XPost: alt.religion.christian   
   From: usenet@christrose.news   
      
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   Thu, 08 Jan 2026 20:12:25 -0500   
      
   Watchtower Heretic James  wrote:   
   ========================================   
   > When Paul raised people from the dead, they became believers. He did   
   > many things that an average man could not do. Where did he get his   
   > powers?   
      
   Paul did not possess power in himself. God supplied power through the   
   risen Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.   
      
   Paul stated this plainly. “I will not venture to speak of anything   
   except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to   
   obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the   
   power of the Spirit of God” (Romans 15:18–19, ESV).   
      
   Peter concurred:   
      
   “And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do   
   you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own   
   power or piety we have made him walk?” (Acts 3:12, ESV)   
      
   The miracles did not originate from Paul. God acted through him. Luke   
   records this pattern repeatedly. “And God was doing extraordinary   
   miracles by the hands of Paul” (Acts 19:11, ESV). Scripture places the   
   source of power with God, not with the man.   
      
   When Paul raised the dead, the same source operated. Eutychus fell from   
   the window and died. Paul embraced him, and God restored his life (Acts   
   20:9–12, ESV). The text does not credit Paul with inherent ability. God   
   gave life.   
      
   Paul himself explained the purpose. “My speech and my message were not   
   in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of   
   power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the   
   power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:4–5, ESV).   
      
   Paul also denied personal greatness. “What then is Paul? … Servants   
   through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each” (1 Corinthians   
   3:5, ESV). The Lord assigned the work. The Lord supplied the power.   
      
   The risen Christ remained the source. Jesus promised power for witness   
   through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8, ESV). Paul functioned within that   
   promise.   
      
   The power came from God, through the Holy Spirit, in the name and   
   authority of Jesus Christ, to confirm the gospel of Christ’s death and   
   resurrection for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:1–4, ESV).   
      
   --   
   Have you heard the good news Christ died for our sins (†), and God   
   raised Him from the dead?   
      
   That Christ died for our sins shows we're sinners who deserve the death   
   penalty. That God raised Him from the dead shows Christ's death   
   satisfied God's righteous demands against our sin (Romans 3:25; 1 John   
   2:1-2). This means God can now remain just, while forgiving you of your   
   sins, and saving you from eternal damnation.   
      
   On the basis of Christ's death and resurrection for our sins, call on   
   the name of the Lord to save you: "For 'everyone who calls on the name   
   of the Lord will be saved'" (Romans 10:13, ESV).   
      
   https://christrose.news/salvation   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)