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-perfect, all-knowing and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money
~George Carlin~
A friend asked me the other day why I seemed so fond of quoting comedian George Carlin in my writings. Apparently he was a bit offended that someone would characterize the church in this way. My first question I asked him was, have you been to church lately? He admitted that he is a so called "Off and on" church attendee. The reason I asked him of his church attendance is because it goes directly to my point of quoting George Carlin in my posts. See, I spent many a year in the pews of the mainstream church. I have a dear friend who is himself a retired pastor. So, you could say that I have a unique perspective of what a few have referred to as the "Two gospels." Two gospels? Indeed, not many believers have ever heard of modern Christianity described in this way. On the one hand, we have the teachings of the mainstream church, which I was raised up in. On the other hand, there is the evangel of the apostle Paul, which more often than not seems to butt up against the separation theology spoken by those in the mainstream church. Most believers would seem to think that these two are closely woven into the teachings of the church, but when glancing at the evangel of Paul and what he is speaking, they quickly return to their mainstream church roots. For example, Paul has spoken to our freedom from sin {Paul to the Romans 6:10}. However, the theology spoken within the church speaks to my sin being ever present in front of me. So much so, that they speak to our praying for Gods forgiveness each and every day. My response to this misguided church teaching is this, what sin did Jesus miss when He died on the cross? For as He breathed His last, Jesus proclaimed "It is accomplished!" {Johns Account 19:30}. Jesus has given Himself for the death of our sin {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}. Not only that, He has given Himself "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}. Knowing this truth of the "Other" evangel of Paul, why must we continue in prayer for forgiveness?
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, Concordant New Testament
When I speak about sin in reference to the truth of the evangel of Paul, I speak from my own personal experience. See, growing up I lived in fear of an angry God not only taking away the salvation which He had promised, but that He would not find me good enough to spend eternity with Him in heaven. Again, this is what I learned from an early age while in the mainstream church. God was an angry, vengeful Lord, but He loved me. See the parallels to that George Carlin quote now? How is it that God can love me yet be vengeful at the same time? Isn't this a contradictory message? The truth of the Fathers one true identity can be found in the Epistle of John. It is here that John describes God as love {First Epistle of John 4:8}. Love, that's all. Once we realize this truth of the Father, the evangel spoken by Paul becomes more clear to us. It is through love that He dispatched His Son to give Himself for us. Make no mistake, WE were the guilty ones who needed to die, not Jesus. The love of the Father takes away our sin once for all time. That means our sin past, present and future. It is also through the love of the Father that our life is now in Him. Jesus speaks to this in the book of John {Johns Account 14:20}. When our eyes are opened to this truth of our life in Him, it blows the mainstream church separation theology out of the water. The truth is, we have NEVER been separated from He who created us {Genesis 1:27}. Although those in the church might try to tell us differently.
~Scott~
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