The Skull of Adam

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More Faith: The Thief on the Cross or Abraham

I raised the question to some: Who had greater faith, the thief on the cross or Abraham. Most said Abraham. Did they choose correctly? Let's take a look:

Faith is a variable. The range starts at no faith, and goes all the way to the faith of God - zero faith to infinite faith.

Faith was even defined by God:

Hebrews 11:1 'Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Faith is in God and that he is who he says he is and can do what he says that he can do. Faith is defined as evidence in what is not seen.

There are those with no faith:

Mark 4:40 "And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

And then there is the perfect faith:

Romans 3:3 "For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?"

God is sure of himself because he is God!

That is the range of faith: It's from zero to infinite all at the same time. Abraham was somewhere in between:

Romans 4:16 "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all..."

The faith of Abraham was sure - he was certain that God is God, and has the power for salvation. Incidentally, Abraham also believed in the creation as well as salvation!

Abraham has been the standard of faith for mankind because he was willing to sacrifice his only son, just as God did. (Of course, Abraham had Ishmael, but he was emancipated, and was thus gone.)

Abraham's obedience was credited to him as faith:

 Romans 4:20 "He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."

Therefore, the works of Abraham was credited to Abraham as faith, reinforcing that faith without works is dead.  Abraham had the faith to present his own son as a living sacrifice. He heard God, he listened, and be obeyed. His obedience was a demonstration of his belief and love. God tested him to see if he loved him, and Abraham passed the test although he had never seen God! Abraham was willing to trade the love of his son to show his love for God.

Here is what God said to Abraham, and of course Abraham obeyed:

Genesis 22:1 "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. 2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

Now let's look at the thief (malefactor) who was about to be crucified with Jesus:

 Luke 23:39 "And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."

The thief admitted his sin and that he deserved death. He recognized that Jesus was innocent, and sensed that Jesus is indeed God: Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. The thief was not sacrificing anything to show his love. He was just showing his love first hand, not vicariously.

Compare the two scenarios now, remembering that faith is defined as evidence of things not seen. Of course, faith is not only believing in God, but that he is who he says that he is, and can do what he says he can do. Every believer, hence, must believe in an Almighty God who can actually follow through with saving, as he claims that he can do. The thief on the cross saw God, and trusted that Jesus had the ability to save, but he didn't rebuke the other thief merely for salvation. He did that because he felt pain for Jesus's eminent death - a demonstration of love.

Both Abraham and the thief trusted God. Abraham only heard God speak, but never saw him, because no one could see God without dying, not even Moses! His faith was in things not seen for he could not see God, nor could he physically know that God has the power to save.

On the other hand, the thief was actually looking at God, and realized that he whom he saw was God in the flesh. He still had faith in things not seen, though - that Jesus was going to his kingdom upon his death. The thief, due to what was occurring at that moment, had faith in Jesus! He could actually see God, but Abraham could not. He felt sympathy for Jesus because he was seeing the injustice of it all.

We don't necessarily know what else God spoke to Abraham, but his Word was there speaking. It was the pre-incarnate Jesus doing the testing. In essence, the Word was saying: Do you love me Abraham? Show me!" just as he asked of Peter.

Abraham believed in what he could not see, but the thief believed in whom he could see!

Abraham must have had the greater faith, because he believed in Him who he could not see. On the other hand, the thief was there looking at Jesus. Even he with a little (sic) faith, would be saved!

The thief, of course, had more than a little faith, which is by the way, enough to save. When even the apostles had denied Jesus, the thief embraced and loved him by his concern. His little (sic) faith was truly great faith, but not as great as Abraham's.  The latter believed in what had not yet happened, but the thief believed in what was occurring. Because he could actually see what was happening, he had lesser faith than Abraham who believed without witnessing.

As living people in these days, it is by faith that we are saved. We don't have the advantage of being there to witness God being crucified, but can only read it as gospel. Because we trust Jesus without ever seeing him, we have stronger faith than the thief on the cross. It is to be noted that the works of Abraham was the same confidence in Jesus that the thief had, the former was faith demonstrated by works, and the latter was entirely by grace. However, Abraham also knew that it wasn't his works which would save him, but his faith to trade his love of his only son for God's sake in thanks for his grace.

