John’s flaw still seen in some Christians today.

The disciple John, he is one of Christ most trusted friends and brother. So much could be debated about him, from how he lived, who was he, why Jesus is said to specifically loved him, why he was chosen among all others to write the most important book in the bible, and yes even the theories about this being Mary Magdalene and covered up. I mean, I have heard them all. But one thing missed about John, that I don’t hear talked about, is his flaw of worship. John was given a great honor. He was the only one chosen for the greatest task in biblical history. He was to see heaven and write the book of Revelations. To start off we must first understand the facts. John was taken to heaven, he was not given a dream or vision, he was take to heaven. John was shifted into the spiritual world in heaven beyond his current time. Basically John is in the future and his time doesn’t exist there. Time has no bearing anymore in heaven and it’s no longer A.D 95 because time only governs the physical world. Now, right away some might be confused because the bible says flesh can not inherit the kingdom of God. You would be right, but the word inherit doesn’t mean” no visitors allowed”. It means to be an heir, to receive the portion assigned to one, receive an allotted portion, receive as one’s own or as a possession to become partaker of, to obtain). This is not the same as someone taken there for a short period of time to be shown something. John was not given residency yet, so that concept doesn’t apply to John’s visit to heaven. And one of the biggest reasons why we know that he is in the flesh still is because of his nature and sin actions right in front of God himself. In Rev 19:10… 

Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

John, in front of both lamb and God, fell at the feet of an angel to worship the angel. The word worship means to bow, adore or to give Reverence to(something all Catholics should take note to). Here, it is tied into the act, as no words were said to the angel, but the action of bowing is what identified what he was doing and this act was corrected and explained. John, a disciple of Christ, taught by Christ, walked with Christ, knew the law, had just witness 18 chapters of Revelations knowledge and punishment of those who didn’t side with Christ, and here he is standing at the foot of God and his Lamb sinning. But what stands out as a  important fact is that he is a Roman Empire native. In his heart, as with all Romans Empire natives at that time, they were accustom to worshiping Deities and creating them out of men and other hand made items and totems. John was use to this way of thought and action and even in the face of God himself he chose to worship the angel. But we all make mistakes right? Well, this mistake happened again..Rev 22.8-9. 

 8I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.

Why would this happen at all again? Why would a man who just got corrected, standing in front of God himself continue to make the same mistake of false worship of angels after being warned not to prior, knowing full well Christ didn’t teach this? Most importantly, why is God’s holy spirit putting this much emphasis on this in the writing? Because it’s pointing out a very big warning for those like John who had the nature to worship people, angels and the like. It’s showing that because of where John was raised and the culture of Roman he had natural tendencies to worshiping beings other than God and to deify anything blessed or shown in favor. This could directly link back to John 1.1 some could argue. More importantly it shows that even a disciple actions aren’t perfect nor are they without flaw even in the midst of the God and his Lamb, Christ Yeshua. Ultimately, it shows that no matter what man, even an disciple, actions are, it should never compromise God’s commandments. This is why also what Christ says stands over what the disciples believed. He is the one who will judge all. Even Peter and Paul had issues with each other. So just because Peter did something or believed something, it didn’t make it ok unless the rest of the word of God backed it and Paul was very quick to stand against anything that stood contrary to the law and of the word of God, even if that meant calling out another disciple for being out of order. So before one considers bowing to a statue which the word says not to, or kissing the ring of the Pope to give Reverence to him or any other angel or prophet, remember…worship God Only, and then ask yourself who does Revelation Identify as God, or more importantly who do angels Identify as God when they made this statement? In Revelations Angels never Identify Christ as God. Yes, they are told to worship him by “God” but angels never Identify Christ as God, only the Son of God or the Lamb. If Christ was God, angels would not have to be told to worship him. This would automatically be due to him, with the approval of any other being. But again, more importantly than that, we really only need to ask Christ who he Identifies as God to really put this to bed..Rev 3:12…

The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name..

This is so concrete it’s almost shocking that we can read this and still force the false notions that this means that Christ is truly God Almighty or that anyone who agrees with what Christ said himself , is a false teacher or unsaved. How many times in that verse alone does Christ with his own confession use the term “My God”. There is great push and focus on this because Christ is making this very clear to leave no confusion, that he has a God. The same being you claim to be God almighty is flat out telling you with his own words, who he considers to be God almighty. Doesn’t this trump any other disciple’s or denomination’s opinion right where it stands? Who’s opinion do you stand on, man or The Son of God, and author of our salvation? I will always repeat what he says and believes. 
 

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Jesus and God(the term God not just Father) are shown over and over again as two different beings.

