Webmaster's Grain of Salt Blog
| Mar 8, 2013 |
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The
Lord's
Prayer
(Is it for everyone?) (Mat 6:9) After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. In context Jesus is speaking
to Jews. However saved Gentiles can also call God our Father
and also praise Him.
(Rom 8:15) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Mat 6:10) Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. The Jews are an earthy people;
they were promised a land, a kingdom and a king.
(Gen 12:2) And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: (Gen 15:18) In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: (Isa 9:7) Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. This supplication therefore asks for the promised kingdom to come. Luke and Acts also anticipate the coming kingdom. (Luke 19:11) And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. (Acts 1:6) When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? - - - - -
Gentiles were never promised a kingdom. Christians are an heavenly people. We are in Christ. We don't have to pray for God's kingdom to come. However, praying for the coming kingdom is the only way the world will have peace, even though believers already have peace with God. (Eph 2:6) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Rom 5:1) Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. When God's kingdom does come, Christ will be the king of the Jews, not the king of Christians, for we are the church the body of Christ. If Christ were our King then we would be His subjects, rather than His children (Gal 3:26) or body (1Cor 12:27) or bride (Rom 7:4). (Gal 3:26) For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (1Cor 12:27) Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. (Rom 7:4) Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. (Mat 6:11) Give us this day our daily bread. If this is refering to
physical bread then Christians shouldn't have to ask for
daily bread...but you never know when the situation may
arise.
(Php 4:19) But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. However, if this is refering to spiritual bread then Jews and Christians can certainly use a daily ration of Christ, the Word of God, for Jesus did say, "I am that bread of life." (Php 4:19) (Mat 6:12) And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Jews
regarded sins as debts or satisfaction to the Law
and justice of God, which we are incapable of paying. Hence,
the entreating for mercy.
(Luk 11:4) And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. Jewish law at the time of Christ placed a condition on forgiveness of debts, or sins - see v. 14, 15 below. Today's Christians have no such condition. Our sins have already been forgiven, past, present and future. However, we do forgive other's sins against us not as a condition for forgiveness of our sins but because we have already been forgiven of far worst sins against our Saviour. (Eph 4:32) And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. (Mat 6:13) And lead us not into temptation [testing, or putting to proof through adversity], but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. It is probably ok for
Christians to ask not to be tested of their faith, but it is
doubtful that anyone would really want to be put to an
adverse test.
(Heb 12:4) Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. But if we do fall into temptation James tells us to be joyful about it, for an ultimate good will come out of it. (Jas 1:2) My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; (Jas 1:3) Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. (Jas 1:4) But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Christians don't have to pray to be delivered from evil...we already have been delivered and already have a heavenly place prepared for us. The Amen ending v.13 marks the official end of the outline or pattern of "the Lord's prayer." However, the following verse begins with "For," indicating a continuation of the context of the prayer, specifically referring back to v.12. (Mat 6:14) For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: (Mat 6:15) But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. These verses indicate a Jewish
condition for forgiveness of sins and maintaining fellowship
with the Father. Again, Christians have no such condition
for forgiveness of sins.
This condition for forgiveness of sins is also given in Mark 11. (Mark 11:25) And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. (Mark 11:26) But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses. To answer the subtitle question of whether the “the Lord's Prayer” has application for everyone, one could make the case that this prayer was given to Jews only, just as covenants were also given to Jews only. Further, children of God by faith in Jesus Christ have privilege of approach to the throne room as no others have had in all history. Just as a child can go into his father's study by right of being part of the family, so also believers can approach the throne room of God just as if we belong there. We can speak to our Father all day every day without having to formulate our requests in any set outline or pattern. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Feb 27, 2013 |
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The
Final
Passover
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is a fulfillment of the passover sacrifice introduced by Moses in remembrance of the release of the children of Israel from Egyptian captivity, and can rightly be called the final Passover. The passover introduced by Moses was a Jewish feast that was observed once per year (Lev 23:5). This was not a normal meal but was ordained by God to be eaten in haste (loins girded, shoes on feet, staff in hand, standing up? - Ex 12:11) and to be at the ready to be led out of captivity, in remembrance of being passed over at the time of the killing of all firstborn in Pharaoh's kingdom which led to their freedom (Ex 12:27; Num 33:3). The passover was reserved strictly for the Jews – at first Gentiles were not allowed to participate (Ex:12:43). But Gentiles would later be allowed to participate if they would first be circumcised (Ex 12:48), representing a later grafting in and blessing in the dispensation of grace. The animal sacrifice had to be roasted whole (Ex 12:9) and not one bone was to be broken (Ex 12:46). The unbroken sacrifice represented two things. First of all, Jesus was not wounded and overpowered and defeated but went to the cross under his own power of his own will. Secondly, even though Jesus became sin when he took on the sins of the whole world, sin was still alive in all its power at the crucifixion, but was symbolically wounded with the piercing of Jesus (representing sin being temporarily held in check during the age of grace), and would later be defeated when thrown into the lake of fire. The Jews were not to save leftovers for the next day (Numb 9:12), as this sacrifice represented the future one-time once-forever sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. He was to be eaten (digested, believed in) one time, fully, and not believed in a little at a time or partly, nor mixed with leaven or sinful works. Nor were the left-overs to be thrown in the garbage to decay (Num 9:12), indicating that the body of Jesus did not decay in the grave. The left-overs, which included the unclean parts that represented sin in the unclean sinful world, was to be burned (Ex 12:10), indicating that there was to be no remnant of sin in the new kingdom but was to be totally put away forever into the lake of fire. The killing of all Pharaoh's firstborn led to the freedom of the Jews from Egyptian captivity. In a larger sense this represented the final passover sacrifice of the first born of all creation, the Lord Jesus Christ, which provided for the freedom of the whole world from the captivity of sin. Isa
55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - Old Testament - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Exod
12:11 And thus
shall ye eat it; with
your loins girded,
your shoes on your
feet, and your
staff in your hand; and ye
shall eat it in haste: it is
the LORD'S passover.
Exod 12:9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast it with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. Exod 12:10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. Exod 12:27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. Exod 12:43 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the passover: There shall no stranger eat thereof: Exod 12:46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth ought of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof. Exod 12:48 And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. Exod 34:25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven; neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning. Numb 9:12 They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it. Numb 33:3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. Deut 16:5 Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - New Testament - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Matt
26:17 Now the first day
of the feast of
unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto
him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the
passover?
Matt 26:18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. Matt 26:19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. Matt 26:20 Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve. [We're still under Old-Testament Law since Jesus hadn't yet gone to the cross and risen. Apparently, after hastily observing the passover (Jesus was sinless and therefore must have observed the Law of Moses, which He Himself gave), they rested and reclined for the cup after the evening meal so that Jesus could instruct them in the new definition of the passover covenant: that is, that they didn't have to be at the ready anymore in hastily eating the animal passover to be rescued out of captivity by other nations which was brought about by discipline because of their bondage to sin. In resting for the cup, Jesus was instructing them that His own body would be the new Passover which would pass over their sins forever rather than just purifying them for one year by the blood of bulls and goats and lambs. They were to rest in and remember His final one time, once forever Passover.] Matt
26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread,
and blessed it,
and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
- - - - - - - - -
Mark
14:12 And the first day of unleavened bread, when
they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where
wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the
passover?