I believe that Abraham is still the standard for great faith. Only Moses had the faith to part the waters, and as such, he could have moved mountains, but Moses had more doubts than Abraham - the man truly after God's own heart.

Sports Fans

There are many sports fans, especially in Kentucky where Kentuckians are used to their team winning. It's okay to be a fan because it shows enthusiasm for the team. Fan is a shortened version of fanatic: those who have single-minded enthusiasm. Anyone who has watched those at ball games and in sports bars know that Kentucky fans are fanatics. Likewise, North Carolinians, Hoosiers, Michiganders and those in any state.

There is a precursor to being a fan: The team must be a winning team! Sure, there are die hard fans who hope for a comeback late in the season, and stick with the team, even traveling to away games with them. These folks are zealots, those who are faithful fanatics.

Christians are like sports fans. For some, Christianity is a game. Of course the other religions are the opponent. Just as with the favorite team, as long as things go well, those Christians are fans of Christ. Incidentally, they prefer the shortened version fan to fanatic, because of the implications of being a fundamental and excitable Christian. Christians don't mind being a fan of Christ, but being a fanatic for them, is outside their comfort zone.

However, Christians are to be fanatics since they are to be single-minded. Few are, but that is the Greatest Commandment:

Mark 12:30 "... thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment."

I comment on the Greatest Commandment often because it is the greatest and first in that it is essentially mankind's job. Mankind's job is to dress and keep the Garden (Genesis 2:15). At the center of the Garden was the Tree of Life who represents Jesus Christ. Tending God is the purpose of mankind. How must we tend God: by serving and loving him. (See my earlier commentary on the
TREE OF LIFE).

Adam was to tend to the Tree of Life with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. His vocation was to serve God and his assignment was to be a fanatic: single-minded for God.

Adam had a second love. It was for pleasant things which the other tree offered. He loved that other tree, not as much as God, but too much! His single-mindedness waned, and God became jealous (Exodus 20:5) because Adam began to serve God and mammon. He never actually abandoned God, but his single-mindedness ended when he added to his first love, a second one - himself! He became as god in his mind, and he began to serve his own idol - the flesh. Whatever was right in his own eyes, he did it.

Just as the sports fan's zeal ends when the team begins lose, Christians abandon God when there are more pleasures elsewhere, or things go wrong in life. For instance, if a marriage is failing, rather than remaining faithful to their home team, many couples walk out of the gym -  God's sanctuary, because things aren't going in their favor. Sure, they still hang on a little to God, but their single-mindedness ends up being on their own life, rather on being faithful members of God's team. Fans of Christ persevere even when times get rough. They know in their hearts, if they endure through hard times, good things are ahead. These fans of Christ are fanatics and the most faithful are zealots!

Think on Job. When he was tested with loss, bad health, and destitution; he remained true to God. When it seemed as if God's team was losing, Job remained faithful to the home team. He was a single-minded fanatic of God who loved God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength! In the face of Satan, Job remained a true fan of God, and lived to reap the rewards of his faithfulness. Truly his was the faith of Abraham and even Noah! Those three were among the most fanatic of all time, and they were indeed fans of righteousness!

When the going got tough, and the world offered more, they stayed firm with God. They didn't pick up their belongings, allow their enthusiasm to wane, and leave God's gym. They stood firm in their applause for God because they knew sooner or later that God will win the game -  in his time. With one second left to play, God will come through! Those who love and trust him know that he will, and have little doubt that God allows some missed shots, but ultimately will win the game. Those missed shots are our tests for faithfulness. They separate the fans from the mere spectators!

Satan goes to and fro. He and his dark angels are the bad spectators who just won't stand up when the wave progresses around the gymnasium.  After a few bad plays, even those who claim to be fans, stay seated. Their enthusiasm wanes, and they become mere spectators, and not true fans. Some are even so disheartened that they leave the gym or pick another team. True fans of God, never do that!

