Category Archives: Extra Thoughts

Fear Contradicts Faith

“Anxiety is fear. When you are in fear it means you don’t believe God.”
Bill Winston, twitter 10/18/2020
Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, [a]the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].
Hebrews 11:1 (AMP classic)
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You cannot have “assurance, proof and conviction” of the reality of God’s unlimited and unmerited supply of love, power and provision to you and still say you are “anxious” or fearful. It does not mean you have no faith, but you cannot claim a mature faith with fear.

You cannot say “I have “assurance, proof and conviction” of the reality of God’s promise that Jesus became poor for me so that I could be rich (2 Cor. 9:8, 8:9),” and still experience anxiety about financial provision.

The same is about forgiveness of sins. You cannot say “I have “assurance, proof and conviction” of the reality of God’s forgiveness of all my sins, once and for all, in Jesus, and still experience anxiety, when approaching the throne of Grace, to ask for help and goodies.
The same with healing, (etc.)…(etc.).
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Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
(1 John 4:18 NLT)

Biblical Politics!

How the does Bible demonstrate what is the Christian way to deal with Politics?
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The disciples prayed Psalm 2 to the Father, and moralized it to ask God to give them healings, miracles and abundant spiritual powers to “judge” the government. God responded back, “It’s all yours,” by giving then what they asked. The point here to consider is that God approved of their prayer and how they wanted to deal with an overreaching Government. You can pray this today and receive because we know God approves of it.  God gave their eschatology and doctrine of government, His stamp of approval. Odly, most religious fanboys, will implore any other way to deal with the government, other than the one way that Scripture records that has God’s positive approval. Plus Ultra Stupid!
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Acts 4:18-31 NLT
18 So they called the apostles back in and commanded them never again to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? 20 We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”
21 The council then threatened them further, but they finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God 22 for this miraculous sign—the healing of a man who had been lame for more than forty years.
The Believers Pray for Courage
23 As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. 24 When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— 25 you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying,
‘Why were the nations so angry?
Why did they waste their time with futile plans?
26 The kings of the earth prepared for battle;
the rulers gathered together
against the Lord
and against his Messiah.’[a]
27 “In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. 28 But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. 29 And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. 30 Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
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31 After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

Seek Yahweh and His strength

Seek Yahweh and his strength; seek his face continually!..
He is feared among all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens…
strength and joy fill his dwelling…recognize the Lord,
recognize that the Lord is [valuable] and strong.
Then say,
“Save us, O God of our salvation; that we give thanks and.. [value] in your praise.”
–1 Chronicles 16:11, 25-26, 27-28, 35
(LEB and NLT). [ ] -by author, (value for glory).

“God’s Will,” – Is, A Fish for Fish

If [animal sacrifices provided by the priest] could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared…

For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

Our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so.

For he says,  “This is the new covenant I will make
with my people on that day,  says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.

Then he says, “I will never again remember
their sins and lawless deeds.”

(Hebrews 10:2,10,12,14,16)

First we will discuss what “God’s will”[1] necessitates here, and Secondly, dive more into what it means for “God to be our God” and “we His people,” which is stipulated in the  new contract.

Hebrews points out in more than one place that the result of “God’s Will,” (for us to be holy), is for us to approach His throne of grace and receive what we ask of Him

The first mention is in Hebrews 4. What is the application for knowing our high priest has redeemed us? The idea of having peace with God is the ability and position to approach God, in His throne room of grace, to ask and then to receive the help we are asking for. There is no way to spiritualize this away. It is about receiving what we are asking for. Jesus when talking about prayer to God, teaches us something that opposes eastern religious like Buddhism (etc.). Such paganistic religions teach us that even if we do not change God’s will in our prayer, we have changed inwardly for the better, by seeking God. People who say such things are spiritual perverts. They are deceived and blind. Jesus contradicts this superstition about prayer and God, by teaching us that God gives a fish for a fish, and the Spirit for the Spirit. Let Buddha be damned, and Jesus and His teaching be highly valued.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you, if his son will ask him for bread, will give him a stone? Or also if he will ask for a fish, will give him a snake? Therefore if you, although you* are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? Matthew 7:7–11 (LEB)

Since it is God’s, and not man’s definition that a “good” God gives you the very thing you ask for, anyone who teaches otherwise is spouting a doctrine taught from demons. Some bark up like mad dogs that, “what if you ask for something bad?” Yet this is not a relevant point because James says if you ask God for evil things (“God help me murder this person”), then you are God’s “enemy,” and so prayer is the least of your concerns. Since I am addressing Christians or those who at least claim to be so, and not sworn enemies of God, I will ignore logically non-relevant points. Thus, if you ask you will get what you ask for, Jesus says, in more than one way, in case we missed it. What Jesus is doing here with prayer, is the same He is doing throughout the “Sermon on the Mount.” You have heard it said “do not murder your brother, but I say to you, do not do it, even in your heart.” When Jesus teaches on judging people, His point presupposes that you are able to judge your brother, and to do it without hypocrisy. You do this by removing the wood from your own eye first. Some wicked fools say, “you cannot judge without hypocrisy”; yet, Jesus contradicts this in His sermon. He teaches the true ethical standard God demands for judging, and He expects His disciples to do it. It is good news to see in the new covenant, God promising to give us ethical power, “I will write my laws in your hearts.”

In this context of Jesus repeatedly correcting the low opinion of people’s thinking on God’s commands and standards, Jesus talks about “prayer and faith.” Thus, when we see Jesus saying, “if you ask God in faith, you get the very thing you ask for,” then we can infer the presupposition behind it, at least in the broad sense; and so, Jesus’ teaching is in opposition to the people’s low opinion of what they think prayer and faith should accomplish. It seems little has changed in 2000 years, for who can find a person who values and does prayer the way Jesus demands it? The Jews had a perverted and low view of prayer. From the Mount, Jesus corrects their error and describes the true ethical standard that God commands about faith. Whatever the low valuation of prayer the Jews had, it was not to the standard of, “if you ask in faith, you will get what you ask for.”  Jesus is expecting and demanding, (just like He demands us to not even lust in our hearts after another woman), to pray and get what we pray for.  Jesus in essence says, “You have heard it said, if its God’s will, then you might get what you pray for. But I say to you, It is God’s Will for prayer, if you ask in faith, you will get the very thing you ask for, because God is the good Father.” This is the type of Being we are dealing with. You must deal with Him and not someone else. Do you know Him?

Back to the two passages in Hebrews.

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most,”
(NLT Heb 4:16).

Next, after several chapters of doctrine and theology about how Jesus accomplished salvation, Hebrews 10, starting in verse 19 gives us the conclusion or result.

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.

By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.

