The Honor of Kings

The Honor of Kings
Vol: 19 Issue: 29 Monday, February 29, 2016

According to the Bible, in the last days, the whole world will come together under a single, global government. Or at least, that is the way many Christians understand it, although that is not strictly accurate.

The mental picture most of us have of the antichrist is something along the lines of a super-Hitler, wielding absolute global authority and enforcing his edicts and dictates through regularly scheduled public executions.

The Apostle John says of his religious counterpart, the False Prophet, that:

“he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” (Revelation 13:15)

Further, John tells us that;

“he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Revelation 13:16-17)

The Prophet Daniel tells us that the antichrist will be a ‘prince’ of the Roman Empire, and the consensus understanding of Daniel 9:26 is that it means the antichrist will be a European.

Further, he is most probably from Rome, and his partner, the False Prophet, is a global religious leader also headquartered in Rome.

I often warn of the dangers of interpreting Bible prophecy according to current events, but that doesn’t preclude questioning traditional interpretations as God reveals more information.

The Proverbs tell us that,

“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.” (Proverbs 25:2)

The Bible is a Living Book. It is also a book of progressive revelation, and while it has been sealed as complete for two thousand years, that progressive revelation has continued through the generations since.

Jesus summarized the concept of ‘progressive revelation’ as it applies to prophecy to His disciples, saying,

“And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.” (John 14:29)

The Apostles didn’t know what He was talking about much of the time. They were blinded by the traditional interpretation that when the Messiah came, He would destroy Israel’s enemies and set up an earthly kingdom.

Despite His presence among them for three years, it wasn’t until after they were indwelt by His Holy Spirit at Pentecost that they began to understand all that had been revealed to them.

The Bible also tells us that as believers, we are kings and princes through Him and are honored with the authority to search out matters heretofore previously concealed.

So, with that in mind, let’s challenge the conventional wisdom that the antichrist is a European and the false prophet’s headquarters is the Vatican.

Assessment:

First, the antichrist’s government is indivisible from its religion. It isn’t the antichrist that issues the order to receive the Mark of the Beast.

Look at Revelation 13:15-17 again.

The False Prophet gives life to the beast, demands he be worshipped, and decrees anyone that refuses should be killed.

Then, to ENFORCE that edict, the False Prophet orders everyone “marked” to show loyalty, linking it to the ability to engage in normal buying and selling.

Hmmm. A religion that is also an economic and political system.

John tells us that the religion of the False Prophet will have two horns like a Lamb, but that it will speak like a dragon.

Hmmm. A religion that claims to be ‘peaceful as a lamb’, but one that preaches war and destruction?

The Bible never directly uses the word “antichrist” to describe the political Beast. 1st John says of the antichrist;

“Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son?” (1st John 2:22)

Hmmm. A religion of global power, that claims to be one of peace and love, that preaches war and death, and denies that God has a Son?

“Anti-Christ” – the simple understanding of the phrase is, ‘against-Christ’ the way anti-abortion means ‘against abortion’ or anti-American means ‘against America’.

Hmmm again. A religion dedicated to making war with Christ.

The Prophet Daniel reveals of the antichrist, “by peace he shall destroy many.” The Apostle John pictures him in Revelation 6:2 as a rider on a white horse, armed with a bow, but with no arrows.

Four fourteen hundred years, Christians interpreted this religion as being ruled from the Vatican. Why?

Because for fourteen hundred years, the Vatican had that kind of power. That was THEIR interpretation based on their understanding of what were-then current events.

But in this generation, when one ‘searches out the matter’ and overlays a religion most of us knew nothing about a decade ago, one gets an entirely different Big Picture.

One of the conveyers of Hadith, Ka’b al Ahbar is quoted as saying:

“I find the Mahdi recorded in the books of the Prophets… For instance, the Book of Revelation says: “And I saw and behold a white horse. He that sat on him…went forth conquering and to conquer.”

The Bible tells us that it is the political Beast, or antichrist, that confirms a seven year covenant with Israel. Daniel says the agreement is abrogated halfway through.

The Islamic Hadith says that the Mahdi will mediate a seven-year peace hudna through a Jewish Priest from the lineage of Aaron.

According to Muhammad Ali ibn Zubair, while speaking of the time that the Mahdi’s will come to reign and rule, Mohammed the ‘prophet’ said this:

“There will be four peace agreements between you and ‘the Romans’ [or “the Western powers” -ed].

The fourth and last treaty will be mediated through a person who will be from the progeny of Hadrat Aaron [Honorable Aaron, the brother of Moses] – ed and will be upheld for seven years.

The people asked, “O Prophet Muhammad, who will be the imam (leader or Mahdi) of the people at that time?” The Prophet said: He will be from my progeny and will be exactly forty years of age. His face will shine like a star.”

According to the Apostle John, there are two distinct penalties for refusing to accept the Mark of the Beast.

The first penalty mentioned is death (Revelation 13:15) — by decapitation! (Revelation 20:4)

The second penalty is social:

“that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Revelation 13:17)

Islam proscribes two penalties for unbelievers. Those who refuse to submit are to be decapitated, and those who agree to submit are marked as dhimmis – social outcasts with no legal standing, no rights of ownership, and no rights of citizenship.

Finally, the over-arching theme of the Book of the Revelation is the persecution of Israel, the destruction of the Jews, and the eradication of Christianity.

The religious duty of the Muslim ‘umma’ (worldwide Muslim community) is the elimination of Israel, the destruction of the Jews and the overspreading of Islam, by force, if necessary, to the Christian world.

Islam divides the world into two zones, the Zone of Islam (dar al Islam) and the Zone of War (dar al harb). If you aren’t in one, you’re in the other.

As to Daniel’s identification of the antichrist as a prince of the Roman Empire, continental Europe, already nicknamed ‘Eurasia,’ continues to reel under the weight of Muslim immigration.

It is estimated that, at current rates, Europe will become majority Muslim within a generation.

All this challenges conventional wisdom, and I am therefore not prepared to be dogmatic about any of it.

I am mindful of the danger of dogmatically interpreting prophecy in light of current events.

But I am also mindful that the conventional interpretation of Europe and the Vatican is ALSO the product of fourteen hundred years of interpretation based on what were-then current events.

“And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up andsealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; butthe wise shall understand.” (Daniel 12:8-10)

“For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.” (Luke 12:2)

I’ve just scratched the surface insofar as the similarities between Islam and the predictions concerning the A/C’s government, but they are intriguing enough to be worth further exploration.

We’ll keep searching out the matter together and see where it leads us.

Marantha!

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on December 14, 2007.

Featured Commentary: Why True Christianity is Dispensational ~ Pete Garcia

Always Remember You’re Unique — Just Like Everyone Else

Always Remember You’re Unique — Just Like Everyone Else
Vol: 19 Issue: 27 Saturday, February 27, 2016

Depending on the circumstances and whom you ask, either men and women are ‘equal’ (meaning the same) or they are as different as if one was from Mars and the other from Venus, so to speak.

I can’t speak with authority, (since I don’t know every man and woman on the planet), but I am inclined to believe, based on my admittedly limited experience, that men and women are part of the same species, but that is where the similarities end. 

It is in this crazy belief that we’re all just alike that the trouble starts. It is much more realistic to keep in mind that you are unique, and so is everybody else is. 

Last week, my wife instructed me to clean out the shed in our backyard. It was half-full of junk when we rented the place last August, and over the winter, we filled it the rest of the way with our own junk. 

So by the time Gayle’s spring cleaning fit had led her out to the back yard, I had a pretty good idea of what was coming. 

I wish I had snapped a picture – but even a picture couldn’t have done justice to what it looked like when I started. 

It is a nice shed — evidently the previous tenant had abandoned finishing the inside, but it is a good, sturdy wood-frame building perhaps 16 by 12 feet in size with a good, high ten footceiling. 

It needed a high ceiling for all the junk piled in there. There was a path about a foot wide that led from the front door to a bench along one wall, but standing in that aisle, you couldn’t see any of the other walls. 

I tried to explain to Gayle that we didn’t need the shed cleaned out, since we didn’t have any more junk to store, but I’m a man and she isn’t, so my plea to her allegedly ‘logical’ side fell on deaf ears. 

It took me the better part of the day to haul all that junk out of the shed and into the back yard. As I dug through it, I found some really, really good junk. 

I found a bunch of old extension cords that had their plugs cut off; a sledgehammer with half a handle, a broken stereo that probably still had good speakers, and even a battery operated drill — if I could only find the charger. 

