What do you see when you read the old testament stories? Do you just read over them and draw some moral application? Often people seek to imitate the good characters and stay away from the behavior of the bad ones? Do you treat is as a ton of historical background, just...history...perhaps useful for testing its accuracy. A good thing to do is to put yourself in the shoes of various people and think of the various pressures upon them and how they could trust in God to overcome them?
All these things are good, all of them are excellent. In fact, all scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. However, think about all of these for a minute. All of them are about how to be a better person, how to believe in him better. This is very necessary. In fact, it is the method by which we draw closer to God. But that's the point - a relationship with God. And guess what? Relationships go two ways. The old testament stories are good for following and bringing delight to God, but God also wants to delight you!
Beloved church, the bible is not just a rule book, it is a love letter. Constantly ask yourself what God is saying about how much he loves you in the bible. In this case, the old testament stories are a promise. Time and time again it says, "If you follow me, I will keep you safe in my arms."
In the story of Joseph when his brothers sold him as a salve in Egypt it means that if you follow God even when things don't go right, he will keep you. God gave grace to Joseph so that he became the administrator of the household and then later the jail, and finally all of Egypt, holding a position second only to Pharaoh.
In the story of Gideon, where God asked him to fight the Midianites while outnumbered more than ten to one, it means that if you follow God even when it seems ridiculous, God will still come through. Gideons force of 300 routed 135,000 Midianites.
In the story of Jesus, God showed that he valued us more than the infinite suffering of his own son.
Deuteronomy 7:9 "Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."
P.S. About copying the good characters in the bible:
The bible is full of righteous men and women who made the right choices in critical and pressured situations. By imitating them we can learn righteousness. Think of the situations they were in and see how their behavior reflected a trust in an almighty God. And don't just see "Oh, yeah, they were supposed to do that, duh." Take several minutes to put yourself in their shoes, or in the place of any character, good, bad, or in between. How would you honestly feel in their place? What reasoning or what feelings could you use to make the correct decisions, even when they oppose your instinctive actions?
WARNING - not all 'good' people act correctly all the time. Most people consider Jonah a 'good guy' but the bible records virtually none of his correct actions. In a more vague way, think of Joseph who kept his integrity through much strife while enslaved to Potiphar and eventually forgave his brothers for selling him off. But consider, did Joseph do right by telling his brothers of his obviously self-exalting dreams? Or was it just to hide his identity for several months at least, keep Simeon prisoner as security, and frame the rest for stealing before finally revealing himself?
29 November 2011
25 October 2011
in Christ's image
We have always been told in Church to imitate Jesus. WWJD what would Jesus do? But I think few of us realize the extent to which we should, and will, be like Christ. In fact, it almost borders on humanism (in which humans are the God) or self-worship. It doesn't, of course, and I'll explain why later. But first let me demonstrate that we are supposed to have nearly every relation to Jesus and God possible.
Romans 8:29 "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters."
Gods plan is for us to be in Christ's image and that he will be our brother. (For more on brotherhood see Hebrews 2:5-18) Don't just take that normally. Do you have any siblings? How do they relate to you, or rather, how were they supposed to relate to you when you were young? That's one of the ways Jesus thinks about you.
Again, Jesus said in Luke 8:21 "He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”"
Now, further:
Ephesians 5:1 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children..." We are children of God. Again, translate human interactions (although they have sin) to our relationship with God. That's what human relationships demonstrate, that's what they imitate. All of your humans relationships, brothers, sisters, father, mother, even mentors, peers, accountability partner, everything is only an on-earth imitation of how God relates to us. This is best demonstrated by the next verse.
Ephesians 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior."
Luke 5:34 "Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?" These two verses imply that we, the church, are the bride of Christ. Further than that, we are his body according to Ephesians, for the two will become one flesh. We are one flesh with Jesus. Isn't that weird? But it's kind of cool too.
Now it gets slightly more intimidating.
2 Corinthians 5:20 "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." Who did God chose to represent him on earth? (besides Jesus) Us! WE are on earth proclaiming his glory. First of all, DON'T take this for granted 'Oh, of course. We're the ones evangelizing.' No, God didn't have to do it this way. He chose to use us for a reason. Second, don't think he's just slave driving us and was too lazy to spread his name on his own. He's working in us, through us, and he is the only, true, necessary actor behind every conversion.
What does this ambassadorship mean? Why did God do it this way? Because he respects us. Chew on that. He wants to show us that he's not just here to give out candy, here's here to make men and women out of us, awesome, Godly, knowledgeable, respectable, men and women.
Think about your kids, whether you have them now or plan to in the future. You don't just make then happy, you let them gradually take steps out on their own as you teach them to be confident and pleased with who they are.
Finally it gets really scary.
1 Corinthians 6:2-3 "Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!"
Psalm 82:6 "“I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’"
Views on these passages vary a decent bit, so first understand the main point - these verses put us sons of God on a very high level, higher than I was comfortable with at least.i
By way of diving in: There are three main interpretations of the Corinthians verse. The first is that 'judge' is more of an understanding or setting an example, so that we deal with the world effectively and show its darkness by providing a contrasting light. This does happen, but doesn't seem pertinent to the context, particularly judging angels. The second narrows 'world' down to the Israelis and makes reference to the twelve thrones (one part of the 24) in Revelations, as well as Matt 19:28 and Luke 22:30. While this phenomena is true, I think it is restricted to the 12 apostles only, whereas the verse is speaking to all the Christians in Corinth.
The third, which is the most drastic but seems the most plausible, is that we will literally join Jesus in judging the world. To soften this effect, do not think of us making independent decisions, for we will be so living in Christ that I think it will be hard to distinguish from what we decide and what he does. We will be operating in such a meld of servanthood, sonship, marriage to God, etc that I do not think it will be too weird.
The Psalm significantly more tame than it seems. Reading the rest of this short Psalm (please do so) one can see that it is speaking to the rulers of the day, rebuking them for doing a bad job. These rulers are sometimes called gods. But note how it accords with the concept of judgeship from the first verse. We, as sons of God, will judge the world.
Finish:
I think to wrap this up I will simply leave you with the several verses that first helped me understand our sonship a year ago - Galatians 3:23-4:7 " 23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir."
Romans 8:29 "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters."
Gods plan is for us to be in Christ's image and that he will be our brother. (For more on brotherhood see Hebrews 2:5-18) Don't just take that normally. Do you have any siblings? How do they relate to you, or rather, how were they supposed to relate to you when you were young? That's one of the ways Jesus thinks about you.
Again, Jesus said in Luke 8:21 "He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”"
Now, further:
Ephesians 5:1 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children..." We are children of God. Again, translate human interactions (although they have sin) to our relationship with God. That's what human relationships demonstrate, that's what they imitate. All of your humans relationships, brothers, sisters, father, mother, even mentors, peers, accountability partner, everything is only an on-earth imitation of how God relates to us. This is best demonstrated by the next verse.
Ephesians 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior."
Luke 5:34 "Jesus answered, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them?" These two verses imply that we, the church, are the bride of Christ. Further than that, we are his body according to Ephesians, for the two will become one flesh. We are one flesh with Jesus. Isn't that weird? But it's kind of cool too.
Now it gets slightly more intimidating.
2 Corinthians 5:20 "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." Who did God chose to represent him on earth? (besides Jesus) Us! WE are on earth proclaiming his glory. First of all, DON'T take this for granted 'Oh, of course. We're the ones evangelizing.' No, God didn't have to do it this way. He chose to use us for a reason. Second, don't think he's just slave driving us and was too lazy to spread his name on his own. He's working in us, through us, and he is the only, true, necessary actor behind every conversion.
What does this ambassadorship mean? Why did God do it this way? Because he respects us. Chew on that. He wants to show us that he's not just here to give out candy, here's here to make men and women out of us, awesome, Godly, knowledgeable, respectable, men and women.
Think about your kids, whether you have them now or plan to in the future. You don't just make then happy, you let them gradually take steps out on their own as you teach them to be confident and pleased with who they are.
Finally it gets really scary.
1 Corinthians 6:2-3 "Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!"
Psalm 82:6 "“I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’"
Views on these passages vary a decent bit, so first understand the main point - these verses put us sons of God on a very high level, higher than I was comfortable with at least.i
By way of diving in: There are three main interpretations of the Corinthians verse. The first is that 'judge' is more of an understanding or setting an example, so that we deal with the world effectively and show its darkness by providing a contrasting light. This does happen, but doesn't seem pertinent to the context, particularly judging angels. The second narrows 'world' down to the Israelis and makes reference to the twelve thrones (one part of the 24) in Revelations, as well as Matt 19:28 and Luke 22:30. While this phenomena is true, I think it is restricted to the 12 apostles only, whereas the verse is speaking to all the Christians in Corinth.
The third, which is the most drastic but seems the most plausible, is that we will literally join Jesus in judging the world. To soften this effect, do not think of us making independent decisions, for we will be so living in Christ that I think it will be hard to distinguish from what we decide and what he does. We will be operating in such a meld of servanthood, sonship, marriage to God, etc that I do not think it will be too weird.
The Psalm significantly more tame than it seems. Reading the rest of this short Psalm (please do so) one can see that it is speaking to the rulers of the day, rebuking them for doing a bad job. These rulers are sometimes called gods. But note how it accords with the concept of judgeship from the first verse. We, as sons of God, will judge the world.
Finish:
I think to wrap this up I will simply leave you with the several verses that first helped me understand our sonship a year ago - Galatians 3:23-4:7 " 23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir."
21 September 2011
friends with God
Isaiah 41:8 “But you, Israel, my servant,Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend..."
Job 29:4 "Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house..."
James 2:23 "And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend."
We are meant to be friends of God. As Paul might word it: If, in the old testament when the law was given to few, God chose to be friends with some, how much more ought we be friends with God in the new testament where grace was freely offered to all!
God wants to be in a relationship with us. We're married to him in Christ!
God is full of virtue and perfect. When talking with us he will not be proud of his high position but will listen to what we have to say, will listen to our prayers and pleadings, and will listen to our requests and cries for help.
John 14:14 "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
Well, some of you may think that 'in my name' basically means 'if I was already planning on it'. Yes! But that's only because he can see into the future! Of course you can't ask for a free Ferrari or for Jesus to come back. But for one thing you can ask to be sanctified in certain ways. I have just started realizing on what a personal level God works on our hearts and have been asking him to change me in specific ways. I kind of forgot about it, but I just woke up today and realized that those things had been granted!
Matthew 7:11 "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
At an even more surprising level, thing of the verses in Genesis I read that triggered this whole post. Genesis 18:16-33. Moses stands next to God and pleads with him to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if he finds only fifty people in the city. And in fact, he keeps asking again until he wheedles the number down to 10. What audacity! Yet God listens to him and pulls Lot and his family out of Sodom before he burned it with sulfur. Amazing! At least from our time-bound perspective, God can change his plans by our asking.
Finally, I would like to quote the notes below the text in my NIV study bible: "Abraham was God's friend. And because he was now God's covenant friend, God convened his heavenly council at Abraham's tent... He thus even gave Abraham opportunity to speak in his court and to intercede for the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah... Here, Abraham exemplified the great privilege of God's covenant people thought the ages: God has revealed his purposes to them and allows their voice to be heard (in intercession) in the court of heaven itself."
Job 29:4 "Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house..."
James 2:23 "And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend."
We are meant to be friends of God. As Paul might word it: If, in the old testament when the law was given to few, God chose to be friends with some, how much more ought we be friends with God in the new testament where grace was freely offered to all!
God wants to be in a relationship with us. We're married to him in Christ!
God is full of virtue and perfect. When talking with us he will not be proud of his high position but will listen to what we have to say, will listen to our prayers and pleadings, and will listen to our requests and cries for help.
John 14:14 "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
Well, some of you may think that 'in my name' basically means 'if I was already planning on it'. Yes! But that's only because he can see into the future! Of course you can't ask for a free Ferrari or for Jesus to come back. But for one thing you can ask to be sanctified in certain ways. I have just started realizing on what a personal level God works on our hearts and have been asking him to change me in specific ways. I kind of forgot about it, but I just woke up today and realized that those things had been granted!
Matthew 7:11 "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"
At an even more surprising level, thing of the verses in Genesis I read that triggered this whole post. Genesis 18:16-33. Moses stands next to God and pleads with him to spare Sodom and Gomorrah if he finds only fifty people in the city. And in fact, he keeps asking again until he wheedles the number down to 10. What audacity! Yet God listens to him and pulls Lot and his family out of Sodom before he burned it with sulfur. Amazing! At least from our time-bound perspective, God can change his plans by our asking.
Finally, I would like to quote the notes below the text in my NIV study bible: "Abraham was God's friend. And because he was now God's covenant friend, God convened his heavenly council at Abraham's tent... He thus even gave Abraham opportunity to speak in his court and to intercede for the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah... Here, Abraham exemplified the great privilege of God's covenant people thought the ages: God has revealed his purposes to them and allows their voice to be heard (in intercession) in the court of heaven itself."
16 September 2011
heart and free will
Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
We all want to make sure that we are saved; and a part of that is understanding how salvation works. For the most part we have it figured out, but when it comes down to free will and Gods spirit moving us, it gets fuzzy. Therefore, I have investigated the matter and am bringing you, dear reader, the best that I came up with.
It turns out, the primary agent in determining salvation is our heart.
SUMMARY "Our salvation is hugely affected by our hearts, which is controlled by both us (via our free will) and God. This may help the free-will debate."
Before treating control of hearts, let me summarize the components of salvation. The italicized part is less certain. Your heart believes (trust/depend) with a magnitude of faith that God gave us grace to be saved through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. P.S. this belief is practical and will manifest itself in works and confession of the mouth of the Lordship of JC.
[separate and study the different synonyms for salvation: salvation, justification, saved, righteousness; along with methods: faith, grace, believe, heart, mouth/confess)
1 Obj: belief
2 Magnitude: faith
3 Owner/agent: heart
4 Direct obj: God saving
5 Energy/driver: Grace (JC dying)
6 Result: holistic salvation
Element 1# You access Gods salvation through believing.
Acts 16:31 "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved..."
Element 2# Faith is a magnitude and is instrumental in salvation
Romans 12:3b "...according to the measure of faith that God has assigned."
Ephesians 2:8a "For by grace you have been saved through faith."
Element 3# Belief is of the heart, not purely academic.
Romans 10:10 "For with the heart one believes and is justified..."
Element 4# Belief is that JC died for you.
Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
Element 5# The energy required to save you is by grace from God
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
So again, if your heart believes with a magnitude of faith that JC died for you then Gods grace saves you.
The question the following parts of this post attempts to answer is "Who controls your heart?" because that triggers everything and will decide your fate.
Now, unfortunately is seems that two people have control over your heart: God and you. We may prefer it otherwise, preferring one side or the other for various reasons but the truth seems to be in the middle. Both we and God control our hearts. For instance God worked on the hearts of the Israelis:
Isaiah 63:17 "Why, LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?"
But we also work on our own hearts:
Psalms 95:8 "“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness..."
(for more references of hardening and other heart control see the end of this post)
So...who really controls our hearts? I mean, we can't ignore it. It affects our salvation and everything we do for heaven sakes! (see the Proverbs quote at the beginning)
I see this as a step forward, actually. Christianity has been debating free will for basically forever, and here is a weird duality. We have free will in controlling our hearts AND God works on our hearts too. No it doesn't solve anything, but it shakes up an old stalemate void, which is great.
On the one hand, we humans are incapable of living with God without his hand in our life. On the other, God cannot control us like automatons, for we still have the ability to feel and think. On the one hand, we cannot come to God without him drawing us (John 6:65) On the other, we must love God and learn to be imitators and sons of God.
In light of the fact that we are created to have a relationship with God, this duality makes sense. In a relationship, where the two have become one flesh, one does not decide things without the other. When a man and a woman get married, one does not make the decision, it is mutual. In the same way God reached down to us by his Son and moved on our hearts with love so that we may assent with our hearts, loving him back, and go on to live in him for glory.
[End body]
Case support for dual heart control:
In the ten plauges, God hardens Pharaoh's heart 9 times, the king does his own heart 3 times, and the event is stated neutrally "but his heart was hardened" or something similar 6 times, 7 of which (of both latter cases) the phrase "just as the LORD had said" afterward, possibly implying Gods promise to harden his heart.
Just read this passage and note the duality: Exodus 9:34-10:1 "When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them."
For more examples of God hardening hearts see Isaiah 6:10 (within John 12:40), Exodus 7:3, and Joshua 11:20.
For people hardening their own hearts see Exodus 8:32, Proverbs 28:14, and 2 Chronicles 36:13
For other ways that we control our hearts see Colossians 3:23, Psalms 40:10a, John 14:27
For other ways that God controls our hearts see Philippians 4:7, Deuteronomy 28:65, 1 Kings 3:12, Psalms 86:11, Jeremiah 24:7/32:39, Ezekiel 11:19/36:26
Other actions of the heart: Exodus 25:2,
We all want to make sure that we are saved; and a part of that is understanding how salvation works. For the most part we have it figured out, but when it comes down to free will and Gods spirit moving us, it gets fuzzy. Therefore, I have investigated the matter and am bringing you, dear reader, the best that I came up with.
It turns out, the primary agent in determining salvation is our heart.
SUMMARY "Our salvation is hugely affected by our hearts, which is controlled by both us (via our free will) and God. This may help the free-will debate."
