Saturday, January 19, 2008

Is this grace?

This morning I was reading in Titus chapter 3 and something stuck out to me that really speak against the “us and them” mentality the church has taken as one of its major stands. By “us and them” I mean that they say God has made a way for about 5 to 10% to eventually enter into heaven while the remaining 90% or so will be damned forever.

In the first few verses of Titus 3 we see that it talks about those that lived in malice and envy, did numerous evil things, hateful etc. These are things that Paul took note of in order to show in his letter to Titus, that even though these things were in the society of that time, and of course still are prevalent in our society, he goes on to explain that an event had occurred that made it possible to look at all men in meekness and gentleness and to speak evil of no man. It actually says to show this gentleness and meekness to all men.

The “us and them” mentality almost seems to delight in that some will get what they deserve for their evil works and it leans towards that some are even glad that some will end up in a burning hell forever. Is this not what we see and hear from most that see this as an “us and them” human race? What if I and all others got what we all deserved? Would we not all be in the terrible situation of going to a lost eternity?

In verse 4 of Titus 3 Paul makes it clear to Titus that “after the kindness and love of God appeared” that even these people mentioned in the previous verses were now ok. In verse 5 he says it clearly that “it is not by works of righteousness which we have done” but it is “according to His mercy”. Wait a minute, does not the “us and them” mentality say we have to do something in order for this to be ours? What about the prayer at the altar, the repenting Sunday after Sunday, the church attendance, the Bible reading, the hours in prayer? Don’t these things count towards us making and entrance into heaven when we pass from this life? Not if it by grace.

In verse 7 again Paul makes it clear how we enter in. Being justified by His grace we are now heirs. If it is by grace, and we have all been told that grace is God’s free unmerited favor, than how can we have to do anything to receive it? Is God’s grace not freely given? How can it be grace when we attach any work or involvement on our part? The grace of God gives us and everyone else, even the “them” of the human race, something none of us ever did nor could ever deserve. It is not something we can do anything or work for. It is free, it has already been done and it is finished.

His grace was shed on us abundantly and we were washed and regenerated by His blood which He shed on the cross. It was totally apart from our involvement then and it is still totally apart from any of our involvement now. The grace of God has nothing to do with whether you believe or don’t believe, work or don’t work, go to church or don’t go to church. It was and is a total work of Jesus Christ our Lord and it has been freely shed upon every human being. If it is not on the entire human race, then it can not be called grace. The church must find another word to use because the “us and them” mentality is not God’s grace. God’s grace was sufficient for the entire human race and if it wasn’t then it is not grace.

How can we call it grace if I have to believe it in order for it to be true? Is God not big and powerful enough that His grace could cover every person on earth apart from their involvement? Again, if He isn’t then it is time we find another word other than grace. His grace was sufficient to justify every human being. It is finished.

Posted by Roy at 13:35:05 | Permalink | Comments (11)

Friday, January 18, 2008

Who Decided What Was Sinful???

I was talking to my internet friend from England a few days ago and I mentioned the song It’s My Life by Bon Jovi that I had placed on my other web site (http://allincluded.multiply.com/)and at the same time I said that people in this area would likely not understand why I would place a “worldly” song on a web site that talks about Jesus. After sending the email off a thought came to me that perhaps I should elaborate a bit more on why I made the statement that most would not understand why I would do that.

I will start off by going back 30 years ago and listing some of the things, not all the things as they would take too much time and space to list here, but I will list some that come to mind that I was told after coming to a knowledge of the salvation of the Lord, that I should not do.

I was told going to bowling alleys was not allowed, going to a pool hall was definitely out, no more entering a tavern to have a beer or having a beer at home for that matter, no more going to a dance, smoking was something that would take you to hell and if by chance it didn’t, you smelled like you had already been there, not to associate with my old friends any longer as they were of the devil, not to even have a deck of cards in the house, only watch certain things on TV and preferable some would even say to get rid of our TV altogether. We were told not to attend movies, not to listen to worldly music, (in fact I got rid of a large collection of music albums) and the list could go on and on.

This morning as I am sitting here I can see the terrible bondage I was placed under by the local denominational church. I can see now why it was always a struggle to keep going and trying to “live the so-called Christian life”. They will tell you that it is sin to do these things and if you do any of these plus the many, many others I have not listed, you put your entrance into Heaven in jeopardy.

I am also seeing today that the ones that decided which things are “sin” and which are not is the organized church. It has absolutely nothing to do with what sin is and what it isn’t. It is just rules and regulations they have placed upon people and are continuing to do this day after day. Instead of telling people they are free in Christ they place them under terrible and destructive bondage.

