[UntoHim]

Evangelical, You put fourth a number of contentions in your opening post. I'll just touch upon a couple of them.

Originally Posted by Evangelical

Many individuals, ministries, churches believe this, that by knowing, loving and teaching the Word of God, that we are becoming more filled with the Spirit.

If the writings and teachings of "many individuals, ministries and churches" over the past 2,000 years accounts for anything, then what John Piper has stated is spot on accurate. I think in your rush to judgment against Piper, a longtime respected and admired Christian teacher and writer for decades, you have ventured into territory that even Witness Lee would not have gone to. Congratulations my friend, maybe you're not as stuck on Lee as I thought.

The Bible came from the Spirit, but the Spirit does not come from the Bible.

I'm sure what you meant to say is "the Spirit does not necessarily come from the Bible", right? Actually, adding the qualifier "necessarily" still puts us on some very tenuous ground, but I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt here. Care to restate or clarify?

1. The Pharisees were diligent and loved the Scriptures and knew them very well, yet Jesus said:
John 5:39 "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,".

Interesting choice of translation here. I bet you're quite aware that the Recovery Version renders this Greek word (ἐρευνάω ereunáō) "search", as do the vast majority of modern translations. Why did you choose the minority translation of "study"? I suspect you referred us to this translation because it apparently (in your mind) backs up your notion that "the Spirit does not come from the Bible". What you might not be aware of, is this Gk word ἐρευνάω is universally rendered "search" throughout the New Testament. In any event, the context of John 5:39, and indeed the entire chapter, dictates that the Lord Jesus was referring not to the "study" of the Scriptures per se, but rather that the Jews were ignoring the vital message that was apparently hiding in plain sight - that He was the Son of God, sent by the Father, to do the work of the Father. The problem was not with the Scriptures, but with their hardness and blindness to the clear message behind the black and white.

My point is most exemplified by the opening verses in John 5 - the invalid man at the pool of Bethesda who was healed by Jesus. The Jews chastised Jesus for ostensibly breaking the black and white law of the Sabbath, however, they failed miserably at seeing the real message: "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will."(Vr 21)

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