Mark 14:14 And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? Mark 14:16 And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. Mark 14:18 And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me. [Same comments as for Matt 26:20.] Mark
14:22 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and
blessed, and brake it,
and gave to them, and said, Take,
eat: this is my body.
- - - - - - - - -
Luke
22:7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when
the passover must be killed.
Luke 22:8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. Luke 22:11 And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? Luke 22:13 And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. Luke 22:14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. [Same comments as for Matt 26:20.] Luke
22:15 And he said unto them, With
desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before
I suffer:
Luke 22:19 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. - - - - - - - - - --
1Cor
11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take,
eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in
remembrance of me.
[Paul here reminds the Corinthian Christians of the night of the final Old-Testament passover, how that Jesus instructed the Jews that they were to remember that they should rest in His sacrifice as the final passover for the whole world. The Corinthians didn't have to hastily observe the passover as the Jews did, but as often as they came together they were to solemnly observe the memorial of Jesus providing for their salvation. However they were making a mockery of remembering the sacrifice of their Savior to pay for their sins. Apparently there was no fear of the Lord among some of these new believers.] Job
28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the
Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is
understanding.
Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Apr 6, 2011 |
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The
Fear
of the LORD
Pro
1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Pro 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. The bible tells us that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Pro 9:10) and knowledge (Pro 1:7). But does that mean we have to be afraid of God if we want to be wise or have knowledge? Some would say that is not the case. What those verses really mean is that we are to have a reverential fear of the LORD. But that just begs the question — what is a reverential fear? Let us see if we can come to a better understanding of “fear of the LORD” by using simple logic. Logic teaches that if object A is equal to object B then the reverse is also true. That is, object B is also equal to object A. So if the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, then it is also true that the beginning knowledge and wisdom is the fear of the LORD. Or we might say that knowledge and wisdom begin with the fear of the LORD. But that still doesn’t define fear. Perhaps the word “beginning” can shed some light. As in, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen 1:1), and “In the beginning was the Word... and the Word was God... all things were made by [the Word, God]." (John 1:1-3) The bible also tells us that, "all things were created by him, and for him... and by him all things consist" (Col 1:16-17). That is, it is at His will and pleasure and glory that we and the universe exist. When we realize and come to terms with the fact that we are not in control of our lives, but that the Creator of the universe controls everything, we are at the threshold or very beginning of knowledge and wisdom. However there are those who refuse to acknowledge God and His sovereign control of all things, but insist on believing that they are in control of their lives, even that they are in control of their entrance into heaven. The bible calls those fools (Prov 1:7, Psalm 14:1). So, yes, people are correct when they say that the fear of the LORD does not mean we are to be afraid of Him in the sense of fearing for our lives. But what it does mean is that we are to bow down to the one and only living LORD and acknowledge that He controls the very next breath that we breath, the very next beat of our hearts (Col 1:17). Animals do not control us, nor do lifeless man-made idols. These things perish with time and have no control over where we spend eternity, but the LORD lives forever. When we acknowledge that the LORD controls our very essence, then we have just begun a journey that reveals untold wisdom and knowledge. Let us lean on His everlasting arms in the fear of the Lord. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Mar 3, 2011 |
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The
Ultimate
Question
Unbelievers are always asking questions like, "If there is a God, why does he allow wars, and famine, and hurricanes, and floods, and earthquakes, and raging forest fires, and massive mud slides, and volcanoes, and cancer, and..." But the ultimate question is always, "If there is a God, why does he allow evil, or why does he allow bad things to happen to good people?" There are many standard and stock answers to this question. Often, a counter question is asked, "By who's standard are you defining 'good people,' for the bible says that by God's standard there is none good, no not one," quoting Psalms 53:3 or perhaps Romans 3:12. But quoting scripture to an unbeliever is like speaking to the wind. Another answer might be "All this bad stuff happens because of sin." But that doesn't satisfy the unbeliever either, and likely many believers. The counter question to the sin answer is usually, "If God loves everyone why does he allow sin... if he loves everyone how can he allow people to go to hell?" The response might be that we are all created with freedom of choice. We can choose to do good or evil. We would never know what evil is if we didn't have good for a contrast. We would never know what dark is if we didn't have light for a contrast. Why are we given the freedom to choose between good and evil? If there were no evil then we wouldn't choose it. Choosing between vanilla and chocolate ice cream is one thing, but choosing to do bad things should not be allowed. "God doesn't want robots" might be the response. "God wants us to love him of our own free will and not be forced to do it, or to not know that we don't have to." "Not good enough. Who would know the difference? There are lots of things we don't know about. There doesn't have to be evil just so we can choose against it. A little boy doesn't have to be exposed to pornography just so he can choose against it. A little girl doesn't have to be exposed to prostitution just so she can choose against it." But no matter what answer that is given, it will not satisfy the unbeliever. The answer lies in the reason we were created, which is to glorify God. But how does sin or evil glorify God? Ah, now we are getting close to the ultimate answer. Besides not wanting robots for children God also doesn't want proud and self-righteous do-gooders. Again, these traits are measured by man's standards, not God's. God also doesn't want religious children, such as those who make something with their hands and then worship it. Or worse yet, those who put the fear of God into their followers by forcing them to perform rituals under penalty of "mortal" sin. Or forcing them to confess their sins to their priests. God wants none of these for children. God wants children who are totally dependent upon Him, who cannot make one hair white or black. (Matt 5:36) He wants children to know that they need a Savior, to know that they are doomed apart from His grace. And the only way to totally appreciate God's grace is to be doomed forever and beyond measure without His grace. "For by grace are ye saved..." (Eph 2:8) It is easy to bask in the grace of a wealthy father or friend. But the grace of a father or friend cannot be as fully appreciated as the grace of an enemy. And the only way for God to have enemies is to have sin and evil enter the world. God wants us to know in no uncertain terms that we are nothing and have no life apart from Him. The nation of Israel, the apple of God's eye, is especially good at being an enemy of God. They departed so far from God's law to the point of killing their Messiah when He visited them the first time. They will therefore be doubly grateful of God's grace when they learn that it is He that still lives and saves them from their enemies round about at the great tribulation. But first and foremost, above all His grace, is God's love. "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." (John 3:16) Yes, God's love gave us evil so that we could fully and totally appreciate His grace. Isa
55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts
than your thoughts.
Isa
45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I
make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Mat
25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on
his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Feb 24, 2011 |
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How's
Your
Dot?
