The Restored Covenant

          Shalom, peace, unto you. I may say some things in this particular post that shock you. This is because Jesus is not only my Savior and Lord, but also my example and he liked shocking people (and frankly, he still does). Here is where I will show you how I am trying to get back to the faith which was once delivered to the saints, the church that Yeshua (that’s Jesus’ Hebrew name) built. And I hope you find something here that will edify you and help you obtain a closer walk with the Messiah as well.

          This all started with a sermon which my pastor preached a little while ago. It wasn’t an original message but it was the first time I heard it personally. It was about obedience unto righteousness, unto holiness, unto eternal life. It had to percolate for a while in my brain but I came to appreciate its significance.

          It starts with obedience, doing (or at least trying to do) what God wants and has commanded us to do. If you don’t have a spirit of obedience, then the rest of this will do you no good because that’s step one. That leads to righteousness.

          Righteousness is not about having the right spirit so much as it is about doing the right thing; righteousness really means doing that which is right. Of course, the writers of the New Testament do clarify that we need God’s righteousness, not our own righteousness. That means doing what is right according to God, not according to men. Even the apostle Paul (an excellent example of the Jews) spoke of his own righteousness, that it was like filthy rags (and not to gross anybody out, but the original terminology used there was ‘menstrual rags’… disgusting!).

          But how do we know what is right according to God? That requires an education, obviously. And we need to make sure we are being educated according to the Word of God, the Scriptures. The Bible itself needs to be understood as a whole, or in its entirety. What you read in the Old Testament will help you understand the New, and vise versa. My advice: never stop studying the Word of God, and never take the Word of God for granted. Also do not twist, or reinterpret, the Scriptures to make them fit your way that you want to do things or what you want to believe; you should always, always, ALWAYS change what you are doing and what you believe to line up with the Word of Yehovah (that’s the Heavenly Father’s name in Hebrew).  Anything else and you slip back into your own icky righteousness which will get you nowhere.

          At this point I think it’s appropriate to point out that neither of these two things, obedience and righteousness, can be accomplished without the help of Yehovah. The sacrifice that Jesus (or Yeshua) paid on the cross (the ultimate act of mercy) allowed us access to the same spirit that empowered him and helped him to be perfectly obedient to his Father. Yeshua also said that the spirit of truth would lead and guide us into all the truth; that same Holy Spirit which manifested at Pentecost, which is that same spirit of obedience (see the connection?). This is why we can say that by mercy and truth, iniquity is purged. Iniquity simply means lawlessness (in this case, being without the law of God). This brings us to holiness.

          Holiness simply means cleansed, sanctified, set apart, and even devoted. When we allow the Holy Spirit to work fully within us, this is what we become. The spirit of obedience is something you have, you use it to do righteousness, and (because we are defined not by our thoughts or feelings, but by what we do) we become Holiness unto the Lord. ‘Holiness unto the Lord’ is the title literally worn by the priests who serve God in the tabernacle or in the temple. We, as Christians, are called to be priests and even kings under Yeshua haMashiach, Jesus (the)Messiah.

And when this is what we are (when we have overcome the depraved elements of the world), God blesses us with eternal life.

          Simple, right? No? Well don’t worry; I’m not quite done here.

          I want to say more about God’s commandments vs. the commandments of men. God’s doctrine and the doctrines produced by the cerebral contusions of human beings.

          It is a recurring instruction in the Bible: after God gives people His commandments, His instructions (Torah), His truth, His knowledge, and His revelation, He then says do not add anything or subtract anything, do not alter one jot or one tittle, and just don’t touch it. And as such it is a recurring theme in the Bible, what happens to the people who break this simple instruction.

          The very first example of this is in the Garden of Eden. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is thought by many to be a bad tree, because the consequence of eating its fruit or even touching it is death. But Yehovah created this tree like all trees and other plants throughout the world, and He called them good. The reason this tree is good is not hard to grasp (if you’re willing to ditch your Traditions cap for a moment to put on a working Thinking cap) because paradise is, logically and practically speaking, utterly impossible without there being some sort of rule set, or guidelines, or knowledge, concerning what is good and what is not good, what is right and what is wrong, what you should do and what you should not do. It also makes sense that if you should mess, in any way, with such things, you no longer are enjoying the perfect paradise of God.

