The Good Of The Father (Management Issues) # 2087

 

What, then, shall we declare?  That we may be perishing in sin that grace may be increasing?  May it not be coming to that!  We, who died to sin, how shall we still be living in it? 

Paul to the Romans 6: 1-2, Concordant New Testament 

I've shared on this page the struggles which I've had when attempting to explain my own view of sin to those who continue to follow the teachings of the church.  The teaching that it is indeed sin which has separated us from God.  The same loving God who has created us in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  The same loving and merciful God who loved us enough to dispatch His one and only Son that He would be the propitiation for the sin which the church continues to condemn us for {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  Does this sound to you anything like the love of God on display?  That He would, upon forgiving us our trespasses, continue instead to condemn us for that which He has already forgiven?  Likewise, would a loving God choose to allow us to live a life of condemnation?  It is for this very reason which I have claimed that the separation theology of the church is a lie.  On the one hand, it does nothing to display the one true nature of the Father, which is love {First Epistle of John 4:8}.  But, this is what I would expect from a church system not centered on the truth of the Father, but on the teachings of man.  At the heart of the issue of sin separating us from God is the belief that Jesus has died for "Some" of the sin which we were once guilty.  The author J Preston Eby has written, correctly I believe, that our sin debt has been paid in full by the willing sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  We have now been found justified for that which we were once found guilty {Paul to the Romans 6:7}.  In the eyes of those within the church, there continues to be sin which we need to be seeking the Lords forgiveness for each and every day.  From lying to cheating to lust, the ghost of sins past still continue to haunt us, so we've been told.  For His part, God cannot be in the presence of that sin, so He has separated Himself from that which He has created out of His love for us {Isaiah 59:2}.  Such is the dilemma we face when we attempt to "Manage" what we see as sin.

A dear friend commented to me this morning the question, do we sin or do we see Jesus?  Unfortunately, far too many believers continue to fall in step with the teachings of the church and see sin instead of Christ.  We also have the mistaken belief that we ourselves (If there were an independent self) can do our best to manage the sin we continue to commit.  This requires both prayer and the determination to abstain from what we see as sin.  Yet, as the apostle Paul so correctly speaks to in his evangel, how shall we who have died to sin still be living in it?{Paul to the Romans 6:1-2}.  For Paul has proclaimed the truth which states that Christ Jesus has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  I take this to mean ALL sin past, present and future included.  For if there were sin remaining, wouldn't you think that the Father would have provided a way to forgive us of this also?  But the truth is that He has.  For it is through Christ that we have been found justified from ALL sin.  That debt has been paid in full!  The issue with sin management is that we continue to see the acts of our flesh as sin.  We do not look upon ourselves as redeemed through our life within the Father, but as guilty sinners.  Obviously, those within the church have done us zero favors when it comes to proclaiming our life in the Father.  For Jesus Himself has spoken to just that in the scriptures {Johns Account 14:20}.  Not only has He given Himself that we would be free of the condemnation of sin, He has done away with it entirely, nailing it to the cross {Paul to the Colossians 2:14}.  Without sin, there remains nothing to be managed.  

Erasing the handwriting of the decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and has taken it away out of the midst, nailing it to the cross 

Paul to the Colossians 2: 14, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

Good Of The Father (The Jesus Problem) # 2086

 

Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God! And we are!  Therefore the world does not know us, for it did not know Him 

First Epistle of John 3: 1, Concordant New Testament 

I seem to have a Jesus issue.  More than that, I seem to have an issue communicating Jesus to those who do not know Him as I do.  I'll admit that my views of the Lord Jesus might sound a bit off the rails to those who have been accustomed to the traditional teachings of the mainstream church.  I recently had the nerve to share with one of my gym friends a few pages written by the author J Preston Eby.  His reaction to this was, shall we say, predictable.  Predictable from the standpoint that I've seen this reaction before when I share what it is that I have come to believe about Jesus.  For now, my association with the author Eby has made me misguided in the eyes of my gym friend.  I get it.  For I was once in his shoes, absorbing all which the church pastors fed me.  In fact, I recall reacting in just the way he has whenever someone would introduce a teaching which went against what the church somehow "Authorized" as the acceptable gospel.  There have been plenty of times where I have turned what should have been a simple discussion about the Lord into a full fledged argument.  Therefore, I'm not at all surprised when someone attacks me due to my view of the truth of Christ which has been revealed unto me through the love of the Father.  While I continue to adhere to a few of the core principals held dear by the church, that is where my affiliation with their theology ends.  I'm referring to the false separation theology which continues to be spoken by those within the church.  The idea that it is our sin which has separated us from God.  I have referred to this teaching as one of the lies spoken by the church.  As you might guess, I have been labeled as misguided for holding to this belief as well.  But this is not simply some idea I've come up with on my own.  The apostle Paul speaks to the truth of Christ living in him {Paul to the Galatians 2:20, Paul to the Romans 6:8}.  Jesus Himself has spoken to the truth of our life within He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  These are passages of scripture which are either ignored or misrepresented entirely by the church.

