INTRODUCTION: Many Jews have been misinformed when they have been warned by Christians that if they don't believe and come to Jesus, they will not inherit salvation and eternal life. Part of this is an error of ignorance -- i.e., because their Christian forefathers were adulterous, and defiled their own covenant with the Lord in the manner of the Jews when they worshiped other gods, they have yet to recover from their spiritual temple being plundered and ravished by the unclean and dark forces of this world. They therefore have lost their own way, and no longer can come into the Presence of the Lord.
The Facts: Both Christians and the Jews they have persecuted, condemned, and even murdered over the past two thousand years will be shocked by what they will read herein! What they will learn is a fact that has long confused many sincere students of the New Testament scriptures -- scriptures which are very Jewish in origin -- and because of their very mystical Jewish essence, has long confounded the non-Jews who have championed the Gospel message. To their own undoing, most Christians ignore their own theologians and biblical scholars who have attempted to warn them that the scriptures are paradoxical -- i.e., that in all theological positions there exists two lines of seemingly opposite and conflicting truths presented to the reader -- and those who accept one truth while ignoring the other, will themselves fall into heresy by falling into grave sectarian error with respect to the true meaning of the Gospel message. Thus, those who maintain that there is no salvation apart from belief in the historical Jesus in the manner of modern Christian doctrine, have themselves fallen into the trap of heresy that the very first followers of Jesus warned believers not to fall into! And while it is true that these sectarian vicars of the Church can prove their position by using the scriptures, it is further true that their own scriptures also contain another line of truth that presents an entirely different picture than what the Church has portrayed to the world -- a picture where the opposite is also true. Further, the enigmatic resolution to the problem will totally mystify the reader when it is realized that the flaw in the sectarian Christian's position is exactly the same as the error of the Sadducees and Pharisees who Jesus condemned for throwing away the Key of Knowledge that unlocks the deeper meaning of the written word.
Did you know that the New Testament states that G-d did not want the majority of Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah? Not only the New Testament scriptures, but this fact is also confirmed in the Epistles of Paul, as well as the writings of Clement, the disciple of the Apostle Peter! Why? Because it was known beforehand that many of the Gentiles would be unable to embrace the higher concepts of the teachings of TheWay which came to be called Christianity -- and because the teachings themselves would become defiled, Judaism needed to be preserved in order to preserve the bedrock from which truth could once again emerge more easily.
Did you know that the New Testament speaks of the Jews as a holy sacrifice that was made for the salvation of the Gentiles? In his Epistles to the Gentile Converts, Paul speaks of the Jews as being a holy sacrifice -- their truths being given over to the Gentiles -- so that through the sacrifice of the Jews which are portrayed as a cultivated olive bearing spiritual fruit, a greater number of the Gentiles would be converted to the worship of the One God as they are grafted into the Spiritual Nation of Israel.
Did you know that the New Testament states that all Jews will inherit the promise of eternal life regardless of their belief in Jesus as the Messiah? Because the Jews were a holy sacrifice which was intended to raise up the Gentiles -- and their rejection of Jesus was by Law, and was necessary for the preservation of the bedrock from which the teachings of TheWay had sprang -- the man known as the Apostle Paul warned the Gentile believers that all of Israel will be saved regardless of their belief.
Did you know that the early Ebionite followers of Jesus taught that separation of Jews and Gentile Christians was necessary for the unfolding of G-d's Plan for mankind? In fact, they portrayed the two paths of Jew and Gentile Christian as being parallel, as seen in the words of Peter to his disciple Clement: : “For on this account Jesus is concealed from the Jews, who have taken Moses as their teacher, and Moses is hidden from those who have believed Jesus. For, there being one teaching by both, God accepts him who has believed either of these.
Did
you know that at it's essence, there is absolutely no difference between Judaism
and the original teachings of TheWay?
Fundamentally, if either a Jew or Christian were to truly be of an Anointed
(Messiah/Christ) mind, they would quickly see that the deeper meaning of either
the Torah, or the NT Gospels, are both exactly the same beneath the surface
level of the allegorical text. Therefore Peter rightly taught his disciple
Clement: "Moreover,
if any one has been thought worthy to recognize both as preaching one doctrine,
that man has been counted rich in God, understanding both the old things as new
in time, and the new things as old.”
Did you know that the historical Judas betrayed Jesus because G-d Ordained this betrayal in the manner that G-d hardened the heart of Pharaoh? The newly discovered Gospel of the Nazirenes confirms what many scholars have long suspected -- i.e., that Judas saw himself as acting in the best interests of both the Jews and all of mankind by putting Jesus in the position where he would inaugurate the Kingdom upon the Earth.
Did you know that the historical Judas was guilty of a crime of ignorance -- the same exact ignorance that Fundamentalist leaders such as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and every other Evangelical Christian is guilty of in our present day? If it were in their power, modern Evangelical Christians would have Jesus come and inaugurate the Kingdom upon the Earth -- which is exactly what the historical Judas attempted to do in the first century of our Common Era.
Did you know that the New Testament warns the Gentile Christians not to judge the Jews who do not accept Jesus because they are unbelievers by the Will of G-d -- and that this great truth is confirmed by the early Ebionite followers of Jesus? Paul writes that because the hearts of the Jews were hardened from accepting Jesus for the sake of the Gentiles, if the Gentiles judge the Jews in the manner that they have traditionally done, that their own covenant would be canceled. This warning which is contained in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, is more thoroughly explained in Peter's teachings to his disciple Clement in the words: “Neither, therefore, are the Hebrews condemned on account of their ignorance of Jesus, by reason of Him who has concealed Him, if, doing the things commanded by Moses, they do not hate Him whom they do not know. Neither are those from among the Gentiles condemned, who know not Moses on account of Him who hath concealed him, provided that these also, doing the things spoken by Jesus, do not hate Him whom they do not know."
Did you know that the New Testament teaches that because the Gentile Christians judged and condemned the Jews, their covenant of Grace was ended? As stated above, speaking of the Jews whose hearts were hardened for the spiritual advancement of the Gentiles, Paul warns the non-Jewish believers: "If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, 'Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.' Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either" (Rom 11:17-21 NIV).
Did you know that the New Testament predicts that because of the violation of the Covenant, that G-d would give the Gentile Christians into the hands of the Romans in the same way that He did the Jews to the Babylonians -- and that because of their turning away from the Covenant, that G-d would permit Satan to rule over the Church which is called Christian today? It has been said that the greatest deception of all time is seen in the success of Satan in his ability to convince man that he does not exist. If this is so, then Satan's second deception is perhaps even greater than the first -- in that, he has fooled the very elect -- i.e., the very religious authorities of the church who have been warned and taught of his existence. In total disregard of the admonition of the scriptures themselves, the greater majority of Christians believe that the church is beyond the reach of Satan -- that God somehow drew a line that Satan cannot cross over -- and because of this force of Divine protection, Satan has not immersed himself in every aspect of their lives! Yet, to their own detriment, the leaders of the modern church ignore the warning of the Apostle: “let no man beguile you in any wise: for (it will not be,) except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God” (2 Thes 2:3-4 ASV). What the Apostle is herein very clearly predicting is that there would come a time when the god of the Christian Church will be a false god. Historically speaking, it has been almost universally recognized that the period in time that the Apostle could have been referring to was in the fourth century when the church made a covenant with the Roman Emperor Constantine. With regard to this falling away, the Adam Clark Commentary writes of this passage of Paul's Epistle: “[Except there come a falling away first] We have the original word apostasia in our word apostasy; and by this term we understand a dereliction of the essential principles of religious truth, either a total abandonment of Christianity itself, or such a corruption of its doctrines as renders the whole system completely inefficient to salvation. But what this apostasy means is a question which has not yet, and perhaps never will be, answered to general satisfaction” (from the Adam Clarke Commentary). Not to depreciate or make less the significance of any one of the individual statements presented in the above words, what the modern believer must recognized is the far-reaching totality of the statement: “But what this apostasy means is a question which has not yet, and perhaps never will be, answered to general satisfaction”. Did you know that the doctrines instituted by the ministers of Satan continue as the foundation of the Christian Church to this very day? Thus, because the Gentiles violated their covenant, they exist to this day in a similar state as when the Jews were carried away into Babylon.
