ON SECURITY

 

  Paul’s first letter to Timothy could as well be called, “KEEP THE FAITH” because within the letter are several warnings about not taking faith for granted; in other words, the faith of Christians is not secure.

  Indeed, this commentary is controversial, but the Words are not mine; they are Paul’s words that the Spirit inspired Paul to write, to wit: “The Spirit speaketh expressly” (1 Tim 4:1). Like everyone, my wish is that my faith is secure, but that depends on me.

  Just what is “faith?” Paul defined that for the Hebrews who questioned it, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). What is the “hope” of the Christian? “We are saved by hope” (Rom 8:24). Therefore “hope” is “salvation.”

  What then is “salvation?” It is “raised up on the last day” (John 6:44), and those who are raised up, “will enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mat 7:21).

  Of course, rebirth is “saved from sinning” as is written, “He which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” (Jas 5:20). Rebirth is not salvation; it is conversion from a lost person to one with the hope of salvation. Hiding those sins, is no longer holding them against the sinner. Jesus propitiated His blood for “sins that are past” (Rom 3:25). Repentance is a continual cycle of conviction, guilt, contrition, repentance, and God forgetting those sins. When and if that cycle is not forthcoming, then faith gradually diminishes with neglect. That cycle is one of trust. Christians sin and trust God for pardon. If a Christian no longer feels guilt when they sin, then the Holy Spirit cannot Comfort.

  “Saved from sin” is conversion at rebirth. No longer is the person chained to sin, but freely choose not to sin. They have liberty to sin, but if a disciple of Christ, will choose not to sin. The Holy Spirit changes the nature of people.

  Satan, to diminish God, has one avenue to do that; to snatch Christians away from the Holy Ghost. Of course, Satan still uses deception to do that, and the most obvious is for Christians to believe they are secure when they are not. Anyone that feels secure and continue in sin are the most vulnerable to the wiles of the Devil. They think as if they are already saved from the Devil, but the Holy Ghost of Jesus has them safe but not secure. Only when the Devil can no longer persuade people to blaspheme the Holy Ghost are they saved from sin, and that is why Paul wrote, “To die is gain” (Phil 1:21).

  Death, for the Christian, is gain, as Paul wrote because Satan can no longer snatch you away; only Jesus can snatch you up. That is called the “rapture” of Christians, both those dead in Christ and those still alive at that time. Physical death is when the soul is saved. The rapture is when the flesh is saved and made new. Hence, care must be taken as to what and when salvation occurs.

  Obviously, Christians are not secured from sin because they still sin. Unless they continually repent their faith is doubtful because doubt is what is lacking in faith. God alone “knows that He knows that He knows” as many say, but Christians must trust what has not become reality. The M.O. of Satan is to increase doubt to the extent that there is no faith. Even a little faith, by grace, is enough.

  Paul was worried about the security of the Churches in Asia and wrote a letter to Timothy, apparently with “cc’s” to all the Churches there.

  A false doctrine was circulating. I have written before that the doctrine of Simon Magus was Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” that was for, “the messenger of Satan to buffet me” (2 Cor 12:7). By then, not only was Satan buffeting Paul, but the other ministers. Why would that be? Gnosticism, founded by Simon, was “secret knowledge” to be saved. Paul wrote, not about secret knowledge to Timothy, but “the mystery of godliness” (1 Tim 3:16).

  Gnosticism buffeted the entire apostolic Church and almost won out! Gnosticism, or Simonism, attempted to dissuade Christians from their faith. Why would Satan buffet Paul and other Christians if they could not fall? Now examine Paul’s many warnings about the buffeting the Body of Christ (The Church) was taking: 

·         Regarding bishopric candidates, Paul wrote, are ,“Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1 Tim 3:6)

·         Regarding regulations that they cannot themselves keep, Paul wrote, “The Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim 4:1)

·         Regarding good doctrine (3:16), Paul wrote, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. (1 Tim 4:16)

·         Regarding stewardship, Paul wrote, “If any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. (1 Tim 5:8)

·         Regarding young widows when they grow wanton, Paul wrote, “When they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; having damnation, because they have cast off their first faith” (1 Tim 5:11-12)

·         Urging young widows to marry, Paul wrote, “Give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some are already turned aside after Satan” (1 Tim 5:14-15)

·         Regarding believing bondservants, Paul wrote, “Count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the Name of God and His doctrine be not blasphemed” (1 Tim 6:1)

·         About those who love money, Paul wrote: “They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith” (1 Tim 6:9-10)

·         To Timothy himself, Paul wrote, “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith” (1 Tim 6:20-21) 

  Blasphemy is denial of the Holy Ghost. That seems strange, but remember whose “Ghost” that IS. Jesus gave up the Ghost; the Spirit of God in Him who suffered death and replaced the sin of all mankind. Denying the Holy Ghost is taking the crucifixion of Jesus vainly. The Third Commandment warns of that, and even provides the penalty for blasphemy: “The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain” (Exod 20:7). That corresponds with, “He that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation” (Mark 3:29).

  Vanity would be taking the death of Jesus without value. That is what Bonnhoeffer called, cheap grace.” Unbelievers are blasphemous because they do not trust that truth. Christians can blaspheme by taking it vainly by forgetting. If that happens it is as if crucifying Jesus afresh (Heb 6:6).

  Satan endeavors to prevent conversion by making sinners feel good in their sins. Satan undermines Christians by persuading them that what Jesus did was in vain or did not even happen. Gnosticism promotes the notion that only a phantasm was on the Cross, and that Jesus did not die because He was not really on the Cross. They would support the thesis that the Holy Ghost shed the blood and water, but only Flesh could do that.

  Hard as he tries, Satan is satisfied that Christians forget Jesus — that they do nothing in remembrance of Him! How can anyone forget the Savior? By disregarding His Will for us to walk His Way — in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23), not according to some secret knowledge.

  “Erring from the faith” is not understanding the provisions of faith. Faith is a gift, but a gift that must be used. If faith is hidden away and forgotten it is not faith. Keeping the faith that God gave us is a responsibility; a sacrifice of our own flesh as Jesus did his. Paul called living a holy life, giving our self for Christ’s sake, and referred to it as a “reasonable service” (Rom 12:1). If Christians are not living for Christ, they are dying for the Devil.