When I think of these things I have to be careful not to become too irritated, or should I say angry, because I know they are teaching what they have been taught themselves. They (the leaders) are also under the same bondage they pass on to the people they teach. I find it sad that I was gullible to these things for well over 20 years but today I am so thankful that the Lord has shown me Himself in me and has freed me from the terrible bondage I had been placed under by listening to men teach us that we were still under law. I am finally free and at total peace with myself and God.

Getting back to the song by Bon Jovi, I put it on my web site because of what the words say. It’s My Life and I want to live while I’m alive. No more bondage. No more having to answer to man by going to an altar to repent of things I may have done because I am a human being and created by God that way. No more feeling guilty about what I do or don’t do. There is now therefore no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. And who are those that are in Him? Read and understand the account of the cross and you will see that it is the entire human race.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to say a prayer, read your Bible, attend church or anything else in order to make it to Heaven. Jesus resurrected with the entire human race in Himself and seated us all in heavenly places in Him. I am free and so are you. Stop listening to the terrible junk that comes from behind the vast majority of pulpits in this world. Maybe I’ve raised some questions here today and some may not want to comment on this blog but hopefully you will see that Jesus made us all free. It is finished.
Posted by Roy at 13:05:01 | Permalink | Comments (6)

Monday, January 14, 2008

Resurrection of the just and the unjust

I was reading in Acts 24 this morning where Paul is brought before Felix because of the message, or the “way” he was preaching. He was brought before him to defend the message he was preaching because it was not what the people had been hearing from the other apostles as most of them had gone back and mixed law and grace together, This of course is still being done to this very day and more so than ever.

One thing I want to point out here in Acts 24 verses 14, 15, and 16 is that Paul was telling Felix his reason for believing and preaching the message the Lord had revealed in and to him. In verse 15 he tells them he believes all things written in the law and the prophets. We have to remember here that he is talking about the Old Testament scriptures as the New Testament had not been written at the time.

He goes on to say what the law and the prophets said and that was there would be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. I know the evangelical community will tell you this is talking about a future resurrection but this would be taking these verses out of context. He is talking to Felix about what the law and the prophets foretold and that was there would be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

I believe he was talking about the resurrection of Jesus three days after He died on the cross as it is made clear in many areas of the Bible that when Jesus rose again we were raised together with Him and are also seated together with Him in Heavenly places. If this was future then it would not be saying we were raised together with Him. To be raised together with Him has to be an event that happened at the same time Jesus resurrected.

If we leave to go somewhere and arrive there together, one does not arrive before the other one does. Together means at the same time. That is when the resurrection of the just and the unjust happened. Not at some future date that we have to wait for but when Jesus resurrected.

In verse 16 Paul further tells them that because there was a resurrection of the both the just and the unjust at the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he now held a conscience void of offence toward God and men. There was no longer a “us and them” mentality with Paul as he knew all had resurrected and were now righteous…..both the just and the unjust because it had nothing to do with themselves.

The word “offence” means he saw men as now being faultless. No more looking at actions and deeds these people may still have been committing. No more seeing them as on their way to hell because they had not gone to an altar somewhere or said a prayer with some pastor. No, he now saw them as faultless because he knew both the just and the unjust had resurrected at the same time Jesus resurrected. When He resurrected, He resurrected the entire human race in righteousness. Yes, even the unjust.

Paul could look at everyone and know they had been resurrected with Christ and because of that he could not hold anything against anyone because he now saw them all as faultless. What Paul preached was called heresy (v.14) and the way of the cross is still called the same thing today. Let us see people in the proper light which is redeemed and put our judgment aside like Paul plainly said he did when he presented his case to Felix. Before the cross there were none righteous, no not one. After the cross there are none unrighteous, no not one. He resurrected both the just and the unjust and the finished product is a new race of people in Christ, already seated in heavenly places. It is finished.

Posted by Roy at 12:28:40 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Tabernacle of Grace

This is an article written by Eddie Narvaez that I found on my friend Kenneth’s web site. Very interesting reading.

“But Eddie, what about the part found in Colossians 1:10 where it says that we should walk worthy of The Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, and so on and on and so on? There’s no way that these things mentioned here in Colossians 1:10-14 can possibly apply to people of the world.”

Day after day after day I am asked questions like the one I’ve just quoted above. The questions are asked out of practically every book and letter found in the bible. Many ask me these type of questions because they want to learn and understand the Gospel of The Grace and Peace of God. Yet others ask questions simply because they cannot believe and have a difficult time accepting that this Gospel of the Grace and Peace of God is for ALL.