Christians
today are unable to restore their religion because having lost the Keys of
Knowledge while under Roman rule, they are unwilling to embrace their Core
Spiritual Essence which is of Hebrew Origin:
Because the Christian Church has in effect turned against its own foundation by
adopting Pagan creeds and doctrines, their original covenant has not only been
terminated, but they no longer possess the Keys of Knowledge that is necessary
to unlock the spiritual meaning of the very scriptures they champion. Thus, when they removed Yeshua from the natural
foundation that brought him forth, renamed him Jesus (Zeus/Isis) and adopted the
Pagan customs and mindset of the Nations, they polluted and destroyed the very
foundation of New Covenant teachings.
In failing to observe the very clear warning of Paul when he wrote: “...be
afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you
either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those
who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness.
Otherwise, you also will be cut off”
(Rom 11:20-22
NIV) -- they neglected to understand that they were “cut
off” by
their own actions, and their calling upon the name of the Lord was in vain as
they caused themselves to become a spiritually barren people.
The Great Paradox: Mankind does not comprehend the movement of the Hand of God in his life, because Truth is Paradoxical -- it springs forth in accordance with the Divine Pattern of Creation -- and few men are able to embrace paradoxical thought. Do we have freewill? And if every aspect of our life is predetermined, what choices do we actually have? Because the majority of people of a natural mind are incapable of embracing paradoxical thought, they remain hopelessly lost in a confusing and conflicting world. Because most students of the Bible are incapable of perceiving the paradoxical movement of the Hand of God in both the scriptures and the life of man, they remain alienated from both the essence of the sacred writings they study, as well as the God they claim to worship. What is the meaning of a paradox? I will define it as two conflicting ideas/concepts that are each equally true regardless of the fact that they appear to be opposite and in opposition to each other.
The Tree of Duality: If eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was the sin of Adam and Eve which came to be the foundation of the doctrine of Original Sin and the modern Christian's concept of the absolute need for salvation through belief in Jesus as the Son of God. Yet, because the majority of Christians simply are unable to deal with paradoxical truth, it is simply beyond their comprehension that their God does not desire most Jews to accept Jesus as the Son of God -- so much so, that the very Hand of God has hardened the hearts of Jews to reject Jesus. And while many will simply dismiss this great truth which is strongly presented in the very scriptures that Christians champion, it is also true that because the modern believer is unable to comprehend this paradox -- as well as the many other paradoxical enigmas of the Bible -- they remain carnal in their thinking, and actually alienate themselves from a more enlightened understanding to the very Word they attempt to champion in the world today. Moreover, because they totally fail to comprehend why the Hand of God moves different men in what appears to be totally opposite directions -- and in their spiritual blindness they judge what they do not understand -- they actually succeed in turning themselves out of TheWay, and make themselves apostates to the very Word they champion with their lips!
Do Christians derive their doctrines of belief from the Bible? Many would like to think so -- but under close examination we begin to see that the beliefs of the average Christian is in fact diametrically opposed to what the Bible actually teaches. The problem is that the Bible, as well as the very essence of the teachings of TheWay, exist as a paradoxical enigma to modern Christianity -- a paradoxical enigma that causes an uncountable number of conflicting doctrines and sects to continue to arise -- and this paradoxical enigma will continue to envelop the modern Church under a cloud of spiritual ignorance, until which time Christians are prepared to seek the essence and roots of the teachings of Jesus -- a system of revelation that is spiritual, and has little in common with the multitude of doctrines proclaimed by the Church today.
How
can this be? That the teachings of TheWay is paradoxical, is
easily demonstrated in the words of the Rev.
Charles Spurgeon where he confided to his readers in his autobiography: “The
system of truth revealed in the Scriptures is not simply one straight line, but
two; and no man will ever get a right view of the gospel until he knows how to
look at the two lines at once. For
instance, I read in one Book of the Bible, The Spirit and the bride say, Come.
And let him who hears say, Come. And
let him who is athirst, Come. And
whoever will, let him take the water of life freely [Rev. 22:17].
Yet I am taught, in another part of the same inspired Word, that it is
not of he who wills, nor of he who runs, but of God Who shows mercy [Rom 9:16].
I see, in one place, God in providence presiding over all, and yet I see,
and I cannot help seeing, that man acts as he pleases, and that God has left his
actions, in a great measure, to his own free-will.
Now, if I were to declare that man was so free to act that there was no
control of God over his actions, I should be driven very near to atheism; and
if, on the other hand, I should declare that God so over-rules all things that
man is not free enough to be responsible, I should be driven at once into
Antinomianism or fatalism. That God
predestines, and yet that man is responsible, are two facts that few can see
clearly. They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory, but
they are not. The fault is in our
weak judgment. Two truths cannot be
contradictory to each other. If,
then, I find taught in one part of the Bible that everything is fore-ordained,
that is true; and if I find, in another Scripture, that man is responsible for
all his actions, that is true; and it is only my folly that leads me to imagine
that these two truths can ever contradict each other” (Charles H.
Spurgeon, Autobiography Vol. 1: The Early Years. pp. 173, 174).
Do we have free will? In many places of the scriptures it appears to suggest that we do. And yet, in many other places the Bible reveals that Divine Providence -- which is the Will of God -- totally rules over every aspect of our lives. If, therefore, we profess to believe in the Bible, and we desire to embrace the Light, it is a fatal flaw when we embrace the manmade doctrines of the Church and accept one of these paradoxical realities while rejecting the other. If we are to fulfill the role as a genuine and mature follower of Jesus, we must move beyond the limited vision of the modern Church that clings to one truth while rejecting the other -- and we must instead embrace the premises that both are equally true.
How can we be responsible for what God Preordains? A most important question that Christians today are incapable of answering! In what is perhaps the most difficult concept for the average Christian to understand, is the fact that the Bible clearly teaches that we are responsible for the Divine Will that God exerts in our life. Moreover, from our limited perspective which is caused by our inability to comprehend our own higher spiritual reality, it appears on the surface that we have done absolutely nothing to cause God to choose for us the life that we are presently living! And yet, somehow, the Church would have us believe that we are responsible for the choices that God makes for us. In the words of Jesus: “Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!” (Matt 18:7 NIV). Why must they come? While it is true that many passages of scripture appear to state that sin and tribulation is a matter of freewill and choices which we have made, there are an equal number of biblical verses that state the opposite -- i.e., because God has willed it. And while these well defined and stated biblical truths appear to oppose each other, perhaps the crack of light in the confusion of darkness that continually plagues the mind of seemingly intelligent and enlightened men, begins when we commence to admit what the Apostle attempts to convey to us at Romans 11:32 as seen in the commentary Barnes' Notes which writes of the word that in English we translate concluded, shut up, bound, committed and consigned: “It is properly used in reference to those who are shut up in prison”. Thus, while we unknowingly believe that we have freewill, the reality of our condition is that we dwell in a prison-like environment often called the "outer darkness" in the New Testament -- a physical realm where our every thought and movement has been choreographed by an agenda and curriculum that was designed and ordained at a time before we were even born into this life. And in this fact of our higher reality we find the key which we must possess to even begin to comprehend the reason and meaning of our lives -- i.e., only when we begin to accept the fact that the life we are presently living has been individually designed to meet our personal needs, and it is as if we have been imprisoned by a Higher Spiritual Power to live out the circumstances and events in our life, are we able to get a sense of the purpose of life itself.
Is God All-Inclusive? Christians preach the doctrine that all must come to Christ to be saved. They continually promote the idea that all people possess the ability to choose to accept Christ into their life -- that all people can call upon the name of the Lord and be saved -- that God wants all people to come to the truth. And while they can easily bring forth numerous biblical verses that confirm their position, it is also true that there exist an even greater number of biblical verses which state that the opposite is true -- i.e., that certain people do not possess the freewill to accept Christ, and their lives have been preordained to reject Christ by the very Hand of God that controls every aspect of the life we live.
