This space contains information relating to your questions...
Brothers and sisters in Christ! Thank you for entrusting me with your thoughts, problems, and questions. As I am guided by the Holy Spirit writing to you, I pray that you may also be guided by Him as you are reading the following teachings.
The answers to your questions are not based on the teachings of any particular denomination but on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As the Spirit gathers His People so also He gathers the scattered truths from the different churches. For further information see Question 9.
The following answers and statements are not provided for leisurely readings but for instruction. "There are some things in them, very deep, and so not to easy to understand..." (2 Peter 3,16) While you read them - pray and meditate. These writings are inspired by the Holy Spirit - He will guide your study of the following pages. It is a gradual process - do not be discouraged! Remember that I am providing you with meat and not with milk. Compare 1 Corinthians 3,2.
It is important to realize that all Christian study must lead to a deepening of Christian life! The Word of God must become 'flesh.' Without this our life remains sterile and so fruitless...indeed "the seed fell along the path..." (Luke 8,5.12) Live what you learn! The Holy Spirit will support you in becoming Christ-like! Compare Philippians 3,10-16.
Are you walking with the Lord? Remember - He never promised a smooth passage but He has guaranteed a safe landing!
To log into the other sites - apostoliccatholicchurch.org; remnantchurch.info; lastdispensationchurch.com; philadelphiachurch.info; davidkepha.com or thepromisedland.nameclick on No.1 or No.2 or No.3 or No 4 or No 5 or No 6 or ...
Further instructions:
My domain proprietor recently changed its system. As a result there are some changes in my domain also. That is, the instruction I just gave you 'click on..." and the domain will occur is right. But if you go into any other domain you will encounter the following: 1. clicking on the desired chapter it will occur. 2. clicking on the desired chapter and on the very top of your screen the chapter's title will occur. You have to click on it there. 3. If these did not work you have to scroll down yourself to the desired chapter.
1. http/members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/apostoliccatholicchurchorg.htm This web-site contains guide-lines preparing you to receive (renew) the Holy Spirit into your life and will guide you Christian living.
Introduction to Genuine Christian Life: Let yourself be renewed and healed by the Holy Spirit..! My strong recommendation is that, if you wish to fully profit from this web-page, you should first study the "Introduction to Genuine Christian Life" in the apostoliccatholicchurchorg site.
2. http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/remnantchurchinfo.htm This web-site reveals the Lord's messages: Prophetic insights for our time..!
3.http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/lastdispenssationchurchcom.htm This site continues to answer questions relevant to our time - the Time of the Eminent Return of Christ.
4. http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/philadelphiachurchinfo.htm The Church of Philadelphia is the Church of the Last Dispensation, preparing the Saints for the Rapture. This site considers the life of PETER.
5. http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/davidkephacom.htm This sub-web-page gives an account of some of the visions and visitations of the author since early 2002. It is written in a 'form' of a Spiritual Diary.
6.http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/thepromisedlandname.htm This sub-web page is the continuation of the davidkephacom sub-web page.
7. http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/christophorusname.htm This sub-web page is the continuation of lastdispensationchurchcom. Discusses contemporary issues.
8. http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/christophorusus.htm This sub-web page is the continuation of christophorusname. Includes also contemporary sermons.
9. http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/lastdispensationchurchteachinginfo.html Catechism for adult, children etc. Christian prayer, Biblical stories, etc.
10. Philadelphia Church Issues Info - The Church takes, stand (temporary issues), sermons, reports, etc.
11. http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/remnantchurchbiblecommentaryinfo.html A comprehensive Bible commentary.
12. http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/endtimechurchlifeinfo.htm Divine Liturgy, Commandments, etc.
13. http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/jezushamarosanjon/jezushamarosanjonorg.htm Nehany angol tema magyarra leforditva (this is a Hungarian domain)Jezus eljon! es www.jezuseljovetele.hu
14.http://members.iinet.net.au/~end.time/vegidokegyhaza/vegidokegyhazaorg.htm The second Hungarian web-page. Subjects continues from jesushamarosanjonorg
Important explanations: The concept Catholic = Universal. The Apostolic Catholic Church, the Church of the Remnant is Universal, that means, she embraces all believers* world-wide.
*Believers: All those who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and follow Him unconditionally.
Instructions how to use and download this Web Page:
1. This Web Site has many images. It will take a little while to load them all. If any images do not load, or the page isn't fully displayed, you can right click anywhere on the page [or on the missing picture] - a small window will open up. Click there on "refresh" or "reload" and or 'show picture' button.