Before treating control of hearts, let me summarize the components of salvation. The italicized part is less certain. Your heart believes (trust/depend) with a magnitude of faith that God gave us grace to be saved through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. P.S. this belief is practical and will manifest itself in works and confession of the mouth of the Lordship of JC.
[separate and study the different synonyms for salvation: salvation, justification, saved, righteousness; along with methods: faith, grace, believe, heart, mouth/confess)
1 Obj: belief
2 Magnitude: faith
3 Owner/agent: heart
4 Direct obj: God saving
5 Energy/driver: Grace (JC dying)
6 Result: holistic salvation
Element 1# You access Gods salvation through believing.
Acts 16:31 "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved..."
Element 2# Faith is a magnitude and is instrumental in salvation
Romans 12:3b "...according to the measure of faith that God has assigned."
Ephesians 2:8a "For by grace you have been saved through faith."
Element 3# Belief is of the heart, not purely academic.
Romans 10:10 "For with the heart one believes and is justified..."
Element 4# Belief is that JC died for you.
Romans 10:9 "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
Element 5# The energy required to save you is by grace from God
Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
So again, if your heart believes with a magnitude of faith that JC died for you then Gods grace saves you.
The question the following parts of this post attempts to answer is "Who controls your heart?" because that triggers everything and will decide your fate.
Now, unfortunately is seems that two people have control over your heart: God and you. We may prefer it otherwise, preferring one side or the other for various reasons but the truth seems to be in the middle. Both we and God control our hearts. For instance God worked on the hearts of the Israelis:
Isaiah 63:17 "Why, LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you?"
But we also work on our own hearts:
Psalms 95:8 "“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness..."
(for more references of hardening and other heart control see the end of this post)
So...who really controls our hearts? I mean, we can't ignore it. It affects our salvation and everything we do for heaven sakes! (see the Proverbs quote at the beginning)
I see this as a step forward, actually. Christianity has been debating free will for basically forever, and here is a weird duality. We have free will in controlling our hearts AND God works on our hearts too. No it doesn't solve anything, but it shakes up an old stalemate void, which is great.
On the one hand, we humans are incapable of living with God without his hand in our life. On the other, God cannot control us like automatons, for we still have the ability to feel and think. On the one hand, we cannot come to God without him drawing us (John 6:65) On the other, we must love God and learn to be imitators and sons of God.
In light of the fact that we are created to have a relationship with God, this duality makes sense. In a relationship, where the two have become one flesh, one does not decide things without the other. When a man and a woman get married, one does not make the decision, it is mutual. In the same way God reached down to us by his Son and moved on our hearts with love so that we may assent with our hearts, loving him back, and go on to live in him for glory.
[End body]
Case support for dual heart control:
In the ten plauges, God hardens Pharaoh's heart 9 times, the king does his own heart 3 times, and the event is stated neutrally "but his heart was hardened" or something similar 6 times, 7 of which (of both latter cases) the phrase "just as the LORD had said" afterward, possibly implying Gods promise to harden his heart.
Just read this passage and note the duality: Exodus 9:34-10:1 "When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them."
For more examples of God hardening hearts see Isaiah 6:10 (within John 12:40), Exodus 7:3, and Joshua 11:20.
For people hardening their own hearts see Exodus 8:32, Proverbs 28:14, and 2 Chronicles 36:13
For other ways that we control our hearts see Colossians 3:23, Psalms 40:10a, John 14:27
For other ways that God controls our hearts see Philippians 4:7, Deuteronomy 28:65, 1 Kings 3:12, Psalms 86:11, Jeremiah 24:7/32:39, Ezekiel 11:19/36:26
Other actions of the heart: Exodus 25:2,
09 September 2011
clarifications on free will
This is primarily a list of questions and options that hopefully will make the free will debate more clear.
First, I begin with a list of distinctions.
1) Maybe God controls our ability to make decisions (takes away our arm so we can't throw a baseball) but not the decisions themselves (if you have the arm, he won't stop you)
2) Does God have the ability to control our abilities or decisions to begin with (highly probably yes, but just realize that)
3) Maybe God controls us (in either way) only some of the time. Exodus 4:21 "But I will harden his [Pharaoh's] heart so that he will not let the people go." and Samuel 6:6 "Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did?" (there are 4 other instances of people hardening, and 2-3 others of God hardening hearts)
4) The last two verses mentioned bring the possibility of some duality. Where God can harden hearts at the same time as they harden their own hearts. (P.S. This instance is of our ability to decide, because it is our hearts, not will.) Note that in the ten plauges, God hardens Pharaoh's heart 9 times, the king does his own heart 3 times, and the event is stated neutrally "but his heart was hardened" or something similar 6 times, 7 of which (of both latter cases) the phrase "just as the LORD had said" afterward, possibly implying Gods promise to harden his heart.
Just read this passage and note the duality: Exodus 9:34-10:1 "When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them."
5) Another consideration is the guilt of various actions. However, it is fairly clear that people are guilty of what they do regardless. Romans 9:19-21 "One of you will say to me: 'Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?' But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? 'Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?"’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?" Or note the phrase "he sinned again" mentioned in the end of section 4.
6) How does being made "in the image of God" affect our free will? How are we alike/different to God in terms of free will?
7) How does Gods foreknowledge of all events affect these operations?
Just some things to think about.
First, I begin with a list of distinctions.
1) Maybe God controls our ability to make decisions (takes away our arm so we can't throw a baseball) but not the decisions themselves (if you have the arm, he won't stop you)
2) Does God have the ability to control our abilities or decisions to begin with (highly probably yes, but just realize that)
3) Maybe God controls us (in either way) only some of the time. Exodus 4:21 "But I will harden his [Pharaoh's] heart so that he will not let the people go." and Samuel 6:6 "Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did?" (there are 4 other instances of people hardening, and 2-3 others of God hardening hearts)
4) The last two verses mentioned bring the possibility of some duality. Where God can harden hearts at the same time as they harden their own hearts. (P.S. This instance is of our ability to decide, because it is our hearts, not will.) Note that in the ten plauges, God hardens Pharaoh's heart 9 times, the king does his own heart 3 times, and the event is stated neutrally "but his heart was hardened" or something similar 6 times, 7 of which (of both latter cases) the phrase "just as the LORD had said" afterward, possibly implying Gods promise to harden his heart.
Just read this passage and note the duality: Exodus 9:34-10:1 "When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not let the Israelites go, just as the LORD had said through Moses. Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them."
5) Another consideration is the guilt of various actions. However, it is fairly clear that people are guilty of what they do regardless. Romans 9:19-21 "One of you will say to me: 'Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?' But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? 'Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?"’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?" Or note the phrase "he sinned again" mentioned in the end of section 4.
6) How does being made "in the image of God" affect our free will? How are we alike/different to God in terms of free will?
7) How does Gods foreknowledge of all events affect these operations?
Just some things to think about.
30 August 2011
collected FB posts
This is a collection of bible-related facebook posts I have made over the past 2 months or so, descending from most recent to most ancient.
biblos.com, the strongs concordance section, begins the definition of בֵּן
(ben) like this: From banah; a son (as a builder of the family name)
And...WE are sons of GOD.
Builder of the family name.
Let that soak in a while.
Comments: Romans 7:1-6 is about the LAW losing a grip over you when you die with Christ, not sin. I automatically thought 'dying to sin', but had a double-take today.
Romans 7:7-25. Sin is attempting to be independent from God and devise your own right/wrong system. This is why the law gives sin so much power, because the law gives sin the guidlines that it needs to violate.
btw, note logical structure of preceding sentence is Premise Conclusion Premise with 'therefore' connecting words. It just struck me that this would be a particularly difficult sentence to translate into a future language, much like the bulk of Romans which is all syllogism but in wierd orders and high complexity (branches, probably)
Those of you who are like me and stubbornly stick to literal translations of the bible - take a look at softer translations in addition to greek sometimes when you run across a problem. Eg Romans 4:15 NLT "For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)" Essentially summarized in a few words what a paragraph of commentary said.
NIV says "because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression." - which is rather obvious and redundant and seems impertinent to the subject.
Romans 10:10 "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."
"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you." - Psalm 9:10. Seek the LORD, church, bride of Christ!
1 Timothy 6:15-16 "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen."
Romans 16:20 "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." - Both encouraging and a little ironic. :)
The NIV translations of Romans 2:1-5 (judging others when you yourself are wicked) tends to point towards individuals with use of added 'you's and larger phrases. However, the greek has almost none of that. Instead, Romans 2 flows with the preceding section (on God's wrath against ALL mankind), and simply states that none of us should judge because, as humanity, we're all sinful. This also accords with the thoughts of the gospel tracts we hand out, which begin with "All men have sinned..."
Ah! I just can't stop. Romans 1:8 "...your faith is being reported all over the world." Look at that for a moment. Even in ancient days when communication is hard, a church's faith is being reported across Christendom. We need more of this! Not just Christian publication like The Voice of the Martyrs, but to maybe take 5 minutes out of each service to just talk about other cool churches. Why not? We need community!
Oh yes, and note that the beginning of MANY letters includes something regarding other churches learning of another's faith, service, or other good quality.
Romans 1:5 "Through him and for his name's sake we recieved grace and apostleship TO CALL PEOPLE from among all the gnetiles to the obedience that comes from faith."
Unfortunately this only applies to Paul, the people associated with him, and other people called to apostleship. However, the word 'call' just struck me as I thought of the call of election (Romans 8:30). What a strong job we have!
Romans 14:1 "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputalbe matters." Katie Esperanza Abuelita Tomek, you would like this one in regards to not getting caught up in debate, along with the Acts 17:21 verse on the Athenians.
The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person - Zecharaiah 12:1
"The God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." - Romans 4:17b
This is what the LORD says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:
... that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:24
Jeremiah 23:6 "In his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called the LORD our righteousness." This is the section called "Righteous Branch" obviously referring to Jesus. And guess what the 'LORD' Jesus's name is in Hebrew? Yahweh/Jehovah, the one true living God, the I AM of Exodus 3:14. Woot woot! Can you get any stronger proof that Jesus is God?
Just a reminder that your will has control over your emotions/heart/desires if you let it. You do not have to be left with conflicting brain, heart, and will.
biblos.com, the strongs concordance section, begins the definition of בֵּן
(ben) like this: From banah; a son (as a builder of the family name)
And...WE are sons of GOD.
Builder of the family name.
Let that soak in a while.
Comments: Romans 7:1-6 is about the LAW losing a grip over you when you die with Christ, not sin. I automatically thought 'dying to sin', but had a double-take today.
Romans 7:7-25. Sin is attempting to be independent from God and devise your own right/wrong system. This is why the law gives sin so much power, because the law gives sin the guidlines that it needs to violate.
btw, note logical structure of preceding sentence is Premise Conclusion Premise with 'therefore' connecting words. It just struck me that this would be a particularly difficult sentence to translate into a future language, much like the bulk of Romans which is all syllogism but in wierd orders and high complexity (branches, probably)
Those of you who are like me and stubbornly stick to literal translations of the bible - take a look at softer translations in addition to greek sometimes when you run across a problem. Eg Romans 4:15 NLT "For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)" Essentially summarized in a few words what a paragraph of commentary said.
NIV says "because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression." - which is rather obvious and redundant and seems impertinent to the subject.
Romans 10:10 "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."
"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you." - Psalm 9:10. Seek the LORD, church, bride of Christ!
1 Timothy 6:15-16 "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen."
Romans 16:20 "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." - Both encouraging and a little ironic. :)
The NIV translations of Romans 2:1-5 (judging others when you yourself are wicked) tends to point towards individuals with use of added 'you's and larger phrases. However, the greek has almost none of that. Instead, Romans 2 flows with the preceding section (on God's wrath against ALL mankind), and simply states that none of us should judge because, as humanity, we're all sinful. This also accords with the thoughts of the gospel tracts we hand out, which begin with "All men have sinned..."
Ah! I just can't stop. Romans 1:8 "...your faith is being reported all over the world." Look at that for a moment. Even in ancient days when communication is hard, a church's faith is being reported across Christendom. We need more of this! Not just Christian publication like The Voice of the Martyrs, but to maybe take 5 minutes out of each service to just talk about other cool churches. Why not? We need community!
Oh yes, and note that the beginning of MANY letters includes something regarding other churches learning of another's faith, service, or other good quality.
Romans 1:5 "Through him and for his name's sake we recieved grace and apostleship TO CALL PEOPLE from among all the gnetiles to the obedience that comes from faith."
Unfortunately this only applies to Paul, the people associated with him, and other people called to apostleship. However, the word 'call' just struck me as I thought of the call of election (Romans 8:30). What a strong job we have!
Romans 14:1 "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputalbe matters." Katie Esperanza Abuelita Tomek, you would like this one in regards to not getting caught up in debate, along with the Acts 17:21 verse on the Athenians.
The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person - Zecharaiah 12:1
"The God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." - Romans 4:17b
This is what the LORD says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:
... that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:24
Jeremiah 23:6 "In his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called the LORD our righteousness." This is the section called "Righteous Branch" obviously referring to Jesus. And guess what the 'LORD' Jesus's name is in Hebrew? Yahweh/Jehovah, the one true living God, the I AM of Exodus 3:14. Woot woot! Can you get any stronger proof that Jesus is God?
Just a reminder that your will has control over your emotions/heart/desires if you let it. You do not have to be left with conflicting brain, heart, and will.
29 August 2011
sonship via JC
Romans 8:15 "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry 'Abba, Father.'"
I am sure you have heard that we are all sons and daughters of God. But I always took that for granted. Yeah, God loves us like children. He created us. But Son of God is kind of an elevated title. I mean, in the old days sons eventually took their fathers place in the family business, carried on the name through generations, cared for their father in his old age, etc. So, being called sons (and daughters) of God is a big deal. I think it doesn't just happen, we receive it. How? Through JC. Jesus is the original Son of God, and if we are united with him in his death and ressurection (Romans 6:1-6), married to him (Eph 5:22-25), part of his body, etc, then we can also take on his sonship properties. In this way we will become brothers and co-heirs with Christ.
This view is also useful to support the divinity of Christ. John 10:34 mentions humans as 'sons of God' which may dillute JC uniqueness in that claim. However, if we get it through the one and only original son of God, it works!
I am sure you have heard that we are all sons and daughters of God. But I always took that for granted. Yeah, God loves us like children. He created us. But Son of God is kind of an elevated title. I mean, in the old days sons eventually took their fathers place in the family business, carried on the name through generations, cared for their father in his old age, etc. So, being called sons (and daughters) of God is a big deal. I think it doesn't just happen, we receive it. How? Through JC. Jesus is the original Son of God, and if we are united with him in his death and ressurection (Romans 6:1-6), married to him (Eph 5:22-25), part of his body, etc, then we can also take on his sonship properties. In this way we will become brothers and co-heirs with Christ.
This view is also useful to support the divinity of Christ. John 10:34 mentions humans as 'sons of God' which may dillute JC uniqueness in that claim. However, if we get it through the one and only original son of God, it works!
3 earth stages
This is a conjecture:
Stage 1: God let's man run rampant without any direction except the instructions for sacrifice implied by Cain and Abels behavior. Man doesn't listen, so God destroys them all with the flood. 10 generations. Given the time, if each couple had a kid on average every 25 years (reasonable? most didn't have kids at all until average 100) that would put the populations at around 3 billion.
Stage 2: God selects a chosen people, gives them the law, disciplines them, etc. Abraham. Israelites, you know the story.
Stage 3: God does the work for us, by saving us through his son, and requests only our belief.
Avoid error: this does NOT mean that God tried increasing involved stages to save his people when the first ones didn't work. Both stage 1 and stage 2 involved sacrifices that pointed towards the final, irrevocable sacrifice of JC on the cross.
So why is there a progression? I don't know. It's just something I noticed.
Stage 1: God let's man run rampant without any direction except the instructions for sacrifice implied by Cain and Abels behavior. Man doesn't listen, so God destroys them all with the flood. 10 generations. Given the time, if each couple had a kid on average every 25 years (reasonable? most didn't have kids at all until average 100) that would put the populations at around 3 billion.
Stage 2: God selects a chosen people, gives them the law, disciplines them, etc. Abraham. Israelites, you know the story.
Stage 3: God does the work for us, by saving us through his son, and requests only our belief.
Avoid error: this does NOT mean that God tried increasing involved stages to save his people when the first ones didn't work. Both stage 1 and stage 2 involved sacrifices that pointed towards the final, irrevocable sacrifice of JC on the cross.
So why is there a progression? I don't know. It's just something I noticed.
22 August 2011
name of God
Comment:
God's name is (or includes) his intentions, principles, plan of action, loving nature, etc. It is how he loves us. It is his reputation and what he has done on the earth. It is his holy standard to which he adheres.
Perhaps we can say that people's names in general are the principia by which they intend to act and their function in manifesting Gods kingdom on earth.
Perhaps we can go farther to say that people's identity, what they are made out of, their souls, consist of these principia. Things like righteousness, justice, holiness, devotion, God-centeredness, etc (which are all facets of one idea) are the building blocks of the soul. From this central identity comes behavioral manifestations like the fruits of the spirit and their negative counterparts.
This is by no means an in-depth treatment of names or souls, just something I wrote in my notebook recently.
God's name is (or includes) his intentions, principles, plan of action, loving nature, etc. It is how he loves us. It is his reputation and what he has done on the earth. It is his holy standard to which he adheres.