And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise,”
(Hebrews 10:19–23 NLT)

God being faithful to His promise is in context of the New Covenant. We will talk more about this later.

Here we are again seeing the same thing. Since in “context” of Hebrews 4 defining approaching God’s throne is about getting answers to our prayers for help, it therefore, does not mean the opposite here. The end says, “for God can be trusted to Keep His promises.” The promise that He will not remember our sins, and that He will be our God who loving gives us help when we ask for it. The emphasis is on two points here by the preacher. One is the category fact or truths. You are holy in Jesus right now. You are beloved and stand before God without Him remembering your sins against you. The second, is that you stand firm, believing these truths. You stand believing you are categorically holy, righteous and a child of God. That you believe you can boldly walk into heaven and push the door of God’s throne room open, and then you ask like a beloved son, for Him to help you. And that you stand believing He is the Good Father as He defined Himself to be in His word, so that He will indeed give you bread for bread.  The first part is always true, due to Christ’s finished work, whether or not a particular Christian has weak faith about it. However, if one has strong, unmoving faith about Jesus’ finished work, then truly you stand before God and He will answer your prayers.

The point is that Scripture makes the logical (or necessary) connection from Jesus’ atonement that makes us holy, to boldly going to God and getting “fish for fish, healing for a healing,” when we pray for help. Because the connection is not merely sufficient but necessary, then it is a “modus ponens” logical connection. If Jesus made you holy by His body, then you necessarily have access to boldly receive the things you ask for in faith.

If these two are necessarily connected, and they are according to Hebrews, then the logic of modus tollens applies. That is, if you deny the consequent you deny the antecedent. If you negate the application, you negate the foundation. If you negate getting our requests answered at God’s throne, then you negate being made holy by Jesus’ body. Novices play with the Bible like its play-dough. Their pet theories and traditions are not harmless when they make mistakes. They condemn themselves and turn the body of Christ in a spiritual casualty, in order to be fanboys of the past.

So to summarize, Hebrews knows no gospel that does not bring a person who is already perfected and “holy” to the throne of God, to ask and receive what we ask for. “God’s will,” is thrown around much today, but rarely do I see it used how the Scripture uses it. The preacher says it was “God’s Will,” to make us holy; however, we learn more.  There was a pre-determined point for why God desired to make us holy and perfected. The necessary result (or a previous in order Decree of God) is a person, according to Hebrews, who by faith (who assents they have been made ‘holy’), stands at God’s throne, to ask and receive what they ask for. The conclusion is obvious, it is “God’s Will” for you to stand in faith, with your head held high, before His throne, to ask and receive a fish for a fish, mercy for mercy, son for a son, health for health, wisdom for wisdom, wealth for wealth, inner strength for inner strength, protection for protection in your time of need. To say this is “not God’s will,” is to logically say it is “not God’s will” for us to be made holy by the body of Jesus Christ.

Many educated people feel proud of their intellect and academia, but in their fanboy affirmation of the past–such things as cessationism and things like “only if it is God’s will” (negating God’s promises)—they expose themselves as plus ultra perverts. They think they know logic and knowledge; however, deductive logic, like math and truth, is not flexible. They try to bend the sword of truth to pervert it; however, they only end up impaled on it. Leave these voodoo practitioners, and return to standing firm in the truth that you are holy, and standing before the throne of grace. God made the world and defines His world as He wants. His Word defines you as already a holy child, who when you ask for help, then you will get the type of help you asked for.

The “Will of God” is that He is your God, and you are His people.

We just discussed the connection of God’s Will to prayer in His throne room (in context of Hebrews), now we will further look at this connection within the new covenant.

Hebrews 8 when quoting the Old Testament about the details of the New Contract says,

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

(Hebrews 8:10 -quoting Jeremiah 31)

Hebrews 10 reveals it was “God’s will,” for us to be made holy by Jesus’ body. Then a few verses later it quotes Jeremiah 31 (the new covenant promise) as proof for this, “I will no longer remember their sins.” However, it is important to remember to read this in context. Hebrews 8 quotes the fuller promise of the God’s covenant with the Elect, from Jeremiah. It mentions that “God is our God, and we are His people.” The logical connection is the new covenant. It was God’s Will for us to be made holy by the body of Jesus; the way this is given is the promise of the new covenant. In other words, if it is “God’s Will,” for us to be holy, which is a new contract promise, then the new contract is “God’s Will.” Also, God is not under any pressure or obligation when He makes a promise. He is the only being who has intrinsic self-existence, self-freedom and self-definition. Thus any promise He makes is by definition “His Will,” because in total freedom and foreknowledge and power He made a choice. Also, the new covenant was stipulated by God and not man, thus, it is perfectly what He wants, or the perfect stipulation of “His Will.” This contract given in oath of Jesus’ blood, promises that God will be our God and we His people. What does that mean? This is important because it is “God’s Will” for Him to be this to us. And it equally, God’s Will, for us to be this to God.

Isaiah 41:10 says regarding God “being a God to His people,” which is a commonly quoted promise verse (as it should be) says,

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

About king Hezekiah it said in a more indirect way through king David, however, the point is the same, God is Hezekiah’s God, and Hezekiah is God’s people.

“Return; you must say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, ‘Thus says Yahweh the God of David your ancestor, “I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. Look, I am about to heal you.” 2 King 20:5

However, the first major stating of this phrase and an explanation of its meaning is found in Leviticus.

 “I will look favorably upon you, making you fertile and multiplying your people. And I will fulfill my covenant with you.  You will have such a surplus of crops that you will need to clear out the old grain to make room for the new harvest! I will live among you, and I will not despise you.  I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people.  I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high,
(Leviticus 26:9-13 NLT)