And there were a bunch of old tarps, some big plastic drop cloths, a can of used paint rollers, a box of old shoes — “Hey! Some of this stuff is still good!” I told Gayle. “One of these shoes fits me!” 

Gayle was unmoved by my discoveries. “What a slave driver,” I thought. 

But as I worked, I began to notice something emerging from the chaos — inside the shed, under all that junk, I discovered a man-fort. 

As the walls emerged, I found all kinds of handy hooks for my tools. That’s the thing about tools. If you can’t find a tool you need, you end up buying one to finish the job. 

As we were cleaning out the RV, I discovered, for example, that I had six hammers. I had three drills. I had a couple of partial tool kits, each missing the same 1/2″ and 9/16″ sockets and wrenches. 

There were assorted plastic toolboxes filled with tools I thought I had lost, bought new, and then found the old ones. 

So, as I yanked old junk out, I started putting new junk in. 

Assessment:

I started the project on Monday morning. By Tuesday afternoon, I had gotten in deep enough to discover four bags of unopened insulation in one corner. 

The shed isn’t all that big and the insulation took up a lot of floor space and, hey — I think this was supposed to go in the shed. 

So, I spent Tuesday and Wednesday insulating the shed. The insulation was lots easier to store stuffed between the joists of the wall than in big bags on the floor anyway. 

Once I got the shed insulated, I realized there was a lot of empty wall space. And I’d carried out several piles of scrap wood that would work great for shelves. . . .

By Wednesday night, I had a workbench in the corner, shelves up along two walls, hammers hanging on the wall, screwdrivers lined up just so . . .but the shed needed power. 

So I ran a couple of extension cords from an outside plug on the house in through the shed window, plugged in a trouble light, and my shed was electrified. 

It was nice there in my shed, but it was kind of quiet. I had an old, broken-down Dell laptop that is too ancient to do any work on that had already made it to one of those shelves. 

I kept looking at it, and then, hit by a flash of inspiration, I added those old speakers and turned it into a pretty whiz-bang mp3 player. 

Now I had a workbench, some tools hanging on the walls, and something to play tunes on while I worked. 

While we were on the road, I bought a little bar fridge to augment the too-small built-in refrigerator in our RV. It was just sitting there — so I hauled it into my shed. 

On Thursday morning, I made myself a cup of coffee, went out to the shed to admire my handiwork, and despite the fact it was 50 degrees out and the shed was unheated, I thought I’d pull out that old laptop and jot down some ideas for the OL. 

Next thing I knew, I’d been in there most of the morning, finished the OL, had moved out my coffeepot and a wireless telephone, and caught myself sitting out there, shivering in the cold, admiring my tools. 

All the junk that had been inside the shed was piled up all around the outside of it, like a defensive perimeter wall around my fort. (I left a path to the door) 

Inside, I was sitting with my feet propped up on the little fridge, listening to tunes, a fresh pot of coffee on the bench, wearing two sweaters and a wool hat, as happy as a clam. 

Then Gayle came out. “What about the junk in the backyard?” 

“What junk?” I asked. 

“I think your gene pool needs more chlorine,” Gayle said. 

I bet there’s room for a bunk over in the corner underneath my hammers.

Written by Jack Kinsella on May 9, 2008.

Devout Faithlessness

Devout Faithlessness
Vol: 19 Issue: 26 Friday, February 26, 2016

The new Billy Graham of unbelief is Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and author of the number one best-selling book on religion called ”The God Delusion.”

That isn’t a typo. Dawkins is the author of Publisher’s Weekly’s best-seller in the RELIGION category for his book arguing that belief in God is delusionary.

Dawkins, a professor at Oxford University, whose first literary success was a book called “The Selfish Gene”, wrote in “The God Delusion”:

“I am attacking God, all gods, anything and everything supernatural, wherever and whenever they have been or will be invented. . .”

Given that statement, it is amusing that Dawkins’ number one indictment against believers is ‘religious intolerance.’

Another prominent atheist, Sam Harris, is the author of a new book entitled “Letter to a Christian Nation” in which Harris equates Christianity with slavery, which he says was once acceptable, but is now looked upon with horror.

Thus, he argues, shall it be when the world awakens from its religious delusion to discover that there is no God. According to Harris’ previous book, “The End of Faith” belief in God is responsible for many of life’s tragedies.

Thanks to books like these and the formation of groups like the “Rational Reaction Squad” and “The Secular Coalition for America”, atheism is becoming the hottest new religion on the world scene.

Why do I call atheism a religion? Well, it meets all the tests for religion. It worships a supreme being [man]. It is faith-based. An atheist is one who has complete faith in the absence of a Creator God.

It is incumbent upon the tenets of his religious faith that he spread his gospel of unbelief with the same fervor as any old-time fundamentalist preacher.

The Rational Response Squad, for example, has issued a ‘blasphemy challenge’ via the video website, “YouTube”. Their “blasphemy challenge” calls on young nonbelievers to create videos in which they renounce belief in the “sky God of Christianity” and upload it on the site.

In return they’ll receive a free documentary DVD, “The God Who Wasn’t There,” which includes interviews with Dawkins, Harris, and others. RRS is also publicizing its campaign on 25 popular teen websites.

And it consigns those who adhere to a different religion than secular humanism or atheism to a kind of secular ‘hell’ reserved for the superstitious where they are ostracized and belittled for their beliefs.

RSS co-founder Brian Sapient told the Christian Science Monitor that the purpose of the ‘blasphemy challenge’ was to “strike up more of a conversation about religion, and this was a way for people to show their nonbelief and encourage others to come out.”

The ‘blasphemy challenge’, according to Sapient, has garnered some 490 entries so far, while the trailer for their DVD, “The God Who Wasn’t There” has been previewed some 85,000 times.

Sapient insists that “you don’t really respect people unless you speak up when you think their beliefs are wrong.”

It’s OK with him, he adds, if religious people try to convince him they are right. He enjoys the debate.

Assessment:

At this point, I have to ask the obvious question — why? What difference can it make to an atheist that somebody else believes in a ‘mythical’ God? If there is no heaven, why would an atheist care if he isn’t going?

If there is no hell and no soul, why would an atheist find eternal damnation in a mythical place for a part of them they do not believe exists ‘intolerant’?

If there is no reward beyond the trials and tribulations of this life, then why bother trying to spread their doctrine of devout faithlessness to young people?

And, finally, if there is no hope of eternity, no certainty of accountability, and no moral absolutes regarding right and wrong, why such devotion to spreading the Gospel of Bad News?

The answer, according to the website, “About Atheism”, is because atheists had “bad religious experiences when growing up, bad religious experiences currently, and a sense of unease over the involvement of religion in problems going on today.”

Of course, that isn’t an answer. Christians have had bad experiences growing up, bad religious experiences today, and share a sense of unease over the involvement of religion in problems today.

But that isn’t why Christians share the Gospel. They share the Gospel for the same reason they would awaken a homeowner in the middle of the night to tell him his house is on fire. So that he can take action to save himself from the flames.

Why do atheists spread their gospel? I’ve yet to find an answer to that question that doesn’t scream intolerance. Which would be ok with me, if they didn’t pretend that their intolerance was born out of MY intolerance.

I don’t care if atheists don’t agree with me. I cheerfully admit I don’t agree with them. But I wouldn’t debate an atheist for the mere sake of debate. I will be happy to discuss my beliefs with them, should they want to know, but I’ve long since abandoned any interest in ‘convincing’ an unbeliever that I am ‘right’ and they are ‘wrong’.

The Bible lays out the formula for salvation. One is called by the Father to the Son, and is convicted by the Holy Spirit. The formula for faith is expressed thusly:

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

As Christians, our job is to;

“Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (1st Peter 3:15)

It is NOT my job to force-feed that reason to those who don’t want to hear it. If they don’t want to hear the Gospel, Jesus gives us a formula for THAT, too.

“And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them.” (Luke 9:5)

Jesus says that salvation is a holy thing that He likened to a fine pearl. If you were to offer someone, say, a brand-new car, no strings attached, and they refused the offer, would you continue to pressure them to take it? Or would you offer it to someone who wanted or needed it?

Jesus cautioned the Church,

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Matthew 7:6)

It would be fair to say that most atheists have been offered the pearl of salvation. If one reads their literature, they almost always claim to have once been a Christian until they discovered they had ‘been lied’ to by religious leaders.

Some time back, I was baited by an atheist into an email debate on atheism vs. Christianity. Being somewhat naive, I responded to a few of his questions, hoping that maybe I was the one God would use to lead this person to Christ.

