Was not Luke the Author of Acts?

Hermeneutics is a worthy way to seek fresh, unbiased ideas as to what God is seeking to say in His Scripture for us.
Observation - Interpretation - Application are the foundations upon which solid hermeneutics rests, and in that we realize that the Bible is narrative literature, 66 canonical books in total and all of it, from Genesis to Revelation is intertwined by a God who does the impossible (scholars have identified some 400,000 interwoven themes in the Bible).

Hermeneutics is often done in our post-modern era as an "individual" endeavor, attempting to find, "what the Bible means to a particular person."
But I'm of the camp that the Bible, all of it, is God's Story. It's about Him - His Creation - His Redemptive Plan for all of it - And His Restoration of it, so the Story is really about God.

We're chatting about any of it by God's gift of grace, and because of that we should walk humbly with each other.
Let's remember that the mystery has been unveiled (the Church) and we who follow Jesus are called by grace to gather as one.

Blessings,
Mark

Yes.

Isn't it interesting how tangled up we get ourselves when we think we can cut the Gordian knot and make quick work out of our objectives.

Luke:13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

2 And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?

3 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

By your reasoning, would this be true? Jesus does not even mention faith in these scriptures. Now if faith was necessary wouldn't he have mentioned it here?

You see that's what happens when we butcher the scriptures. We don't know if we might get killed in a car wreck tonight. Faith is a positive and the other side of the equation is repent which is a negative. Maybe the lost find repentance repulsive because it is negative and negatives repel each other.

Interesting you find repentance as a negative. I don't. I see it as a strong positive. I don't think Scripture has been butchered either. It has been in your view, also in what I consider Marks wrong view. Isn't that how we ended up with so many religions? Stand a 100 people in a room, show them something and how many different opinions will you have?

Catch 22: Would you consider the 10 commandments or speaking in tongues positive or negative?

I think all Christians consider the 10 Commandments positive and I think that some consider speaking in tounges a positive as to how they interpret scripture. You seem to be wanting to draw us in to your own rabbit hole. Why not just put it out there?

When I was a kid I never did think getting a whipping as very positive.

Well the 10 commandments kill they don't give life, seems negative to me.

Tongues edifies the believer and repels the unbeliever.

Well when I was a kid I didn't either. When I grew up I was thankful. I see no negative. I was raised in a touge speaking church and honestly they freaked me out. However they gave glory to God how they seen fit. How they interpreted the word and I fault them not. I think they were welcomed.

Where in the commandments does it say kill ?



The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17 NKJV)
1 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
3 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
5 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
6 “You shall not murder.
7 “You shall not commit adultery.
8 “You shall not steal.
9 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.”

I bet back in the day, kids didn't like having their hands stuck into a hot fire either . Yet it was better to do that, than have a curious kid get burned badly or burned to death.
Remember there wasn't a doctor just around the corner back then.

It's not my rabbit hole. This thread got side tracked with the replacement theology conundrum. I'm sure with all the new bible schools there has been a lot of axe heads that has been lost and the sad part they were all borrowed. Yes, I most certainly think we must read the bible and be accountable on our own. God wants accountability. from the individual. Getting in a crowd will not let us slip by. Nor get in on gandma's coat tail The redemption silver for the sockets of the tabernacle is good example of that.
Studying what has been written over hundreds of years is not achieved by a 3 week correspondence course and most people work and don't have the time to devote to it. Most of us learn a little here and a little there. So there has been people has put time, energy and money in blazing a trail thru it. Yes there has been many deceivers but some have had their works literally proven by fire and time.
Sometimes we just have to take something thats proven and go with it until its proven different. Just look how many pages has been spent here on "repent". So if we can't reach a quick conclusion on just that one word then Heaven help us when it comes to the replacement theology which wants to do away with Israel and leave the bridesmaids and best man of the upcoming wedding out of the picture.

I never meant to imply that it needed to be abolished. And it is very important but still negative. How would we know we were lost if not for it.
Jump off a building and see if gravity will kill you. Unless you have access to another type of law of lift or something. The law of Christ.
There is an Ark in Heaven that the one on earth was modeled after thats awaiting judgment day. God intended for that Ark to be be carried, not carted around.
My point is that God does have negatives.
I'm past sleepy so if this is unsatisfactory pick it up later.

