Killing Jesus Again

Bill O'Reilly and Martin  Dugard wrote the book Killing Jesus among several others. Mr. O'Reilly told the story of Jesus' crucifixion, but it was the mere killing of a man which he told. For me unless the theme is "killing God", the only significance it has is that another sinner died that day as we all are destined to do!

Most people in the western world know of Jesus' crucifixion and the significance for salvation. It was God's ultimate sacrifice... himself, to pay for all the sins of all mankind; past, present and future. As such, there is only one sacrifice that is required, unlike the priests who continually submitted innocent animals to their death to pay the penalty for sin.

Because their is one death there is one "born-again" experience. Some call this "saved", because those born-again shall be! Just as there is one birth there is one rebirth. One rebirth only requires one payment for sin. Hence, there is only need for one crucifixion. Let's look at what Paul said about that:

Romans 6:4 "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."

"Enlightenment is being "born-again". It is when a person is "born of the spirit" (John 3:8).  That's the acceptance of God's inspiration that since all men sin, they can be saved, if they acknowledge that none can save themselves, but Jesus can by his own death on the cross!  Abraham Maslow called spiritual enlightenment the "peak experience" and indeed it is! However, he missed one point; it MUST BE faith in Jesus Christ! (Acts 4:12).

There is one peak experience. If there could be more they could not be "peak".  There is one "realization" that Jesus' death is the only way to salvation. Why? Because God chose only to die one time! There was one crucifixion. Now what if people had to be "born-again" again and again?

Those who have been enlightened have accepted God's gift which is the Holy Ghost. Those who are born-again have Jesus alive and well within their soul. It's not just God's Holy Spirit, God's essence, but now the "Ghost of Jesus" because God's Spirit experienced death on the cross as well when God forsook Jesus. (See my earlier blog on this doctrine at GHOSTS).

Jesus has one "Ghost" because he has one identity and because he died already and can only die a physical death one time! Therefore, my premise is that the crucified Jesus lives within each person who is born-again, and as such, the New Birth since Jesus' death is when Jesus' Holy Ghost enters into the soul of the new Christian!

If being born-again is being "saved", it is only possible to be saved from eternal death one time! If one was to "fall away", it is technically impossible to be "saved again" because that would imply that salvation from ETERNAL death can only happen more than once!

Those who interpret scripture have one of two beliefs: 1) that falling away is impossible or 2) that Christians can fall away. These two opposing doctrines are called "eternal" and "conditional" security, respectively. These passages confirm that "falling away" IS possible, so Herrin Doctrine is weighed toward conditional security; i.e., it is possible for those born spiritually to die spiritually, and "shall be saved" is at any time in the future. I believe that future time is at the time of mortal death.

If it were possible, and it's not, to be "renewed" or "born-again AGAIN" then those who did that would be crucifying Jesus again by shaming God. That shame is failure to accept God's sacrifice which he has already done once and for all! That would be killing Jesus again!

I am going to stretch doctrine a little bit now. For those Christians who are "born-again" and are not changed persons which they become at the new birth, they kill Jesus all over again and time and time again! It's a spiritual killing because as they continue to live in sin, God's gift to mankind is shamed.

The born-again experience is when they reason, "I must have Jesus to be saved!". This reasoning is thought before they see the light. That thought is faith, and it's by faith anyone shall be saved. Living a life of sin is remaining the "old person" while professing to be a "new person". The old person, the one who died when the new one was born, can only die once. At the time one first believed, that old person died. He cannot be resurrected. The new person took his place and lives forever... unless his faith dies. "Faith" or "trust in the purpose in Jesus' death' is for the duration of life. It is not merely at the instant in time at the time of enlightenment; it's STEDFAST faith which saves!

Jesus had an "Old Person" too. He was innocent, but carried all the sins of mankind on his back as he died for all mankind. His old person was burdened, not by guilt, but by our sins. When Jesus died he too became a "New Person" because all those sins were taken off his shoulders and buried in hell! They are dead forever never to rise again! Jesus can never be the "Old Person" again with that burden of corporate sin because they have all been paid! The "Old Person Jesus" can never be killed again for there is no need to ever do that!

When one lives a life of sin,  it puts God's sacrifice to shame. It's Satan's endeavor to put sin back on Jesus' shoulders again, and that Old Jesus has already died. The New Jesus, his body now in heaven and his Ghost omnipresent already IS. Jesus will never have two Ghosts because he lives right now!

Now for the point I'm making: We will fail God, but we must hang onto our faith. We are in danger of leaving faith behind when sins are too many and too grievous. It's not that Christians lose their salvation, but Satan deceives them into giving up their faith.

