Killing God - Part 37: Positive Christianity

Positive Christianity:

                The Church is the threshing floor of the souls. Threshing, is a spiritual sense, means judgment. The Church is where God offers a new birth but also the same place it can be rejected. Of course, the building is of no consequence being merely a gathering place of the Church. God calls everyone to come to the threshing floor but only the meek answer the call. Everyone is welcome. In fact, those who sin the worst and are forgiven love God the most. ⁶⁹¹ The Church is where God casts out devils – and determine the fate of those whose “father” is the devil. ⁶⁹² Those “unprofitable”, rejecting their own spiritual value – are to be “cast out unto utter darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ⁶⁹³

                That sounds mean but it is fair judgement. Remembering that God forgives seventy times seven (actually rhetoric for unlimited times), His grace is boundless. Everyone can accept Jesus all the way up until the last breath! That is unmerited justice and grace. ‘Choice” is the deciding factor! There were four men who were charged with crimes: Barabbas, two malefactors, and Jesus – God Himself! All those around his cross killed God. They became gods in their own eyes. Calvary was having Church. It was the best Church service ever to be preached. The preaching was silent. The Passion was reality and certainly not a play. There was no music, the rock bands were on the road. There was no loud preacher, the Word spoke his own sermon. However, the Holy Ghost was there!

                Who was to be freed as was the Passover tradition? Was it to be one of the two thieves, Barabbas, or Jesus? Let this be clear: Jesus freed himself in death as he did all mankind! His death was part of the threshing. It was for mankind.

                First to be freed was Jesus Barabbas – “Jesus, the son of the father”. ⁶⁹⁴ This man was likely a Zionist zealot still fighting the Romans for independence. He indeed, would have been a threat to Pilate and to Caesar. Releasing one who was guilty is called the Paschal Pardon (Passover Pardon which later became Christianized Easter). Just as the first-born was “passed over” in Egypt, on this feast day, the tradition was the show mercy.  Passover is a “picture” of the crucifixion. ⁶⁹⁵ Moses knew that. It seems the Word informed Moses of His own death!

                For the occasion of God “passing over” the innocent Hebrew first born but not the Egyptians’ eldest, a Korban Pesach – Paschal Lamb – was to be set apart and slaughtered, not by coincidence, at dusk. That “Lamb” was representative of Jesus, and the slaughter was a picture of God dying for mankind! The Passover was God having Church. He threshed out the sinners – the Egyptians – and brought the Hebrew people to safety across the Red Sea. ⁶⁹⁶

                Barabbas represented Pharaoh’s son who died, but in this case the sinful one was freed. Probably unknown to the Jews, they were deceived into releasing the wrong Paschal Lamp – “Jesus, the wrong son of the Father”! That release was a positive action and would not have happened had it not been God’s will. (Notice that when “will” is mentioned in reference to the Deity, it is always God’s will. Jesus had the same “will” but the Father is the omniscient “Mind”. It is not necessary to have both God’s will and Jesus’s will because the will of Jesus is the will of God.)

                Then, there were three! Evidence of God’s Plan is that there were only three crosses. ⁶⁹⁷ The Romans would not have planned things according to Jewish Passover traditions. Barabbas had to be freed as the grossest injustice of mankind. He didn’t die right then, as Eve had not but his soul died there on Calvary. There is no evidence of God’s reprieve. Barabbas was the “goat” which escaped and represented the “ram” which didn’t back on Mt. Moriah with Abraham’s sacrifice. Jesus Barabbas could never have been the efficacious sacrifice because he was blemished. Like Moses, who also was blemished, Barabbas killed for “good”. ⁶⁹⁸ I believe Barabbas represents those who think they are safe but are not!

                Another person on a cross beside Jesus was a thief. He was an evil person – a malefactor. He scoffed at the idea of Jesus’ Divinity. He represents the atheists. He failed to believe in God, nor apparently Heaven or Hell because he doubted all the way to the end. On the other hand, the other thief was enlightened – he asked Jesus to save him; he trusted God! ⁶⁹⁹ Right before he died, the thief was born-again. He represents those who have the hope of salvation whether it early in life or later! He was nearer the time of salvation, immediately near, because he first believed when his death was eminent. As with the parable of the vineyard workers, those who come late in the “day” are paid the same as those who came early! ⁷⁰⁰ That is not a lesson to wait until the end but is a demonstration of God’s grace. That thief knocked and Jesus answered. When he saw the wood, he knew the punishment but he also knew the correction.: submission. He knew he couldn’t save himself but believed Jesus could save him. That is the rebirth!