I hesitate to comment here because it's kinda mean, but it's true. I completely believe that Mark runs way more people off from Christianity than he'll ever convert to it. It's just his natural personality because he was the same way before he embarked on the theology course. I've been waiting for God to touch him and show him how best to call people to the Lord but it's not happened yet.

The thing is I agree with most of what Mark posts (not including Pre-Trib Rapture), but it's the WAY he posts it. Most people, whether heathen or devout church member, will not be taken in by his condescending posts.

I kind of like Mark, and so I hope he figures out the happy medium between sharing the Good News, and chasing people off from it.

Amen

Angela, I respect your posts but wonder why anyone would think I'm trying to convert someone to Christianity? On an online post? No person has the power to regenerate another.
As far as God touching my heart, and helping me post better... it's online. The "WAY I say it?" It's online so there's no means possible to include the verbal and non-verbal cues that are 95% of human communication. I humbly ask you think about that when you read my post? I do.

My posts are typically information based. And I know that can be a rub nowadays. Mostly not "liked" and usually unwanted in our post-modern world. Philosophers tell us that. People want other people to "like" their posts nowadays, not post information for heaven's sake. That's taken as a thumbs down. Taken as, "what you don't side with me?" (We are marinated in a dichotomy society). PICK ONE they say!!! Quit with all the info stufff! Trying to show you're better than me like you do when you post like that. Tell me, you with me? Or against me? PICK ONE! But that's not why I post.... so that people will side with me.
Why do I post most often? .... Consider me the "consider this" guy. Old school I know.

I have reverence for this site because I knew the man well who it's created to honor. Charles Dobbins.
So when you post as you do, and the next poster gleefully posts after you an "Amen", a biblical term he's using not in a positive way but as disparagement of another person....how sad.

So yes, I do ask some on this site from time to time why they mock others? Discourage others. Call other people names and insult their character?
Why they run coffee entrepreneurs down publicly? Why they do anything that is hurtful with glee?
Angela, please know this is the daggum internet. I have no way to gauge the tone in your voice, they way you stand when you say something, or all the other 95% of communication.
But I respect your opinion and I hope you don't take this summary as a rebuke. It's not. It's an explanation.

I don't sign people up for God. I can't. And I can't chase them off with internet posts either. God is able to do all he needs without me, I assure you. I affirm theology that God calls, we don't. We can't.
And if you've followed my journey, and I think you have, you know my seminary studies in my 60's were a challenging but wondrous learning. I've learned some things during umpteen ministerial supports of people who are hurting, 124 funerals in 2 plus years, pastoring a church when I'm there, and all the rest....

People are angry deep down. People are hurting because of what others have done to them. People are seeking pleasure in a lot of crappy places, trying to rid themselves of depression and anxiety and every other DSM code known and unknown to man.
With no foreseeable end in sight.
So may God help us, because people cheer most often for the sin and the sinner, and laugh, mock, disparage, and openly shout down - in anger - anyone trying to do the opposite.

I do enjoy this site with my morning Joe before running traps, or officiating a funeral, or sitting with yet another broken family as a minister of the God of the Bible.
If I do it wrong on this site, I repent of it as best any person can. By Grace.

Blessings,
Mark

Where in Acts 2 does it say to repent "of sin"??

It doesn't. none of you are listening. Not only does it not say it in Acts; any of the chapters, but it doesn't say it anywhere in the Bible. It says to repent. Not to repent "of sin". You and everyone who has taught you that is adding that to the scripture. It's not in the Bible. Please produce the chapter and verse that has the prepositional phrase "of sin" of "of your sins" added to the term repent or repentance. Just one verse.

So let's break down the verses you gentlemen shared and see what Pater and Paul are commanding the hearers to repent of.

First off I love Acts 2:36-38 because it's BIBLICAL REPENTANCE.

Acts 2:36 KJV
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

In this verse Peter clearly teaches about faith. He says "Therefore let all the house of Israel KNOW ASSUREDLY" this means to not only know something but to believe it. What do they need to believe? That God had made Jesus both Lord and Christ. This is exactly what Jesus was teaching in the book of John, that you must believe that Jesus is he whom was sent by God.