When things get tough those on His team stay with Him, because they know God is always with them:

Deuteronomy 31:6  ^"Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee."

Sports fans, that's how we are to be with God. That attitude is loving God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength! That is being a true fan of God.


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Shallowness

I am the first to admit, in romance I was always extremely shallow to the point of unfairness. Of course my shallowness was revealed to others as I placed disproportionate emphasis on appearance. At one time I didn't care if a woman was stuck-up, self-centered, or even dim-witted as long as they looked good. My shallowness is a negative attribute which is unfair. It is something of which to be ashamed.

Even though my outlook was shallow, God blessed me anyhow. I not only got a compatible wife, but one beautiful as well. We have aged together, but in my own eyes she looks the same. I call her little girl because she is younger. Of course, her youth of days gone has equalized with my own age. Time does that! Because she is still beautiful to me, I guess I am less shallow than I once was. Because she is not only the one  that I love, but my dear friend, has tempered my shallowness. Time has revealed to me that beauty is temporal, but bliss is everlasting! I would rather have one moment with my wife than ten-thousand moments with someone who is merely beautiful.

Of course beauty is still important to me, but its luster has dulled. Coming home to a mere Stepford Wife would be much like coming home to an empty house. Nobody would intellectually or emotionally be there, but me. Even of I could go out right now and get a necklace of fake emeralds, I still prefer my string of real pearls that I already have. My love and attraction for my own wife is not of my own doing, but God has changed my vision and my heart. A good marriage is part is God's grace because Satan uses martial dissatisfaction for his own purposes. Narcissistic flirtatious women are placed in strategic places to divide what God has joined together. Those who are tempted by the exterior of the opposite sex are shallow.

There was a young man who was looking for a wife. He had primary qualifications and secondary ones, which is okay, but he had them reversed. He wanted a wife foremost which measured up to his expectations. Her height had to be within a certain range, and even her hair color had to be a certain hue, notwithstanding that the color he desired was out of the bottle. Candidates figures were required to be impeccable, although one baby can ruin that!

Of course he did want a moral person and one with like faith, and that is commendable. However, shallowness with the physical precluded finding the right person. There were many ideal wives out there with big-time problems: hair color and length stood in the way of romance. That is shallow and he agreed with my assessment.

With all that said, that is about romance. However, shallowness extends to friendships as well. My motto has always been: a friend is forever, because friendship is unconditional, and is eternal as such. Friendships never die if it was friendship to start with. Faux friendships are those which look at the beauty of being a friend. Sometimes relationships come about because it's all that's there. Two people get together and enjoy each other because they depend on each other for philio love -  the bond which friends have.  Many of those friendships are based on beauty. By that I mean that when something more attractive comes along, the so-called friendship implodes. It's is sort of philio-adultery - there is a more attractive friendship elsewhere, and the shallow friend, in his or her fickleness moves to where the grass is greener.

Now, both  erotic shallowness and friendship shallowness have been discussed. That leaves spiritual shallowness.

Revelations 2:4 "... I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love."

This is God speaking. As Christians, He is to be our first love.  This type of love is not chronological, but in priority. Just as we are to love our spouse first in a relationship sense, we are to love God before anything else. Just as our fickle man has standards for his wife -  beauty, stature, complexion, and hair-color, God has standards for his lover.

Mark 12:30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength..."

The criteria for loving God is with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Of course his attributes are love, grace, power, fairness, truth, and trust. He determines our ultimate happiness, and as such he is our first love. On top of all that God is beautiful - so beautiful that we cannot look upon him in our human form. Our agape or divine relationship is mutual. His attributes are numerous, and ours are to be with all that we have: heart, soul, mind, an strength!

