The Good Of The Father (A Price To Pay)

 

Now He said to all, "If anyone is wanting to come after Me, let him disown himself and pick up his cross daily and follow Me" 

Lukes Account 9: 23, Concordant New Testament  

It's a question that I've heard more than a few times.  In fact, it's a question I've even asked myself.  Is there indeed a cost which we pay for following Christ Jesus?  Now, there are those in the mainstream church who will choose to quote a few cherry picked scriptures in order to illustrate the fact that to follow Jesus is to pay for that opportunity in some way.  For even Jesus has proclaimed that if one should be choosing to follow Him that he should, "Disown himself and pick up his cross daily and follow Me" {Lukes Account 9:23}.  Pick up my cross?  Am I to do exactly as Christ did?  One issue that I have with this line of thinking is that our salvation in the free gift given unto us by the Father.  Do we follow Jesus in order that we be saved?  If so, Jesus has already paid that debt.  The apostle Paul speaks to the truth that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe that the Father raised Him from among the dead that we will be saved {Paul to the Romans 10:9}.  Is our own belief in Jesus a price which we pay for following Him?  I wouldn't agree with that statement.  What I WOULD consider as feasible is that which we will give up in our own pursuit of Jesus.  It is a common belief that if we're to follow Jesus, that we need to be resisting that which is of the world.  Paul speaks to this when he proclaims that we are to set our minds upon that which is above and not that which is on the earth {Paul to the Colossians 3:2}.  Still, is to give up that which we might desire in this world a price to pay for following Christ?  If so, then to follow Jesus may indeed bear a cost to us.  For some time, I was involved in the pursuit of the flesh in my life.  I've written many times of my own times spent within the strip clubs in my town.  When my eyes were opened to who I truly was in Christ, that life meant less and less to me.  Was this part of the price which I paid to follow Christ?  As far as worldly desires I would say yes.  Yet giving up my desire for the flesh in the end saved me money, so what was the price I paid for Jesus?  In the end, that price paid may have been in denying my desires of this world, but is there a financial cost related to that?  But I've come to learn that looking at the cost of following Jesus in strictly financial terms might be the best indication of what we give up for Him. 

If then, you were roused together with Christ, be seeking that which is above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Be disposed to that which is above, not to that on the earth, for you died, and your life is hid together with Christ in God.  Whenever Christ, our life, should be manifested, then you also shall be manifested together with Him in glory 

Paul to the Colossians 3: 1-4, Concordant New Testament 

That which we cannot place a monetary value on is that which we ultimately have given up for Christ Jesus.  That is our old identity, who we once were before being nailed to the cross together with Him in death.  Paul states pretty clearly that we have indeed died with Christ {Paul to the Galatians 2:20, Paul to the Colossians 3:3}.  Without our life in Jesus which we now share in our union with Him, our life would indeed be our own {Johns Account 14:20}.  But we have died.  We have died, and our life is now together with Christ Jesus in God {Paul to the Colossians 3:3}.  so, tell me, what is the cost of that which we sacrificed?  Can we place the fact that we've died together with Jesus in human financial terms?  I would say no.  Because when we speak of our death in Christ Jesus we're not speaking in financial terms, but in terms of our own spiritual identity.  For in Christ we are no longer identified in human terms, but in union with the spirit of Christ.  When we look upon ourselves now and who we really are, we see Jesus.  Gone is the man who chased after the desires of this world, he has died.  Will your eyes be opened to this truth as mine were?  Maybe, but when they are it will be at the will of the Father.  However, simply because one does not understand who he is in Jesus does not negate the fact that he has indeed died and is now alive in Christ.  Their eyes have simply not been opened to who it is that they are in Him. 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Dead On A Tree)

 With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living, no longer I; but living in me is Christ.  Now that which I am now living in the flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, Who loves me, and gives Himself up for me