                Jesus was having Church! Satan was there. Because Jesus is worthy of attention, Satan attended Church that day. In fact, he was directing traffic, deciding who would be there and not. He selected the hammers and nails and picked out the soldiers who would hammer them. Likewise, Satan picked out the chief priests and mockers. He even picked out Jesus’s crown of thorns!

                On the other hand, Satan was only fulfilling God’s purpose for him! He was only doing what God allowed him to do. God picked the place of the skull centuries before when he said to the serpent: ⁷⁰¹  

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

That was said in the beginning, but on Golgotha it came about! God had Church with Adam, Eve, and the serpent, and had grace on two of the three right then. The serpent was threshed from the Church but was invited back to Calvary to actually watch himself die!

If Adam was buried under Golgotha as many believe he was because it was “the place of the skull of Adam”, then Adam was redeemed that day. God’s seed – Jesus – crushed Satan’s head that day! ⁷⁰² Calvary was the threshing floor of the Church. One escaped death for a time but had to deal with later (Barabbas), one went to Hell that day, (the proud thief), and the other to Paradise that day (the repentant thief). And Jesus went to the grave for all of them! They all killed Jesus but one repented of it. God by grace redeemed him. At the same time, by grace, Jesus acknowledged their foolishness -
“they know not what they are doing.” ⁷⁰³ That is grace. God knew who did know. Satan knew. He thought he was the mind behind the scheme but all along, from day one, it was God’s Plan to die for mankind! Satan was God’s stooge. His only purpose was as the tool, or fool, to test God. This wisest angel on earth was a mere stooge to fulfill God’s Plan. The joke was on Satan. He was really the one who died that day! God still lives!

The Church, as the threshing floor where God judges is Satan’s enemy. Satan wants everyone to perish but propagates what Dietrich Bonnhoeffer called “cheap grace”. ⁷⁰⁴

“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing.”

I believe cheap grace is half-way born-again. As the enlightened creature crawls forth, his or her head is stuck in the birth canal, never quite crowning – “almost persuaded”, as Herod Agrippa said. ⁷⁰⁵ God’s propitiation seems logical, and his death real but sacrificing oneself, although a “reasonable service” is not worth the price God paid. ⁷⁰⁶ That is cheap grace and is one of the most virulent killers of the Church! Costly grace, is empathizing with the agony of God to the extent that one is ashamed to be amongst His killers and become new creatures – like Christ. What would Jesus do for mankind? Die for us! What can we do in gratitude? Crucify our own flesh by conversion. 707 Unlike God, mankind is required only to submit part of the flesh – the heart. ⁷⁰⁸

The Hebrew people were confused; they circumcised their penises without circumcising their hearts. Their mistake! Christians get off easier, we can circumcise the heart, not with water, but with pure water! Baptism seals the Covenant of Grace!

Grace seems to forgo punishment. Although given the choice, many reject it. There must be justice! God’s own death met His own justice. Although innocent, never having sinned, God chose to die that mankind may live! There are two possible outcomes of God’s death: acceptance or rejection. Cheap grace is believing it but without accepting. The half-converted believe in the grace part of it, but no enough to cease the sinfulness. Punishment awaits them! Not believing in Hell does not make it not real! Believing Heaven is for real does not mean that one believes that Hell is. I have known many “Christians” who accept the concept of Heaven but reject the idea of Hell. There must be a Hell for Jesus to save mankind from it! Without Hell, God’s death was for naught! Hence, just as the creation is paramount for belief in God, the belief in Hell is essential to be saved. Hence, God’s role as Savior is diminished if there is no Hell from which to be saved! A doctrine without Hell diminishes God and His reason for dying. I firmly believe that is “taking God’s ‘Name’ in vain – or His death frivolously!

Cheap grace, then, amounts to receiving the pardon but not reforming – making a spiritual transformation from the old sinful creature to a righteous one. Obedience is not the redeeming quality but the gratitude for redemption. For modern kids, cheap grace is like receiving an iphone© without paying for the wi-fi. It has little value. One can call but not do much communing!

Rather than the obedience as a test for the second birth, it is a validation of it. ⁷⁰⁹ The idea of “works” isn’t a positive thought! Sola gratia denigrates “works” as non-essential. It is not essential to be born-again, but for the assurance of salvation it is! Works validates hope. What is it mankind hopes for? Not necessarily that Heaven is the reward but that Hell does not become home in the afterlife!