This is a foreshadow of the New. That is, what you see here is much more so in the new blood oath, by Jesus Christ. The freedom from the slavery of Egypt is in the, New Contract, about us being freed from sin. Freedom from the conscience of sin and from Satan’s oppressive accusations, because God remembers them no more against us. So much so, we can march in the throne room of heaven to ask from God what we wish, “with our heads held high.” But that is just one part of “God being our God, and we being His people.” As being freed from Egypt is the foundation for the other blessings, so too within New Covenant. That is, God’s promise is NOT blessing them with surplus crops in Egypt, but in the promise land. Their blessings awaited them in the promised land, not in Egypt. They needed freedom from the yoke of slavery first. Jesus does this for us in the New Contract. He frees us from sin and its guilt, so that He has a righteous foundation to lavish all His other blessings. Our promise land is not so much a place, for it is foundationally being brought near to God. There is however, a place for Jesus’ throne, and yet, the scripture says we have already (past tense) been raised and set with Jesus at God’s right hand. . In 1 John 3 he goes so far as to command us to keep our thoughts where our lives are at, and our lives are not on earth, but are already hidden in Jesus, who is at the Power’s right hand. Thus, even if one wishes to make the promise land heaven, our lives are there. John also says in chapter 4 that “as Jesus is so are we in this world.” Jesus with awesome power, frees us from the law and Satan’s oppressive accusations against us. Now, He gives us a surplus of the Holy Spirit for miracles and healings; which is to say, since we are already in the promise land through Christ, Christ therefore, pours the promise land’s and kingdom’s power into us on earth by the Spirit. Paul even says Jesus became poor for us, so that we might become rich, by His substitutionary death (in context it is decisively about money). Thus, Jesus multiplies our bank accounts and barns, because, in Jesus, our lives are already connected to the promise land. Our lives are even connected right up next to the Power, because our lives are connected to the valuable Person who sits at the Power’s right hand. If the blessings were so great in the Old Contract, then much more now when the Promise Land we are connected to  now, is the true heavenly one! He pours over us an ocean of unmerited favor that is all for the taking by faith. How could someone be so depraved, so as to despise the oath of God, confirmed by the blood of His Son?

“For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.”

MADE holy. This causality is God’s doing, and it is His promise. To be holy relative to or “before God,” is more than not being punished. In Ephesians 1 it says holy and “beyond reproach.” This means we are perfectly moral and flawlessly ethical before God, so much so, we are beyond even the hint of an accusation against the demand for absolute perfection. By the body of Jesus, this is now our reality, “BEFORE GOD.” Even if our sanctification is not perfect, it is a non-logical point, because God considers you holy and righteous before Him. And God is not fickle or emotional like man. He promised to treat you as holy and righteous and not something else. Thus He interacts and treats you as perfectly and morally righteous. However, our holiness and righteousness by the body of Jesus, which we have now, is a God-level holiness, because it was performed by Jesus Christ and given to us. And so, our position with God is not us standing somewhere in the back corner of God’s throne room or somewhere even farther; rather, our position NOW, is with Christ at God’s right hand. Do you understand the position you have now in Christ and before the Power?

Christ being at God’s right hand, presently enjoys and partakes of the goodness that rightfully belongs to being in that position. Yet, we are now with Christ! Thus, to be made holy by Jesus, is to be a partaker of the holy God, now.

To be made holy is similar to how Paul said that we were made righteous in Christ in Romans 5:19.

“For just as through the disobedience of the one man,
the many were made sinners,
so also through the obedience of the one,
the many will be made righteous (LEB).”

By God’s sovereign control over His own creation, He authored and caused Adam to sin, and then by this He caused all mankind to be made into sinners by His direct and absolute causality. But the reverse is also true, but much more. God sent His Son and by His righteousness (holiness) God caused the elect to be made righteous. God is sovereign. Man has no free choice relative to God’s control on the ultimate level. God without asking humanity, and humanity not being free from God’s causality, made them sinners. Then God made some of them into His righteousness. However, there is even more to this sovereign control of God. In the New Covenant, God, without our consent and without us not being free to do otherwise, also made Himself to “be our God” and “made us to be His people.”  This New Contract is a packaged deal. If you negate one part, then you negate the rest.

To see what this means, consider the woman bent over for 18 years. Jesus said, because she was a daughter of Abraham it was “necessary” for God to heal His daughter. God was God to Abraham, and Abraham was God’s people. This is why Abraham was victorious when he defeated the 5 kingdoms and was blessed by Melchizedek, and why the other non-people of God were defeated. To be a true child of Abraham, means God is your God. We are so today in Christ (Galatians 3). This is a categorical truth. Recall an earlier comment about logical connections. A logical connection is only about “necessary” connections; logic is not about sufficient ones, for there is no valid inference with only sufficient connections.  Thus, Jesus said it was “necessary” for God to heal this woman, and not merely a good or sufficient reason. If God promises to be your God and you are part of His family, it is “necessary” for Him to benefit you with the goodness He promised.

Not in another place, or in a different time, but here and now, God is our God and we are His people. Act like it. Receive from your Father’s table. If God put you at His table (i.e. in Christ at God’s right hand) then it is God’s Will for you to partake of the fatness of His table. You have heard it said that God disciplines His legitimate children, and this is true; however, the other side of the coin is also true. Taking food from your Father’s table is necessary for you to prove you are His legitimate child. Illegitimate children cannot ask and get what they want from God. You, take and eat. This is what the sovereign God has done. This is the type of Being His is. These things already belongs to you. It is NOT God’s will that you do not take it. It is His will, that you ask and receive what you ask for, knowing God is your God and you are His holy beloved child.

Endnotes——————

[1] I will not deal with the teaching that “God’s Will” can categorically mean two things in Scripture, for I have done that elsewhere. For a quick read, then see Vincent Cheung, “Ezekiel 18:23 and 33:11.” The problem I often see is that most make a category error by mixing these two categories up. Conveniently, this fallacy is most often made when people try to avoid Jesus’ demand for us to get what we want in faith.

The Tree of Endless Power of Life

First Garden of Eden:

A lesson of Faith. A lecture man failed. God said, “Do not eat this tree of knowledge, it will kill you.” Satan, “did God really say that; does God really know what He is talking about? Look! Consider it from your observations, does not this tree look good?”

Mad did not have faith in God. Man had faith in his observation, being enticed by Satan.

The Second Garden of Christ:

A lesson of faith. A lecture many men still fail. God said, “This tree of righteousness, and this tree of endless power of life, and this tree of healing, and this tree of prosperity, and this tree of Abraham’s blessings is yours to freely eat by unmerited favor.” Satan, “did God really say that: does He know what He is talking about? Look! Consider it from your observations, do not these trees look too good to be true, for a sinner like you?”

Many men still have no faith in God. Men believe their observations, being enticed by Satan.

Jesus: “I Am Surrounded by Perverts!”

Luke 9:23–24 (LEB)  And he said to them all, “If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me, this person will save it.”

Luke 9:40-41 (LEB)  … they were not able to [cast out the demon].”

So Jesus answered and said, “O unbelieving and perverted generation! ⌊How long⌋ will I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here!”

Here is a simple question. Who does Jesus call perverts? Our societies, will use that word to describe particular people; however, since God is our intellectual foundation and Jesus is our salvation, it should be rather important to note who they call “perverts.” To pervert something is to make something curved when it was straight, or to make something that was running efficiently, to now run in a malfunctioned manner.

