Who needs the word ‘Trinity’ in The Word to see it?

One of the clearest pictures and most obvious example of the Trinity in scripture is given to us in the gospel of Matthew where it relates the baptism of Jesus in chapter 3, verses 16-17:

“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; (17) and behold, a voice [the Father] from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (ESV)

“And Jesus, when He [Jesus] was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: (17) And lo a voice [the Father] from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (KJV)

“After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, (17) and behold, a voice [the Father] out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” (NASB)

“As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. (17) And a voice [the Father] from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (NIV)

Translation to translation, it doesn’t change even though some of the wording does. Be it the Geneva, Darby, Bishops, King James; nor in the Weymouth, RSV, HCSB, the BBE, CEV, GNB. Not even in a paraphrase like The Message where the description of the event is clearly and always the same.

In Matthew’s gospel account, all three persons of the Trinity are identifiable and simultaneously present. Each one is doing something apart from the other two, and doing something different from the other two.

God the Son (Jesus) is baptized in the water, and anointed by the Holy Spirit of God.

God the Holy Spirit descends on His shoulder and anoints/empowers Him as Messiah.

God the Father speaks of His pleasure at this event from the heavens above.

I don’t pretend that seeing this, and realizing it as truth is anywhere near being able to fully grasp and understand it, but how much clearer does it have to be given to be accepted as existing?

Luke recounts the exact same thing as happening in the third chapter of his gospel in verses 21-22:

Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, (22) and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice [the Father] came out of heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased."

Paul, the greatest of the Apostles spoke of it existing in 2Corinthians 13, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 2, and 5, and Peter expressed it directly in 1Peter 1:2 when he stated how it is put together for our benefit (the Trinity exists for us!!):

“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”

Sure, there is a difference of opinion on the inclusion of 1John 5:7, but the difference doesn’t arise from what it says, merely if it originally said it at the spot in the texts. Proof that no difference of opinion exists regarding what it says can be found in verse 8 (which no one disputes) that begins with, “And there are three that bear witness…”

In Matthew chapter 28, verses 18-20 Jesus Himself says:

(18) And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (19) "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

All I have written here is just scratching the surface of just how often the scriptures speak of, and teach of the existence of the Triune nature of our great God. There are dozens of other verses we could reference, and I would suggest seeking them out and studying them as well, but honestly, I fail to see how anyone can go through even the handful of instances here in this writing and deny the existence of the Trinity; at least for any other possible reason than that they just plain do not want to accept it.

Whether that desire to reject it comes from frustration at not being able to understand the nature of the Trinity more fully (our vanity and pride are always near to the surface), or from some deeper issues (rebellion etc), I don’t pretend to know. I do know that I was baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and only by those three names would I consent to baptize another, in order to do as my God (which they in One are) commanded us.

We can choose to read books and commentaries (and there are hundreds) by the historic church fathers as well as by modern church leaders on the doctrine(s) of the Trinity, both pro and con. Doing this may give a us a deeper understanding of how it works, or a better idea of why it exists than we can manage on our own, BUT…the only thing we actually need to be able to find and prove and accept it, is the Holy Word of God’s book , the Bible, and hearts willing to listen.

Garden of Good & Oil

The Garden of Eden was the most luxuriant incredible piece of living real estate that ever existed; nothing has ever been as beautiful or vibrant.(Gen 2:8-9)

Oil comes from petroleum. Petroleum is a fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are created by the breakdown of life - plant and animal.(Ecc 3:20)

The largest reserves of oil (by a wide margin) on earth lie underneath the area that the Bible says was the location of Eden. (Genesis 2:10-14, Daniel 10:4, etc)

Man's pursuit of oil and the wars it has/will create(d), is ultimately nothing more or less than the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.(Eze 38:2-7)

Only God knows the hour, but make no mistake, the end IS coming.(Rev 3:3)

2/3 - 1/3 - and us

The Word tells us that God created great legions of Angels, thousand and thousands ("ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands" -  Revelation 5:11); that they are without number ("an innumerable company of angels" - Hebrews 12:22).

The Word does not ever teach that people become angels after death; it tells us that angels are a separate creation of God from man - they are NOT glorified dead people. (Luke 20:34-36, Matthew 22:30)

2/3 of these Heavenly creatures chose to remain loyal to God the Father when Lucifer incited his rebellion, and lead by Michael they defended Heaven against Satan and his armies. They are to this very day and until the end of time, still holy, still pure - perfect as they were at the moment of their creation, and they can never have need of redemption by Christ's blood.