The
Enigma that Alienates Christians from Christ:
If it can be shown that it is the Will of God that many people reject Christ --
and further the Will of God that others accept Christ -- and each group is
therefore acting in accordance with the Will of God that is being imposed upon
their hearts and minds -- then the whole system modern Christian doctrine is
seen to be defective. One of the crucial problems that has plagued
the Gentile believers since the very dawn of the Christian movement is their
rejection and continual hardness of heart to the higher concepts of the
Gospel. In the same way many of the believers of the simple faith have
rejected knowledge, they have in like manner rejected the very people who
possessed the knowledge that provides them with an answer to the enigma that
inhibits their understanding. Thus, in their condemnation of the original
Hebrew disciples and followers of Messiah/Christ, God has brought their own
judgment back upon them. In the writings Peter's disciple Clement, the Apostle states that it means nothing to be born a Jew or
Christian, or to be called -- because the opportunity you were given by either
birth, or your religious affiliation, is not by virtue of your own choice, but
the result of the Hand of God upon your life -- as seen in the words: “Then
Peter, wondering at the eagerness of the multitudes, answered, You see,
brethren, how the words of our Lord are manifestly fulfilled. For I remember His
saying, Many shall come from the east and from the west, the north and the
south, and shall recline on the bosoms of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. But
many, said He also, are called, but few chosen. The coming, therefore, of these
called ones is fulfilled. But inasmuch as it is not of themselves, but of God
who has called them and caused them to come, on this account alone they have no
reward, since it is not of themselves but of Him who has wrought in them. But
if, after being called, they do things that are excellent, for this is of
themselves, then for this they shall have a reward”.
This same truth can be related to
the parable of the sower and the seed in the New Testament (see http://messianic.nazirene.us/sower_seed.html
), as seen in the fact the Word has been given to all, but only those who make
themselves the good ground and multiply what was given to them receive the
reward. This truth is further
spoken of when Peter explained: “For even the
Hebrews who believe Moses, and do not observe the things spoken by him, are not
saved, unless they observe the things that were spoken to them. For their
believing Moses was not of their own will, but of God, who said to Moses,
Behold, I come to thee in a pillar of cloud, that the people may hear me
speaking to thee, and may believe thee for ever. Since, therefore, both to the
Hebrews and to those who are called from the Gentiles, believing in the teachers
of truth is of God, while excellent actions are left to every one to do by his
own judgment, the reward is righteously bestowed upon those who do well. For
there would have been no need of Moses, or of the coming of Jesus, if of
themselves they would have understood what is reasonable. Neither is there
salvation in believing in teachers and calling them lords”.
Is
Jesus All-Inclusive? In the same way that
it was said of the Jews who rejected Jesus: “Even after Jesus had done all
these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in
him…”, we can progress no further in our own walk in TheWay until we
first understand why these people did not believe in Jesus, as seen in the
words: “For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says
elsewhere: ‘He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can
neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts’” (John
12:37-40 NIV). What
does this mean? Contrary to
what we want to believe, it is important for us to realize what the Bible
actually states -- i.e., that the people who did not accept Jesus did not reject
him of their own accord, but because God did not permit them to believe in
Jesus. The problem is that, from a church perspective, when we
acknowledge this very clearly defined biblical fact, we not only undermine the
whole political structure of the church because what the Bible is actually
confirming is that man not only does not possess the freewill that gives him the
ability to choose to come to Jesus, but we further destroy the popular idea that
Jesus was the all-inclusive savior that modern Christianity portrays him to be.
How can Jesus be all-inclusive, when the Bible itself
clearly teaches that only those who were pre-selected will not only believe in
the Son of God, but will inherit the promise of salvation in the scriptures?
Using the Jews as an example: From a biblical perspective, it is of the
utmost importance that we begin to recognize the reason why there was a
pre-existent basis that caused the Hand of God to harden the hearts and minds of
the Jews, and not permit them to believe in Jesus.
Moreover, if what the Bible states is true, and it was the Hand of God
that hardened the hearts and minds of the Jews, then how can the Bible be
correct in its assertion that it was the Jewish people themselves who were
ultimately responsible for the conditions that God brought about in their lives
with respect to the rejection of Christ?
It is important, because these same conditions exist in our own lives as
a paramount truth that we must come to terms with if we are to continue our walk
in The Way. If, therefore,
God forces each of us into a certain role that causes us to either sin or
embrace the Light, we must then ask the question as to what was the cause that is/was
responsible for these events?
In answering these profound biblical questions we must
steer clear of the pitfall of traditional church thinking, and insure that we do
not make the mistake of adopting one biblical truth over the other.
In this respect, we must refrain from asking which is true -- and instead
open our minds to the higher understanding that merges the two truths into
harmony. The answer cannot be
found until we realize that we must not choose one truth over the other -- and,
in the words of Spurgeon: “it is only my folly that leads me to imagine
that these two truths can ever contradict each other”.
We must begin the process of embracing the Higher Truth
by taking the words of Spurgeon to heart, and recognize that the fault in our
failure to understand is of our own doing.
What this means is that if we are to find the answer to the dilemma, we
must refrain from questioning which passages of scripture is correct.
Do we have free will? Or,
is the Apostle Paul correct when he states: "For he says to Moses, ‘I
will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have
compassion.’” -- wherein the Apostle then explains that “It does
not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy” (Rom
9:15-16 NIV)?
Truth
can never oppose Truth! I acknowledge that it is a difficult task, but in order
to begin to embrace the Mysteries and Higher Wisdom of God which the scriptures
speak of, we must come to realize that one biblical truth does not negate the
other. Paramount to
understanding the Mysteries of God is the absolute need to further realize that
our present-day doctrine that Jesus was all-inclusive in his revelation of the
Good News, is fundamentally flawed and defective.
Jesus was not all-inclusive! He
taught the multitudes in parables which each hearer interpreted in accordance
with their own understanding! Reserving his instruction of the Mysteries
of God for those who were pre-selected as being worthy of receiving their revelation!
If we, therefore, truly desire to be one of the few who are chosen to
receive the Mysteries of the Gospel, then it is paramount that we first
understand why the multitudes were rejected, and only certain pre-selected
individuals were chosen for this purpose.
In the words of the Rev. Spurgeon, we must open our minds
and learn to grasp the two lines of truth simultaneously. Though we may not initially understand it, we must
begin to recognize that all things are preordained -- and even though our lives
are preordained, we are responsible for not only the result, but also the very
events that the Hand of God has brought about in our daily lives.
Further, we must acknowledge the truth of those biblical verses that
teach that some people do not possess free will at all -- that what appears to
be choices for others are actually foreordained -- and that these people are
also ultimately responsible for what God has brought into their lives.
In order to accomplish this, we are going to have to open our minds to
concepts that far eclipses present-day human comprehension with respect to
everything that we think we know about life.
I understand full well that these spiritual concepts are
not in accordance with our perception of an all-inclusive Gospel that was, and
is, made available for all people to believe and be saved.
While it is true that God is all-inclusive, the paradox to the equation
is that He is not all-inclusive in the manner that we think.
In the same way that our system of public education is all-inclusive --
in that, everyone has an absolute right to access the system -- it is also true
that everyone does not have the right to access the system at any level of
instruction they choose. Thus,
each of us is entitled to access the system only at the appropriate level that
is determined by our own level of maturity and achievement.
We would no sooner permit a kindergarten student to attend college, than
we would provide a graduate level curriculum to an elementary school level of
education.
If we truly desire to move beyond the elementary
teachings about Christ and “go on to maturity”
(Heb 6:1 NIV), we must
begin to acknowledge that this is exactly what the Bible states.