Jesus in Luke 9 says that famous quote about taking up your cross and following Him. To lose your worldly life, but find a new and better one in Him. Thus, with Jesus in a close context of saying this, and if He was going to use the word “pervert,” then one might suppose He would find a man caught with a hooker, and say, “look, this pervert has not taken up his cross to follow me.” However, that is certainly not the case here in Luke 9. Rather, the Scriptures found it important to highlight Jesus using the word pervert, but in a different context. Again, Jesus is still in near context of saying, “take up your cross and follow Me.” And soon later He points out some “Perverts,” who were not faithfully, taking up their cross. What we learn from Jesus’ use of a pervert is that bearing one’s cross is more than the obvious ethics of, do not murder, and help the poor, (etc.). To carry your cross, is to carry “faith.”

The followers of Jesus were asked to cast out a demon. This takes a level of faith to do this. In fact, dear readers, including you, how many people do you know that if Jesus ask you to cast out a demon, you have full confidence you/they can do it? This is the context that Jesus followers found themselves in. Their faith failed to produce this “goodness in the land of the living.” When it was exposed to Jesus that His personally trained disciples could not perform this basic act of ministry Jesus yells out, “O unbelieving and perverted generation!”

And so, the “perverts” were His very own apostles and other followers. Jesus discovered His disciples were not taking up their cross (putting off their old worldly unbelief and self-weakness), and following Him (putting on the new man who is filled with faith, courage and heavenly power). To carry your cross, is to carry miracle working “faith.” This Kingdom of God, or the new creation of the Christian, is a straight line. This straight line is faith, courage, and power. For a Christian to be weak, unbelieving, and fearful, is to make this straight line curved and bent. It is outright perversion.

Jesus yells out in public that His disciple were Perverts for not having the faith to cast out demons and work miracles. Imagine if that was you on the receiving end of Jesus’ outburst? What if you were being yelled at, in front of other people, by Jesus, that you are a pervert for not having faith to work miracles? Would you still follow Him? Would you be offended? What if you were hoping for Jesus to find an adulteress man to shame for not taking up his cross, when it was you He shamed for not taking up your cross, because you are a pervert who could not work miracles by your faith?

Thank God, the disciples did not leave Jesus. They received His rebuke, and continued to look to Him for help. One day not soon after, power came down from heaven and clothed them, so that even their shadows were more effective in ministry than entire churches today will ever be.

The Eye of Yahweh is Watching for Those Who…

Behold, the eye of Yahweh is on those who fear him,
on those who hope
for his loyal love to deliver their soul from death
and to keep them alive in famine. (Psalm 33:18-19 LEB)
.
Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is put out of sight!
Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,
whose lives are lived in complete honesty! (Psalm 32:1-2 NLT)
——–
God is pleased when we not only look to Him for spiritual love to forgive us our sins, and remove them, He is also pleased when we seek Him for help, prosperity and deliverance. Our verse mentions “to keep alive in famine.” Isaac planted in famine, in faith toward God’s promise to Abraham, and God gave it a 100 fold increase. That’s more than barely getting by. That is abundance. Regarding us seeking God for material help and blessing, it is said that God is actively looking for such people. How eager must God be to help, if He is already standing on the watch tower, peering over and actively looking and scanning, if anyone would only but ask and believe Him to be faithful to His promise. He wants to help more than you want to be rescued and blessed.

“…I will Be YOUR GOD, & you will be MY PEOPLE…”

Hebrews 8 quotes Jeremiah 31, which is prophesying about the terms stipulated in the New Covenant, or contract. There are 3 basic points of this contract that God is making with the elect through Jesus Christ the mediator.

First, is the cornerstone aspect of forgiveness. “I will not remember their sins anymore.” Later the writer of Hebrews puts it like this, (paraphrased), “When I forgive you of your sins, there is no longer a need for a sacrifice.” This teaches the finality of the issue. To put this into an analogy. Imagine you have sinned again today in that besetting sin you are fighting.  What do you do? If you think to yourself, “I will not talk to God for a while today and just read my Bible, then I will feel better for God will see me trying, and then I will pray to Him.” The issue with this is that you just “sacrificed” to get back in reconciliation with God.  Our covenant or contract with God ensures there is no longer sacrifices for sin, so that you can be reconciled to God. It is final. What this means, is that from God’s part, He never sees us as apart or distant. If you feel this way, it is a lie and you are deceived by Satan.  Hebrews 6 says it is impossible for God to lie. This is stating a category error. Just as it is not possible for a circle to be a square, it is not possible for God to lie. He is truth, and all His revelation is truth, without blemish. God’s agreement is that He considers us reconciled, thus we are. Period. As Hebrews also says, this new agreement is the forgiveness/forgetfulness of sin, not the conscience of sins. One way to see if  you are mature in believing what this covenant means is when you sin, can you see yourself, in the next moment opening the doors to the majestic throne room of power and march boldly to God almighty (before the watching eyes of elders and angels) and ask not only forgiveness but also for prosperity and blessings. If not, then you are relating to God as if you do not have a covenant with Him.

Second, is about God being our personal teacher and tutor. Some people pay high prices to get the best tutor for their children, whether it be in math, music or sports, so that they might be the best by being trained by the best. How precious it is to see written into the new covenant that God will be our personal trainer! 1 Corin. 2 Paul says, “No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.” God becomes our tutor, not by proxy, but by putting into our spirit, His very own Spirit. The one who knows God, is God’s Spirit. God gives us His Spirit. Paul later says in a category statement, “You have the Mind of Christ.” What is interesting is that Paul starts this section off by saying this is about maturity and mature wisdom in God. Then Paul’s main point about God’s teaching us, by having His Spirit put directly into us, is that the Spirit will help us know and receive all the unmerited goodies God is giving us.  What does it matter if you are poor or rich, talented or not, if God is your personal tutor, then there is no limit to how great you can become in the kingdom of God.

Third, which is the biggest part of the new covenant says, “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” This last stipulation in the agreement is huge! It includes all the promises of goodies, blessings, healings, heirship, sonship, helps and prosperities that cover the span the whole Scripture. Take for example the blessing of Abraham, which was based on God’s unmerited favor. Paul in Galatians 3 and 4 says this blessing is part of Jesus’ atonement for all those with faith. Therefore, it is part of the new contract. God is Abraham’s God, and Abraham is God’s people. This is seen vividly in the Exodus account. Pharaoh and the Egyptians where not God’s people and God was not their God. Rather, God was their enemy, and they were enemy to God. Israel was rescued and Egypt destroyed because God was God to Israel and Israel was God’s people. In fact, the last judgment was God killing the first born; this was the positive/direct action. The negative/indirect was God passing over those, to whom were His people, as He was on His direct action to kill His enemies.