I know there are people out there who say they take the Scriptures ‘literally’ and so they think Adam and Eve ate an actual piece of fruit like an apple or a quince, but such people are really taking the Scriptures ‘moronically’ because the Bible literally says ‘Tree of Knowledge.’ Since when does knowledge grow on fruit trees? This is obviously a poetic device, probably used because it doesn’t matter what they literally or technically did with that Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. What matters is that they disobeyed Yehovah! And as such, could no longer enjoy the paradise God had made for them.

There have been many instances throughout history wherein humankind does not only break the rules or commandments of God but also invents new laws in their place. The most horrendous example of this is God’s own chosen people, the Jews. The Jews may say that, historically, God’s gotten a kick out of punishing them, and they’ll often conveniently forget to mention that they broke many of his most important laws, the punishment for which He made very clear.

In the Law of Moses (which didn’t really come from Moses, it came through Moses from God) Yehovah tells his people explicitly that they are not to add or subtract anything from the Torah (which literally means instruction). And the Jewish elders and Rabbis have taken out a lot. They’ve also added a great deal, so much in fact that it became quite burdensome for the people who followed them. God also told Moses that one day He would send another prophet, the Messiah, which we must shemah (a Hebrew word which means both to hear and to obey). Jesus gave his disciples many instructions in regards to the law and righteous living, never adding to or subtracting from the Torah. One thing he is especially noted for in the Gospel accounts is breaking the asinine religious rules and customs of the scribes and Pharisees who did not follow the Torah or Law of Moses, but who followed laws of their own invention.

Before I go further regarding the New Testament which Yeshua brought us, I should explain what happened at the very beginning, before the Israelites even became a true nation, and before God had them wander through the wilderness for four decades. At Mount Sinai, Yehovah made a blood covenant with the Hebrews, which they agreed to even before they knew what the commandments were and before they had the Ten Commandments engraved on the stone tablets. God spoke unto the Hebrews and gave them his law (at least, some of it), and afterwards Moses went up to receive the Ten Commandments. While he was still on the mountain, Israel broke the covenant they had made with the Almighty. They had made a golden calf and worshipped it, ruining the covenant which Yehovah made with them; they could no longer be the example to the world God wanted them to be.

This is why Yeshua had to die; the only way to restore a blood covenant (which this was and still is) was for either the offending party (all of Israel except for Moses’ family) to die or for one who had never transgressed the Torah, never broke that covenant, to die in their place. Jesus fulfilled this function. He also counteracted the original sin in the Garden; where by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so then by one man’s obedience many were made (and are still being made) righteous. Jesus said, of his blood that would be shed for many, this is the renewing of the covenant.

‘What are you talking about?’ is what you might be thinking right now. In truth, the words ‘new testament’ never appear in the New Testament except for one place where it’s an inaccurate translation, in the gospel of Matthew.

I’ve recently come into possession of the better translation of the gospel of Matthew, which is the basis for the Corrected King James Version of the Bible. An older more credible Hebrew manuscript for this gospel was recently found and translated directly into English and is what’s used to ‘correct’ the KJV.

Don’t get me wrong though; I don’t mind calling it the New Testament, because it is a new testament. Just don’t get confused; many people hear or read the words ‘New Testament’ and think ‘New Covenant,’ but there’s an important difference. ‘Covenant’ refers to an agreement that’s been made, similar to the word ‘pact.’ ‘Testament’ comes from the same root as ‘testimony,’ a Latin word, which I won’t try to pronounce or transliterate, that means ‘to bear witness.’ In this case the Scriptures bear witness of a renewed or restored covenant, an operation and fulfillment of God’s perfect will in the New Testament, while the Old Testament bears witness to the wretched life one has living under the broken covenant.

So now you might be wondering about the Law of Moses (at least I hope you are) since we, God’s people, are under the same covenant we read about in the Torah.

Remember what Jesus said: ‘Do not think that I have come to destroy the Torah, or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. Truth I say to you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Torah till all be fulfilled. Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments in the Torah, and shall teach men to do so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven! But, whoever shall do and teach them, the same will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.’

If you read this scripture with the spirit to be obedient, there is little doubt what Yeshua is saying. But if you need more clarification I suggest that you read the verses which come immediately before and after because context is a beautiful thing: ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven… (Mat. 5:17-19)… For I say to you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.’

I know, some people read the words of Jesus, ‘Do not think,’ and stop there, but there is no period there; you need to read the rest of it.

