Paul's Passing Thoughts

via Calvinism’s Repenting Your Way Into Heaven and the Folly of the Election/Freewill Debate

Intentional action in reality is unavoidable. Believing in nothing but Jesus apart from any work is an intentional action. It’s work. Funny, those who propagate salvation without repentance also claim to reject predestination when this only makes a non-action salvation possible.

— Paul M. Dohse (@PaulMDohse) February 18, 2018

In unraveling the election debate, we must first determine the motive behind the doctrine; to remove ALL human agency from the salvation event. Once we understand this we can begin to draw logical conclusions that aid in a correct biblical definition of election.

— Paul M. Dohse (@PaulMDohse) February 18, 2018

Orthadoxy states that the only thing we can do to be saved is ask God to save us. But that’s doing something. Hence, we must believe that if we ask it’s only because God predetermined that we would. That’s the gospel of total inability which is “good news” without assurance.

— Paul M. Dohse (@PaulMDohse) February 18, 2018

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We sin when we do naughty things, but the Bible  has much more to say about sin. The biblical explanation concerning sin explains a lot that goes on in the world that would ordinarily be perplexing. In the devil’s endeavor to be God’s coequal, or perhaps even superior to God, he created sin, but sin is nobody’s slave. The event (creation of sin) is like a Frankenstein movie where the mad scientist creates something that he cannot control. Sin stands alone as God’s paramount enemy apart from the fallen angels. Curiously, while the debate rages as to whether or not God created evil, the Bible clearly states that sin is the offspring of the devil.

Sin is described as a master that seeks to destroy through condemnation. Sin’s ability to enslave is grounded in condemnation resulting in ongoing deaths ending in eternal death. Sin seeks to exacerbate mortality. Control lust, condemnation, fear, and death are sin’s primary characteristics exemplified by those under its enslavement.

The Bible also states that sin uses desires to tempt and bring about death. Present death on the installment plan can be described as a multifaceted subtraction from wellbeing. What the Bible calls “sinful desires” vary from person to person and can take on many different forms. Sometimes we are suddenly struck with a disturbing thought or desire that may leave us a little shell shocked and wondering what kind of person we really are. That’s sin at work. Self confident people who like themselves are difficult to control. What does sin use to create these desires? That would be a worthwhile study to pursue, but lastly on this point, the perpetual fulfilling (practice) of these desires leads to an increased intensity of the desire coupled with habit. This is what we commonly refer to as an “addiction.”

Christ, in contrast, also presents himself as a master. This is how the Bible explains the reality of all of this in human terms. The sin master pays death wages only, while Christ only pays life wages. Christ is a master that, in specific Bible terminology, enslaves us to righteousness. This also means that those enslaved to sin and those enslaved to righteousness can do good AND bad alike, but in the end, this only determines the degree or amount  of wages paid by each master. It means more or lesser life wages, or more or lesser death wages. Those who belong to Christ through the new birth have the wisdom to discern good desires (the desires of the Spirit) versus sinful desires and the power to say “no” to those desires. We are defined by the desires we have and the practice of them. The conscience created by God in every human (the works of the law written on the heart) born into the world also plays into this but will not be addressed in this post.

Let’s first apply this to racism. Sin, in its endeavor to control, will use ANY excuse to do so. This can certainly include anything different. Sin looks for an opportunity to control in every circumstance; so, if you are different in some way, that equals inferiority which means we need to control you for the betterment of mankind. Since you are inferior, your best contribution to society is to know your place and do what the upper crust of society tells you to do. And in some cases, intermingling with superior races can bring all of civilization to a lower  state of being, and perhaps threaten the very existence of mankind. We call this, “genocide.”

So, we now know that former President Barack Obama is a hardcore racist. How do we know that? He commissioned an artist to do his formal presidential portrait who has painted depictions of angry looking black women beheading white women. It goes without saying that this is totally unacceptable. Where is the collective outrage? A populous that has been effectively shamed will keep its silence. Hence, despots can do anything while the commoners best know their place and keep silent.

But is so-called “racism” the core problem? Not really, what this really means is that Obama is a despot at heart. His racism only seeks to control by shaming white people because some were despots in the past. This whole Black Lives Matter and other business like it is an overt attempt to control through shaming and condemnation. Does it work? Well, sure it does; Obama shamed his way into being elected by guilty white people. So, apparently, it is someone else’s turn to enslave others. And what is the final solution for those unable to fulfill sin’s control-lust? Murder, of course, as depicted by other paintings from Obama’s selected artist.

I am a big fan of TV shows like Forensic Files etc. A common theme you hear often in these shows concerns motives. Often, the culprits themselves confess that they murdered in order to experience the ultimate control high; deciding whether or not someone lives or dies. In other cases, they murder because someone would not submit to their wishes. Shunned lovers who can longer control a girlfriend or boyfriend also make the cut; “If I can’t have you, nobody will!” And in many cases, killers confess that they wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone. In other words, they DESIRED to fulfill that particular curiosity.

Do I think this dynamic is largely behind the mass shootings that we see in our day? I do. Frustrated with a life spiraling out of their own control, they partake in the ultimate act of control. When these people enter a no gun zone armed to the teeth, they feel like god; at that moment, they decide who lives and who dies. Do I think they are willing to trade in their whole lives in order to be god for maybe 20 minutes? I do.

None of these current events surprise me or perplex me; it is merely the dynamic of sin’s control lust at work. And if you look for it, you can see it at work in every level and venue of life.

paul

We at TANC Ministries have a lot of work ahead of us in unraveling commonly accepted traditions about self rule, particularly in regard to laity led home fellowships that replace church. The common intuition-like belief follows: a group of believers meeting together without some religious authority overseeing them will invariably lead to some kind of chaos. Some idea that humankind was created for self rule is deemed ludicrous according to commonly held beliefs that are, by the way, very ancient.

The real chaos and suffering had to be endured for thousands of years before the pain caused men to rethink all of human history. What was the result? A government BY the people and FOR the people. In short, a self governing model called America. What have been the consequences? For the first time in history, a government that has been a consistent force for good in the world.

True home fellowship, not church in a home, functions by the following principles: A fellowship is comprised of people who agree on basic principles that unify; It is a body with members defined by gifts that cooperate and colabor with each other to accomplish a common cause; A legal contract doesn’t determine membership, but rather one functioning as a body member. Your arm is a member of your body because it functions as an arm; Those gifted as teachers have no authority, but are able to persuade with that gift; Other than the basic unifying principles, every member is given the freedom to be persuaded in their own minds.

The real misnomer, particularly in America, is the idea that church members are really “under authority.” Curiously, authority is defined by obeying what we already agree with. That’s not being under authority. Moreover, when we reject what any given church teaches, we go to another “authority” of our choosing; ie., somebody we agree with. Is this really being under authority? Hardly.

However, worse yet, and more and more, the church is becoming a place where parishioners are truly under authority. What is that? By definition, a cult. Here is the true definition of a cult: the combining of faith and authority. That’s when things really get crazy because one’s authority becomes the measure of truth. Hence, when Jim Jones told 900 people to drink the poison, they drank the poison. Many didn’t want to, so why did they? Because obviously, he had authority over them. That, my friends, is authority, not the choice to follow someone on points of agreement only.

So, below is just another snippet from the church crazy train. If you are really under authority, you accept this pastor’s explanation and remain faithful to the legal membership contract. However, if  you do, you are also a consummate cultist.

If you leave by your own choice, or say you would in that case, please stop lecturing the unchurched about being “under authority.” You are not functioning any different than the unchurched in a home fellowship; you are just paying a lot of money for the privilege.