  Pride in Christians, just as with the angel Lucifer is, “fall(ing) into the condemnation of the devil.” What happened to the Devil? “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer” (Isa 14:12). Lucifer fell from grace, and if Christians return to their father the Devil in pride, they too will fall!

  Then Paul wrote, “In the latter times some shall depart from the faith.” They will not lose their faith but depart from it. That is knowing the faith, having received the Holy Spirit, but committing presumptuous sin. That type of sin is presuming that a Christian shall be saved through belief only, without trusting Jesus for it. Forthcoming salvation, “in the last days” is forfeiture of that hope.

  Paul wrote to for them to take heed and continue in the doctrine of Christ. He elaborated on that doctrine in 1 Tim 3:16. The mystery knowledge is revealed there. It must be believed and trusted in, not just one time at conversion, but continually. The hope of salvation is dependent on a continuation of what a Christian once believed, to wit: “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom 13:11). Christians become nearer to their salvation. They are not yet saved but kept safe until that time. Not continuing in the faith is forfeiting that safety.

  Paul wrote about those who have “denied the faith.” They once had faith, then later denied what they once believed and trusted. Paul said that an infidel would be better off than denying what was once believed.

  Then Paul wrote about the widows that, “have cast off their first faith.” Note that the Holy Ghost comforted them in the faith, and did not remove that comfort, but the young Christian widow could cast off their own faith.” They essentially were in danger of throwing away the gift that God gave them by grace.

  Some of the widows has already, “turned aside after Satan.” They had abandoned their Savior for His adversary. They had turned away from their first love to another. That is fornication against God and is a violation of the First Commandment.

  Lastly, Paul warned in that letter to, “keep that which is committed to thy trust.” Keep the faith! It is a gift from God; do not throw it away!

  How can anyone consider eternal security when Paul makes clear throughout the letter that Christians were wandering from the faith, and that they were in danger of losing their hope? He said, that some already had, and Gnosticism was buffeting them from the Church to damnation!

(picture credit: "Christianity")

TRUTH ABOUT FEMINISM

   I am writing as I read the Bible in chronological order. I cannot just skip over God’s Word as it is there for a reason. I will never passover biblical truth to avoid offense. If the Word of God does not offend, then how could we ever be convicted of sin? Today, because I must, I tackle the divisive issue of gender roles. Remember, I am only a messenger, so do not shoot me! However, I do believe that women do have a role in the Church, but that is for another day. 

  Feminism is based on the idea that women are no longer to be silent. Initially, it was only limited to two goals: (1) The right to vote, and (2) job equity, or equal pay for equal work. Few could argue against those two things, and ironically, men saw the light, and women gained the right to vote, and men provided the opportunities for equal pay.

  The right to vote was fair. Negroes, in the Constitution, had been counted as 3/5^th citizens, but women non-citizens. America is not Paradise, and this was for citizenship in a country, not a spiritual realm. Countries have different laws than the Kingdom of God, and hence the concept of “fairness” differs between Church and State.

  In the Kingdom of God, women and men are equal, but their roles differ. Examine the evidence: (1) Only Adam was given the Law, and (2) only Adam was given an assignment; “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it’” (Gen 2:16-17), and “The Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Gen 2:15). Eve was given no such command nor authority but took it upon herself to tell the Serpent the Law, wrongly, and it was she who stood under the wrong tree.

  The two trees in the middle of the Garden were metaphorical trees as well as real trees. The Tree of Life was the Way to eternal life (Gen 3:24). Cherubim were placed to the east of the Garden to keep the Way to life. That had been Adam’s role, but Eve assumed that position, but she “guarded” the Tree of Death, or the Wisdom Tree. Hence, cherubim were assigned to do Adam’s job.

  God gave the Law to Adam before Eve was even created. It was Adam’s Law to keep, not Eve’s. Eve’s sin was like the Centurions who killed Jesus; they knew not what they doing, according to Jesus (Luke 23:34). Eve had no idea what death was nor the Law. When she ate the fruit, she showed her ignorance of the Law by misstating it and did not fear death as she knew only life!

  Sin was accounted to Adam (Rom 5:12). Adam committed “presumptuous sin.” That means that he knew the Law, understood it, and broke it anyway. He had “hearkened unto the voice of thy wife” rather than God. She had become his “goddess” (Gen 3:17). She, rather than hearkening unto Adam who had revealed the Law to her, she listened to the Serpent.

  Adam sinned because Eve did not remain silent. Also, her voice did not discount the Serpent’s but perhaps Adam’s would have. Adam should have been there, standing under the Tree of Life, not the Wisdom Tree, and rebuking the Serpent from afar.

  The canopy of the Tree of Life was their “Church.” The canopy of the Wisdom Tree was the “false church” which I call the “Philosophy Tree.” Paul warned, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy” (Col 2:8) and when he wrote his first letter to the younger man, Timothy, he was warning about philosophy and its influence in the church in Colosse: 

¹¹ Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. ¹² But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. ¹³ For Adam was first formed, then Eve. ¹⁴ And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. (1 Tim 2:11-14) 

  Paul was telling Timothy that women are to be silent in the church. The reason he gave was the case of Eve assuming the role of spokesman over Adam in the beginning. Although Adam broke the Law, it was Eve’s fault. He listened to his wife who should have been under the Tree of Life, and standing there silently. Adam was God’s “priest,” but Eve was not a priestess. It was Adam who was to serve and preserve future men and women (dress and keep them, as it is translated).

  All that Paul was doing was explaining the Will of God, which is that a woman is not to teach nor have authority over men. They were to be a “help meet for Adam” (Gen 2:18). A “help-meet” is “one who helps” (Strong’s Dictionary). Women can be deaconesses and administer to young girls and women. Like men, whose body belongs firstly to God, the body of women belong also to men: “The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife” (1 Cor 7:4). Husband and wife have authority over each other. That is referencing conjugation in that passage.

  Feminists soon added another demand; that they have power over their own bodies. They demanded sexual freedom and independence from men. Rather than “one flesh” under God (Mat 9:16), feminists demanded that authority be put asunder. The feminist movement had cracked open the “door” that God made. Their demand was to be “Eves” and do whatever suits them.

  Then the “door” opened more as women stretched the limits. “My body, my choice!” became their slogan. They referred to bodies of another human being. God ordained women to bear children: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” (Gen 1:28). Adam and Eve were to be one, and the two together were charged with replenishing the Earth. Feminists make themselves out to be goddesses as Eve did things as if she is God (Gen 3:5).