Let us imagine eternity. It goes on forever and forever and... well, you know, a long time. Now let us imagine our life span here on earth; 50 years, 80 years, 100 years, more? Compared to eternity our life span would appear as a dot. But not a dot that we could see. Compared to eternity this dot would appear smaller than an atom. But a lot depends on what goes on inside our atom-like dot. In fact the whole rest of our eternity depends on our dot. Or, more specifically, our faith inside our dot. Our faith will lead us to one of two eternal paths when we leave our dot. Believers in Christ will take the path that Jesus spoke of in John 14:6 when He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one cometh unto the Father, but by me." Let us call that path the believer's path. John 3:36 also describes the believer's path. In fact, John 3:36 describes both paths, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Clearly, this other path is a path of God's abiding wrath, that is, a wrath that abides, or never leaves the person. Our dot also determines one other thing — how we will spend eternity on our chosen path. The do-good crowd, the ones who are indoctrinated into the false belief that works determine which path we take, will not actually be on the believer's path. They are unknowingly on the path of wrath. But for believers, our works which are judged by Jesus Himself, determine our eternal rewards. One other thing deserves mention about the two eternal paths. The believer's path is one of eternal love of Jesus Christ. There is no love on the unbeliever's path. No love...forever. And once we leave our dot and discover that we made the wrong choice, when we discover that our church or religion couldn't save us, or that our rituals couldn't save us, there's no going back into our dot to change our mind. That choice has to be made inside the dot while we are still living in our present bodies. Let us take a look at our dot  and choose the correct path. Let us choose the path of placing our complete trust and faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Aug 29, 2010 |
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The
End
From the Beginning
God had a plan. Before the first visible or invisible thing He created, He had a plan. His plan was to create beings that He would love and provide for and have eternal fellowship through His mercy and grace. These beings would experience God's mercy and grace in spite of a sinful nature and return His love and bring Him glory. They would love and worship and glorify God of their own free will. But creating beings with free will would also result in beings that would not only not love him but would actually hate him or be indifferent to him. Such is the consequence of free will... complete freedom to love or to hate. These haters and indifferent would have to be dealt with in a series of "conflict resolutions." The final conflict resolution would fulfill God's grand plan of eternal peace and love and fellowship with His created beings. But before there could be an eternity of peace, sin would have to be eliminated forever. This final elimination of sin would be dealt with in the final war between God and the fallen angel Satan and his angelic and human cohorts – the war of Gog and Magog. This final war of Gog and Magog would be preceded by a one thousand year reign of peace by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ the Almighty, to weed out any humans who preferred to worship Satan rather than Jesus. The one thousand year reign of peace would be the result of a victory by Jesus to end an attempted take over of the world by Satan and his devious minions. This war would be called Armageddon, and would be settled by the return of Jesus and His righteous believers from heaven. Before Jesus could have righteous believers, God had to display His mercy and grace to His sinful creatures. God could rightly insure that His undeserved favor of grace would be dispensed to sinful creatures who would fully appreciate His undeserved grace. God's mercy and grace would be displayed by offering eternal salvation to any sinner who believed on the death, burial and resurrection of His son according to the scriptures. But before Jesus could return from heaven, he had to leave the third heaven, be born a little lower than the angels, humble himself in obedience to His Father and die on the cross. After His death He could then return to heaven. This would be accomplished by having His favorite nation crucify Him on a cross where he would die, go to the grave for three days and three nights, and then ascend up to heaven. He would be crucified because the Scribes and the Pharisees were envious of the people respecting the teaching authority of Jesus over their authority of the Law that they had corrupted. But the Scribes and the Pharisees did not know that their corruption was being used to fulfill the prophecy of Jesus dying on the cross to pay for the sins of the world. Before the Law could be corrupted, the prophets had to be removed for a period of four hundred years. Although the nation of Israel was not faithful in keeping the Law, prophets were sent to remind them of the Law. Without prophets, the Scribes and the Pharisees were left to their own evil devices, and corrupted the Law. Before the Law was given, there had to be a nation to give it to. The Law was given to show that there is none righteous, no, not one; and that a Savior was needed to redeem man from the Law. Before there could be a nation, there had to be one righteous man Abraham from which to form the nation. This nation would be formed in captivity so they could be set free and given the Law. Before this man would agree to captivity, there had to be a drought to encourage him to travel away from his home for food and water. Before one righteous man could be found, there had to be a land full of unrighteousness. Before this land of unrighteousness could be formed, there had to be a buildup of sin and unrighteousness. Before this buildup of sin and unrighteousness, there had to be a flood to purge the world of previous unrighteousness. Before the flood was to take place, an ark had to be built to save a remnant of one righteous man Noah and his family and all animals of the world. Before this first buildup of sin and unrighteousness, sin had to enter the world which had no sin. Before sin could enter the world, there had to be humans to do the sinning. Before humans could sin there had to be someone superior to him to tempt him to disobey God; a fallen angel. Before the angel could fall, the earth and the universe had to be created to provide a place for humans to live and have dominion. Before the earth and universe could be created, angels superior to humans in strength and intelligence and other powers had to be created to observe the creation of the earth and universe, and to observe the handing over of the earth to humans who were created a little lower than the angels. One angel in particular, Lucifer, was given beauty and power over all the other angels. This beauty and power of Lucifer would result in pride and extreme rage and jealousy and envy when God gave dominion of the earth to the inferior humans rather than to him. This pride and envy would transform Lucifer into Satan, who tempted Eve into tempting Adam to sin against God, and convinced one third of the angels to join him in the angelic conflict against God. But before the angels could be created, there had to be a plan. Isa
46:10 Declaring the
end from the beginning, and from ancient times the
things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Isa
45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I
make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Mat
25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on
his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world:
Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Jul 26, 2010 |
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The
Foundation
of Everything
When we build a house or an office building or a bridge we see to it that it's built on a firm foundation. (Luke 6:48) We also build our faith on a firm foundation. (1Cor 3:11) God was the first to build on a firm foundation. He created (out of nothing) a foundation of electrons and protons and all manner of sub-atomic particles. This gigantic mass or pool of particles had no shape or form...just a massive collection of individual particles floating about in nothingness. These particles would now become the firm foundation of everything -- all manner of stable and unstable elements which would make up everything in the universe. God then brought these particles together in the form of atoms and elements. The first thing He made from these elements were all the angels. The angles had to be God's first creatures so that they could witness the creation of the entire universe and everything in it. (Job 38:4-7) God made one of these angles (the first one? -- so he could witness the creation of the other angels, thereby giving him a sense of superiority?) more intelligent and cunning and beautiful and powerful than all the rest. This superior angel was made for a specific purpose: to deceive himself and one third of the angels to rebel against God and to entice the woman in the Garden to tempt Adam to sin. (Hath not the Potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? Rom 9:21) After creating the angels God created the earth and all the universe and populataed the earth with all manner of trees and birds and fish in five days. On the sixth day God created all the land animals. Last of all the first man Adam was created out of the foundation of the earth's elements, and God rested. Gen
1:1 In the beginning God createdH1254
(H853) [out of nothing] the
heavenH8064
[dual of an unused singular] and the earth.
The dual form of H8064 alludes to more than one heaven, possibly indicating the earth's heaven plus the "heaven of heavens," [Neh 9:6] that is, the heavens of the planets and stars and the third heaven. Gen
1:2 And the earth wasH1961
[to exist, existed] without form, and void; and
darkness was upon the face of the deep.H8415 [abyss,
water
supply] And the Spirit of God movedH7363 [brooded]
upon the face of the waters.H4325 [juice,
water
spring]
The earth had no shape or form when it was created. That is, the earth only existed in the form of electrons, protons, neutrons, masons; ie, it existed as part of a pool of elements of the Periodic Table. This pool of elements had no shape or form and was void of any life or light. If nothing else was done with this primeval pool of elements and particles it would just lie there in waste, poetically a vain and empty wilderness. Since light had not yet been created, this pool of elements (H8415-the deep, abyss, water supply, used poetically since water has no shape or form) existed in complete darkness. The Spirit of God then moved (H7363-brooded, gave thoughts of wisdom, incubated) upon this elementary shapeless pool of elements, poetically called waters (H4325) since water has no shape or form other than the shape of its container but no container had yet been created. Gen
1:3 And God said, Let there beH1961
[to exist, be, become, come to pass] light: and
there was light.