In Verse 37 we see that those who Peter is preaching to get pricked in their heart. Why? Because he was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Acts 2:38 KJV
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

What did Peter tell them to repent of in verse 38? He said it in verse 36. That they must "know assuredly that God made Jesus both Lord and Christ. Jesus is their Lord and the Messiah. He told them to repent and believe. It's that simple. He never said repent of sin cuz that's not in the Bible anywhere. But when you do believe what are you saved from? The punishment for your sins, which is (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman). That's equal to the remission of sins which is used elsewhere in the Bible. In fact John taught to repent and believe for the remission of sins.

Next verse which I also love. Paul at Mars Hill where he declared the "UNKNOWN GOD" to those who trust in every god they can except the God that Paul knows very well, the one true God of Heaven and earth, the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob the same God who's word never once contradicts itself nor commands you to "repent of sin".

We see in verse 18 that the strange new doctrine that Paul preached was Jesus and the resurrection meaning the Gospel.

Acts 17:18 KJV
Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.

In verses 22-23 we see Paul call the epicureans and stoicks out for being superstitious because they had alters to many gods, and the one to the "unknown god" Paul singled out, and chose to teach them about the God of Heaven for the following 5-6 verses.

Acts 17:22-23 KJV
Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. [23] For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.

Then after Paul was done calling them ignorant he stated the command from God to repent.. but from what? Did he scold them for being in forincation, or for not tithing. Did he scold them for lying to their parents or not taking care of their children? Or maybe he got in to them for stealing and robbery?!... No, oh yeah he scold them for not believing properly, for having a misplaced faith in an unknown god, but Paul preached to them Jesus and his resurrection.

Every command to repent in reference to salvation is not only about turning from your unbelief or false belief, but turning to the one true God.

Notice what repentance doctrine John the Baptist taught. Yeah that they should believe
Acts 19:4 KJV
Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

Jesus commanded that ye repent and believe the gospel.

Mark 1:15 KJV
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

And finally in Matthew 21 we see Jesus, after preaching the definition of repentance(to turn) then telling them what they should do once they repent...

Matthew 21:31-32 KJV
Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. [32] For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

Now why would Jesus say that sinner(harlots) go to heaven before the priest and Scribes? Because they have not repented of their unbelief. I mean it's so clear that if you don't understand then you must have been made to believe a lie. They repented NOT afterward, that they might believe. So clear.


And listen obviously the Bibles wisdom isn't for everyone. Some need to go to hours and weeks of school to just begin to understand it after it's been taught to them by other men, but anyone saved can see the clear teachings of the Bible with just a little prayer while reading it.

I like the verses you shared, but it doesn't mean what you think it does and if you read them all in context you can see exactly what it does mean, rather than picking out one verse that says repent and adding the phrase "of sin" to it to make it fit the false doctrine that you believe.

And here is why you should never add anything to the scripture, or take it away for that matter.

Revelation 22:18-19 KJV
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
[19] And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

See if you add to the Bible i.e. (repent "of sin") the plagues that are written in the book shall be added unto you.
If you take away from the book of this prophecy, God shall remove your part out of the book of life. Meaning you will go to H3||. This is why I know Darby, and Scofield are burning in H3|| because they both openly chose and taught to remove parts of the Bible that didn't fit that doctrine they taught mankind. Don't be like those dead dispensationalists. They were full of dead men's bones.

This is a stark warning to anyone who would ever thing to do these two thing, add or remove from scripture. It will only cost you your life.

Remember the exhortation in Proverbs that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. This is why I will never listen to the wresting of scripture taught my men in church, or Bible college etc, I don't have to answer to you. I have to answer to God

I don't find repentance as a negative. I believe in biblical repentance. But if you add to the scripture you will suffer the plagues written in the Bible. I for one won't. As I will not add to the scripture. The term "of sin" isn't anywhere in those verses you shared. You should repent of your unbelief or false beliefs and turn it repent to faith alone on Christ.

I swear I truly believe that people who can not understand that are made by God to believe a lie that they all might be d@mn3d.

For all of those who are reading along and understanding look at how many times I have said the same thing with all the scripture to back it up and these three or four men cannot see it. It's unfortunate and sad. I really pray they repent