  Paul pointed out that neither men’s nor women’s bodies are their own; the body of both genders belong to God and to each other. Feminism defiles God, and shamefully, woos men still hearken unto deceived women!

  And then feminism opened the door even more! They supported homosexuality. Their bodies no longer belong to Adam, but to other “Eves.” After all, it is their body to do with as they please! Why did Adam and Eve make “aprons of fig leaves” (Gen 3:7)? Because they were their own “law” and they had to cover their shame.

  Somehow their genitalia had become their masters. Rather than procreate, Eves were to deviate with Eves and Adams with Adams. The feminists movement is all about sexual freedom, and that is why Paul taught that they should remain silent in the Church.

  Eve finally submitted to God and the Word (Jesus; John 1) covered her with His “flesh” as he supplied the lamb. Eve suffered the consequences of her sin and was humbled. That would not work for Satan. Satan had surely lusted after the flesh of Eve. She surely felt his eyes on her.

  Why would that be? Both of them covered their flesh? From the eyes of whom? God had already seen the flesh. After all he made it very good! They covered their flesh from the leering eyes of Satan.

  Because Eve would no longer be his help-meet, Satan created another one. He supplied Adam with a fictitious wife. He her name was “Liyliyth” (Lilith), the “screech owl,” “night creature,”  and female demon from Isaiah 34:14. She was not in the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil but early creation mythology placed her there as the “night owl.” Then they made Lilith Adam’s first wife as if there had been two creations!

  Perhaps Eve was ashamed because she saw a demoness in the Tree of Knowledge with the Serpent. Perhaps lesbianism introduced itself to mankind when Eve lusted the fruits of that tree! Of course, that is speculation, but they covered their genitals for a reason, and soon we learn that the Sons of God had carnal knowledge with the daughters of men. Perhaps, as sacred literature states, that angels and humans had intercourse. Carnal activity with spiritual knowledge was only for human men and women, not for angels or beasts!

  What do “beasts” do? They fornicate at will without hindrance. Their bodies belong neither to God nor each other. With original sin, Adam’s seed and Eve’s offspring became as the beasts, not as gods!

  Lilith was handy and feminists quickly adapted the myth of her to their cause. As the story goes, Lilith left Adam because she demanded independence. As such, Lilith was the first presumptuous feminist if she had been real. Lilith is the sex goddess of myth-based pagan religions. Lilith is also the mentor of feminists who admire her independence and sexual prowess. She was even said to have eaten her babies, and that the eggs of the night owl were not even safe under her! That is why she is the abortion goddess!

  God did not create Lilith. Satan did! He needed Lilith to diminish God. Screech owls are noted for one thing; they are not silent! Now can you understand why women must be silent in the Church and why they are under the authority of men?

  Why were vocal women seen to be a problem in the Church? Just look at the modern churches; the most liberal are churches that allow women preachers, ministers, bishops, and deacons. From an anecdotal, but obvious, standpoint, women preachers preach feminism and are defiant of the authority of men in the Church.

  Preachers fail to preach the truth about gender-role assignments to not offend liberal-minded women. Women are to help men reach the lost, but their role is much different. Obedient Christian women understand because they listen to God in their silence. They say more with their silence than vocal women do with their clamor!

  Why is same-sex marriage allowed in mainstream churches? Because their bishops listen to the philosophy of men. Psychology created their own “truth”” that they “are born this way.” Women spread that deception. Lady Gaga sings “Born This Way.” The Church listens to the false doctrines of the world.

  Why do mainstream churches remain silent about abortion or even condone it? So as not to offend independent-minded women! Why is the Church becoming the “harlot” in God’s viewpoint? Because they have not even shame to even conceal their doctrine of sexual independence. The “fig leaves” have fallen as the bricks fall from the Church (Isa 9:10).

  Now for my own apologetic: I write this because it is the truth! I am not a Meninist nor do I want to diminish women. However, when feminists exalt themselves, they diminish God. I am angry because most preachers would rather keep silent to not offend women even though they offend God. Adam even had the courage to credit the woman for alluring him to sin, but preachers remain silent on a huge problem. Is it not ironic that it is the women who are to remain silent, but instead woos men do? Yes, indeed, men are the Adams!

(picture credit; National Audubon Society; Screech Owl)

TRAINING UP A CHILD

KEY VERSES: ¹⁶ Because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. (Ephes 5:16-17)

This is the same key verse as yesterday, but today’s “stoked the fire” even more with,  “The days are evil” in Paul’s time. Now, “the days are evil” but since then Satan has increased his power. Satan has “wised-up” but people are more lacking in wisdom.  Then, they understood evil and its sources. If not, Paul pointed it out to them: 

¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephes 6:11-13; NKJV) 

  Generally, the theologian spends time discussing the whole armor of God. I did last year and compared it to David killing Goliath. He refused Saul’s armor because it did not fit and put on the armor of God which fit just right; right enough to kill Goliath.

(See https://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2016/08/five-smooth-stones.html)

  We have a different “Goliath” today. He is not a huge man with a five-foot sword, but the entertainment industry with the voice of a giant — a demonic giant. Christians need armor against the Devil. Paul mentioned the “wiles of the Devil.” God told Moses, “the Serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field” (Gen 3:1). With sin, Adam and Eve were demoted from “very good” with the Spirit of God in their souls, to mere “beasts” with original sin. Since, Satan is more wily and cunning than any man!

  David defeated Goliath, but Goliath, unlike the Serpent, was not possessed by Satan, but was a provocateur. (1 Sam 17:16). He fought for Satan, but Goliath was not wily or cunning. David was! He understood that to defeat Goliath, he must trust the Lord. It was God who provided the stones, provided the man, and provided the courage for a small physical man to face a giant. Then God guided the missile to the forehead of Goliath. All David did to kill his Goliath was trust God, and God did all the rest. That was the whole armor of God and He provided it all!

  Today, the “Goliath” has demons in “him;” to wit: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

  Little you and me are provoked by stronger “Goliaths” and many more of them: principalities, rulers of darkness, and spiritual hosts. “Hosts” are armies. “Heavenly hosts” are angels of God, and “spiritual hosts” are demon angels. Angels are messengers from another realm; hence, “spiritual hosts” are demons who provoke humans through propaganda, lies, temptation, and such things.