To be clear, I have an issue with a teaching which speaks to the truth that Christ Jesus bled and died on the cross for the forgiveness of sin, but that continues to teach that the sin which Jesus died for continues to be an issue in our lives.  I'll never be on board with that belief.  In fact, it is this misguided teaching of the church which caused me to initially question the message I was hearing.  It is also this teaching which eventually caused me to leave the church.  In my mind, I had been lied to by those whom I had trusted to teach me about the Lord.  So it is that I am not at all surprised when I see this teaching continued to be spoken by those who continue to fill the pews of the church and absorb its teachings.  I was once there myself.  My revelation of the truth of the Father came from conversations I've had with a trusted and dear friend.  He spoke to the fact that we do not have a God of condemnation, but of love {First Epistle of John 4:8}.  It is through His love for us by which He has dispatched His Son to be the propitiation of our sin {First Epistle of John 4:10}.  The very definition of propitiation is the "Gaining or regaining" of favor or goodwill of someone.  It is through Christ Jesus by which we have been redeemed in the eyes of God.  Paul speaks to the truth that Christ has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  My gym friend usually bristles at this so called blasphemy.  But what about our sin which we do every day?  Yes, Paul speaks to that as well.  He speaks to the truth of "How shall we who have died to sin live any longer within it?" {Paul to the Romans 6:2}.  This is the Jesus issue which those within the church continue to have.  The issue that despite giving Himself for the forgiveness of sin, that His sacrifice was in vain because sin remains the issue in the lives of the Lords children. 

In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loves us, and dispatches His Son, a propitiatory shelter concerned with our sins 

First Epistle of John 4: 10, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (AI Jesus) # 2085

 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are of God, for many false prophets have come out into the world 

First Epistle of John 4: 1, Concordant New Testament 

I have known a few people that when I encourage them to read a bit of the authors I have encountered (J Preston Eby, Norman Grubb, Frank Viola) their immediate reaction is to type the name into their Google search and base their opinion off of what some chatbot says.  If you ask me, this is not doing your diligence as far as getting to know the work of these authors.  But in the microwave society in which we live, people seek the most information in the least amount of time.  I get it.  On a whim the other day, I Googled the phrase "Can I trust J Preston Eby."  Not surprisingly, the answer came with more than a few warnings of why one should not trust the writings of one Mr. Eby.  In my opinion, we must always be of the mind of the apostle John, seeking to test the spirits of that which we encounter to determine if it is indeed from God.  Now, I have read and studied enough of J Preston Eby to know that he speaks to a pretty solid background which he supports with scripture.  I will say the same for Norman Grubb and Frank Viola.  At the same time, I have tested the spirits of the author/pod castor Wayne Jacobsen and have come away with more than a few questions of what he believes.  For the most part, I test the spirits in order to see if what I am reading lines up with my own beliefs.  But we can also utilize this in all that we do.  When we test the spirits, we are allowing the Father to reveal to us what He desires for us to know.  Can God speak through the untrusted format of Google?  Absolutely.  When we realize that God is all in all, our eyes are opened to His knowing in all that we do.  Yet there is the church based separation theology out there which stakes the claim that our sin has separated us from God.  I tested the spirits some time ago and it is the Father who revealed unto me that this simply is not true.  First off, I am created in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  He has breathed into me the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  On top of that, Jesus Himself has proclaimed that I now live in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  