The other 1/3 of the angelic host rebelled, allied themselves with Lucifer, making war against Heaven, and were at the end cast out along with their leader. These fallen angels are commonly called demons and they will never be forgiven, they are damned and can never have salvation, never be redeemed.

Neither of these two groups of beings can ever really truly comprehend the indefinable gift God created for mankind in the crucifixion and resurrection of His son Jesus Christ - "Amazing Grace"  is our song alone, ONLY wretches like you and I can be saved by it. Only you and I have need of it. Only you and I have been offered it.

Thank you Lord God for such unspeakable compassion, such bewildering mercy, such unmatchable love. Thank you my glorious King for choosing me, and for allowing me to proclaim your glory to the world! 

"Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." - Jesus Christ (Matthew 13:43)

lorensanders©2011

Asuza Street Shuffle...

Today in 1909 marks a landmark of sorts in Pentecostal history. Under the leadership of evangelist William J. Seymour, the first "group outbreak" of tongues occurred in Los Angeles. The event marked the start of what became a three-year-long occurence known as the "Azusa Street Revival."

The practice of "corporate tongues" is still taught by many pentecostals, and is still a bone of contention among many conservative churches and leaders. The issue is not whether or not the spiritual gift of speaking in tongues is still available to the church today - many will allow for the possibilities; the issue is that how it is practiced, taught, and called-for by many cannot be supported by the sciptures.

Proverbs 6:23

In the KJV, Proverbs 6:23 reads:

“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:”

You’re probably much more familiar with another rendering of this same thought quoted in Psalm 119:105 and other places:

Psalm 119:105 - NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

This bit of verse is a great encouragement, and I have used it and thought on it often, but when I recently came across this variant reading in Proverbs, it struck home much differently.

Rather than instilling a feeling that was light and joyful (which it should), it had a much more serious tone and mood. Good example of how which words we use affect what we say to people!

Proverbs 6:23 - For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

The ‘commandment’ it says. In Hebrew, the word is mitzvah (mits-vaw) and it means law, ordinance, or precept. So “Thy word”, God’s word, is law. And if we back up a few verses in Psalm 119, verses 98-100 say:

“Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. (99) I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. (100) I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

God’s word teaches us all we need to know to overcome our enemies rightly, we understand more than our teachers and philosophers of God because we meditate on what God says, what it means, like we’re doing right now, AND…very importantly…AND we obey His laws.

The verse in Proverbs says that His commandments, His Words, are a lamp to us. There are several variations in the Hebrew, - nîyr nir nêyr nêr nêrâh – that come out as neer or nay-raw. But the primitive root, the proper meaning is “to glisten”, as a candle, a lamp (which means “the burner”).

In Revelation 2:5, Jesus says very flatly: “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”

Whoa! Don’t forget, we fell from grace, we must repent AND do the first works (i.e. live out our faith by our works for His Kingdom), or else! Or else what?

God puts light into us, he sends the Holy Spirit into us to light the dark hole of our souls – fills them with Holy light – saves us. Right? Right.

Well Jesus says here that if we do not repent – if we do not submit to Him, be changed by Him, live for Him, BE HIS…He will remove our candlestick. Our candlesticks (which hold the light they are given) are our souls. Jesus will remove our souls out of His place – His presence, removed from the light – Jesus Himself, forever and ever.

This is heavy stuff. Encouraging? Yes. Uplifting? Yes, when we look at it properly; but “bouncy”? Not on your life. Let’s go back to the verse:

Proverbs 6:23 - For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

So the commandment is a lamp to us, and the lamp is filled with light, and we know that Jesus is light. Light, 'ôr (ore) in Hebrew, illumination, luminary – bright, clear in every sense.

The last half of the verse says that “reproofs of instruction” are the way Jesus leads us through this life and into eternal life. Well, what does “reproof” mean? Going again to the Hebrew this verse was written in, reproof means: tôkêchâh tôkachath (to-kay-khaw', to-kakh'-ath) is chastisement, correction. Psalm 141:5ab says, “Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness:”. And delving back into Proverbs where we started, Chapter 15, verse 31 says: “The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.

