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~
Author Karl Clauson is living the lie. Clauson believes that sin is destroying your life. This week, a friend jokingly asked me to debate Mr. Clauson on this topic. In my opinion, I feel that it would be a waste of my time. For my own opinion on sin is radically different from his, or anyone else who adheres to the false separation theology preached by those within the mainstream church. The theology which speaks to the lie that it is our sin which has separated us from God. Think about that, God has allowed Himself to be separated from you. So what about all that talk that He would never leave us or forsake us {To the Hebrews 13:5}? What about the fact that Jesus has promised that He is with us until the end of the eon {Matthews Account 22:20}. Are we now to consider God to be a liar? Do His promises now mean nothing? Well, that is exactly what men like Karl Clauson and those within the church would have you believe. That salvation is temporary. That if we don't perform up to the standards of God that what awaits us is an eternity in the fires of hell, forever separated from God. And what's the difference, if sin has already separated us from God why does it even matter? It matters because it's all a lie, and it has been from the beginning. How is it that that which has been created ever be separated from their creator? Christians are quick to acknowledge that we have been created in the Fathers likeness {Genesis 1:27}. That He has breathed into us the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}. This is the truth we find in the scriptures. The popular belief among believers is that we have been lovingly created by a loving God. So, why would this loving God suddenly cast aside those He loves? Does He cast us aside, or is He loving and patient with us to allow us the opportunity to turn our hearts unto Him? The apostle Paul has spoken to the truth about sin in Romans. The truth that it is Christ Jesus Who has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:6}. That we should "Be reckoning yourselves to be dead, indeed, to sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus our Lord" {Paul to the Romans 6:11}. So, how is it that sin can separate us from God if sin has been defeated by Christ Jesus on the cross? Interesting question.
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"
Norman Grubb ~ No Independent Self
The author Norman Grubb would disagree, I believe, with the assertion which has been spewed out by the institutional church for generations that man has been separated from God by sin. For besides speaking to mans separation from God, the church clings to the belief that man is independent from the Father Who created him. This harkens back to the lie spoken by the deceiver in the garden. The lie which claims that if Eve were to eat of the fruit of the tree which God had forbidden, that "Your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" {Genesis 3:5}. Christians refer to this moment as "The fall," that moment when God turned His back on that which He had created. From that point on, according to the church, we have been existing outside of the Lord. We see this is the theology spoken by the church, that God is in heaven while mankind endures here on earth. Our prayers plead with the Lord to "Draw near to us." Like Karl Clauson, we're living the lie. Believing in the false narrative that our lives exist outside of God in heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth! It is Jesus Himself who has spoken to our life IN HIM {Johns Account 14:20}. The apostle Paul speaks to the truth that he is not separated from Christ, but that his life is IN Christ {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}. The truth is, that through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, that we have now been reconciled once again to the Father {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:18-20}. The lie spoken by the deceiver has been exposed. We can choose to accept the truth of reconciliation to the Father, or the lie that our sin separates us from Him.
~Scott~
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