His responses were insulting, demeaning, condescending, arrogant and nasty. When I informed him that I no longer wished to continue the debate, he ran an all-out campaign on his website in which he claimed he had vanquished me in the debate.

He published my responses out of context and used them to build his own reputation as a ‘debater’ on my unwillingness to join him in the gutter.

I offered him the pearl of great price, and, as the Lord predicted, he trampled it underfoot before turning on me to ‘rend’ me. In the end, it wasn’t about the Gospel, but about who ‘won’ the debate.

Nobody won. I looked like an idiot, and he not only went away content in his unbelief, but used my good intentions to discredit the message I was trying to convey. It was an ugly exchange that taught me a valuable lesson.

Debating is a contest of skill in which the presentation of ideas is more important than the ideas themselves. It edifies the debaters, not the message they are debating. The winner gets ‘bragging rights’ whether he sways his opponent or not. It’s about pride. Not about truth.

The same can be said for the endless debates within the Church over minor points of doctrine, like the timing of the Rapture. I believe the Bible clearly indicates a pre-trib Rapture. I also believe a pre-trib Rapture is a key to understanding the outline of Bible prophecy.

John writes to the Church;

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1st John 4:4)

“Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1st John 5:5)

But during the Tribulation, John says of the beast,

“And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” (Revelation 11:7)

“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” (Revelation 13:7)

Without a pre-trib Rapture, this would present a clear contradiction. I cannot be ‘overcome’, says the Scriptures, because He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world.

But if I am here during the Tribulation, then I can be overcome by the beast. Where did ‘He that was in me’ go?

Still, the timing of the Rapture is a minor point of doctrine because it plays no bearing on whether or not someone is truly saved. It merely aids in understanding the difference between the Church Age and the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” and answers the charge that the Bible contradicts itself.

So I don’t engage in hostile debate on that subject anymore than I would engage in a hostile debate an atheist. If I win the argument with another believer, that believer is just as saved as if I had lost. Again, since nobody wins anything of any eternal importance, it is an exercise in pride.

The Scriptures say,

“. . . Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” (Romans 14:5)

The Scripture warns of the last days,

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2nd Timothy 4:3-4)

Debating the existence of God with an atheist is like debating the circumference of the earth with a member of the Flat Earth Society. Before you can discuss the circumference, one must first establish the earth is round.

Proving the earth is round destroys the other’s argument and no debate is necessary. But without first agreeing that the earth is round, no further debate is possible.

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But SHUN PROFANE AND VAIN BABBLINGS : for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker. . .” (2nd Timothy 2:15-17a)

“But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.” (2nd Timothy 2:23)

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on January 4, 2007.

Featured Commentary: The Church’s One State Solution ~ Alf Cengia

The Least In the Kingdom Is Still IN the Kingdom

The Least In the Kingdom Is Still IN the Kingdom
Vol: 19 Issue: 25 Thursday, February 25, 2016

One of the objections offered in response to the position that God’s grace is greater than all our sin refers to the passages in Scripture that enumerate specific sins together with the warning that those that commit these specific sins “shall not inherit the Kingdom.”

The objection in part, reads this way:

“Paul says in several verses in Corinthians, and Galatians that some behaviors will keep us from inheriting the Kingdom. 

First, I assume he means the Kingdom of Heaven. Second, I assume he means if we are doing those things and don’t stop, we cannot inherit the Kingdom.

These are very difficult verses for me. He is clear and specific. If doing these things will keep one from inheriting the kingdom, and a person is claiming to be saved, but continues to do them anyway, is Paul a liar if he says you can’t go to Heaven if you do these things?”

In the end, the questioner asks, “Wouldn’t it be better to choose not to sin?”  These are fair questions — especially that last one, so I will start with it.  

Q. “Wouldn’t it be better to choose not to sin?”  A. “Yes.”   Gee, that sounds easy. Doesn’t it? 

But Adam and Eve found it a bit more difficult than that. They were created perfect, without an ingrained sin nature, and they only had one commandment to obey.    

Their commandment was clear and specific:

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)

They didn’t have to worry about graven images, or keeping the Sabbath or not stealing or bearing false witness . . . they only had one commandment and it was a singular negative.

“You can do anything. Nothing is forbidden, except for this one, little, insignificant command NOT to eat from this one little tree.”  

That was it.  One little commandment.  Not ten.  Just one.

Adam and Eve did NOT live in a sin-sick, demon-infested, fallen world filled with temptations specifically designed to trigger an in-bred, universal sin nature.  They lived in perfect fellowship with God, with Whom they walked in the Garden in the cool of the evening.

Wouldn’t it have been better if they had chosen not to sin? 

What if God gave them a second chance?  Suppose God said, “Ok, you guys are new here. I didn’t tell you about the serpent.  You aren’t very sophisticated — of course you were blindsided.  Now you know the difference between good and evil. So what? Let’s just forget about this time and move on. Go, and sin no more.”

Clearly, the option not to sin is always there.  But man’s nature is what it is.   We are sinners by nature. It is what we do. It defines us. We are the only natural, created beings that are capable of sin.  It is what defines us — it is what separates us from the lower order of mammals.

My dog cannot sin. She can do things that are against the rules, and she can do them wilfully, but she cannot sin.  She knows only what is forbidden, not why.  She feels no guilt when she disobeys.  She has no individual self-awareness.

Sinning is what we do. NOT sinning is unnatural, which is why the “natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)

However, when we become saved, we receive an additional component — a “quickened” spirit, at which time we become a NEW creature, (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15). The new creature is capable of receiving the things of God, but the new creature continues to reside inside the old one.

“I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

This is the dual nature of the Christian — a supernaturally quickened new creature temporarily trapped inside the old one.   Literally, it is the spirit of life trapped inside a body of death.

“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:21-25)

Wouldn’t it be easier just to choose not to sin?  One would think so.  But no human being in the history of man, from Adam until now, (excepting the man, Jesus Christ) ever managed to pull it off. 

Including the Apostle Paul . . . which brings us to the second objection, to wit: “Is Paul a liar if he says you can’t go to Heaven if you do these things?”

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:10-11)

Let’s begin with the most obvious issue.  Who are the unrighteous?  Are they those that do the things enumerated on that list?  Does that mean a fifteen year old girl that never did any of these things is righteous? 

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” (Romans 3:10)

So even if one never committed fornication, idolatry, adultery, self abuse, theft, was never covetous, never took a drink, never said anything evil of someone else or ever committed extortion, such a one was already unrighteous, according to Romans 3:10.

How does one become righteous?

“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” (Romans 4:3)

“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:5)

“Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works . . .”  (Romans 4:6)

“And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.” (Romans 4:22)

So, the unrighteous that do all these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  But unto the unrighteous that believe, God imputes righteousness.

“Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” (Romans 4:23:25)

So, righteousness is imputed unto the unrighteous, by believing in Him that was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification.”  Works — bad OR good,  cannot be relevant if salvation comes by faith alone.

Now, what about Galatians 5:19-21? Paul here is addressing the works of the flesh. Saved people are still ‘in the flesh’ until they take their last breath. (Romans 7:25)

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Go back to the top of the passage.

“Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”  (Galatians 5:4)

Does this mean that somebody who is justified by the law and “fallen from grace” has lost their salvation?  No. It says that if you seek to be justified by the law, then you haven’t sought justification by grace. 

The odd thing about teaching eternal security is that it almost sounds like one is defending a RIGHT to sin, rather than acknowledging the reality that sin is part of being in the flesh, and that in the flesh “dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me.” (Romans 7:18)

Because it sounds like a defense of sin, it is easy to argue against it. That’s what makes the simplicity of Christ so complicated.

Sin is not all right. Sin is not good. Sin is not ok with God.  Sin has no defense. Neither does a sinner.  That’s why we need a Savior.

Sin has consequences, here on earth, at the Bema Seat before Christ, and subsequently into eternity in heaven. Not everybody will be made a ruler over ten kingdoms, or ten cities. 

But everybody who stands before the Bema Seat is saved. 

In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus pronounced blessings, or beatitudes, for certain groups of individuals.

Note with me that all of them are future tense — “they SHALL be” comforted, they SHALL inherit the earth, be filled, obtain mercy, see God, be called the children of God, etc. 

ALL of them, that is, except two.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs IS the kingdom of heaven.”

Notice that the rest will inherit the Kingdom, but that the poor in spirit ALREADY have.  The Expositor’s Bible Commentary defines the “poor in spirit” this way: 

“To be poor in spirit is not to lack courage but to acknowledge spiritual bankruptcy. It confesses one’s unworthiness before God and utter dependence on Him.”