As you read the Bible over and over you always will find different things. Some of this is because we read what we want to see in scripture and not allow the scripture to tell us what we should see. I know this because it has happened to me. It has happened to all of us, especially when it comes down to our denomination. We are really quick to quote and attach man made up concepts and preach them as required truth for Salvation when the Bible never requires such. We have some denominations out there that flat out believe and confess that the Bible’s direction about how to worship and what to believe only stands as a second voice after what they do and believe, not the source for the direction for them to follow. In other words they believe they set what is right and accepted first then th Bible(Catholics). To me, that’s scary,  but not surprising. Everyone of us wants to keeps our views no matter how many times the Bible corrects that view. Tradition means more to us than the Bible. Tradition for most people creates our own version of God, while the Bible’s version of God remains pushed away or even unknown compared to the image we made up or preached about. The church will preach about the love of God but the Bible also tells us about the absolute soverity, control, and fury of God too. The Bible also shows clear distinct separation of God and his Son, The lamb , while man tries over and over again to ignore the hundreds of verses that separate them over and over again. 
1. Jesus counted himself and his Father as two, not “one.” John 8:17 and 18: “In your own law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father.” Jesus confirmed this truth in John 14:1 when he said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” There are literally hundreds of scriptures like these that set forth Jesus and God as separate and distinct beings. “Whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the son” (2 John 9). The Scripture clearly recognizes the Father and the Son, but not “both” of them as “one God.”

2. The Bible always portrays God and Christ as two separate beings. Examples are far too many to list, but a few are: When Stephen saw them just before his death, he saw “the son of man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56); the Church Epistles are authored by both God and Christ; God and Christ rule in the eternal city of Revelation (Chapter 21).

3. Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”John 20:17..Even Jesus tells others he has a God.. don’t you understand the weight of this statement. The risen Christ, with all power and authority “Given”to him tells Mary without doubt that she is to look at the Father as her God and even His. If you are to do this, truly do this for all that it means you can not believe in the Trinity or Oneness. If I can be condemned to Hell for believing Christ’s own words, then so be it. But last I checked Christ is the only one that determines this, not man,not even God, the Father, will judge, he has given that duty to his Son, the Christ and Lamb. And here again, the Bible clearly is making a clear separation of the two. Everything Christ has in power and authority is not his because he owned it , it’s only his because his father who is head over all things, including head of the Son, gave it to him temporarily. 1 Corinthian 15:24-28.

4. The Bible is clear that Jesus is the “image of God” (Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4). If Christ is the image of God, then he cannot be God, because you cannot be an image of someone and the real person at the same time. If you see a photograph of us, you see our image and you can learn a lot about us from it, but the image is not the real us. Christ is the image of God. 

The list goes on and on and on. Even the disciples like Paul open up his letters with clear separation from Jesus and God. What we do is take scripture like John 1.1and create some kind of hidden code for Salvation. Not having a indefinite article means everything in this verse but more importantly what was Christ view?

Traditionally, things like the trinity and oneness have been shoved down our throats for so long that we defend it with great passion and anger, all without one willing ear to listen or true examination. Why? Because the church has lied to it’s members to make them believe that when man, hundreds of years after the day of Pentecost and thousands of people who didn’t even know about a trinity or oneness belief, started coming up with philosophical debates and concepts to make themselves feel better and important, that this actually has a say in your Salvation. The trinity concept is man’s theory, oneness is man’s theory, even Arianism are all just men needing to make up theories about God to feel important. None of these views must be present in your mind or heart for the Power of Christ’s blood to forgive you from your sins. None of this is needed for your acceptance of Christ sacrifice/resurrection, and the confession of him being the son of the Living God to work for righteousness. If you can ever really see this it will free you from a lot of fear and bondage. Allow good translated scripture to show you truth through the power of His Spirit. Quote from it and believe on it not man’s denominational rules for Salvation or the biased translated versions of the Bible to push denomination. You just have to really study and accept his word not assumptions. But once you see this for yourself the scripture words that you have read your whole life will be seen clearer and your eyes will forever be open and you will wonder how in the world you skipped over that simple truth that the Bible shows us over and over, that Jesus too has a God. 

The most important message I could ever teach!

“By his stripes we were healed”

“But who do you say that I am?”

 

Sometimes in Man’s seeking of knowledge and to be seen and respected, they lose themselves to complicated theories and create their own Doctrines. This has been the path for thousands of years. Because of this, we have today what we see now…Denominations that stretch from one end of the earth to the other. As I have mentioned in my previous entries, I seek Christ without Man’s Theology. The Christ seen in the bible had no such requirements as man has placed on the church throughout the world. Everything from added requirements of Salvation based on creeds,  rituals, to the suits and ties that are worn in service have nothing to do with your salvation. Now, this doesn’t mean that there are no requirements from you for your salvation. You still must accept Christ and his sacrifice and resurrection and as he says himself, “if you love me, keep my commandments.  There is no such scripture that teaches you that those who are really for his kingdom got to continue in their sin’s and live for their flesh. “Be Holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). But where does the Salvation begin? It begins with one simple question? “Who do you say that I am?”. This is the knowledge and statement that the entire true church is built off of, as Christ said himself. The Author and finisher of our Faith have already told us the requirement of his Church, so who are you to add more. Have you thought about the simplicity of this question? Or have you allowed others to add more than what even Christ asked of Peter for your salvation? Look at this verse! Look at 2 facts about what the statement doesn’t say compared to man’s requirements.