  Goliath, “stood and cried out to the armies” (1 Sam 17:8). His voice resounded in the valley and raised fear in the armies of Saul. His voice was a giant “megaphone” that made most of the Hebrews cower. They would have submitted to him if not for David. The same goes for Christians and the “Son of David,” Jesus by Name. The Voice of God was silent but encouraging!

  The most powerful weapon in the arsenal of Christian soldiers is, “understanding what the will of the Lord is,” from the key verse. The Will of the Lord is that sin be defeated, and Jesus died for that purpose. As such, Jesus is the “whole armor” because with His sacrifice, Satan hung in another tree at the same time in Judas. Jesus removed His armor and put it on all who would wear it. Most enter the battle with no armor at all or the wrong armor!

  The battle is not against flesh and blood, but principalities (those who fulfill higher orders and administer them in the world), powers (warrior angels), rulers of darkness (those who issue orders), in addition to the demon armies themselves. You cannot fight them alone unless God is with you, in you, and over you.

  Those demonic forces, we have learned from Job’s encounter, cannot kill your body, but they can kill your soul. They need not use the sword as Goliath did, but provoke by different means. Goliath bullied the Hebrews and they cowered. The Powers of today, bully more cunningly!

  A 50,000 watt AM radio station can be heard for hundreds of miles. Satellite television can be heard all over the world. Cable television can as well. Movie theaters are all over the world. Face it, Goliath megamedia provokes Christians all day and night long. Mature people can escape it by turning off the source of power, but juveniles are plugged-in through ear buds most of the day and into the night. Young people and immature adults are plugged into the world much of the time!

  What are people plugged into?

¹⁵ Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. (1 John 2:15-17)

  Entertainment is you plugged into the world to which lust and pride are transmitted. Just what is it you hear and see from the world? “The works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like” (Gal 5:19-21).

  From whom do those evil things come? The world — those outside the Christian community, and now with Satan’s cunning, from within modern church buildings. All week long the youth are plugged into the world and are molded into worldly creatures, then, on Sunday morning, musicians feed the youth “Jesus” to the tune of the world!

  Sound waves and television transmissions are not evil. They are only the Power. The “spiritual hosts” are the problem. They provide the entertainment and such that bombards the world. Face it, most rock musicians, rappers, and even some contemporary artists are not Christians. Music and entertainment are persuasive. The youth get their world view from Satan and his dark angels. They use nefarious people to provoke people to sin. Not only the youth, but adults are provoked by tempters and temptresses. Pornography is widespread and millions are tuned-in!

  Paul wrote, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Ephes 6:4). We think of fathers provoking their children by bullying them. That is too obvious. Parents provoke their children to wrath against God. They get angry because they have the things of the world are taken away. That should be obvious, because the alternative thing that Paul wrote was to train and teach your children the Word of the Lord. The wiseman wrote, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov 22:6).

  Fathers and mothers provoke their children to sin by relegating them to demon messengers. Permissive parents essentially let demon angels raise their children. With that laxity, evil becomes engrained in innocent children to the extent that their innocence is lost. Rather than train them as they should go forthwith, parents let the entertainment industry, friends, and even teachers trian them up in the way they should not go.

  “Friends” is used loosely. Rather, the term should be, “fellow provocateurs.” Christians are to be set apart. The culture of Christians should be sanctification, meaning that a Christian household should be set apart from the world. When sinners were born again in apostolic times, they and their households were safe because the parents headed the household: “The Lord said, ‘Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household’” (Luke 12:42).

  The problem with contemporary families is that parents are not head of the households. Children, from a young age, rule the parents. They become pre-pubescent “Goliaths” who provoke their parents day after day. They are so successful, that parents raise loud-mouth, demanding little Philistines, who are symbolic of Satan.

  It should be obvious, but the entertainment industry is the “voice” of modern Goliaths. Music, movies, and such all provide messages. That is why writers write them and producers produce them. Like it or not, the world is molding your children, and may be transmitting the same messages to parents. Little “Goliaths” copy big Goliaths. They look at provoking parents and provoke others. Again, a reminder to not think of provocation only to anger, but to evil doings. Teaching by doing evil demonstrates to children that, I am okay; you are okay, and the world is okay!

  Christians are not to be of the world, but overcome the world, as is written, “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:5)? How can a young man or woman overcome the world when they are imbued with the things of the world? Rather than filled with the Holy Spirit, they are filled with Satan’s messages transmitted by the world.

  I have provoked my own children by stealing their childhood. I let them follow themselves as their own masters. When I came to that realization, it was too late for me to bring them up in the way they should go, and now it is their responsibility. If they choose wrongly, then I have provoked my children to evil. I would not need to prod, but they would, like obedient sheep, have taken the easy path to perdition. The point is that demanding words are not the only way to provoke, but leading children the wrong way is provocation in itself!

  Overcoming the world is hard work, but a good start is tuning-out the world. That means putting you and your children away from temptation. Friends should be those who are friendly to the rules and culture of your Christian household. Foreign wives always destroyed righteous men, according to scripture. That also means that “foreign” (unchristian) friends can also spoil a Christian household.

  “Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John5:5)? To overcome the world requires tuning out the world and tuning in God. Parents have responsibility to fine-tune their households. Even churches cannot do that for you.

  If I had read this when my own household was in turmoil, I could have either rejected this commentary or considered it. Today’s reader can do likewise. This was not geared to anyone specifically, but to everyone generally. It is not a family but a global problem! It so happened when I came to study my Bible this day chronologically, this message was up next. Do with it as you wish, but perhaps it was meant for you.

(picture credit: Deposit Photos; "Co-parenting Children")

COMMANDS AND WILLS

 

KEY VERSES: ¹⁶ Because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. (Ephes 5:16-17)

  “Commands” are when an authority directs. It is one of a higher-level controlling another. The best human example are masters controlling their slaves. It turns out for the children of the Devil (John 8:44) sins are the “commands” and evil is the “plantation” system. On that plantation grows many appealing things: Paul enumerated many of them in Ephesians chapter 5: “fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness” (verse 3), “filthiness, foolish talking, jesting” (verse 4), and “whoremonger, uncleanness, (and) covetous man, who (one who) is an idolater” (verse 5).

  Satan allows his “slaves” to partake of those fruits and many more. However, he forbids his slaves to love one another as God loves them. Satan is a sly fellow; people fail to understand that they are controlled by him. The Devil never makes you do things but puts things in front of his children to entice them to be under his authority. For instance, planting a beautiful woman or a handsome man in a secret place grows lust, and when it is full-bloomed, lust begets sin: “When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (Jas 1:15).