Remember that Jesus also said, ‘Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me. I am gentle and undemanding. You will find rest for your soul because my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’

Taking the yoke of Jesus upon ourselves means learning to live as he did, fulfilling the Torah. But the good news is that it’s not a heavy burden, though there are some men who teach otherwise. I’ve recently taken to rereading the Torah myself to learn it in greater depth and so far have found it to be pretty easy (in my opinion, ‘Thou shall not eat bacon,’ is the least of God’s commandments that I have to obey, but I’m still alive).

Another scripture, a very important one, from the gospel of Matthew properly translated is Mat.23:1-3 which reads, ‘After inspecting the treasury, Yeshua addressed the multitude and all of his disciples (who were present in the temple court) for the last time saying, “the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat (they purport to have Moses’ authority). Therefore, whatsoever he (Moses) commands you to observe, that observe and do – but do not follow the laws and works of the Pharisees – for they say (they follow Moses) but do not do (what Moses says to do).’

This illustrates quite plainly I think, that Jesus does not want us to follow man-made religious systems and that he does want us to follow all of God’s commandments which he gave through Moses.

One final argument I can see semi-intelligent people make against this is the debate which occurred in the early church regarding what they called ‘the circumcision,’ a debate which concluded with the decision that states Gentiles don’t have to become Jews before they become Christians, and ergo do not have to go through all the Jewish rigamarole such as getting circumcised. But many foolishly extend that to mean that all the laws of Moses except those that Yeshua taught his disciples were done away with.

What many don’t realize when they say such things is that the covenant of circumcision and the blood covenant made at Mt. Sinai are not the same thing. They are in fact barely related to each other – they wouldn’t be at all related if they involved different people or a different land.

Fortunately, the covenant of circumcision is ridiculously easy to understand. Yehovah promised Abraham that his family would inherit the ‘promised land’ and the sign of that covenant would be one borne in the bodies of the males of Abraham’s family. Others outside of Abraham’s family who wished to join in this covenant were allowed to do so. In fact, during the Exodus out of Egypt, there were some Egyptians who went with the Hebrews and they all had to get circumcised to get a share in that promised land. Gentiles today even, can get a share of the land of Israel, if they enter into that covenant with circumcision, because God’s promises are everlasting; the Bible even goes so far as to say He honors His Word above His name. That’s cool, if you’re interested in a piece of prime real estate, but it’s optional.

The apostle Paul states clearly, ‘He is not a (true) Jew, who is one outwardly… But he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter (or in the word), whose praise is not of men, but of God.’

This spiritual circumcision is not optional for the true people of God who will be given a spiritual inheritance, the ‘promised land’ of the kingdom of heaven.

Lastly, I want to share with you the last words and final witness of one who was a great biblical example of being a true Jew and Christian: Stephen, the first martyr.

Acts 6:7-7:60

6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith. 8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. 10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. 11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. 12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, 13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: 14 For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. 15 And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

7:1 Then said the high priest, Are these things so? 2 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, 3 And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. 4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. 5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. 6 And God spake on this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years. 7 And the nation to whom they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him, 10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.

11 Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. 13 And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh. 14 Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. 15 So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he, and our fathers, 16 And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem. 17 But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt, 18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph. 19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.

20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: 21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. 22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. 23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian: 25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not. 26 And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another? 27 But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? 28 Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday? 29 Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.

30 And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him, 32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. 33 Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground. 34 I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. 35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. 36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. 37 This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. 38 This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: 39 To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt,

40 Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. 42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? 43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. 44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen. 45 Which also our fathers that came after brought in with Jesus into the possession of the Gentiles, whom God drave out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; 46 Who found favour before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built him an house. 48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet, 49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

50 Hath not my hand made all these things? 51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: 53 Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. 54 When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

          That’s a little long, I know, but the reason Stephen was brought before this ‘Jewish’ council, as well as what the false witnesses said about him and his response are all very important.

          I think that is enough for now. I hope you found something good amidst all my words. Yehovah bless you.

The Judgment of Jesus

This topic has been weighing on my heart for a little while and I do think it’s important. Many people may not agree with me; some religious types may even get upset with me should they read this, but I don’t care. I’m just going to tell you what I think, and why, based on the scriptures of the Bible. You don’t have to agree with me, just know where I stand on this topic: judging.

Now, I should clarify first what I mean by the word, ‘judge.’ Many people feel put upon and unfairly treated when someone calls them on the carpet for something they’re doing wrong. ‘Don’t judge me,’ they’ll say, ‘the Bible says you’re not supposed to judge!’ Many people who claim the Bible in such a way don’t even read it. They have just heard the smallest snippets of scripture such as, ‘judge not lest you be judged.’