Paul to the Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

It was one of the most difficult revelations which I've had to deal with in my life in Christ. The fact that I've died with Him already.  The apostle Paul's iconic scripture which we find in Galatians speaks to Paul acknowledging that he no longer lives, that he has been put to death with Christ Jesus {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}.  So it is with me.  The life which I have, or had, is no more.  What remains, as Paul speaks to, is my life in Christ.  Indeed, it's pretty difficult to come to terms with being dead if each and every day I feel life.  I feel emotions, pain and thoughts.  Is this really what death looks like?  Of course, when we look at it through the lens of the spiritual and not the physical, we see that death is really just another dimension of life.  The author of Hebrews describes "So vast a cloud of witnesses" which surrounds us {To the Hebrews 12:1}.  Many have interpreted this verse to refer to those memories which we have of those of the faith who have gone before us.  While this is true, I also am of the belief that there is yet another dimension parallel to our own where those who have passed from this world await their own resurrection.  Hebrew texts describe sheol as the place of souls who have departed this world.  To be clear, sheol IS NOT what we have come to know as hell.  Think of it as a holding place for those who have passed before us, the good as well as the wicked.  Is this the cloud of witnesses which the author of Hebrews was referring to?  I believe that it could very well be.  Yet that is beside the point.  The reality is that we have been crucified with Christ Jesus.  We have already died with Him on that cross.  We're dead.  As a good friend pointed out to me recently, what life do I have if I've died?  It's what Paul referred to as "The secret among the nations {Paul to the Colossians 1:27}. 

To whom God wills to make known what are the glorious riches of this secret among the nations, which is: Christ among you, the expectation of glory

Paul to the Colossians 1: 27, Concordant New Testament 

So, if you thin k that grasping the truth that you have died with Christ is a tough pill to swallow, you're not the only one by any means.  Yet Paul understood that despite FEELING as if he were still alive, his life was not in this world but in Christ alone.  This is Christ among us, our expectation of glory in Him.  Of course, this is contradictory to the theology preached by those in the mainstream church.  In fact, I've never heard of our death is Christ spoken of in the time I spent in the church.  Instead, Jesus is preached as a far off and distant savior who looks down upon us from His place at the Fathers side.  So, tell me, how is it that the passage we find in Colossians 1:27 can remain factual if Jesus has remained in heaven?  How can Christ be among us if He's never left the Fathers side?  This is but one of the issues that I have with the theology of the mainstream church.  I also believe that it is why I had such a difficult time accepting the Fathers revelation that I've died with Christ already.  For I spent many years in the church listening to and believing in the religious system that I was taught.  I'll stop short of referring to it as brainwashing, as I was free to leave at any time.  Also, it was the Father Who allowed me to remain in the church until such time as my eyes were opened to the truth of His Son in me.  Indeed, it is Paul who speaks to this very thing in Galatians {Paul to the Galatians 1:15-16}.  For it was the Father, in His own timing, Who would open my eyes to His revelation in my life.  It wasn't ever easy, but it is true. 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (For Those Lost)

 

Who wills that all mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth 

Paul to Timothy (1) 2: 4, Concordant New Testament 

Christianity is filled with them.  My friend who remains in the Eastern Orthodox religious system often refers to those who somehow throw away the "Gift" which the Lord God has given unto them.  These are the lost souls among us.  Mainstream church theology would describe these wayward children of the Lord as destined for an eternity of fire and punishment in hell.  For they have rejected the truth of God.  In the theology of the church, there is good and evil.  The good shall prosper in the presence of the Lord while the wicked will suffer in agony in hell.  But what does the Father think of these lost souls?  The words of Jesus give us a good example of this in the book of Luke.  It is here that Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep, and of the shepherd rejoicing when the wayward one is found {Lukes Account 15:4-6}.  That shepherd is the Father, and that lost sheep represents those lost souls among us.  For it has never been the Fathers desire that any should perish, but that all would come to the realization of the truth in Him {Paul to Timothy 2:4}.  To speak of those lost souls is simply another lie which the mainstream church has perpetrated upon the Lords children.  For they have never been lost.  They may have not made the smartest decisions in life, but the Father has been in them from the beginning {Paul to the Romans 11:36}.  There has never been even a moment in our lives that the Father was not a part of us.  So how is it that we can speak of being lost?  How is it that we can believe that God somehow has abandoned His own creation?  Obviously, this is an error in our beliefs.  Having grown up in the doctrine of the mainstream church, I can understand just where these beliefs begin.  I too was once worried about becoming one of those lost souls.  If I didn't behave in the right way.  If I somehow didn't accept what the pastors told me.  Would God consider me as lost?  Knowing what I know today, I have come to realize the error of those beliefs.  