The Mysteries and Spiritual Gospel of Christ was only revealed
selectively to a chosen group of people who were predestined to be taught what
was concealed from the eyes and understanding of the majority of people who
listened to Jesus teach. When we begin to acknowledge this biblical fact, only
then can be begin to understand the criteria that was used to select these few
from among the many. Ultimately,
only when we comprehend the criteria which the Lord uses, are we able to move
ourselves in that direction, and become the chosen who is deserving to receive
the Spiritual Gospel of the Light.
Did
the Jews Kill Christ? For nineteen hundred years many Christians have condemned
the Jews for “killing Christ”.
Yet Peter states to the leaders of the Jews regarding Jesus
that: “this
Man delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed
to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23
NAS). The word “predetermined”
as used in this instance, should invoke a great many questions in the minds of
modern Jews and Christians alike. Did the Jews and
Romans crucify Christ? Commenting
on this verse, Barnes' Notes states: “The fact, moreover, that this was
predicted, shows that it was fixed or resolved on. No event can be foretold,
evidently, unless it be certain that it will take place. The event, therefore,
must in some way be fixed or resolved on beforehand”.
Speaking about the Hand of God upon the hearts and minds
of the people, Peter and John said: “Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met
together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire
against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and
will had decided beforehand should happen” (Acts 4:27-28
NIV).
What the two disciples are conveying to the reader is that every event
that took place at the crucifixion was directly brought about by the Hand of God
acting upon the hearts and minds of the people.
Regardless of whether we understand it, in order to begin the journey of
walking in The Way, it is imperative for us to acknowledge the validity of this
biblical statement. Moreover,
if this is true, we must ask ourselves the question: How can man resist the “power
and will” of what God “decided beforehand should happen”? How could the Jews resist the Will of God?
What is clearly conveyed to the reader is that the
biblical teaching regarding the crucifixion was a pre-planned drama that God
brought about by imposing His supernatural and All-Pervasive Will upon a group
of people who were little more than puppets on God's stage of life.
Unless Christians are ready to adopt the doctrine that man is more
powerful than the Will of God, then they must be ready to acknowledge the fact
that those who brought about the events which culminated in the crucifixion, had
little to no choice in what transpired.
This biblical fact is seen quite clearly documented in
the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia under the heading of Foreknow,
where it writes: “Thus, in Peter's speeches in Acts the predestination
which finds expression in (Acts 4:28) is practically identified with the term
prognosis in (2:23). Everything which happened to Jesus took place in accordance
with ‘the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,’ so that nothing
happened except that which God had foreordained”.
Who killed Christ?
“God had willed the death of Jesus (John 3:16) and the death of
Judas (Acts 1:16)”, writes Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament,
and then adds: “but that fact did not absolve Judas from his responsibility
and guilt (Luke 22:22)”.
The
Sin of Judas was/is Synonymous with the Sin of Evangelical Christians Today:
What the above Bible verses demonstrate is that Judas was a mere pawn in the
hands of G-d who worked in conjunction with Satan to bring about the crucifixion
in the manner that it was predetermined as as choreographed and spiritually
staged event in the life of man. If, by virtue of this fact, Judas was one of the instruments by which God carried
out what God Himself predestined -- and the scriptures tell us that both God and
Satan (Lk 22:3) worked in concert by using their supernatural powers to induce
Judas to betray Jesus -- and Jesus specifically chose Judas as a disciple
because he was predestined for the purpose that he
performed -- it is imperative that we ask the question as to how can Judas be
held responsible for what God brought about?
Since the second century (and especially since the creation of the Church of Constantine in the fourth century) it has been the gravest of misconceptions embraced by many of the Gentiles who converted to the teachings of the New Covenant, that the Jews rejected Christ, that the Messianic followers of Jesus known historically as the Ebionite/Nazirenes were heretics because they continued to keep the Law of Moses in the manner of the Sadducees and Pharisees -- and perhaps the greatest lie of all, that God abandoned Israel. Fundamentally, the Gentile converts who did not know any better were greatly deceived and severed from the core teachings of The Way, because in their failure to comprehend the manner in which the Hebrew scriptures were written, they ignorantly embraced these falsehoods -- resulting in their own severance from the Spiritual Essence of the Word of God. Moreover, because we fail to understand the (spiritual) nature of the sin of the historical man Judas today, the greater number of Christians who consider themselves to be sincere people of faith, actually are guilty of the same exact sin as was Judas who is portrayed in the New Testament as the one who physically betrayed Jesus!
At chapter 76 verse 27 in what is today known as Gospel of the Nazirenes, we can readily see were Judas went to Caiaphas and offered to witness against Jesus. Why did Judas betray the Son of God? This question is of such a magnitude importance to not only Christians, Jews, Muslims, and all people of the earth today, that it has been set before us as a question pertaining to life and death! At verse 29-30 in the same chapter we read that when Judas was questioned respecting the consequences of his betrayal, and when asked whether he believed Jesus will be put to death, we see him respond: "No, for He will do some mighty work to deliver Himself out of their hands, even as when they of the synagogue in Capernaum rose up against Him, and brought Him to the brow of the hiss that they might throw Him down headlong, and did He not pass safely through their midst? He will surely escape them now also, and proclaim Himself openly and set up the Kingdom whereof He spoke".
Perhaps more than any other, these words are of paramount importance to modern believers today! The sin of Judas -- which means Jew -- from a scriptural perspective is indicative of a person who interprets and attempts to practice their religion outwardly, instead of inwardly. What this means is that from a biblical perspective, the majority of esteemed and highly regarded Christian religious authorities today, are very much as the leaders of the Sadducees and Pharisees were in the time of Jesus -- i.e., they not only practice their tenets of religion outwardly, but they look for Christ to bring about the Kingdom upon the earth in the same exact manner as did Judas!
With respect to the Sadducees and Pharisees at the time of Jesus: Perhaps the finest example of their error is seen at chapter 87 verse 11 of the Nazirene Gospel where Jesus says of the carnal Jews: "For they, making a god of their belly, sacrificed to their God the innocent creatures of the earth, in place of the carnal nature within themselves." Thus, the great truth which Christians, Jews and Muslims fail to comprehend is that the religion which was and is the core of their own system of beliefs today, was at its essence of a purely spiritual nature -- wholly concerned with manifesting the Kingdom within -- and its reinterpretation by both the Jews and Christians as an organized religion with firm tenets of belief and doctrine, totally severed the believers from the Living Word which they sought to worship and be sanctified by.
When Judas betrayed Jesus, he believed he was doing good! Moreover, if the modern Jehovah's Witness, Evangelical Christian, or many sincere believers today were put in the position of Judas, they would in fact do the same exact thing. Why? Because in not understanding the spiritual essence of the teachings of The Way, Judas believed he could force the hand of Jesus, and cause him to inaugurate the expected and predicted kingdom upon the earth. What this means is that the sincere Sadducee or Pharisee in the first century of our Common Era, were in fact religious brothers in common with the sincere Jew or Christian today! Each ardently awaits and prays for the kingdom to come upon the earth in their own time -- and each is equally ignoring the very essence of the Gospel Message!
While it is true that Jews have a greater excuse for their error, such is not the case from a Christian perspective. At Luke 17:20-21 we observe "Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you" (NIV). For two thousand years many who call themselves Christians, Jews and Muslims, have waited for the Kingdom of God to come upon the earth in vain. From a New Covenant perspective, the congregation of believers have been lied to and deceived by a body of self-appointed priests and clergy who have over the course of thousands of years brought suffering and hardships upon a naive and uninformed people -- a people who have been seduced into providing the monetary wealth that these false apostles have lived off of. From a New Covenant perspective, those who are found worthy of inheriting the promise of eternal life, and have thus prepared themselves to be a consecrated vessel within which the Holy Spirit can dwell, are permitted to enter the Temple of God within themselves, and be with the Lord while they are still physically alive in this world. With respect to these souls who are truly saved and have gone to glory, they have attempted many times throughout the history of mankind to speak to their (Jewish/Christian/Muslim) brothers and sisters in the Gospel, but the greater number of the congregation of believers have refused to listen. As a people who profess to believe, we are unwilling to pick up our crosses and actually walk in The Way, because we consider it too great a loss of the things of this world to be in the world and not of it!
