Paul's Passing Thoughts

In case you haven’t noticed, PPT doesn’t partake in much debate concerning social issues or more specifically, “trending issues.” And more and more, it would seem that society at large keeps pushing the envelope to invoke debate about a group’s particular stand or lifestyle.

I was provoked to ponder this reality once again when I stumbled across this article about a LGBT parade featuring parents who support their LGBT children. As a born-again Christian person, what do I think about that?

I think I speak about God and not for God. Christianity is not about authority. When professing Christians say God is judging America, here is what they are really saying: “God is judging America because you disagree with our interpretation of truth.” The whole “God is judging America” thing is a claim on God’s authority by proxy. You aren’t following us, so God is going to make you pay.

Claiming to speak for God creates all kinds of drama that distracts from the bottom-line. Life is about choices and freewill; and the fact is, every single human being that lives long enough to have a developed conscience will stand before God ALONE and give an account for their own life. Whatever life or worldview you want to bring to that gig is totally on you…it’s your choice.

Frankly, I am busy enough putting my own case together without meddling in yours. Hence, don’t make your choices about my “bigotry” ect., I am not your judge; God is. Now, if you like something you see about my program, I am more than willing to share, but I will not be making a case against your choices for you to defend…save it for God. And you know, maybe you’re right and I am wrong; ok, let every person be convinced in their own mind. Let every person be accountable for the sum total of their own lives; they are anyway.

More or less, this is Paul’s mindset in Romans 14 for keeping the peace in a home fellowship context. Of course, this also takes into consideration that law/standards/rules/judgement exist in the minds of every living person. However, don’t confuse this with boundaries that every individual has the right to set for themselves.

My right to set boundaries for myself in conjunction with God’s imperative to be happy is not judging you, but I will say this, many who make certain choices for themselves are really protesting about the personal boundaries I set for myself and falsely accusing me of judging them. So, what it ends up being is a demand to affirm their choices or else I am a bigot.

Hence, “amazing parents” who affirm as opposed to those who don’t, and worse yet, those who actually judge their choices. And interesting enough, the protesting and clamoring about for laws that protect against “discrimination.”

Therefore, I am just as concerned about a LGBT-state or any other stripe of statism as I am a church-state. Let us remember, there are a couple of bakers who have had their lives ruined because they refused to bake a cake for a gay couple. In all of this, merely refusing to judge is not enough, you must affirm their choices.

In the history of statism, this ALWAYS holds true; it is not enough to keep your peace and leave judgement to God, the authority always ends up going house to house demanding an allegiance to Caesar.

It’s almost as if silence itself is enough to condemn their choices even without speaking out against them….

…”almost,” that is. People who are comfortable with who they are tend to be silent about it.

paul

1Cor 15:26 Death NOT God's will ever; death=God's enemy. Christ died 2 end death+sin. Last enemy defeated is the source of all other enemies

— Paul M. Dohse (@PaulMDohse) June 10, 2017

Maybe more people would be saved if they had a clear picture of what salvation is. Protestantism greatly dampens the gospel by making God’s sovereignty the issue. If salvation is completely out of the hands of people, and people are the way they are because God made them such for His own glory (being glorified through the saved as well as the condemned), why worry about it? In many respects, this approach diminishes the gravity of the gospel.

On the one hand, you have a god who has chosen some for salvation and others for damnation, and this is determined by God making some vessels for glory and others fitted for eternal wrath. People will simply be aloof from the question of religion if God seems capricious because of His hatred of humanity. We hope we can find something else in the other hand.

All in all, though clothed in a scholarly motif, Protestantism is fundamentally mythological with two gods having separate agendas. God the father is a wrathful god who hates mankind, and Jesus is the loving savior god who saves us from being sent to hell by the demiurge god. Do you want to deny this? Rick Holland, former John MacArthur right-hand associate and heir apparent to the Grace to You empire wrote just that in his book, “Uneclipsing The Son” which was forwarded by the MacDaddy himself. If John MacArthur doesn’t represent mainline Protestantism, who does?

And in addition, the book propagates the Reformed tradition that decries the supposed problem of eclipsing Christ with the other two members of the Trinity. Shockingly, MacArthur himself alluded to this supposed problem in the book’s Forward. Instead of the Trinity fulfilling three different roles to attain one goal and a singular love for mankind, God the Father and the Spirit are presented as subordinates to Christ.

All of this nonsense actually decreases fear of God and makes salvation something God has done just for the hell of it or to sport with man. People not only reject the gospel as presented, they aren’t even sure they like God very much. At the very least, His message is unclear and confusing. But what if God loves mankind and gave His only Son to purchase all people for salvation? What if God is a loving God who is offering the gift of salvation to every person, and saying no is tantamount to rejecting the paramount gift from a God who defines all love? Everyone likes love. What if you offered a gift to your wife and she said, “I don’t want it”?

What if “We love Him because He first loved us” means that God loves all people and wants their love in return rather than, “The only reason we love God is because He preselected us.” According to this interpretation, unless God creates some to love Him, none would. Is that because if God created people with freewill His character wouldn’t invoke love? Or is God merely incapable of creating people with freewill? Or does He stop short of that because the results would be unpredictable?

Furthermore, I believe the verses that seem to indicate preselection (an ancient mythological concept to begin with) seem to do so because we have been brainwashed by the traditions of men. What is not within our control is to give birth to ourselves or to make the gift possible, but that doesn’t negate man’s ability to choose the gift. Protestantism makes the ability to choose, the issue, rather than man’s inability to make the gift possible. Salvation is not something man can purchase, it is a free gift.

Wouldn’t all of this Protestant nonsense sell better if inability only pertained to salvation which then resulted in ability to serve God along with OSAS (once saved always saved)? Remember, in Protestantism, inability extends to the “saved” as well because salvation is a “process.” Yes, it would probably sell better, but then what would we need the church for? While you might answer, “for edification and spiritual growth,” that incentive isn’t strong enough to support the monstrous infrastructure of the institutional church and the creature comforts of those who think the following: God is using them to save humanity from itself. No, no, a theology is needed that supports necessary RMR (reoccurring monthly revenue).

And by the way, most unbelievers suspect this is the case.

“how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will” (Hebrews 2:3,4 NIV).

When God and His salvation is clearly seen in contrast to the traditions of men, the gospel is not only attractive, but compels people to fear if they neglect it because God paid an unimaginable price to secure a gift offered to all. If one is not sure the gift is even offered to them to begin with they will likely be uncompelled to address the issue.

And what is the issue? You supposedly commit your life to the church for a chance to obtain eternal life, or to decrease your time in purgatory.

When it’s all boiled down, it’s the gospel of, The only way to the Father is through the church where you have to come at least every Sunday and hear about what a sinner you are and give 10% of your income and hang-out with boring people who judge you.

That’s why people aren’t being born again and churches are chock-full of modern-day Pharisees who ridicule Pharisees.

paul