Perhaps we can say that people's names in general are the principia by which they intend to act and their function in manifesting Gods kingdom on earth.
Perhaps we can go farther to say that people's identity, what they are made out of, their souls, consist of these principia. Things like righteousness, justice, holiness, devotion, God-centeredness, etc (which are all facets of one idea) are the building blocks of the soul. From this central identity comes behavioral manifestations like the fruits of the spirit and their negative counterparts.
This is by no means an in-depth treatment of names or souls, just something I wrote in my notebook recently.
sin nature transmission
Comment:
At the fall of man, many things were changed. Animals became carnivorous, the ground was harder to till, etc. Therefore, we can probably attribute the transmission of original sin through Adam to some sort of real, strong change in him (and Eve I guess). Perhaps not physically, but maybe a strong spiritual condition.
At the fall of man, many things were changed. Animals became carnivorous, the ground was harder to till, etc. Therefore, we can probably attribute the transmission of original sin through Adam to some sort of real, strong change in him (and Eve I guess). Perhaps not physically, but maybe a strong spiritual condition.
Salvation by faith #2
This will just be an outline of salvation using texts.
1) Salvation is by faith alone. Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."
2) This faith comes from God and has nothing to do with you. See above verse. Also Romans 12:3 "...in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you..."
Modification to Salvation by faith #1:
3) Faith is more than just head belief. One must accept the gift that God has given. Romans 10:10 "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."
4) Due to 1 and 2, salvation is purely a gift.
Illustrations include being born again, turning from blind to seeing and darkness to light, freedom from bondage to sin and now slavery to righteousness, dying to sin and coming alive, etc.
5) This salvation is for the purpose of you being in a relationship with God.
Isaiah 62:5 "As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you." [hehe KT :)]
John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."
1 John 5:20 "And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."
6) Therefore dive in!
1) Salvation is by faith alone. Ephesians 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast."
2) This faith comes from God and has nothing to do with you. See above verse. Also Romans 12:3 "...in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you..."
Modification to Salvation by faith #1:
3) Faith is more than just head belief. One must accept the gift that God has given. Romans 10:10 "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved."
4) Due to 1 and 2, salvation is purely a gift.
Illustrations include being born again, turning from blind to seeing and darkness to light, freedom from bondage to sin and now slavery to righteousness, dying to sin and coming alive, etc.
5) This salvation is for the purpose of you being in a relationship with God.
Isaiah 62:5 "As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you." [hehe KT :)]
John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."
1 John 5:20 "And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life."
6) Therefore dive in!
17 August 2011
age of accountability
The age of accountability refers to an age, possibly varying from child to child, up to which that child cannot be helpd resposible for his/her actions and, if killed before then, will go to heaven regardless. That's a general idea because the specifics might vary. The question is whether or not this age exists. This post puts forth arguments from both sides.
As I am writing this blog now, I actually don't know where I stand because I've just heard some arguments for both sides and I haven't completely researched this yet (but I will as I write).
Contentts:
1) My original idea
2) Infants are sinful from birth
3) John Piper: not guilty if incapable
4) Objection
1) My original idea.
My original conception was that there was no age of accountability. It doesn't make sense for God to arbitrarily set numbers regarding the damnation of people, especially in the NT. However, God can do what he likes. However, I thought that children killed at a young age could still enter heaven if they saw Gods glory through creation (Rom 1:19-20) and believed it, it could count. (Rom 2:14, 26-29 is pretty vauge on this but could help) I've kind of thrown this idea away though, because it doens't have too much basis.
2) No, there is no age of accountability.
Psalm 51:5 "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me."
Psalm 58:3 "The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies."
children are sinful from birth, that is indisputable. Some might be convinced at that, however, this fact does not prove that all children killed young go to hell, or anything else.
3) An argument from Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minnesota and the pastor John Piper:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/what-happens-to-infants-who-die
I suggest your read the article but I'll try to summarize it for you.
a) Children are sinful from birth (Psalm 51:5, 58:3)
b) Some chilren are saved very young, before any reasonable age (Psalm 22:9-10, Luke 1:15)
c) God does not hold people accountable if they are incapable of meeting requirements. For instance, if they cannot understand or have not seen evidence of Gods glory. (John 9:41, Romans 1:20)
d) Infants are incapable and therefore guiltless. They probably grow up in Gods kingdom and come to trust him there. (No basis for either statement)
4) Objection:
Some might consider me crazy for this (Bethlehem is my home church), but I'll do it.
I agree with a) and b). However, c) doesn't hold much water for me and I'll bet Piper doens't even stake much certainty on d).
a) God condemning incapable people.
i) Some hold that we are incapable of being saved except by the nudge of the holy spirit. In fact, I think this is the Total Depravity pillar of Calivinism. Even in this incapable state, God still blames us and condemns us. Take a look at Romans 9, especially verses 19-20.
ii) An illustration might be helpful: You're picking out people for a basketball team. Some are tall, and some are short. Now, do you pick both short and tall people just because the short guys have no control over their height? No! Same with being right with God. So being incapable is no excuse, and it is no excuse for a baby either.
iii) It sounds very sadistic, if God can condemn people who are incapable of accepting grace without the nudge of the Holy Spirit, God can then condemn babies who are incapable of understanding at a young age. This does not mean he WILL, for all we know he could chose to include every unborn child in the elect, but he could chose not to as well.
[The case that God condemns incapable people can also be questioned, I think I'm going to work on that next]
iv) All of creation was condemned in the fall. Some animals became carnivorous, most became smaller, etc. The ground was specifically cursed in Gen 3:17-19. Creation is incapable of understanding or believing, yet it was subjected to punishment.
b) Other considerations:
i) John 9:51 is referring to claims to knowledge. "Since you say 'We see', your sin remains." So the question is not whether an unborn child can understand anything, it is whether he/she claims to know the truth or not (which I suppose is pretty abstract for a baby, but hey, some are saved that young, why not?)
ii) If all babies are saved at infancy, how do they become unsaved once they reach the age of accountability?
iii) If the age was 20, like Piper says, I might be tempted to kill my children before that age to make sure they go to heaven, avoiding the risk that they don't become Christians. That would be really stupid. Onward abortion! 1/3 of all American children are going to heaven! Kind of like Norse warriors who get killed in battle go straight to Vallahalah.
5) Conclusions
I really don't know what to make of it all.
a) We are all born sinful
b) Some children are saved extremely young
My best guess is that God saves some and not others.
As I am writing this blog now, I actually don't know where I stand because I've just heard some arguments for both sides and I haven't completely researched this yet (but I will as I write).
Contentts:
1) My original idea
2) Infants are sinful from birth
3) John Piper: not guilty if incapable
4) Objection
1) My original idea.
My original conception was that there was no age of accountability. It doesn't make sense for God to arbitrarily set numbers regarding the damnation of people, especially in the NT. However, God can do what he likes. However, I thought that children killed at a young age could still enter heaven if they saw Gods glory through creation (Rom 1:19-20) and believed it, it could count. (Rom 2:14, 26-29 is pretty vauge on this but could help) I've kind of thrown this idea away though, because it doens't have too much basis.
2) No, there is no age of accountability.
Psalm 51:5 "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me."
Psalm 58:3 "The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies."
children are sinful from birth, that is indisputable. Some might be convinced at that, however, this fact does not prove that all children killed young go to hell, or anything else.
3) An argument from Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minnesota and the pastor John Piper:
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/what-happens-to-infants-who-die
I suggest your read the article but I'll try to summarize it for you.
a) Children are sinful from birth (Psalm 51:5, 58:3)
b) Some chilren are saved very young, before any reasonable age (Psalm 22:9-10, Luke 1:15)
c) God does not hold people accountable if they are incapable of meeting requirements. For instance, if they cannot understand or have not seen evidence of Gods glory. (John 9:41, Romans 1:20)
d) Infants are incapable and therefore guiltless. They probably grow up in Gods kingdom and come to trust him there. (No basis for either statement)
4) Objection:
Some might consider me crazy for this (Bethlehem is my home church), but I'll do it.
I agree with a) and b). However, c) doesn't hold much water for me and I'll bet Piper doens't even stake much certainty on d).
a) God condemning incapable people.
i) Some hold that we are incapable of being saved except by the nudge of the holy spirit. In fact, I think this is the Total Depravity pillar of Calivinism. Even in this incapable state, God still blames us and condemns us. Take a look at Romans 9, especially verses 19-20.
ii) An illustration might be helpful: You're picking out people for a basketball team. Some are tall, and some are short. Now, do you pick both short and tall people just because the short guys have no control over their height? No! Same with being right with God. So being incapable is no excuse, and it is no excuse for a baby either.
iii) It sounds very sadistic, if God can condemn people who are incapable of accepting grace without the nudge of the Holy Spirit, God can then condemn babies who are incapable of understanding at a young age. This does not mean he WILL, for all we know he could chose to include every unborn child in the elect, but he could chose not to as well.
[The case that God condemns incapable people can also be questioned, I think I'm going to work on that next]
iv) All of creation was condemned in the fall. Some animals became carnivorous, most became smaller, etc. The ground was specifically cursed in Gen 3:17-19. Creation is incapable of understanding or believing, yet it was subjected to punishment.
b) Other considerations:
i) John 9:51 is referring to claims to knowledge. "Since you say 'We see', your sin remains." So the question is not whether an unborn child can understand anything, it is whether he/she claims to know the truth or not (which I suppose is pretty abstract for a baby, but hey, some are saved that young, why not?)
ii) If all babies are saved at infancy, how do they become unsaved once they reach the age of accountability?
iii) If the age was 20, like Piper says, I might be tempted to kill my children before that age to make sure they go to heaven, avoiding the risk that they don't become Christians. That would be really stupid. Onward abortion! 1/3 of all American children are going to heaven! Kind of like Norse warriors who get killed in battle go straight to Vallahalah.
5) Conclusions
I really don't know what to make of it all.
a) We are all born sinful
b) Some children are saved extremely young
My best guess is that God saves some and not others.
14 August 2011
battle against sin
Romans 7:21-25 "21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Today in church, a recently married couple got up in front of church and told the testimony of their struggle against sexual sin before meeting each other and during dating. It was filled with loosely guarded admission to all sorts of shameful lusts and actions. They spoke for perhaps thirty minutes and led the way into the pastors sermon. People of God, THIS is what we need! Raw, honest treatment of sin and our weakness, yet valiant triumph over it. Not triumph brought from gritting it out and using willpower for long years, but the mercy and grace of God, humbleness, and true freedom. Above all things, knowing that God loves you extravagantly completely independent of what you've done, for the blood of Christ covers you in a measure of mercy that soaks through the blackest skin.
What follows is a list of lessons and truths to carry you along in your battle against sin. They are not in any solid order, but I have attempted to arrange them in some rough linear format.
1) Your flesh is warring against you
2) Be open, real, and humble, confessing your sins.
3)
1)
First of all, recognize that this is a battle against the flesh and Satan. This is not some normal thing. Life doesn't naturally include this. Sin is "...waging war against the law of my mind...". Your flesh is simply disobedient, and if you don't recognize this, it will keep creeping up on you again and again. An enemy you don't acknowledge will hold untold power over you. Fight! Fight, my people!
"Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." - 1 Peter 5:8 And Satan will latch onto you like a fatal parasite. Give him no ground, make no compromises. If you give into him a little, he will hold fast to that foothold and eat his way into you from there. Show no mercy!
2)
Second, be as open as possible about this battle. You are a broken person, we all are. Be strong, and take the lead in confessing. Do you want to win this battle? You have to make sacrifices. Confession is what it takes nearly all the time, and you need to do that.
Psalm 89:15 "Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, LORD."
1 John 2:10 "Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble."
1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."
When you're struggling with something, tell someone you can trust, please! I beg you! When a soldier gets wounded, or when they're surrounded, they don't keep quiet, they call for backup. Likewise you cannot do this on your own. It will be hard, but as soon as you get the first words out you will not regret it. I urge you brothers and sisters, live in grace with one another!, bearing each others burdens in love. This is real, and this is a living power greater than you have ever known. Nothing can stand against your love in this way. People! Hold fast to your Savior!
3)
Third, know that healing is ALWAYS possible. No matter how much stupid and downright filthy things you've done, Jesus paid for every last ounce of it. Did you know he died with the accumulated sin of everyone who would ever trust in him on his shoulders? Are you so arrogant as to think that your sin is worse that everyone else before you put together? Plus, if you have ever pursued Christ, he ALREADY died for your sin. It's done. He died. And he rose again. You know what that means? It WORKED. He's alive!
4)
Fourth, see attacks as attacks and victories as victories. When a bad image flashes across your TV screen, it is attack. DON'T ignore it. Turn the channel. And when you've rejected the sin, even in it's smallest stages, you've won a victory! Don't belittle that either. Our main battle on earth is sanctification, and you've just made progress in that, you are being turned into a son of the living God!
Don't get overconfident after a victory, either. You're still broken, and Satan won't rest until he's locked in the lake of burning sulfur with as many souls down there and as much pain up here as possible.
5)
Finally brothers, hold fast to Christ. Cling to the cross. Rejoice in his victory and weep for those who are lost. Pound his words and the words of God into your heart. Do not look down on those who are failing, but help them up. Look forward to the hope we have in Christ, for the coming king and the age he will issue in behind the wake of his righteous judgement and triumph.
Now to "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen." 1 Timothy 6:15-16.
Today in church, a recently married couple got up in front of church and told the testimony of their struggle against sexual sin before meeting each other and during dating. It was filled with loosely guarded admission to all sorts of shameful lusts and actions. They spoke for perhaps thirty minutes and led the way into the pastors sermon. People of God, THIS is what we need! Raw, honest treatment of sin and our weakness, yet valiant triumph over it. Not triumph brought from gritting it out and using willpower for long years, but the mercy and grace of God, humbleness, and true freedom. Above all things, knowing that God loves you extravagantly completely independent of what you've done, for the blood of Christ covers you in a measure of mercy that soaks through the blackest skin.
What follows is a list of lessons and truths to carry you along in your battle against sin. They are not in any solid order, but I have attempted to arrange them in some rough linear format.
1) Your flesh is warring against you
2) Be open, real, and humble, confessing your sins.
3)
1)
First of all, recognize that this is a battle against the flesh and Satan. This is not some normal thing. Life doesn't naturally include this. Sin is "...waging war against the law of my mind...". Your flesh is simply disobedient, and if you don't recognize this, it will keep creeping up on you again and again. An enemy you don't acknowledge will hold untold power over you. Fight! Fight, my people!
"Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." - 1 Peter 5:8 And Satan will latch onto you like a fatal parasite. Give him no ground, make no compromises. If you give into him a little, he will hold fast to that foothold and eat his way into you from there. Show no mercy!
2)
Second, be as open as possible about this battle. You are a broken person, we all are. Be strong, and take the lead in confessing. Do you want to win this battle? You have to make sacrifices. Confession is what it takes nearly all the time, and you need to do that.
Psalm 89:15 "Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, LORD."
1 John 2:10 "Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble."
1 John 1:7 "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."
When you're struggling with something, tell someone you can trust, please! I beg you! When a soldier gets wounded, or when they're surrounded, they don't keep quiet, they call for backup. Likewise you cannot do this on your own. It will be hard, but as soon as you get the first words out you will not regret it. I urge you brothers and sisters, live in grace with one another!, bearing each others burdens in love. This is real, and this is a living power greater than you have ever known. Nothing can stand against your love in this way. People! Hold fast to your Savior!
3)
Third, know that healing is ALWAYS possible. No matter how much stupid and downright filthy things you've done, Jesus paid for every last ounce of it. Did you know he died with the accumulated sin of everyone who would ever trust in him on his shoulders? Are you so arrogant as to think that your sin is worse that everyone else before you put together? Plus, if you have ever pursued Christ, he ALREADY died for your sin. It's done. He died. And he rose again. You know what that means? It WORKED. He's alive!
4)
Fourth, see attacks as attacks and victories as victories. When a bad image flashes across your TV screen, it is attack. DON'T ignore it. Turn the channel. And when you've rejected the sin, even in it's smallest stages, you've won a victory! Don't belittle that either. Our main battle on earth is sanctification, and you've just made progress in that, you are being turned into a son of the living God!
Don't get overconfident after a victory, either. You're still broken, and Satan won't rest until he's locked in the lake of burning sulfur with as many souls down there and as much pain up here as possible.
5)
Finally brothers, hold fast to Christ. Cling to the cross. Rejoice in his victory and weep for those who are lost. Pound his words and the words of God into your heart. Do not look down on those who are failing, but help them up. Look forward to the hope we have in Christ, for the coming king and the age he will issue in behind the wake of his righteous judgement and triumph.
Now to "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen." 1 Timothy 6:15-16.
13 August 2011
Salvation by faith
Justification by faith.