They have some faith at the time of their rebirth. A little later those who fail to  live the life of a changed person, lose a little more faith as they sin a lot. Perhaps they feel guilty, but sin anyway. The pleasure of sin draws them further and further away as sin compounds until faith erodes as God has no governance in their lives. Right then and there is the time when for them Jesus is needed to die again for them, but that can't be done. Sinners who are in apostasy, dig the Old Sacrificed Jesus up from his death and put him back on the cross. They have a need to kill Jesus again, but that can't be done!

What are sinning Christians to do? Change! Quit behaving and acting like the Old Person behaved and acted. Quit killing Jesus' again by shaming God by being unrighteous!

Look at the modern church. The Nicolatians have moved back in; those who practice the sin of Balaam. The modern church is now about wealth, prestige, pleasure; all the same fruits hanging on the forbidden tree. The church has become a den of thieves because they steal from God what is God's. The church is Holy Ground. Light shows, smoke and thundering bands are for the pleasure of the other gods; those corporate "selfs" who each seem to worship besides God.

When titles such as "Dr.", "Reverend", "Father" and such are the focus of the church it is the other gods being worshiped.

When unrighteous Christians are allowed to teach or preach, it's crucifying Jesus all over! It's killing Jesus again!

When the money goes for high pay and towers of Babel, it's for the other gods besides God. He has little use for those temples for mankind when he is the one who allegedly lives in the hearts of Christians. His Ghost takes no space and wherever Christians are is Holy Ground.

Sure we need buildings for teaching and studying the word. We can even praise God in those buildings. However, those buildings have become those obelisks of old where the people try to see God, but it's the building that prides the people who build it.

There is as much immodesty in the church as on the streets. Nearly as much cleavage is displayed at church as on the beach. Women and men dress in expensive apparel and Sunday becomes a fashion show. God doesn't need all that. He merely wants sincere hearts circumcised from all that!

Churches split because of the music. It's to God we must sing. People complain about the music because "I don't like that kind," but it's to God that we present it. The music of the world should never enter the church. We sometimes fail to know the difference, but God does! It's when it's for man and not him. If what we see and here is for our entertainment, it's not from God.

"Rock-and-Roll" can never be holy. God doesn't allow sin in to be in his face!

"Rock-and-Roll" means "back seat sex", going back to the late 1950s. Music which is used to tantalize is never holy! That doesn't negate the use of contemporary music of course, but it does the show behind it. God doesn't need incense any longer. His incense is our love. Smoke and mirrors aren't required to please God, but bowed knees are!

We are entertained six days a week. Our lives are full of fun. Sunday is for God and it is to be holy. On that day we are to do things God's way and God's way is one of praise, not entertainment. It's the day which we all should fast our pleasures and focus on the will of God.

Stop the killing! The church is dying and God is shamed by it. We can never kill Jesus again, but we endeavor to do so by putting him to shame. It's his church where Jesus is being killed. Please, please, stop the killing of Jesus!

Saved By Grace: Living with Hope

Continuing on in Romans 5, after looking at redemption and justification, the "process" of going from "criminal against his Majesty" to "one who serves the Master" is called "grace". Of course I'm speaking of the sinner whose status goes from "damned to eternal punishment in hell" to a saint who is given "the hope of salvation" by life in eternal paradise!

Even a fool should want eternal life! Even an atheist longs for eternal bliss! Some know that they don't deserve it, others believe it doesn't exist, others take it for granted, others misunderstand it and others reject it, although their belief is that it is true.

Life is all about time. From the time a person is born and the eyes are opened to the concept of death is realized, "dread" is the malady for all. It steals contentment, happiness and joy; until it's replaced by "hope". Salvation, or at least "safety", takes all people who will believe, from dread to hope. The process providing hope to the dreadful is "grace".  Grace is the flow of love from God to mankind!

Grace is dependent on love. Without love grace cannot be! The fuel which stokes the fire of love in God's "chest" is our own faith. Of course God loves even the unfaithful, but it is faith which makes love flow.

Before we proceed with grace, let's look at "works".  Examine verses 19-20. In verse 20 "the law" was given such that sinners are aware that they indeed sin. The Law is there such that without excuse all men know that they are law-breakers, or divine criminals.

Romans 5:18 "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."

As men sin their degree of criminality increases. It's much more likely that a hardened criminal will seek reprieve of all his many sins, than a person will for "mild" sins, if that word can even be used. God tells us that the one who sins the greatest, when forgiven, shall love him the most! Great sin leads to great grace! Of course it's not that we are to purposely sin greatly to get great grace, but even if we have sinned greatly, grace abounds more!

Since abounding grace is what God bestows and what sinners should desire, the giver of grace is the object of faith on whom the sinner relies. The purpose of grace is for sinners to quit relying on their own limited power for salvation because indeed they are powerless. Divine criminals who are given a second chance are given new life by the Supreme Judge. It's his gift to the criminal! (Verse 18).