  The ”crop” on the Devil’s “plantation” is a bundle of dead branches because Jesus is the Vine, and Christians are its branches (John 15:5). Ironically, Satan is not a cruel master but quite a generous one, but his crop does not even compare with the bountiful harvest of Jesus.  God’s harvest is slow in growing, but Satan’s spontaneous and appealing.

  Satan controls, not by commands, but offerings. He knows that the idols of humans are their fleshes, and Satan feeds the desires of their flesh. The sacrifice that Christians are to make is to submit their flesh to temperance, not for their own good, but because it pleases God. Paul wrote, “Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephes 5:2, NKJV).

  Christians are to imitate Jesus since they are in His image. As such, neither does God command us! “Command” is one interpretation of the Greek, but another is “direct” (Strong’s Dictionary). It depends how the worker understands it. The context depends on the receiver. “Slaves” would consider it a command to love their master. On the other hand, willing workers would consider love valuable direction. Freedom is the “understanding (of) what the will of the Lord is” from the key verses. If the Will of the Lord is perceived as demanding, then it is a command; but if it is perceived as voluntary, it is a directive. Thus, commands and directives depend on the hearts of the recipients.

  Those with “circumcised hearts” (Rom 2:2) follow directions like appreciative, willing workers, but those with uncircumcised hearts like disgruntled, controlled slaves. Is John 15:17, then, a command or a directive? That depends on you!

  When Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice, was it a command or a directive? That depended on how Abraham looked at it. His willingness to sacrifice his son was credited to him as righteousness; to wit: ““Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness” (Rom 4:3).

  Note that God gave Abraham directions, and that he could have received them in either of two ways: commands or directives. Abraham was wise. He understood that he had the freedom to follow directives or not.

  If they had been commands, God would have controlled him by coercion. Abraham, without hardness of heart, considered them God’s Will to be done, and was willing to do them out of love for God. Abraham understood beforehand that God would do that same thing for him and all his seed. God planted another “Garden,” perhaps on Golgotha, wherein he had planted Adam’s seed in the beginning. Israel is the Garden of Eden, and there God planted all his “seeds” at different times! It is believed that even the seed of Noah was planted in the Kingdom of David which was then the extent of the Garden of Eden!

  Adam was advised to be a willing worker — “God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it” (Gen 2:15). Note that God did not command but expected that from Adam. His “direction” to Adam was to tend the Garden and preserve it just because it belonged to God. The “Garden” was real but at the same time, a metaphor for a “Garden of Living Souls.” Adam was to demonstrate love by serving the vine and preserving its branches! In effect, God’s intention was that Adam operationalize the “Ten Words” of pre-incarnate Jesus, the first four which are serving God, and the last six preserving living souls.

  Can you not see that the Ten Commandments are not commandments at all, but the “Ten Wills of God?” What is God’s Will? “That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). What are the conditions in His Will for His heirs? “That whoever believes in Him (trusts Him)” (John 3:15). How is trust demonstrated? By following His directives, or prescriptions for eternal health. Jesus came to heal the nations (Rev 22:2). He is the Divine Doctor preserving dying souls. His prescriptions for healing and preserving are itemized. The Ten Directives are prescriptions that dying patients must willingly take to live forever.

  The Abrahamic Covenant is God’s Will for mankind… all the seed of Abraham. As God’s Will, there must be an “estate.” That “estate” was enumerated as the Kingdom of David, or Paradise. The environment on that plantation is not demeaning. No one is required to work! Because they love the Lord and His Garden, they are pleased to serve without coercion. What is grown in the Garden? Charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, forbearance, gentleness, faith, modesty, self-control, and chastity — the Twelve Fruits of the Holy Spirit. (Gal 5:22-23; Vulgate).

  How to grow those twelve fruits? God provided directions for His tenants — the Ten Directives. Of course, he does not command their use, but it is left to the “farmers.” Abel used agreeable “fertilizer” and grew a good crop which he dedicated to God. Cain, on the other hand, grew a paltry crop which he shared only because of duress. He knew that blessings would only come by sharing, but he shared as little as possible. His heart was not in the “farm” nor God, but on himself and pleasure. Cain could have fertilized with God’s Prescriptions using God’s directions, but he sowed and reaped what he had sown!

  If Cain had only understood God’s prayer his living soul would have never died: 

⁹ Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

¹⁰ Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts,

As we forgive our debtors.

¹³ And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one.

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. (Mat 6:9-13; NKJV)

 

  “Your Will be done… On Earth as in heaven.” That is the key; — to do God’s Will here as we will do in the heavenly Paradise. Never expect to be one thing here and another there. Does failure mean damnation? No! Willingness to follow directives is the key. Commands are required because of unwillingness, but for willing hearts, they are not. It is just how you look at the directives!

(picture credit: Getty Images: "Adam and Eve, circa 1639. Artist Simone Cantarini; Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

THE OLD MAN

 

KEY VERSE: Behold, the days come, that I (the Lord God) will cut off thine (Eli’s) arm, and the arm of thy father's house (house of Israel), that there shall not be an old man in thine house. (1 Sam 2:31)

  Eli was the High Priest of Shiloh. Eli failed to reign-in his sons. For that, God could punish Eli and Israel. As High Priest, Eli was the religious “arm” of Israel. What did he do wrong? He allowed “old men” to reign in God’s House.

  “Old Man” may not be clear in that context, but Paul clarified what the “Old Man” identifier means: They are those sons of God who cannot be reigned in, or those who reject authority.  Here is what Paul wrote about the “Old Man:”

¹⁷ Ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, ¹⁸ Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: ¹⁹ Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (Ephes 4:17-19)

  The “Old Man” refers to the ones walking as the other Gentiles walk — in vanity of mind. They take the Name of God — Jesus — vainly. For them, the death of Jesus was of no affect, and they fail to walk as Jesus walked. They fail to understand the significance of the crucifixion and are irreverent to the Name of God. They are ignorant in matters, and as such are blind to truth. Past feeling, they walk their own way — in lasciviousness, uncleanness, and greed. Those are the characteristics of the “Old Man.”

  The “New Man” has been born again (John 3:7). With that, there should have been a change. How does anyone know if they are born again? He is a new is a “New Man,” to wit: “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17).

