Paul's Passing Thoughts

Your problem with God is sin. That is what stands between you and God. However, the true definition of “sin” is a bit tricky. Freedom versus slavery is a dominate theme in the Bible. Now, so-called Bible scholars would say the Bible is using the slave/master motif to illustrate man’s slavery to his own sinful will and nature, but that’s not exactly true.

The fundamental problem with church orthodoxy and religion in general follows: it demands a strict dichotomy between the existence of God and humankind. It makes the only true freedom a freedom from this life. Mortals are in slavery whether they recognize it or not. They are, supposedly, enslaved to their own sinful desires by virtue of being mortal. Hence, there is no real freedom in this life—life equals slavery, and the only freedom is freedom from mortality. The church double-speaks on this by adding the phrase “in Christ” to everything. “Sure, oh my, yes, you are free…’in Christ.'” Translation: in reality, you are enslaved by your mortality, which is synonymous with evil. Jesus is merely a ticket to future freedom. We will let you assume we are speaking of the present in order to deliberately deceive you.  

This is Dualism: the material world is evil and the spiritual world is good. And, since mankind is material, he is inherently evil, or totally depraved. This is a core philosophy that drives all religion and politics. This is why the Evangelical church is getting in bed with Marxism. Fundamentally, they believe the same thing. It’s not hard to understand; during WWII, Communism was better than Fascism and the West took advantage of the division between the two. However, leaders like General George Patton recognized that once Communism was used to get rid of Fascism, we should have moved to eliminate Communism as well because both are anti-freedom. The church believes freedom is a misnomer; like Communism, it believes mankind cannot truly be free and too much freedom merely frees men to be more and more selfish. To the church and religion in general, political and practical freedom gives mankind more freedom to live out the unfettered slavery to total depravity. Hence, the church is either overtly Marxist, confused about the issue, passive, or all show and no go.

This also speaks to human value and ultimately, life value. If you value life, justice is important. Trust me on this: justice and life value are synonymous. The lawless do not value life. You may notice that people have an intuitive need to see justice prevail; that is directly related to an intuitive love for life that is infused into most people born into the world until their consciences are retrained by proponents of Dualism. The church is anti-abortion because it is confused about its own Dualism, but to a great degree, that is changing.

So, the rule of law is all about putting a value on life. Lawlessness dismisses justice because it doesn’t value life.

What does the Bible say about all of this? Well, yes, sin came into the world, but the world is still basically a good thing because God created it. The Bible DOES NOT make a strict dichotomy of good and evil being defined by material and invisible. Dualism is a philosophy that defines sin itself; Dualism is sin’s ultimate organizing principle. And, Dualism requires a middleman. Without a middleman, the individual is free to have a conversation with God directly and decide on individual conclusions. This totally upends Dualism by suggesting the individual has ability. We must have…watch for it…additional mediators between God and man because mankind is unable to understand God.

Dualism is the original political religious doctrine presented to Adam and Eve in the garden. “Did God really say?” Was the serpent not saying that he was a needed mediator between the two (Adam and Eve) and God? Of course he was. Am I saying, for all practical purposes, the serpent was the founder of the church, Communism, and the Democrat party? That’s exactly what I am saying. They are all saying the same thing, and any Churchian, Communist, or Democrat who doesn’t understand that is confused. In simple terms, in the final tribunal of God, every case involves one individual, and there will be no attorneys in the courtroom except Christ. But, as we will see, that analogy is good for this paragraph only and is far from the truth we are looking for. Nevertheless, it would be good to add here that this is the fundamental organizing principle that the founders of America understood: the ability of the individual and personal responsibility. Self-rule, if you will. Historically, this principle has been considered metaphysical blaspheme. But, the results speak for themselves.

The danger in this discussion is to devalue the need to be saved because the Bible indeed teaches that mankind is basically good. Humankind is basically good because God created it and everything God creates is “good and should be received with thanksgiving.” Every individual, according to the Bible, is born with the law of God written on their hearts with the conscience either excusing or accusing them according to their works. The human conscience is part of being created in the image of God. Whether or not an individual lives by their conscience is a paramount mental health issue.