Consider when Jacob admitted he was wrong, but then demanded, even physically fighting God, to bless him more. How can that be? God promised to bless; it is that simple. Without anyone influencing Him, God in total predestination and desire made the promise, because He wanted to. It is impossible for God to lie. God is not a man. He is actually faithful. Yet, the promise to bless Abraham was confirmed by the blood of animals, and the worm Jacob was able to fight God to bless Him more; however, in Christ, the blood of God was used to confirm His new contract with us! How much more will God bless us, when both the blessing of Abraham and Jesus is given to us, and confirmed by the blood of God?

Whether was King David or women like Hannah, they were all helped, blessed, healed and clothed in prosperity because God was their God and they were God’s people. All those promises they applied to them, are to be applied to us with even greater force. Psalm 103? Yes, it is yours in the new covenant with God. All your sins forgiven, all your sickness healed, all your needs met, and your youth renewed. David applied this to him under Abraham’s promise. How much more now under Christ’s atonement.

Vincent Cheung recently came out with an essay on our contract with God.[1] Vincent makes a point about this contract, that I had not considered in such clarity before.

He says,

To use marriage as an example again, whenever my wife asks for me she does not have to wonder if I would support her in that instance. Whenever we meet someone she does not have to wonder if I would prefer him or her over my wife this time. The act of forming the marriage covenant meant that, by this one motion, I had decided how I would treat her in every case in the future. If I had intended that I would decide how to treat her on a case-by-case basis, or on a day-by-day basis, I would not have formed the covenant, because it would be meaningless, and in fact there would be no actual covenant. It would be a contract that carries no terms, no conditions, and no promises. There would be no contract…

…The very point of a contract is to prevent decisions to be made on a case-by-case basis. The very reason for it is to declare the will of each party for future events. There is no need for a contract if one can discover the will of another only by observing what the other person does in each instance. By definition, a contract guarantees that one would know what the other person will do before he does it…

…God has a contractual right to approach us at any time to make demands on us. This is what it means to have such a contract. This is admitted without hesitation, but the reverse is also true. We have a contractual right to approach God at any time to make demands on him. Jesus said this in various ways to his disciples, repeating the teaching again and again. He said that if we would remain in him, or if we would ask in his name, then we could ask for whatever is our will, and it would be done for us, or given to us… If we do not believe that we can approach him like this, then we do not believe that he can approach us like this either.”[2]

Jesus on the night of His betrayal, in John 14-16 said, over and over and over and over and over, that his disciples are to ask for anything they wish in His name, and they will get it. In John 15 Jesus makes it clear, this includes all disciples because the point is about bearing fruit for the Father’s value. Those who do not remain are thrown into the flames of hell. As Vincent says, by contractual right, those who remain in Him are to ask and receive anything. By this the Father is publicly valued in the world. These are Jesus’ words and teaching. Thus, the context is for all disciples or followers of Jesus, who remain in Him. This is right before Jesus gives His famous high priest prayer. He is telling us the necessary outcome of His death, which in His blood, ratifies the new contract. Jesus is saying, you do not need to guess if I will answer your prayer on a case-by-case issue; rather, I am promising that I will always behave in this way with you. If you ask you will receive. If you seek you will find. The conditions of the contract are stipulated this way. As Vincent points out the obvious (which I had not myself considered carefully), a contract is about avoiding the whole situation of a “case by case” issue. In fact, that is how you treat outsiders. That is how you treat non-spouse. That is how you treat foreigners and aliens. That is how you treat those who are afar off.  This is like saying, “it’s a 50/50 chance.” A  contract is a guarantee that God will not treat you case-by-case; rather, its a promise that if these conditions are met (and in this case Jesus meets the conditions for us, as our substitutionary atonement), then you can pray for anything, and God will give it to you.

When I make a contract, let us say for a subscription, or house rental, I know how the other will react every month, and they know how I will react. I do not guess if Netflix might give me access to login, on a case-by-case issue every time I login. I also have no doubt, if they might or might not charge me, on a month-to-month case. The whole point of a contract is to know in precision and guarantee how the two parties will react.

Isaiah 53 says that Jesus bore (the same Levitical word in Leviticus 16 for the escape goat, and same word used in 53:11-12) our sickness. Our sickness was confessed on Jesus and then He bore them outside the gate to the place of the Skull. Thus, the necessary outcome in the contract is found in James 5:15 “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick…” Jesus says that the bread of Abraham’s blessings is healing and necessary for Abraham’s children. It is necessary, because it is bound in blood in contract.

God, apart from the fact He is the sovereign God, on the basis of the New Contract is able to make demands on us. We were purchased with a price. Our bodies and new souls are a temple of God, and God demands we treat them as such. God, on this new contract, made a demand for Peter to feed His people. Peter, along with the other disciples demanded that God would apply Psalm 2, (which was not directly about them) to them, and God, on the basis of the new contract with them, applied Psalm 2 to them anyway (Acts 4).

The 3rd stipulation of the New Contract

Jacob: Lord Bless me even more, despite that I am a worm.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Joseph: You meant me evil, but God meant me good.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Hannah: Lord give me a son and take away my reproach.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Samson: Sovereign Lord, remember me.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Elijah: Rain, stop. Rain come back.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

David: Lord give me strength to destroy my enemies.
God: I am your God, you are My people.

David: Forgive me.
God: I am your God, you are My People.

David: Prosper me and give me success.
God: I am your God, you are My people.

Jabez: Lord prosper me and protect me.
God: I am your God, you are my people.

Ruth: Lord, you will be my God, and your people my people.
God. I am now Your God, and you are now My people.

Blind man: Lord heal me.
God: I am your God, you are My people.

Woman bent over for 18 years: No record of her even asking.
God: I am your God, you are My people.

Roman Centurion, outside the timing of the New Contract: Lord just say the Word.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Canaanite woman, outside the timing of the New Contract: Lord, there are still crumbs.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Unnamed man healing in Jesus’ name: be healed in Jesus’ name.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Peter: get up little girl.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Peter: You have lied to the Holy Spirit, and so you will take your last breath.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Steven: I see God on His throne.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Paul: Fill these Gentiles with the power and baptism of your Spirit.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Paul to the Corinthians. Jesus became poor so that you can be wealthy and help those who need it.
God: I am your God, and you are My people.

Rahab the Harlot: God is not with my people, but is with yours; let me join you.
God: I am now your God, and you are now My people.

On the Day of Atonement the blood was brought in to be sprinkled on the mercy seat. Today, Jesus is on the right hand of God, and sits in a throne of power and a seat of mercy. It is as if God took His heavenly pen and dipped it in the blood of His Son (even the blood that came from “by His stripes we are healed”), and penned the New Contract with it.

“This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—

an agreement confirmed with my blood,” (NLT 1 Corin. 11:25).

