Sunday, September 3, 2006

My Friend Bob

Over the past year or so I have been sharing the Gospel with a 91 year old man named Bob. In the beginning he was very interested in hearing the Gospel of grace and peace although he suffered a bit of dementia he understood what I was talking about and he received this gladly.

Many times he would say to me that he had been in church all his life and had never heard something that made as much sense as this and I believe he truly understood. However, over the past several months I have noticed his mind has deteriorated to a point where he doesn’t understand anything at all in the natural or the spiritual. I said all of the above to share with the people that read this blog that last night while thinking about what has happened to Bob’s mind I was reminded that it is similar to the condition of the mind of the church regarding the cross and what Jesus did on our behalf. Romans 12v2 is very clear that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. The way Bob’s mind is now, I could take him anywhere I want to, even to a place where there would apt to be danger, and he would follow me as he trusts me. The evangelical church is following anyone that is behind a pulpit regardless of what they say, as they trust them. Their mind is similar to how Bob’s mind is and it is almost impossible to even reason with them. Bob’s mind cannot understand anything rationally at all and neither can the denominational church out there. However, if Bob’s mind was to be healed he would revert back to what he is supposed to be (a Harvard law graduate) and he could function as he was meant to. The religious people out there would be the same if they would let the Lord renew their mind and then they could be what they are supposed to be which is redeemed and totally free in Him!!! There would be no more following after the “shirt and tie” behind the pulpit with their religious doctrines of demons. I thank the Lord that He has begun a process in my mind to renew it and is taking the religious veil that was in my life for over 28 years. I know this is a process and may take a lifetime but I am so thankful He is showing me more and more that He has redeemed the entire world and all they need to do is let Him renew their mind to this fact!!! Bob’s mind will likely never get better as he is very old, but I thank the Lord that He gave me the opportunity to share this marvelous Gospel with him while he still understood and could go about his daily routine. If there is anything we need it’s our mind renewed to see this glorious Gospel of grace and peace. That is what the Bible means when it talks about salvation…..be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…THEN you will know what the will of God is. You cannot know His will without your mind being renewed as a un renewed mind simply follows religion and everything they teach which is pure poison!!!

Sept 03/06 PS I brought Bob to my house on Thursday morning of this past week and his mind has further deteriorated to a point that he believes that there are two of me (as if one wasn’t enough) He looks at me and is very glad to see me but lets me know he is very annoyed at “the other one” that used to visit him as he no longer shows up. May we get more and more annoyed at “the other one” called religion that continuously keeps us from knowing we are redeemed apart from our works. Is it not like the religious system as their minds become more and more indoctrinated to a point where they believe there are two aspects to redemption….His shed blood AND their belief for it to become real?? As I have read many times on Eddie’s site, it is Christ minus me plus nothing. It is all Him…PERIOD!!! There is no “other one” anymore (the law (religion) was nailed to the cross) anymore than there is another one of me like Bob thinks. Both are delusions (a false belief or opinion) of the mind that keep us from reality. The “other one” is only in our minds and it makes us think we are alienated from Him. (Colossians 1:21)

Posted by Roy at 11:48:44 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Saturday, September 2, 2006

Believing for Redemption???

God’s plan in sending Jesus to the cross was His plan to redeem the entire human race. Paul taught that belief had to do with the salvation of their soul and the process by which their mind was renewed.
He did not say it was the means by which you become righteous. He did not say that your faith was the way by which you obtain your redemption. The Bible says God was in Christ redeeming the whole world to Himself. This He did for the entire world. What happens to someone when they believe in Christ? Belief does not gain anyone redemption. It is simply an acknowledgement of what took place over 2000 years ago at the cross. If I had to believe in order to get redemption, how would I ever know if I have believed enough??? What if my believing falls a bit short?? According to popular Christian teachings, I not only have to believe and keep on believing but must also make sure I continue attending church (and by church I mean the building, not the true church which is people and not buildings), make sure I tithe, pray, read the Bible, and on and on it goes!!! I lived that way for years because I took in whatever came from behind pulpits and with this type of teaching I continually wondered if my believing was up to the standard they said it was supposed to be. Believing is a very powerful thing and it is very important for sure as that is the means by which you obtain salvation on a continuous basis. But it has absolutely nothing to do with redemption!!! The mind cannot be renewed without believing. If I do not believe, does it stop God’s faithfulness as far as having redeemed the entire world goes? Absolutely not!!! Romans 3:3 & 4 says God forbid that anyone’s unbelief would stop God’s faith from having its desired effect. Our “faithlessness” can not undo the faith OF Christ which is what gave us redemption. My faith did not and can not give me redemption. The promise through Jesus Christ was that He would redeem the entire world. I do not believe for a moment that Jesus failed in any way in accomplishing the task that His father intended for Him to do. I know that it is not popular with the Christian community out there to say that Christ, by His sacrifice redeemed the entire world without any help from me or anyone else in any way, shape or form. This teaching is not outside the teachings of the Bible. It does not set well with the Christian community out there because it is not what they are teaching. However when you see the redemption of the ENTIRE world, it changes your whole perspective towards everyone you come in contact with. It is no longer “them and us” but simply “us”. Romans 5:10 makes it quite clear when trying to separate the two (redemption and salvation) we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (redemption by His blood alone as His death is when He shed His blood) we shall be saved by His life!! We are saved by His life (not by His death but by His life) His death is redemption; His life is salvation of the soul (renewing of the mind).
Posted by Roy at 14:02:58 | Permalink | Comments (31)