I will always say that the best way to tests the spirits on something is to read and/or experience it for yourself.  Some things are no brainers, such as touching a hot stove or going against what the scripture has declared as wrong.  Somewhere along the line, someone else has tested the spirits and discovered that such things will never be good for us.  If I encounter a Google search warning me of something wrong with a religious author or speaker, my first inclination is to see for myself what the issue is that the chatbot is speaking to.  Test the spirits.  I will not trust Google with such nonsense.  My own knowledge of my life in the Father did not come from some Sunday sermon or pulpit pounder, but from intimate conversations with a dear and trusted friend who also at one time tested the spirits of what he was encountering.  After spending years in church leadership, he began to question the theology of the church he had served for so long.  He tested the spirits of more than a few authors others within the church frowned upon.  I am certainly glad that he did, for from the Fathers revelation unto him I also came to know Christ Jesus in me {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}.  I am reminded of the experience of the man Saul, whom God revealed Himself to on that road to Damascus {Acts of the Apostles 9:1-19}.  Saul spent years in the halls of the Jewish synagogues, thinking that he had it all figured out as far as the Lord was concerned.  God had other plans for Him.  What I have learned about the Father from conversations with my friend and from my own research is not something I ever heard in my years in the church.  As with Paul, the Father chose that moment where He would reveal Himself in me.  

For the flesh is lusting against the spirit, yet the spirit against the flesh.  Now these are opposing one another, lest you should be doing whatever you may want 

Paul to the Galatians 9: 17, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Dead To Me) # 2084

 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, being 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, Concordant New Testament 

Whenever I'm asked about the concept of sin, people are usually surprised at my worry free approach to the subject.  I don't wring my hands and pray over Gods forgiveness for me as those within the mainstream church have made a habit of doing.  Why would I need to be forgiven over something which Christ Jesus has already put to death?  The apostle Paul makes it clear in his evangel, that Jesus has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  Not only has Jesus given Himself for the forgiveness of our trespasses, He has dealt that final death blow to sin itself.  So when people ask me how I live with sin, I can say without question that the condemnation for sin no longer concerns me.  Of course, this ruffles more than a few feathers from those within the church, but those within the church have failed for thousands of years to realize the truth of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus.  For Jesus did not die only to have sin continue to plague Gods children endlessly.  He gave Himself that sin would no longer be an issue {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Paul has proclaimed that not only did Jesus die on that cross, but our "Old humanity" perished there with Him as well {Paul to the Romans 6:6}.  He did this that we would no longer give sin control over us, that we would no longer be "Slaving for sin" {Paul to the Romans 6:6}.  Yet I believe that many within the church continue to do just that, to slave over sin.  To make sin that centerpiece of their (and our) lives.  Consider the separation theology of the church.  The theology which speaks to the false belief that our sin has separated us from God.  To justify this, they often refer to the words of the prophet Isaiah, who has spoken that "Your iniquities have separated you from God" {Isaiah 59:2}.  Yet I point out for this discussion that these words were given by the prophet many years before the death of Christ Jesus on the cross.  It is Jesus who has come to free the world from the bondages of sin. 

I have a gym friend who I will rarely enter into discussions on religious topics for I already know that his mind is trapped in the false separation theology of the church.  It does me no good to believe in that which I am no longer bound to.  I believe that Paul spoke to the idea of the truth of sin in the sixth book of his evangel to the Romans.  Whenever I am asked my idea of sin in the life of men, I have often referred them to these words written by Paul.  Yet it's funny that those within the church will hold fast to the condemning words spoken by the prophet Isaiah but brush aside the words spoken by Paul which declare our freedom from the bondage of sin.  They prefer to continue to make sin the issue.  For when they declare that sin is still alive and well in the lives of believers, they trust that those same believers will know their ultimate need for the church in order to overcome sin.  Their own belief in sin keeps their pews filled on Sunday!  I believe that if more people knew the truth spoken by Paul that they would refuse to fill the houses of worship whose main job, it seems, is to remind everyone that we remain condemned sinners in the eyes of God.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  The apostle John has declared just how it is that the Lord now looks upon His children.  Not with the condemnation of a sinner, but with His love for a child {First Epistle of John 3:1}.  The world does not know us as such, because it did not know Him. 

Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God! And we are!  Therefore the world does not know us, for it did not know Him

First Epistle of John 3: 1, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Not Myself) # 2083

 

There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe, except the One who calls Himself the I AM {Exodus 3:14} and says, "I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside Me {Isaiah 45:5}. 