Scriptures Altered to Undermine Jewish Foundation of the Teachings of TheWay: In order to install Yeshua as Jesus (Zeus/Isis), the god of the Pagan Roman Empire, the scriptures had to be altered from their original form. That the New Testament scriptures were altered from their original context is very clearly expressed in the words of Prof. Bart D. Ehrman in his book, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, where he warns us that: "...theological disputes, specifically disputes over Christology, prompted Christian scribes to alter the words of scripture in order to make them more serviceable for the polemical task. Scribes modified their manuscripts to make them more patently ‘orthodox’ and less susceptible to ‘abuse’ by the opponents of orthodoxy" -- which orthodoxy was to bring the text of the Bible into conformity with the doctrines and tenets of the Church of the Roman Emperor Constantine.
The surviving Greek texts of the book of Acts are so radically different from each other, that it has been suggested that perhaps there were multiple versions written. In his book The Text of the New Testament, Dr. Vincent Taylor writes that "The manuscripts of the New Testament preserve traces of two kinds of dogmatic alterations: those which involve the elimination or alteration of what was regarded as doctrinally unacceptable or inconvenient, and those which introduce into the Scriptures proof for a favorite theological tenet or practice".
One of the most common biblical manuscripts used to make our modern English translations is known today as the Nestle Text. Yet it was Prof. Eberhard Nestle himself who warned us in his Einfhrung in die Textkritik des griechischen Testaments: "Learned men, so called Correctores were, following the church meeting at Nicea 325 AD, selected by the church authorities to scrutinize the sacred texts and rewrite them in order to correct their meaning in accordance with the views which the church had just sanctioned." When the Church of Constantine endeavored to make the teachings of the New Covenant in sync with fourth century Roman Pagan thought and culture, to ignore the facts with respect to the manner in which the corrupters of the Word recreated the message of the scriptures in order to make it compatible to church doctrine, is to make oneself disingenuous to the very Son of God to whom we proclaim to be faithful to.
Altered
Scriptures Deceived the Protestant Reformers into Adopting Roman Doctrine:
After
the Roman take-over of the Church, for over a thousand years of Christian history it was
unlawful to publish or reveal the Bible to the people.
When it eventually was, and the reformers in the Middle Ages were called
upon to explain its paradoxes and inconsistencies, they could not.
Why? Because they did
not possess the same mindset as did the authors of the scriptures.
In reaction to the many paradoxical truths that they were unable to
explain, the doctrine which was adopted by Luther and the reformers is seen
embodied in Luther's words: “Reason, is the greatest enemy that faith has;
it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but - more frequently than not -
struggles against the divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from
God”. Why?
Because Luther himself was a priest in the Roman Church, and the very
foundation of their system of belief was carnal, and was devoid of the
understanding needed to synthesize and harmonize the paradoxes of the Bible.
While it can be said that they did the best they could under the
conditions of the time in which they lived, that Luther never progressed beyond
a very elementary understanding of the scriptures has continued to plague
believers to this very day.
The great error upon which Luther and the other reformers
founded the Protestant Church can only be seen when we relate the problem that
they saw in the scriptures with respect to man's other areas of life.
When confronted with a difficulty, the solution is not to surrender one's
power of mind -- but rather, to re-examine the manner in which one is thinking.
How can Judas be held accountable for what God brings
about on both His own, and in conjunction with Satan -- and if God and Satan are
eternal opponents, what caused the two opposite powers to act in concert in
order to move Judas to betray Christ?
We could speculate and say that Judas was an evil man who would have
perhaps done this misdeed anyway -- but so long as God's hand was upon him, and
Satan and God acted together to bring about these events, the final choice was
simply not his to make. Moreover,
if we are to even begin to comprehend the powerful supernatural influences that
effect the manner in which we think and live our lives, we must also ask the
question: How did God induce Satan to move in accordance with what was
preordained, unless God also maintains control over Satan?
Without the understanding of these questions, it is impossible for us to
ever begin to comprehend the true spiritual message of the scriptures.
The problem is brought into a more clear focus in the
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia where it is written: “It is
remarkable that Peter in one and the same sentence speaks of the death of Christ
from two quite distinct points of view. (1) From the historical standpoint, it
was a crime perpetrated by men who were morally responsible for their deed
('him… ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay'). (2) From the
standpoint of Divine teleology, it was part of an eternal plan ('by the
determinate,' etc.). No effort is made to demonstrate the logical consistency of
the two ideas”. From
the perception of the carnal mind of man, there can be no consistency of the two
ideas -- but if the believer is to obtain the salvation they desire, it is
absolutely necessary that they are able to merge these two contradictory facts
into one abiding truth.
Once it is realized that generation upon generation of
Gentile believers has, for the most part, skimmed over these many verses without
so much as a question of how these biblical concepts -- the working alliance of
God and Satan, and the preordination and predestination of the events in the
life of man -- effects their own life, it is easy to understand why the masses
of believers never progress beyond the superficial “milk”
doctrines
of the Bible. Moreover,
because believers reject the counsel of the Lord, and turn instead to other men
to teach them -- and embrace concepts that their teachers themselves are
incapable of understanding -- the Bible and its may paradoxes will continue to
remain a great enigma. The
result is that the flock of believers are held captive in a pasture of spiritual
stagnation by the very shepherds they look to for guidance.
If man is to even begin to understand both the scriptures
and the life he is presently living, it is absolutely necessary to comprehend
how man can be held responsible for what God has brought about?
Quoting the Adam Clark Commentary: “…neither the Jews nor Romans
had any power here, but what was given to them from above”.
How could the Jews and Romans have killed Christ, if neither “had
any power” over their actions, because the event was brought about by the
power of God? When Peter
said: “Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit
foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who
arrested Jesus” (Acts 1:16 NAS); Peter is stating that all of the people
who were involved were mere pawns in the hand of God -- who had hardened the
hearts of the Jews and Romans in order to fulfill what the Holy Spirit had
predicted in the scriptures.
These “two lines”
spoken of by Rev. Spurgeon,
is again seen in the words of Jesus when he warned: “For the Son of Man is
to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man
is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born”
(Mark 14:21 NAS). How can
God, the Higher and Controlling Power, force men to perform a series of events
under His direct control, and then hold the people who God forced into the role
they played on the stage of life be held responsible for what God brought about?
Thus, we must answer the proverbial question which the Bible itself asks:
“Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?”
(Rom
9:19 NIV). Not one of us is
able to resist His will -- and because we fail to understand this great truth,
and condemn the manifest Will of God that we observe in others, we make
ourselves apostates to the New Covenant -- calling upon the name of the Lord in
vain.
The inability of those we look to as religious
authorities to comprehend these fundamental conditions of life, as well as an
uncountable number of other biblical paradoxes, is further expounded upon in the
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary on Romans 9:22, where it is written with
regard to the Apostle's words Fitted to destruction: “It is well remarked
by Stuart, that the difficulties which such statements involve are not to be
gotten rid of by softening the language of one text, while so many others meet
us which are of the same tenor; and even if we give up the Bible itself, so long
as we acknowledge an omnipotent and omniscient God, we cannot abate in the least
degree from any of the difficulties which such texts make.
Be it observed, however, that if God, as the apostle teaches, expressly
designed to manifest His wrath, and to make His power (in the way of wrath)
known, it could only be by punishing some, while He pardons others; and if the
choice between the two classes was not to be founded, as our apostle also
teaches, on their own doings, but on God's good pleasure, the decision behooved
ultimately to rest with God”.
Do we have free will and choice?
Because it is impossible for our present-day religious authorities to
explain the relationship of these two biblical doctrines, many Christian
preachers and theologians are of the opinion that the biblical concepts of
predestination and Divine Providence should not be taught to the multitude of
believers. Their theology is
that you don’t preach what you do not possess the means to understand.