    1. I will not remember your sins
    2. I will be your personal tutor.
    3. I will be your God and You will be my People.
      (…those who are in this contract may ask anything in my Son’s name, in faith, and they will have it.)

Endnotes—————–

[1] Vincent Cheung. “Our Contract with God.” Web. July 2020. www.vincentcheung.com

[2]  Vincent Cheung. “Our Contract with God.” Web. July 2020. www.vincentcheung.com 
( https://www.vincentcheung.com/2020/07/21/our-contract-with-god/ )

Faith, The First Theology: “God did Say?”

The Lord God commanded the man,

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;  but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman,

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”[1]

What was the first school lecture, or first doctrine taught by God to humanity? Relative to how we read our Bible, the first might be said, to be ontology (referring to God creating) or to epistemology (God is “revealing” that He is created all things). However, what I am referring to is what is relative to humanity (represented by Adam and Eve). That is, when God stops and gives the first personal lecture to humanity, what is this about? Or, when God’ holds the first school class for all of mankind, what does God teach in this first class? God does not contradict Himself, for He is the Logic (Logos) itself. God cannot lie. God is super smart. He literally is the source of all knowledge and treasure of all understanding and wisdom. When the King of Ages gives the first lecture to man He created, what is this pivotal knowledge? What is the opening lecture that sets the stage for all other teachings afterwards?

The first lecture is agreeing to what God classifies as true; or that is, the first lecture is about faith. God creates all things. God even created categories that do not exist and from scratch, designs them, creates them and then places created things into His own created rules (or order) and categories. God even created the invisible mind of man, and the invisible thoughts and invisible knowledge of man (Romans 2:15). If only Plato could have turned from shadows dancing on a cave wall, to the King of Ages, then he would have found the source of all categories that he was looking for.

In one way, the Scripture is heaven’s dictionary or encyclopedia for mankind. After God creates all things, all categories and sustains them by His power, God then publicly gives descriptions or definitions to what He created.  God points to the thing He created and says, “this is its definition, engage with this created thing with the definition I give it.” God considers a particular point of reality and says, “this is its category, this its name, and this is the reason I created it.”

Normally, if I were to start with a systematic theology, I would begin with epistemology; however, for this topic we start with metaphysics because of the context.  The reason we normally start with epistemology is that if knowledge is not possible, then knowledge about creation, categories and the nature of faith does not exist.  Without knowledge, there is no point in teaching about the knowledge of metaphysics and the knowledge of ethics. There would be nothing to say and nothing to think about. Once knowledge is possible in a system-of-thinking, then we can move on to knowledge about reality and knowledge about ethics. For this essay, we will assume epistemology (for more see, Vincent Cheung, Systematic Theology and Ultimate Questions).

On one hand, “faith” just makes sense in the context of the Christian system in a pragmatic way of looking at it. If God created all things, then He gets to define the things He created as He so wishes. Thus, if we do not interact with God’s reality with His correct definitions, then our interaction with reality will be defective, unsuccessful and unreliable.

However, there is more to it than the ontological interaction, for there are moral definitions and consequences in this reality God created. For example, faith is itself an ethic, because God commands faith. Even with the gospel of Jesus Christ Paul says in Acts 17, God has commanded all to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Ethics is what you ought to do. Faith is what you ought to do; thus, it is an ethic. All ethics are from God’s command.  Therefore, we need to quickly go over what is an ethic, and what is responsibility.

As with ontology, there is nothing more basic than God Himself. Thus, a doctrine of privation is a blasphemy to describe evil, because it makes something other than God more foundational in regards to existence and causality.  If evil results from the privation of God (and God is good), then God is not the most foundational ontology in existence.[2] The same is with responsibility. If God Himself is responsible, then God is not the final authority. It would mean if you take the Christian God away, there is another God behind God. God would not be God. Responsibility presupposes an “authority over you.” There is no one over God by definition and by revelation of Scripture. God is therefore not responsible for anything He does. Therefore, Moses says, “All God’s ways are just,” (Deut. 32:4). If God moves His pinky finger, then it is by definition a just and righteous action. God is said to be just because He is faithful to His promise and revelation. However, God is consistent in this way not because He is being held accountable under a higher authority; rather, God’s Nature itself makes it impossible for Him to lie (Hebrews 6:18). Its like saying God’s nature is a circle, and a lie is a square. A square-circle is a contradiction; it does not exist in the mind or in reality. It has no being. God is truth, and so, He cannot lie.

God created all things, even categories themselves. He upholds His own creation by His power, within the categories He created. He has revealed to man what He has created and why He did so. God cannot lie, and so, what He has revealed is a precise and correct explanation of reality. God will sometimes change things in His own creation; He might get rid of some types of categories and make new ones. However, He has promised that all things necessary for life and godliness has been revealed to us. Therefore, all important ultimate questions about reality, and their changes if so, God has revealed to man in the Scripture. For example, there were no seasons before the flood, then afterward God changed it. God did it by unstoppable force and power. He then pointed to this new aspect of reality, and He revealed to us precise definitions of it.  The same is with the old Mosaic covenant, and new covenant made in Christ’s blood. God points to this specific aspect of reality and says, “this is the correct definition for it.”

How painfully obvious is the pragmatic effectiveness, success and certainty if we interact with creation by God’s definition of it.

As for human ethics, God points to man and says, “this is your definition, act like it.” God does the same thing, for example with a fig tree; however, the fig tree has no mind, so there is no relative level ontology to describe here in relation to a mind. As for man, even though God controls directly and absolutely all things, even man’s mind, God interacts with man on the relative level. God tells man, “this is my definition for you, interact and move within this description.” As for the fig tree, it has bark and leaves and does (if the scientists are right) the process of photosynthesis because it is the definition God gave it. The tree does not think about its own definition, because it has no mind. It was not made in God’s image. This does not mean, such things as trees are not accountable. Jesus found a fig tree with no fruit and cursed it. The tree was accountable for the sole reason that it was not free, but under God’s authority. The same is for man. However, man made in God’s image is able to think about reality and the truth about it.

Because God has commanded faith in His revealed definitions, man is not merely to think about reality; rather, man ought to move and behave within the definition that God defined man with. Mankind will be held accountable to this, because man is not free relative to God’s authority and command over Him.[3] Even the concept of what is value, if it is something man ought to value or not ought to value is an ethic, because it is about what we ought to do. That is, it is about God giving us a definition about some aspect of reality and commanding us to interact with (x) as something valuable or not valuable. It is based in God’s commandments.