Has anyone ever been more righteous than Jesus Christ? No. Has anyone ever been wiser than God is? No. Who better than Jesus Christ to show us the correct way to go, the right thing to do, the proper way to think and act? Right?

And yet, too often when He is kind to us, offering us correction and forgiveness rather than the sentence and damnation we deserve, we refuse it. We refuse to even acknowledge it. We ignore His holy word, or we pick and choose bits we like while we cast away or worse still – create weak interpretations – of the parts that make us uncomfortable, that make us feel bad, that make us look at ourselves in the light, His light.

Proverbs 6:23 is a glorious verse that speaks great and powerful truth to us; it should be inspiring, it should be uplifting, and it should be serious and somberly meditated on; often. It should not ever be candy-coated, it’s light taken too lightly.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. (John 1:1-5)

I pray that we not have the light that is within us be a temporary one only which Jesus removes at the end of days. That we not have our candlesticks extinguished because we grasped only the little flicker that the Holy Spirit placed in us, and never truly took hold and stoked it into the might flame it was sent into us to become.

I pray that we be truly His, and look to His light as the only good and true way to live, to life.

I pray that we be Godly men, and not stumbling around in our own darkness only to find ourselves forever lost when we finally see His beautiful face.

75-80% of Americans profess to be Christians, but…added refrain

In my most recent post I had stated (in reference to John 3) that:

"So what it actually says is "born of water", referring to physical birth, of his mother's womb, whose water breaks in the process of childbirth. That is being born. Born again it says, is being "of the Spirit" reborn, regenerated by God, filled (in-dwelt) with the Holy Spirit: Saved. As Jesus said "born of the flesh is flesh", and "born of the Spirit is spirit"; not baptised of the flesh is flesh and baptised of the Spirit is spirit."

A person whose opinions I hold in high regard mentioned that they felt I was incorrect that Jesus was referring to physical birth at all in the passage, and explained why they felt so. I explained why I think as I do, and that it was okay that we disagreed on this point in this situation. We both agreed that none of us are perfect, and we both have heard others make statements that we disagreed with about more important topics of verse.

I've been thinking a bit about it since then, and find that while I stand by my thoughts on the topic, maybe the problem was one of misunderstanding one another, and if so, that was likely by my doing a poor job of explaining my stance. Given that very real possibility, I've decided to add this secondary post in which I directly quote a passage from Adam Clarke's Commentary On The Bible that is in regards to the section of the Book of John, Chapter 3 in question.

"Every man must have two births, one from heaven, the other from earth - one of his body, the other of his soul: without the first he cannot see nor enjoy this world, without the last he can not see nor enjoy the kingdom of God. As there is an absolute necessity that a child should be born into the world, that he may see its light, contemplate its glories, and enjoy its good, so there is an absolute necessity that the soul should be brought out of its state of darkness and sin, through the light and power of the grace of Christ, that it may be able to see, ιδειν, or, to discern, the glories and excellencies of the kingdom of Christ here, and be prepared for the enjoyment of the kingdom of glory hereafter."

75-80% of Americans profess to be Christians, but…

One day I stumbled across a "Christian Blog Discusion" while searching out some other information. The subject title of the discussion was: "Baptism Guarantees Salvation", and I was intrigued enough to begin reading. I read through quite a large bit more material than what I am going to post-comment on here, but this is more than enough to grasp the thrust of the beliefs and ideas offered on the subject.

To make it easier to follow, I will post comments from the blog in orange, and my comments regarding what they say in light blue. I am also leaving capitalization, grammar, and spelling exactly as they appeared.

"there is not just one thing that guarantees salvation.---batieste on 3/13/09"

Nothing was offered as an example of just what things do guarantee salvation by the writer, but the error is obvious enough in the sentence as it is written. The Bible states quite clearly:

"And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." - Acts 4:12

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. - John 14:6

"batieste" further stated the following in a corresponding post…

"(st.john 3:3-7) you need to be baptised in jesus name and baptised in the holy ghost---batieste"

That passage of the Bible states:

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (3:4) Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? (3:5) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (3:6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (3:7) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

So what it actually says is "born of water", referring to physical birth, of his mother's womb, whose water breaks in the process of childbirth. That is being born. Born again it says, is being "of the Spirit" reborn, regenerated by God, filled (in-dwelt) with the Holy Spirit: Saved. As Jesus said "born of the flesh is flesh", and "born of the Spirit is spirit"; not baptised of the flesh is flesh and baptised of the Spirit is spirit.

