mighty work in His town,obviously he didn't mean inability for the Lord's side. He couldn't because of their unbelief which was so big that He marvelled.
God does nothing to us by force. God wants everyone to be saved, and He did all that is necessary towards that cause through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ but all those who do not believe Him and what He did they will perish in spite God's willingness to save them.
Jesus was moved always with compassion healing the sick, the same Jesus is in you pastor Roger and He wants to reach out to the sick in your church and heal them but He have no hands to lay on them but your hands and no mouth to speak the word of healing but your mouth.










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[Brother Jerry]

Marios,

What you will find over and over again is that the miracles that were performed were for a sign.  Christians do not need signs.  Our acceptance is solely on faith alone.  What you will find is that in Romans Paul talks about things being a sign, for the Jews.  It was the Jews that needed signs.  They needed to see miracles in order to believe and acknowledge it was from God.  We see this even in the OT in that many would start to turn away until God came and did something big.  The Bible indicates that the time for signs is over. 

Now keep in mind this is in no way saying that God cannot do these things.  God could if that is what He desired.  But God does not want us to ask Him to prove it.  Remember the whole temptation of Christ thing....  We are not to be going to God saying things like "If you are God then heal this person"  And that is exactly what we are doing and what people are doing going to services where that sort of thing is going on...."Lord if you will just let this preacher heal my sick grandma then I will follow you anywhere." when it should be "Lord I will follow you anywhere."