Yet, the ever looming problem goes far beyond the fact that it is not
only confusing, but instead is based upon the fact that the church itself does
not have an answer that can satisfactorily explain what the church itself cannot
comprehend.
How can modern Christians be comfortable with the idea
that God said of Pharaoh: “For this very purpose I raised you up, to
demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the
whole earth” (Rom 9:17 NAS). The
Bible teaches that even after Pharaoh told Moses to go, God's hand again came
upon Pharaoh and continued to harden Pharaoh's heart.
Why? So God could
persist in bringing plagues upon the Egyptian people.
Further, Pharaoh had already told Moses to take the children of Israel
and go, when God once again continued to harden Pharaoh's heart.
Why? The Bible teaches
that God did not want Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, until God first
demonstrated His power by killing all their first-born sons.
In view of the fact that God raised up Pharaoh for this purpose, and then
hardened his heart so as to make it appear that it was Pharaoh who opposed the
Israelites, it is imperative that we ask: Is this the loving and merciful God
that Christians proclaim?
People of faith are not prepared to gaze into the reality
of the Old Testament. Like
Luther, the people of the simple faith are unable to think along any other line
of thought than they have been instructed by their leaders to follow. It is comforting for them to believe that they have
made wise choices in their life by accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and
Savoir. Yet the Bible teaches
that their status as Christians -- and even believers -- was not of their own
choosing. Few Christians can
find solace in the biblical teaching that they believe, only because God has
permitted them to believe -- while others do not believe, because God does not
want them to believe. They
instead envision an all-inclusive God who desires all people to believe.
Most Christians have a loved one -- a child, spouse, a
family member, or a friend -- that has not come to Christ -- and by their manner
of thinking is not saved. They
would do anything to save this person that is dear to them. Yet, according to Christian doctrine, in the hereafter,
these people will not only be barred from the Kingdom that is to come, but might
possibly be confined to the regions of hell.
Why? According to the
Bible, because God has not chosen to bestow His blessings on these people. Christians,
who want everyone to be saved, cannot perceive the sense of the idea the Apostle
put forth when he wrote: “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He
hardens whom He desires” (Rom 9:18 NAS).
From a Christian doctrinal perspective, life is like a
sinking ship where all people are equally sinners -- or drowning -- and all
people are in need of being redeemed or saved.
God is there -- He has the power to save all of the people -- but He
chooses not to. Instead of
saving everyone, He selectively chooses from among the drowning people an
exclusive few who are to be saved -- not based upon their works or deeds, or
even their faith -- but as the Apostle states, God chooses indiscriminately, “that
the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him
that calleth” (Rom 9:11 KJV). Some
will of course argue that people are saved by faith -- but the Bible clearly
states that even faith is a gift from God that is not given to all people.
Innately, all of creation desires to be saved.
In the same way that no one wants to drown, neither would anyone choose
to be thrown into the “lake of fire”
(Rev 20: 14-15).
Yet, according to the Apostle, because of the sin of Adam and Eve -- a
sin that God Himself ordained and brought about -- all people deserve to be
thrown into the “lake of fire”, and God chooses to save some, while
ignoring others.
Perhaps the finest example of God's indiscriminate
intervention into some people's lives is best demonstrated in the example of the
Apostle Paul himself. Paul --
who was known as Saul prior to his conversion -- was not only a great persecutor
of the first Christians, but Saul/Paul was a leader among those who stoned
Stephen (Acts 7:57-60). So
vehemently did Saul/Paul oppose Christ and the church, that it is written that
“Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples
of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus
to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or
women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1-2
KJV).
In Saul/Paul we see a man who was a killer and a
persecutor of Christ and the church -- until God directly intervened into his
life, converted him, and supposedly made him an apostle.
Setting aside for the moment the fact that there are many people who,
from a biblical perspective, will be thrown into the lake of fire, even though
they are in no way guilty of the evil of Saul/Paul prior to his conversion, it
could easily be said that the most fervent Atheist and non-believer would be
immediately converted if they were subjected to the same experience as
Saul/Paul, where it is written: “As he neared Damascus on his journey,
suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard
a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? Saul
asked. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, he replied. Now get up and go into
the city, and you will be told what you must do… Saul got up from the ground,
but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing… For three days he was blind,
and did not eat or drink anything” (Acts 9:3-9 NIV).
When we start to delve into these many biblical stories,
we begin to get a better perspective of why Luther condemned the use of reason
among the body of Christian believers.
Does it mean anything that Saul/Paul served Christ after such an
experience? Was Saul/Paul who
called himself a Jew among Jews, and a Pharisee, any different than those who
crucified Christ? If God had
not Himself hardened the hearts of the Jews, and opened their perception and
understanding in the manner that He did to Saul/Paul, wouldn't all the Jews have
been converted? And even
today, would not all of mankind immediately repent, and be faithful to Christ,
if they too were subjected to an experience similar to that experienced by Paul? And does it mean anything that Paul changed his ways
after this rather extreme intervention in his life?
Isn't this in fact the cry of the agnostic who proclaims:
Show me a sign, so that I might believe!
Isn't the agnostic asking for nothing more than the same treatment that
was extended to Saul/Paul? And
are we to believe that the agnostic who has lived a good life -- a person who of
their own conscience had not embraced the evil of a man such as Paul -- that
such a person will be condemned to the lake of fire, while Paul is permitted to
go free?
One of the paramount elements of such words as goodness
and righteousness, is that one conducts themselves in a fair and evenhanded
manner. If the scriptures are
correct in those many places where it states that “The LORD detests
differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him” (Prov 20:23
NIV),
wouldn't the Lord himself treat all men with the same fairness?
Innately, Christians believe that God is fair and impartial -- but from a
biblical perspective, doctrinally they cannot demonstrate the validity of their
beliefs.
One of the fundamental doctrines found throughout almost
every book of the Bible is that the person you are today was predetermined by
God -- not merely at a time before you came into this life -- but at a time
prior to creation and the formation of the earth.
If the person you are today was predetermined by God prior to even the
first act of Creation, you must then ask how much of your own life is of your
own choosing?
For those who believe that they have made wise choices in
their lives, in the Calvinistic and Augustinian doctrine of preordination -- a
doctrine which they are able to demonstrate conclusively by using the Epistles
of Paul -- there is no fundamental difference between those who are doomed and
those who will be saved, with the exception that God so wills their fate.
“The supreme Disposer”,
writes Calvin,
“then makes way
for his own predestination, when depriving those whom he has reprobated of the
communication of his light, he leaves them in blindness. Every day furnishes
instances of the latter case, and many of them are set before us in Scripture.
Among a hundred to whom the same discourse is delivered, twenty, perhaps,
receive it with the prompt obedience of faith; the others set no value upon it,
or deride, or spurn, or abominate it. If it is said that this diversity is owing
to the malice and perversity of the latter, the answer is not satisfactory: for
the same wickedness would possess the minds of the former, did not God in his
goodness correct it. And hence we will always be entangled until we call in the
aid of Paul's question, ‘Who maketh thee to differ?' (1 Corinthians 4:7,)
intimating that some excel others, not by their own virtue, but by the mere
favor of God”.
From a biblical perspective of what Calvin wrote, the
true statement that totally escapes his reasoning would be: “…we will
always be entangled until” we come to understand the Will of God with
respect to “who maketh thee to differ?”.
What we see in Calvin's words is the manifestation of a secular, carnal
religion, that bears the name of Christ, rather than a Spiritual Religion that
embodies the Word of Christ. Calvin,
one of the foremost authorities in the founding of the Protestant Church, did
not possess the answers to the biblical paradoxes -- and accepts these mysteries
as unknowable, only because he has embraced a static faith that is spiritually
dead. Yet, many Christians
today continue to embrace his doctrine.