1) Verses: a) Heb 11:1, b) Heb 11:2-39 c) James 2:14-26, Eph 2:8-9, Acts 16:31, d) More, e) Summary
2) Salvation modeling difficulty: a) Model #1 - submission, b) #1 does not work, c) Model #2 - passive role, d) Reconcile model #1 and new picture, e) True requirement
1) Groundwork verses and comments
a) Hebrews 11:1 - the most straightfoward definition of faith in the bible - "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." This is more than the best guess. The weatherman thinks it will rain tomorrow, but he won't stake his life on it because he isn't certain. The word 'hope' is also not purely mental, it is emotional.
b) To further drive faith into something actionable rather than mental, consider the rest of Hebrews 11 which lists off over a dozen examples of ancient biblical heroes who either did things or had things happen to them 'by faith'.
c) But faith is not works. We interpret James 2:14-26 to mean that only true faith will produce works. Ephesians 2:8-9 "For is it by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not of yourselves, it is a gift of God - no by works, so that no one may boast." Acts 16:31 "Beleive in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." - just believe. Or think of the criminal crucified with Jesus who recognized JC as the messiah while on the cross. JC told him "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Let me tell you, this criminal did very nearly nothing, yet he was saved.
d) Other texts to look at include Luke 17:5,19, John 7:17, 1 Thes 1:9 and Gal 3.
e) Summary: Faith is a gift of God and consists of a solid belief in God and related concepts. Salvation is by faith alone and requires no works or baptism (See Acts 10:47 for people with HS - which is a seal garunteeing inheritance Eph 1:13-14 - prior to baptism). And true faith will naturally produce works.
3) Modeling difficulty
a) Unfortunately my mind has a hard time seeing how mere belief can actually facilitate salvation. I see salvation as coming by being united with Christ, who died to sin and was raised to life. (Romans 5:12-7:6 and Col 2:12 explain this well) We undergo his transformation by proxy if we submit to becoming part of his body (the church Eph 5:23) via marriage (the two will become one flesh Gen 2:24) and servanthood (a wife must obey her husband Rom 7:2, we are slaves to righteousness Rom 6:18, JC is our master Rom 10:9)
b) However, this requires some act of will, a submission to Christ, not just belief.
You can't just convince someone to great certainity that JC died for them and bang! they're saved. They must accept it too. "The fool says in his HEART [not mind] there is no God" Prov 14:1. Actually, this model contradicts Eph 2:8-9 where faith is a gift, for this method requires a submission. So, let's leave my beloved ideas and go more directly off of the bible.
c) Let us look at what are probably the definitive texts on salvation by faith - Romans 3:21-4:25. Romans 3:24-25 "and [we] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." Here we have the more traiditonal view of salvation, in which JC takes on our blame and dies for it, like the sacrificial lamb which takes on the sin of Israel and is then killed for it (atonement v25). Other analogies include a ransom like for a kidnapped child (redemption v24 from slavery to sin Rom 6:18, Heb 9:15), the blood of JC covering us (Rom 4:7), JC dying in our place (Rom 4:25, Gal 3:13). These methods of salvation are passive on our part. Jesus does the work. This IS compatible with Eph 2:8-9 faith as a gift of God.
d) Now, how do we reconcile the first model into this second passive one? Or rather I should ask, how do we reconcile the verses of model 1? I think we will explain this by saying that JC rather swept us off our feet and brought us along for the ride. Note the passive role we take in Col 2:12, Rom 6:18 and Rom 7:6. Jesus is truly a master of romance who carries us away. Like in a rescue scene or movie where the hero must carry the herione/victim out of the burning buidling, or shield her with his body, JC brings us along, close to his body and his journey of death and ressurection, and we reap the benefits. Calvinists would love this :P.
e) Now, there still has to be some requirement for salvation, or everyone would be saved, right? This is because relationships go two ways, and you can't just force a damsel to love you by saving her from the dragon (although she would be quite rude and terribly irregular to refuse you). However, her action can be fairly lightweight, like belief. (Ding!)
Now, how belief works to close the deal, I don't know. I'll run across the answer soon as I read more Romans I hope. But as of now I've been working on this post for about 4 hours and I've made a wonderful discovery (the error of the first model), so I think I'll close up shop for the moment. Talk to you soon!
b) [This is something I wrote out before finding a shorter, easier passage.] To further bring faith out of the cold mind, look at the verses preceding it, at the end of Hebrews 10, verses 38-39 which begin by quoting Habbakuk 2:4: "'But my righteous one [or the righteous] will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." Habakkuk 2 is an end-times passage (read v1-3) and 'live by faith' means not being damned due to faith (see Rom 1:17 and Gal 3:11 for it's other uses). So there are two paths: living by faith, believing, and being saved, or shrinking back, displeasing God, and getting destroyed. This puts faith in contrast with shrinking back, which is an action. This does NOT prove that faith requires action by any means, but it just pushes our concept of faith into a more rugged shape.
1) Verses: a) Heb 11:1, b) Heb 11:2-39 c) James 2:14-26, Eph 2:8-9, Acts 16:31, d) More, e) Summary
2) Salvation modeling difficulty: a) Model #1 - submission, b) #1 does not work, c) Model #2 - passive role, d) Reconcile model #1 and new picture, e) True requirement
1) Groundwork verses and comments
a) Hebrews 11:1 - the most straightfoward definition of faith in the bible - "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." This is more than the best guess. The weatherman thinks it will rain tomorrow, but he won't stake his life on it because he isn't certain. The word 'hope' is also not purely mental, it is emotional.
b) To further drive faith into something actionable rather than mental, consider the rest of Hebrews 11 which lists off over a dozen examples of ancient biblical heroes who either did things or had things happen to them 'by faith'.
c) But faith is not works. We interpret James 2:14-26 to mean that only true faith will produce works. Ephesians 2:8-9 "For is it by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not of yourselves, it is a gift of God - no by works, so that no one may boast." Acts 16:31 "Beleive in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." - just believe. Or think of the criminal crucified with Jesus who recognized JC as the messiah while on the cross. JC told him "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Let me tell you, this criminal did very nearly nothing, yet he was saved.
d) Other texts to look at include Luke 17:5,19, John 7:17, 1 Thes 1:9 and Gal 3.
e) Summary: Faith is a gift of God and consists of a solid belief in God and related concepts. Salvation is by faith alone and requires no works or baptism (See Acts 10:47 for people with HS - which is a seal garunteeing inheritance Eph 1:13-14 - prior to baptism). And true faith will naturally produce works.
3) Modeling difficulty
a) Unfortunately my mind has a hard time seeing how mere belief can actually facilitate salvation. I see salvation as coming by being united with Christ, who died to sin and was raised to life. (Romans 5:12-7:6 and Col 2:12 explain this well) We undergo his transformation by proxy if we submit to becoming part of his body (the church Eph 5:23) via marriage (the two will become one flesh Gen 2:24) and servanthood (a wife must obey her husband Rom 7:2, we are slaves to righteousness Rom 6:18, JC is our master Rom 10:9)
b) However, this requires some act of will, a submission to Christ, not just belief.
You can't just convince someone to great certainity that JC died for them and bang! they're saved. They must accept it too. "The fool says in his HEART [not mind] there is no God" Prov 14:1. Actually, this model contradicts Eph 2:8-9 where faith is a gift, for this method requires a submission. So, let's leave my beloved ideas and go more directly off of the bible.
c) Let us look at what are probably the definitive texts on salvation by faith - Romans 3:21-4:25. Romans 3:24-25 "and [we] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood." Here we have the more traiditonal view of salvation, in which JC takes on our blame and dies for it, like the sacrificial lamb which takes on the sin of Israel and is then killed for it (atonement v25). Other analogies include a ransom like for a kidnapped child (redemption v24 from slavery to sin Rom 6:18, Heb 9:15), the blood of JC covering us (Rom 4:7), JC dying in our place (Rom 4:25, Gal 3:13). These methods of salvation are passive on our part. Jesus does the work. This IS compatible with Eph 2:8-9 faith as a gift of God.
d) Now, how do we reconcile the first model into this second passive one? Or rather I should ask, how do we reconcile the verses of model 1? I think we will explain this by saying that JC rather swept us off our feet and brought us along for the ride. Note the passive role we take in Col 2:12, Rom 6:18 and Rom 7:6. Jesus is truly a master of romance who carries us away. Like in a rescue scene or movie where the hero must carry the herione/victim out of the burning buidling, or shield her with his body, JC brings us along, close to his body and his journey of death and ressurection, and we reap the benefits. Calvinists would love this :P.
e) Now, there still has to be some requirement for salvation, or everyone would be saved, right? This is because relationships go two ways, and you can't just force a damsel to love you by saving her from the dragon (although she would be quite rude and terribly irregular to refuse you). However, her action can be fairly lightweight, like belief. (Ding!)
Now, how belief works to close the deal, I don't know. I'll run across the answer soon as I read more Romans I hope. But as of now I've been working on this post for about 4 hours and I've made a wonderful discovery (the error of the first model), so I think I'll close up shop for the moment. Talk to you soon!
b) [This is something I wrote out before finding a shorter, easier passage.] To further bring faith out of the cold mind, look at the verses preceding it, at the end of Hebrews 10, verses 38-39 which begin by quoting Habbakuk 2:4: "'But my righteous one [or the righteous] will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." Habakkuk 2 is an end-times passage (read v1-3) and 'live by faith' means not being damned due to faith (see Rom 1:17 and Gal 3:11 for it's other uses). So there are two paths: living by faith, believing, and being saved, or shrinking back, displeasing God, and getting destroyed. This puts faith in contrast with shrinking back, which is an action. This does NOT prove that faith requires action by any means, but it just pushes our concept of faith into a more rugged shape.
comments on Romans 1-3
These are small oberservations during my readings of Romans 1-3.
1) Romans 1:5 "Through him and for his name's sake we recieved grace and apostleship TO CALL PEOPLE from among all the gnetiles to the obedience that comes from faith."
Unfortunately this only applies to Paul, the people associated with him, and other people called to apostleship. However, the word 'call' just struck me as I thought of the call of election (Romans 8:30). What a strong job we have!
2) Romans 1:8 "...your faith is being reported all over the world." Look at that for a moment. Even in ancient days when communication is hard, a church's faith is being reported across Christendom. We need more of this! Not just Christian publication like The Voice of the Martyrs, but to maybe take 5 minutes out of each service to just talk about other cool churches. Why not? We need community!
3) Romans 1:18-26 "The wrath of God is being revealed...against all the...men who supress the truth. ... Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts...to...the degrating of their bodies with one another." Basically Gods current wrath against wicked people is to give them over to the effect of sin. Feel sorry for those who are under wrath RIGHT NOW suffering under the bondage of sin.
4) Romans 2:1-5: the NIV translations of this passage (judging others when you yourself are wicked) tends to point towards individuals with use of added 'you's and larger phrases. However, the greek has almost none of that. Instead, Romans 2 flows with the preceding section (on God's wrath against ALL mankind), and simply states that none of us should judge because, as humanity, we're all sinful. This also accords with the thoughts of the gospel tracts we hand out, which begin with "All men have sinned..."
Brief explanation of text: Romans 2 continues the idea in 4), Romans 3:1-20 states that Jews are special in some ways but we're all sinners, and our sin exemplifying Gods glory does not justify it.
1) Romans 1:5 "Through him and for his name's sake we recieved grace and apostleship TO CALL PEOPLE from among all the gnetiles to the obedience that comes from faith."
Unfortunately this only applies to Paul, the people associated with him, and other people called to apostleship. However, the word 'call' just struck me as I thought of the call of election (Romans 8:30). What a strong job we have!
2) Romans 1:8 "...your faith is being reported all over the world." Look at that for a moment. Even in ancient days when communication is hard, a church's faith is being reported across Christendom. We need more of this! Not just Christian publication like The Voice of the Martyrs, but to maybe take 5 minutes out of each service to just talk about other cool churches. Why not? We need community!
3) Romans 1:18-26 "The wrath of God is being revealed...against all the...men who supress the truth. ... Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts...to...the degrating of their bodies with one another." Basically Gods current wrath against wicked people is to give them over to the effect of sin. Feel sorry for those who are under wrath RIGHT NOW suffering under the bondage of sin.
4) Romans 2:1-5: the NIV translations of this passage (judging others when you yourself are wicked) tends to point towards individuals with use of added 'you's and larger phrases. However, the greek has almost none of that. Instead, Romans 2 flows with the preceding section (on God's wrath against ALL mankind), and simply states that none of us should judge because, as humanity, we're all sinful. This also accords with the thoughts of the gospel tracts we hand out, which begin with "All men have sinned..."
Brief explanation of text: Romans 2 continues the idea in 4), Romans 3:1-20 states that Jews are special in some ways but we're all sinners, and our sin exemplifying Gods glory does not justify it.
22 July 2011
pursue God
Let us investigate the motivation/driver for sanctification in the personal arena. In other words, what determines your actions outside of work, ministry, and family? What is your motivation for personal devotions, study, God-conversations, prayer, worship, etc?
Before all else, God is awesome, that's why we worship him. But lets look secondary.
a) Now first. What is our purpose?
i) God purpose in choosing us: "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son"
ii) Our lives now: I Corinthians 8:6 "yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and FOR WHOM WE LIVE; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."
iii) And our final destination is the bride of Christ (= new Jerusalem), a kingdom of priests, sons of the living God. Revelations 1:6 "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen."
b) Let me examine this 'bride of Christ' idea. "And the two shall become one flesh." So we are to become 'one flesh' with Christ. After all, I guess, we are crucified, buried, and raised with him (Collosians 2:12, Romans 6:4). But what does that mean?
Well, what happens in a romantic relationship? (Isn't it nice that God gave us such an aweomse image of the greatest romance between him and the church?). Communication is huge. Talk talk talk. Learn, respect, trust, have fun, etc. This is all easily said but not easily done. How the heck do you work towards trusting God more, expecially when you don't fee like it?
c) For the moment we will leave emotional/big stuff aside and branch into the colder applications. More effects of a relationship include large bodies of knowledge about each other, shared knowledge of the external world, taking on each others charachter traits, thought patterns, etc. We are seeking to take on the attributes of God, to become more like him. "And the two shall become one flesh." "Predestined to be conformed into the image of his son."
Application: you are trying to become more like God. This involves learning about him and then changing yourself. (So often I focus on the former and forget the latter!)
d) WARNING: So far this seems like a Sunday school lesson you can forget about. Don't belittle Sunday school. Some items of consideration.
i) Be constantly and painfully aware that there are many things that you have WRONG about God.
ii) Be also aware that there are even MORE things that you don't know about God, and are even in the dark about what exists to be known.
iii) You will never run out of stuff to learn about God. It's a blessing, actually, and a by-product of pursuing an infinitely amazing God.
iv) This is DEFAULT. Turn to this when you are stuck pursuing lesser goals. This means stuff not-God related. Family, God-pursuing work (secular inclusive, obviously, it dpends on attitude), ministry, etc are all in the works. I'm talking pursing that fancy boat, video games, promotions, getting the best boy/girlfriend etc.
Pursue God. He wants to be pursued. He already died chasing after you. What will you do in return? It's not like anywhere else is going to fufill the purpose for which you were created or overflow your wildest dreams...
Before all else, God is awesome, that's why we worship him. But lets look secondary.
a) Now first. What is our purpose?
i) God purpose in choosing us: "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son"
ii) Our lives now: I Corinthians 8:6 "yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and FOR WHOM WE LIVE; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."
iii) And our final destination is the bride of Christ (= new Jerusalem), a kingdom of priests, sons of the living God. Revelations 1:6 "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen."
b) Let me examine this 'bride of Christ' idea. "And the two shall become one flesh." So we are to become 'one flesh' with Christ. After all, I guess, we are crucified, buried, and raised with him (Collosians 2:12, Romans 6:4). But what does that mean?
Well, what happens in a romantic relationship? (Isn't it nice that God gave us such an aweomse image of the greatest romance between him and the church?). Communication is huge. Talk talk talk. Learn, respect, trust, have fun, etc. This is all easily said but not easily done. How the heck do you work towards trusting God more, expecially when you don't fee like it?
c) For the moment we will leave emotional/big stuff aside and branch into the colder applications. More effects of a relationship include large bodies of knowledge about each other, shared knowledge of the external world, taking on each others charachter traits, thought patterns, etc. We are seeking to take on the attributes of God, to become more like him. "And the two shall become one flesh." "Predestined to be conformed into the image of his son."
Application: you are trying to become more like God. This involves learning about him and then changing yourself. (So often I focus on the former and forget the latter!)
d) WARNING: So far this seems like a Sunday school lesson you can forget about. Don't belittle Sunday school. Some items of consideration.
i) Be constantly and painfully aware that there are many things that you have WRONG about God.
ii) Be also aware that there are even MORE things that you don't know about God, and are even in the dark about what exists to be known.
iii) You will never run out of stuff to learn about God. It's a blessing, actually, and a by-product of pursuing an infinitely amazing God.
iv) This is DEFAULT. Turn to this when you are stuck pursuing lesser goals. This means stuff not-God related. Family, God-pursuing work (secular inclusive, obviously, it dpends on attitude), ministry, etc are all in the works. I'm talking pursing that fancy boat, video games, promotions, getting the best boy/girlfriend etc.
Pursue God. He wants to be pursued. He already died chasing after you. What will you do in return? It's not like anywhere else is going to fufill the purpose for which you were created or overflow your wildest dreams...
16 July 2011
Assurance of salvation in Islam
I have been talking with a strong Muslim recently (strong meaning that he does his prayers and stays away from the culture of materialsm, sex, and whatnot)
As best I was able to question and understand from him, the rumors about salvation are true. At the end of time, Mohammeds people will stand behind him, and Mohammed will ask Allah (which is just the Arabic word for God, not a specific name) to let them in. Allah may and he may not. A follower of Islam has a higher chance of getting in if he/she has followed all the rules, but that still isn't a gaurantee.