God's love is unfailing. He is faithful and sincere. Most often Christians are shallow: We fail to love with our all. When something more tempting comes along, we forget God and go for what we see is more beautiful. We are spiritually shallow, and are fickle. We leave our first love and have another lover. At least those with those romantic shallowness choose someone else, but those spiritually shallow return to their real first love. Who is that? Their first love is themselves! They desire to do what's right in their own yes, and doing so, they return to be lovers of the flesh. Like the romantic lover, they fall prey to beauty. Their standards have changed. When they return to their true first love, it is to the love of he flesh to which they return!

Scripture refers to fornication with other gods. Before the Jews learned their lesson, they flirted with other gods. Most notably the golden calf of Aaron. No sooner had Moses left than they gave their jewels and created their own god to satisfy themselves. They never abandoned God completely; they just placed other gods before Him. All through scripture, the patriarchs married foreign wives and took also their gods, and worshiped them on high places. That was spiritual shallowness called syncretism. They left their first love and took on other lovers -  other gods before God. That spiritual adultery was because their love for God was shallow.

Today, we have spiritual shallowness. We claim God as our first love, but it's the flesh that we truly love. That is whatever pleases us in place of God: beauty, power, wisdom, recognition, achievement, entertainment, or whatever. They are truly our first love, although we may say that we love God too!  That is spiritual shallowness, and our love is where our hearts lie. Spiritual shallowness is outside loving God with all our hearts, mind, body, soul and strength; and loving ourselves that much, because ultimately, we are our own god before God, and our flesh is our idol!

By the way, it seems that people are not shallow in one relationship alone; if shallow in one they are shallow in all of them.


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Interview With God

Since mankind was created God has kept two books: (1) The Other Book: The Book of Works and (2) Another Book: The Book of Life:

Revelation 20:12 "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

If a person's name is in The Book of Life, all things are blotted out of The Book of Works because those things were paid for by the blood of Jesus. For those whose names are still in The Book of Works with unpardoned sins, their name is not in The Book of Life.

Those two books will be the evidence at The Great White Throne Judgment. God will be the judge. When God speaks it is Jesus who speaks as he is the Word (John Chapter 1). As such our interview with God will be conducted by Jesus, God Incarnate. He is our mediator:

1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus..."

God in his three roles - will be judge, prosecutor and attorney for the each person. As mediator, Jesus comes to the defense of those who are born-again.

Matthew 25:21 "His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord."

This is a parable, but take it as a picture of the verdict. Everyone (all the dead) will stand in front of the throne on judgment day. If the defendant's name is in The Book of Life, he or she will hear those words. Jesus will say: He trusted me and accepted my sacrifice. Grant him eternal life!

"But I sinned!" you will say, but God will respond: "In The Book of Works, there were many sins, but they have all been blotted out with the ink of blood. Jesus did that, and I have forgotten what they were!"

For those who were less wise, even fools, they will stand there finally humbled, but too late:

Matthew 7:23 "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Iniquity is living a life of sin, not just sinning. There is a difference. Iniquity is essentially placing oneself before God. The person with iniquity does their will, and not God's will. They are their own god, and did what was right in their own eyes. God says: I never knew you!  That implies that you think that he did! You see, even the elect can be fooled and their faith burned out.

What happens here? God looks in The Book of Life, and this person's name is not written therein. God passes judgment:

Revelation 20:15 "And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

Not to be condemning, this judgment is eternity in hell. With that verdict, the condemned will weep and cry, and beg for clemency, but too late! God will then pull out The Book of Works. There will be  two main categories of judgment: (1) He didn't love God and (2) He didn't love others.

Within those two categories will be things such as for item #1: (a) He loved himself more than God, (b) His flesh was his idol, (c) He spoke my name recklessly, and (d) He didn't keep God's day holy. Within category #2 there will be: (e) He mocked his parents, (f) He killed because he hated, (g) He committed adultery even in his heart, (h) He was a thief, (i) He was a liar, (j) and He was jealous of what others had!

Then the defendant will cry out, "I didn't do all of those things... I just did some of them!" Then God will say:

James 2:10 "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."

Then you, the defendant will be without excuse, but repentance is too late! You cry out, "If I had only known, I would have believed!" And God will respond:

Romans 1:20 "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse..."