Therefore, no person can "work off" the crimes because the judge is willing to decree the guilty person to be innocent. That payment is not an option! It is serve the time or accept the reprieve! That's done because The Judge is gracious and because he loves us so!

It is an insult to God's authority when us divine criminals have the audacity to believe that we can work it off! For instance, when I was a teenager I felt unworthy to be forgiven. Indeed I was! Because of that truth, I tried to "work off" my iniquity by being "good" for a spell. I didn't know how long a spell that would be, but some forsaken angel, told me "No matter... go for it." I waited patiently for the day that I would be "good" enough to face God for redemption. Since only God is good, my efforts were laughable if I had not been so pitiful!

God wanted me when I was "worst of the worst". One day it occurred to me and "WOW!",  I gave up being "good" and went for sentencing as a hardened criminal. There grace abounded! I was redeemed by Jesus who paid my bail, and received the hope of salvation. I went from despair because of the futility of trying to save myself, to hope by going to court in my striped uniform, handcuffed to another invisible wicked criminal!

The instant in time when I realized that I couldn't save myself, and only Jesus can, is when I was born-again. My criminal record was destroyed by God's payment of what was due, and I started life again without the burden of being a law-breaker on my record. I was happy because of God's grace, I now had hope! I got a new start and had my life back, just as a new born babe.

It should be obvious that the flow of love, which is grace, is "being forgiven of my sins" although I deserved death. "Grace" is because we have a loving God who gives us millions of chances, but we better take the first one, because another may not be forthcoming. Rejection displeases the Judge and he limits his grace to those who desire it. He is a jealous God and even tires of us trying to save ourselves. "We" are the "gods" who are not to be followed! Salvation is not through ourselves, but is of God.

In verse 21 sin "reigns". By that it means until the time of our death, we are in danger of breaking the law again, but everybody will anyway! However, grace reigns too! It is not the cross-section in time when a person is born again, that grace reigns, but endures until one mortally dies, and lives in Spirit forever! Grace "out reigns" sin.

Grace is abundant, but can never be taken for granted! It's faith which fuels it's flow. Even those with a little faith get grace, but those with no faith get no grace. Grace is a gift of God (verse 18), meaning that those in iniquity must accept the gift, and those living righteous must keep the gift. It can't be accepted then discarded. The faithful by obedience, are those who demonstrate their faith. Faith is the invisible attribute which holds the hand of grace as we walk through life. Faith is ours and grace is God's. In unity they shall arrive to receive the prize. Out of unity there death awaits and hope decays.

In verse 20 it can be seen how faith and grace walk in unity. It is by righteousness. That is the atmosphere in which those with the hope of salvation must walk. If they step out of righteousness into the polluted atmosphere of sinfulness, faith is diminished and grace is taken for granted. Only God knows the time outside righteousness into pollution before faith is suffocated, but we never should want to test the limits. God is patient, but he's does get tired of his own jealousy. He just may hand you over to "you" and see "how that works for ya' "

Being righteous is when one is set apart from the world and becomes a citizen of God's realm. Of course it's on a visa, but it never expires unless a person throws it aside. In God's realm the law is libertarian. Therein it's citizens are allowed to sin at will, but God relies on them to show love by being obedient of their own volition. He is a permissive parent, but his permissiveness is dependent on your willingness to do his will.

The pardoned criminal takes off the striped prison suit, because Jesus wore it and cleansed it with blood. The criminal is given a new white suit and released to the world with new personhood. Rather than undermine God, his new vocation is to tell others about Jesus. He is to sell grace to the world by advertising from whence it comes. Tongue-in-cheek, but true, the righteous person is a commodity salesman. His product is God's grace!!

Those living in God's realm are to be righteous and they are set apart from the world. That separation is called sanctification. That commentary is for another day.

Aint God gracious to save such sinners as we all are? Accept that gift right now and breath that pure fresh air scented with hope! Therein  grace abounds and hope is without limit.

Justification

Please review both yesterday's commentary and Romans Chapter 5.

Romans 5:5 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 11 ... we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.18 ... by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."

"Justification" is just a big word meaning "to make right". Before a person is made right, first it should be known what is wrong. The wrongness is sin. Simply put, God has standards of living for all humankind. Sin is "missing the mark" with one or more of those standards, and in effect all are missing the mark of "loving God". God loves each and every person and expects love in return. Love is both a work and an emotion. We are commanded to love God (work), but out of gratitude for grace, those sinners strong feelings for the one who saved them (emotion).

Think on it this way. We love our father because he sired us. When people are born usually there is a natural bond between parent and child. When anyone is "reborn" there should be an affection for the one who loves us. We should at least love the Father as much as the father, but even more! The biological father births unto sin, but our spiritual Father births us from sin! We should love him so that we never want to displease him, but even if we do, jut like our natural father, he still loves us so!