So, while everything we see in the news and trending politics connect to Dualism in some way, what does the Bible say you should do? It says you should be born again. This frees you totally in the here and now. Individualism gives you practical freedom, which leads to a much higher quality of life in the here and now, but the new birth gives you complete freedom for eternity. Both saved and unsaved people do good works, but good works will not save you. Even Hitler did good works. The Bible says demons know the truth, but they aren’t saved either. However, with that said, I believe right motives do save you. Look, regarding the theological dark age we live in, what I refer to as the “Protestant Dark Age,” I do not believe God sends people to hell for not having their biblical ducks lined up perfectly. Fact of the matter is, it’s complicated stuff. On the other hand…

…love is about motives and sin is about enslaving others.

There is an interesting verse in the Bible that states the following: everyone who comes to God must believe he exists and is a rewarder of those who do good. The reward is not salvation; the reward is peace in this life and the life to come. The good doing is not to prevent consequences, but because it is the right and just thing to do, or it is how you would want to be treated. We don’t want to receive help from people who are being compelled do we? No, we want to receive help from people who want to help us, right? Right motives flow from a loving heart. Motives matter. I believe a desire to have the right motives is a godly motive as well. Love is closely connected to godly motives if not the same thing. Being born again can be experiential or non-experiential. I do not think perfect theology is the prerequisite for being born again; I think right desires are. In the Bible, a strong desire to control others is intrinsically linked to condemning sin, usually because you think they need to be controlled by yourself because you are better and smarter than they are.

For purposes of this article, we will look at one way the Bible frames sin. Sin is a master that is controlled by a desire to control others. There you have it; that’s how the Bible defines sin. Sin is a slave master utterly controlled by a desire to control others. The Bible then states what sin uses to control people: condemnation. It goes like this: “Since you are totally depraved, and a loser by my definition, you need to salvage what’s left of your miserable life by obeying my wisdom.” Now, it is interesting how “wisdom” is defined by Dualism. True wisdom understands that there is no wisdom. Got it? True knowing is understanding that man cannot know. True knowledge is knowing that there is no knowledge that can be known. Thinking that you can know is the epitome of arrogance in both the secular and religious realm. Definitive knowledge does not exist in the material realm. If you start paying attention, you will see this everywhere you look. Transgenderism, Common Core Math, the list goes on and on.

So, sin seeks to control you by proving that you are a bad person to yourself which leads to you relinquishing self-rule for your own good and survival. This, again, is everywhere you look, whether Critical Race Theory or a myriad of other trending fads. Self-rule is posed as the ultimate danger to humanity. Sin loves sin because it proves the point. Sin rejoices in evil. Where sin falls short, slander fills the void.

According to the Bible, Christ frees us by eliminating sin’s primary weapon: condemnation. No condemnation, no sin. No sin, no slavery. What the Bible refers to as “the law,” is really a very general term referring to all knowledge about salvation. In one respect, the law is good because it upholds life value and the value of what God has created through justice. In another respect, the law is condemnation, which is what Christ died to eliminate. This is not a legal loophole for those who want to use grace (God’s love in action) for a “cloak of unrighteousness.” Those who are born again aren’t looking for a license to sin, but rather desire to please God. Again, it’s about motives. With that said, our assurance comes from the fact that God has no law that can judge us. We are no longer “under law” but “under grace” (under love). I recently had a discussion with a Catholic about all of this. He is hoping that he has obeyed God well enough to make it into heaven.

Full stop. Many times, when the Bible speaks of law, in context, it is referring to what religions say the law is. In religion, the particular laws of a church fulfil the law of God and thereby prevents condemnation that damns one to hell. In other words, mediation through church authority. Only problem is, Christ cancelled all condemnation in all laws. I shared that with this fellow. “What are you talking about? Christ died to remove all condemnation from the law. When you appear before God, he will have no law that can condemn you.” ‘But I don’t keep the law perfectly.’ “Well, do you keep the law at all because you want to please God?” ‘Of course I do!’ “Well, there you go, the Bible says love fulfills the whole law, so, end of discussion.” In other words, all church does (whether Catholic or Protestant) is keep people under the fear of the law’s condemnation for purposes of pseudo-mediation.

The Bible also says that all people born into the world are born into the law’s condemnation. They are born “under law.” They are under condemnation. This doesn’t mean they can do no good; it means the good they do can’t save them. Since everyone is born under law, and Christ died to end the law, he died for everyone. The way the Bible frames this is interesting. The world only has two masters: Sin, and Christ—Christ has already purchased everyone’s freedom from the Sin master through his death. All those who freely except the purchase and flee to the other master who they rightfully belong to are born again. The Bible says we therefore die with Christ and are resurrected with him. This is the new birth. The old us born under law dies with Christ, and like all people who die, can no longer be indicted by law, and are resurrected to a new person who is free to serve the law in the ways of love with no condemnation (Romans 7). Of course, the new birth changes our heart to motives that match those desires. This moment of new birth may be experiential or not. What matters is what you believe and what you want to do. That’s what saves you and you don’t need a church or anyone else but Christ to do it. And, it is a one-time and for all-time event.