No Independent Self ~ Norman Grubb 

It's something that was drilled into me from an early age.  Don't try to put on airs for all the world to see.  Just be yourself.  People will see your authenticity and appreciate that.  It's advice which has served me well over the years.  Don't try to be someone you're not.  Yet when I look back on the advice that has served me so well, I realize that I have been in error.  For my thinking was based on the incorrect assumption that I am my own separate person.  That I alone am responsible for what happens in my life.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  I have a good friend who has taken to using the phrase "Be Jesus."  He's not very far off base in his thinking.  Christianity has sold us the lie that man has been separated from God through his sin.  To this I say, what about Jesus?  For it is Jesus who is dispatched by the Father to be the propitiation for that sin of ours {First Epistle of John 2:2}.  But this is only the tip of the iceberg in our understanding of who we truly are in the Father.  Gone are the days where I believed that my life was my own.  For Jesus has proclaimed that I now live my life in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  There are those within the church who will counter that God cannot be amongst sin.  Well, has not Jesus already given Himself for that sin?  The apostle Paul speaks in his evangel that "Our old humanity was crucified together with Him, that the body of sin may be nullified" {Paul to the Romans 6:6}.  Not only that, but the Christ "Died to sin once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  Jesus IS our propitiation for our old sin nature.  He HAS given Himself willingly for that which we were once condemned {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Sin no longer defines who I am.  Through the sacrifice of Christ, I now live a life within the Fathers love.

So, what is it that I now think of when I hear that phrase, be yourself?  Well, I think of how the Father will show Himself through me each and every day.  After all, the likeness of God is who I truly am {Genesis 1:27}.  How is it that I can be someone I've not been created to be?  When Philip inquired of Jesus to "Show us the Father," Jesus was correct in His response.  "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" {Johns Account 14:9}.  He was also correct in His proclamation that "I and the Father, We are one" {Johns Account 10:30}.  I can say with confidence that my life remains in God because it is the truth spoken in scripture.  Therefore, I can no longer simply be myself, but the likeness of He in whom I now live.  This is the essence of authenticity, that I would exemplify the Father in whom I live.  Yet I can already hear the chorus of dissenting voices out there who will say "Wait, is it God who behaves wrongly?"  To be fair, how we conduct ourselves has NO bearing on our true identity anymore than a misbehaving child is no longer their parents offspring.  The reality is that we all too often succumb to the desires of our flesh.  It is the flesh which is the container for the spirit of the Lord in which we now live {Paul to the Corinthians (1) 6:19-20}.  This flesh vessel is from and has been created by God, and is not our own.  Knowing this, it is our flesh which is also prone to the urges of the world around us.  Yet this in no way denies the truth that we now live within the Father.  What it does tell us is that we've at times accepted the desires of our own flesh over that of the Father.  So it is that when I think of being myself, I trust in the knowledge that the Father is shown through me.  If you see me, you've seen the Father. 

Or are you not aware that your body is a temple of the holy spirit in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you are bought with a price.  By all means glorify God in your body.

Paul to the Corinthians (1) 6: 19-20, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Through The Eyes Of God) #2082

 

 

Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God!  And we are!  Therefore the world does not know us, for it did not know Him

First Epistle of John 3: 1, Concordant New Testament 

I was once again reminded this morning through a message from the author Wayne Jacobsen of just how it is that God looks upon me.  Now, this has been a sensitive subject for me personally in the past, as my sense of self worth often revolved around my own physical appearance or how it is that those around me saw me.  Growing up, it was ingrained in me that I was nothing but a sinner struggling for Gods acceptance.  This was the message given to me from the pulpits of the mainstream church.  Therefore, it came as no surprise to me that I began to feel that this is indeed how the Lord looked at me, as a condemned sinner.  The deck had already been stacked against me.  I was a sinner, but somehow God loved me.  I was a sinner, yet He loved me enough through my sin to dispatch His Son to die for me {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  So, despite looking upon me as a sinner, God did love me.  That much I was assured of.  But if I was a sinner, why was it that God still loved me?  Hadn't I disappointed Him through my sin and disobedience?  Again, this was the church speaking to me.  I had no idea how it is that God really saw me.  You can imagine the damage that this way of thinking could do to a persons own view of God as well.  I saw God not as a loving Father, but as an overseer who judged me each and every day according to His holy standards.  How could I ever get on his good side?  Yet one passage of scripture began to get me thinking that I was seeing the Lord in the wrong way.  This passage is found in the Epistle of John where the apostle explains the one true nature of God.  That being, love {First Epistle of John 4:8}.  How is it if God is love that He could continue to condemn me?  Better yet, how is it that God could abandon His own creation?  These were the question that I began asking.  Not of those within the church, but for myself.  