"batieste" also posted this:

"speaking in tongues(acts 2:1-4)(mark16:15-20)you need all of that to see heaven says jesus. you also need to repent everyday. even though you have done all of this you can back slide and miss heaven.---batieste"

Sorry. The fact that scripture states that at the day of Pentecost when 3,000 were converted (Go Peter Go!), the Spirit gave them the ability to speak to and understand one another in each other's own tongue (language) is in no way a "proof" of the incorrect idea that many Pentecostals adhere to which says if you do not speak in tongues, you are not saved. The instances of tongues written about at the day of Pentecost can more rightly be seen as a symbol that repenting and becoming saved brought the spiritual reunion of the nations who were scattered in their tongues at the tower of Babel. To attempt to use speaking in tongues as a proof of salvation is utter baloney, and it does nothing but promote people to intentionally babble in front of other church people to attempt to show/prove they are saved. False glossolalia is not only un-Biblical on the face of it, but is also another form of the type of false worship used by Pharisees to show themselves as holier than everyone else.

In the verses from Mark 16, Christ speaks of baptism as regards the influx of the Holy Spirit into one who believes, and when he says they shall speak with new tongues (16:17) "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues", He is inferring that they, having been redeemed unto God, will now speak the words of the Lord to everyone they encounter so that they also may be saved.

"Why debate this? Just do whatever Jesus tells you to do. But, as far as the guarantee goes: Nothing is guaranteed. We have free will which means we can reject our Salvation at anytime we wish.---Natalie2 on 3/13/09"

Just doing whatever Jesus tells us to do is the perfect thing to do…so long as by that we mean what He tells us to do by His words contained in the Bible, not by some vague feeling in the pit of our stomachs as proof of His desires for us, etc. The Word tells us, and anything that is true of Christ will be supportable by the Word.

Arminianism teaches that by your free will one can reject Christ, even after having accepted Him as Savior. This of course opens the door to arguments about being re-saved and re-re-saved and so on as if salvation is a toaster we can keep returning and buying again at the local department store, rather than the most incredible, incomprehensible event that is blessed upon us - who all deserve nothing but the fires of Hell – by the most glorious, merciful, and compassionate lover of our souls: Jesus Christ. You can surely tell that I do wholeheartedly disagree with the Arminian stance on this subject, but I most often hear it so simply and matter-of-factly put from folks who haven't really ever dug into why it is taught to them in the first place.

"were talking about salvation. once you are baptised of the water and of the spirit you are written in the book of life. but you have to maintain living a holy life. 2 Peter 3:17 (New International Version)"

Once you have been saved, not once you have been baptized, no one can erase your name from the book; but you are expected (commanded) to live a holy life unto God.

"if heaven was where war and sin broke out then surely heaven has been tainted with it. Only paradise qualifies where by it remains absolute perfect(no improvements required). ---earl on 2/10/09"

"Jesus stated he is preparing a place for the believers who have once lived for him on earth.If construction has occured then the domain he speaks of will some day compare with perfection but it has beginnings therefore disqualifying heaven as having achieved perfection comparable to paradise.---earl on 2/7/09"

Here is one who decided to attack the subject of Heaven and Paradise by use of really bad eisegesis - he imputes what he wants the text to be saying, and does so by playing on the words in a context of his choosing. Eisegesis as a way of interpreting the Bible is ALWAYS bad, but this instance is about as weak as it gets. So, let's clear this up in one short statement: Christ said He was going to "prepare" a place, not "construct" a place - NOT the same thing at all. Not enough? Okay. If I have company coming to stay with me, and I say I am going to "prepare" a room for them, I mean get a bed ready, closet space, alarm clock etc. If I said I was going to "construct" a room for them, then you could safely assume I was going to build an addition onto my house.

"If we believe that Jesus died for us personally we are saved, and have eternal life with him.---Mark on 1/5/09"

By this simplification, I could sit at a nudie bar stuffing dollar bills into places I shouldn't, snorting cocaine, and shooting people with a .45, and so long as I choose to believe Jesus died for me personally...I'm golden. Not!