Gen 1:4 And God sawH7200 (H853) [behold, enjoy, consider, discern] the light, that it was good: and God dividedH914 H996 [separate, distinguish, select] the light from the darkness. By saying, "Let there be light," God caused some atoms in this pool of elements to have extra electrons, thereby making them unstable ions. In the process of releasing these extra electrons and tending to the more stable state, these elements release radiation in the form of light rays, x-rays, gamma rays, etc. It satisfied God that the pool of unstable elements would give light. God divided and separated the stable elements that would give no light from the unstable ones that would give light. Gen
1:5 And God called the light Day, and the
darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning
were the first day.
Now that we have matter in the form of particles and elements the clock of time starts ticking. So everything up to this point occured in a period of time that would be called the first 24-hour day of evening and morning. Thus, this pool of electrons, protons, neutrons, masons, and all sorts of matter and anti-matter would become the foundation of the world or cosmos. The remaining "Let there be"s are merely a coming together of various collections of elements that made up the foundation of the earth, stars, planets, and all living things, visible and invisible. Since God knows the location and state every element He ever created, He knew which ones He would bring together to form all things visible and invisible, including the earth, sun, moon, stars, trees, birds, fish, cattle, angels, spirits, souls etc. And He knew which ones would come together to form you and me. Thus, He is also able to say, Psa
102:25 Of old hast thou laid the
foundation
of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy
hands.
Zec 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; Joh 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. Eph 1:4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Heb 1:10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: Heb 4:3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Jun 30, 2010 |
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The
Tree
That Couldn't
Mat 21:19 And when he
saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing
thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit
grow on thee henceforward for
ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.
Say it isn’t so! Why is Jesus cursing a thing? Jesus was at odds with the Pharisees and Scribes and with the Jewish nation in general, but why pick on a fig tree because it had no fruit? Yes, Jesus was hungry from not eating since the previous evening, but after all, a tree is just a thing. It has no volition. Could a tree be held morally responsible for being fruitless? Yet this was no ordinary or temporary curse; this particular tree was cursed forever. Some take the fig tree in this verse as an emblem of the Jews; a symbol of Israel at that time. With all the blessings they had received throughout their history they should have been glorifying God with much fruit of righteousness, but instead of fruit the only thing they had to show for themselves were leaves of religious pretentiousness. But this tree cannot represent the Jews being cursed forever, for Jeremiah tells us that the only way that Israel shall cease from being a nation forever is if the sun does not give light by day and the moon and stars do not give light by night (Jer 31:31-37). Or the tree may represent the state of hypocrites in general, some say. Or of man in general leading fruitless lives. Or that religion in general should produce fruit of righteousness and that Christ was cursing all religions. Some even go so far as to say that since the fig tree was in Christ’s way, it represented a church that should have produced fruits of righteousness. But all he found were leaves of an outward show of a religion of ceremonies and traditions. Besides being cursed forever, this tree was in the way. Some take this to mean that the tree was on public property beside the road so no harm was done to any property owner's crops by cursing the fig tree forever. Some go on about the season for fig trees as if Jesus was concerned about figs. Yes, the state of the Jewish people was pathetic, and still is, as well as the state of all mankind in general. The nation of Israel had been cursed for forty years, 400 years and 2500 years. But they were never cursed forever. Therefore this particular tree could not represent the nation of Israel nor people in general. This tree represented the Jewish Law. The Law was given as a schoolmaster (Gal 3:24), not to produce righteousness, but to bear witness that their sinful nature would not allow righteous and moral behavior, and thus the need for a Savior and to glorify God. But men were so evil (Jer 17:9; Psa 14:3) that the Law could not even do that. The Pharisees and Scribes embellished God's Law with their own leaves of rules and regulations that had nothing to do with fruits of righteousness or of glorifying God. Since the Law could not produce righteousness, Jesus' curse on the tree forever prophetically put an end to the Law forever, for at His death, burial and resurrection, righteousness would come by faith in Himself. But there was a dual purpose of this tree being in the way. On the one hand, the tree, the Law, was the way of the LORD, "the old paths, where is the good way... But they said, We will not" (Jer 6:16). Again, the Law had no power to make Israel behave morally. Which lead to the cursing of the Law forever, because it was in the way of grace, the dispensation that would have men glorify God because of who He is, not because of His power and might. So the cursing of this particular fig tree in the way served a dual purpose to our Lord Jesus. Anticipating the apostles' amazement at how quickly the cursed tree died, Jesus' lesson to them was that non-doubting faith and prayer could do the apparently impossible. But the deeper lesson to believers is that righteousness cannot come by works of the Law, but only by faith of our Lord, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Blessed Hope, Jesus Christ the Almighty. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Apr 4, 2010 |
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Live
Faith
vs. Dead Faith
The word, faith, is thought of by many in the same way that baptism is. Many people automatically associate baptism with water. But there are two major kinds of biblical baptisms. The bible speaks of a spiritual baptism which is performed by the Holy Spirit at the moment a person places his complete faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to be his Savior. This baptism is spiritual, that is, dry, with no hint of water. Then there is the wet physical baptism, which involves a personal public testimony of one's dry, spiritual baptism that came about by the faith of Jesus Christ. This baptism involves immersion of the physical body in physical water. Many people assign salvific value to this water baptism, but this doctrine is not found in the bible. In like manner, many associate the word faith strictly with salvation. However, James speaks of two kinds of faith. He does speak of the saving kind of faith, the kind that brings about imputed righteousness; the same faith that Paul speaks of when placing one's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. In fact, James gives the very same primary example of this saving faith of Abraham as Paul does in Romans 4. But James also speaks of another kind of faith, or rather two manifestations of one's saving faith. A faith that is either made alive and brought to perfection by doing good works, or one that remains stagnant, even dead through disobedience. This lively faith that James stresses is the doers of the word kind—the obedient kind—obedient to our Lord’s command to love one another as He loved us. It is the lively faith that produces fruit that can be pruned so that more fruit can be produced, as in our Lord's parable of the sower. Whereas our saving faith is spiritual that cannot be detected by others, our doing faith is physical and can be detected. This is the lively faith that manifests itself in the good works of showing mercy and love to our fellow brothers and sisters, especially when they are down and out and we are able to help. This obedient faith is also the kind that brings mercy and rewards at the Judgement Seat of Christ (James 2:13), provided the motive is mercy and love rather than respect of persons or a selfish motive. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Mar 1, 2010 |
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Eat
or
Believe?