I actually have to admire them a little for this. Not that it's a great idea, but if Mohammed really isn't God (like Christians beleive that Jesus is God), then what right does he have to even know for certain who will get in and who won't, much less decide!
So Muslims do not have 100% assurance of salvation.
I'll have to ask this guy sometime about what hell looks like, or where you would go if Allah said no to you, but you were pretty devout.
All I know is that I'm glad that God himself came down to earth and died for us, promising with his life and presence that we could get into heaven if we would just beleive and accept him. Whahoo!
As best I was able to question and understand from him, the rumors about salvation are true. At the end of time, Mohammeds people will stand behind him, and Mohammed will ask Allah (which is just the Arabic word for God, not a specific name) to let them in. Allah may and he may not. A follower of Islam has a higher chance of getting in if he/she has followed all the rules, but that still isn't a gaurantee.
I actually have to admire them a little for this. Not that it's a great idea, but if Mohammed really isn't God (like Christians beleive that Jesus is God), then what right does he have to even know for certain who will get in and who won't, much less decide!
So Muslims do not have 100% assurance of salvation.
I'll have to ask this guy sometime about what hell looks like, or where you would go if Allah said no to you, but you were pretty devout.
All I know is that I'm glad that God himself came down to earth and died for us, promising with his life and presence that we could get into heaven if we would just beleive and accept him. Whahoo!
15 July 2011
the meaning of life
I was sitting in my room having another one of my depression sessions, knowing that God was awesome and that his power working in his sons and daughters was wise beyond all else, knowing that God was the fundamental foundation and origin of all meaning, but still dissatisfied.
Trust me, these dissatisfactions are not fun, but they are great for producing wonderful lessons as I find solutions.
Today I was primarily tired. However, I also simply questioned living. I know how to live and breathe and do Gods work and ejoy myself in minor ways. But how does one LIVE? Like robust rugged health and purpose and emotion?
I eventually narrowed down my search to the concept of 'life', and then I figured it out:
Hehehe! I claim to have the meaning of life.
1 Corinthians 8:6 "Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and FOR WHOM WE LIVE; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."
More revelant verses:
John 14:6 "Jesus answered 'I am the way, and the truth and the life...'"
1 John 5:11 "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."
John 10:10b "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
From what do we draw satisfaction in life? God, or rather, a relationship with him, which is experiencing and knowing and learning all the properties of the good God. Rest in his strength, delight in the works of his hands, see the wonders he has made, proclaim his name with glad singing, feel his power working in you like a mighty river, laugh with joy at the good news, and be at peace for the king has come. Etc. Etc.
Primarily I was dissatisfied by being tired, and just wanted some energy. But my secondary search, and the one that can help us here, is my search for the things that give us energy day by day, the pleasure we derive from life. And this is simple, the various manifestations of an infinitely complex, creative, and loving God.
Trust me, these dissatisfactions are not fun, but they are great for producing wonderful lessons as I find solutions.
Today I was primarily tired. However, I also simply questioned living. I know how to live and breathe and do Gods work and ejoy myself in minor ways. But how does one LIVE? Like robust rugged health and purpose and emotion?
I eventually narrowed down my search to the concept of 'life', and then I figured it out:
Hehehe! I claim to have the meaning of life.
1 Corinthians 8:6 "Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and FOR WHOM WE LIVE; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."
More revelant verses:
John 14:6 "Jesus answered 'I am the way, and the truth and the life...'"
1 John 5:11 "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."
John 10:10b "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
From what do we draw satisfaction in life? God, or rather, a relationship with him, which is experiencing and knowing and learning all the properties of the good God. Rest in his strength, delight in the works of his hands, see the wonders he has made, proclaim his name with glad singing, feel his power working in you like a mighty river, laugh with joy at the good news, and be at peace for the king has come. Etc. Etc.
Primarily I was dissatisfied by being tired, and just wanted some energy. But my secondary search, and the one that can help us here, is my search for the things that give us energy day by day, the pleasure we derive from life. And this is simple, the various manifestations of an infinitely complex, creative, and loving God.
08 July 2011
the divinity of Christ
I have recently been in conversations with a couple Jehovas Witnesses. Naturally, the topic turns to the nature of Jesus. This post will cover texts for and against Jesus as God (part of the trinity).
A) Jehovas Witnesses
B) Explanation of the trinity
C) Texts against JC divinity
D) Texts for divinity
If I were to turn you to the shortest, most revelant part of this post, it would be the 4th verse mentioned in section D, Jeremiah 23:6. The next verse is also very strong for Christ being Yaweh/Jehovah.
A)
Jevhovas witnesses believe many odd things (nothing too wierd), but the most important, probably, is the nature of Jesus. They believe that he is NOT God, that is some sort of superbeing. He is still SON of God, above all other beings except for God, God still created the universe through him, he still forgives sins. The idea that he is the archangel Michael is more of an afterthought, but they believe that too.
They hold fast to the oneness of God and do not believe in the trinity. Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." Gods formal name (like Bill) is Jehovah, which is the same thing as Yaweh. (The words kind of got ambiguous is pronunciation due to the leaving out of vowels in the name) Most bibles nowadays don't have Jehovah in there, but if you see 'LORD' in all capitals, that's probably YHWH.
'God' Elohim, is more of a title. In fact, Jesus said after his ressurection "I am going to your God and my God" John 20:17. So God the father is still God in relation to Jesus, even though Jesus is God. 'God' is just a big authoritative name.
Jehovahs witnesses, holding to the oneness of God, claim that Jesus, although 'God' Elohyim, never said he was Yahweh/Jehovah.
B)
I will not go into depth about the trinity. Is you want some more ideas, see "BIG THEORY Trinity and TSM" from June 10, 2010.
I will only explain as far as it is neccesary to understand some of my arguments. The three parts of the trinity are distinct persons, with individual thoughts and such. However, they are still the same God. An analogy (which errs on the side of uniting them) might be to the heart, will, body, and mind of a human. All three are part of the one human, but they can act differently. You see a piece of candy: your body may salivate for it, your heart may say that it is desirable, your mind may say that it will make you fat, and your 'will' will decide between these inputs. In the same way, the trinity have independent views and functions but of the same body. God has control over both the holy spirit and Jesus.
C)
The bulk of the arguments of the Jehovahs witnesses center around simple functional language used by Jesus. He only does the will of his father in heaven. The father is greater than Jesus. His mission is on behalf of the Father primarily, etc.
I had the great fortune that they gave me their theolgoy book. Essentially I have in my hands their arguments for everything they believe, the book they use on the field. How awesome is that? If I ever get bored, I can just pick a topic we disagree on from the table of contents and dive into some fun!
But anyway, these are all seven verses I could find in their book:
1 - John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." Here, eternal life is being applied to God and Jesus equally, a counterpoint actually. And we recognize that God has sent Jesus, yes. Perhaps in the same way that you could send your eletrical expertise to help your neighbor set up his television.
2 - John 20:17 "Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” This is just saying that God is God towards JC. This is true. I aknowledge that God is higher in command structure than JC, just like the 'will' of a person has command over their desires.
3 - John 10:34 "Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”'" This is a point for Jehovas Witnesses. Jesus is here explaining why he can call himself 'Son of God'. God calls some important people 'gods', and in fact Christians can be called 'sons of God'. This does NOT prove that Jesus is not God, is just puts a strong suggestion that way. Bear with me until we look at the other side. This forces us to have Jesus labeled as the most high God, Jehovah, not just 'God'.
4 - Matt 4:10 "Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’"" This is during Jesus's temptation in the desert. Satan has just asked Jesus to worship Satan. Duh! You shouldn't do that!
5 - John 8:54 "Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me." This is a function of Gods lordship. Jesus does not glorify himself because he is under the house of God. Neither do we glorify ourselves, we let God do that.
6 - 1 Cor 8:5-6 "For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."
7 - John 5:19 "Truly truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father dong." This is, again, just a function of God being in command over Jesus.
One note before we move on to Jesus being God - ability and ease of proof. It is far easier to prove that Jesus is God than to prove that his is not, almost unfortunately. See, Jesus wouldn't go to any great length to say that we wasn't God is he really wasn't. Why bother? I could claim that Jesus was a rhinocerous and not be shot down easily (logically at least) because Jesus never said he wasn't a rhinocerous.
I am dodging around most of these verses above with explanations and the simple observation that these text don't PROVE that Jesus isn't God. It's a kind of cheap, but true way of doing things.
However, I hope all we need is some proof that Jesus is God, and there really doesn't have to be ambiguity on this point.
D)
Five texts that support that Jesus is God (I decided to limit myself to the same number).
1 - John 1:1 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Now, Jehovas Witnesses defend this by saying that is should be translated 'the Word was a God' because there is an article before the first 'God', denoting name and person, and not before the second 'god', indicating title or position. This seems pretty plausible. Many of the references to Jehovah do have an article. However, some don't. For instance Hebrews 1:6 (I just picked Hebrews and found that the first 'theos' referring to Jehovah in 1:1 had an article, and the second in 1:6 didn't.)
2 - John 8:58 - “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” This is during a debate with the Jews where Jesus claims that he was before Abraham (among other things). Notice the 'incorrect' grammar of the last phrase. "I am" (most people think) refers to I AM, the title of the God who appeared in the burning bush. (Exodus 3:14). "I am" is also closely connected to the literal meaning of Yaweh. Jehovahs Witnesses translate this as "I have been". However, the verb "I am" 'eimi', in the present activTe indicative, not any sort of past-perfect, pluperfect, aorit tenses or otherwise. It's the base form they use for verb paradigms, present tense "I am".
These next two verses I found on my own just by chance. Zachariah because that's the book I was working through (awesome Jesus-prophetic one btw), and Jeremiah because I was looking for a really strong angry series of verses I had seen once.
3 - Zachariah 12:10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced..." This is obviously God talking, because only God gave prophecies. But he says 'me, the one they have pierced'. I don't know how anyone can NOT connect that to Jesus. The word 'me' there comes from a prefix on the verb 'look' which refers to the speaker as the one to whom they look. Here I have cut and pasted a couple sentences from the Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament:
הבּיטוּ אלי, they look upon me. Hibbı̄t, used of bodily sight as well as spiritual (cf. Numbers 21:9). The suffix in אלי (to me) refers to the speaker. This is Jehovah, according to Zechariah 12:1, the creator of the heaven and the earth. את־אשׁר דּקרוּ, not "Him whom they pierced," but simply "whom they pierced." את, that is to say, is not governed by hibbı̄tū as a second object, but simply refers to אלי, to me, "whom they pierced,"
4 - Jerermiah 23:6 "In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior." This is a passage about the Righteous Branch, a virtually undenaible prophecy about Jesus, and his name is the LORD, which is Yaweh, the formal name of God. Take that!
5 - Isaiah 40:3 (also quoted in Mark 1:2-3 and Luke 3:4) "...'a voice of one calling in the desert "Prepare the way for the LORD, make straight paths for him."'". Mark explains this is John the baptists telling of Jesus. But the 'LORD' is YHWH here, the big God. JC = Jehovah.
6 - John 5:18 "This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but aslo called God his Father, making himself equal with God." Now, the Jehovas Witnesses defend this by saying that the Jews were wrong and quote the next verse, where Jesus says he's only obeying his Father (thus somehow implying that Jesus is not God). However, the subject of their conversation was about breaking the Sabbath, so Jesus's words about doing the fathers will is just about works, not about being God. I would assume that Jesus would not want the Jews to think that he was claiming to be God if he wasn't. That would be a cruddy moral teacher or archangel Michael. 'Great job' God admonishes Michael 'now they think YOU'RE God.'
NOTE: It's hard, using new testament to prove that Jesus is YHWH, because the name for God is in Hebrew, and the NT is written in Greek. And the Greek 'theos' is equivalent to the Greek 'Elohyim', just the title 'God', not YHWH. This is evident from passages like John 10:34 (listed in section C). So, we are reduced to context, wierd and indecisive grammatical stuff like in John 1:1 (with the article preceding theos indicating YWHW), and the OT.
Ok, got the idea? Jesus is God.
A) Jehovas Witnesses
B) Explanation of the trinity
C) Texts against JC divinity
D) Texts for divinity
If I were to turn you to the shortest, most revelant part of this post, it would be the 4th verse mentioned in section D, Jeremiah 23:6. The next verse is also very strong for Christ being Yaweh/Jehovah.
A)
Jevhovas witnesses believe many odd things (nothing too wierd), but the most important, probably, is the nature of Jesus. They believe that he is NOT God, that is some sort of superbeing. He is still SON of God, above all other beings except for God, God still created the universe through him, he still forgives sins. The idea that he is the archangel Michael is more of an afterthought, but they believe that too.
They hold fast to the oneness of God and do not believe in the trinity. Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." Gods formal name (like Bill) is Jehovah, which is the same thing as Yaweh. (The words kind of got ambiguous is pronunciation due to the leaving out of vowels in the name) Most bibles nowadays don't have Jehovah in there, but if you see 'LORD' in all capitals, that's probably YHWH.
'God' Elohim, is more of a title. In fact, Jesus said after his ressurection "I am going to your God and my God" John 20:17. So God the father is still God in relation to Jesus, even though Jesus is God. 'God' is just a big authoritative name.
Jehovahs witnesses, holding to the oneness of God, claim that Jesus, although 'God' Elohyim, never said he was Yahweh/Jehovah.
B)
I will not go into depth about the trinity. Is you want some more ideas, see "BIG THEORY Trinity and TSM" from June 10, 2010.
I will only explain as far as it is neccesary to understand some of my arguments. The three parts of the trinity are distinct persons, with individual thoughts and such. However, they are still the same God. An analogy (which errs on the side of uniting them) might be to the heart, will, body, and mind of a human. All three are part of the one human, but they can act differently. You see a piece of candy: your body may salivate for it, your heart may say that it is desirable, your mind may say that it will make you fat, and your 'will' will decide between these inputs. In the same way, the trinity have independent views and functions but of the same body. God has control over both the holy spirit and Jesus.
C)
The bulk of the arguments of the Jehovahs witnesses center around simple functional language used by Jesus. He only does the will of his father in heaven. The father is greater than Jesus. His mission is on behalf of the Father primarily, etc.
I had the great fortune that they gave me their theolgoy book. Essentially I have in my hands their arguments for everything they believe, the book they use on the field. How awesome is that? If I ever get bored, I can just pick a topic we disagree on from the table of contents and dive into some fun!
But anyway, these are all seven verses I could find in their book:
1 - John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." Here, eternal life is being applied to God and Jesus equally, a counterpoint actually. And we recognize that God has sent Jesus, yes. Perhaps in the same way that you could send your eletrical expertise to help your neighbor set up his television.
2 - John 20:17 "Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” This is just saying that God is God towards JC. This is true. I aknowledge that God is higher in command structure than JC, just like the 'will' of a person has command over their desires.
3 - John 10:34 "Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”'" This is a point for Jehovas Witnesses. Jesus is here explaining why he can call himself 'Son of God'. God calls some important people 'gods', and in fact Christians can be called 'sons of God'. This does NOT prove that Jesus is not God, is just puts a strong suggestion that way. Bear with me until we look at the other side. This forces us to have Jesus labeled as the most high God, Jehovah, not just 'God'.
4 - Matt 4:10 "Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’"" This is during Jesus's temptation in the desert. Satan has just asked Jesus to worship Satan. Duh! You shouldn't do that!
5 - John 8:54 "Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me." This is a function of Gods lordship. Jesus does not glorify himself because he is under the house of God. Neither do we glorify ourselves, we let God do that.
6 - 1 Cor 8:5-6 "For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live."
7 - John 5:19 "Truly truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father dong." This is, again, just a function of God being in command over Jesus.
One note before we move on to Jesus being God - ability and ease of proof. It is far easier to prove that Jesus is God than to prove that his is not, almost unfortunately. See, Jesus wouldn't go to any great length to say that we wasn't God is he really wasn't. Why bother? I could claim that Jesus was a rhinocerous and not be shot down easily (logically at least) because Jesus never said he wasn't a rhinocerous.
I am dodging around most of these verses above with explanations and the simple observation that these text don't PROVE that Jesus isn't God. It's a kind of cheap, but true way of doing things.
However, I hope all we need is some proof that Jesus is God, and there really doesn't have to be ambiguity on this point.
D)
Five texts that support that Jesus is God (I decided to limit myself to the same number).
1 - John 1:1 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Now, Jehovas Witnesses defend this by saying that is should be translated 'the Word was a God' because there is an article before the first 'God', denoting name and person, and not before the second 'god', indicating title or position. This seems pretty plausible. Many of the references to Jehovah do have an article. However, some don't. For instance Hebrews 1:6 (I just picked Hebrews and found that the first 'theos' referring to Jehovah in 1:1 had an article, and the second in 1:6 didn't.)
2 - John 8:58 - “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” This is during a debate with the Jews where Jesus claims that he was before Abraham (among other things). Notice the 'incorrect' grammar of the last phrase. "I am" (most people think) refers to I AM, the title of the God who appeared in the burning bush. (Exodus 3:14). "I am" is also closely connected to the literal meaning of Yaweh. Jehovahs Witnesses translate this as "I have been". However, the verb "I am" 'eimi', in the present activTe indicative, not any sort of past-perfect, pluperfect, aorit tenses or otherwise. It's the base form they use for verb paradigms, present tense "I am".