It was not until I stepped away from the mainstream church that I began to see more clearly how it is that the Lord looks upon me.  Being free from the constant reminders of my sin freed me to see the Lord for who He truly is, my loving Father.  A Father who loved me enough to save me despite my condition.  A Father who loved me enough to create me in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  In fact, I would argue that everything which the Father has done in my life up until this point has been done out of His love for me.  Now, some might bristle at this thinking and bring up the obvious negative circumstances which we all go through.  But I would say that we do not see what God sees.  We are not privy to the behind the scenes knowledge that He is.  We're told that His ways are not our ways {Isaiah 55:8-9}.  God has never based His decisions on who is the most popular or most affluent.  No, God bases His every action based on his one true nature, and that is love.  In our limited understanding, we sometimes see an uncaring God in the midst of our tragedies.  This in no way means that God no longer loves us.  What it does mean is that we continue to see Him through the eyes of the world and not as a loved child of God {First Epistle of John 3:1}.  It has taken me some time to come to that realization that despite all that is happening in my life, that the love of the Father remains.  So, does God still see me as a sinner as the church continues to proclaim?  No!  It is written that I am His loved child.  It has also been proclaimed by Christ Jesus that my life remains in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.  When He looks upon me, He sees His beloved Son {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}.  No church ever taught me that lesson. 

Who rouses Him from among the dead, you also being dead to the offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He vivifies us together jointly with Him, dealing graciously with all our offenses, erasing the handwriting of the decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and has taken it away out of the midst, nailing it to the cross

Paul to the Colossians 2: 13-14, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Living Free) # 2081

 

Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day.  And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he doesn't want you to do.  And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time.  But he loves you.  He loves you, and he needs money.  He always needs money.  He's all-powerful, all-knowing, all-perfect and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money 

~George Carlin~ 

In my time in the church, I'd heard the phrase bantered around like some well intentioned catch phrase.  Freedom in Christ.  I was told that to know Christ Jesus meant that I would experience that freedom which comes from a life spent following Him.  Funny thing is, the same church which preached this freedom of Christ to me was also the same institution (Let's be honest, the church IS an institution) which saddled me with countless rules and traditions I needed to adhere to in order to be free in following Jesus.  How is it that I could be free in following Jesus while I continued to be burdened by the traditions of the church?  Yet one of the things I have learned along my journey to truly knowing my life within Christ is that I was following the wrong path in my younger days.  For instead of seeking Him first and foremost, I was following the instructions of man.  I believe that the calling of the pastor is one of the most honored of vocations.  That being said, it is also the preachings and the teachings of those pastors which misled me in my journey to truly knowing Jesus.  Therefore, I could not fully know Jesus while I followed the teachings of man.  As a result, I could not know that freedom which comes from living in Him while adhering to the theology and traditions of the mainstream church.  As Jesus has proclaimed, one cannot follow two masters {Matthews Account 6:24}.  Yes, one cannot treasure God and money, but I also believe that one cannot follow the teachings of the church and fully know their life within the Father.  That is not freedom.  I also believe, as it was for the apostle Paul and myself included, that knowing the truth of our life in Christ comes not from book learning but from the revelation of the Father {Paul to the Galatians 1:15-16}.  As one prominent in the ranks of the Jewish Pharisees, the man Saul never knew the truth of his life in Christ.  What he did know were the teachings and traditions of the Jewish elders.  To those like Saul, the teachings of Jesus were considered blasphemy.  However, it was the revelation of the Father which introduced him to the truth of the Lord Jesus.  It was that revelation which led him to the freedom of a life lived in Christ.

I spent some time pouring over verses in my study for this writing.  Paul has spoke that for our freedom Christ Jesus has set us free {Paul to the Galatians 5:1}.  Paul speaks to being free from the yoke of slavery (Sin).  He also speaks to the truth that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 3:17}.  But this seemed odd to me, as Gods spirit is everywhere we see.  The spirit of the Lord surrounded Saul as well, but he never realized his freedom in Christ until his own "Come to Jesus" moment on that road to Damascus {Acts of the Apostles 9:1-19}.  So it is that by the revelation of the Father that a man dead set on the persecution of the followers of Jesus was brought to his knees through the truth of Christ Jesus.  This revelation didn't occur in some synagogue or through traditional religious teachings.  Likewise, my own revelation didn't come from some Sunday sermon or church tradition, but from the Fathers revelation of who I truly am in Him.  As with Paul, my own revelation didn't come in the church, but one of the most unlikeliest of places.  Standing outside the door of a local strip club one night, it was God who reminded me that "This is not who you are."  As with Paul, this experience turned my world upside down.  In time I would come to realize that freedom cannot be found in the halls of man-made religion.  True freedom in Christ comes from knowing our life in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.

As free, and not as having freedom for a cover over evil, but as Gods slaves 

Peter to the Dispersion (1) 2:16, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~