This leads to a point of caution. The category of ontology/metaphysics is not the same category of ethics. The category error, of equivocating these two distinct categories, is the favorite pastime of many theologians. A description about metaphysics cannot logically/validly deduce into a conclusion of ethics(ought). It would not logically follow. It would not be an application of knowledge. Now, there is some connections between these, but they are not the same, and there is a logical order to the structure when thinking about them. Christian ethics work within the order of God’s sovereignty over all things, His revelation to man, His definition of man, and finally His command to man. God’s command is not only a definition about aspects of reality, it is a definition about God’s creation called mankind, and that God will hold man accountable to operate within this definition.

The Garden of Christ

This was the first school lesson for mankind. God gave His correct and precise description about what mankind is, to Adam and Eve. God said they will be accountable by His authority to interact within this definition. Satan comes along and tempts them to not agree with God’s definition. Satan in essence says, “Even though God created and controls all reality, should you trust His definition of it?” “Did God really say that about (x)….?” Satan appealed to things like lusting for more of something and pride; however, those were the symptoms, or additives. The foundational issue was about faith in God’s definition about His reality.

Two points.

One. God’s definition was correct, and Satan’s a lie. Just because someone says something in a sentence does not mean it is intelligent. I can say, “Do you really have to exist, in order to deny your own existence?”  I could say that as a snake, your pastor or a Greek philosopher, but the result would still be the same self-refuting nonsense. Adam did not have the Scripture, but he did have innate knowledge (God’s laws), that was not suppressed by sin. In order to overcome man, Satan, attacked his enemy with deception and lies.

Second. The foundation of Satan’s lie used a starting point of empiricism rather than God’s revelation. Adam had self-awareness. He knew he was created as an adult, and preinstalled with all the knowledge, logic and understanding by God’s power, and not Adam’s.

And so, Satan first injected doubt about God as a starting point. “Did God really say.” This is a negative apologetic attack, against God as an epistemology. Then Satan does a positive apologetic for empiricism. “YOU, look at how attractive this fruit is to benefit you.” Satan encourages man to start knowledge with “man,” and “how man sees and observes such and such.” Or for a simple contrast, The kingdom of God, versus, the Kingdom of self.  It is God’s revelation, versus, man’s speculation.

Paul in contrast to what Satan said, says the opposite, “we live by faith, not by sight,” (2 Corn. 5:17).” Paul further says in 1 Corinthians 1 that man by his wisdom did not know God. Next in Chapter 2 verse 4 Paul says by the power of the Spirit He gave a deduction (“demonstration”) (obviously from Scripture), so that the Corinthian’s faith, is in God rather than man. Major premises started from God’s word. Next, the Corinthians applied themselves to God’s revelation. The Greeks, which according to Paul, “seek for (human) wisdom,” could not discover God. The Greek philosophers had two main epistemologies (3 if you include the self-refuting skeptics): Plato as a rationalist, and everyone else (From Socrates to Aristotle) where empiricists. All these Greek epistemologies had one thing in common, they all started with “man as a starting point”. The only honest one was Plato who admitted that by his rationalism, he could not get to the realm of the categories(forms/logos).

So, whether in the first days of the Garden or in a New Testament Church, God is constantly teaching and reteaching this subject. We are to start with God’s revelation and believe His words; we are to do this over all human starting points (or non-God starting points). Seeing this is the foundational attack of our greatest enemy against us, should we not take time to consider it and make preparations to withstand it? Should we not practice with our divine armor and weapons so as to defend and defeat our foe?

Yet, it seems even preachers take more time in a sermon to explain why Jesus did NOT REALLY SAY, “I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will have it,” (Mark 11:24). Their exegesis is mostly about, “Jesus really did not say that.” It makes one think who side these preachers are on?

Here is the real issue. It is about deductions from the Scripture as our only epistemology. It is starting with God’s Revelation rather than man’s speculation. It is to say, “Yes, Jesus did say,” rather than to hiss out, “Did Jesus really say that”.

Those who question, “Did God really say that,” do not have a valid deduction from Scripture to say this. Instead they seek for a sign, or for human wisdom. But as Jesus says, an evil person seeks for a sign. They say, “physician heal yourself,” and proceed in informal fallacies of ad- hominem attacks. God is the foundation of theology, not man. God is the only first principle of Knowledge. There is no knowledge from observations. Wait?  Who was the fool that told you that knowledge comes from human observations?  Because God is the foundation of theology it is a non-relevant point if a person does not do what the Scripture says. If God says, then that is the only correct definition of reality.

They say, “Oshea heal thyself.” Or, “history for the past 1,500 years, “heal thyself.”” I have experienced some success in healing ( and I know others with better success), but that is not even relevant in a logical argument. It is an ad-hominem fallacy. What does God’s revelation say? They seek a sign that God’s word is true. They read in God’s book, “…God did say…,” but then they seek a sign for God to prove it. However, Jesus said even if someone from the dead comes back to preach to them, they still would not believe. Jesus did give these a sign. It is a book called the Scripture. Jesus stands before these sign seekers (reformed, traditionalist, non-faith-ers) and throws a book at their feet. Jesus points to it and says, “read and believe it and live. Disbelieve it and burn in hell fire.” Of course they hate this, because they want a sign to prove the book is true. And so, it is foolishness to them. Yet, the fact is, they have their sign. The issue is whether they will say, “yes, God did say,” or “this is what I observe and say.” Their sign seeking would make the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ day blush with envy.

They say, “I do not see this.” Or, in the past a bunch of pastors got together and said, “WE do not see these miracles or healings Jesus promised, and so WE come together to publicly say, ““God did not really say; He meant something different; this something different is what WE see and observe, and calculate.”” These are David Hume, empiricist sluts. They seek wisdom the same way the Greek philosophers Socrates and Aristotle did. Their starting point for knowledge is a human starting point. They produce major premises to deduce from, by what they observe or by what other men in history observed. It is a kingdom of men, a kingdom centered on self. Jesus’ wisdom to these, is the same for the sign seekers. Jesus stands before these human wisdom seekers and throws a book at their feet. Jesus points to it and says, “read and believe it and live. Disbelieve it and burn in hell fire.” This of course is foolishness to them, because they seek a human starting point, not a God starting point. God is not the foundation of their theology. And so it is madness to them.

The Garden of Eden was Great, But Yahweh’s Garden Is Better

In Jesus, our garden is the very Garden that is in Yahweh’s house. In this garden are all sorts of promises and fruits to partake. The golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides cannot compare. Let us sample some choice selections.

Jesus replied,  “Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.  But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!  When you produce much fruit , you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” (NLT). John 15:6-8.

Yes, Jesus did say.
Jesus did say you can pluck this fruit and partake of its sweetness. And in return it becomes fruit in your own life, that proves you are a disciple.