God said, "I convicted you numerous times, and although you were guilty, you didn't repent. You wouldn't take the free ransom that I paid on your behalf."

Luke 12:20 "But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee:"

We stand warned! That's why I'm writing this right now! If you believe, but haven't changed, then you may be in jeopardy on judgment day. That day will be in the future, but tomorrow may be too late to do anything about it!

I have things that I need forgiveness for right now. I have hate in my heart, but I don't want to hate. I break the commandments, and by doing so, I am either showing hate for God or others. You can't break those enduring commands written in stone, and not hate. God convicts me. I am guilty. His words can convict you as well because you too are guilty!

True, a few sins won't send you to hell, but it displeases God. We are to obey his commands to show our love for him. After awhile, we live in iniquity and his spirit is not in us. God does not cohabitate with sin; when you are full of sin, he does not live in you. As I do when I think on these things, I feel guilty, but not nearly as guilty and foolish as I would feel of I had not had faith in Jesus!

What God Hates

Revelation 2:15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I (God) hate.

Some interpret this passage, and the other in Revelation 2 like it, as God hates the Nicolaitanes. However, God so loved the world, and he did not harbor hate for anyone. God hates the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes. This hatred of doctrine is mentioned twice, making it important and essential that Christians not adhere to it.

Church father's had various different ideas what this doctrine is, and from whom it originated. Obviously, for it to be crucial enough to be hated, it must have been the doctrine of an influential person, and it must have been a very sinful doctrine. Most church fathers believed that Nicolas, one of the appointed seven in Acts 6 was a righteous man gone bad. Nicolas was a convert from some other religion, probably not Judaism, because he was referred to as a proselyte. Because of the decadence of the Roman and Hellenistic influences, he is more likely to have been a pagan who worshiped other or many gods from their pantheon.

The Romanized culture fairly well accepted sexual types of worship. Monogamy was the norm both in Roman and Greek culture, but sexual relations was acceptable if it was with prostitutes in that they were not another man's wife. Therefore, it may be that Nicolas considered prostitution an acceptable activity; after all monogamous Romans and Greeks consorted with them!

That brings into the picture the sins of Balaam. Theologians believed that he brought prostitution and pimping into the worship of God.

Revelation 2:14 " But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication."

Since Baalam is mentioned right along with the Nicolaitanes, it is reasonable to assume that the doctrine of Balaam in Judaism was the same as the doctrine of Nicolas in Christianity.  Some even believe that Balaam in Hebrew is the same name as Nicolas in Greek. In that case the followers of Nicolas would also be followers of Balaam. If Nicolas, one of the seven, was a proselyte (pagan), then he would no little about Balaam, but much about culturally acceptable prostitution. At any rate, Nicolas brought idol worship and prostitution into the church.

When the qualifications for bishop and deacon are enumerated in 1 Timothy 3 the literal translation is that both are to a man of one woman. This has nothing to do with one wife, but merely one woman - gune in the Greek. Some have made it more specific in error to mean wife. What that means is that bishops and deacons can not consort with prostitutes or be fornicators in any manner. It is present-tense, meaning that past sins which are forgiven do not void current qualifications. In that culture prostitution was prevalent and acceptable, and had even entered the church.

Because Nicolas apparently was not of the religion of Moses, surely means that he was not a follower of God's Law. Because of liberty in Christ, he may have been one to take grace to the extreme as Paul preached against.

Romans 6:1 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

Note that Paul was speaking to the pagan Romans who lived in a sinful culture, and who frequented prostitutes. This situation fits Nicolas quite well as a likely pagan. Apparently he carried this cultural doctrine into the church because of sola gratia -  by grace alone, which later on became the doctrine pf Calvin. If Nicolas was never a follower of Moses, he would certainly care little about obedience to the Law.  It would be easy for him to bring this doctrine into the church, which was part of Gnosticism which Paul preached against so often. Later on, this heresy fit well with what was called antinomianism -  the doctrine that because justification is by faith in Jesus alone, then there are no moral restraints. Essentially, this heresy voids the Ten Commandments, and is a ticket for licentiousness.