These next two verses I found on my own just by chance. Zachariah because that's the book I was working through (awesome Jesus-prophetic one btw), and Jeremiah because I was looking for a really strong angry series of verses I had seen once.
3 - Zachariah 12:10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced..." This is obviously God talking, because only God gave prophecies. But he says 'me, the one they have pierced'. I don't know how anyone can NOT connect that to Jesus. The word 'me' there comes from a prefix on the verb 'look' which refers to the speaker as the one to whom they look. Here I have cut and pasted a couple sentences from the Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament:
הבּיטוּ אלי, they look upon me. Hibbı̄t, used of bodily sight as well as spiritual (cf. Numbers 21:9). The suffix in אלי (to me) refers to the speaker. This is Jehovah, according to Zechariah 12:1, the creator of the heaven and the earth. את־אשׁר דּקרוּ, not "Him whom they pierced," but simply "whom they pierced." את, that is to say, is not governed by hibbı̄tū as a second object, but simply refers to אלי, to me, "whom they pierced,"
4 - Jerermiah 23:6 "In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD Our Righteous Savior." This is a passage about the Righteous Branch, a virtually undenaible prophecy about Jesus, and his name is the LORD, which is Yaweh, the formal name of God. Take that!
5 - Isaiah 40:3 (also quoted in Mark 1:2-3 and Luke 3:4) "...'a voice of one calling in the desert "Prepare the way for the LORD, make straight paths for him."'". Mark explains this is John the baptists telling of Jesus. But the 'LORD' is YHWH here, the big God. JC = Jehovah.
6 - John 5:18 "This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but aslo called God his Father, making himself equal with God." Now, the Jehovas Witnesses defend this by saying that the Jews were wrong and quote the next verse, where Jesus says he's only obeying his Father (thus somehow implying that Jesus is not God). However, the subject of their conversation was about breaking the Sabbath, so Jesus's words about doing the fathers will is just about works, not about being God. I would assume that Jesus would not want the Jews to think that he was claiming to be God if he wasn't. That would be a cruddy moral teacher or archangel Michael. 'Great job' God admonishes Michael 'now they think YOU'RE God.'
NOTE: It's hard, using new testament to prove that Jesus is YHWH, because the name for God is in Hebrew, and the NT is written in Greek. And the Greek 'theos' is equivalent to the Greek 'Elohyim', just the title 'God', not YHWH. This is evident from passages like John 10:34 (listed in section C). So, we are reduced to context, wierd and indecisive grammatical stuff like in John 1:1 (with the article preceding theos indicating YWHW), and the OT.
Ok, got the idea? Jesus is God.
04 July 2011
summary of Hebrews
What follows, my friends, is a freakishly long logical diagram of Hebrews. Wow! It has taken me 4 hours so far to write this and I'm not even done (but close).
Capital letters signify syllogisms, which in turn fit into a model. Below is the main model with only letters, then a list of the names of the syllogisms denoted by the letters, and then finally a all the lettered syllogisms written out. Lowercase letters denote statements in a syllogism that are logically dependent. Lowercase Roman numerals represent different syllogisms or statements within syllogisms that perform the same purpose and are not logically dependent on eachother.
A>B>C__>E>F>O
I>J>L>D>
I>J>K>G__>
H________>
N__________>
M__________>
P__________>
JC is better than what was in the OT. [Ai-iii]
Therefore we should pay attention to JCs message [Bi-ii]
and P.S. that means JC is our brother [Biii]
Gods rest still remains for us. [C]
JC is capable and willing to give us access to this rest [D]
Gods rest is available [E]
Let us pursue it and not fall away! [F]
You can't stay with the old way [Gi]
So you must use JCs message [F]
You were intended, by Gods promise, to be saved [H]
Melchizedek was greater than Abraham [I]
Gods people tithed to God through Levi>Abraham>Melchizedek>God [J]
Jesus relaces this order [Ki]
Jesus's ministry will be different [Li]
The old order was only symbolic of the new one [Kii]
Differences of JCs atonement [Lii]
(Chapter 10a repeats the concepts of 9a)
You can't stay with the old way [Gii]
You must persevere [M]
Many have gone before you [N]
Run for JC [O]
Love the hardship [P]
Main Syllogism of Chapters 1-3:
JC is better than what was in the OT. [Supported by premises Ai-iii]
Therefore we should pay attention to JCs message [Bi-ii]
and P.S. that means JC is our brother [Biii]
Premise Ai: JC is better because of stuff directly from God:
i) He is superior to angels
ii) Son of God
iii) Future ruler of earth
iv) Eternal and creator
Application Bi: We must pay attention to this greater message. Additioinally because:
a) This message has greater rewards and punishments for listening or not listening.
b) It was testified to by miracles.
Premise Aii: JC is better because of his human nature:
ai) JC was human in order that he might lead the way for his brothers
aii) JC was human so he could be a priest who can relate to the people he represents
b) God is making man, not angels, rulers over earth.
c) God lifted Jesus above angels to his righteous throne.
Application: Bii: Jesus is our brother [from ai)]
Premise Aiii: JC is better because he is better than Moses:
a) Builders/owners of houses/people/servants are greater than the houses themselves.
b) Moses was a servant keeper.
c) Jesus is a son/owner.
d) Jesus is greater than Moses.
Application Biii: We should not harden our hearts to this message.
a) Your forefathers didn't listen to God.
b) They didn't get to enter Gods rest.
c) Don't be like your forefathers.
Main Syllogism of chapters 4-5:
Gods rest still remains for us. [C]
Jesus can make a way to the rest [D]
Let us take hold of it and not fall away! [F]
Premise C: The sabbath rest still remains for us.
ai) The rest exists because it was refused to the forefathers
aii) The rest exists because on the seventh day, God rested.
b) God ordained a future time when this rest would be available.
Premise D: JC is able and willing to give us access to the rest.
ai) In order to be a priest, one must be able to understand the ones your represent.
bi) Jesus can relate to us [See Aii>aii]
aii) In order to be a priest, one must be appointed by God.
bii) Jesus was appoitned by God.
c) Jesus operates as our priest, giving us access to God and his rest.
Premise E: Gods rest is available.
Application F: Let us pursue it!
Main Syllogism of Chapter 6:
So you must use JCs message [F]
You can't stay with the old way [Gi]
You were intended, by Gods promise, to be saved [H]
Premise Gi: You can't stay with the old way.
a) You have seen the new way and so must reject or accept it.
bi) Rejecting the new way is trampling upon Gods witness and disgracing him.
bii) Rejecting the new way is like land refusing water.
c) If you reject the new way you will be condemned.
Application F: You have to use JCs way.
Premise H: You have the ability to use JCs way.
a) God will remember your deeds.
bi) God swore to be with you and he doesn't lie
bii) God swore by himself, and there is no one greater
c) God will follow through on his promise.
Main Syllogisms of Chapter 7-10a:
Melchizedek was greater than Abraham [I]
Gods people tithed to God through Levi>Abraham>Melchizedek>God [J]
Jesus relaces this order [Li]
Jesus's ministry will be different [Mi]
The old order was only symbolic [Lii]
Differences of JCs atonement [Mii]
Premise I: Melchizedek was greater than Abraham
ai) Melchizedek blessed Abraham
bi) Greater people bless the lesser
aii) Abraham tithed to Melchizedek
bii) Lesser people tithe to greater
c) Melchizedek was greater than Abraham
Premise J: The Israelites tithed to God through a chain. {P.S. ai-ii is subset of b}
ai) Melchizedek did not have parents.
aii) Melchizedek did not trace his lineage from Levi
b) There is no intermediary between God and Melchizedek.
c) Melchizedek is above Abraham [see J]
d) Levi was inside of Abraham
e) The Israelites tithed to Levi
f) God>Melchizedek>Abraham>Levi>Israelites
Premise Ki: Jesus replaces the old order
ai) The fact that a new way came proves that the old was insufficient.
aii) The old way was weak because it was based on regulation of Levi.
bii) Jesus was established by indestructible life of Judah, not regulation.
aiii) The old way was weak because its priests died and had to be replaced.
biii) Jesus was established by oath, which does not die and lives forever.
avi) The old way was weak because they had to sacrifice over and over again.
bvi) Jesus's sacrifice was sufficient, once and for all.
Premise Li: Jesus's ministry is different from the old one
i) He serves in the tabernacle of heaven, not earth.
ii) The law will be on peoples hearts and minds, not a jurisdiction.
Premise Kii: The old order was only symbolic
i) Holy Place with the lampstand, table, and bread.
ii) The Most Holy Place with the altar, ark, manna, staff, tablets, and cherubim.
iii) Only the high priest entered the Most Holy Place only once a year and only with blood.
Premise Lii: Differences of JCs atonement
ai) The OT blood of imperfect lambs and goats cleansed outwardly
bi) The NT blood of perfect God cleases inwardly
aii) Wills (legal) don't get executed until the death of the writer
bii) In the same way JC had to die in order for his will to be carried out.
aiii) Man (normal people) die once and then stand for judgement
biii) In the same way JC dies once and pays for all.
Main Syllogisms of chapter 10b-13
You cannot stay with the old way [Gii]
You must persevere [M]
Many have gone before you [N]
Run for JC [O]
Love the hardship [P]
Premise Gii: You can't stay with the old way
a) In the days of Moses, a person who rejected the law died without mercy.
b) Not accepting JCs way is like trampling him, the fufillment of the law.
c) Rejecting JC results in death.
Application M: You must persevere
ai) You have endured hardship before.
aii) There are rich rewards for staying (from E)
aiii) God is coming soon
b) Persevere!
Premise N: Many have gone before you in faith
i) Abel giving the firstfruits
ii) Enoch walking with God
iii) Noah building the ark
iv) Abraham going to Ur
v) Abraham bearing Issac
vi) Abraham sacrificing Issac
vii) Issac blessing Jacob
viii) Jacob blessing Joseph's sons
ix) Joseph speaking of the Exodus
x) Moses' parents
xi) Moses identifying with his people
xii) Moses fleeing Egypt
xiii) Moses doing the Passover
xiv) Israel and the Sed Sea
xv) Israel and Jericho
xvi) Rahab in Jericho
xvii) Countless others
Application O: Run for Jesus
ai) We have a great cloud of witnesses
aii) A great Jesus
aiii) Jesus who endured before us
aiv) You have not resisted to shedding blood
bi) Throw off sin
bii) Run the race
biii) Fix eyes on Jesus
Application P: Love the hardship
ai) God disciplines his sons, those he loves
aii) God disciplines in order to create righteousness
b) Hardship is like discipline
c) Embrace the discipline even though it feels tough at the time
... I will add the 12b and 13 soon. So far this has taken me about 4hours
Capital letters signify syllogisms, which in turn fit into a model. Below is the main model with only letters, then a list of the names of the syllogisms denoted by the letters, and then finally a all the lettered syllogisms written out. Lowercase letters denote statements in a syllogism that are logically dependent. Lowercase Roman numerals represent different syllogisms or statements within syllogisms that perform the same purpose and are not logically dependent on eachother.
A>B>C__>E>F>O
I>J>L>D>
I>J>K>G__>
H________>
N__________>
M__________>
P__________>
JC is better than what was in the OT. [Ai-iii]
Therefore we should pay attention to JCs message [Bi-ii]
and P.S. that means JC is our brother [Biii]
Gods rest still remains for us. [C]
JC is capable and willing to give us access to this rest [D]
Gods rest is available [E]
Let us pursue it and not fall away! [F]
You can't stay with the old way [Gi]
So you must use JCs message [F]
You were intended, by Gods promise, to be saved [H]
Melchizedek was greater than Abraham [I]
Gods people tithed to God through Levi>Abraham>Melchizedek>God [J]
Jesus relaces this order [Ki]
Jesus's ministry will be different [Li]
The old order was only symbolic of the new one [Kii]
Differences of JCs atonement [Lii]
(Chapter 10a repeats the concepts of 9a)
You can't stay with the old way [Gii]
You must persevere [M]
Many have gone before you [N]
Run for JC [O]
Love the hardship [P]
Main Syllogism of Chapters 1-3:
JC is better than what was in the OT. [Supported by premises Ai-iii]
Therefore we should pay attention to JCs message [Bi-ii]
and P.S. that means JC is our brother [Biii]
Premise Ai: JC is better because of stuff directly from God:
i) He is superior to angels
ii) Son of God
iii) Future ruler of earth
iv) Eternal and creator
Application Bi: We must pay attention to this greater message. Additioinally because:
a) This message has greater rewards and punishments for listening or not listening.
b) It was testified to by miracles.
Premise Aii: JC is better because of his human nature:
ai) JC was human in order that he might lead the way for his brothers
aii) JC was human so he could be a priest who can relate to the people he represents
b) God is making man, not angels, rulers over earth.
c) God lifted Jesus above angels to his righteous throne.
Application: Bii: Jesus is our brother [from ai)]
Premise Aiii: JC is better because he is better than Moses:
a) Builders/owners of houses/people/servants are greater than the houses themselves.
b) Moses was a servant keeper.
c) Jesus is a son/owner.
d) Jesus is greater than Moses.
Application Biii: We should not harden our hearts to this message.
a) Your forefathers didn't listen to God.
b) They didn't get to enter Gods rest.
c) Don't be like your forefathers.
Main Syllogism of chapters 4-5:
Gods rest still remains for us. [C]
Jesus can make a way to the rest [D]
Let us take hold of it and not fall away! [F]
Premise C: The sabbath rest still remains for us.
ai) The rest exists because it was refused to the forefathers
aii) The rest exists because on the seventh day, God rested.
b) God ordained a future time when this rest would be available.
Premise D: JC is able and willing to give us access to the rest.
ai) In order to be a priest, one must be able to understand the ones your represent.
bi) Jesus can relate to us [See Aii>aii]
aii) In order to be a priest, one must be appointed by God.
bii) Jesus was appoitned by God.
c) Jesus operates as our priest, giving us access to God and his rest.
Premise E: Gods rest is available.
Application F: Let us pursue it!
Main Syllogism of Chapter 6:
So you must use JCs message [F]
You can't stay with the old way [Gi]
You were intended, by Gods promise, to be saved [H]
Premise Gi: You can't stay with the old way.
a) You have seen the new way and so must reject or accept it.
bi) Rejecting the new way is trampling upon Gods witness and disgracing him.
bii) Rejecting the new way is like land refusing water.
c) If you reject the new way you will be condemned.
Application F: You have to use JCs way.
Premise H: You have the ability to use JCs way.
a) God will remember your deeds.
bi) God swore to be with you and he doesn't lie
bii) God swore by himself, and there is no one greater
c) God will follow through on his promise.
Main Syllogisms of Chapter 7-10a:
Melchizedek was greater than Abraham [I]
Gods people tithed to God through Levi>Abraham>Melchizedek>God [J]
Jesus relaces this order [Li]
Jesus's ministry will be different [Mi]
The old order was only symbolic [Lii]
Differences of JCs atonement [Mii]
Premise I: Melchizedek was greater than Abraham
ai) Melchizedek blessed Abraham
bi) Greater people bless the lesser
aii) Abraham tithed to Melchizedek
bii) Lesser people tithe to greater
c) Melchizedek was greater than Abraham
Premise J: The Israelites tithed to God through a chain. {P.S. ai-ii is subset of b}
ai) Melchizedek did not have parents.
aii) Melchizedek did not trace his lineage from Levi
b) There is no intermediary between God and Melchizedek.
c) Melchizedek is above Abraham [see J]
d) Levi was inside of Abraham
e) The Israelites tithed to Levi
f) God>Melchizedek>Abraham>Levi>Israelites
Premise Ki: Jesus replaces the old order
ai) The fact that a new way came proves that the old was insufficient.
aii) The old way was weak because it was based on regulation of Levi.
bii) Jesus was established by indestructible life of Judah, not regulation.
aiii) The old way was weak because its priests died and had to be replaced.
biii) Jesus was established by oath, which does not die and lives forever.
avi) The old way was weak because they had to sacrifice over and over again.
bvi) Jesus's sacrifice was sufficient, once and for all.
Premise Li: Jesus's ministry is different from the old one
i) He serves in the tabernacle of heaven, not earth.
ii) The law will be on peoples hearts and minds, not a jurisdiction.
Premise Kii: The old order was only symbolic
i) Holy Place with the lampstand, table, and bread.
ii) The Most Holy Place with the altar, ark, manna, staff, tablets, and cherubim.
iii) Only the high priest entered the Most Holy Place only once a year and only with blood.
Premise Lii: Differences of JCs atonement
ai) The OT blood of imperfect lambs and goats cleansed outwardly
bi) The NT blood of perfect God cleases inwardly
aii) Wills (legal) don't get executed until the death of the writer
bii) In the same way JC had to die in order for his will to be carried out.
aiii) Man (normal people) die once and then stand for judgement
biii) In the same way JC dies once and pays for all.
Main Syllogisms of chapter 10b-13
You cannot stay with the old way [Gii]
You must persevere [M]
Many have gone before you [N]
Run for JC [O]
Love the hardship [P]
Premise Gii: You can't stay with the old way
a) In the days of Moses, a person who rejected the law died without mercy.
b) Not accepting JCs way is like trampling him, the fufillment of the law.
c) Rejecting JC results in death.
Application M: You must persevere
ai) You have endured hardship before.
aii) There are rich rewards for staying (from E)
aiii) God is coming soon
b) Persevere!
