Intro
This is Dreamwalker1960. As a reminder you can read the transcripts of all my podcasts at dreamwalker1960.com. You can use most podcast platforms if you wish to listen. All you need do is do a search for Dreamwalker1960.
Discussion
Opinion.
Everybody has one. But what is an “opinion.” Well let’s go to the basics, how is this word defined.
per Cambridge dictionary it is: a thought or belief about something or someone
- thought – the act of thinking about or considering something, an idea or opinion, or a set of ideas about a particular subject
- belief – something that you believe
- belief also means – the feeling of being certain that something exists or is true.
The thing is when it comes to the word “opinion” it is the first definition that applies.
One of the things that people do though is that they look to the Bible and say it is nothing but opinion and so in turn they apply how they believe things should be. This is one of the worst things a person can do when it comes to the Bible. This is where the need to use the second definition of the word “belief” and apply it.
Case in point:
I turned first to these verses within the Bible for what is to follow.
In a recent discussion I had on the internet the verse that is to follow was questioned and opinionated upon:
Proverbs 13:24 NKJV – He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.
When taking this verse in concert with the previous verses we can come to only one conclusion. Spanking our children is something that must be done to instill discipline. This is a command from God. Then it must be followed. If we do not do this, we are saying we hate our children.
But why does it mean we hate them?
When spanking a child, they suffer pain and anguish. This in turn, when done in limits that are not excessive, causes them to know that what they have done is wrong. It also associates pain with this prohibited behavior. This tells them that when placed in context with the Bible that entering into sin will cause pain. Which in fact it ultimately will.
Isaiah 66:24 NKJV – “And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.
Do you not think that worms eating your flesh will not be painful? In addition being burned is one of the worst sensations to ever encounter due to the damage done to the nerves. This pain will go on every single day, of every month of every year for billions upon billions of years.
This is what it means that those that do not spank hate their children. For odds increase exponentially that since they did not associate pain with sin they will willingly enter into sin and thus are more likely not to accept salvation offered by Jesus Christ and end up for eternity in the Pit of Fire described in Isaiah chapter 66.
Right now, many that have read or listened to this are upset and angry of what has just been stated here. That is their opinion. An opinion that goes counter to the command given by God within the Bible.
Which is greater? Their opinion or the Bible. I will requote the verse from 2 Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT – All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
The Bible is to teach those that profess to be His disciples to do what is right. What is right is what is written in the Bible. Therefore, if the Bible says to spank your child is right and is what is required of us to do.
Any who counter this. Any who deny this. Any who insist this is abuse. Have just crossed a line they need to reconsider. For their opinion goes against the Word of God, which is the Bible. And who is the Word?
John 1:1-5 NKJV – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
When someone’s opinion goes against the Word. They openly deny He who is the Word and so they in turn can be denied by Him who is the Word.
Matthew 10:33 NKJV – But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
But why is this? Because they place their opinion over the Word of God. Those that place their opinion over the Word of God place more value upon the person they have this opinion from. Consequently, their god in not the Word of God who is Jesus Christ, but what they value most in this world.
Themselves.
This is the true value of opinion when not taking the teachings of Jesus Christ into account. Any opinion that does not walk hand in hand with what is written within the Bible, it walks in darkness. This is why it is so vitally important that people read the Bible for themselves. To be able to verify that what someone is opining about is accurate and true. This allows them to know that they are receiving a teaching of the True Gospel and can avoid being cursed.
Galatians 1:6-10 NKJV – I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
This is the true value of “opinion.” Opinion opens the door to false teachings which will lead people not to salvation, but the damnation described earlier in the Pit of Fire. Opinion will lead to being cursed by God and not blessed by Him.
The reason for this as was mentioned earlier. Opinion comes from the person placing themselves before God and His Son our Savior Jesus Christ. It is made clear in these verses spoken by Christ Himself where our priorities are to be if we wish to be called “Christian.”
Luke 14:25-27 NKJV – Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
When offering an opinion that does not fit like a puzzle piece with the teachings found within the Bible. It says that you love your own life and not hate it as we are commanded by Christ Himself to do. This is the true meaning of these verses in the Gospel of Luke.
Yet how many that refer to themselves as “Christian” offer opinions that go against the Bible?
That is simple to answer for once again we can turn to the Bible for an answer:
Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV – “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
How is the word “explanation” defined?
explanation – the details or reasons that someone gives to make something clear or easy to understand. This is not opinion. For as was shown “opinion” has to do with how someone believes something to be or is, as was shown earlier.
These podcasts of mine are formed of both opinion and explanation. For I belief God, and wish all that hear or read these podcasts to do the same. This is why I use multiple translations of the Bible as well. For I have studied the Word of God and the translations I use stand up to be the True Word of God. You will also note that I never use the NIV, for that version has proven to be accursed per Galatians 1:6-10. For it has been perverted into a people pleasing work and does not stand up to the study of the Word of God.
This is why it is so important to you listening or reading this to do the same. Come to know the Word of God intimately. For that is what we are called to do. All of us.
I have had encounters with those that have read the Bible. However, their actions and behavior does not conform to what is taught within the pages of this most important book. There have even been those that deny God Himself and in those cases, they know more about the Word then those that profess to being “Christian.”
I had an encounter with a Jewish woman, who still claimed this title. Yet denied God. She time and again told me to get rid of my earthly riches, not knowing that I had just lost most of my earthly possessions not less then a month before that.
What this tells me now as I look at it now is that God was using this woman to tell me not to seek after earthly possessions once again. As so many actually do after experiencing the same loss of worldly goods as I had. I actually believe I had already learned this deep down. For when God brought my wife into my life, which is another story in itself, I had a love seat setting in the middle of my living room with a big screen TV against the wall and I was content with that.
But to get back on track.
Study the Word of God. Not just read it. Study the original Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic that the Bible is written in. Also realize that it is Greek and not Latin for the New Testament. This in itself again speaks volumes. For only the Greek which came out of Constantinople due to fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. This is why the Reformation began in 1517 due to the True Gospel coming into the hands of Martin Luther. Because he studied the True Word of God.
This is why you must not take the word of any humans over the Word of God, for odds are it is their opinion and not an explanation of it.
For time is running out and Christ is soon to return. Repent and do as instructed in the last letter to the churches in the book of Revelation:
Revelation 3:18-22 NKJV – I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ‘ “
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.”
chasten equals spanks.
God Bless
dreamwalker1960 