Psalm 103:2–5 (LEB)  “Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits: who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,  who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with loyal love and mercies, who satisfies your life with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Yes, God did say.
God did say you can pluck this fruit and partake of its sweetness.

 “And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins ⌊he will be forgiven⌋.  Elijah was a human being with the same nature as us, and ⌊he prayed fervently⌋ for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.  And he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the earth produced its fruit.” (James 5:15–18 LEB).

Yes, God did say.
God did say you can pluck this fruit and partake of its sweetness.

“Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,” ( Acts 2:38 NLT).

Yes, God did say.
God did say you can pluck this fruit and partake of its sweetness.

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, he will have what he says. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will have it.” (Mark 11:22-24 NIV)

Yes, Jesus did say.
Jesus did say you can pluck this fruit and partake of its sweetness.

Will you partake, or will Satan continue to lead you to seek more signs and more human wisdom?

———–Endnotes———–

[1] Genesis 2:16-17, 3:1

[2] Vincent says this well and has taught me on this subject. He says, “… This exposes the dangerous implication of the idea that evil is the mere privation of good. That is, if evil is the mere privation of good, and God is good, it would mean that evil is ontologically more basic than God himself. Since evil is necessarily associated with an entity, it could even suggest that Satan is more basic than God. Therefore, those who use this principle as some kind of theodicy or to distance God from evil not only ends up with a version of dualism, but also ends up with Satan as the supreme entity instead of God. It ends in blasphemy.

God is ontologically the most basic entity, and he is good. He is always good and righteous, and therefore it must be “good” that there is evil (although evil itself is evil, and not good). …

Vincent Cheung. “Evil and Privation.” From, The Author of Sin, 2005, pg 45.

[3] Gordon Clark and Vincent Cheung first taught me about his subject. Here is Vincent saying “… If God says something is wrong, then it is wrong to do it, regardless of the context or choice, and regardless of freedom. In fact, the Bible says that the non-Christian is unable to obey God’s law. If sin presupposes the freedom or ability to obey God’s command, or to not sin, then all non-Christians are already sinless, since all of them are unable to obey God, and they would require no salvation. However, it is precisely because they are sinful and unable to change that they need Jesus Christ to save them…”

Vincent Cheung,  http://www.vincentcheung.com, “Homosexuality and the Wrath of God.” Emphasis added by author.  Sermonettes Vol.5 chapter 20.

Stop Humping on Empiricism for a Moment

Isaiah 53 Makes Healing On Demand as much as Salvation on Demand, by faith, by the same accomplished atonement and intercession of Jesus Christ. If you negate one (usually healing) then you logically negate forgiveness of sins by the blood and intercession of Jesus Christ.

Some might complain, like a David Hume empiricist slut,[1] that this is not what I see and observe. Yet this presupposes that empiricism is a starting point of knowledge. Such a starting point would logically be a more foundational point than Scripture, because it would end up evaluating Scripture by it’s content. If you could stop humping on empiricism for a moment, then you might see the perverted rebellion and disgrace you are committing against God. I ask, when have the abysmal deficiencies of empiricism ever been answered? You know the Scripture gives infallible testimony of observations being wrong? You know this, right?[2] Ah, that’s right, you are already judging the Scripture with your observation anyway, so I guess appealing to the Scripture as a starting point, is wasted with a pervert like you.

You say that commanding people to have faith to receive healing that is given in Jesus’ bloodshed, puts too much of a burden on people? Are you serious? You cannot be that stupid. Wait, maybe you are? If you claim not to be a Christian, I cannot be judged by you, and so I do not care. If you claim to be a Christian then you have shared the gospel and done evangelism, correct? Ok. Wait, you still don’t get it do you? You have the audacity to burden people with the eternal state of their souls, being their responsibility to have faith in God’s atonement, or else burn in the torments of hell, and suffer eternal damnation. You burden them further by telling them that their loved ones (parents and children) have the same responsibility of faith, so that they are burning in Hell, if they lacked faith in God’s atonement.  Yet, you dare say that I am burdening people with the “temporary” responsibility of healing by their faith in God’s atonement? How dense can you get?

Christ Our Healer:

“That Isaiah 53:4 cannot refer to disease of the soul, and that neither of the words translated “sickness” and “pain” have any reference to spiritual matters but to bodily sickness alone, is proven by Matthew 8:16, 17 – ” . . . and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias, the Prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” This is an inspired commentary on this 4th verse of Isaiah 53, plainly declaring that the prophet refers to bodily ailments, and therefore the word “sickness,” choli, must be read literally in Isaiah.  The same Holy Spirit who inspired this verse quotes it in Matthew as the explanation of the universal application by Christ of His power to heal the body.  To take any other view is equal to accusing the Holy Spirit of making a mistake in quoting His own prediction.

From You and Me to Calvary

In the 4th verse, the word “borne” (nasa) means to lift up, to bear away, to convey, or to remove to a distance.  It is a Levitical word, and is applied to the scapegoat, that bare away the sins of the people.  “The goat shall bear (nasa) upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness” (Lev. 16:22).  So Jesus bore my sins and sicknesses away “[outside] the camp” to the cross.  Sin and sickness have passed from me to Calvary  – salvation and health have passed from Calvary to me.

Again, in this 4th verse of the Redemption Chapter the Hebrew verbs for “borne” and”carried” (nasa and sabal) are both the same as are used in the 11th and 12th verses for the substitutionary bearing of sin, “He shall bear (carry) their iniquities,” and “He shall bear the sin of many.” Both words signify to assume as a heavy burden, and denote actual substitution, and a complete removal of the thing borne.  When Jesus bore our sins, our sicknesses and our pains, He bore them away, or removed them.  Both these words mean substitution, one bearing another’s load.

On this point, permit me to quote from “JESUS OUR HEALER written by the Rev.  W. C. Stevens.  He says:

This prophecy presents healing as, an integral part of the vicarious Atonement . . . Now, whatever be the sense of these two Hebrew verbs (nasa and sabal), the same sense must be applied in both cases, namely, of sin-bearing and sickness-bearing.  To pervert the sense in one case would give liberty to pervert it in the other.  And that the sense of the verbs as relating to sin, not only here in this prophecy, but everywhere else in the Old Testament, is strictly vicarious and expiatory, no evangelical student disputes.  This prophecy, therefore, gives the same substitutionary and expiatory character to Christ’s connection with sickness that is everywhere given to His assumption of our sins.”

(FF Bosworth, Christ Our Healer)

—–EndNotes—–

[1] For more see Vincent Cheung: Systematic Theology, &, Presuppositional Confrontations, &, Captive to Reason. And See Gordon Clark, A Christian View of Men and Things.

[2] See, Vincent Cheung. Presuppositional Confrontations. 2010. Pg 70.