The "given" is that we all do wrong. We all need "to be made right".  The payment is already there for the penalty. Justice is that we face the penalty for our wrongness, but Jesus paid our fine. In effect he "redeemed", or paid the ransom for us, from God's vengeance for our doing wrong!

How did Jesus redeem?

Romans 3:25 "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;"

1 John 2:2 "And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

"Propitiation" is Jesus appeasing God for us. It's him receiving the punishment which we deserve to make things right again. How did he do that? He died in our place! We know that we deserve death for our wrongs. God tells us that. Without the shedding of Jesus' blood there is no forgiveness of sins:

Hebrews 9:22 "And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."

In order to be made right again (remission of sins), those wrongs must be cleansed with blood. Before Jesus came, he provided the animals and their blood was shed until the Lamb of God came, then he shed his own blood. Salvation was always by the shedding of blood! The patriarchs knew that the blood of lambs represented the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) who was to come.

The shedding of blood is a living sacrifice for our sins. For that, we never have to shed our own blood. The forgiven person presents themselves a living sacrifice. What that means is that the sinner is willing to change. He is willing to submit the old ______ (your name here) for a new ________ (your name here). The change is from adversary to disciple! Disciples are those who are willing to do the Father's will.

When Jesus died, all mankind was redeemed. He paid the price for all because all have sinned and missed the mark.

Now we are at this point in the process: temptation > sin > guilty > convicted >  guilt >  sorrow > repentance > forgiven > redeemed.

Of course redemption was long ago. Rather than "redeemed" maybe it should be  "acceptance of our redemption". The sinner must believe that Jesus paid the price and has the ability to save. That is faith. Faith drives a person to accept Jesus and in doing so, it's Jesus who saves through faith.

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

God's part is grace. Your part is the acceptance of his grace. That is trusting God, called faith.

When the process is complete, the sinner has been "justified". Jesus has made the sinner right! The sinner is restored to where he was before the sin. God forgets the sin!  It's erased from his divine mind because he has the power to do that!

"Justification" is NOT "just as you never sinned." To be, that it undercuts the gift which God bestowed. That forgiveness is a great gift and it must never be forgotten. It should be opened and put on the mantle for all to see. One should never forget the sin, but be thankful for the payment.

"Justification" is "just as if you did sin, but are totally forgiven!" It's when the sinner is made right. You did it and God forgave it. That must never be forgotten. If it were "just as if you never sinned", that elevates the person to the level of Jesus. That just aint right!

Process Leading to Justification

Romans Chapter 5 is all about grace, justification and change. Paul says so much in this chapter that in presents God's original Plan for mankind all the way from Adam to Moses to the end of time. Paul was certainly inspired to piece together what Moses had written about God's Plan and apply it to the purpose of Jesus Christ! As such Adam is all Jesus and the Law is all about grace since it is the meter which measures iniquity which convicts sinners to accept God's free gift of grace.

Romans 5:5 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2  By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 11 ... we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.18 ... by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."

(Please study these passages. For today's commentary what leads up to justification is discussed.)

The short definition of grace is "the unmerited favor of God toward man". Because we're sinners, all men deserve death because we all miss the mark. The standard of love is the Ten Commandments. Most people have broken all ten points of the Law, either in deed or thought. However, even for those who claim to have broken only one, they have broken them all!

How so? For instance if one person lies against another. That lie is a display of hate. God equates hate with murder (1 John 3:15). This same verse gives the justice haters deserve... death!

When a person comes to the realization that he is guilty, that is conviction by the Holy Spirit. The chain of events starts with sin in response to temptation. Sin is when a law is broken. When one breaks the law he is guilty. Up to that time, the individual is responsible for his own behaviors or thoughts. Satan never made any sinners sin... EVER!

Each sin is a personal choice to either pleasure, empower, or provide wealth to the person who sins. Satan is not even there! He has no power to be everywhere, but he did plant desire in the heart of Adam and Eve. We all inherited desire, and as such the locus of our desires are to satisfy the flesh. We become god in our own eyes and the flesh is our idol.

When one recognizes that he disappointed his Father, this is called "conviction". The crime is committed and God has caught you in the act for he is omnipresent, unlike Satan. His Holy Spirit convicts the sinner. So far their has been sin > guilty of the sin > conviction.

With conviction there are two choices: 1) Feel "guilt" or 2) be apathetic.

Conviction  can come before the person even sins. The Holy Spirit will say "What you are bout to do is wrong... of what you did is wrong." Most of the time it is my belief that people willingly sin after being forewarned of God! That's why Adam's original sin was called rebellion.

Of course some sins are passive and some even accidental. The most grievous are those done willingly and with forethought, just as in a court of law.