Does it still exist today? Sure does! Five-point Calvinists would point out that Christians are saved by irresistible grace and were elected to be at the beginning of time. There is nothing that they can do to reject their predetermined fate. As such, any regulations are merely a way to enslave and the Christian is at liberty to sin at will. Even some who accept only eternal security (Calvin's point five), that they can sin even to the extent of murder, and slip into heaven as a sinner because God's grace erases current and future sin.

As an example, a friend of mine told a filthy joke. I reproved him by saying, "I thought you were a Christian." His answer was, "That sin was forgiven two-thousand years ago." That is very true, but there is more: Romans 3:25 says that the acceptance of Jesus blood was for past sins. He did die for all sins, but Christians are expected to continually obey and repent.  What's more, Jesus said that if we love him, we are to obey his commands. Whether it is eternal or conditional security, we are to leave the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes out of the church!

Hard Calvinists still do practice the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes. Because that doctrine is so cultural in the west, many modern Christians bring prostitution and adultery right into God's house without ever being convicted that it is wrong. We all know some who cohabitate without legal marriage. We condemn them when they do that. However, based on the definition of marriage in Judea, cohabitation is marriage.  Serial cohabitation is adultery, and frequenting prostitutes is fornication.  That doctrine is still rampant in the church and for that, those of that doctrine must repent!

Furthermore. no Nicolaitanes, Balaaamites, or even antinomians should be bishops or deacons. Some are because the criteria of divorce is wrongly used.

Dark Triadic Personality Traits: The Unholy Triad

There is a big problem in the world today. The problem is in psychological traits, but it is really more of a spiritual problem. That is the dark triadic personality traits. Everyone has some degree of what I have termed the unholy triad, and for others the triad is so powerful that they are unbalanced and dysfunctional in life. Usually, the dysfunction effects and affects others too, but the person with the unholy triad may hardly notice. However, there is a great problem!

Others avoid those with dark triadic personalities, but on the spiritual side, those people avoid God. They are satisfied with themselves to the extent that they never knock at Jesus' door. Salvation is never obtained because they put their other god before God. Yes, those with dark triadic personality have their own god, and it is them!

For others, they believe in Jesus, and even partially trust him. However, the spiritual problem is that they love themselves so much that they never change their nature. Being born-again is a new start. The old person is sacrificed to Jesus, and a new person emerges... if the experience has efficacy. Many CINO (Christians In Name Only) believe in God, but are too self-interested to experience the new creation. After being born-again, each Christian is to be like Jesus. Sure, they will never actually be as pure as Jesus, but they are to be as much as possible.

People don't have to sin.  Satan never makes you sin, so quit giving him the credit. He offers the temptation, and the sinner makes a conscious judgment call -  to sin or not to sin. People sin for gratification. Of course, it is when the sin is most gratifying for the person! After neglecting conviction and its resultant guilt, people continue to sin without aforethought because it is their nature to sin -  they become acclimated to sin. Those who continue in the life if sin are more about the self than the one true God. They confess Jesus, but continue to worship their own little god - the self.

All of us do that with a degree because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. When one lives for the self, there is a big problem: apostasy -  sinners abandon God to appease themselves. They reach the pinnacle where their god comes before God again. When the extreme comes, and no attempt is made to crucify themselves, that's called reprobate. Those people accept damnation and reject salvation. The pull of self-satisfaction exceeds the hope of salvation.

The dark personality traits are three, thus triad. In spiritual terms they are damning, thus unholy triad:

• psychopathy
• Narcissism
• Machiavellianism

Psychopaths are those people without empathy. They seek the thrill of self-satisfaction, and even when it's wrong, they feel no guilt for their wrong-doing. Psychopathy has degrees in that people care little about the condition of others, and as they satisfy themselves more and more, they care about others less and less. One is not born a psychopath. Those who appease them mold them into one. I discussed psychopathy and reprobation thoroughly in my commentary: SPIRITUALLY PSYCHOPATHIC.