But the Bible does teach about how we ought to judge things and people, not in a critical or self-righteous way, but according to the teachings of Christ. A lot of self-proclaimed Christians don’t even know what Christ taught, which makes them a living contradiction. In those cases where we actually need to judge something (hopefully those cases are few) we need to lean on the teachings of Christ which can be found in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) of the Bible as well as the various epistles written by his disciples, so that we may judge properly according to what pleases God.

And let me clarify concerning criticism. Being critical of people is a form a judging. People who are familiar with the context of ‘judge not lest you be judged’ are well aware of this and I’ll explain it more later on.

One of the main things to keep in mind (possibly THE main thing) aside from ‘learn what Christ taught,’ to be able to judge as a proper Christian should, is ‘don’t be a hypocrite.’ There were many examples of hypocrisy in Jesus’ day, most of them were called Pharisees. Jesus railed on them more than once for being hypocrites, and he warned his disciples against the ‘leaven’ of the Pharisees, which is a reference to their doctrine (or at least some part of it) which was hypocrisy.

The Pharisees (as well as the Sadducees) were hypocrites in that they burdened the people under them with all the laws, traditions, customs, and standards of Judaism while they themselves were lazy and ungrateful (those two tend to go together) putting forth less effort and suffering less for the sake of the law than the people they had rule over. No wonder Jesus called them a generation of vipers (remember that serpents are not generally spoken of kindly in the Bible). The Pharisees often took the laws of Moses, which were burdensome enough as they were, and added even more to them, creating oppression for the Jewish people. They also came up with traditions and customs which contradicted Moses’ Law and served no one but the Pharisees themselves. And as if that weren’t enough, Moses himself had to create laws for the Jews (not just the Pharisees) the only reason for which was, as Jesus put it, ‘because your hearts were hard.’ Aw, man… that’s bad.

And even after Jesus taught a new law, one that would suffice for those who kept tender hearts before the Lord, there were people (more Jews) who not only wanted the Christians of the early church to follow the teachings of Christ, but also all of the Jewish laws, customs, traditions, etc. which they had been taught to follow their whole lives. This of course was what they whined about after they started sharing the gospel of Jesus with the Gentiles (the non-Jewish) and they never really stopped causing trouble for it either.

Paul and the other ministers discussed this matter and concluded that following the old laws of Moses was not needed to fulfill the teachings of Christ and so the Gentiles of the Christian church were not compelled to do so.

Today, however, I can see that many churches, professing to be Christian, do not follow this pattern; they take the teachings of Christ, often misusing them, misunderstanding them, and sometimes just missing them altogether, before adding a bunch of traditions, standards, customs, rituals, etc. which they say a member of their church must follow or else be ostracized from the group. This, as unfortunate as it is, seems to be a constant with the nature of mankind: unless you do things my/our way, you can’t be a part of us.

Of course, Jesus said things very similar, but his way is a perfect way that leads to eternal life and happiness. Others may try to make a similar claim about their groups and about their methods and about their doctrines, but Jesus is truly the only way, because his is the way that comes straight from God Himself.

In the world, as we see it today, especially in America, we see people trying to win moral and social arguments based on liberalism vs. conservatism, or even try to find a balance between the two, whether it be in politics, or the church, or some other area of life. The truth is, however, that you can miss God just as easily on either side or both sides. You can also get a hold of God on either or both sides. God is the point; He sent His only-begotten son, Jesus, to show us the way to find Him.

When we don’t get God, we get something else. If we miss God on the side of liberalism, we allow earthly and wicked worldliness into our lives and into our hearts; and if we miss God on the side of conservatism, we’ll still usher in that same worldliness, only now it’ll dress itself up with religiosity and self-righteousness.

The point is that we should want God, and God does not want His people to be worldly. Truly, God’s people are full of love, meek, godly, righteous, pure, and clean in their hearts.

Of course, many churches, even the truly good ones, may have certain standards and even certain rituals. Good people know how to use such things to guard their hearts against sin.

For example: a good approach to drinking may be to not drink anything ever, because that way you can’t possibly get drunk.

Being so irresponsible that you actually allow yourself to get drunk is a sin; it says so in the Bible in a number of places (read it yourself) however the teachings of Christ never say that you can’t have any alcohol at all. Drink without getting drunk (a ‘know your limit, drink within it’ kind of a thing).