With regard to the assertion of the Apostle that it is
not of our own choosing that we believe in the Gospel, but God's, Barnes' Notes
on this verse states: “Had not GOD interfered and made a difference, all
would have remained alike under sin. The race would have together rejected his
mercy; and it is only by his distinguishing love that ANY are brought to believe
and be saved”. If we
take the time to stop for a moment and think, what is being portrayed in these
words is altogether profound! What
they admit the Apostle’s doctrine of faith ultimately means, is that ALL of
mankind would reject Jesus and the gospel message and drown in the sea of
inequity, if God did not throw a life-preserver to a select few.
In the case of the Apostle Paul -- a murderer and persecutor of the
righteous -- it would appear that sometimes God throws the life preserver to
some of the most sinful and despicable among us, and yet denies this same
opportunity to others who are not near as sinful.
Christian doctrine states:
“God is the foundation of
all good; no man possesses any good but what he has derived from God. If any man
possess that grace which saves him from scandalous enormities, let him consider
that he has received it as a mere free gift from God's mercy” (Adam Clarke
Commentary on 1 Cor 4:7).
If you are a believer -- it is the position of the
Apostle that your belief is the work of God manifest in your life. There is no works that you can do which will earn
salvation -- you did not do anything deserving of God's blessings -- you merely
inherited the promise because God indiscriminately decided that He would throw
you a life preserver. The
problem that arises is in the biblical fact that, if you are a non-believer,
that too is the work of God -- who chooses not to throw you a life preserver.
The one who is saved is no different than the one who is
not -- i.e., quoting Paul: “As it is written: There is no one righteous,
not even one… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
(Rom 3:10;23 NIV). Moreover,
in view of the fact that God's criteria is not based upon either the works, or
the moral attributes of the person -- Paul and many others being an example of
this fact -- from a biblical perspective, the one who is not saved, and destined
to the sufferings of hell, may even exhibit a higher manifestation of virtue and
morality than did the one who is saved.
In the words of Calvin, who uses the Apostle Paul as his source of
doctrine: “God has chosen to deprive the unbeliever of the communication of
his light”, and for no reason other than “He has mercy on whom He
desires, and He hardens whom He desires” (Rom 9:18 NAS), Calvin admits
that “he leaves them in blindness”.
What
the Bible appears to teach is that if you are a saint, a sinner, a
mass murderer, or even the likes of Hitler, your station in life is not of your
own doing -- but rather, the work of the Hand of God manifest in your life.
If you have not accepted Christ as your savior, it is because God has
withheld His Light from you that would enable you to believe and have faith.
Therefore, regardless of how good you are, or the moral code you exhibit,
or how great your humanity is towards others, from the perspective of the Bible,
you are destined to Hell because God has predetermined and chosen this as your
fate.
In view of the fact that it has been proposed by many
Christians that Hitler was merely doing the will of God by exterminating the
heretic Jews -- and there is speculation that Hitler believed that he had
himself been anointed by God to complete the task that Jesus never did --
Christian doctrine suggests that Hitler could be enjoying eternal bliss in
heaven, while the innocent Jewish children who he tortured and burnt in his
ovens -- children who never did an evil act to anyone -- are now burning in the
torments of hell.
In view of this biblical fact, ask yourself this
question: If you are a Christian, will you then greet Hitler when you go to
glory. Imagine for a moment
you and Hitler -- together in the Kingdom -- talking about how you were saved --
gazing upon the Jewish children who never even had the opportunity to do any
evil as they burn in the lake of fire?
Imagine you and Hitler, together, praising the glory of God in the shadow
of their innocence and agony.
Many Christians today are against abortion -- calling it
infanticide and murder. Yet,
is this any more of an atrocity of justice than the preordination of children to
live lives as “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” (Rom 9:22)?
Will these same anti-abortion people stand by and applaud the sufferings
of these men, women and children who were predestined to dwell forever in the
lake of fire?
If these things seem outrageous and far fetched, let us
not forget the fact that when the Children of Israel were on their way to the
land of Canaan, God showed his power by bringing about the unmerciful
destruction of innocent people: “But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us
pass through, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart
obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day”
(Deut 2:30 NKJ).
Did King Sihon possess free will as many of us believe
today? King Sihon did not
choose to block the path of the Israelites -- God “hardened his spirit”
(king Sihon's) and made him do it. Why?
In what modern civilized man would consider a detestable act of cruel and
senseless barbarism, the God of Israel rejoiced: “And the LORD our God
delivered him over to us; so we defeated him, his sons, and all his people. We
took all his cities at that time, and we utterly destroyed the men, women, and
little ones of every city; we left none remaining” (Deut 2:33-34
NKJ).
Are we supposed to applaud this atrocity -- this example
of injustice and inhumanity? Are
we to praise the Lord and acclaim His righteousness that He permitted the Jews
to slaughter even the “little ones”?
The Children of Israel were ordered to slay everything that moved and
breathed: “However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is
giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes.
Completely destroy them -- the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites,
Hivites and Jebusites -- as the LORD your God has commanded you” (Deut
20:16-17 NIV).
The scriptures tell us that when the Children of Israel
crossed the Jordan, the hearts of the inhabitants of the land were hardened by
God: “For it was the LORD himself who hardened their hearts to wage war
against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them
without mercy, as the LORD had commanded Moses” (Josh 11:20
NIV). The Children of Israel were again ordered to slay every
man, woman and child in the land. In
view of the fact that the people of Heshbon were not believers in God -- only
because God Himself withheld His Light from their understanding -- the
implications are horrific. By
human standards, the actions of God as reported in the Old Testament are even
more diabolical than Hitler’s! The
great question that must be posed: Is this a merciful God who celebrates the
destruction of innocent children without any other reason than he enjoys
watching the carnage?
When it is realized that at any time that God wanted, he
could have unhardened their hearts, and permitted these people to believe, the
moral and humanistic ramifications are truly astounding. Why didn't God want to convert these people?
The biblical answer is because they were not of the seed of Abraham --
the person God chose -- not by works, according to the Apostle Paul, but for no
reason other than “He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He
desires” (Rom 9:18 NAS).
Moreover, if God didn't want the people of the Nations in
the land of Canaan, He could have willed it, and they would have simply migrated
from the land without the loss of one single life.
If God wanted them to worship Him, and only Him, He could have willed it,
and it would have been so.
From our modern perspective there is still another twist
to this biblical episode: In view of the fact that God not only knew that these
same Gentiles would become the chosen people of God when he caused the Jews to
reject Jesus, why did he bring death and destruction to women and children whose
ancestors would one day be called Christian?
If the scriptures are correct, and God has the power to control every
aspect of life, then a Supreme Being of Love and Mercy would have just willed
them to leave, believe, or anything else He desired, and it would have been so.
If there is any doubt from the perspective of Christian
doctrine that we are mere play toys in the hands of God, the proverbial question
that mankind should ask his Creator is already contained in the scriptures:
“You will say to me then, Why does He still find fault? For who
resists His will?” (Rom 9:19).
If evil men are evil, because God, in the words of Calvin, withholds “the
communication of his light”, and good men are good ONLY because God
bestows upon them the “communication of his light”, then are we not
as play people -- mere playthings -- in the hands of God, in much the same
fashion as a child playing with his toys?
The Apostle affirms this when he states in response to
the question of “For who resists His will?” and writes:
“On the
contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not
say to the molder, Why did you make me like this, will it? Or does not the
potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for
honorable use, and another for common use? What if God, although willing to
demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience
vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” (Rom 9:19-22 NAS).
When the question is asked: “Who resists His
will?”
It is important
for us to recognize the fact that the Apostle does not reply in the manner that
our present-day church authorities would, and respond that each of us has
choices to make in our lives. Paul
does not say this! From the
mindset and perspective of the Apostle, it is easily observed that choices are
not even part of the equation -- but rather: “O man, who answers back to
God?” The Apostle then
goes on to explain that, in the manner of a child playing with his toys, it is
God's right to make some people “vessels of wrath prepared for
destruction”, while He makes other people a
“vessel for honorable
use”. In other words,
there are some people who were created for the express purpose of destruction --
not because they chose such a fate -- not because they had done anything wrong
-- but because in God's predestination, this fate was chosen for them prior to
even the creation of the world. Therefore,
what the Apostle very clearly conveys to us is that the role in life they lived
was not by their own choice, but was brought about solely by the Hand of God.