Premise N: Many have gone before you in faith
i) Abel giving the firstfruits
ii) Enoch walking with God
iii) Noah building the ark
iv) Abraham going to Ur
v) Abraham bearing Issac
vi) Abraham sacrificing Issac
vii) Issac blessing Jacob
viii) Jacob blessing Joseph's sons
ix) Joseph speaking of the Exodus
x) Moses' parents
xi) Moses identifying with his people
xii) Moses fleeing Egypt
xiii) Moses doing the Passover
xiv) Israel and the Sed Sea
xv) Israel and Jericho
xvi) Rahab in Jericho
xvii) Countless others
Application O: Run for Jesus
ai) We have a great cloud of witnesses
aii) A great Jesus
aiii) Jesus who endured before us
aiv) You have not resisted to shedding blood
bi) Throw off sin
bii) Run the race
biii) Fix eyes on Jesus
Application P: Love the hardship
ai) God disciplines his sons, those he loves
aii) God disciplines in order to create righteousness
b) Hardship is like discipline
c) Embrace the discipline even though it feels tough at the time
... I will add the 12b and 13 soon. So far this has taken me about 4hours
03 July 2011
because you enjoy it
Today I stood in my room after having completed everything I could possibly be oligated to do and said to myself "What shall I pursue now?"
This is essential saying "What shall I conquer?" or "What new part of the world (knowledge or accomoplishment) may I take hold of and subdue so that I can use it for myself?"
This is, of course, not good. It is rooted in fear, doubt that I have enough now to get me through life, a hunger for power, constant nervousness, dissatisfaction, desperation to attain meaning, etc.
Solution: one (person) must do things not because he/she needs to, but because they WANT to, and not because they will be lacking without it, but because it brings them more joy. This second parallel is NOT a logical fallacy.
'Lacking' means not following the natural order, following your human design, knowing and living with the one true God, etc. This person, NOT 'lacking', without doing anything but accepting God, ALEADY has all he/she needs. However, doing stuff brings this person joy. Why? 'Joy' is caused by excercising creativity and making beautiful art (see post June 28 "Concept of Art"). This is a charachter of God that is very close to the fundamental, and he has given us this charachter, a charachter of creativity.
We join with God in his work, not depending on ourselves but simply coming along for the ride and letting God do the work through us. Yes, we will suffer and doubt all the time, but joining God in a fun work is the underlying motivation, I hope. Other motivations include the command to take care of the earth, care for the widow and orphan, and preach the good news to all nations, joy from seeing changed lives and planet, eternal rewards in heaven, etc etc.
You will not just do work for the joy ride, mind you. Other legitmate underlying motivations include anger at injustice, burden and sorrow for the lost, even irritation at certain jobs poorly done in the secular realms.
Anyway, the main point is this: don't do stuff because you feel you need to, do it because you WANT to.
Note: doing good is rarely a joy ride, I must say again. But it's like going to college. Do you want to spend all that money? No! Is it a good investment? Yes. Will making that decision bring you the most happiness in the long run? Yes. So do you WANT to go to college even though you don't feel like it? YES. Same principle applies to Gods kingdom.
This is essential saying "What shall I conquer?" or "What new part of the world (knowledge or accomoplishment) may I take hold of and subdue so that I can use it for myself?"
This is, of course, not good. It is rooted in fear, doubt that I have enough now to get me through life, a hunger for power, constant nervousness, dissatisfaction, desperation to attain meaning, etc.
Solution: one (person) must do things not because he/she needs to, but because they WANT to, and not because they will be lacking without it, but because it brings them more joy. This second parallel is NOT a logical fallacy.
'Lacking' means not following the natural order, following your human design, knowing and living with the one true God, etc. This person, NOT 'lacking', without doing anything but accepting God, ALEADY has all he/she needs. However, doing stuff brings this person joy. Why? 'Joy' is caused by excercising creativity and making beautiful art (see post June 28 "Concept of Art"). This is a charachter of God that is very close to the fundamental, and he has given us this charachter, a charachter of creativity.
We join with God in his work, not depending on ourselves but simply coming along for the ride and letting God do the work through us. Yes, we will suffer and doubt all the time, but joining God in a fun work is the underlying motivation, I hope. Other motivations include the command to take care of the earth, care for the widow and orphan, and preach the good news to all nations, joy from seeing changed lives and planet, eternal rewards in heaven, etc etc.
You will not just do work for the joy ride, mind you. Other legitmate underlying motivations include anger at injustice, burden and sorrow for the lost, even irritation at certain jobs poorly done in the secular realms.
Anyway, the main point is this: don't do stuff because you feel you need to, do it because you WANT to.
Note: doing good is rarely a joy ride, I must say again. But it's like going to college. Do you want to spend all that money? No! Is it a good investment? Yes. Will making that decision bring you the most happiness in the long run? Yes. So do you WANT to go to college even though you don't feel like it? YES. Same principle applies to Gods kingdom.
02 July 2011
Connections in Revelations and other books
This is just a short list of things that I discovered recently about Revelations, and connections Revelations has with other books.
1) Revelations dragon>sea>earth power chain.
a) Satan/Lucifer, the dragon with seven heads and ten horns, the dragon, and the leader of the locust from the abyss whose name is Apollyon or Abaddon which means destruction, are all one and the same person.
b) The beast from the sea is often referred to as simply 'the beast', although the dragon is also sometimes 'the beast'. He derives his power from the devil and is the main big-brother totalitarian.
c) The beast from the earth is the false prophet and serves as a proponent for the sea beast.
A) These three act in a command chain 1>2>3 and rule earth. Demon frogs come from their mouths and summon the kings of the earth, (Ma)Gog, to Armageddon.
2) Daniel
a) The four beasts from Daniels vision are of a Lion, Bear, Leopard, and different iron teeth thing with ten horns. The sea beast from Revelations has the mouth of a lion, the feet of a bear, the normal body of leopard, and has the seven heads and ten horns of his master, the devil. These four beasts correlate in the short run to the kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, Greece (Alexander the Great), and Rome.
b) Daniels 'time, times, and half a time' of breaking the holy people and the 1290 days (same length) of abomination at the end of Daniel during the End is the same time period in Revelations given to i) Gentiles trampling the temple (abomination), ii) The length of the two witnesses, iii) The duration that the woman with child flees the devil.
3) The two witnesses in Revelations are highly likely to represent Jesus.
a) They operate in Jerusalem
b) They prphesy for 3.5 years, the same period and Jesus' ministry.
c) They are killed by Satan and rise again 3.5 days later, approtimately the same time as Jesus.
d) The are taken into heaven soon after.
e) Immediately following this there is a large earthquake. There was also an earthquake at the death of Jesus.
f) This story is immediately followed by the pregant woman. I'm not sure if this is even a bonus, but the pregnant woman is obviously about Jesus.
g) Jesus is described as a witness in Revelations 1:5 and John 1:7
A) The problem with two witnesses instead of one Jesus may be explained in several ways: i) Jesus as man and Jesus as God, ii) Possibly related to the testimony of the water and the blood and spirit in 1 John 5.
4) Zachariah
h) (additional support to #3) The two witnesses are described as olive trees and lampstands, which matches Zachariah 4, in which two olive trees represent Joshua (not the Jehrico one, a JC figure) and Zerubbabel, a real person but also symbolic of the future king. Revelation and Zachariah also share the seven eyes of God.
a) In the first and sixth chapters they have multicolored horses like Revelations. They go over the earth and determine that it is at peace, ripe for being destroyed and paid a lesson for oppressing Israel.
5) The abyss appears multiple times. First the Lamp opens the seven seals. The seventh seal releases the seven trumpets. The fifth trumpet has a star fall into earth and open up the Abyss and release the locust. The devil, p.s., is the fallen star Lucifer., lord of light. Angels are often symbolized as stars (Revelation 1:20). It is this same abyss that satan is locked in at the 1000 year reign.
6) In the letters to the seven churches, JC introduces himself with part of his description in the first chapter except for the last church (Laodicea) for which he is the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness.
P.S. some see the seven churches as seven different pitfalls, seven actual churches with those needs, or a time progression of the church through history. (which is cool because at least in America we probably fit the last one the best).
7) Oh, yes! More stuff. Let's make a nice 7 out of it.
a) And as previously stated, the new Jerusalem will come down out of the sky and is 1,400 miles in each dimension, making it a huge cube. Fun!
b) The seven trumpets all involve something coming to earth from heaven, a big mountain, star wormwood, fire, etc. The plauges are kind of also this way. I'm thinking meter shower/could big enough to blot out the sun sometimes, burn everything, and deliver us some 'mountains'.
1) Revelations dragon>sea>earth power chain.
a) Satan/Lucifer, the dragon with seven heads and ten horns, the dragon, and the leader of the locust from the abyss whose name is Apollyon or Abaddon which means destruction, are all one and the same person.
b) The beast from the sea is often referred to as simply 'the beast', although the dragon is also sometimes 'the beast'. He derives his power from the devil and is the main big-brother totalitarian.
c) The beast from the earth is the false prophet and serves as a proponent for the sea beast.
A) These three act in a command chain 1>2>3 and rule earth. Demon frogs come from their mouths and summon the kings of the earth, (Ma)Gog, to Armageddon.
2) Daniel
a) The four beasts from Daniels vision are of a Lion, Bear, Leopard, and different iron teeth thing with ten horns. The sea beast from Revelations has the mouth of a lion, the feet of a bear, the normal body of leopard, and has the seven heads and ten horns of his master, the devil. These four beasts correlate in the short run to the kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, Greece (Alexander the Great), and Rome.
b) Daniels 'time, times, and half a time' of breaking the holy people and the 1290 days (same length) of abomination at the end of Daniel during the End is the same time period in Revelations given to i) Gentiles trampling the temple (abomination), ii) The length of the two witnesses, iii) The duration that the woman with child flees the devil.
3) The two witnesses in Revelations are highly likely to represent Jesus.
a) They operate in Jerusalem
b) They prphesy for 3.5 years, the same period and Jesus' ministry.
c) They are killed by Satan and rise again 3.5 days later, approtimately the same time as Jesus.
d) The are taken into heaven soon after.
e) Immediately following this there is a large earthquake. There was also an earthquake at the death of Jesus.
f) This story is immediately followed by the pregant woman. I'm not sure if this is even a bonus, but the pregnant woman is obviously about Jesus.
g) Jesus is described as a witness in Revelations 1:5 and John 1:7
A) The problem with two witnesses instead of one Jesus may be explained in several ways: i) Jesus as man and Jesus as God, ii) Possibly related to the testimony of the water and the blood and spirit in 1 John 5.
4) Zachariah
h) (additional support to #3) The two witnesses are described as olive trees and lampstands, which matches Zachariah 4, in which two olive trees represent Joshua (not the Jehrico one, a JC figure) and Zerubbabel, a real person but also symbolic of the future king. Revelation and Zachariah also share the seven eyes of God.
a) In the first and sixth chapters they have multicolored horses like Revelations. They go over the earth and determine that it is at peace, ripe for being destroyed and paid a lesson for oppressing Israel.
5) The abyss appears multiple times. First the Lamp opens the seven seals. The seventh seal releases the seven trumpets. The fifth trumpet has a star fall into earth and open up the Abyss and release the locust. The devil, p.s., is the fallen star Lucifer., lord of light. Angels are often symbolized as stars (Revelation 1:20). It is this same abyss that satan is locked in at the 1000 year reign.
6) In the letters to the seven churches, JC introduces himself with part of his description in the first chapter except for the last church (Laodicea) for which he is the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness.
P.S. some see the seven churches as seven different pitfalls, seven actual churches with those needs, or a time progression of the church through history. (which is cool because at least in America we probably fit the last one the best).
7) Oh, yes! More stuff. Let's make a nice 7 out of it.
a) And as previously stated, the new Jerusalem will come down out of the sky and is 1,400 miles in each dimension, making it a huge cube. Fun!
b) The seven trumpets all involve something coming to earth from heaven, a big mountain, star wormwood, fire, etc. The plauges are kind of also this way. I'm thinking meter shower/could big enough to blot out the sun sometimes, burn everything, and deliver us some 'mountains'.
30 June 2011
Jesus provides goal of Buddhism
Outline:
1) Summary of the story, problem, and solution contained within Buddhism.
2) How trusting in God solves the same problem.
3) Advantages to Gods way.
Buddhism was created in response to a problem. I don't think even the Buddhists (particularly the Mahayana Buddhists) would disagree with this. The problem was pain and suffering. Buddha, raised and cloistered in a palace, saw four terrible things when he ventured out. Povery, sickness, age, and death I think.
He then spend a lot of time thinking, and came up with this (paraphrased) solution: Suffering is caused by desire. Eliminate suffering by eliminating desire.
Suffering, they (rightly, I think) say is different from pain. If you break your leg, that's pain. If you feel miserable now because you can't behave like a normal person, that's suffering. You suffer because you want something: to be like a normal person.
The Buddhist general solution is to desire nothing. You meditate and clear your mind of all thinking, and all desire. Their biggest symbol is the great empty circle. The world, in truth, is nothing. Rid yourself of all the delusions of chasing after the world. If you don't care about the world, you won't suffer.
I agree.
2) Reminder: the problem to be solved is of povery, sickness, age, death, pain, etc and how to not suffer from the inevitable. Gods solution for us, unlike Buddhism, is not to say that those things don't matter, but to say things like:
"I am stronger, trust in me." (Psalms 62:11-12)
"In the end I will make it all pass away, and I will give you unending joy." ("I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18)
"I am all you need. These afflictions, these things taken away from you are only my gifts. Cling to me, not my gifts."
See, having God at the center of our lives (a good, loving God) lets us be, in a way, independent of our worldly afflictions. Your legs may get broken, but nothing limits God (Luke 1:37), so he can use you to accomplish greater works than even normal people if he wants. (1 Cor 1:27). If you have chronic pain, persevere, for this lifetime is but a breath, and the rewards for perseverance are infinite. (Revelation: many of the letters to the Churches end in "To him who overcomes, I will give... things like authority over nations, or freedom to eat from the tree of life, or...)
Buddhism escapes suffering by not caring, God saves us from suffering by being stronger than all of it.
3) Let us consider the advantages two possible truths of Christ/God and Buddhism. (I do this often but don't explicity say so.) Simple functional advantages lie with God, or rather, do NOT lie in Buddhism. See, if I don't care whether or not I am in pain (Buddhism), I will do nothing to stop it. To normal people, this is silly.
I need to say: Other religions and Buddhism especially do plently of work to alleviate pain and suffering. Buddhists are well known for this. This behavior, however, does not seem to follow from their beliefs. (I discussed this with a Mahayana Buddhist monk/teacher person). However, I generally deal with what people believe, not what they do, because that is the area where I am gifted.
With God in the picture as Lord, I am able to recognize and deal with pain and suffering without letting it plunge me into desperation. I know that God WILL eventually wipe away all pain and I am having fun joining him in the endeavor.
1) Summary of the story, problem, and solution contained within Buddhism.
2) How trusting in God solves the same problem.
3) Advantages to Gods way.
Buddhism was created in response to a problem. I don't think even the Buddhists (particularly the Mahayana Buddhists) would disagree with this. The problem was pain and suffering. Buddha, raised and cloistered in a palace, saw four terrible things when he ventured out. Povery, sickness, age, and death I think.
He then spend a lot of time thinking, and came up with this (paraphrased) solution: Suffering is caused by desire. Eliminate suffering by eliminating desire.
Suffering, they (rightly, I think) say is different from pain. If you break your leg, that's pain. If you feel miserable now because you can't behave like a normal person, that's suffering. You suffer because you want something: to be like a normal person.
The Buddhist general solution is to desire nothing. You meditate and clear your mind of all thinking, and all desire. Their biggest symbol is the great empty circle. The world, in truth, is nothing. Rid yourself of all the delusions of chasing after the world. If you don't care about the world, you won't suffer.
I agree.
2) Reminder: the problem to be solved is of povery, sickness, age, death, pain, etc and how to not suffer from the inevitable. Gods solution for us, unlike Buddhism, is not to say that those things don't matter, but to say things like:
"I am stronger, trust in me." (Psalms 62:11-12)
"In the end I will make it all pass away, and I will give you unending joy." ("I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18)
"I am all you need. These afflictions, these things taken away from you are only my gifts. Cling to me, not my gifts."
See, having God at the center of our lives (a good, loving God) lets us be, in a way, independent of our worldly afflictions. Your legs may get broken, but nothing limits God (Luke 1:37), so he can use you to accomplish greater works than even normal people if he wants. (1 Cor 1:27). If you have chronic pain, persevere, for this lifetime is but a breath, and the rewards for perseverance are infinite. (Revelation: many of the letters to the Churches end in "To him who overcomes, I will give... things like authority over nations, or freedom to eat from the tree of life, or...)
Buddhism escapes suffering by not caring, God saves us from suffering by being stronger than all of it.
3) Let us consider the advantages two possible truths of Christ/God and Buddhism. (I do this often but don't explicity say so.) Simple functional advantages lie with God, or rather, do NOT lie in Buddhism. See, if I don't care whether or not I am in pain (Buddhism), I will do nothing to stop it. To normal people, this is silly.