The disciples sort of had the same attitude that many religious people have today…”Lord, let us built a tabernacle for you, Elijah, Moses and one for us.” In other words, this relationship between God and man only belongs to them who walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. To them who are fruity, fruity goody and forever increasing in the knowledge of God. For those who God has strengthened and have allowed to become partakers of light and no longer walk in sinful darkness.

For those who have believed, repented and who God has approved of and has taken notice of their confession of true faith. These are the only type of people that God has translated into the kingdom of His dear Son, and the rest are out of luck. But there’s a problem with such religious bias attitude and legalistic mentality. How many can honestly and sincerely say that they walk worthy of the Lord all of the time?

How do we define “worthy”? What is it that is pleasing to God? What about the being fruitful in every good work? I asked these and many more questions to the African American brother who approached me with the question I stated at the beginning of this article, and all he could come up with was…”God rebuke you and your questions,” and then walked away. This hasn’t been the first time I get such a response. In many of my articles dating back to 1998 I have had similar angry reactions from religious people who believe that God only tabernacles with the goody, juicy fruity.

Friends, thank God that in Christ we are seen before God as being worthy. Thank God that Jesus was the only one to have ever been pleasing to God. Thank God that it was Christ who was fruitful in every good work. Everything was done according to His glorious power and not our works of filthy rags. It was Him who delivered us from religious self-righteousness (the law) and planted us all into the kingdom of His dear Son. It is in Him and through Him, because of Him and by Him that we find redemption and forgiveness of sins in His blood.

It has nothing to do with what we’ve done, are doing or will ever do. This tabernacle of Grace is for all, and not for a self-righteous few. As long as some of us have this religious mindset that some are worthy and some aren’t, there will always be bias questions trying to discredit God’s tabernacle of unconditional love and grace. I like what my friend “Steve” said…”If God tabernacles with those who do it all right, then I want to tabernacle with those who do it all wrong because I have a better chance of being accepted with God by being wrong than thinking I am right.”

Friends, we leave ourselves wide open for disappointment when we ask questions that lead to “I am better than they attitude.” Simply because one goes to church and does all those churchy religious expected things, doesn’t mean that God tabernacles with you and not with those who don’t do all of those churchy things. This Gospel is either a tabernacle of Grace or a tabernacle of works.

It was God who without prejudice decided to make it a tabernacle of grace for all. We need to stop having “Peter Visions” of… “Not so Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common nor unclean.” And begin to hear what The Lord said three times to Peter…”Do not call common that which I have cleansed.” Acts 10:9-16. Thank God that religious barriers of prejudice are crumbling down and God’s tabernacle of Grace continues to be built by the simple preaching and common sense truth of the true Gospel of Grace and Peace.

Grace N Peace To All

Eddie Narvaez

Posted by Roy at 13:35:23 | Permalink | Comments (12)

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Who Is Worthy?

I was thinking today and have also stated in a prior post, about how difficult it is to see redemption of the entire human race when we cannot get away from looking at the actions and deeds of the people around us or even our own as well. We very easily judge people by what they do or don’t do for that matter. I guess the reason for that is because when we see someone doing something we don’t think they should be doing, we immediately pass judgment on that person and at the same time of course we fail to even remotely believe that a person “doing that” can be redeemed.

We immediately see that person or persons very unworthy to ever receive anything from God, let alone make it into the Kingdom of Heaven. We could likely ask any faithful church attendee and the vast majority would say the same thing…..a person that does this or that, whatever that may be, is not worthy of making it into Heaven. That is the general consensus of people who class themselves as a believer in Jesus Christ.

Lets look a bit further at this question of whether people that do bad things are worthy to enter into Heaven or not. Let’s take someone that is going to the extreme in what they are doing such as a murderer for example. Is the person that murders worthy of going to Heaven? I would have to say that of course they are not worthy.

What about the one that does things that are “not so bad” but still not something that is acceptable in the eyes of the evangelical church world? Does that mean they have a better chance of entering in because whatever it is they are doing is not quite as bad as the murderer? At what point does a person cease to be “not so bad” so they can become worthy?

What about the ones that by all outward appearance seems to do good all the time? Does that make them worthy to be acceptable to God and make it to Heaven? Where is the point that we become so good so as to be worthy? What makes a person worthy? I know I have raised a lot of questions in the last few paragraphs.