Regarding these very controversial verses and the
teaching on predestination, the Apostle writes: “It does not, therefore,
depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy” (Rom 9:16
NIV).
If you desire Christ, it is because God has permitted you to be a
believer, and has ignited within you the desire for Christ.
The Bible affirms the position that the choice was not yours to make.
As an example of this Divine Providence in the life of
the individual, the Apostle gives the example of Jacob and Esau, and writes: “For
though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad, in
order that God's purpose according to His choice might stand, not because of
works, but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, The older will serve
the younger. Just as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated”
(Rom
9:11-13 NAS).
What the Apostle is very clearly stating is that, before
either of the twins had been born, before either had “done anything good or
bad”, God not only decided their fate in life, but for no apparent reason,
He hated Esau and loved Jacob. Why?
Paul offers no explanation other than God does what he wants to do -- and
man does not have the right to question God's choices in these matters.
This is especially seen in the words: “Does not the potter have
power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another
for dishonor?” (Rom 9:21 NKJ).
In the Epistle to the Romans the Apostle confirms that we
are mere toys in the hands of God -- and like a child playing with his toy
people -- God will have “…mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom
He desires” (Rom 9:18 NAS). Mankind
is subject to this reality without any reason other than the fact that God wants
to create and sit back and observe the dramas of life that we experience -- and
ultimately, have fun with His play toys in any manner that He chooses.
Moreover, it would appear that those who are destined to what has been
described as the eternal sufferings and tortures of Hell, have received such a
fate only because God enjoys watching such carnage and suffering.
As toys, then, the Apostle tells us that we have no
rights -- and this is confirmed in the words of the Paul when he wrote: “On
the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will
not say to the molder, Why did you make me like this, will it?” (Rom 9:20
NAS). Thus, the Apostle
states to the believer that whether we are saved or judged to eternal damnation,
it is not of our own doing -- our fate was decided prior to the creation of the
world -- and we have no right to question the motives of God -- which motives
include the total annihilation of innocent women and children for no other
reason than God desires the carnage to come upon those who have done nothing to
deserve such a fate.
From a modern Christian perspective, the doctrine of
Divine Providence and predestination gets really scary when it is realized that
God chose who would believe and who would disbelieve prior to the creation of
the universe: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to
be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as
his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will”
(Eph 1:4-5 NIV).
What is being stated is that when God was still in the
stages of contemplating Creation -- prior to what we would relate to the events
written in the very first verse of Genesis 1:1 -- God decided that He would make
a certain group of people who would inherit all the good that He could imagine,
and another group would be plunged into eternal suffering.
Why? Because God
wanted all people to know that He was superior to them -- that they were weak
and inferior beings -- and He wanted them to know that there was absolutely
nothing they could do in order to alter their destiny.
Thus, God created Satan -- a supernatural being that He (God) controlled
-- as an instrument to bring about the defilement of Creation in accordance with
God’s plan. Why?
In order that all mankind would equally be drowning in a sea of inequity.
In this way God could choose from among the race of sinful man -- “in
accordance with his pleasure and will” -- those who He would permit to
inherit the good.
In order to demonstrate to mankind God's absolute power
and authority, it is observed that God often chose the most morally degenerate
men to inherit the good. King
David, for example, was a murderer and an adulterer, as demonstrated by The New
Unger's Bible Dictionary in their sighting under David for First Samuel 13:14: “How,
ask some, could a man after God's own heart have murdered Uriah, seduced
Bathsheba, and tortured the Ammonites? An extract from one who is not a
too-indulgent critic of sacred characters expresses at once the common sense and
the religious lesson of the whole matter. ‘David, the Hebrew king, had fallen
into sins enough -- blackest crimes -- there was no want of sin. And, thereupon,
the unbelievers sneer, and ask, ‘Is this your man according to God' s
heart?’” (Carlyle, Heroes and Hero-worship, 1:277; from New Unger's
Bible Dictionary, originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois.
Copyright (C) 1988).
It would appear that God chose David -- a true sinner --
over Saul, because Saul possessed a conscience, and did not unmercifully wipe
out his enemies, as seen where it is written under the heading of Saul: “But
he disobeyed the divine injunction by taking alive Agag, the king, and sparing
all the best of the cattle and all that was valuable, destroying only that which
was despised and worthless. Instead of pursuing the campaign and finishing the
destruction of the fugitives…” (New Unger's Bible Dictionary).
Thus, Saul failed in his mission -- which was to totally wipe out all the
men, women, children, and everything that breathed among the enemies of Israel.
The Bible teaches that we do not choose God, but rather
God chooses those among us who will be saved -- regardless of their moral
standing. Thus, Jesus said to
his disciples: “You did not choose Me, but I chose you”
(John 15:16
NAS). The Bible goes on to
confirm that no one can come to Jesus unless God permits them: “All that
the Father gives Me shall come to Me” (John 6:37 NAS). On this verse Barnes' Notes writes: “[The Father
giveth me] We here learn that those who come to Christ, and who will be saved,
are given to him by God… All men are sinners, and none have any claim to
mercy, and he may therefore bestow salvation on whom he pleases. All people of
themselves are disposed to reject the gospel, (John 5:40). God enables those who
do believe to do it. He draws them to Him by His Word and Spirit; He opens their
hearts to understand the Scriptures (Acts 16:14); and He grants to them
repentance, (Acts 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25)”.
It is important to recognize the above biblical concept
that “All people of themselves are disposed to reject the gospel”,
and that only those who the Father has permitted to come to Jesus can be saved: “that
to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life” (John 17:2
NAS).
The Book of Acts goes on to confirm that the very mind of
mankind is so controlled by the Hand of God, that only those who had been
predestined and previously appointed to be saved are even permitted to believe: “and
as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed”
(Acts 13:48 NAS).
Of this word “appointed”
or in some translations “ordained”,
Barnes' Notes writes: “The word is NEVER used to denote an internal
disposition or inclination arising from one's own self. It does not mean that
they disposed themselves to embrace eternal life… it has uniformly the notion
of an ordering, disposing, or arranging from without; that is, from some other
source than the individual himself; as of a soldier, who is arranged or
classified according to the will of the proper officer. In relation to these
persons it means, therefore, that they were disposed or inclined to this from
some other source than themselves... They were then inclined by an influence
from without themselves, or so disposed as to embrace eternal life. That this
was done by the influence of the Holy Spirit is clear from all parts of the New
Testament, (Tit. 3:5-6; John 1:13). It was not a disposition or arrangement
originating with themselves, but with God. This implies the doctrine of
election. It was, in fact, that doctrine expressed in an act. It was nothing but
God's disposing them to embrace eternal life. And that he does this according to
a plan in his own mind a plan which is unchangeable as he himself is
unchangeable is clear from the Scriptures. Compare Acts 18:10; Rom. 8:28-30;
9:15-16,21,23; Eph. 1:4-5,11. The meaning may be expressed in few words -- who
were THEN disposed, and in good earnest determined, to embrace eternal life, by
the operation of the grace of God upon their hearts”.
Regardless of what we have been led to believe by those
we look to as religious authorities as they attempt to soften the message of the
scriptures in the endeavor to make it acceptable to a people who appear to
possess more mercy and kindness than does the scriptural portrayal of God, what
the Bible very clearly teaches is that the decision as to who would believe and
be saved was made by God prior to even the first act of creation.
With respect to the beast, the Book of Revelation states that: “all
who dwell on earth will worship it, every one whose name has not been written
before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb”
(Rev
13:8 RSV). Thus, all mankind
has been predestined to worship the beast unless their name was written in the
“book of life… before the foundation of the world”.
This is again demonstrated in the words: “The beast that you saw was
and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction.
And those who dwell on the earth will wonder, whose name has not been written in
the book of life from the foundation of the world” (Rev 17:8 NAS).