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MY CHOICES OF THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT VERSES IN THE BIBLE
First = John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (KJV).
First public announcement that God was giving out free "get out of jail cards" (out of the bondage of sin by Christ) to whosoever will.
Second = Ephesians 2:8, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God:" (KJV).
The mechanics of God's free offer - How we receive this gift of grace (unmerited love and mercy) from Almighty God by believing and trusting through His Son Jesus Christ.
Third = Revelation 20:15, "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (KJV).
Redemption! Reward! Eternal life in one of the Father's many mansions.....and not eternal torment.
What do you think, group?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Colby on
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"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2Tim3:16).
Without a doubt, you've picked three of the top verses. Surely, you can't go wrong with John 3:16. It's the perennial "go-to" verse that is searched for and quoted more than any other. This one verse provides a succinct, clear and compelling one-sentence summary of the Christian faith. Ephesians 2:8 was drummed into my head as a child in Sunday School.God speaks to us through the scripture, from Genesis through Revelation. All of what God says is important, but there are times and situations throughout life when certain verses address matters of particular relevance to our individual as well as corporate concerns and needs.
- The Bible's opening words are pretty powerful: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1) and "so God created man in his own image" (Genesis 1:27).
- An all-time favorite verse of mine is Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."
Here are a few more that come to mind.
- Ezekiel 36:26: "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you:
and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." - Zephaniah 3:17: "For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” - 1 John 4:12: "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
- John 14:6: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"
- The Bible's opening words are pretty powerful: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1) and "so God created man in his own image" (Genesis 1:27).
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Permalink Reply by ribbon on
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Years ago these two were a couple of my favorites and important.
Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
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Richard,
I would have a hard time picking three that appear most important. For me there are so many topics and doctrines and verses that drive that topic/doctrine.
I do have some favorite verses. Three of my favorites are 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 1:12 and Philippians 1:6 (no particular order).
Lord Bless,
LT
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Permalink Reply by Richard L. Broch, Sr. on
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Colby,
Good to see you, Bro. Been missing you. Thanks for sharing some of your favorites.
Yes.....we all have our favorite verses and passages. God's Word is so great.
For sure, Janie. Good to see you, Sis. Romans is a powerful, powerful book. I'm curious.....why do you say "years ago these two were a couple of my favorites and important"......
Are they still?.............
Yep LT, my brother, I love the three verses you listed. And I know...........that you know..........the Scriptures like the back of your hand.
Well, it took me a while to finally pick what I think are the most important three.........yes, could have picked the most important 25 verses.......and it still would have been a chore. 50?...100??.....same.
Colby's right. John 3:16 was easy for #1. It's my thought that the whole Bible is built around that verse.
The shadow of the cross was in the Garden of Eden........All through the Old Testament, it's like at a carnival or fair, on the rides at the midway.......remember the height signs - "YOU MUST BE THIS TALL TO RIDE THIS RIDE".......?? No matter how much we stretched or stood on our tippey toes...... we couldn't measure up.
God had a sign by the Law which said,"YOU MUST BE THIS GOOD TO ENTER HEAVEN". Here again, no matter how hard people tried........they couldn't do it.
So Jesus, took the form of a bond-servant, humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on the cross.....staking the cross through love, paid the sin-debt of the world, in the place of the sign about being "good enough", and opened a new door (Testament) to heaven.
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Richard,
A variation on your question: What, in your view, are the three most important or powerful books of the Bible?
If that's too limiting, how about your top 3 from the OT and top 3 from the NT?
Faith, hope and love,
Colby
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Richard ,
Years ago , Even though I never understood a word I read, I always had the new testament in my pocket or purse and pulled it out to read every chance I got. I would take some of my favorite verses and tape them up at my work post to memorize. The two I mentioned above were ones I liked very much. Sometimes I see scriptures folks post and it sends me back to remembering how I once had that hunger for the word of God.
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Permalink Reply by Charles Burwell on
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Richard
The three that eally stand out to me ( although the are by no means more impotant than any others are
Proverbs 3:5-6 - "Trust in the Lord with all heart; and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths."