That does not sound like the kind of person that believes his eternity is settled according to his ability to choose not to sin.

The second group that have ALREADY inherited the Kingdom of Heaven are “those who arepersecuted because of righteousness, for theirs IS the kingdom of heaven.“

Is the Lord talking about personal righteousness?  Well, let’s put it another way.  Is there such a thing as personal righteousness?   I believe that is an issue asked and answered already.  

Either there is NONE righteous — or there is.  Which is it?  BOTH cannot be true.

“Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11)

So he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is already greater than was John the Baptist.  So it would appear that being the least in the Kingdom of Heaven, one is still IN Heaven. How doesone become called “the least” in the Kingdom?

“Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:19-20)

Those that are saved, but that break the commandments and teach others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven, but they will still BE in Heaven.

Again, explaining the doctrine of eternal security is not an ENDORSEMENT of sin, but a recognition of reality.  All men sin, including saved Christians. So if the standard for salvation is to trust Jesus AND sin no more, heaven will be empty.

And if sin is on a sliding scale, that is to say, some saved sinners will go to heaven but other saved sinners will not, based on HOW sinful they are, then the standard for righteousness is not by faith alone, but by faith plus UNDEFINED works.

Sin is a “work” — it is something you have done — nobody else can sin for you.  Sin is your work and yours alone.  God doesn’t make you sin.  Neither does Satan.  Only you.  Sin is the most intimate and private of all human endeavors.

If your salvation is dependent on your works, then so is your righteousness.  If your works can make you unrighteous, then you are NOT clothed in the righteousness of Christ, you are clothed in your own.

Any other understanding makes both you AND Satan more powerful than Jesus, since Satan can trick you into sinning, whereas the Bible says that having paid the penalty for all sin once and for all,  Jesus sat down at the right Hand of the Father. (Hebrews 10:12)

In the final analysis, salvation is so simple that it is too complicated for us to grasp intellectually.  That is why the Lord says we must have the faith of a child. A child doesn’t wonder if he deserves what his father provides for him. 

“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.”

It would be better to simply choose not to sin. Indeed, Christians make that choice every day.  Except for the times that we don’t.  And that is why we need a Savior.  Not just at the point of salvation, but for every single step that we take in our walk with Him.

“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

Salvation cannot work any other way.

Written by Jack Kinsella on February 4, 2012.

Featured Commentary: Why I Write For God ~ J.L. Robb

The Multiverse Theory

The Multiverse Theory
Vol: 19 Issue: 24 Wednesday, February 24, 2016

It never ceases to amaze me the lengths to which unbelievers will go to ‘prove’ there is no God. First, because it is impossible to ‘prove’ a negative — that is, to ‘prove’ something does not exist.

As Donald Rumsfeld famously pointed out in 2008, ‘absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence’. Because I cannot demonstrate God is sitting in this same room with me does not prove He is not there.

I cannot demonstrate that my desk is made up of atoms, either. But because I cannot see something at the molecular structure doesn’t mean it isn’t.

And that is the first thing a scientist would tell you. About practically anything — except God. Some of the most famous scientists in our world, Richard Dawkins, Stephen F Hawking, etc., are atheists — a belief structure built entirely on the absence of evidence.

But whether one believes in God or not is irrelevant to His existence. When confronted with scientific evidence that points to God they either become decidedly unscientific about it and reject it out-of-hand or they built elaborate counter explanations like the Mult-verse Theory.

Scientific evidence? What scientific evidence? Noted Tim Folger in Discover Magazine;

“Atoms consist of protons, neutrons, and electrons. If those protons were just 0.2 percent more massive than they actually are, they would be unstable and would decay into simpler particles.”

Atoms wouldn’t exist; neither would we. If gravity were slightly more powerful, the consequences would be nearly as grave. A beefed-up gravitational force would compress stars more tightly, making them smaller, hotter, and denser. Rather than surviving for billions of years, stars would burn through their fuel in a few million years, sputtering out long before life had a chance to evolve. There are many such examples of the universe’s life-friendly properties—so many, in fact, that physicists can’t dismiss them all as mere accidents. Science is supposed to be skeptical of accidents.

In explaining why the multiverse theory is attractive to scientists who reject the concept of a Creator God, Folger writes:

“Life, it seems, is not an incidental component of the universe, burped up out of a random chemical brew on a lonely planet to endure for a few fleeting ticks of the cosmic clock. In some strange sense, it appears that we are not adapted to the universe; the universe is adapted to us.”

Call it a fluke, a mystery, a miracle. Or call it the biggest problem in physics. Short of invoking a benevolent creator, many physicists see only one possible explanation:

“Our universe may be but one of perhaps infinitely many universes in an inconceivably vast multi verse. Most of those universes are barren, but some, like ours, have conditions suitable for life.”

You see, that’s the problem science is currently wrestling with. The danger that they may be forced to “invoke a benevolent Creator” as the only logical and scientifically plausible explanation for what we’re learning about our universe.

“Advocates argue that, like it or not, the multiverse may well be the only viable non religious explanation for what is often called the “fine-tuning problem”—the baffling observation that the laws of the universe seem custom-tailored to favor the emergence of life.”

See? It’s either the ‘multiverse theory’ — or we’re stuck with God.

Assessment:

Five hundred years ago, the Polish astronomer Copernicus put forth a theory that is regarded as the starting point of modern astronomy. Prior to Copernicus, it was an accepted scientific fact that the earth was the center of the universe.

The more we learn about our universe, the more obvious it is that the universe was created as a life support system for the earth. To quote Freeman Dyson, a renowned physicist at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the strong anthropic principle implies that “the universe knew we were coming.”

A Russian scientist at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow was researching the Big Bang theory in the late 1970’s. Professor Andrei Linde was thunderstruck the uniformity of the universe. For example, he discovered that the temperature of outer space is exactly the same everywhere, at 2.7 degrees C above absolute zero.

The Big Bang Theory says that is impossible. The universe as a whole has been cooling ever since it emerged from the fireball of the Big Bang. But there’s a problem: For all of it to reach the same temperature, different regions of the universe would have to exchange heat, just as ice cubes and hot tea have to meet to reach the uniform temperature of iced tea.

But as Einstein proved, nothing—including heat—can travel faster than the speed of light. In the conventional theory of the Big Bang, there simply hasn’t been enough time since the universe was born for every part of the cosmos to have connected with every other part and cooled to the same temperature.

So a new theory had to be invented — a phenomenon called ‘inflation.’ Inflation holds that regions of the universe that are currently separated by many billions of light-years were once close enough to each other that they could exchange heat and reach the same temperature before they were wildly super-sized. Aha!

The multiverse theory is born out of the ‘string theory’ which is so complex most mathematicians shake their heads. Discover Magazine quoted Bernard Carr, a cosmologist at Queen Mary University of London.

“If there is only one universe,” Carr says, “you might have to have a fine-tuner. If you don’t want God, you’d better have a multiverse.”

The Apostle Paul addressed this exact dilemma:

“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.”

The sun produces energy by fusing two hydrogen atoms into a single helium atom. During that reaction, 0.007 percent of the mass of the hydrogen atoms is converted into energy. If that percentage were lower, there could only hydrogen, if it were higher, there could be no hydrogen. In either case, water could not exist — and neither could we.

The early universe was delicately poised between runaway expansion and terminal collapse. Had the universe contained much more matter, additional gravity would have made it implode. If it contained less, the universe would have expanded too quickly for galaxies to form.

Had matter in the universe been more evenly distributed, it would not have clumped together to form galaxies. Had matter been clumpier, it would have condensed into black holes.

“For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” (Romans 1:20)

So, here we have modern science learning that, “if you don’t want God, you’d better have a multiverse.” Why? Paul answers THAT, too.

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

That’s precisely how it played out, too. “Omigosh! There is only one explanation! There MUST be a God! . . . No, wait! There’s got to be a better explanation! I know! The mulitverse theory.”

“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools . . .” (Romans 1:21-22)

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on November 25, 2008.

When There Is No Law

When There Is No Law
Vol: 19 Issue: 23 Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Death was not part of God’s original creation.  The introduction of death was made necessary by the fall of man; sin is the ultimate affront to God and death is therefore the ultimate penalty for sin.

Since it is a penalty, such portions of it will be removed and dismissed forever; the eternal part of death, however, is, well, eternal.