The human body is made up of the fleshly physical parts which can be seen and touched, plus the soul and spirit parts that are invisible and cannot be seen or touched. Eating something physical nourishes the fleshly parts of the body. The way the spiritual parts of the body are nourished is through spiritual food, which is the food of faith. This little blog attempts to correct the confusion of whether salvation comes by eating something or believing something. Listed below are verses from the Gospel of John containing the words believe and eat, or their derivatives. The comments in red parenthesis following each verse attempt to explain the verse in its context. Many comments may seem like overkill or ridicule but are meant to stress the difference between eating and believing. – – –
– – – – – – –
– – – – – – –
– –
John 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. (not eat) John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (believe, not eat… Receiving doesn’t mean simply to say hello in a receiving line. It means to receive into our spiritual heart… to believe totally and exclusively on the name of Jesus for salvation.) John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (believeth gives eternal life, not eateth) 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. (not eateth… Whosoever means anyone, even Nicodemus. At this point in time, Nicodemus could have said, “I believe, Lord,” and walked away with the fullest confidence that he had everlasting life, that he was saved forever, never hearing one word about eating anything to have everlasting life. Everlasting means lasting forever, not just for a little while until we sin again.) John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (not eateth… People are condemned for not believing, not because they don’t eat something.) John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (not eat… Again, God does not display anger on anyone for what they eat or don’t eat. But He has INTENSE anger for anyone who does not believe on His Son. This INTENSE ANGER [wrath] abides with the unbeliever… not the uneater… FOREVER.) John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (believeth, not eateth… same notes as for Jn 3:36… substitute condemnation for wrath.) John 5:38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. (To have something spiritual abide in us, we either hear it or read it and believe and accept it in our spiritual heart. Physical things that we eat don’t abide in us… they provide physical nourishment for our physical body and then the waste is disposed of.) John 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. (believe, not eat) John 6:33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth LIFE unto the world. (Jesus is the spiritual bread of God, not bread which we make with our hands. This spiritual bread nourishes our spiritual soul and gives it LIFE everlasting. Physical bread can only nourish our physical body, nor can it cause us to live forever.) John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (Jesus is the spiritual bread of LIFE, not simply physical existence. We cannot get spiritual life by eating anything. Eating physical food will not eliminate our future hunger or thirst. When salvation is found in spiritual faith, we no longer hunger or thirst for salvation because we have it and it lasts forever.) John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. (Seeth the Son means to percieve, discern, acknowledge, consider, see, that Jesus is the Son of God. Believing on Jesus, not eating, gives everlasting life. God's will is for us to believe on His Son, not to physically eat anything. God does not give everlasting life if we eat something. God will give us everlasting life if, and only if, we believe fully and exclusively on His Son.) John 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (Same note as Jn 6:40) John 6:51 I am the LIVING bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (Well, make up your mind, Jesus… Up to this point we are told over and over that believing gives us everlasting life. Now all of a sudden, You tell us eating gives everlasting life? --- Explanation: Bread that humans make is not living, it is lifeless. Jesus often used physical examples to explain spiritual things. Here, Jesus is using eating to demonstrate believing, getting something spiritual inside us. What we eat gives us physical life… what we believe gives us spiritual life… forever. If we believe on the Son we have everlasting LIFE. If we believe not the son we have everlasting WRATH.) John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. (This verse does not contain the words believe or eat, but here, Jesus gives the explanation of what He had been speaking of in verses 32 – 62, where eating was not meant to be taken as a physical event, but spiritual.) John 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. (we believe, not eat) John 7:38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of LIVING water. (he that believeth, not eateth… another physical example of something spiritual. Normal water has no life in and of itself. The living water is a metaphor for Christ living and abiding within the believer. The believer is so eternally grateful for her salvation that she cannot help herself, but wishing all her friends to be saved also, she gushes out the living gospel of Christ, the good news that salvation comes by believing on the Son, not by eating anything. A person doesn’t gush LIVING water by eating bread.) John 7:39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) (John, the one that Jesus loved, parenthetically explains that Jesus was speaking of spiritual things, not physical. We receive the Holy Spirit by believing, not eating.) John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die IN your sins. (die IN, not because of your sins… Jesus died for all of our sins so we wouldn’t have to, but unless we believe on the Son we will die IN that state of unbelief and stay lost forever.) John 9:35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? (Jesus didn’t ask the man he cured from blindness, Dost thou eat the Son of God?) John 9:36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? (The blind man didn’t ask, Who is he, Lord, that I may eat him?) John 9:37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. (The blind man was not talking to a piece of bread… he was talking to the living God of all creation.) John 9:38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. (The blind man believed on and worshiped the living Jesus, not a piece of bread.) John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. John 10:29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. John 10:30 I and my Father are one. (Who gives eternal Life?… Jesus, not a piece of bread. Who is holding the believer in His hand? Jesus, not a piece of bread. Who is also holding the believer in His hand? The Father, not a piece of bread.) John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: (Jesus said, I AM THE RESURECTION, He didn’t say a piece of bread is the resurrection. A dead person cannot eat anything; yet her beleiving soul will live forever.) John 11:26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (not, Eatest thou this? Notice also that the person must be living to believe in something. Once we die it is to late to change our mind and say, "I believe.") John 11:27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. (She did not believe that a piece of bread was the Christ.) John 11:40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? (not, if thou wouldest eat) John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. (Believing on Jesus the Light dispels the darkness of false religions… believing on a piece of bread IS darkness that abides.) John 12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. (Hearing is the same as reading. The bible will condemn anyone who has heard the gospel of Christ or read it, but not believed on the Savior. The bible does not condemn those who do not eat a piece of bread.) John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (Jesus did miracles to show that he was the Son of God so that we could believe on Him, not to show us how to heal anyone. A few thousand people saw and believed. Now, through radio, television, internet, print media, especially the bible, greater works of millions of people can be exposed to the Son of God and believe and be saved.) John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; (not eat on me) John 20:25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. (Thomas did not say, Except I shall thrust my hand into his side, I will not eat.) John 20:31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (These things, the miracles that Jesus performed, were written down so that we may read of Him, get to know Him, and believe that He is the Son of the Living God who sacrificed Himself for the sins of the world once, only once, never to be repeated, so that whosoever believes on Him should have everlasting life.) – – –
– – – – – – –
– – – – – – –
– –
The above verses on believe, believeth, faith, receive and receiveth are taken just from the Gospel of John. There are many other verses like these in the rest of the New Testament that stress that salvation comes about only by the spiritual act of believing, not by doing anything physical. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Feb 7, 2010 |
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Adopted
Forever