Apathy is when the sinner feels no remorse for sin or even proceeds to sin without feeling conviction.. He cares not that he has offended God. Why? Because it's his god of self who is worshiped, and as such, God isn't part of the picture. A person who never feels guilt is reprobate. In psychological terms the extreme case of one who never feels the emotion of guilt is psychopathy!

"Guilty" is a verdict. It's the time the sin occurs. It is the status of the person who commits the crime. The standards of measurement are two: failure to love God or failure to show love to God by not loving others. For example, if a lie is told to or about another, it's an act which lacks love. By lying hate is displayed. "Hate" is not "meanness", but actually "a lack of love".

"Guilt" is an emotion. It's the set of thoughts and feelings which arise when a person is caught! The "detective" when any person sins, is God. He is always there and is omniscient (all-knowing). Nothing is done in secret because God detects it!

We have all felt guilt. It's hard to explain, but in a spiritual sense it's the remorse people feel when they are disappointed in their own thoughts or behaviors. In effect it's when the law-breaker accepts responsibility for breaking the law.  There are both cognitive and physical reactions in the emotion of guilt.  Guilt is the realization that one is guilty and feels badly about it, or fears getting caught.

Conviction is when the sinner is caught, even thought they most often are caught in the act! A person may feel guilt before, soon or delayed, but conviction is the point in time, when the sinner becomes aware that he or she is about to do or did wrong for the deed or thought. Guilt and conviction flow from God's Holy Spirit. His role in the Trinity is to Comfort. Before he comforts, the unpleasant task is to discomfort. That's where guilt comes in!

Just like the addict who seeks relief, the sinner must realize that he is indeed a sinner before being forgiven. Guilt is the emotion which brings one to sorrow. Of course when guilt ensues, most people just live with the guilt until memories erase it. That's what Satan wills! After the guilt goes away, then it's easy to sin again, because the decay of guilt is Satan's gift through humankind's genetic makeup.

For those in the word, guilt becomes the emotion which drives sinners to repentance. Guilt presses upon the emotions of the sinner to the extent that sorrow ensues. It must be true sorrow to get relief. The reprobate person takes satisfaction in sinning. In effect they have no conscience since guilt comes from that faculty.

Conscience is part of human makeup and it was put there by God. It is the mediator between the flesh and the soul. Emotions come from the conscience. The Holy Spirit uses the conscience to influence the mind, then the mind processes the information and issues emotions of apathy or guilt. Of course apathy is the lack of guilt so in effect, it's to feel guilt or not to feel guilt.

Psychology teaches that guilt must be allayed by sinning without remorse and that sin is just religion repressing pleasurable behaviors. Their solution is to sin and to not feel the emotion of guilt because the person, in their eyes with their values, are not guilty of anything! In effect psychologists counsel apathy to the disobedient. This is Satan's mindset. Apathy is of Satan and guilt is of the Holy Spirit!

Up to now there is sin > guilty > conviction > guilt > sorrow. Next comes repentance.  It comes about because of sorrow. It can't be forced. It's a change of heart. It's when a sinner's desire changes from doing what's wrong to wanting to do what's right. Of course the standard is to do God's will and for the convenience of mankind, God wrote them down on stone. The purpose of the Ten Commandments are so humans are without excuse. These commands brings a person to repentance. They demonstrate to mankind our own lack of love!

Conviction, guilt, sorrow and repentance come about because of God's grace. God could just condemn without a chance of a pardon, but he's a sympathetic and empathetic judge because he faced the same temptations from Satan as you have from his helpers. He KNOWS how difficult it is to turn away from pleasure, power and wealth because he did that himself!

However, grace is fully consummated when God forgives the sinner. Why? Because he loves us so!

He pardons the contrite sinner who deserves eternal incarceration in hell. Jesus' propitiation of his own blood and his own living sacrifice paid the price for all mankind's sins EVER committed or would be committed. He died once for them all and that grace was sufficient. That's God's love for his creation! That's his ultimate grace!!

Next we will continue on with "justification".

One True God

There is One True God. Those of the other religions are false gods because their nature is not that of the Hebrew JHWH, pronounced in English as Yahweh.   JHWH, called the tetragrammaton,  are the Hebrew letters which mean "TO BE" and is Yhovah in the Hebrew, pronounced ye-ho-vaw.  William Tyndale, in his translations assigned the name Jehovah as the English spelling of the Hebrew .

Looking further at who God is, we turn to the Book of Exodus:

Exodus 3:14 (KJV)  "And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you."

God is telling Moses that he is EXISTENCE, what Shakespeare meant when he said "to be or not to be". Because God always was, is and always will be, it's obvious that no name is required for him to distinguish his from any other god, angel, or being!