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, and losing one of them, is not leaving the ninety-nine in the wilderness and is going after the lost one, that he may be finding it?  And finding it, he is placing it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And coming into the house, he is calling together the friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice together with me that I found my sheep that was lost!" 

Lukes Account 15: 4-6, Concordant New Testament 

I believe that one of the biggest lies spoken by the mainstream church has been the theology that we have somehow been separated from the Father Who created us.  Really?  How can that which has been created suddenly not carry the fingerprints of its creator?  How is it that we can look upon the world around us and not see what God has created?  Indeed, if His creation is in Him and through Him then, as His creation, we are as well {Acts of the Apostles 17:28}.  Knowing this truth, it is not possible that there are lost souls among us.  There are indeed those whose own decisions have led them astray of God.  Whether through unbelief or of not ever hearing of the truth of the Lord, it is entirely feasible that the Father will rejoin Himself to them once again in His own timing.  In the film Come Sunday, the bishop Carlton Pearson is ostracized by his own church when he denies the existence of the hell so often preached by the mainstream church.  Pearson is convinced that those who have for one reason or another never heard of the Lord or the gospel of Christ would not be abandoned by a Father Who loves them.  For his beliefs, Carlton Pearson was expelled from his church.  This has had me thinking lately, what would the churches reaction be to what I have to say?  In all reality, I might just be ostracized just as the reverend Pearson was.  But who is it that speaks against the Lord, he who speaks the truth of our life in the Father or those who continue to preach of our separation from Him?  I already know that answer.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Holy Warriors)

 

C.S. Lewis 

Beware that no one shall be despoiling you through philosophy and empty seduction, in accord with human tradition, in accord with the elements of the world, and not in accord with Christ

Paul to the Colossians 2: 8, Concordant New Testament 

By definition, apologetics is the vigorous defense of religious doctrines and Christianity.  I have certainly known a few hard core apologetics in my time.  While I was involved in the church, I would often run across those who would quote the scriptures in order to defend the policies and theology spoken within the mainstream church.  With many of these holy warriors, there was no room for another opinion.  What they quoted from their interpretation of the scripture was the be all end all of their argument.  Yes, these so called believers were arguing for God.  One day I asked a friend of mine, a diligent holy warrior if there ever was one, why God, the creator of the universe, would ever need anyone to defend Him.  His silence spoke volumes to me about his knowledge of the Father.  For he was not in fact defending God, but the religious system we had been raised up in.  Yes, I've not been afraid to admit that I was brought up in the mainstream church.  In fact, I also dabbled in the practice of apologetics for awhile.  To me, Gods word was supreme, and those who disagreed with that were among the worst of sinners.  For they had abandoned the Lord.  Of course, as a believer, I saw it as my Christian duty to inform them of the nature of their mistake.  This was all fine and good until another holy warrior decided to use the same tactics against me.  Let me tell you, it didn't feel too good at all.  I began to question myself, "Is this how I sound to others when I defend God?"  I thought of those in the faith of the Jehovah's witnesses who often go door to door to speak their faith to others in the community.  Was that me?  As I dug deeper into scripture I began to realize that it was not God who needed me to defend Him, but that God needed to protect me.  How is it that the God who parted the Red Sea and raised Christ Jesus from among the dead needed others to defend Him?  Let me tell you, God is perfectly able to defend Himself and has on so many occasions.  