Let us say that you want a pet but you don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for one. So you go to the dog pound and say, "I want that one." The poor dog would have been destroyed, or "put to sleep," to put it in more humane terms, but you "rescue" it from that fate. You adopt it. You take the dog home and train it and show it some newspaper and say, "This is where you ‘go.’" Later that day the dog ‘goes’ somewhere else in the house. To teach the dog a lesson for bad behavior you put it outside all night long. The next day you have second thoughts and bring the dog back to the dog pound and say, "I want to adopt this dog." I see it has a collar. Do you know the previous owner? I’m the previous owner. Let me check my records. Oh, yes, I see that you are the current owner, not the previous owner. Sorry, but you can’t adopt him again. He is already yours. The above scenario is a physical example of something spiritual. Justification is a spiritual occurrence that takes place only once. When you get saved, you get adopted into the family of God. You only get adopted once. You cannot get unadopted and then readopted. A natural family member can get disinherited, put out of the family forever and loose all the benefits and blessings of her father, but an adopted member cannot get unadodpted. When Adam disobeyed and disbelieved and rebelled, he was put out of the family of God. Therefore all Adam’s children were born outside of God’s family. But before the foundation of the world, God had a plan to bring man back into His family. His plan was to adopt anyone who would believe His promise of everlasting life. If you believe that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world, even your sins, you are adopted right then and there into the family of God. And just like man’s adoption laws, when God adopts a sinner into His family, even HE cannot unadopt her. The adoption was His work alone, she had nothing to do with it. It was impossible for her to earn the adoption because she was trapped and confined in the Sin Pound. She couldn’t say, "If only I can get out of this Sin Pound MAYBE I can do some good works and IF I AM GOOD ENOUGH I MIGHT earn my adoption." Can’t happen. The only thing she did was to believe God when He called her, and He did all the rest. Everyone is a creature of God but not everyone is a child of God. You have to have God’s righteousness to be adopted into His family. But God’s righteousness is a gift that cannot be purchased or earned. God GIVES you His righteousness the moment you place your complete faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior. At that moment you are adopted into the family of God forever. The book of Ephesians explains it this way: Salvation is BY grace THROUGH faith and cannot be earned because it is THE GIFT of God, and not of anything on your part (Eph 2:8). And just to drive the point home, Eph 2:9 emphasizes (in not so many words): It is forbidden to be of works in order to prevent anyone from bragging that she did more works than the next person. Notice that Eph 2:8 says that salvation is BY grace THROUGH faith. It can be thought of in this way: Grace proceeds downward from God toward man. Faith proceeds upward from man toward God. God extends salvation by His hand of grace to anyone who will reach up through faith to receive it. As Hebrews 3:15 says, "While it is said, TODAY [for we are not promised tomorrow] if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart." Extend your spiritual hand of faith in Jesus Christ toward God NOW and He will take hold of your hand and adopt you and NEVER let you go. --- --- But the bible also says to work for your salvation. --- --- No, it doesn’t… you’re not paying attention. The bible says to work OUT your salvation, not work FOR it. (Phil 2:12) To illustrate, let’s say I’m a reliable, responsible person (use your imagination) and I got caught up in the downsizing of the economy. My unemployment benefits have run out but I have interviewed for a job, and start work in two weeks. I go to Ms. Moneybags and ask you for a loan to pay my electric, water and gas, just until I start my new job. Being the benevolent person that you are, you give me the money to pay the bills and then some. But you tell me that the money is a gift, I don’t have to pay you back. Gee, thanks, I say, and ask which bill should I pay first, electric, water, or gas. Look, I gave you the money... it’s yours to do what you want with it... you work it out. That is kind of what happens AFTER we get saved. We don’t work TO get saved, but AFTER we get saved. For, before we get saved, we are not God’s child and can do nothing to please Him. But once we have been adopted into God’s family we work OUT our salvation to do pleasing works for Him. We choose how we will show our appreciation in serving the Lord. Oh, we may pray about it to determine if what we want to do is in God’s will. But barring divine intervention it is up to us to work out the details of how we want to serve the Lord. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Jan 17, 2010 |
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The
Conversation
Warning! This blog contains
humorous material that may be harmful to your ego.
Why do you have so many Jesuses in your religion? What do you mean? We only have one Jesus. My understanding is that in every church of your religion there is a little piece of bread that you call, Jesus. Those are not pieces of bread. They ARE Jesus. That sounds like more than one Jesus when you say, “they.” The bible says there is only one Jesus and he is in heaven. Yes, Jesus is in heaven but he comes down from heaven and becomes part of the bread. That still sounds like more than one Jesus to me. You don’t understand. The bread is merely an accident. It really is Jesus. It doesn’t look like an accident to me. It looks like that bread was made on purpose. What? Jesus came down from heaven and accidentally bumped into the bread? Did anyone ever call 911 to get Jesus out of the bread? No, it’s not like that. You’re just making fun. We have a doctrine called transubstantiation, whereby the priest says some holy words and transforms the bread into Jesus. Jesus comes down from heaven and becomes part of the bread. So then, Jesus is lying and deceiving everyone by making people believe he is in heaven when he is really in all those pieces of bread? You don’t understand. Jesus commanded us to eat his flesh. Sounds cannibalistic to me. And it still looks like bread to me. And I’ll bet it tastes like bread also. You know what they say about things looking and quacking like ducks don’t you? How can you eat Jesus if he is in heaven? You’re just making fun of my religion. Well, yes and no. I’m trying to get you to see how foolish it is. It’s not foolish. Millions of people believe that. That doesn’t make it right. When you were a child you were told by grownups how to act and what to believe. You are the grownup now. Think for yourself. Read the bible. I don’t have to read the bible. The priest reads the bible for me every Sunday. Oh, do you have bible lessons each Sunday? No, he reads certain passages from the Old and New Testaments and then explains it to us. There you go again, taking someone else’s word for what the bible says. How do you know the priest is not twisting things to make it agree with your religion? The priest wouldn’t lie to us. Suppose the priest thinks he is telling the truth. Suppose the priest is just repeating lies he was taught in seminary? How do you know he’s not lying if you don’t read the bible for yourself? You just don’t understand. Oh, I understand better than you think. I used to be part of that religion. It’s like being in a dark forest. You get so used to the dark you hate for anyone to shine light near you. But one day I decided to squinch my eyes and peek at the light. Little by little the light didn’t hurt my eyes and my ego so much. Then one day I was able to open my eyes real wide and follow the light out of the forest. When I stepped out of the forest I heard a clang behind me. I looked back and it was the shackles that had fallen off me. I was free of the shackles of following rules and regulations, never knowing if I would ever go to heaven. In fact, I was sure I was not going to heaven. But when I stepped out of that forest a great relief came over me. I finally knew for sure that I would never be in darkness again, but be in the light of Jesus Christ. Forever. And it was so simple. No rules. No regulations. But freedom. Freedom to place my faith where I wanted to place it, not being forced by deception to place my faith in darkness where others wanted me to place it. Talk about blind faith. That’s what I had before. But now I have faith in the creator of the universe, the one who died for my sins, in my place. No piece of bread has ever created the universe. No piece of bread has ever died for me. But what about your loved ones that have passed on before you? Sorry, but they are not my problem any more. Everyone who dies passes the point of no return. They are out of gas. There is no turning back, no changing of minds. Dying without faith in Jesus means just that; without, outside, away from… forever. Maybe some that read this blog would not take offense, but reconsider their faith with an open mind in their adulthood. Maybe some will see a glint of light and open their eyes and follow the light out of the dark forest. We are all creatures of God, but not everyone is a child of God. Want to become a child of God and be with Jesus forever? There is only one way, the way, His way. Stop trying to earn righteousness with sacrifices and rituals and traditions. Place your faith and trust exclusively in Jesus Christ and nothing else, and you will become a freed child of God forever. John
8:36
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free
indeed.
Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 2Cor 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 2Cor 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ alone for your eternal
salvation NOW.
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| Dec 30, 2009 |
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Houston,
We
Have a Problem!