"I AM THAT I AM" is ehyeh ašer ehyeh (ehˈje aˈʃer ehˈje)  which is the English translation of what God calls himself. (Wikipedia).  When Moses asked for his name, in effect, God said "Because I AM, I have no need for a  name". In the New Testament Jesus "is called" that although he is "I AM'. He is also "called" Emmanuel to identify him as God.  Other Hebrew translations define YHWH as "I WILL BE" or "I SHALL BE". Those terms identify the coming Jesus very well!

Where does Elohim come in? It's the name Hebrews assigned to identify "gods" and with a capital letter it is "God", or one specific God Yhovah.

Jesus' name in Hebrew is Yēšū́aʿ, or 'Yeshua transliterated. The meaning of the name is "He Saves". Who saves? The answer to that is Yhovah saves because Jesus IS God!

Other religions have words which mean the same as Elohim.  For instance Allāh is an Arabic contraction for al ilāh, meaning in English "The God", or the same as Hebrew Elohim.

In effect Elohim, Allah and "The God" do point toward "I AM", but it's easy to call other gods, by who God claims to be. In other words Allah, JHWH, Elohim, nor Yhovah are God's name. We call him those names for our convenience! God just IS!

Likewise because Jesus exists, he too IS and because he IS God, he is "I AM". When he walked on water Peter asked for him to identify himself. He merely said "I AM"!

Allah is One God. He fits that criteria. However, he is NOT the "One True God"! Why? because of his nature.

The identity of God is one EXISTENCE, but three natures (sic). We call that "God in Three Persons", but that is a mischaracterization of his nature (sic). God is not a person because he just IS. A "person" is by definition "an individual - a human being" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). God is not human, but humans were made in his image. Thus, God is the model from which humans were created.

Therefore "God in Three Persons" or "the Trinity", confuses those who are monotheistic such as Christians, Jehovah Witnesses, United Pentecostals and Muslims.  God cannot even have three "personalities" because that is what people have. God is not included in the category of "people" because he's not a person. He IS!

We can't use the "natures of God" because that is an oxymoron! God is not "natural", but what he created is. It's matter. God is not material, he's "supra-natural", or beyond natural. "Nature of God" is without meaning!

I like to use the term "aspects". What I mean is how people "see" God. Of course God can be seen in only one of his aspects. When people SEE God, he is called Jesus. That's why I always refer to "The Angel of God" because God manifested himself as a messenger to mankind, Not just A messenger, but "THE Messenger"!

Aspect is a "feature". When man sees God his "feature" is called Jesus. He's still God, but he is "God featured". In the Islamic religion God is never seen. His EXISTENCE is without evidence. Jesus is the EVIDENCE that God IS, and the prima facie evidence is that "He Saves"! People saw him do that by dying and then with his resurrection! In simple terms, Jesus is the proof that God EXISTS! Muslims have no proof of their God, and  accepting Allah without proof that he is "The God" is gullibility!

Another aspect of God is the Father or Creator. The Bible tells us that we know of God's existence by what he created. When one looks around at the wonders of the universe, it's obvious; it could never happen by chance! The explanation for what is natural is that it must have been created by one supra-natural! That Creator is the Father since he sired all that is seen, even us!

As the Father, God is Almighty.

Exodus 6:3 "And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them."

"God The Almighty" in Hebrew is El Shaday.  He is the Creator aspect of God who is the Father of all. The Creator is called Allah is Arabic, but that's all he is! He doesn't have the visual aspect and he is never Jesus, who is the aspect of God who "saves".

For the intellectually blind, ask yourself the question "What does Jesus save people from?" The answer is "sin" and as a result he saves from "the penalty of sinning", eternal destruction. In order for God to save anyone, he requires that it be Jesus who is the Way to gain eternal life! Since Allah doesn't have that aspect, he can never save. He, if he wasn't false, would only be able to create, but Allah didn't even do that; YHWH did!

Mankind has emotions and feelings. We even sense things. These are things unseen. The Holy Spirit is the essence of God which wherein power lies, who comforts, empowers and calls. Allah, having only one aspect, doesn't deal on a personal level with individuals. By definition, he has no aspect with which to do that!

Lastly, the Holy Spirit, the aspect of God still in this world, which Comforts human beings, is the Holy Ghost. He is not another aspect, but IS the Holy Spirit aspect of God who was in Jesus; and experienced life and death with Jesus. He is the portion of the Holy Spirit particular to Jesus. He too is God with us!

Because Allah doesn't have a Holy Spirit aspect, and because they have no biblical Jesus, they have no Holy Ghost to fill them. Their souls are vacant if it wasn't for the evil which resides within them.

Every man was created with a soul, just as Adam was. Adam was filled with the Holy Spirit when he was created. Since God chooses not to inhabit places of sin, iniquity displaced God in the soul of Adam. That empty soul was quickly filled and evil and is the attitude with which it was filled. Because of God's grace he "saved" Adam and Eve by the shedding of innocent blood. Because he is "the one who saves" that describes Jesus, God's "saving" aspect!