There are three aspects to death; the physical, the spiritual, and what the Bible calls “the second”.  There is the death we know; the separation of soul and spirit from the flesh.

There is the spiritual death; the separation of the soul and spirit from God.  That is the condition of each of us through Adam — the ‘original sin’ which results in spiritual still-birth.  If one rejects fellowship with God in the physical life, one therefore remains separated from God in hell after physical death.

And finally, there is the ‘second death’ — the final and permanent form of spiritual death following sentencing at the Great White Throne.

The death we all know — physical death — is described in respect to its cause by the Apostle Paul:

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come.” (Romans 5:12-14)

In this passage we learn several things concerning death.  First, that death is the result of Adam’s sin.  Sin, like death, is passed on to all men from Adam in that we all sin, and we all die.

Note also that “sin is not imputed when there is no law.”  The point Paul is making relates to Adam’s sin being sufficient cause for invoking the death penalty on all men.

Genesis 2:17 reads:

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

In the Hebrew, it says, “dying, thou shalt surely die.”

In the day Adam sinned, he began to die physically.  This judgment includes all forms of death, including the second death, which Paul says “reigned from Adam to Moses.”

We also learn that “sin is not imputed when there is no law.”  What does Paul mean here?

Suppose you owned a large piece of property on which there was a stretch of paved road.  How fast can you drive on that road before you break the law?  70mph?  80?  120mph?

Since it is private property, there is no applicable law here.  You can go as fast as you want without breaking any law or incurring any legal penalty.

Sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Assessment:

One of the biggest doctrinal controversies within the modern Church concerns the doctrine of eternal security, or, as its critics term it, “once saved, always saved.” (OSAS)

But the Apostle Paul writes;

“For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” (Roman 6:14)

If a saved Christian is not under the law, and sin is not imputed where there is no law, the search for a proof text to the contrary requires way more gymnastics than I am comfortable with.

If God’s intention in inspiring Scripture was to make plain to the simple the plan of salvation, well, it doesn’t get much simpler than this.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. . . . For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:9,13)

I’m an heir to Adam’s sin and an heir to his sin nature.  Sin, like death, was passed on to me and there is nothing I can do that will eliminate either.  But as one washed in the Blood, I am saved by the grace of God from the eternal penalty of my own sin.

I am still under the curse of Adam.  I will still sin.  And will surely die physically.  But the second death has no power over me.  There is no law under which I can be convicted because there is no law to which I am made subject.

I am not under the law, but under grace.  And where there is no law, no sin is imputed.  I cannot sin my way out of Jesus’ Hand because there is no applicable law I can break.

At the Bema Seat where the saved are judged for their crowns, every detail of one’s life will be examined.

“Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” (1 Corinthians 3:13)

It is at the Bema Seat that we Christians will give an account of every word spoken, every work committed or omitted, whether bad OR good:

“If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (1 Corinthian 3:15)

We will be judged according to our works, but we will be sentenced according to the finished Work at the Cross.  At the Bema Seat, we will acknowledge our guilt, will suffer loss for our sins, but will still gain entrance into eternal life.

Revelation 17:8 says;

“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”

Those whose names were “not written into the Book of Life from the foundation of the world”will stand before the Great White Throne.  Those whose names were already there before the world began are those of whom Paul was speaking when he wrote:

“For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)

From what I can find in Scripture, there is but one charge for which those who stand before the Great White Throne will be sentenced.  The Scriptures say that at the Great White Throne, the Lord will open the “books” and the Book of Life.

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” (Revelation 20:12)

The ‘books’ are the record of one’s life, just as at the Bema Seat.  Just as at the Bema Seat, one will give an accounting of every thought, word and deed.  At the Great White Throne, all those who rejected Christ will bow their knee and confess Jesus is Lord.

They will be judged, as were Christians at the Bema Seat, according to their works.  But they will not be sentenced according to their works.

Christians are saved at the Bema Seat because of who they are in Christ, not according to what they did in the body.

At the Great White Throne, the lost will be sentenced, not according to their works, but according to who they are in Christ:

“And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15)

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on December 2, 2008.

Featured Commentary: The Gospel According to Charles ~ Wendy Wippel

If The World Hates You . . .

If The World Hates You . . .
Vol: 19 Issue: 22 Monday, February 22, 2016

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (John 15:18-19)

The persecution of Christians is hardly a twenty-first century phenomenon.  The persecution of Christians is as old as Christianity itself.

In today’s opening verse, Jesus lays out the reason for the persecution of both Christians and Jews.  The Jews are ‘God’s Chosen People’ — a title that even offends many Christians, despite the fact Scriptures say that God Himself bestowed that title on them.

But Christians make the exact same claim, since, as Jesus said, we were chosen by Him out of this world, and THEREFORE the world hates us.

Still, until this generation, America has always been a safe haven for both Christians and Jews.  America was the first country in history to extend the sovereign franchise (the right to vote) to the Jew.  In early America, one could not run for public office unless one were a Christian.

America was founded by the Pilgrims who were seeking religious freedom.  But Bible prophecy says that during the Tribulation Period, there will be NO safe haven for either the Jews or the Tribulation saints.

“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day:” (Matthew 24:20)

“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matthew 24:22)

“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” (Revelation 13:7)

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. . . Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. . . .Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:1,5,12-13)

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18, declares:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

But that guarantee doesn’t extend to Israel, which was founded exclusively as a Jewish state.  The UN calls that exclusionary and racist, at the same time fully supporting the Palestinian efforts at ethnic cleansing of all Jews from its territory.

That guarantee is invalid in many Islamist countries, where a Muslim who converts to Christianity can be summarily killed with virtually no outcry from anyone at the UN.

Christian persecution gets virtually no attention from the United Nations.  Other religions, including Islam, are afforded a special status by the General Assembly.  But Jewish and Christian religious leaders have no similar status.

Article 14 allegedly “guarantees”:  “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution” but then specifically excludes religious persecution in the next breath, thanks to Subsection (b) which says,

“This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.”

By a literal reading the 1948 Genocide Treaty, Christianity meets the definition set forth for ‘genocide’.  The genocide concept was defined by the 1948 United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide Crime.

According to the article 2 of this Convention, ‘genocide’ includes “inflicting serious physical or mental integrity” on the group members.  Christians believe that the only way to heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ.

That specifically excludes all other religions, which has already been successfully argued as the ‘infliction of serious mental harm’ to members of other identifiable religious groups.

This is the same concept under which the Romans persecuted Christians.  The Romans didn’t object to Christians having one more god.  The Romans had lots of gods — there was always room for one more.

Their objection was the Christian claim that Jesus is the ONLY way  to salvation– they took offense to that as a “hate” crime.   

Assessment:

The concept of Christianity as a ‘hate crime’ seems so foreign to believers that they can’t really believe that anybody really believes that.  Christianity’s Golden Rule dictates that Christians love God with all their heart, soul and mind, and we are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Jesus also said that, on those two commandments, “hangs all the law and all the prophets.”  In other words, love is the distilled essence of what it means to be a Christian.  This is where the world gets hung up.  “If Christians are so loving, why can’t they leave the rest of us alone?”

Christianity is, of course, a religious worldview singularly devoted to the causes of peace and love.  A loving God, they argue, would not exclude good people just because of a religious tag.

We’ve noted in the past that where the spiritual dimension makes contact with this dimension, it creates a paradox.

For example, the Temple Mount is claimed by all three world religions, but the weakest claim is, paradoxically enough, Israel’s!  This, despite the fact Israel’s claim is both the oldest and the best attested to.  Israel’s title deed comes directly from God, and is recorded in the Old Testament.

Both Christians and Muslims claim the Old Testament as one of their Holy Books and Abraham as their spiritual kin.  And majorities from both religions, together with those of no religion, view Israel’s claim is the weakest.

When the spiritual dimension meets this physical dimension, things get topsy turvy.  Christians obtain victory by surrender, for example.  Islam can claim a reputation of peace and love based on its history of violence and repression, and nobody blinks.

The Koran is viewed as so sacred that our military forces take sensitivity training on how to handle it without desecrating it, but the Bible is forbidden in America’s public square.  No American politician or mainstream media outlet would dare refer to “Jesus the Savior”. 

But they show absolutely no hesitation at using the designation, the “Prophet Mohammed.”

America is a culturally-Christian secular republic populated almost entirely by Christians, either the cultural variety or born again believers.  And Islam is a theocratic religion with almost no presence in either American society or American history.