I will end this post by simply telling you who is worthy and who isn’t. There are none of us that are worthy to make it to Heaven. All the good works, prayers, Bible reading, church attendance and whatever else you can think of, will not make you worthy. None of us are worthy. When we look at people and judge them by their deeds or lack of them, to see if they may be worthy or not, we have become judges because we are looking at what people do to see whether they are worthy or not.

You that pass judgment on others because of what they do are you saying you are worthy because you don’t do what these other’s do. Are you actually saying you are worthy of entering Heaven? Is this not a self righteous attitude when you say you are worthy because you are better than others and don’t do what they do?

There is only one that was worthy. His name is Jesus and no one else that has ever lived or will ever live can even come close to being worthy of entering the Kingdom of Heaven. That is why everything had to be done by Him and everything is exactly what He has done. Redemption has nothing to do with whether we are worthy or not, simply because none of us are nor can be worthy. We have been accepted in the Beloved because He and He alone is worthy.

Read Revelation 5:2 to 5:12 and it will tell you Who was worthy to open the seals, and no this is NOT future but it is talking about the cross. If you read verse 9 it will also tell you how many people He redeemed by His blood because He was worthy to do so. He redeemed every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation. None are left out because of what Jesus did and none will enter in because they are worthy in any way. It is that simple. It is also finished.

Posted by Roy at 12:32:05 | Permalink | Comments (13)

Friday, January 4, 2008

Proper Identity

As I have stated before in recent posts, the issue of sin and the understanding of its meaning appears to be the stumbling block for most people in actually seeing the redemption of the world. I know there are terrible things going on in this world and of course they should not be. Will that ever change? I doubt very much it will as it has been ongoing for thousands of years. I am not saying it cannot change because it surely can. Especially when people see redemption for what it actually is. Major transformation happens when that is seen in its true light.

I have a friend in England that I have been in contact with over a number of years and we have had discussions on this very subject over the past several days. He will admit that he has problems seeing things the way I see them as far as redemption is concerned and I fully understand that as a few years ago I had the same problem. I respect his views and he in turn respects mine and we have formed a great friendship over the internet over the years.

To see sin as something people do will always bring you back to thinking “that person cannot be redeemed” if they are still doing “this” or “that”. It causes us to be judgmental because what we are looking at is not what Jesus has done but what they as human beings are doing. Looking at it in that manner is not looking at it properly and redemption of the entire human race is something that will evade us because we are looking at actions and deeds.

Lets all be honest with ourselves, even those of us that may think we are much more holy and just and good than most other people, and look at our own lives. Or go a bit further and go over some of the things you may have thought of over the past week or so. I am sure there are many things that flashed through your head that was not as holy as you would like people to think or even see by your outward performance.

When we look at anything we may say or not say, do or not do, as the criteria for whether we measure up in other people’s eyes and most importantly, in God’s eyes, then we are stepping full force into self righteousness. If you look at anything, and I mean anything, apart from what Christ has done on your behalf for your redemption, then you are a self righteous person. A judgmental attitude will always be in the forefront when we take this view that we have to do something in order to be redeemed.

I personally look at people through how God sees them and it has taken and totally changed how I view life itself here on earth. I do not look at people and see their bad habits as then I would have to look at mine as well. I look at them as redeemed people of God that simply have not come to that knowledge as of yet. When they do come to understanding they are redeemed, then they will begin to view others in that same light as well. That is when we become believers. If you are trying to obtain right standing with God through your works, then you are in unbelief and are trying to achieve something that has already been completed on your behalf.

In this New Year, my prayer is that revelation would come to more and more people as the days go on. It is such a major transformation in ones heart and mind that I can say it is the greatest gift of all because it is seeing Jesus and what He has done. When you can see yourself as God sees you, which is your proper identity, and then you can begin to see others in their true identity as well, which is redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and in right standing with God.

Posted by Roy at 11:10:59 | Permalink | Comments (6)

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Dying for a condition

One thing that has made the message of redemption clearer to me over the past year or so is how I now see why Jesus had to die. Why did it have to be the Son of God, born of a virgin? Could not some other human being have made the same sacrifice and come up with the same results of redemption?

Of course we know that it would have been impossible because Jesus was the only man born without sin as He was not conceived by man. He was conceived by God and therefore was not born with the nature that each and every one of us was born with. Why was it absolutely necessary for the sacrifice for sin to be someone without that nature that was passed on to the human race by Adam?

It was necessary because the sin He died for was the sin of unbelief that Adam fell into when he tried to be like God, when he was actually already like God. He tried to become something he already was. He was already perfect and holy and just in God’s sight but he partook of the wrong tree to try and make himself like God.