                Positive Christianity, therefore, rejects sin, works, judgment, punishment, Satan, and Hell. Since negativity is myth, there is no law of sin, no Law of God, and not even a Satan nor God. Positive Christianity kills God by denying His justice. The expression, a good God would never send anyone to Hell, leads to the Satanic doctrine for mankind, “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole Law.” ⁷¹⁰ That’s what unrighteous people espouse. “Doing what is right in their own eyes.” ⁷¹¹  Being controlled from self-appeasement is negative in Positive Christianity.

Modern-time doctrine, especially among some of the mega-churches have a degree of Positive Christianity. Joel Osteen admitting to not preaching against sin nor on Hell is an admission of that doctrine. Only God knows his heart but we can test his doctrine. ⁷¹² He did apologize later for which he receives some credit. However, if one seeks truth, the Bible is a much better place! Any preacher is merely that. Preaching and doctrine must always be tested by scripture. Culture seems to imbue modern doctrine rather than the Holy Spirit. Buyer beware of what is read and taught!

The ultimate on Positive Christianity was the Nazi version of German Christianity which mixed racial purity, Germanic uber-ism, Nazism, and Christianity. Positive Christianity is the perversion of the Doctrine of Christ. Much of it came from Druidism, legend, myth, bad philosophy, ethnocentricity, nationalism, theosophy, and Gnosticism. ⁷¹³ Nazism was much more than an ideology, it was an inheritance; rather than the Jews, it was the Germans who were God’s “chosen people”, and like Christianity, it was to have a thousand-year reign.

Of course, as semi-human parasites, all things Hebrew were removed from their worship. Even the Jewishness of Jesus was replaced in practice! Rather than faith in Christ, it was the Nazi Party to which they owed allegiance. ⁷¹⁴ The German Church was taken over by the Nazis and since the Third Reich was continental Europe, God about died out there. What was at one time, the hotbed of Christianity became the deathbed of God, or at least in the hearts of the people.

Modern-day Positive Christianity is not as vengeful as it was in the Third Reich. Therefore, those who espouse many of the views of that cult are humanistic in practice. I believe the UU continues a sort of Positive Christianity although they would be the first to deny it. Christ has taken a big “hit” in that faith… er lack of faith. Now only a small percentage of the adherents are said to be Christians. Using the Doctrine of Christ, it would seem few of the “Christians” are even Christian from an evangelical standpoint. Their doctrine is reason rather than the Doctrine of Christ. ⁷¹⁵

As heretical as the UU and the German Church was in the Third Reich, the greater problem, it seems, is modern thought within the modern Church. For the most part much of mainstream Christianity is of the Doctrine of the Church at Laodicea. They are about to be cast out from the true Church as God heaves His spiritual “judgmental” spit. ⁷¹⁶

What is worse than that is the onset of Islamic influence in the modern Church.

⁶⁹¹ Holy Bible; Luke 7:47.

⁶⁹² ibid; Mark 1:38-9.

⁶⁹³ ibid; Mat 25:30.

⁶⁹⁴  New Cambridge Press Commentary; “Matthew”; Evans, Craig A.; New Cambridge University Press; 2012, p. 453.

⁶⁹⁵ Holy Bible; Exod 12.

⁶⁹⁶ ibid; Exodus 14.

⁶⁹⁷ ibid; Mat 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 19.

⁶⁹⁸ ibid; Mark 15:7.

⁶⁹⁹ ibid; Luke 23:37-43.

⁷⁰⁰ ibid; Mat 20:1-16.

⁷⁰¹ ibid; Gen 3:15. 

⁷⁰² The Skull of Adam; Herrin, Larry R., Christian Faith Publishing: Meadville, PA; 2017.

⁷⁰³ Holy Bible; Luke 23:34.

⁷⁰⁴ The Cost of Discipleship; Bonnhoeffer, Dietrich.

⁷⁰⁵ Holy Bible; Acts 18:13.

⁷⁰⁶ ibid; Rom 12:1.

⁷⁰⁷ ibid; Gal 5:24.

⁷⁰⁸ ibid; Deut 10:16.

⁷⁰⁹ ibid; James 2:26.

⁷¹⁰ The Book of the Law; Crowley, Aleister.

⁷¹¹ Holy Bible; Deut 12:8.

⁷¹² “Larry King Interview”; Osteen, Joel & King, Larry; 2005.

⁷¹³ The Occult Roots of Nazism; Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas; NYU Press; reprint 1993.

⁷¹⁴ Wikipedia; “Positive Christianity”.

⁷¹⁵ Wikipedia; “Unitarian-Universalism”.

⁷¹⁶ Holy Bible; Rev 3:16.