I need to say: Other religions and Buddhism especially do plently of work to alleviate pain and suffering. Buddhists are well known for this. This behavior, however, does not seem to follow from their beliefs. (I discussed this with a Mahayana Buddhist monk/teacher person). However, I generally deal with what people believe, not what they do, because that is the area where I am gifted.
With God in the picture as Lord, I am able to recognize and deal with pain and suffering without letting it plunge me into desperation. I know that God WILL eventually wipe away all pain and I am having fun joining him in the endeavor.
28 June 2011
the concept of art
This is a developing concept, only in its beginning stages. But it is on the level of 'epic' and 'gift'.
First of all, art has many meanings. I admit I set out to give the definitions of art that I would not be condiering, but ended up with a progression from simple to a more full definition, the end of which I am concerned with.
a) A representation of reality. Most early paintings simply described what they saw.
b) This may be expanded to include the realities that are less seen, such as broad human concepts like war. This is more the realm of modern art.
c) a or b may be a declaration or statement of the way thing are in order to get people to change their behavior to align with reality.
d) A representation of the way things ought to be, which is suppose is still a representation of reality. For something innate in reality determines the way things ought to be. In fact, c is a call to align the world with its intended pattern.
e) A pursuit and perfection of the ways things ought to be. Such as an athletic art (this is an uncommon definition), which seeks perfection in the intended/perfect condition of the human body.
d) A manifestation or expansion of reality, a dive into some strain of the many facets of reality. This is creativity. Note that the first phrose makes it creative, but the second restricts it somewhat. You can create a new/creative looking table, for instance, but if it falls apart in a week then it is not really in line with reality, for it has mistakes in it. Does this make sense?
Anyway, this last thing is Gods primary activity, I think. In the beginning, God CREATED. This is also one of the primary ways we are made in his image.
I say 'one of the ways', because although the concept of art is strong, I'll bet it is usurped in importance by love, which is closely related.
Here, a ton of overlap: Creativity creates art, which reflects reality/is congruent and cohesive with reality/is beautiful. Love is the active form of giving, repairing/healing (although we won't need this in heaven), creating, and relfecting, adding to (put a flower in her hair), appreciating (my you look wonderful today), and partaking in (mutual love which includes sex obviously but has plenty of platonic manifestations as well) the beauty in another person, who is a work of art. Love comes from both God and man/woman to God (for we love God but God also loves himself), specific other men/women (in marriage, say), and to men/women in general (love your neighbor as yourself).
Note 1:God created us, created the universe, designed us in his image to create, continues to 'create' us by loving us and working out our kinks. We will continue to create full-speed in heaven with much more God-given creative power.
Note 2: I might give art/beauty to woman entirely, the strength and resources that make it possible to man, and creativity to them together. (manifestation: children and the general productivity/usefulness of married units)
First of all, art has many meanings. I admit I set out to give the definitions of art that I would not be condiering, but ended up with a progression from simple to a more full definition, the end of which I am concerned with.
a) A representation of reality. Most early paintings simply described what they saw.
b) This may be expanded to include the realities that are less seen, such as broad human concepts like war. This is more the realm of modern art.
c) a or b may be a declaration or statement of the way thing are in order to get people to change their behavior to align with reality.
d) A representation of the way things ought to be, which is suppose is still a representation of reality. For something innate in reality determines the way things ought to be. In fact, c is a call to align the world with its intended pattern.
e) A pursuit and perfection of the ways things ought to be. Such as an athletic art (this is an uncommon definition), which seeks perfection in the intended/perfect condition of the human body.
d) A manifestation or expansion of reality, a dive into some strain of the many facets of reality. This is creativity. Note that the first phrose makes it creative, but the second restricts it somewhat. You can create a new/creative looking table, for instance, but if it falls apart in a week then it is not really in line with reality, for it has mistakes in it. Does this make sense?
Anyway, this last thing is Gods primary activity, I think. In the beginning, God CREATED. This is also one of the primary ways we are made in his image.
I say 'one of the ways', because although the concept of art is strong, I'll bet it is usurped in importance by love, which is closely related.
Here, a ton of overlap: Creativity creates art, which reflects reality/is congruent and cohesive with reality/is beautiful. Love is the active form of giving, repairing/healing (although we won't need this in heaven), creating, and relfecting, adding to (put a flower in her hair), appreciating (my you look wonderful today), and partaking in (mutual love which includes sex obviously but has plenty of platonic manifestations as well) the beauty in another person, who is a work of art. Love comes from both God and man/woman to God (for we love God but God also loves himself), specific other men/women (in marriage, say), and to men/women in general (love your neighbor as yourself).
Note 1:God created us, created the universe, designed us in his image to create, continues to 'create' us by loving us and working out our kinks. We will continue to create full-speed in heaven with much more God-given creative power.
Note 2: I might give art/beauty to woman entirely, the strength and resources that make it possible to man, and creativity to them together. (manifestation: children and the general productivity/usefulness of married units)
26 June 2011
abortion
Here continues my political rants:
Abortion is morally wrong, no doubt about it. The question is whether or not is should be outlawed under common law.
First of all, it IS murder. If you take the undisputed legal definition of death: irreversible cessation of brain waves or vital functions, and reverse it: possible start of brain waves AND vital functions, then obviously a fetus is alive, because sometime in the future, after it's been born for a while, it alive, right? Dead is when they won't be alive again, so alive is when they CAN become alive.
Now, I suppose that gets a little funky if you consider than an egg can become alive if you give it a sperm, (and visa-versa) so is an egg alive? No, most people say. Ia agree. To reflect this, we shall restrict the ability to become alive later to normal stuff, like being fed and such. Any human, including a fetus, obviously won't be alive later if he/she doesn't get food and ought to be alive later if they DO get food. In the converse to special events happening to the egg, I guess a dead guy could be brought back to life is we pay a 'special' billion dollars to transplant his brain into a bunch of donated organs or something. So, even in the instance of an egg and freshly dead guy, the correlation between fetus and human holds true.
Second, the real issue (the one I am not certain about) is whether or not the fetus is the property of the mother (or father or both). See, the parents might 'own' the child like a piece of property - this might be an argument in favor of abortion. If I 'own' a million bucks, I can burn it and no one will send me to jail. At what point does a child get promoted from property to rights given to normal people under common law?
a) At some age number: NO. We can't arbitraily pick some number or position like birth or 18 to get rights. It needs to be based on something.
b) When the parent(s) release the child. This is, whenever they want to. This leaves the unfortunate option that they can NEVER release the child and hold a death threat over his/her head whenever they want. This doesn't make any sense.
c) At conception. God is the one who gives moral rights anyway. Parents wouldn't have ANY rights over their child or over themselves if God didn't give the right to them. Heck, they would even HAVE a kid if God didn't give it. I hold to conception. If you have a child, you must recognize that you are making a decision to create another human with rights that will depend on you.
Rape and threat of death to mother:
a) In the case of rape, I view it just like all other accidents. A drunk rams into you (car accident). They can't pay and you were dumb enough not to get car insunrance. You still have to pay, right? So the unfortunate mother still has to have the child. If worried girls want to 'buy insurace', they can carry pepper spray, learn karate, run fast, be street smart, go on the pill all the time...you have imaginations.
b) The birth risks the mothers life. Honestly, with todays medical practices, I doubt this would come up. If some crazy person can have 7 (or was it 8?), they can save a mother and child. However, I don't know much of the science behind giving birth and I think I already know more than I want to at this point. If it really is trouble, I'd treat it the same as insurance. Say the woman is married. You don't want to risk your life in birth? Then find some way not to have kids.
But right there in the moment, when two lives are at stake, I really don't have much to say. I would try to save both and hope for a miracle probably, or go for the child because parents would probably give their lives for their children anyway.
Abortion is morally wrong, no doubt about it. The question is whether or not is should be outlawed under common law.
First of all, it IS murder. If you take the undisputed legal definition of death: irreversible cessation of brain waves or vital functions, and reverse it: possible start of brain waves AND vital functions, then obviously a fetus is alive, because sometime in the future, after it's been born for a while, it alive, right? Dead is when they won't be alive again, so alive is when they CAN become alive.
Now, I suppose that gets a little funky if you consider than an egg can become alive if you give it a sperm, (and visa-versa) so is an egg alive? No, most people say. Ia agree. To reflect this, we shall restrict the ability to become alive later to normal stuff, like being fed and such. Any human, including a fetus, obviously won't be alive later if he/she doesn't get food and ought to be alive later if they DO get food. In the converse to special events happening to the egg, I guess a dead guy could be brought back to life is we pay a 'special' billion dollars to transplant his brain into a bunch of donated organs or something. So, even in the instance of an egg and freshly dead guy, the correlation between fetus and human holds true.
Second, the real issue (the one I am not certain about) is whether or not the fetus is the property of the mother (or father or both). See, the parents might 'own' the child like a piece of property - this might be an argument in favor of abortion. If I 'own' a million bucks, I can burn it and no one will send me to jail. At what point does a child get promoted from property to rights given to normal people under common law?
a) At some age number: NO. We can't arbitraily pick some number or position like birth or 18 to get rights. It needs to be based on something.
b) When the parent(s) release the child. This is, whenever they want to. This leaves the unfortunate option that they can NEVER release the child and hold a death threat over his/her head whenever they want. This doesn't make any sense.
c) At conception. God is the one who gives moral rights anyway. Parents wouldn't have ANY rights over their child or over themselves if God didn't give the right to them. Heck, they would even HAVE a kid if God didn't give it. I hold to conception. If you have a child, you must recognize that you are making a decision to create another human with rights that will depend on you.
Rape and threat of death to mother:
a) In the case of rape, I view it just like all other accidents. A drunk rams into you (car accident). They can't pay and you were dumb enough not to get car insunrance. You still have to pay, right? So the unfortunate mother still has to have the child. If worried girls want to 'buy insurace', they can carry pepper spray, learn karate, run fast, be street smart, go on the pill all the time...you have imaginations.
b) The birth risks the mothers life. Honestly, with todays medical practices, I doubt this would come up. If some crazy person can have 7 (or was it 8?), they can save a mother and child. However, I don't know much of the science behind giving birth and I think I already know more than I want to at this point. If it really is trouble, I'd treat it the same as insurance. Say the woman is married. You don't want to risk your life in birth? Then find some way not to have kids.
But right there in the moment, when two lives are at stake, I really don't have much to say. I would try to save both and hope for a miracle probably, or go for the child because parents would probably give their lives for their children anyway.
british common law
British common law is the law system that I suggest as a starting point for any country or region. Additional laws may be laid upon it, but these at least should be in place.
It can be summed up in two easy commands:
a) Don't hurt/steal
b) Don't lie/duck out on a contract
1) Further specification of laws: Don't hurt/steal means that you should not damage a person physically or do anything with their property of an kind. Eg: in the old times if you touched a woman in any way and she didn't approve, you could be fined three years wages. (wow!). Eg: in Switzerland if you walk onto someones land after dark they can shoot you dead, no questions. The line starts to blur with things like noise. For instance, can I call your phone 100 times a day? Can I build a reactor that emits harmful radiation across the fence from where your children are playing? I'll get to these problems later.
Oh yes, and fufill all your contracts. The line blurs again when you say to your friend "oh yeah, I can drive you to work tomorrow" and shaking hands on a deal to sell a couple thousand widgets.
2) Implications: homosexuality is ok, illegal immigration is not (unless we legalize it), driving while drunk is ok so long as you don't crash (this is true in some parts of Europe I think), abortion depends on whether or not your child is your property or has individual rights, drugs are fine, public slander and lies are ok although this might border on the issue with noise and such, etc etc.
3) Noise and slander: See, here's the problem. What's the difference between sound waves from your jackhammer passing into your neighbors airspace, and a bullet just passing across the yard into someone's skull? My mind thinks of two ways to combat this, both of which can be used at once:
a) Create a system of laws that determine the tolerance for objects and decibels passing between person, as well as laws that determine what kind of interactions/agreements are binding.
b) The media and public reputation are great motivations for people to keep to themselves. For instance, of shooting is still legal for some reason, if you shoot your neighbor, someone can publicize it, and maybe a humanitarian organization will build concrete walls around your house, or pay somebody to walk around behind you warning people that you're a murderer. Same with companies: don't follow through on a handshake deal and future deals will be much harder to make.
Ah, I love the internet!
It can be summed up in two easy commands:
a) Don't hurt/steal
b) Don't lie/duck out on a contract
1) Further specification of laws: Don't hurt/steal means that you should not damage a person physically or do anything with their property of an kind. Eg: in the old times if you touched a woman in any way and she didn't approve, you could be fined three years wages. (wow!). Eg: in Switzerland if you walk onto someones land after dark they can shoot you dead, no questions. The line starts to blur with things like noise. For instance, can I call your phone 100 times a day? Can I build a reactor that emits harmful radiation across the fence from where your children are playing? I'll get to these problems later.
Oh yes, and fufill all your contracts. The line blurs again when you say to your friend "oh yeah, I can drive you to work tomorrow" and shaking hands on a deal to sell a couple thousand widgets.
2) Implications: homosexuality is ok, illegal immigration is not (unless we legalize it), driving while drunk is ok so long as you don't crash (this is true in some parts of Europe I think), abortion depends on whether or not your child is your property or has individual rights, drugs are fine, public slander and lies are ok although this might border on the issue with noise and such, etc etc.
3) Noise and slander: See, here's the problem. What's the difference between sound waves from your jackhammer passing into your neighbors airspace, and a bullet just passing across the yard into someone's skull? My mind thinks of two ways to combat this, both of which can be used at once:
a) Create a system of laws that determine the tolerance for objects and decibels passing between person, as well as laws that determine what kind of interactions/agreements are binding.
b) The media and public reputation are great motivations for people to keep to themselves. For instance, of shooting is still legal for some reason, if you shoot your neighbor, someone can publicize it, and maybe a humanitarian organization will build concrete walls around your house, or pay somebody to walk around behind you warning people that you're a murderer. Same with companies: don't follow through on a handshake deal and future deals will be much harder to make.
Ah, I love the internet!
gay marriage
Someone just asked me what I thought of gay marriage. This is what I replied:
Politically, gay marriage would not be the first thing for me to deal with.
One the one hand, I think people should be allowed to do what they please as long as it's not hurting someone else or lying (British Common Law), even though I beleive that gay marriage, adultery, and other stuff is morally wrong, psychologically damaging, and practically stupid.
On the other hand, religion has given us even the most fundamental laws. We shouldn't kill eachother becase all people are made in Gods image, and we shouldn't destroy Gods image or his artwork. So I don't know if restricting laws to the simple 'don't hurt and don't lie' is legitimate.
This is what I would do. If deciding the laws of America, I would take away any laws that made mention of religious issues. (pro/anit gay marriage, national prayer day, changing the national anthem, giving tax benefits to churches, maybe even marriage)
However, I would strongly encourage areas that have high concentrations (say 80%)of people who beleive a certain moral thing beyond normal law to make it into law for that area. Different areas (like states and counties) will then become different. The differentiation of areas under different laws will, over time, give information as to whether or not those are laws that make an area more prosperous or not. So, in my belief, an area that allows gay marriage will get messed up faster than an area that outlaws it. Then people will see what is best and what isn't.
I call it 'free market laws' or something like that. States and counties, like companies, offer a certain product (the laws, the environment, the services) for a certain price (taxes and other inconveniences). The states compete for the best product, and through market forces find the best product, which I hope is ethical.
P.S. the same principle applies to countries.
Knowing sinful people, this might not happen, I guess. But at least this way one or two states, or even counties, can stand out as being super-religious, and these will be a haven for righteous people to flee to. Back in the days of expansion (1700s), you could just take your religious movement to the wide 'new world', now, most of it's occupied (unless you want to move the the desert/mountains/tundra), so we have to rely on other forms of migration.
Politically, gay marriage would not be the first thing for me to deal with.
One the one hand, I think people should be allowed to do what they please as long as it's not hurting someone else or lying (British Common Law), even though I beleive that gay marriage, adultery, and other stuff is morally wrong, psychologically damaging, and practically stupid.
On the other hand, religion has given us even the most fundamental laws. We shouldn't kill eachother becase all people are made in Gods image, and we shouldn't destroy Gods image or his artwork. So I don't know if restricting laws to the simple 'don't hurt and don't lie' is legitimate.
This is what I would do. If deciding the laws of America, I would take away any laws that made mention of religious issues. (pro/anit gay marriage, national prayer day, changing the national anthem, giving tax benefits to churches, maybe even marriage)
However, I would strongly encourage areas that have high concentrations (say 80%)of people who beleive a certain moral thing beyond normal law to make it into law for that area. Different areas (like states and counties) will then become different. The differentiation of areas under different laws will, over time, give information as to whether or not those are laws that make an area more prosperous or not. So, in my belief, an area that allows gay marriage will get messed up faster than an area that outlaws it. Then people will see what is best and what isn't.
I call it 'free market laws' or something like that. States and counties, like companies, offer a certain product (the laws, the environment, the services) for a certain price (taxes and other inconveniences). The states compete for the best product, and through market forces find the best product, which I hope is ethical.
P.S. the same principle applies to countries.
Knowing sinful people, this might not happen, I guess. But at least this way one or two states, or even counties, can stand out as being super-religious, and these will be a haven for righteous people to flee to. Back in the days of expansion (1700s), you could just take your religious movement to the wide 'new world', now, most of it's occupied (unless you want to move the the desert/mountains/tundra), so we have to rely on other forms of migration.
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