Now a bad example: so many people in religion today boycott alcohol with such a militant and proud attitude, that they actually will teach their standard against alcohol as if it were a doctrine of Christ himself, that if you drink alcohol, you actually have sinned (which isn’t Biblical) and you can’t be a part of the Body of Christ (which is absurd; Jesus won’t refuse you if you occasionally have a glass of wine or a beer).

Such standards should be encouraged, absolutely, to help people stay away from sin. But even without them, if you follow the teachings of Christ found in the Gospels and the epistles of the apostles, you will not sin.

The best way, of course, to know if someone’s stance and standard against sin is Biblical (and Christian), is to read the Bible and learn the teachings of Christ for yourself.

Nowhere does Jesus say you can never ever drink, and nowhere does Jesus teach that God is actually impressed when you are dressed to the nines for Sunday service (I guess it’s better than you showing up in your underwear or PJs, but somehow I’m not worried).

Jesus does teach to help the needy and give to the poor, Jesus does say that you need to practice forgiveness or else God won’t forgive you (Does that mean you have to forgive all those annoying religious pinheads who say that you have to do such and such which are not in the teachings of Christ? YES), and Jesus does teach quite a bit actually about moral living before you even read as far as the epistles.

One key thing I’ll give you here is the knowledge that God’s concern is with your heart. If you can’t, with a clean conscience, go to church without dressing up first, then get dressed up. But, for Christ’s sake (and I mean that literally), don’t impose such things of YOUR faith onto others. It will very likely engender bitterness, angst, hatred, and dispassion for God and his saints and that poison in their hearts will be on YOUR head.

If you are genuinely concerned for others’ salvation, don’t look at the petty things they do and the habits they have that don’t mean anything in the light of the faith we have in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Look at their behavior; those who are truly ‘presenting their bodies a living sacrifice unto God’ won’t be able to hide the fact of it. They worship with their hands raised (hands are hard to fake) and their voice actually making noise (again, this is hard to fake), they are able to discuss the Bible because they’ve actually been reading it, they receive answers to prayer because they’ve actually been praying, they are able to be happy even in the most miserable circumstances because their joy does not come from the things of this world but from the Lord. Let it be known, ‘God is not mocked’ and such ‘a city’ that is ‘set on the hill’ of the salvation we have in Jesus Christ ‘cannot be hid’. Selah.

Now, I feel that I must admonish you, whoever may be reading this: do not be critical of people, even if they are completely insane. Look at the scripture which Matthew wrote of Jesus’ teaching: Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge a man, you, yourself, shall be judged: and with what measure you measure a man, it shall be measured to you. (Matthew 7:1-2)

That scripture is talking about criticism, an expansion, you might say, on what Jesus taught earlier: forgive or God won’t forgive you. And Jesus is comparing measurement to judgment. Why is he doing that? Because you can’t get to heaven on the coattails of someone else faith; it’s not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. We all have our own faith and our own standards, in case you didn’t notice, but these are for ourselves, not for others. If you look at others through the filter of your personal standards, you will become critical of them, because they won’t fit your measurements of faith. Maybe you have a standard against alcohol, or smoking, or men having beards, or whatever other petty thing that doesn’t really matter to God, who looks at people’s hearts, but is really just a superficial thing. Don’t assume other people have to measure up to your standards.

If it helps, just change the wording slightly. Instead of measure, say… ridiculousness. If you get ridiculous in the way you judge others, then God in similar fashion will hold you to a ridiculous standard when your day of judgment comes.

For example: you might judge another person for drinking a single glass of wine, because if you drink too much wine, you might get drunk, and that’s very bad. God, in similar fashion, may judge you for let’s say… eating all the candy, because all that sugar is unhealthy, and may even lead to diabetes, and that would be very bad because your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and it is a principle of Christ that you be sober-minded i.e. responsible, which that isn’t.

You see it’s ridiculous, yes? But people will amaze you by their capacity for ridiculousness. I, as in my own personal standard, want to be as nice, and as patient, and as forgiving as I possibly can be, because when the day of judgment comes, I want God to judge me in similar fashion.

Lastly, I feel I should remind you; this hypocrisy can be quite divisive, causing unneeded separation between people. Although Jesus did say that he and his teachings would come between people, when he said, ‘blessed are you, when men shall hate you, and persecute you, and shall falsely say all manner of evil against you, for my sake,’ he was referring only to HIS sake and HIS word. He was not talking about the trouble you may get yourself into just for being a religious pinhead or self-righteous moron. That, you should try to avoid.