Seeing that out of Him and through Him and for Him is all; to Him be the glory for the eons!  Amen! 

Paul to the Romans 11: 36, Concordant New Testament 

I didn't realize it back then, but my entire belief of our relationship with God was backwards in thinking.  The theology preached by the mainstream church will have us believe that we are of our own lives, somehow set apart from God the Father.  How is it that the creation could be separated from that which created it?  The apostle Paul speaks to our life in the Father in Romans.  That all of creation, including us, is out of, through and for God the Father {Paul to the Romans 11:36}.  Jesus Himself also speaks to our union life in the Father in the account of the book of John {Johns Account 14:20}.  From his prison cell, Paul wrote to young Timothy that he should "Herald the word, stand by it" {Paul to Timothy (2) 4:2}.  However, Paul did not call upon Timothy to vigorously herald the word to others, but "With all patience and teaching."  Not surprisingly, those within the mainstream church have hijacked this passage to encourage others to vigorously defend not God, but the church and its theology.  Something is definitely wrong with that picture.  Will we defend the religious system which speaks to our own separation from the Father who created us?  Or, will we accept the truth of our life within the Father?  For if everything is out of, through and for Him, then He is more than capable of defending Himself.  

Herald the word.  Stand by it, opportunely, inopportunely, expose, rebuke, entreat, with all patience and teaching 

Paul to Timothy (2) 4: 2, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Our Life In HIm)

 

In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in me, and I in you

Johns Account 14: 20, Concordant New Testament 

Growing up, God seemed to be somewhat of a distant entity to me.  One of the lies which the mainstream church has taught me is that I have somehow become separated from my heavenly Father who created me.  That the best which I could ever attempt to achieve was to become closer to God, or to do my best to emulate Him, to "Be like" Him.  Most of this theology is based off of the scripture that all have sinned {Paul to the Romans 3:23}.  Yet, forgotten in this passage are Paul's own words which we find in the next verse.  That we are now justified through the Father's grace and the deliverance from our Savior Christ Jesus {Paul to the Romans 3:24}.  Yes, we have sinned, but God in His grace has removed that from us through Christ.  Funny thing, I rarely if ever heard these liberating words ever spoken from a mainstream church pulpit.  What I did hear was a lot of guilt and shame over what I "Had" been.  I use these words in the past tense because that is not the man that I am today.  The man that I am today is alive once again IN the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  I am alive despite the old identity dying at the side of Christ Jesus on that cross {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}.  For it is Jesus who took my sin upon Himself on that day {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  It is Jesus who has died to sin, in the words of Paul, "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  Yet despite the scriptural references of my life in the Father, the mainstream church continues to proclaim the separation I experience with Him.  How can that which has been created be separated from the creator?  We accept the truth that we have been created in the Fathers likeness {Genesis 2:20}.  That it is God who breathed into us the breath of life, creating a living soul {Genesis 2:7}.  Knowing this, how is it that anyone can proclaim that we have been separated from God?  In reality, the theology of the mainstream church continues to enslave us with a false narrative.  Yet the liberating truth we find through the gospel of Christ Jesus sets us free of the bondage of this false teaching.  

Knowing this, that our old humanity was crucified together with Him, that the body of sin may be nullified, for us by no means to be still slaving for sin, for one who dies has been justified from sin.  Now if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall be living together with Him also, having perceived that Christ, having been roused from among the dead, is no longer dying.  Death is lording it over Him no longer, for in that He died, He died to sin once for all time, yet in that He is living, He is living to God.  Thus you also, be reckoning yourselves to be dead, indeed, to sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. 

Paul to the Romans 6:6-11}.  