Narcissism is when one finds themselves pleasing. They are those who gratify by self-indulgence. It may be the beauty they see in the mirror, as did Narcissus of Greek literature who fell in  love with his own reflection from the pool.  Those who have self-love admire themselves, and diminish the beauty of others. That is not only physical beauty, but spiritual beauty as well. It's those who believe they should go to heaven because it's me God! It's those who think, I deserve this, whatever this is! It is those whose god is truly their own selves. The extreme is when not only do they have another god before God, but act as if they are God!

Before the fall of mankind with original sin, Adam and Eve focused on God alone. With temptation, their focus was on them. At that moment they did what Narcissus did, but as they looked on the tree of knowledge of good and evil what they saw was themselves as gods. In their own eyes they became the god before God. It was then that love of self replaced the love they had for God. Since, to a degree, we all have that problem, and God knows it: He said to love others as we do ourselves and that no man hates his own flesh. If one doesn't love others, it is his own self that he loves to the extreme. Their god becomes Narcissus - their Adam and their Eve, their own selves.

I see this everyday. Even good Christians (sic) in their own eyes, think: What is in it for me? I even believe that such silliness as being pumped up spiritually is Narcissistic. We are to be pumped up for Christ, but that's by deflating the image of the self! These spiritual (sic) self-help groups, in my opinion, are seminars for aggrandizing the self. The way to spiritual joy is in the quiet of one's own prayer closet, as they say. There all alone, one tests the value of the self versus what God says, and submits meekly - no pumping up required, for the promise is that the meek shall inherit the earth.

The new creature is changed not by others building up the self, but the reflection from the spiritual mirror using God's Light. That's all it takes to dim that image from Narcissus' pool. The face of God overwhelms the desires of the flesh.

Are you a Narcissist? Look in the mirror. Is life all about you? Are holidays all about you? Is even Christmastime a time for you to get things? If so, then change -  give to Jesus. A good gift is the forgoing of gifts. A good gift is fasting and prayer. Other good gifts are hymns, reading scripture and praising. Those are the aromas which God loves! Quit living life as if it's all about you! God will appreciate that sacrifice, and those around you will appreciate it because they tire of life being all about you.

When I look in the spiritual mirror, I hate what I see. Unfortunately, that is still love of  myself, but hate that I'm so weak that I fail God. My view of that is that I appraise myself fairly, and seek change. Look at your own reflection - you just may not like what you see either!

Machiavellianism comes from the diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli whose M.O. was cunning and deception. He manipulated others to get what he wanted for himself. Of course that trait is based on self-interests too as most psychological and spiritual problems are. In marriage, Machiavellianism is destructive because one party or other works by manipulation. Outside of marriage, relationships are ruined there too, because manipulation is dishonesty, and is also to place one's own self on a pedestal.  In politics this trait prevails. Politicians propose outlandish ideas hoping to compromise, and get what they were after in the first place.

In relationships, the thought is: if you love me, you will give this to me, or you will do this for me. When people have that trait, their god is Narcissus, and they are Machiavellian in their approach. Their method is black-mail because love is not contingent on getting things our people doing things your way. Couples succeed when they replace their will with what God wills. The methods of Machiavellians are tricky. The most notable Machiavellian was the serpent who spoke the words of Satan. Those who manipulate for self-gain commit the worst type of sin. Indeed, although one may get what they want at this moment, it is only a matter of time until others avoid this type of person.

All the dark personality triad traits alienate others around the dark personality.  What's worse is that they alienate God too! He sees that you adore your other god in his place, and is jealous about that. His jealousy leads to divine justice. Those of the dark triad are part of the unholy trinity, and may never allow their own creature to be changed! Many Christians have the dark personality traits because they never actually made the living sacrifice of themselves.

What is the person to do? CHANGE! That's the Christian's reasonable service to God, and he expects that, so that those with a dark personality triad come to worship him and use his methods, not continue on the wide path to destruction. I'm being harsh: Even many Christians have these traits. As harsh as I am, God's justice will be more harsh!