The new birth changes your relationship to the law from condemnation to love. What now guides your actions is the following question: is it an act of love? Not a concern for consequences; Christ died to end the consequences anyway. There are no consequences. This truth clarifies motives.

Now, if you make a foolish decision in the present day you may temporarily suffer the condemnation of a civil government. That is a whole other subject not being discussed here.

Another biblical facet of this is interesting. The new birth is a change of slaveries leading to a different direction and not a perfection. This truth can primarily be seen in Romans chapter 6. You are transformed from being enslaved by sin to being enslaved by righteousness.  You were formerly enslaved to sin, but free to do good, but now are enslaved to righteousness, and free to sin. In other words, slavery and freedom are switched leading to a different life direction, not necessarily a perfection. I may not be remembering this correctly, but I believe electrical current flows from negative to positive with the efficiency of the current being determined by the strength or weaknesses of the circuit. It’s kinda like that. The new birth changes the flow of current by reversing slavery and freedom.

In regard to how the new birth changes our relationship to the law, there is a famine in our land. In regard to truth about the new birth, a dark age. I hope this post is helpful in overcoming that. There is a true freedom from fear and condemnation in the present. Holiness is also present. We are to be holy as our Father in heaven is holy. The written code of the law is not the standard for that, the new birth is. We have this treasure in earthen vessels.

paul

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Bible prophecy was a keen interest of mine when I first became a Christian in 1983 and I have recently revisited the subject. As you know, I believe the Bible is inspired by God because of its consistent theme of justification by new birth as opposed to religion’s soteriology of choice, progressive justification, which throws biblical understanding into total chaos. The Bible is best understood by interpreting its words biblically to determine the meaning in context, and letting the words say what they say.

This is why I believe the next historical act of God will be a sudden and unexpected snatching up of living Christians from the earth. Though we do not know when this will occur, we can get an idea of how close we are to this event from biblical information compared to current events. The apostle Paul’s two letters to Christ’s assemblies in Thessalonica are key to understanding this.

But first, let’s establish the idea of a sudden and unexpected transport of living Christians from the earth to meet Christ in the air, or among the clouds. This was first revealed in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:

1Corinthians 15:50 – I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

Biblically, a “mystery” is something that God has planned in the past but revealed at some other time. A resurrection would not have been a mystery to the Corinthians or any other Christians at that time. This is something different. This is a mass resurrection of Christians who are still living. This is something previously not revealed: “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” Biblically, trumpets are synonymous with a public announcement or a call to assemble. “Last” often refers to the last part of an event that can vary in number. Some scholars believe “last” in this passage refers to a second sounding of a trumpet in regard to this particular event.

1Thessalonians 4:16 – For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Some suggest “last” is a second trumpet in this event that heralds the snatching up of living Christians in this same event. The dead in Christ will be raised “first.” This is a consistent literary construction in other biblical passages. Also, however, we are in a time when God’s people are specifically identified as ekklesia, or Christ’s called out assembly for specific purposes. The idea of a last trumpet could refer to a last grand gathering of the ekklesia with Christ.

When will this happen? The Bible gives us one clue: at a time when people think it’s not going to happen anytime soon or at all. We are in those times. The idea of Christ coming unexpectedly and snatching away his followers from the earth is widely mocked in the church and chalked up to spiritual immaturity. In addition, the Bible suggests that this return of Christ will come during a time of peace and prosperity. These are not going to be popular ideas during a time that we are in now, that is, a return to Martin Luther’s Theology of the Cross soteriology in the church, which makes suffering the driving principle for salvation and sanctification. “No pain, no gain,” so to speak.

Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians supply definitive information on this subject and this post is limited to that information. The unexpected return of Christ to snatch living Christians from the earth, referred to as “the rapture,” will occur prior to the day of the Lord which is a seven year period culminating in Armageddon. I believe the rapture itself will initiate the day of the Lord. In the best scenario I see presently, the “great reset” will FAIL in regard to COVID-19, but will prevail in regard to the panic and chaos that the rapture will bring about. This is because the rapture will not go unnoticed:

1Thessolonians 4:16 – For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

COVID-19 will NOT usher in the great reset, but will usher in the the intended technology that got all dressed up with no place to go. In this THEORY I am presenting, the present-day worldwide populist movement will prevail against the Orwellian “great reset” that is presently being foisted upon the world with the excuse being COVID-19. However, the rapture will be an apocalyptical event that will circumvent all reason and make the masses putty in the hands of the world leader who will emerge.