  What should have passed away? Lasciviousness, uncleanliness, and greed. Add to that lying, anger, wrath, bitterness, clamor, evil speaking, and many other worldly characteristics (Ephes 4:25-31). Examine wrath for a moment. It is uncontrolled anger that waxes and wanes because the person’s ego is infringed upon. It is holding a grudge that just will not go away and comes back to needle the person. It is a stronghold that just will not let go!

  In psychology, the “Old Man” (Latin; “Synex”) is wise and respected — a person of good-standing in the community. Eli fit the description, from Jungian Analytical Psychology, of the “Old Man.” God made clear, that the Synex, Eli, was fallible; he was the High Priest of Shiloh but could not control his sons. The Synex in psychology is a wise and honored Old Man. Eli was honored by men but not by God. Because of Eli’s lack of wisdom, the Old Man would be cut off from God’s House. In other words, wisdom was not the evidence of redemption, but change.

  Jung looked at the Old Man differently than God, as is generally the case in psychology. Jung would honor the “Old Man” for his existence. Perhaps Jung thought of himself as the “Old Man” but he was far from it!

  On the other hand, God would dishonor the Old Man for his life. Eli was inconsistent. He was charged with controlling the faithful at Shiloh but could not reign in his own sons. His authority was not deserved. (We see that today with many deacons in the Church.)

  There are three spiritual categories of man: (1) Innocence, (2) rebellious, and (3) humbled. “Adam” means “man” and Adam was created in innocence, defiled with rebellion, and in his shame, humbled by God who preserved him until he is redeemed. Adam had three different identities relative to the world: (1) an innocent “babe,” (2) the Old Man, and (3) the New Man. Sin made the innocent “babe” an Old Man. Adam was on the way to dying despite his age and the  fruit from the Wisdom Tree made him not reign in his wife to whom he hearkened. Eli is symbolic of sinful Adam, and both are the “Old Man” archetype.

  Then God put a coat of flesh on Adam to preserve him. With that protective flesh, he should have been a “New Man” as Paul described:

²² That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; ²³ And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; ²⁴ And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. ²⁵ Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. ²⁶ Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: ²⁷ Neither give place to the devil. ²⁸ Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. ²⁹ Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. ³⁰ And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephes 4:22-30)

  Can you identify with that? Are you truly a “New Man” and a new creation? Are you truly a New Adam as Jesus is the “Second Adam” (1 Cor 15:47)? The “First Adam” sinned; the “Second Adam” did not! The Old Man is a sinner; the New Man is not! “Sinner” means living a life of sin like the First Adam did. Eli lived two lives, one good and one out of control. One of his arms could be cut off. Why? Because he could not be two men! The hand that offended him would be cut off, according to scripture.

  Likewise, double-minded Christians are like Eli with his Old Man and New Man in the same flesh:

  A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. (Jas 1:8), and “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. (Jas 4:8)

  A Christian of “two minds” is unstable in all his ways! One of those “minds” must be cut off. The Devil endeavors to cut off the mind of the New Man, and God the mind of the Old Man. Just as with Eli, God will not tolerate two-minded men, and for Eli, losing one arm would suffice as means to cutting off the Old Man. What is a Christian to do? Do not cut off that hand but cleanse them both. Let one wash the other, according to James. Then purify your hearts.

  God threatened to cut off the arm of Eli, but instead, perhaps his heart was cleansed. Purification of the heart is circumcision of the heart (Rom 2:29). Nothing is cut off but the desire to sin!

  There are just too many “Christians” walking around with only one arm. The “fugitive” (in the TV drama series) always looked for the one-armed man, but he remains hidden to this day. We see two, but spiritually, double-minded “Christians” may end up one-armed Old Men.

  There has been no conversion, it seems, because on one side the man looks like a Synex (Old Creature) and on the other side a New Creature. One of them must go! If not, then the promise is that the “Old Man” not be allowed to remain in God’s House, according to the key verse.

  Most Christians fear that they are double-minded. Why would they fear that? Because they still sin. Sin is always a choice, and the unstable Christians often chooses wrongly. God has grace! He will not cut off the unstable man immediately but allows the Christian time to decide whose “man” he will be. If there is no change in the Way walked, before long, the Old Man must return to the “tree” that means the most to him. Will it be the Wisdom Tree belonging to the Synex or the Tree of Life under which Christians stand? The Holy Cross is my “tree” of choice as I endeavor to put away the Synex in me.

(picture credit: BBC Radio; Carl Jung)

REDEEMED

 KEY VERSES: 13 (Christ) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession… (Ephes 1:13-14) 

  “Christ,” or the Messiah, is Jesus, the “Son of God” according to His birth, “God” according to His pre-existence, and the “Son of Man,” according to His image.

  “Ye” is the “whosever” as in John 3:16. Read that again: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  Therein “Jesus” so loved “whosoever” in the world. It should be obvious that Paul is writing the same gospel message that John wrote.

  “Trusted” is not in the Greek. It was added for clarity by those who translated into English. However, it completes the context. In John 3:16, “believeth” (Greek; pisteuo) means persuaded to have confidence in one (Strong’s Dictionary). That “one” is Jesus. Hence, “believeth” is better said, “trusted” and that notion comes from John 3:14 wherein Jesus likens “trust” to the Hebrews who had confidence in Jesus for delivery from the lifeless serpent in his “tree.”

  Jesus used the expression, “born again” and declared you “must be” born again (John 3:7). Thus, rebirth commences when either a believer or a non-believer begins to trust Jesus for deliverance. In other words, belief alone is not enough, and confidence in Jesus is necessary. The Hebrews all believed in God because they had seen Him in the cloud by day and fire by night. Their problem was that they failed to trust in God in whom they believed.

  Yesterday, I wrote about philosophy. Psychology is a philosophical religion because its adherents either trust in the philosopher or themselves for deliverance from whatever ails them. Essentially, sin is what ails those with psychosis; the worst from of which is schizophrenia. Why the worst? Because of delusions of grandeur. That is what ails the typical sinner, and taken to the extreme, they become gods and/or kings. The problem with psychology is that it places dependence on oneself for deliverance from whatever, when those who trust God would come to Jesus in all things, to wit: “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing (trusting), ye shall receive” (Mat 21:22).

  Nothing is too hard for God and Jesus is His intermediary. “Virtue” comes from Jesus unto the oppressed (Mark 5:30). When Jesus died all virtue had gone out of Him as He “gave up the Ghost” to God (Luke 23:46). Hence, the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, is the virtue that heals Christians both physically and spiritually — in “all things.” Do you believe that? If you do, then you trust in Jesus and are born again. If not, then your “rebirth” was from a “false pregnancy.” Therefore, not only “belief” but “trust” is imperative for eternal life.