First we have to face up to the fact and admit that we are sinners, and as such deserve only death and nothing more (Romans 3:23, 6:23). So we must repent (turn from our sin) before God. We must truly believe and also admit that Jesus Christ is Lord, is God, and ask for His forgiveness. (Romans 10:9, 10:13) We realize and accept that Christ, out of unwarranted love for us, stepped down into humanity and walked as a physical yet sinless human being - God in the flesh, and was crucified - tortured and killed violently on a cross for us, for our sins, so that we might be redeemed - saved. And in doing all of this we submit ourselves unto the rule of Jesus Christ for now and forever as our Master, our Lord and King. Simply believing Jesus came and went for you is meaningless, as it says in James "even the demons believe". Believe AND tremble, the demons (unlike most of us) are wise enough to be fearful of Holy God.

"If someone gets baptised just for social or ritual purposes or just to conform to what your family expect, and without 'authentic belief and confession', would that baptism be valid? ---alan_of_UK on 12/21/08"

In God's eyes, it would not only be invalid, it would a grave sin. One no one in their right mind should ever consider committing. Impress your family by having scruples and integrity – even when it opposes them. And Christ even said that anyone who doesn't put Him high above their parents, family and friends wishes cannot belong to Him.

"Baptism is essential for salvation. <snipped>Baptism is not an option. ---denna9368 on 12/11/08"

Denna started with the incorrect view stated in sentence one, and went on about that point for a while. However, her final sentence - on its own - was actually correct: Baptism is not an option for the believer. God has said in His word that once we are saved we are to be baptized as a symbol to the world that we have died to ourselves and risen as new creatures in Christ who now lives in us and through us to shine His light to others in the world (Galatians 2:20). It's sad how often the things we "struggle" with understanding about God, are really just us looking for loopholes in His word. We all want to live like God gave us the Ten Suggestions, and a little encouraging life-chat on the mount for dessert.

"Actually Baptism guarantees salvation given the time and place of baptism, it allows admission into heaven, it absolves Original sin. 'all' sin is washed away as "a one & first time only" so if you die as an adult 'immediately after Baptism' you get (salvation) admitted.This Baptism of desire repentance as seen By Jesus in the Good thief is a prime example of his salvation.Ps: you should get Catholic First hand information from the correct source.Take lessons!!---MIC on 12/10/08"

Thus speaks the Catechism and the Vatican, but it is not supportable by the text of the Bible itself, and the Bible always stands first and foremost over all other things. If something is true, it will not contradict the Bible, and you do not ever need the Bible plus something else to be forgiven, to be saved, or to have close contact with God. There is one Intercessor given to us by the Father, and that is His son. You CAN be completely assured of gaining entrance to Heaven, you don't have to live your life as if it is all a raffle that can fall apart at any second if you can't happen to find your ticket stub at some point.

" Baptism does not guarantee salvation there is no guarentee to salvation it can be thrown away at any time.but if you have the baptism of the Holy Ghost than as long as you keep the Holy Ghost he is a guarantee but if you lose him you loose your warenty. Calvinism teaches saved by baptism not the bible.---HENRY on 12/9/08"

I'm not using this one to start whacking away at Arminianism, and honestly, it does a good enough job on its own at showing just how vapid much of the folks who hold to that school of theology are. However, I am going to address the last sentence " Calvinism teaches saved by baptism not the bible.". Utter and complete carpola!! Calvinism does no such thing in any way shape or form, and stating such only serves to show that the writer is totally ignorant of what Calvinism teaches, more so even than his ignorant exposition of the Arminianism he aspires to believe.

He ought to get himself checked out while he's still under "warenty".

"Baptism is a very important step in salvation. It is absolutely essentialfor candidates to be baptized by immersion in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. ---lorna5589 on 12/9/08"

"Candidates" she says. That tells you more than enough about how she forms her beliefs about baptism - solely on what someone in a church told her rather than on what the Bible actually says. Candidates! Faith as Fraternity! Sheesh!!

"Baptism is a symbolism which Jesus did once He believed God was His heavenly Father.---Karen on 12/9/08"

This started off okay, but after the first four words it went as far south of okay as I can possibly imagine. "Once He believed God was His heavenly Father" she said. As much as people either cannot spell and have no sense of grammar, or are just too lazy to employ any (or to even use Word's built-in checkers), I appreciate Karen taking the time to be respectful and capitalizing the name of Jesus, He, and God. However, I would like to know where she ever got the idea that Jesus spent 30+ years walking around NOT believing that God was His Father. Jesus always knew who He was, and I'd ask anyone who tried to tell me different to begin by explaining their way out of Luke 2:49 - "And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" He was 12 years old and He was already doing His Father's business as in God the Almighty, not father as in step-dad Joseph's. He was teaching the priests about the scriptures, not hammering together a table for them to place their chalices on during services.