Remember also that God does hate certain things, and one of the principle things He hates is that which sows discord (creates separation) among the brethren. Proverbs 6:19

If any person says that you have to follow a certain tradition or standard which is not based in the principles of Jesus’ doctrine, otherwise you can have no part in their church or their fellowship, leave that person and that church and find one whose identity is hid in Christ, one whose message is never one of pride (come unto me; I am the best) or one obsessed with superficial tradition (come unto me when you’re properly dressed) but always based in the powerful redeeming love of Jesus Christ (come unto me and I’ll give you rest), and find a church whose attitude towards people is one of inclusivity (whosever will, may come) and not one of exclusivity (whosoever will look and act just like us, may stay).

Now I imagine that there will be two basic groups of people who may end up reading this: the liberal people who deeply want to thank me for expressing my Biblical views against the oppressive tyranny of religious nut-jobs and the conservative people who are seriously offended by what I have to say as it goes against so many of their ‘traditions’ and ‘teachings’ and such.

To the liberals I say, ‘you’re welcome, but seriously… GET A LIFE!’ It does you no good to live in such a way that you’re stuck waiting for some guy like me to come along with a Biblical viewpoint that validates your ‘precious feelings.’ Go and search out Jesus, the one who can really satisfy.

To the conservatives I say, ‘someone had to say it, if not me, then someone else. And you need to take another look in the mirror.’ The Bible calls itself (or the scriptures) a mirror, one that we can look into and use to cleanse our hearts of sin. So ask yourselves: What does God see when he looks into my heart? Have I let my heart become hard towards Him? What more can I learn from the scriptures about such things?

As for the more well-adjusted outliers here, ‘I’m glad you came!’

It is my hope and my aim that I can actually help sincere people find more enrichment for their lives in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Until next time, God bless!

Faith Hope and Charity

          I have a few ideas rattling around in my brain right now. Normally, when I get a new idea, insight, or revelation, I like to sit on it for a while to let it all condense into a more intelligible whole, and in case there’s something more to it that I might have missed the first time it occurred to me. Recently however, I have been receiving insight after idea, one right after another, and I have to start writing them down and sharing them before my brain starts to get them jumbled up.

          This one will be about the following passage in the Bible.

          And now abides faith, hope, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, preferably that you may prophesy. (1 Cor. 13:13 – 14:1)

          Prophesying is not all about predicting the future, although that could come to be a part of it. It’s really about professing the gospel of Christ, sharing God’s truth with others. And the way into that place of prophesying is through faith, hope, and charity. First let’s look at faith.

          Now faith is the confidence in things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen… without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that comes to God must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him out. (Heb. 11:1, 6)

          The main things I want to bring out of that passage are confidence and conviction. Without these things you cannot (and will not) diligently seek God. Believe God exists; that’s the confidence. And be convicted in the knowledge that you won’t get those ‘rewards’ if you don’t earnestly seek God.

          Now let’s take a look at one of my favorite scriptures for describing how to seek out God.

          Blessed is the man who considers the counsel of the godly, and stands for righteousness’ sake, and never shows disrespect or dishonor. And his delight is in the law of Jehovah; and in His law he meditates by day and by night. And he shall be like a tree planted beside rivers of water, bringing forth his fruit in his season, his leaf shall not wither, and everything he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1-3)

          This scripture describes a God-fearing man who is diligently seeking God. And it describes his state of being comparing it to a very well situated, fruit-bearing tree. And, for those of you who don’t know, these are the fruits of the Spiritual man.

          The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22-23)

          So that, simply put, is what faith is and what it produces. But where does it start?

          Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the declaration of Christ (prophesying). (Rom. 10:17)

          Hearing the word of God, the truth, is what produces faith in a person. Because, as we all know, in the fruit of a tree are the seeds needed to grow more trees like it. And right here is where I’d like to insert a bit about the Word of God and how to handle it.

          The word of God is alive and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the parting of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a judge of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb. 4:12)

          That describes how powerful the Word of God is. And take a look at this next scripture.

          Therefore seeing we have this ministry, according to the mercy we have been shown, we are not weary. But we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor. 4:1-2)

          I would like to highlight the part there that says, ‘nor adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves.’ One can use the word of God for evil ends, and without sharing the actual truth about God with others – this often happens, truth be told. Obviously, we should not be doing this.