According to the CIA World Factbook, eight in ten Americans self-identify as “Christian.”  The Islamic population of America, according to the same source, is roughly 0.7%.   For comparison purposes, according to Wikipedia, about 5% of Americans claim to have been abducted by aliens.

But officially in America, the Bible is “hate” literature.  The Koran is sacred.

We know Christianity to be rooted in the greatest of love. Christianity defines love itself as being God Himself. “Love is of God, for God is love” (1st John 4:7-8)

But at the same time, Christianity IS intolerant of other religions. It IS exclusive: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me,” (John 14:6) is both intolerant and exclusive.

Jesus is the ONLY way to Heaven, so by definition, all other faiths are condemned, along with their adherents.  That is why Jesus said of Himself,

 “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” (Matthew 10:34-36)

Christians know their faith to be rooted in peace and love.  But the Founder of Christianity says He is come to ‘bring a sword’ rather than peace, and to bring ‘variance’ instead of love.

The Bible explains this paradox in a manner that makes perfect sense to indwelt believers to whom it was given to understand it. And that explanation infuriates the world even more.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1st Corinthians 2:14)

To the natural man, Christianity is a hateful, exclusive and intolerant faith.  To the Christian, it is the exact opposite.  Christians know, in their living spirit, a definition of love that escapes the natural man.

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36)

The most loving thing a Christian can do is lead someone to Christ and eternal salvation. The most hateful thing a Christian can do is stand idly by and let someone die in their sins.

“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” (1st Corinthians 1:18)

To the world, the Bible is hate literature and Christianity is a hateful religion.  We know it to be the exact opposite.  That is by itself, clear evidence of the power of God — but discernible only to we who are saved.

Don’t let the enemy steal away your confidence.

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on March 28, 2012.

Featured Commentary: Debunking False Eschatologies: Part 1 ~ Pete Garcia

Almost Persuaded

Almost Persuaded
Vol: 19 Issue: 20 Saturday, February 20, 2016

If I were to have to choose the saddest statement in all the Scriptures, it would be that of King Herod Agrippa to the Apostle Paul as recorded in Acts 26:28: ”Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”

In 1871, Philip P Bliss attended a service at which the Reverend Brundage concluded his sermon with the words, “he who is almost pursuaded is almost saved . . . but to be almost saved is to be entirely lost.”

Mr. Bliss was so moved by the thought that he penned the hymn, “Almost Persuaded”.

The last verse goes like this:

“Almost persuaded / harvest is past! /Almost persuaded, / doom comes at last! / Almost cannot avail; / Almost is but to fail! / Sad, sad, that bitter wail / Almost, but lost!”

One of the most difficult things in Christian doctrine to get one’s head around is the doctrine of the Trinity. We can do so in a general sense, but if you want to test yourself and see if youreally understand it, try explaining it to someone else.

Man is created in God’s image and after His likeness, so it stands to reason that a Triune God would create a triune man. The difference is that Trinity is the same God in Three Persons, whereas triune man is one person in three parts, body, soul and spirit.

Think of man as existing within three concentric circles. The outer circle is physical; it is the ‘soma’ or the body. It is the body that has the five senses, sight, taste, smell, hearing, and touch.

These five are the gateways to the soul, or ‘psyche’. The soul of man is often confused with the spirit, which can raise all kinds of misunderstandings. Every living person has a soul. And every living person has a spirit. But not every living person has a living (or, ‘quickened’) spirit.

The Apostle Paul explains,

“For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” (Romans 7:9)

Paul isn’t speaking of physical death, obviously. He is speaking of spiritual death. Babies are born in God’s image, a living spirit and incapable of willful sin.

Obviously, babies are unconcerned with keeping the commandments. But there is a point when a child matures enough to understand the choice between keeping the commandment and feeding one of the body’s five senses.

Remember, it is the five senses that serve as gateways to the soul. These are the gateways through which sin makes its entrance.

Paul writes,

“And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.” (Romans 7:10-11)

Paul was spiritually alive until he sinned for the first time. Until Paul knew what sin was, he could not sin. And he couldn’t know what sin was until he understood right from wrong.

(“Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet”).

Sin entered into Paul through one of the five gates of his body. But it wasn’t sin until it made the transition from the body into the soul. The body’s five senses feed the soul’s five senses; imagination, conscience, memory, reason and affection.

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Dividing ‘asunder the soul and the spirit’ and of the joints and marrow (the body) and discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart (imagination, conscience, memory, reason and affection).

Are you still with me? We’ve only scratched the surface of man’s complexity. The ‘natural man’ consists of a living body, a living soul and a dead spirit. The natural man is dead in the sense that he is dead to God and therefore incapable of grasping the things of God.

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1st Corinthians 2:14)

Unless and until the spirit of natural man is ‘quickened’ by the indwelling Holy Spirit, the Gospel is foolishness to him.

The spirit of man (pneuma) is ‘quickened’ (made alive by regeneration at salvation) when the Holy Spirit takes up residence. It is the spirit of man that provides the spiritual insight, or food for the soul.

When one’s spirit is quickened, one gains a whole new set of insights; faith, hope, reverence and the both the ability and the need to worship and pray.

That is not to say that the natural man doesn’t aspire towards obtaining the characteristics of the spirit — the spirit of man longs for these things. We are designed with a God-shaped ‘hole in the soul’ — the unregenerate spirit — where the Holy Spirit belongs.

Since the soul can’t help but notice it is incomplete, it is constantly in search of something to fill that empty, aching gap. Some folks fill it with drugs,(imagination) others with sex, (affections) others by replacing God with something else (reason), with false assumptions (conscience) or false experiences (memory).

The five gateways to the soul are as far as these folks get — for reasons known only to themselves and God, they just can’t seem to make it all the way into the inner ring of their soul where their spirit lies dormant.

They are almost persuaded.

King Agrippa believed the prophets, according to Acts 26:27. And so he was aware of Isaiah 53which taught of the suffering Messiah. Paul preached first the suffering Messiah, then he preached Jesus Christ. “For the King knowest these things,” Paul said.

Agrippa knew the prophets and the prophecies. He therefore knew that Christ had fulfilled those referring to His First Advent. Agrippa understood the Gospel as it was presented. He was “almost persuaded” but not quite. Why?

For the same reason that people are almost persuaded today. He didn’t want to submit — he was convinced by his conscience and his sense of reason, but he “wasn’t ready.” I’ve heard that excuse before and probably so have you. “I am almost ready, but not yet. But when I am ready I am going to do it right.”

What it really means is “I love my sin so much I’m not ready to give it up.”

Other people argue they have an intellectual problem with the Bible and so they just cannot believe. They are “almost persuaded” but they cannot accept the Lord. “Maybe later.”

‘Almost persuaded’ is to be entirely (and eternally) lost. And later is always sooner than you think.

Assessment:

The Apostle James writes,

“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (Jas 4:14)

In terms of eternity, James tells us, the periods of our individual lives are, in the grand scheme of things, like a puff of smoke.

Eternity is a long time.

By way of analogy, if a sea gull on the West Coast picked up a grain of sand and dropped it on the East Coast, and then came back and repeated the process every ten thousand years, when all the beaches of the West Coast were transplanted to the East Coast, well, that’s the first ten MINUTES of eternity.

Jesus told a parable in Luke 12:16-18:

“And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”

You and I, everybody you meet, from the mailman to the guy next to you at work, has an eternal destiny. That destiny is either a joyful existence in the presence of God, or a Christless eternity in the place prepared for the devil and his angels.

And make no mistake about it. Hell is a real place. Jesus referred to it three times as a place where the worm dieth not and the fire is never quenched.”

In Luke 16, Jesus tells of Lazarus and the rich man.

“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,”

We’ve discussed this passage before. Note that Jesus did NOT say, ‘Learn the parable of the rich man’. Instead, the Lord was specific when He said ‘there WAS a certain rich man.’

Jesus was speaking of a literal event of which He, as God, had specific knowledge. There WAS a certain rich man.

“And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

Stop there. Note the following from Jesus’ account. Before their Pardon was paid for, the righteous dead, like Abraham, Moses, etc, did NOT go directly to heaven, as do Blood-bought Christians of the Church Age.

Instead, they went to Paradise. Jesus did NOT say to the repentant thief, ‘this day you will be with Me in Heaven’. He said, ‘this day you will be with Me in Paradise.’ (Luke 23:43)

Hell was at that time divided in two, one a place of comfort, (Abraham’s bosom, or Paradise) the other a place of torment, but both located physically in hell. Note also that the rich man can see Lazarus, that he speaks of literal torment and literal flame.