And it just went on and on, page after page of outright junk. There were a few who had their theology and major doctrines right, and fewer of those even who could reasonably articulate it, but the vast majority of the posts (an easy 95%) were of the nature and form I've presented here.

Is it any wonder then that 75-80% of Americans think/profess to be Christians when nearly no one even has a right grasp of what that truly means or how it comes about?

Book of James, Chapter 2, v.15-16

James 2:15-16 - If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, (16) And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

Verse 15 begins with James naming the person(s) in question as a "brother" or "sister". Since James is writing his epistle to the already converted, to Christians, we can confidently presume that he is stating that a fellow believer in Christ is in need ("naked" = without clothing, covering, coat. "destitute of daily food" = hungry, unfed, without sustenance). So, we can say that James is describing a needy brother/sister in Christ.

Verse 16a begins by saying that if we turn them away "Depart in peace" and ends by saying in 16b that we didn't give them what they needed, what good ("what doth it profit?") is our professed faith? If we claim to be Christians, the redeemed children of Holy God, and we refuse to help even those who are like us - who believe in Christ - when they need it, what good are we to the Kingdom? Let's look again at  the first half of verse 16: "And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled;", which is broken into three pieces that work very well for this illustration.
 
•    "And one of you say unto them" - Any Christian that has been asked for help and responds with...
•    "Depart in peace" - Leave. Go away empty-handed but quietly, without causing problems...
•    "be ye warmed and filled" - May you get what you need...somewhere else, by someone else...

Now take the second half of the verse and break it down.

•    "notwithstanding ye give them not" - Though they have need, and you know it, you do not give...
•    "those things which are needful to the body" - This is really two-fold: (1) "needful to the body" as in things that are needed physically by the physical body. (2) "needful to the body" as in things that are needed by the spiritual body, the body of Christ, things needed by all believers...
•    "what doth it profit?" - What good are you to those people in need? What good are you to the work of the kingdom? What good are you...to the body of Christ?

The definition for 'destitute' as used in verse 15 is: Those whose souls have been laid bare. Bare. Without. Their bodies are...without. Their souls are...without. And you, a professing Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, a servant of the Lord, send them on their way in exactly the same state as when you encountered them. So then, what profit has come of your "faith"?

Psalm 102:16-17 says: "When the LORD shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory. He will regard the prayer of the DESTITUTE, and not despise their prayer."

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:3, 5:5). The Lord God when He appears in glory, will "regard" their prayers, and not "despise" them.

Do you think that God will not hold to your charge that those prayers which could have been answered by you, His agent on earth, went unheeded until He returned? Is it not our duty, our oblagation of love to Jesus, to do as He told us to do? To follow in His footsteps, walk as He walked, do the work given of the Father? What did Jesus do when He met those in need? He filled their needs. Jesus never brushed someone aside with a W.C. Fields wave of the hand and a snide retort of "Go away kid, ya bother me!" Jesus met peoples needs. Day after day after day. He met their needs when they brought them to Him, and He met their needs by going and seeking them out. He provided to them those things which were needful to them.

At the start of His ministry, when He returned from his 40 day battle with the worm in the wilderness, He went into the temples and synagogues and taught; and then when He got home to Nazareth, He went to temple on the sabbath day to read...

Luke 4:17 - "And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias (Isaiah). And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written,"

And He read from Isaiah, although it reads as slightly paraphrased in Luke...

Luke 4:18 - "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,"

(In Isaiah 61:1 it reads: The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;)

So at the outset, Jesus stated very publicly that He
•    Had the Spirit of the Lord upon Him - He had the power of the Holy Ghost
•    God had anointed him to preach the gospel - He had been called to it
•    To preach to the poor (meek) - Needful people
•    To heal (bind up) the brokenhearted - Needful people
•    To preach deliverance (liberty) to the captives - Needful people
•    To give sight to the blind - Needful people
•    To free the bruised (bound) - Needful people

He concluded the reading by telling them that it was what He was there to do; that on that day, He was letting them know, the scripture as recorded by the prophet Isaiah was now fulfilled (Luke 4:21). Christ continually extolled this mission to His apostles during His ministry on earth, that they should follow in His footsteps, and after His resurrection and ascension they did follow Him...all the way to their deaths they followed Him.