Heb 10:26 For if we sin
wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the
truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins
In context, our text is written to the new Hebrew Christians, who used to be Jews who operated under the Mosaic law, and performed blood sacrifices day in and day out to cover their sins. And having the assurance that their sins were covered from day to day with those sacrifices, sinning was not thought of as anything abhorrent. (I'll just do whatever I want to do and let tomorrow's sacrifice cover me.) Ah, but Houston, we have a problem. We can't just sin any more like we used to and expect to be covered by tomorrow's sacrifice because we have left those dead-works sacrifices behind. We now trust in and believe on Jesus and the one sacrifice (singular) that he made for us to save us from our sins completely, and not merely cover our sins. And our text says, "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" by Jesus. That is, he sacrificed himself one time to pay for all our sins and one time only, never to be repeated. Now that we have been saved, if we sin willfully we cannot expect Jesus to make another sacrifice to cleanse us from that sin because by His one perfect sacrifice all sins have been paid for. And don't expect God to treat this willful sinning lightly. But be prepared for some serious chastisement, for Heb 10:31 tells us, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." Rather, let us now obey Heb 6:9 and do things that accompany salvation. Our text above (Heb 10:26) was taken from the epistle to the Hebrews, which stresses that Jesus is better than the angels, better than Moses, and better than any priest and has performed the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty for the sins of the whole world forever. However our text also has application to some of today's self-proclaimed Christians, especially those who have been exposed to the truth of the gospel of salvation by grace through faith. There is a doctrine called replacement theology whereby it is taught that God is finished with the Jews and has transferred His affections to a certain denomination as His chosen people. This denomination believes that it has replaced or superseded Israel as God's chosen people and has assumed the Jewish priesthood, and has even gone one step above the Jewish priesthood by ordaining priests "according to the order of Melchisedec," which the Jews never had. That title was reserved by God strictly for Jesus to indicate that His was a never-ending priesthood that was better than the Jewish priesthood. But there is one strange thing about this replacement priesthood: they perform "bloodless sacrifices," that is, no animal is killed as prescribed by Jewish Law. But Heb 9:22 tells us, "...without shedding of blood there is no remission" of sins. Another strange thing about this priesthood is that each priest claims to be another Christ, which cannot be, for there is only one Christ "by whom also he made the worlds" (Heb 1:2). Has your priest/Christ made any worlds? And, who "[upholds] all things by the word of his power" (Heb 1:3). Can your priest/Christ hold the universe together? And "when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb 1:3). Is your priest/Christ presently sitting at the right hand of God? Heb 11:6 says, "without faith [exclusively in Jesus Christ as your Savior] it is impossible to please [God]." Please reconsider your faith. Your faith must be directed toward the correct person to save you from your sins. It has to be a person who has no sins of his own. Your faith has to be in God Himself. Is your faith in your religion? Or your church? Or your priests? Or your good behavior? Or some combination of things? That faith will never save you, but will deprive you of the joys of everlasting life with Jesus Christ and will surely land you in the Lake of Fire... forever. For John 3:36 tells us, "He that believeth on the Son [exclusively] hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son [exclusively] shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" forever. Please direct your faith exclusively, nothing else added, toward Jesus Christ for your salvation. As Hebrews 3:15 tells us, "Today [that is, right here and now] if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Don't turn away from the truth of the gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Don't put it off, for we are not promised tomorrow, but believe and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Apr 22, 2009 |
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Substance
of
Faith
Faith: noun
Heb 11:1 Now faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen.
But what is this “substance” spoken of? And whereof is this evidence that is mentioned, and why can’t we see it? And what is meant by “hope”? Again, definition 2 comes close to this concept of faith, but not close enough. Putting the faith, substance, hope and evidence of Heb 11:1 all together can be likened unto a prophecy. When a prophecy is given, it is predicting the outcome of an event. It is predicting that something will happen in the future. But can this prediction be relied upon to actually come to pass, which in turn would give credence and credibility to the one doing the prophesying? The Old Testament had a test for this confidence. Let the prophet first predict something that would happen in the near future, and if that prophecy came true then he could be depended upon to predict things reliably in the distant future. Comparing faith to prophecy then, the substance of our faith can be thought of as the fulfillment of the prophecy or promise itself, that is, the thing that is expected to come to pass. Just as the evidence of a prophecy is the actual coming to pass of the prophecy itself, the substance of our faith will have been proven to be the evidence of the future fulfillment of the promise that was hoped for with absolute confidence. Our faith in our Savior coming to rescue us from our sins and this world of sin is the substance that will be manifested as hoped-for evidence when He actually returns. Our Lord Jesus Christ predicted that He would be put to death on the cross, would stay in the grave for three days and three nights, and then rise again on the third day. This short time prophecy came to pass exactly as He said it would. That is, we can see the evidence of that prophecy in the empty tomb. Therefore this gives credence, credibility and confidence to our hope in His long time promise of unseen everlasting life if we would simply believe on Him as our Hope and our Salvation. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Apr 11, 2009 |
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Praise
and
Worship...
or Entertainment? Many church services feature musical talents such as a solo singer, or a group of singers, with or without musical instruments. Some of these musical talents are permanent fixtures of the service, some are featured guest appearances. This is usually called the praise and worship service. However some may call it entertainment. Some enjoy it, some do not but suffer it, that is to say, suffer through it. First Corinthians chapter 8 discusses the practice of offering things to idols. Paul stresses the fact that although meat offered to idols means nothing to a mature believer, it may offend or hinder the faith of an immature believer. For the sake of the immature believer, he says, try not to eat meat offered to idols when fellowshipping with immature believers. Don't put a stumbling block in front of them that are weak, Paul says. By extension, this practice of putting stumbling blocks in front of the weak might also be applied to other things. Say, for example, "praise and worship," so called. To the mature believers, suffering through a recital (which is really what it is when one person sings to the congregation), may be nothing. They may even enjoy it. But to the weak in faith, it may be an aggravation, which is no attitude to have in a church service. The weak in faith may actually go to church to be edified by the pastor, not aggravated by a recital. To paraphrase Paul in 1Cor 11:22 concerning abusing the Lord's supper, it were better for the entertainers to "praise and worship" in their homes than cause a weak believer to regret coming to the service. |
| Mar 15, 2009 |
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Many
Called,
Few Chosen
Many would say that God gave us free wills. Free even to accept or reject the only salvation afforded us through faith in Jesus Christ. But then there are some who say that our free wills are not free enough to accept or reject Jesus Christ. A will that free would oppose God's will, and they'll have no part of that. However, that is God’s will also. It's not too hard to see how that reasoning comes about. Take for example, Matthew 22:14, "For many are called, but few are chosen." By stretching things somewhat, this little verse can be taken to mean that God only chooses those whom He calls, rather than God calling the whole world but only choosing those that respond to his call. That is, respond by freely and willingly placing faith in Jesus Christ exclusively for salvation. Of course, the context further has God calling all believers to service but rewarding only those who comply, while unfruitful believers are cast into the outer darkness of disfavor. How about you? Do you have a free will? Or is your will subject to the rules and regulations of your chosen religion. Must one go to certain seminaries to get a proper understanding of the bible? Are our brains so inferior to those in high religious places that we have to let them tell us what the bible says? Let us not fall into the trap (literally) of being led by those who bend the bible into such a twisted mess that even they don't realize that some of their own rules and decrees condemn Jesus to hell! Let us read the bible for ourselves to see what the words actually say, rather than what some would want us to believe what they mean. The bible contains truths that will set anyone free. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Mar 11, 2009 |
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Let's
Kill
Him Again!