Because Jesus isn't part of their monotheistic Allah, their god doesn't have a "Jesus" aspect, one who can save. Hence, Muslims have no one who can save them from hell because no one ever paid the price for their sins.

You see, God is more than a name because he is without name! Islam doesn't have One God who has the characteristics of Creator, Comforter and Savior. Their god is powerless in the face of The Almighty God! Think on their god, Allah, as the god of the Egyptians in Moses' time who could only fake a few miracles. Like their god, Allah is false and to believe that a false God can save is foolishness!

Because God IS and he IS three aspects, all three have one defining characteristic: LOVE. Father, Son and Holy Spirit all love us personally because they are all aspects of a Loving God!

I was born because Yhovah made me. He did that because he wanted my fellowship and loved me so!

I was brought to my knees begging for salvation because the Holy Spirit called me.  I was recreated or "born again" by God who was "called Jesus" because he "saves". That IS God who called me. Yhovah called me personally!

Because Jesus is in heaven as the manifested aspect of God, he left his own Holy Spirit here to Comfort me! That Spirit is the Holy Ghost! Jesus cleaned out my soul of the evil within and allowed the Holy Ghost to replace it. Sure, it is the Holy Spirit, but my soul contains the same individual Spirit who suffered death for me! He knows what it is like to die and be Resurrected because he's been there as Jesus on the cross!

Muslims can never have the hope that Christians can have because Allah has no aspect of Comfort. I have the hope of salvation! Unless they change, their only hope is the deception that they have that their false God with only one aspect can save them! Since the Jesus aspect is who saves, they don't have the hope of salvation. Their fate is predetermined... it's eternal death, unless they turn to Jesus as the path to eternal life.

I'm saved because the Holy Ghost called me. Because he is God, it is by grace that I'm saved. "Grace" comes from God's divine love. "Love" is the atmosphere of God. It's what he breaths out to us!

As such because of God's love I am saved!

John 3:16 "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

God provided everlasting life to me because he "so loved me"! He did that by his own death on the cross. He calls himself "Son" because that's how he describes himself manifested in the flesh. Make no mistake about it, God died on the cross for Jews, Gentiles (including Arabs) and all others!

The Muslim may ask, "How could God do that? He is in Paradise!"

The answer is that unlike Allah, God is Almighty and Ever Present. He died on the cross from heaven, presenting his own self as a living sacrifice, and he watched his own death from heaven. It wasn't his Holy Spirit which died, but his aspect manifested by the flesh. God IS everywhere because his Holy Spirit is not confined by the laws of nature. He IS supra-natural and IS everywhere at once!

Chances are that if you're a Muslim you are so because one or more of your ancestors were brought to Islam by the sword at the throat. Their line remained Muslin out of fear of terror. Terror is evil. It's not because Allah "loves you so", but because Mohammad was deceived as Adam was by Shaitan appearing as a serpent. Mohammad was deceived and evil entered into his soul. His "cup" was filled with iniquity and it erupted with evil. This evil is still rampant today in the hearts of zealot Muslims; those who terrorize and convert with a blade!

"Hate" is the absence of love. If you are a Muslim is it love you breath forth? If not, then it's hate. Hate in Yhovah's eyes is murder. Terror is the ultimate hate!

Allah is NOT "The God". He is a principality posing as Yhovah! Muslims aren't "saved". Mohammad only deceived his followers into believing that they are saved. What is the evidence of salvation. It's obedience. What is obedience? To love JHWH and others. Those others are even the large amount of people who CALL themselves Christians, but are mere infidels.

These infidels are the same in the eyes of Christians as they are in the eyes of Muslims. They are truly not of God.

Evil uses "good" to propagate lies. That's Shaitan's M.O. There is much "good" in Islam, but unfortunately it's the hate that dirties it.  Those Muslims who seek only to do the "good" things are on the face of it, "good" people. They may even be friends and loving people. Jesus said "They know not what they do," about those who crucify him. Their "goodness", when it's genuine even, is "as filthy rags in God's eyes.

Orthodox Muslims crucify God time and time again because they fail to understand that if Allah is "The God", he must be Jesus too! If they are "saved" it must be by God who presented himself as Jesus and died on the cross! No, an imposter didn't die there; he was God himself!

Muslims... please consider this commentary as an act of compassion. It's because I don't want you to die in hell that I write this! Why? The ultimate love is not desiring that any shall perish. That's God's type of love!

My wish for you is that a comparison be done between Allah and JHWH. It should become obvious that it is JHWH who loves you so that he died himself in your place. Please... please... accept his gift of love!

Inclusion of Gentiles

In preparation for reading this, skimming Romans Chapter 4 may help. Paul makes many significant points there on the subjects of circumcision, works, grace, faith and the law. To be honest what he says there is hard to understand even for us who know the story of Abraham. However, Paul spoke these words to the Roman church who knew very little about Abraham! Surely, it made them think and ask questions of the Jews who were around them.