He was the light in the world, they were lamps after him; reflecting Him, just as we have been called to do. We should be going into all the world preaching the gospel to every creature as He did and said to do(Mark 16:15). If we are unwilling to even reflect Jesus among ourselves as James speaks of, how then will the world ever come to know Him? If we will not share our lamp oil with another needy brother or sister in Christ, how can we possibly expect Christianity to be a beacon shining on a hill, drawing the lost to salvation?

Let's read the two verses we began with again...

James 2:15-16 - If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, (16) And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

Meditate on what this text means to you yourself; to your walk with Christ. When you do, adjust it to modern English, or at least, adjust one section to modern English "be ye warmed and filled". If each and every one of us who claim to be servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, would prayerfully meditate on these two verses, changing that one simple section to it's modern equivalent, I truly believe that the church would see a huge transformation within the body; and if the body be transformed, then so could be much of the world. This change in language is really simple, and I've found it to be personally very convicting...

King James = "be ye warmed and filled". 
Modern English = "but I will pray for you".

Book of Acts, Chapter 17, v.28

 "For In Him We Live, And Move, And Have Our Being; As Certain Even Of Your  Own Poets Have Said, For We Are Also His Offspring."

Too many folks pick and choose individual verses to create a doctrinal standpoint that suits their desires; and nearly the planet entire misquotes or at  least wrongly uses one or two verses on a regular basis. Generally to defend themselves or their actions against truth, such as the ever popular "Judge not!" that is flung about as casually by professed Christians who ought to know better as it is by secularists who ought to learn better.

It's never ever a good idea to build a doctrine on one verse of the Bible, as you  are pretty much guaranteed to end up with a false doctrine. Take a long look towards the Vatican for an immense example; all of Roman Catholicism from the Pope on down is built on one verse (Matthew 16:18), and that one verse misinterpreted to provide the meaning wanted.

False teachers, false prophets, are all knowable for this exact thing. If you listen to them for any amount of time, you'll know  they are lying, and at some point the basis of their lies will show itself in what they teach/offer.  Even the lost will know they are lying sooner or later, or else they'd have an excuse at the judgment (Romans 1:18-20). They will offer no support verses or texts, or if they do, they will be obvious misquotes or perverted ones taken entirely out of all proper context. All of the "name it and claim it" types do this, all the "seed theologists", all the "prosperity" proponents, all of them. TBN is positively rife with this garbage, and it has a clear presence on other religious networks and networks offering religious programming as well.

That isn't to say that all preaching on television is by false profiteers, there are some good solid God-fearing and truth-teaching folks on television, but the majority of it is not only worthless, but dangerous as well.

This verse (Acts 17:28) has struck me time and time again as being an obvious choice for pseudo-Christian pantheists and universalists to point to in order to promote the falsity they choose to follow. By separating it from the context of the passage, it becomes quite easy to twist it unto their use.

"for in Him we live"...we are all alive within God, and we live in Him because He is everything, the whole universe, that's why we...
"move, and have our being" in Him, because He is in all things, in all beings everywhere. 
"your own poets have said"...this is not a new concept, people have always known this, and the apostle Paul was teaching that very thing, but legalistic folks with fundamentalist mindsets could never quite get it, so they condemned it instead.
"we are also His offspring"...we are God's kids, we are all of us God's children;  so since we are His kids, and we are of Him, and we live and breath inside Him, we and we have God living inside of us,...we are Gods! You,..me,..all of us, are,..Gods!

Each of us IS his or her own God, how cool is that???

See just how easy that is to do? Granted I spent an awfully long time as a devil;s advocate, but anyone can do it easily, all you have to do is start with appealing to people's vanity...and then stay on that horse.

Just like that, in a passage that should be giving  insight about God to the reader, one verse can instead be raped, fouled, into outright and complete heresy. All false teachings ultimately lead back to the same roots: our not wanting to be held accountable for our actions (i.e. being rightly judged), and our wanting to be God and having the whole world worshipping us as we worship ourselves and our selfish desirous natures.