Abraham explains the division of hell, and why Lazarus cannot come to him:

“And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” (Luke 16:26)

The rich man cries out,

“Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.”

Stop here again.

Note that the rich man remembers his life on earth. As he will for eternity. He remembers his loved ones, and is conscious of their destiny. He begs Abraham to do something, but Abraham simply tells him that “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.”

Now note something EXTREMELY revealing about the exchange. Abraham is Abraham. Lazarus the beggar, is Lazarus.

But the rich man has no name. He has his memories, he has his awareness of his surroundings, he knows the hopelessness of the situation and the only thing he wants more than a drink of water is to save his five brothers.

But HE HAS NO NAME! Why is that so important? Because he doesn’t need one. Nobody will ever speak it again. There is no reprieve, no visitors, no hope and no need for a name. To all intents and purposes, he is dead. BUT — he is eternally aware of it.

Eternally conscious, perpetually lonely, tormented alive, yet dead forever, remembering that one time when you could have escaped the torment.

THAT is what awaits the mailman, or the guy next to you, or your friends or relatives of whom we say, “I’ll talk to him when the time is right” or when he says, “I’ll think about it. Maybe tomorrow.”

Then God says, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.”

It is a terrifying thought.

The facts are these. If heaven is real, then hell is real. If God is real, then Satan is real. The Bible is not a theological smorgasbord where one can pick and choose what to put on their plates and choose to reject other parts as unpalatable. The same Bible that reveals the existence of God and heaven also reveals the existence of Satan, hell and the Lake of Fire.

Despite the best efforts of false teachers to recreate God in their own image, hell is real, and was NOT created initially for man — it was prepared for Satan and the rebellious angels.

Man was created in God’s Image — that is, with an eternal component that can not die. That existence continues somewhere; either in heaven with God, or eternally separated from God.

There is no third option.

That is why God places such great emphasis on the Great Commission. God knows what hell is really like, and gave His Own Son as a substitute sacrifice so that we could escape its torments.

Every person you see today, whether they are bagging your groceries or changing the oil in your car — EVERY PERSON — has an eternal destiny.

They will either spend eternity in unspeakable joy in the presence of the Father in Heaven, or they will spend eternity in equally unspeakable torment, separated from the Father, and remembering the opportunity they squandered to escape their fate.

For those of us that know the truth, that is an awesome thing to contemplate. It rekindles a sense of urgency for the lost. We are the watchmen on the wall.

It is incumbent upon us to be prepared, “and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” (1 Peter 3:15)

The Omega Letter exists — not necessarily to preach to the lost — but rather to equip the saved with the knowledge they need to “stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11)

The information in your Omega Letter is not for entertainment. We don’t sensationalize events to sell subscriptions. Our goal is to equip the one-on-one evangelist to meet the challenges facing each of us as the clock runs down.

Because it IS running down. And its running down faster than we think. Too many of our family and friends are almost persuaded.

‘Almost’ isn’t good enough.

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on August 20, 2009.

The Trial

The Trial
Vol: 19 Issue: 19 Friday, February 19, 2016

During the thousand year Millennial Reign, the earth will be populated by ordinary, living, breathing humans, some of whom survived the Tribulation Period, together with those who will be born (in the usual manner) during the Kingdom Period.

The human lifespan will return to what it was in the days of Adam, but they will be mortal humans in the sense that, even with Satan bound, men will still die, and sin will still exist;

“There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.”

Further proving that the inhabitants of the Kingdom Period are ordinary humans; they will need food, and shelter, and to get it, they will have to work for a living, even as they enjoy an extended lifespan:

“And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.” (Isaiah 65:21-22)

Coinhabiting the earth with mortal humans, Scripture tells us, are the immortal resurrected dead.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” (Revelation 20:4-5)

Notice two key points John makes in this passage. 

First, those being addressed are undeniably those who came out of the Tribulation. And second, John says that, AFTER the Tribulation, (in which they were beheaded) they both live AND reign with Christ for the full thousand years. 

This passage is often used as a proof text to argue in favor of a post-Tribulation Rapture. After all, they are clearly those who endured the Tribulation. And if it is the ‘first’ resurrection, then it must take place concurrent with the Rapture. 

That seems to make sense, until you look at the passage again. Those referenced there are ONLY those who came out of the Great Tribulation. 

Church Age believers and the Old Testament saints are not mentioned, since they have already received their resurrection bodies. (Matthew 19:28, Daniel 12, Job 19:25)

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:6)

Revelation 20:4-6 mentions a “first resurrection” and identifies those involved as “blessed and holy.” The second death (the lake of fire, Revelation 20:14) has no power over these individuals. 

But how does one have two ‘first’ resurrections; the first at a pre-Trib Rapture, and the second at the end of the Tribulation Period? 

Actually, the Bible identifies the ‘first resurrection’ as occurring in four stages, not two. 

The first resurrection, in general, is the raising of all believers from all ages. 

It corresponds with Jesus’ teaching of the “resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:14) and the “resurrection of life” (John 5:29). 

And it clearly takes place in various stages; the first was Jesus Christ Himself two thousand years ago. 

He was the ‘Firstfruits’ (1 Corinthians 15:20) Who prepared the way of salvation for those who Trust Him during the Church Age. 

The second stage involved the resurrection of the saints of Jerusalem;

“And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (Matthew 27:52-53).

Stage three is the resurrection of the “dead in Christ” followed by the Rapture of “we which are alive and remain” at the Lord’s return for His Church at the conclusion of the Church Age. (1st Thessalonians 4:17) 

And finally, the resurrection of the martyrs at the conclusion of the final seven years of the Age of the Law. (Revelation 20:4, Daniel 9:24) 

All these groups are part of the ‘first resurrection’ upon whom the ‘second death’ (in the lake of fire) will have ‘no power’. 

There is no inconsistency between resurrection of the saints at the conclusion of the Church Age, followed by a separate resurrection of the martyrs at the conclusion of the Tribulation,anymore than there is an inconsistency between the Resurrection of Christ followed by the separate resurrection of the O. T. saints in Jerusalem. 

From the Resurrection of Jesus to the resurrection of the Tribulation martyrs and O.T. saints (Daniel 12:13); it is all part of the general ‘first’ resurrection of the dead in four stages, each of which is clearly separated according to Scripture to a specific purpose in the overall Plan of God. 

The second resurrection, then, is the raising of all unbelievers; the second resurrection is connected to the second death. It corresponds with Jesus’ teaching of the “resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29).

The event which divides the first and second resurrections is the millennial kingdom. 

The last of the righteous are raised to reign “with Christ a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4), but the “rest of the dead [that is, the wicked] lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” (Revelation 20:5).

As part of understanding Scripture’s outline of the overall Plan of God, consider the various epochs of human history from the perspective of the angels who did NOT join the rebellion, and who, by nature, have no understanding of what sin really is or how it really works.

“Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; WHICH THINGS THE ANGELS DESIRE TO LOOK INTO.” (1st Peter 1:12)

We are a mystery to the angels. The Bible says they are charged with ministering to us, but that one day, they will be judged BY us. (1st Corinthians 6:3)

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with SO GREAT A CLOUD OF WITNESSES, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” (Hebrews 12:1)

Isaiah 14 introduces us to the first outbreak of sin in the universe.

“For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

For his sin of arrogance, God pronounced judgement on Lucifer, the most honored of His angels, and those rebellious angels who followed him;

“Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” (Isaiah 14:12-15)

The existence of humanity is often described by theologians as the ‘trial of Satan’. 

The courtroom is Planet Earth, with Jesus as the Righteous Judge, the angels as witnesses, and with sinful mankind serving as evidence. It is more than just the trial of Satan. Sin itself is on trial. 

Lucifer, called in Scripture, “the anointed cherub that covereth” was highly favored of God; “and I have set thee so” (Ezekiel 28:14) Isaiah 14:14 defines that first sin as, “I will” — the sin of pride.

The trial is to prove what ‘one little sin’ can do — the classic ‘slippery slope’ scenario. 

The trial opens with Exhibit 1 — Adam and Eve. They are placed in a perfect environment and given only one command — to avoid the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. They fail — and man inherits a sin nature. 

Exhibit 2 –Man is allowed free reign until the Flood — the so-called “Age of Conscience”. Without Divine interaction or instruction, society becomes so sinful and corrupt that God saves Noah and his family alive and destroys the rest in the Flood.  

Exhibit 3 – During the Age of the Patriarchs, God spoke directly to chosen individuals; Abraham, Noah, Lot, etc. Each, even having spoken directly with God, commit some heinous sin.