The rapture will not occur during the day of the Lord for this simple reason: the day of the Lord is a succinct seven-year period marked by uber-unique historical events and a very specific timeline. In fact, regarding when the day of the Lord is going to occur, Paul told the Thessalonians that it is a mute issue:

1Thessolonians 5:1ff – Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Paul’s point here is that Christians are always ready for the day of the Lord’s return and whenever it comes, they will not be taken by surprise like those who say, “Where is the promise of his coming?” and “peace and safety.” Throughout the New Testament, this point is belabored over and over again by Christ and others. The Thessalonians had received a fake letter stating that the day of the Lord had already come. Paul replied by reminding them that the antichrist would be revealed first, and then defining the day of the Lord by describing the major events that would take place during that time period:

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he clearly states that days or seasons are irrelevant because the time comes like a thief in the night who gives no clues as to a time or place and relies on the element of surprise. But, since the Thessalonians were being taught that the day of the Lord had already come, Paul points to events that mark the beginning of the day of the Lord and goes on to describe the whole time period. Specifically, what marks the beginning, middle, and end. Paul writes this to comfort them. If the day of the Lord includes the rapture, why would this necessarily upset the Thessalonians when it would indicate the rapture was near (within seven years at most)? NO, Paul was comforting them because they thought they had missed the rapture which means they were false converts. If Paul had taught them in this context that “through much suffering we must enter the kingdom of God,” and the day of the Lord was at hand which also means that the rapture was at hand, why would that shake their mind and cause alarm? Why would times and seasons be the issue rather than their attitude about the reality? And, once the beginning signs of the day of the Lord occur, where is the thief’s element of surprise?

Of course, some will say that’s the whole point: Christians are not overtaken by the day like they would be by a thief because they know what signs to look for. Then why would Paul say there is no need to discuss days and seasons because thieves don’t hint at when they are coming? And, while Paul was describing the beginning, middle, and end of the day of the Lord, why wouldn’t he specify where the rapture was going to occur specifically in that time period?

Also, if we want to rely on strict grammar to make our conclusions, we must ask what day Paul is talking about? The day of the Lord or the rapture? The context is clear: it’s the “day of the Lord” which is the whole seven year period ending with Armageddon. The subject is clearly the day of the Lord with the implications of that time’s arrival being the cause for alarm.

I would say the present-day populist movement ushering in a time of peace and prosperity is a likely scenario leading up to the day of the Lord. However, the ability of patriots, nationalists, and conservatives to recognize how a pandemic is being used to take control of the world is different than “The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing.” The worldwide populist movement is not a Biblicist movement; when the antichrist starts performing miraculous signs and wonders, all bets will be off. Populists will stand in line to receive whatever the mega church state (that the antichrist will be in charge of) tells them to receive. For example, conservatives like Tucker Carlson accept the possibilities of extraterrestrial aliens who have visited earth. If, by way of the antichrist being allowed to display miraculous delusions, aliens show up and endorse the antichrist, all present logic and politics would be thrown out the window; Biblicists would be the only ones capable of lodging a logical argument through what the Bible has predicted. Certainly, liberal versus conservative ideas would quickly become a thing of the past.

Another consideration follows: the antichrists is described as being “lawless”  or the “man of lawlessness.” At least in the United States, politics have replaced all principles. The Obama administration was completely lawless. I think Barak Obama, to some degree, is a snapshot of what the antichrist will be: a self-willed arrogant individual who completely disregards basic principles of right and wrong and completely disregards the laws of the land. This is the new leadership style we see worldwide; a total disregard for basic principles of right and wrong that are self-evident.

This would be my best guess: the present-day populist movement will usher in a time of worldwide peace and prosperity. If the Democrats successfully steal this election, their power will be short-lived and the populist movement Donald Trump has started will make a huge comeback within a couple of years. The result will be an unprecedented time of peace and prosperity worldwide. Then, the rapture will take place and that will do what COVID-19 couldn’t. The great reset, headed by the antichrist, will take place virtually unhindered.

paul

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