If we are all God, or a part of God, as these teachers say, then we only need answer to ourselves, not to God, nor to one another - no one can even claim otherwise.

"Free will"  then means we are free to do anything, no matter how vile or evil it is because we are not held accountable. And since we are "all God's children", we are all then going to go to Heaven, because no one - especially  not a loving and "Good God" - would send their own kids to something so horrible as Hell right? So then no one is going to have to go to Hell, it's just a misinterpretation of the Bible, or the scriptures have been somehow sullied by men's hands, etc; what sense does it make to even have a Hell at all if everyone is going to Heaven to be with their/our "dad" - God. We will all be saved, even satan. Yes, even satan! After all, he's God's first child isn't he? He'll be forgiven and brought back home just like everyone else.

So heck, you don't even need your fire insurance since there is no fire to be feared! No need to repent and be saved, you're saved already because you belong to God just like everyone else! It's a big Win-Win for the whole wide world!! Now who's for a sing-along of Kumbaiya and some Smores?

Creepy stuff isn't it?

But that is how easily false doctrines first lead us away from the foundations of truth, and then eventually, from any semblance of real truth at all.

ALL false doctrines and teachings will ultimately lead to some form of pantheism, universalism, or some blending of the two, even atheism. Why? Because they allow us to proclaim ourselves as the center of the universe, to hold ourselves on high, to worship us. Idolatry, pure idolatry, and in it's most insidious and popular form: self-idolatry. I love me and you should too!

It's only two verses later that God commands ALL men, EVERYWHERE, to repent of their sins. Why? Because he won't blow it off ("wink" at it) any longer, and He has chosen a day in "which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained". Not He will judge the world AS righteous, He will judge it IN righteousness - the world will be judged as it deserves to be; and it will be done by the one God chose to do it, the "ordained" one, His son, Jesus. Jesus Christ, "whereof he hath given assurance unto all men," - through the resurrection of Christ from the dead we were/are all given the promise of either eternal life OR eternal death.

After being pretty much chased out of two other cities for preaching the gospel and converting people to Christ, Paul (who was in Athens waiting for the return of Silas and Timothy), had his spirit "stirred in him" when he saw that the entire city was "wholly given" over to what? ...Idolatry! "wholly given" - everyone was doing it! And Paul being Paul, he started preaching all over the place - in the synagogue, in the market, in the streets.

Since the Athenians spent all their time always looking for the "newest thing" they could find (that sounds more than a little familiar doesn't it?), they asked Paul to come and tell them all about it, since what he was saying was "new" to them. And Paul of course jumped into the ring, and began teaching them about God. He began by going right after the elephant in the room: their idolatry (much like Jesus who always went right to the heart of a matter with all the folks he dealt with too).

He mocked the fact that they had idols to everything you could think of, that there was even one inscribed "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD". Since they were dumb enough to create idols to Gods they didn't even know about - what a perfect starting point to tell them all about...the God they knew nothing about! The one true God!

The God who made the Heavens and the earth, who made all things, who made everything. So what good is a temple that does not hold what cannot be held: He who holds all things within His own hands? Why make a chair or an altar or a pile of food for one who needs nothing, who gives life and breath to all things?

The one true God. The one who wanted "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us" (v.27a). If they would look for Him "haply" - with a right spirit/attitude for the joy of knowing him, they would find him. They'd find him easily in fact because "he be not far from every one of us" (v.27b). Why is He never far away? Because "in Him...we live...and move...and have our being"(v.28a) like we said back at the start. Not because we are "all God's children", we're not; but because we are all His "offspring" - ginomai (ghin'-om-ahee) in Greek. It's a verb that means to cause to "generate", to come into being, to BE...CREATED.

We are all within God's creation, and we are all creations of God.

None of us are Gods, none of us are outside of God's creation, none of us are outside of His wrath, and absolutely none of us are outside of the desperate need of a loving and merciful Savior.

Lord God, harpoon the hearts of the hardened with the pure spear of your Holy Spirit, drag each of them kicking and screaming into the glorious light of You where they have no ability left to do anything except submit. Do this  just as you did with each of us who has been mercifully redeemed Father, lay the weight of your irresistible grace upon their shoulders until their knees give way and they kneel before you in complete surrender.  Bring as many as you will to repentance, to redemption, to a home forever with You. In the beautiful and powerful name of Jesus Christ - Amen!