  What persuades Christians to be “Christian?” From the key verses, “After that ye heard the word of truth.” Something heard and considered persuades sinners to become Christians. Paul “reasoned” with those that he encountered (Acts 17:22). The key verse says, “from the word.” Acts says, “from the scriptures.” What does scripture say about Jesus? That He is the Word (John 1) and scripture is the inspired Word of God. (2 Tim 3:16). The Old Testament is the very Words that Jesus spoke before He was ever flesh.

  Do you believe that? Paul did!  That acknowledges that Jesus IS God. The Hebrews, when they saw the lifeless serpent on the pole, saw Judas dead in his tree, and that happened on the same day that Jesus died on His “Tree.” Satan was in Judas, just as he had been in the Serpent.

  Do you believe that Jesus’s Purpose defeated Satan? It did. That is why God came down; that was His Way of diminishing Satan until the time comes to rid the heaven and earth of his presence.

  Consider the Third Commandment: “Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exod 20:7).  The “Name” is Jesus, and He is Lord of all. God’s Name had a purpose — to defeat Satan. With that, to take Jesus’s Purpose without significance is blasphemous. The penalty for that is guilt. Only by Jesus nailed to the Holy Cross can reprieve be made. The blood and water shed by Jesus remises the guilt of the sinner under conviction (1 John 5:6).

  What happened on the Cross? Sinners, “whosoever,” deserve death, but instead Jesus died in their places. He suffered death on their behalf. The key verses say that after persuasion, “in whom also after that ye believed.” The “whom” there is Jesus, and where it reads “believed,” again, that is pisteuo, or have confidence in. That is why “trusted” was added. It came from pisteuo and completed the context.

  What truth persuades? “The gospel of your salvation.” The “gospel” is the reward for trusting Jesus. Yes, those who trust Jesus shall be rewarded, and those who fail to trust will be punished. “Your salvation” is negated by the word, “gospel.” It is Jesus who rewards and punishes. You can neither reward nor punish yourself. That takes the focus off your works and exalts Jesus. “Your salvation” is by only One Way, and that is by the Name, “Jesus” (John 20:31). The example of the brazen serpent is crucial. It demonstrates that people have no power to save themselves from serpents or any malady, physical or spiritual. Vipers are easy compared to Satan, and the Hebrews could not even kill the vipers!

  “Salvation,” in the Greek, is “soteria” which means “preservation” until a “future salvation” (ibid) when Jesus shall physically return to gather the saints; thus “preservation of the saints.”

  That is not the same thing as “eternal security” because there is one exclusion; and that is stedfast faith to endure to the end. God “seals” those who trust Him, but they still have the levity of breaking that “seal” themselves. Only Jesus can save, but everyone can condemn themselves. God imbued his creatures with free will, and that is to choose between God’s preservation, or their own inclination to self-destruct. The “original sin” caused that pre-disposition.

  “Sealed” is “marked.” Scripture speaks of the mark of the Beast (666; Rev 13:16) and the seal of God… both on their foreheads, but the mark of the Beast also on their hands. The marks on the forehead seem to represent the mind; to which master the person has been persuaded as his own. The mark on the hand seems to symbolize that a doctrine of works is damning.

  The seal of God on the forehead are those who He preserves until the final test. Whose visible mark will they take? Will those preserved break the seal or take the mark of the Beast? With that, perhaps, God preserves those who continue in the faith until the final test of faith — Do we trust Jesus or do we trust in ourselves?

   Now for an analogy. This comparison is not to trivialize or diminish God, but strictly to amplify. Do you remember S & H green stamps? Each time a purchase was made a number of green stamps were awarded by the store. The buyer would paste them in a book until they were full, then then could be redeemed. Oftentimes the person would want the reward greatly and prize it before it was even in hand. Once time had elapsed and the buyer remained faithful to the store and to his part in pasting the stamps, then they could be redeemed for prizes. The collector would always determine the prize and look forward to it with anticipation. They could review the collection of prizes in a catalog and have their eyes on the prize until enough stamps were collected to redeem.

  Those who were earnest, put the stamps in a vault or cabinet for safekeeping. There they would be preserved until redemption time. Some collected from the start, but before long, the prize was not worth the cost. Soon the stamps were misplaced or thrown away.

  Those who are born again trust God for redemption, but redemption does not come until the time expires or enough “stamps” are collected for the prize. (The Book is the Torah and its cover is love). What are those “stamps?” Earnestness and devotion. That must never end because that demonstrates love for the Giver and the Gift.

  God puts the “stamp book” (the Book of Life) in a safe place to preserve them. Christians are part of that “book” as we are the “stamps” in the Lamb’s Book of Life. When the time comes, God examines the “book of stamps” for truth, integrity, and diligence. When He opens the Book of Life, there is one big stamp by itself? On it is written, “He trusted God throughout life” and on it is the blood of Jesus. He did the work for that one Stamp and there was no need for our tedious work.

  All the while that we do things for Him, He is doing it all for us! Our “stamps” have been discarded, and only His remains. We know the prize; it is an eternal vacation in Paradise in the Garden of God, and all Christians need do is keep the faith that God provided; that He will do all the work of payment, preservation, works, and redemption.

  What happens if Christians become careless? Satan steals the book and makes it His. It is no longer a Book of Life but a collection of garbage pail kid stamps to be thrown out into Gehenna.

  I have found many discarded stamp books partially filled. The person was not earnest nor patient. They somehow got lost before they were redeemed. Some of those people are long gone, and their “stamps” shall never be redeemed. Now the stores are closed, and they can never be redeemed. Someday, God’s “store” will be closed for business, in His time, not ours, so we must trust now that there is time to redeem.

  Satan discourages that. He suggests that it is not worth the gift to wait, and that they will never be redeemed. “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom 13:11).

  In other words, Christians are to live as if the “store” is closing and comprehend that it will be closed someday. That store closes when we die; by then it is to late and the bad “stamps” can never be replaced with genuine ones.

(picture credit: WKTV Journal)

ON PHILOSOPHY

 

KEY VERSE: Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (Col 2:8)

  I thought that I was a Christian from birth because I always believed in Jesus, and that He Is God. With that, I was only half a “Christian,” but only half is not a Christian. I remained a believing sinner. What was missing? I failed to trust Jesus in anything let alone in all things.