          Thou shalt not answer against thy neighbor with false testimony. (Ex. 20:16)

          Thou shalt love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt. 22:39)

          The word of God is not just sharper than any other sword, it is a sword.

          And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is a declaration of God. (Eph. 6:17)

          And remember that the word of God is compared to other two-edged swords. Interesting fact: a two-edged sword has two edges, and each edge has its own name; as you’re holding the sword, the edge facing your opponent is called the true edge, and the edge facing back at you is the false edge. Be careful not to cut yourself with the word of God!

          Now, I think we should move on to hope, and how it works.

          Everyone who has this hopeful expectation in God purifies himself, even as God is pure. (1 John 3:3)

          Hope isn’t like some pie-in-the-sky daydream; it’s a real thing that spurs us on to action. And this hope we can have in God causes us to become pure.

          Whereby shall a young man cleanse his way? By keeping Your word. With all my heart, I have sought after you: O do not let me wander from Your commandments. In my heart I have stored up Your promise, that I may not sin against You. (Psalm 119:9-11)

          Again we see mention of seeking after God, with our whole heart. And in our hearts we should hold onto the promises of God. These will keep our hearts and minds pure and free from sin. The following is one of the most dramatic and just plain amazing promises God has given us.

          Have faith in God. For I tell you truly, that whoever says to this mountain, ‘ Be picked up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, whatever he’s spoken, it shall be done. Therefore I say unto you, all things you ask for in prayer, if you believe that you have received it, it shall be yours. (Mark 11:22-24)

          We believe from the heart, because that is where we should be storing God’s promises. The best way to illustrate this is actually to go to the negative side of things, because everybody is familiar with living with the selfish carnal nature.

          It starts with fear, rather than faith, produced in us by the falsehoods we have been taught throughout our lives, promises of evil things rather than good things. Next we start to imagine in our hearts what our lives would be like when we’re subjected to the fulfillment of these promises; this is most commonly known as worrying. We picture all these bad things happening in our lives, and to varying degrees, we actually believe them, even if they haven’t really happened yet. We know this when our blood pressure increases, our pulse is racing, we start to sweat, and our guts start to tie themselves in knots. Our physical bodies actually feel anxious about something that hasn’t even happened, and may never happen. Why? Because our hearts are telling them that it’s real. Afraid of losing or missing out on so much we end up behaving quite selfishly. This fear-worry-selfishness pattern is the exact opposite of faith-hope-charity.

          I’ve often heard charity referred to as selflessness and perfect love which is clearly true. Charity allows us to clearly prophesy (speak the truth) into other people’s lives and plant those seeds of faith rather than fear. This is, in point of fact, how perfect love casts out fear as it says in the following scripture.

          And we know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; and he that lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him. In this is love perfected in us that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as God is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, for fear brings punishment. He that lives in fear is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:16-18)

          We know (faith) and believe (hope) the love God has for us. That’s what allows us to grow fully into charity and produce all that wonderful Spiritual fruit that everyone can enjoy. One last scripture to demonstrate the faith-knowledge, the hope, and the complete lack of fear one can have in the love of God.

          Should this actually happen, our God is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, you should know, we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up. (Daniel 3:17-18)

          This is a powerful statement of faith, given by these three Hebrew men (not children) before the narcissistic king Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the fiery furnace. They know GOD CAN DO IT, they also believe HE WILL DO IT, but no matter what happens THEY WILL NOT BE AFRAID. Many people will tell you about what God CAN do, not ever really graduating up to the hopeful He-WILL-do-it level of faith which creates true, pure charity. And that is because they still hold fear and doubt in their hearts.

          Let me reassure you, all those miracles you read about in the Bible, God can do them for you, in fact, He wants to. He wants to heal your diseases, help you out with your finances, and give you a chance to buy that newest latest cool thing before they’ve all sold out. He wants to bless you, in ways you cannot even imagine. But you cannot be afraid and have doubt in your heart. Ask, seek, knock, and then do it all over again; seek God with your whole heart and you will find Him.

          You may worry about your sins and your faults and your weaknesses. Don’t. They are nothing before the power of God. As a matter of fact, the more messed up you are, the more glory God will receive when He finally moves in your life. So forget about those things that are wrong in your life; all your baggage will sort itself out if you seek out the things God has promised you for the new life you can have in Him.

          That’s all… for now. I hope it was edifying. God bless you!