Paul in this chapter revealed the mystery of God. He said it more briefly to other churches, but this Gentile church required more.

Paul's dissertation is an inclusive argument for the Roman people. Paul presents evidence that the Romans are heirs of Abraham just as the Jews are, even though they are not heirs of the circumcision.

Of course the mystery of God is that grace was always the path to salvation; not the law, that it was always by the blood of Jesus and it was always for all people. In Romans Paul reveals this mystery to the Roman church.

Now let is imagine a little bit.

It would appear that the Roman Christians were insecure in their salvation. Most people at this time considered Christianity to be Judaism. What Paul wrote here basically confirms my earlier premise that Judaism is an offshoot of Christianity since The Word was there in the beginning. Judaism failed to recognize that Jesus fulfilled what the patriarchs knew all the time: that when the Voice spoke and The Word said things, it was the Messiah to whom they were speaking. The Jews left Christ behind as they took the Law with them.

The Jewish people became encumbered with the Law because of all the rules and regulations of which they bound the Law. The binder became enslavement even though the tenants of the Law provides freedom!

The Ten Commandments are written on stone for a reason! Although the tablets are lost to history, what was written there are still words in stone. Surely the Jews would idolized the tablets if they were extant as they came kneel to the words which were written thereon.

Of course Jesus himself said "I didn't come to replace the law, but to fulfill it." As such the Law is still valid. Paul's letter demonstrates that the Law is merely a way to show love and faith by using the faith of Abraham as an example of that!

Abraham preceded the Law. He did a "work" as a show of love. His "work" was obedience to God. Essentially, works are things faithful people do because those people trust God! However, Jews used works to gain salvation. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his "only" son because he trusted God in what he was about to do. In essence, works do not merit salvation, but do show love!

Notice that Abraham never actually DID anything. He was, however, WILLING to do anything that God asked of him. It was his willingness which was accounted as faith because until he was stopped, Abraham obeyed! There was no threat to Abraham. God never said "If you fail to obey me, you are damned." He merely made it known to Abraham that "If you love me, obey my commands!" His only command was that Abraham offer his only son to him on Moriah, that mountain scholars know as Calvary.

When Abraham was about to offer his only son as a living sacrifice, because he knew that someday God would do that, The Angel of God called off the sacrifice by saying "thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me."

Incidentally, many scholars also believe that "The Angel of God" is the pre-incarnate Jesus. By that belief it is suggested that Jesus actually told his own story directly to Abraham. Abraham surely knew that what he was about to do was a picture of what Jesus would later do! Abraham and God both were are WILLING to make the same sacrifice!

Abraham was about to demonstrate tough love. He was willing to do the hard things to demonstrate his reverence for God. His WILLINGNESS was imputed as righteousness.

Shortly, God provided the ram in Isaac's place. That is grace! Paul showed the Romans that they too are sons of Abraham, and God provided a lamb for their sacrifice!

The Romans had never tried to obey the Law. It wasn't commanded to them! They accepted Jesus Christ as savior without being coerced. They were just as Abraham since Abraham was obliging God's will out of faith, not because out of fear! As such the Gentile Romans were truly as much the seed of Abraham as were the Jews! Abraham didn't need laws to show faith and the Romans didn't either!

But they were not circumcised! The Jews condemned them for that, I'm sure.

God recognized their circumcision. Unlike Abraham who had his flesh cut off, the Romans did as well. The Jews had their foreskins cleansed with the shedding of blood. The Romans had circumcised hearts. Paul takes the time to allay their concerns. They didn't have the scar to show it, but they were as faithful as the Jews, even more so!

Why more so? The Jews obeyed because they had to obey. The Romans obeyed because they chose to! What did the Romans do to become Christians? They merely believed (trusted) Jesus and their thoughts produced faith. God put those thoughts there, the Romans accepted the thoughts (conviction) and as a result their hearts were circumcised.

Abraham's faith showed forth when he sacrificed his foreskin. Christians demonstrate their circumcision of the heart by their willingness to sacrifice their entire flesh, giving up the old person in exchange for the new when they are baptized! 

God nation built for thousands of years. While his Spirit was silent he built Rome. Protestants don't like it, but Christianity came to most of the world because of the Romans. Even now Christians do not get circumcised as a show of faith as the Jews do, but we show our circumcised hearts by baptism.

I've done that. I am an heir of Abraham because I did to myself what Abraham was willing to do with his son. I made a living sacrifice as I presented myself to God. I gave all my flesh, not just my foreskin. My sacrifice was great, but Jesus' was greater. My sacrifice was dirty. His was pure!

You see, words mean things, and there is much meaning in what Paul says in Romans 4.