The church gets one thing right when they speak to the freedom of living in Christ Jesus.  For in Jesus there is freedom from the bondage of sin.  Despite this, the church skews this freedom into something which we must earn of our own accord.  Yes, we can indeed achieve freedom in Christ if we are more "Like Jesus."  But although we may see ourselves as being like Jesus, we all too often even heard the truth of our own life in Him.  So, our life becomes a struggle between knowing of Jesus and continuing to struggle with what we see as our sin.  And why wouldn't we believe in this, it's what we hear each and every Sunday.  My own realization of my life in Christ was not realized until I was free of the teachings of the church.  As luck would have it, my good friend had also been recognizing the same struggles in his own spiritual life.  Through our mutual conversations, I came to know a deeper relationship with the Lord.  Something which I had never known while in the church.  The freedom that I have now come to see through my life in Him is not something I picked up from a Sunday sermon.  As with Paul, I received this revelation "When it delights God" {Paul to the Romans 1:15}.  This is our life in the Father. 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (To Sheol And Back)

 

In which, being gone to the spirits in jail also 

Peter to the Dispersion 3: 19, Concordant New Testament 

This past Easter, I noticed a few videos going around which raised the question, what did Jesus do in those 72 hours until He was resurrected.  Well, the scriptures tell us exactly what He was up to in those three days, and it might just lead to a larger discussion on the truth of the Fathers desire that all His children be saved.  While His physical body lay entombed in the earth, Jesus in spirit would descend into sheol, the Hebrew underworld or abode of the dead.  Now, it's important to note here that it is NOT proclaimed that Jesus ministered in hell.  For sheol, as mentioned, is simply a place where those who have passed on from this world go to wait for their own resurrection.  It is interesting that sheol is often referred to as the abode of the dead and not one of eternal punishment we often associate with hell.  This would seem plausible knowing that the Fathers desire is that all be saved {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  However, the concept of a universal salvation is a touchy subject for the mainstream church.  For it seems that they are of the mindset that the good should be rewarded and the wicked punished.  Yet why, then, is it written that even the wicked should be rewarded with salvation?  Why did Jesus descend into sheol to preach to the good and wicked alike?  For we know that sheol was not just a place for the departed spirits of the wicked, but of the good as well.  Again, the idea of sheol is not one of the punishment of hell.  So, what was it that Jesus was doing in the underworld?  Well, if the desire of the Lord is that all of His children be saved, I believe that Jesus was delivering the message of His gospel unto those who either had not the opportunity to hear it while alive, or who flat out ignored it.  Again, this is Jesus doing the will of the Father, Who desires that all will be saved.  For those who believe in the reward of the rich and the punishment of the wicked, this might be a tough pill to swallow.  But, at the end of the day, I'm glad that the Father is in charge of my salvation and not you.  

'And in all this, between us and you a great chasm has been established, so that those wanting to cross hence to you may not be able, nor yet those hence may be ferrying to us.'  "Yet he said, 'I am asking you then, father, that you should be sending him into my fathers house, for I have five brothers, so that he may be certifying to them, lest they also may be coming into this place of torment,"  Yet Abraham is saying unto him, 'They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them!'  Yet he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone should be going to them from the dead, they will be repenting.'  Yet he said to him, 'If Moses and the prophets they are not hearing, neither will they be persuaded if someone should be rising from among the dead.'  

Lukes Account 16: 26-31, Concordant New Testament 

I have heard those in the mainstream church refer to the passage written in Luke that there is a gulf between those in sheol and the living {Lukes Account 16:19-31}.  But is Jesus referring to sheol in this passage?  One would assume so.  Yet if there is a gulf between us, then Jesus has overcome it to speak to those waiting there.  We know from the scriptures that the Father is merciful.  We also know that it is His desire that all be saved through Christ Jesus {Johns Account 3:17}.  Therefore, it is Jesus who has transversed that void to deliver the good news of Gods salvation to those who are in desperate need of it.  They may have somehow never heard of the salvation through Christ or chose to ignore it altogether.  Yet through His love and mercy, the Father did not write these souls off as lost.  He has dispatched His Son that they would hear of the gift given to them from the Father.  While the mainstream church is big on judging between the good and the wicked, they leave out one important fact.  That being that we are ALL created in the Fathers likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  That He has breathed into all the breath of life, thus creating a living soul {Genesis 2:7}.  We are ALL a part of Him.  Our life is indeed in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.  Knowing this, it is easy to see how the Father would desire to go to any length to save His children.  Jesus also speaks to this in His parable of the one lost sheep {Lukes Account 15:3-7}.  If God did not desire to save all of His children, that one lost sheep would have been counted as lost.  But not with God.  Which begs a question for another day, are there truly any lost souls?  

