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}.
Norman Grubb ~ No Independent Self
Frequent any gym long enough and you will see them. The posers. Posers are those who will spend ample time between exorcises taking photos of themselves in whichever mirror is closest. They will flex whatever muscles they think that they have gained over the course of the past few minutes, putting themselves on display for all to see. You can almost hear them saying, "Look at me!" In most cases, the posers are trying to be someone they're not. But that does not stop them from trying to convince anyone who will notice them of who they think that they are. Now, some might ask me, what do posers have to do with religion and Christianity? Well, far too many believers these days are posers in their own right. For they put forth that image of someone they are not. I used to be among these posers, because it was who I was taught that I was. That the life that I lived was separate from God in heaven. That it was my own sin which separated me from the Father. That I was my own independent self. Well, this has been one of the lies spoken from the pulpits of the mainstream church for thousands of years. For we ARE NOT, not have we ever been, separated from God. But if you listen to any run of the mill pastor these days, the message being put out there is that we're living separate from the Father Who created us in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}. I recently ran across a video from well-known and disgraced Christian pastor Mark Driscoll who claimed that believers need to "Live their lives in a way which is pleasing to God." Now, this might sound a bit hypocritical coming from someone with Driscoll's track record, but this has been the predominant message from the pulpits for quite some time. That we, as believers, live our lives independently from the Lord who created us. Well, this is utter nonsense, and Mark Driscoll is simply another poser standing in the pulpit.
The author Norman Grubb sheds some light on the truth on the lie spoken by those within the church in his book No Independent Self. Grubb writes, correctly, that "There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe, except the One who calls Himself the I AM." But this truth has never fit into the narrative created by the mainstream church. The narrative that man is sinful, and that a holy God can never be associated with such sin {Paul to the Romans 3:23}. Thus, God has separated Himself from that which He has lovingly created. As I've said, this is simply not true, and it follows the lie spoken by the deceiver. It is Satan who has convinced the Lords creation that we can "Be like God" {Genesis 3:4-5}. Well, if there is but One independent self in Gods universe, how is it that we can be among that? If we have been lovingly created from the dust of the ground, how is it that we can be separate from God? From the moment that God breathed into us the breath of life, He has always been a part of us {Genesis 2:7}. So, all which we have to prove that we're indeed separate from God are the words of the deceiver, which is utter nonsense. And yet, a lie spoken often enough eventually becomes seen as the truth. So it has been with the separation theology spoken by the church. Jesus Himself has spoken to the truth of our life lived within the Father {Johns Account 14:20}. Yet those within the church will mistake the words of Jesus and claim that "In that day" we shall be within the Father, as if this were some future event believers have to look forward to. Well, that day is NOW! Contrary to the false teaching of the church, we do not live apart from God, but within His love. We can stand on the spoken word of Jesus that this is indeed true. We do not live as posers, but as the Fathers loved children {First Epistle of John 3:1}.
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
~Scott~
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