1. Peter was not asked if Christ was God or a god. 
2. Peter was not asked to believe in or explain Christ as apart of a Trinity

Nothing about these issues ever came up during the whole ministry work of Christ. No one time did Christ bring to the table the concept of the Trinity, Him being God or a god, and or any other Theology debate that separates our churches from being one because of our denominations. The answer Christ looked for was very simple, He IS the Son of the Living God, the Messiah!

Let’s look at the Just and Merciful God we serve here, the God that is against confusion and look at our denominations that spread across this earth. We don’t represent anything close to what he describes as his Church. If one was just to use the scripture without trying to come up with theories and Philosophies to try and do God’s work for him we would be better off. What if you only quoted the scripture and lived by that scripture regardless if it interfered with Man’s ways, creeds, and theology? If I did that I can stand in front of God without fear of anything. If his scripture says Christ said “The ONLY True God is the Father” (John 17:3)and I quoted that scripture and taught that to others because that is what is said instead of trying to read into it and create other concepts, The God we serve wouldn’t and couldn’t condemn me for that. But if I take that same scripture and start creating other thoughts and basis for that statement elsewhere, then I’m doing something that isn’t needed or required of God and then it’s me who is doing this. This leads to sin and judgment especially if I’m wrong about that path. This is something God could judge me for. Where we fail is that we as a man, have to be able to explain everything(pride) to make it fit our comfort levels, the way our society operates now 2000 years later, etc, etc. We take that scripture and then put it up against another scripture in an effort to try and make it fit Man’s reasoning. And while this is needed sometimes, it isn’t when it comes to the requirement of man to do so connecting it to your salvation. Example: Isaiah 9:6 says Christ would be Called Mighty God. What man does is takes that scripture and John 17:3 and they try and make sense of the scripture’s seemly conflict. This then creates a theory base that spreads into other areas and before long what you have is a denomination based on two or more different ways to look at those scriptures instead of just accepting that they say this and leave it to God to explain once you stand in front of him. During my walk, I have found that if you look hard enough and unbiasedly, you will find something in scripture that could be used to support every single theory in every denomination on the planet. But the simple truth is the words in the scripture never change even if they go against those theories and denominations of others. The Words in the Scriptures are the same for the most part(different translations, of course, play a role) and if you can ever see that there is safety in them over trying to battle through the creeds and doctrines of man, you will find peace. Again, keep in mind, if you believe in only his Word and quote his Word for your direction in life, God will not Judge you for this. But if you theorize and create different thoughts and doctrines in your attempt to show you have figured it out and are wrong, you can be judged for this and God have mercy on you if you have led others down that road as well. Salvation begins with Christ being the Son of the living God and The awaited Messiah. It is completed in the faith that he died for your sins and rose 3 days and 3 nights later. Not one single scripture requires you to explain Christ as God, a god, trinity or anything more for your salvation to count.

 

Christ without Theology!

the·ol·o·gy

THēˈäləjē/

noun

the study of the nature of God and religious belief.

religious beliefs and theory when systematically developed.

Is it possible? Can we have this world please? Do you remember when you were saved by Grace and faith? Before the Greek and Hebrew text studies? Before the definition and need to say and repeat phrases like ontological Trinity, Oneness, and Arianism belief systems. Before you went out to debate with Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses because you just thought you really had them trapped in the corner, all the while you still had bones in your closet that you still needed to uproot causing them to represent a better view of God than you did. Long before you needed to be up front or have a position of authority in the church. Way back when you confessed Christ as you Lord and Savior? When you accepted him into your heart and all you wanted to do was to be closer to God through his Son and live holy? Remembering what it felt like to help others that needed help without judgement or shaming. Before you signed up for biblical study classes and studied prophecy meanings. Before you ever knew that there was anything called a literal translation of bible. Or before you even knew there was so many different bibles at all. You see, if you are like me, then you do remember these things. And if you are like me, you might have forgotten about what it was like back then because we are so weighed down with theology and man’s allegorical interpretations of scriptures. Now, that which is pure, innocent, and loving has been tied into Man’s attempts to define the One being that can’t be defined. What we had prior is what initially saved us. It is what is pure from Him. I personally have never felt a stronger connection to God than before theology became the center piece. And the biggest fact is that God never once required theology from us to be saved or to be his children. I just don’t see the need for a “Religious belief” if God seeks a “Relationship” with us. 

Church vs the World blurred lines.

Salvation: Today’s topic “Trust”

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