Having gone from one commandment (the Age of Innocence) to no commandments at all (the Age of Conscience) to direct confrontation,(the Age of the Patriarchs) God progresses to giving mankind the Ten Commandments (the Age of the Law).

Not one person ever kept all ten of them throughout his lifetime, no matter what the circumstances. (David, for example, broke all ten of them.)

Exhibit 4 — The Age of the Law, during which time the Commandments of God became so corrupted and perverted that it became necessary to scrap the whole system and replace it with the Age of Grace.

To accomplish that God Himself stepped out of space and time, took on the form of sinful man, kept the Law on our behalf, and paid the price for our sin. (Death) 

In so doing, He made a way for all mankind to be saved by faith through grace. 

But most of mankind rejects even the free offer of grace, preferring a life of unregenerate sin. 

That constitutes Exhibit 5 — and it must make the angelic witnesses gasp in disbelief. 

From the perspective of the angelic witness, then, ‘one little sin’ has thus far brought mankind to the point it is today. So far, God has given sin every opportunity to prove itself worthy of its wages.

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23)

Exhibit 6 — The Age of Grace concludes at the Rapture. The Rapture removes the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit, giving Satan (and sin) free reign for seven years. And the end result is the near-destruction of all human life. 

Jesus then returns at the 2nd Coming, binds Satan for a thousand years, and reigns Personally from Jerusalem. 

Mortal humanity has no excuse, He is right there, in Person, for all to see. 

Satan’s influence is restrained, lifespans are extended, there are no more wars, famine or poverty, and humankind is returned to the Eden-like state from which it began. 

With God Himself on the Throne of human government, ruling with a rod of iron for a thousand years, Satan is loosed for ‘a little season’.

“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

The mortal humans who have lived in a state of God-given idyllic bliss for a thousand years, under the influence of Satan, raise an army to bring against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Himself. Exhibit 7. 

Sin is judged according to its works.

“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.”

This is the SECOND resurrection. Unlike the first resurrection, it has only one phase.

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” 

“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:10-12,14)

In the overall Plan of God, as outlined in Scripture, everything has a purpose. There are no omissions, no errors, and no inconsistencies. 

From Genesis to Revelation, a central theme of Scripture is that sin is the cause of death, and will ultimately be eradicated from existence, together with all those who “received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” (2nd Thessalonians 2:12)

Praise the Lord for that OTHER central theme of Scripture.

“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)

This Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on April 14, 2005.

Featured Commentary: The Pope the Patriarch and Putin ~ Alf Cengia

The Fatherhood of God

The Fatherhood of God
Vol: 19 Issue: 18 Thursday, February 18, 2016

For all the sacred texts, for all the opinions and views and expectations and religious assumptions, and despite the best efforts of our imagination, it is not given to the human mind to fully comprehend the infinite God.

We can know some of His greatness and glory through observation and we can know something of Him through His Word and through the revelation of His Son, and such the retention of that knowledge is both a privilege and a duty.

God is revealed through nature as its Designer and Creator and through the Scriptures, which directly testify of Him.  He is revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ, Who came to introduce men to Him.

Our human minds seem more readily able to grasp the concept of God as Creator than it does as Father, but the Scriptures reveal Him more as in His capacity as Father than as Creator.  Still, any investigation of God is more likely to consider the creative abilities of God than His Fatherhood.

God the Creator is simply a generic title.  In this sense, any that is called “God” and afforded the title of “Creator” speaks to the real Creator God, no matter who the intended addressee might be.  There is one God and He is the Creator and He will be the God and Creator that He is regardless of what name He is called by.

That is not to say that all ways lead to salvation.  While all roads lead to God in the end, there is only one road leads to salvation.

There is only one God by whatever name you approach Him, but that doesn’t mean He will answer to whatever name you choose.  God is not a stray puppy.

If one is praying to a heathen god, it is still the Omniscient God that hears, since there is no other.  But God is Creator of all things, but Father only to His children. 

God is presented as ‘Father’ in the Scriptures in four distinct respects.

1. Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort .” (2^nd Corinthians 1:3)

“The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.” (2^nd Corinthians 11:31)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:” (Ephesians 1:3)

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 3:14)

“We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” (Colossians 1:3)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” ( 1^st Peter 1:3)

God the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Not, God the Creator of the Lord Jesus Christ.  God the Father.  Note also that God is presented as both “The God of” and “Father of” our Lord.

On the human side, the First Person of the Godhead is referred to as His God, whereas as the Second Person of the Godhead, He is referred to as His Father.

The connection in which the First Person is mentioned as His Father has continued throughout eternity.  The connection in which the First Person is His God is in Jesus’ humanity which had a beginning with His virgin Birth but has no end.

There is no hint of inferiority or succession between God the Father and God the Son – it is more a case of manifestation.  Instead, there appears to be a unique, eternal affiliation between the first Two Persons of the Godhead that is best conveyed to our minds in the pattern of father and son.

The Arian and Gnostic traditions argue that Christ, while unique, was inferior to the Father.  From this heresy springs all kinds of other heresies, like Jesus and Lucifer were brothers (JWs, LDS) or Unitarianism (popular among the Founding Fathers) and so on.

That requires rejecting the clear teaching of Scriptures such as Luke 1:35, which identifies Jesus as the physical Son of God through the Holy Ghost.

It requires rejecting the doctrine that became One with the Father at His Resurrection.

It demands the assumption He is only the Son by virtue of His office.  But Scriptures teach that He was One with the Father before the world began.

2. God is also the Father of all who believe. 

“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.” (John 1:12)

Jesus is the only-begotten Son of God. When you received Jesus, you became a legitimate offspring of God through adoption.  As adopted sons, we are co-equal heirs with Jesus Christ.  

“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.”  (Romans 8:15) 

The symbolism of adoption in Judaism is deliberately chosen. A Jew may disown his sons, disinheriting them and going so far as to declare them judicially ‘dead’ to the family.

That is not permitted in the case of an adopted son.  Jewish law prohibits disinheriting an adopted son – no matter what.  An adopted son is a son forever.

(When we were last in Israel, I heard a little Jewish kid call his father “Abba.”  It means, “Daddy.”)

The promise of Romans 8:17 is that we will eventually be conformed to the image of His Son and transforming us into actual sons of God, otherwise we could never be considered joint-heirs with Christ.

“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”  (Romans 8:17)

We are conformed to the image of His Son when we receive our glorified bodies at the Rapture.  At the present time, God’s attention is focused on bringing many sons unto glory.

3. God is the Father of Israel.

Several times in the Old Testament God addresses the nation of Israel as His sons.  This relationship isn’t one in which individual Israelites were regenerated unto salvation by God, but rather connotes the national solicitude or fatherhood by reason of parental care for all.  God has also declared Himself husband to Israel, completing the familial symbolism between Himself and His Chosen People.

4. God is the father of all mankind.

The first four books of the New Testament each trace the genealogy of Jesus Christ backwards to King David and all the way back to Adam:  

“Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. (Luke 3:38)

Adam’s right of sonship came by way of direct creation – the only concept of Divine fatherhood within reach of an unregenerate Gentile.

Addressing the unregenerate Greeks at Mars Hill who worshipped THE UNKNOWN GOD, Paul identified them as the offspring of God. 

“For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His offspring.  Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” (Acts 17:28-29)

All men, saved or lost, are the sons of God inasmuch as they owe their existence to Him.  But this kind of sonship is based on mere existence without relationship.  It is a relationship in which Father and son have never met and that’s the way the son wants to keep it.

Any study of the Fatherhood of God brings with it the tragic sense of loss that comes when that lost sinner enters eternity with all hope of fellowship eternally lost.

One that God loves so much that He sent His much beloved and only –begotten Son to seek and to save.  One that Jesus loved so much that He willingly laid down His life to save is lost forever.

The tragedy in heaven when such a one is lost must be unbearable.

That is where we come in.  We are sons of God, eternally saved, and secure in the knowledge that we are saved by grace through faith.   As actual, literal sons of God, we have an obligation to reflect the Father’s love.

So the next time you are led to share the Gospel with someone and you’re hesitating over it, think about it from both perspectives.

How much would you have to love God to want to spare Him the agony of having to condemn one of His errant sons?

And secondly, how much would you have to hate that person to know the way to eternal life and not tell them about it?   

“But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”  (1st John 3:17)

How, indeed?

The Letter was written by Jack Kinsella on October 28, 2010.

Featured Commentary: Love is in the Air ~ J.L. Robb