Colossians 2:13 - "For it is GOD which works in you both to WILL and to DO of His good pleasure." (CAPITALS MINE)
2 Timothy 1:12b - "for I know in whom I have believed , and am pursuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed Him against that day.'
I guess I take more comfort in the fact that any work we do for God will succeed only because God will determine the 'success' of the work and we are simply the instrument. Therefore we have nothing to 'glory in' save that we know Him and have surrenered to His will and guidance.
God bless
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Hi group,
Colby..........And the greatest of these is love (to finish the verse. (:>) .
Bro, thanks for the latitude of choosing 3 and 3.
O.T.= Exodus, Numbers, because of God leading the Israelites out of bondage ( as Jesus started doing later), and the
whole wilderness experience so closely parallels Christians' experiences today - faith issues, anger, problems, etc.
= Isaiah, because of so many similarities to what's going on today.
N.T. = John, the love book, and so much valuable information about living the Christian life.
= Romans, just chock full of what we need to know.
= Galatians, because of everything that's in Chapter 5.
Those are my favorite books, Colby...........how about yours?
Janie, You mentioned not understanding what you read...........do you remember what version Bible you were reading? King James Version, maybe?
There are several easy to understand versions available. We can assist you if needed. We want you to understand what you're reading there, Sis.
Charles, my man......good to see you, Bro. You've listed 3 excellent choices there. I believe Proverbs 3:5-6 was the favorite Scripture of the one astronaut commander who was killed in a mishap a while back.
And have you ever sang the chorus that includes 2 Timothy 1:12b?
Well, I'm out of time to explain why Ephesians 2:8 is my second pick of importance.
Stand by for next time, please.
Grace and Peace.
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Richard at that time I had the KJV <----- my favorite and the NIV. Now I have a New Living Translation that a friend gave me. I could have a stack of bibles and a stack of pre schooled books and not understand none. Thank you for the offer of help assisting me of any questions. I'm sure when ever I start actively reading the bible again... I will have plenty questions. Thanks again.
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Richard,
We're 3 for 3 with respect to the NT!
When it comes to the OT, we both put Isaiah in our top 3.
OT:
- Genesis - - This book, the "opening act," gives the beginning of almost everything: the universe, life, humanity, sin, the fall, the flood, etc., and it introduces God as the creator of all things who establishes a covenant with his people.
- Isaiah - - It is to the OT what the gospels are to the NT. The theme is our great need for salvation, God's desire to save his people, and that salvation is found only in the Lord. The entire book is packed with deep insights int0 God's nature. Isaiah 53 is packed with prophecies of the atonement of the Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
- Jeremiah - - Chapter 31 especially for it contains the wonderful promises of God's new covenant.
NT:
- Romans - - Paul's brilliant masterpiece that lays out God's plan of salvation in its entirety. This book answers the question: How can I be saved by grace from sin? How can I live a victorious Christian life?
- John - - My favorite gospel because of John 3:16 and John 20:31, which provide the clearest statements of purpose in the Bible. John also presents a strong case for the deity of Christ.
- Galatians - - This letter makes it abundantly clear that the believer is no longer under the law but is saved by faith alone.
James almost made the cut. It contains a lot of good, practical advice for dealing with temptations and testings, and speaks to what constitutes a true, saving faith. Lots of good stuff here.
Faith, hope and love,
Colby
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Richard
Next to 'Trust and Obey the song patterned after 1Tim 1:12b is one of my very favorite. I first heard them both at a mission I was at in DC a very long time ago.
God bless
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Vicky,
These are powerful verses, indeed, that encapsulate profound deeply meaningful truth. As Richard has intimated, John 3:16 is the gospel or good news of Jesus Christ summarized in one sentence. You listed this verse and 2 Timothy 3:16 in your top 4. Tying these two verses together nicely is John 20:31: "but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name" (NASB).
These are among the verses that we should commit to memory. One thing they have in common is that they can stand alone and their meaning is clear. What I mean here is that there are other verses that can be plucked from the Bible that are difficult to understand or easily misunderstood without the context of the verses immediately before and after them.
May you be blessed by the amazing grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God our Father, and the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit,
Colby
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