  “Wisdom,” according to Paul, is perfection in Christ Jesus (Col 1:28). Paul taught antinomialism; that doctrine is “against legalism.” Then what is legalism? Strict obedience to the Law out of obligation. What is antinomialism? Congruence to the Will of God out of love… “above all these things put on love” (Col 3:14). “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col 3:15). Christians are to do things out of love for Jesus.

  Jesus died so that sinners need not. That is “redemption” and for that, the redeemed should have some trust, loyalty, and gratitude. Strict obedience to the Law is as much as obedience to Satan because obedience is self-defense against the evil one.

  Jesus “saves” humbled people from sin. If He has truly “saved” from sin, then those redeemed have no obligation to the Law, but they still remain God’s “itemization” of what He Wills for His heirs. The Ten Commandments are not “commandments” to the Christian but a transfer of God’s Estate to His loving children.

  Paul taught against obedience to the Law in Colossians 2:11-23, then immediately described the character of the “new man” in chapter three. The new persons are to do things much tougher than what was commanded!  Paul indicates that the new man “does what is well pleasing to the Lord” (Col 3:20). The old person does what seemed to be required, but the new person seeks to venerate Jesus by doing His Will and being in the image of Jesus (Col 3:13). Jesus did not die because he had to; He died sacrificially. He gave up His Flesh so that Christians need not give up theirs. He gave up His Ghost, so that Christians do not die in Spirit.

  That is the gospel, but some at the Church at Colosse assumed another (false) gospel. There were many mystery religions in Asia Minor at that time, but the fastest growing one was Simonism; to wit: “There was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God” (Act 8:9-10). Simonism was based on Christianity and seemed good to people because Simon worked miracles just as Jesus had. Although the miracles of Jesus were part of the mystery of God, Simon’s sorcery was slight-of-hand.

  Simon Magus is credited with Gnosticism, meaning “having knowledge,” and in this case “secret knowledge.” Paul spoke about the mystery of Christ and against the secret knowledge of Gnosticism, whose adherents, “considered the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the supreme divinity in the form of mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in concepts of sin and repentance, but with illusion and enlightenment” (Wikipedia; “Gnosticism”).

  “Esoteric” means divergence from both orthodoxy in religion and from rationalism, and “has pervaded various forms of Western philosophy, religion, pseudoscience, art, literature, and music, continuing to affect intellectual ideas and popular culture” (ibid).

  When some say, “I am spiritual but not religious,” that is esoteric philosophy. They believe that they have secret knowledge about living beyond God and reason. One of the tenets of Gnosticism is that there was no Savior and no redemption. Only a “phantasm” was on the Cross. Gnostics deny Jesus, and essentially violate all the commandments. False doctrines always dismiss the true Christ, and express secret knowledge. Many false religions did that in apostolic times, and Gnosticism just about overcame Christianity.

  The key verse says much against the philosophy of men and the vanity that goes along with superior knowledge. Christians have the knowledge of Christ, and understand the mystery of Jesus, but the philosophers only the rudimentary wisdom of the world. Philosophy is the original sin. There were two Trees, or doctrines, in the Garden of Eden: The Tree, or Doctrine of God, and the tree, or doctrine, of worldly knowledge. “Good” is spiritual knowledge and “evil,” carnal, or worldly knowledge. Knowledge that undermines God is evil because God can only be diminished, not killed!

  The following is a testimony: I fell for the rudimentary philosophy of men at one time. I trusted philosophers rather than God for healing.

  My son was addicted to marijuana. I could not persuade him to quit as he was sliding fast into the world of drugs. Rather than trust God for divine healing, I trusted a psychologist to “fix” my son. Unknown to me, and I was never told, psychologists never confess that they can “fix” anything; that only you or some unknown “higher power” (phantasm) can. In turned out that after two years, the clinic never “fixed” anything, but my son learned deceit. His new behavior was as if he was fixed, but only known to him, he was as addicted as ever. My trust was misplaced, but I remained too stupid to realize it.

  Because I was so grateful for outward change (legalism), I enrolled at WKU in the family counseling curriculum. There, I thought that I would learn secret knowledge; to learn how the psychologist fixed my son, not even realizing that he remained unfixable.

  It was there that I studied psychology and by God’s direction, the entire Bible on my own. I saw the contrast! In the former, I depended on me, and in the latter, I depended on God, or should have. (I was into legalism since I depended on myself).  I endeavored to serve “two masters” (Mat 6:24).

  Who should I trust, God or mammon? I decided to trust God. It was at that point that I surely became a true Christian. Belief in Jesus had not been enough. My conversion was when I trusted in Jesus in all things! My rebirth had “gestated” almost thirty years. (And we think one minute at the altar makes the new person!)

  Today, my trust is in Jesus and only Jesus in all things. I cannot fix myself, and neither can any philosophy. I have diminished Freud and Jung, and even Carl Rogers, and have elevated Jesus Christ to the Healer that He IS!

  My other son was heading toward divorce. He made an appointment with a family counselor. He may as well have come to his “know-it-all” Dad; the holder of “secret knowledge” that I could share with them, but I had no such knowledge. What I had learned was beyond fixing me or anyone else. There is no secret knowledge! Only the knowledge of God can heal. That is the mystery of which Paul wrote. The Colossians were searching for eternal health from Simon and the other “sorcerers” when Paul wrote to them about Christ perfecting.

  My son said, “This one is too tough for God.” I was astounded because nothing is too tough got the Almighty God!

  I finished my curriculum in family counseling but switched to education for my graduate degree. The Bible had educated me, and I turned away from “vain deceit.” Yes, psychology is deceptive as each and all theories undermine God. I have written this many times, but I asked Dr. Fong, “isn’t psychology just another religion?” She smiled and asked, “Are you just not finding that out?” I had been had. I had stepped into an esoteric belief system, thinking I was safe from deception! My philosophy had become syncretic as I worshiped the Philosophy Tree and The Truth Tree together as if they were the same!

  I am not the only one who fell for that “Big Lie.” Adam and Eve were first, and many sincere Christians still do. In the end, most will fall for the Big Lie. People love a mystery and accept secret knowledge instead. Stand warned; there is no secret knowledge because Jesus has already proclaimed the truth to the world!

(picture credit: All Psychology Schools)