I know the vast majority of us always looked at the sin that Jesus died for as our actions and deeds. We were always told that he died for our drinking, dancing, smoking, cursing, and anything else we did that was looked upon as bad things. That is still what is being taught today by the evangelical church, therefore they preach that you must stop doing what you are doing and do “good things” instead. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with doing good things, and we should be. But if you are doing them to try to gain favor with God, then you are wasting your time.

If Jesus took away the sin of the world, and that sin is our bad actions and deeds, then why do we still have those things? Why is it that we cannot overcome so we can become “good Christians” like the church constantly tries to hammer into people’s heads? The reason is that it is not for our actions and deeds that He died for, but to take away what Adam passed on to the human race.

He did not die for our actions because it’s quite obvious these things still exist. What He died for is a “condition” and not and “action”. He took away the “condition” that Adam had placed the human race under. That condition was Adam’s very nature that he took upon himself when he strayed from the Tree of Life to the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Simply put, he went into unbelief by trying to become something he already was. That nature was totally annihilated at the cross and a new race of human beings was born in Christ. That nature does not exist any longer. We now have a new nature that is a righteous nature because He took the entire human race (spiritually speaking) into Himself at the cross and rose again the third day with that new race.

Before the cross everyone was born with the nature of Adam (sin). After the cross everyone is born with the new nature (righteousness). Romans 3:10 (actually a quote from Psalms 14) says that “there are none righteous, no not one”. I believe if He was to come back and say something similar, He would now say “there are none unrighteous, no not one”. This is simply because He did the entire work apart from any of our involvement. When He saw the work was completed and His Father was satisfied with the required sacrifice to restore the human race back to His Father, He said “it is finished”. And that is exactly what it is…..finished. We all have been restored back to Father God and are completely secure in Him.

Posted by Roy at 14:01:40 | Permalink | Comments (7)

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

My rest and peace

A happy and prosperous new year to everyone. As we begin a new year I have been reflecting over the past year in my search for Truth and I see that there are still many unanswered questions in my mind and heart. I have also come to the conclusion that it does not matter that questions remain as I doubt anyone will ever have all the answers they would like to have while living here on earth.


However, there is one thing that has become what I would call “forever settled in my heart” and that is the fact that our Redeemer has come and He fully and totally accomplished what He came to do. As I read through the Old Testament scriptures I see it more and more clearly that the prophecies were about Jesus and what He would accomplish at the cross. Not something that is in our present day future, although it was future to them when they prophesied it because it was before the cross that God showed these prophets what was coming.

It has been a bit difficult at times to see some of these things, and there are yet many that I do not understand, because of the “church upbringing” that I and most of those that believe in the total redemption of the entire human race had as well. When you go through almost 30 years of listening to the bondage and the poison that comes from the vast majority of pulpits, the only way our thinking pattern can be changed is for God to reveal Himself in us and to show us what it means to have been redeemed.

The scriptures (OT writings) are quite clear in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel etc that the purpose for the Son of God to come and redeem the human race back to Father God was to get rid of the sin that was passed on to everyone. It was also for Him to take the judgment that was ready to be sent upon the human race upon Himself so that none of the human race would have to face any of it.

What is this sin I mentioned in the last paragraph? It is the sin of unbelief that Adam fell into when he tried to be like God when he actually already was like God because God had created him in His image. Is the sin that Jesus died for an action? No, I believe the sin Jesus died for is a condition. If He died for our actions and deeds then why do we all still have things in our lives that are at times “not so good” in the eyes of people? It is because we are still human and that is the way God created us.

We must look at people through His eyes and not through what we may perceive as good or bad or anything else. The love of God was shed abroad in our hearts, not to judge others for what they may be doing or not doing, but to see them accepted in the Beloved. If we look at what others do then we must look at what we do or don’t do as well and we all fall into the same category when it comes to that. If we look at actions and deeds to see if a person is holy or not so holy, then we are looking at them through our own minds and hearts and we are arriving at our own conclusions.

God sent His Son to redeem the world by taking away their sin. Not actions and deeds, but the condition Adam had placed the entire human race under. He did this at the cross and the entire human race was restored back to Father God at that time which is why Jesus could say “It Is Finished”. There is nothing left to be done. The cross was the end of the human race under Adam and a new race of redeemed people began. We are all part of that new race in Christ. That is my peace and my rest as we begin a new year.

Posted by Roy at 12:48:10 | Permalink | Comments (1) »