I am saying to you that thus there will be joy in heaven over one sinner repenting, more than over the ninety-nine just persons who have no need of repentance

Lukes Account 15: 7, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Life Experiences)

 

Now, having graces excelling, in accordance with the grace which is given to us, whether prophesy, exercise it in accord with the analogy of the faith; or dispensing, in the dispensation; or the teacher, in teaching; or the entreater, in entreaty; the sharer, with generosity; the presider, with diligence; the merciful one; with glee 

Paul to the Romans 12: 6-8, Concordant New Testament  

I recently watched once again a video of ancient entertainer Alice Cooper as he described his life and how it has changed since his eyes were opened to a life with the Lord.  What was interesting to me was that Cooper did not shy away from his years of alcohol and drug use, but seems to use his experiences for the benefit of others.  Specifically, in speaking to younger people of the dangers of substance abuse.   Now, some might ask how a life of substance abuse could be misconstrued as a spiritual gifting, but I believe that this man is onto something positive as a result of his life experience.  For years in the mainstream church I have heard the term "Spiritual gifts" tossed around like it was some sort of reward given out to the faithful.  However, I've since come to realize that such gifts are just that, gifts given unto us by the Father.  The apostle Paul describes these gifts from God as "Graces" {Paul to the Romans 12:6}.  But can we see our individual life experiences as graces given to us from the Father?  I would agree with that idea.  Going back to the experiences of Alice Cooper, it is God who allowed him to go through and endure the personal choices which he made in his life.  Yes, he made those choices, but God used his choices of personal destruction for the good {Paul to the Romans 8:28}.  Did Cooper know at the time that the Father was guiding him into a better life?  Probably not, but that's the beauty of the Father working in the lives of His children.  For what we might see as calamity, the Father sees as an opportunity.  Opportunity for our testimony to others, or the opportunity for our own eyes to be opened to the desires of the Father.  I believe that Alice Cooper has been the recipient of both of these graces in his life.  In my own life, I have endured many situations where I have come out on the other side with a testimony for others.  I recently encountered a unfortunate accident where I have been sidelined with a broken bone in my foot.  What was the Fathers purpose for having me endure this injury?  I believe that in time my eyes will be opened to His purpose.  

Now we are aware that God is working all together for the good of those who are loving God, who are called according to the purpose

Paul to the Romans 8: 6, Concordant New Testament 

I find it appropriate that the apostle Paul would write on the graces of the spiritual gifts given unto us by the Father.  For it is God who allowed the man Saul to endure a life of religious extremism and the persecution of the followers of Christ before opening his eyes to the truth of the living Christ in him {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}.  It is Paul who is known as one of the greatest speakers of the gospel of Christ Jesus man has ever known.  It is through his own life experiences that Paul was able to see the error of the teachings in which he was raised {Paul to the Galatians 1:14-16}.  In the Lords timing, Paul's eyes were opened to what the Father desired for him.  And what a testimony it is!  Indeed, the scriptures are filled with those whose life experiences would later be revealed in a positive way by the Father.  Through Davids sin, God opened his eyes to His desire for him.  Each of us can probably point to a difficult situation in their own life where the Father eventually would open their eyes to something which He wanted them to see.  I recall the story of Corrie Ten Boom, the author of the novel The Hiding Place, who helped many Jews escape the holocaust in World War Two.  Eventually arrested, Ten Boom was sent to a German concentration camp, which may have been the end of her story.  Yet despite being sent to the cruelty of the German military, she continued to speak of the Lord to captives and captors alike.  What some would see as a cruel situation, the Father used that others might come to know Him through the words of His child.  All things for the good.  

~Scott~