There are many, even millions, that will not let Jesus stay resurrected. They insist on killing him every Sunday. They even do it daily. But they don't call it a killing; they call it a sacrifice. The bible tell us that Jesus offered himself once for the sins of the world, as was prophesied in the scriptures, was buried and rose again from the dead, according to the scriptures, and is now seated at the right hand of God, alive and well. No one took the life of Jesus against His will. He offered himself willingly; once. Indeed, that was the purpose of His incarnation. No, Jesus did not go up to the Sanhedrin and say, "Here I am, kill me." But he was determined to die on the cross. Jesus offered himself up to the Jews by "pulling their strings," so to speak. The Jews had perverted the law of the Sabbath so badly that sneezing might have been considered work. Jesus used this perversion by doing healings on Sabbath days to infuriate the Jews into bringing him to trial, and eventually death for blasphemy against God. However, he rose again from the dead after being in the grave three days and three nights. But now we have a cult that claims to turn a piece of bread into Jesus so they can "offer Him up again" for our sins. The poor piece of bread doesn't have a chance. It is not even given an illegal trial. Nor is it buried for three days. It is simply held up for everyone to observe, offered up and then passed around to be eaten. An exhaustive search of the gospels will not show anyone who took Jesus off the cross and started eating him. Please let the bible be our guide in this most important matter. Let us not be deceived and have our minds corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ, the real Christ. That simplicity is this: that sacrifices and works cannot earn righteousness for anyone. Righteousness only comes by faith in Jesus Christ; plus nothing else. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Mar 8, 2009 |
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From
Prototype
to Perfection
We do it all the time. We build a prototype of something, then we tweak it here, change something there, refine some other thing until we get it just right. Now it’s perfect. Well, guess what? There is nothing new under the son because God has already done it. Adam was the first prototype. Oh, he was very good in God’s eye (Gen 1:31). But he did have one flaw: his free will got in the way and clouded his faith. When God promised Adam that he would die the day he disobeyed Him, Adam’s free will obscured his faith in God’s word. Jesus, the second Adam, the perfected prototype, if you please, did have a perfect faith that did not obstruct His perfect free will. Jesus could control His will to make it conform to His Father’s will. He always said what His Father wanted him to say, always did what His Father wanted him to do, even to offer himself on the cross for the sins of the whole world (1Jn 2:2). There are other examples. Abraham had two sons. The first born, Ishmael can be considered the prototype, for he was not the child of promise but the child of self-works. But Isaac was the perfected child of promise. Isaac had two sons also. Esau, the first born of the twins was the prototype in that he cared not for spiritual inheritance, but for the immediate physical. Jacob, on the other hand, was rough around the edges at first but later had the perfected faith of his fathers Abraham and Isaac. The church can be considered the perfected form of prototype Israel. Whereas the nation of Israel was wrapped up in her repetitious ritual works, the church is free to forgo works of righteousness by having faith in her Savior Jesus Christ. Our new incorruptible bodies will be perfected when the Lord Jesus calls us, compared to the corrupt prototype bodies we have now. This present world will be perfected when the Lord Jesus Christ renovates this prototype evil world. Yes, God knows a thing or two about perfecting prototypes. |
| Mar 1, 2009 |
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Upon
This
Rock (Matt 16:18)
Christ has just asked his disciples what were people saying about him. After telling Jesus that some thought he was John the Baptist or one of the prophets, Jesus asked the disciples what they thought of him. Peter then correctly states that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus then answers and says that upon this rock he would build his church. Of course, this is where the controversy starts. What rock is Jesus talking about? Rome maintains that the rock is Peter so they can have their Apostolic succession. Others say that the rock is the confession of what Peter has just revealed, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah the Jews had been waiting for. But can Jesus be speaking of something else, something a little more "graceful" (by grace are ye saved)? Adam condemned all of us to a Christless eternity by not believing what God promised him about being disobedient to His command -- for doubting God and not having faith in His word. God ejected Adam from the Garden and eventually raised a nation and taught them to do rituals. They did rituals and rituals ad infinitum. There was no end to the rituals. There was never enough of them. God was teaching Israel not only obedience, but also the futility of human works. Does this remind us of rituals that some religions perform over and over that never satisfy? Jesus now comes on the scene and teaches us to lay our burdens on Him. John and Paul also come on the scene and teach us to repent from trusting in our works for salvation (useless, for we can never do enough of them), but to trust in the One who gave His life for our sins and salvation. Both the old and new testaments stress faith in God for imputed righteousness. Getting back to "upon this rock," Peter believed, had faith that Jesus was the Christ, his Savior. It was not so much the revelation of Peter that Jesus was the Christ, but Peter's faith in Jesus that Christ was referring to as the rock upon which He would build His church. For the church is built of believers, not revealers. One cannot reveal the salvation that is in Christ without first becoming a believer in Christ. So the rock has to be the rock of faith in Christ, not the rock of the revelation of Christ. Jesus not is building his church on any human person or denomination or anyone's works. Neither is he building His church on what we reveal about Him, but on our faith in Him for eternal life. For "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we MUST be saved." (Acts 4:12) Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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| Feb 17, 2009 |
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Eternal
Separation
We are such physical beings. Those of us who are born again speak nonchalantly of how Christ died for our sins, how He died in our place, how He died for us so we wouldn't have to, and fully believe it. But we usually think of His physical death. Many speak of Jesus shedding His (physical) blood for us. But when Christ cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me," Jesus was not speaking of a physical forsakedness, but spiritual. When we say that Christ died in our place, what really took place on the cross was that Christ tasted the eternal spiritual separation from God that we would have endured had we not been born again in our faith in what He did for us. Of course we would have had to endure eternal physical separation also, but the spiritual separation would be the more painful. If it was so painful for Christ to be separated from God for just three hours, imagine the pain of being separated forever and forever. And that's not even counting God's eternal wrath mentioned in Jn 3:36. Are you "born again?" If not, you'd better hop to it. But don't try to do it yourself -- you and a thousand others helping just can't do it. Nor should you count on prayers or sacrifices or rituals. They are all physical works that represent our physical beings but don't count for anything spiritual. And our dead spirit can't do anything to help either because it is, well, dead. Someone Spiritual has to do it, for it is a spiritual rebirth. The Holy Spirit will give you a new spiritual life, will spiritually rebirth you, through your faith in Jesus Christ. He will give life to your dead spirit, a spirit that is already separated from God even though you are living physically. Unless you are born again of the Holy Spirit, even though you are physically alive, your spirit is already dead, and will remain so forever. Therefore it is imperative that you place your complete faith and trust in Christ and what He has done for you. By doing so, the Holy Spirit will restore life to your dead spirit and you will be adopted into the family of God and become His child and forever be with the Lord Jesus Christ. Place
your faith in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation NOW.
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