2. The "Information," "Order" and "Contact the End Time Church" links in the left menu, as well as the "Contact the Author" link on the Author page allow you to send mail to the author. Clicking these links will open your default mail program. Alternatively, if you want to use another email facility you can copy the email address by right-clicking on any of these email links and selecting "copy shortcut." Paste that shortcut into the address bar of your email program deleting the "mailto" prefix. There is an email address which you can use to contact the Church of the Remnant.
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The page set-up will depend on your screen resolution (screen size). The web-pages of endtimechurch.org are best viewed at a screen resolution of 1024 x 768. If you are using a different resolution, for example 800 x 600, it will alter the text and the graphics. It will look messy. If you experience this you might like to try to readjust your screen resolution (hopefully your monitor supports higher resolution):
Get into www.endtimechurch. org and click on the top right hand ( - ) of your blew "title bar." It will minimize the screen (it will shrink). Or push the window key and at the same time the D key on your key-board. You are now in your desktop, where your icons of different functions are. Your minimized "endtimechurch.org" page will show on the taskbar, at the bottom of your screen.
Now right click anywhere (on an empty space). A Display Properties window will open up: Left click on Properties. A new window will appear: Left click on Settings. A new window will show your "Screen Resolution." Drag the Screen Resolution Slider to adjust it to 1024 x 768 (or to a Screen Resolution which is most suitable for your computer-screen). Click on OK to resize the screen. The screen will resize and a menu will appear asking if you want to keep the settings you just changed. Click OK to keep them. In your setting you might be required to press OK in the Display Properties Window. If you do nothing at this point your screen will revert back to it's original settings automatically after 15 seconds. Now click on the "endtimechurch.org" logo at the bottom of your screen (taskbar) and the newly sized page will appear. Wishing to return to your customary size go through the same procedure and resize you computer page.
5. Click on any of the links below to jump to that question.
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Vision: The Ancient Olive Tree as the Body of Christ in the End Time (see Romans 9-11; Ephesians 2,11-22; Acts 15,16-18). |
2. Is there salvation and freedom in faith?
3. How do we proclaim the Faith in the Time of the End?
4. Faith and true ecumenism of the End Time
6. Are there two different Messiahs - one Suffering Messiah and one
7. What are the signs of the coming of Christ?
8. What is the relevance of John's Revelation?
A. In general
B. In particular
C. The Church of the Remnant
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The Saviour and His Apostles |
10. Christian or Jew - Jew or Arab?
12. Should a Christian have a mentor?
13. Who is the Holy Spirit? The Triune Deity
14. What is the difference between the Old and the New Testaments?
The Bible
15. How do we 'achieve' true peace and freedom?
16. What is conscience?/
17. Does the Law versus faith?
20. Can you teach me how to pray?
21. What is the significance of the Last Supper (Eucharist)?
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The Triumphantly Returning
King - |
22. Who is Samuel and the Princess?
23. Who was (is) Mary, the Mother of Jesus?
25. Can you teach me how to fast?
26. Who are the remnant? A short summary
27. Can you write an intimate episode from your life?
28. What is a Christian marriage - Responsibility for human life and its transmission
29. Health and healing - healing at any price?
30 Death and dying - Christian death
31. Can a Christian enjoy beauty? - A moral of beauty and glory
33. Do Christians have a responsibility for the fallen world?
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Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom - Living Water will nourish and heal the Nations (Revelations 22) |
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
36
Thus says the Lord - the God of Abraham:
...to the Church of the Remnant ...
B. Further revelations will follow in remnantchurch.info
|
The Torah |
1. What is truth?
The lead-motive of many of the essays on this web-page is freedom – freedom in
Christ.
The liberating truth
1. Christ, the saving Truth
a. Jesus, the Incarnate Truth
Christ is the unique Messenger, because He is, at the same time, the Message also.
He is the Word of the Father - He lives from it and does it also. He is
the incarnate Truthfulness and Faithfulness in the fulfilling of His mission.
He is the sacramental* Word - the visible Word of the Father; in His entire
human reality divinity is made visible (see John 14,9, also 1,1f; 1 John 1,1;1,5-7).
* Have sacred and mysterious character.
b.
Christ, the Word, who breaths Love
Whilst the Father expresses Himself, 'begets' the Son - who is His exact
image - He expresses Himself perfectly otherwise the Son would be either more
or less than He is. The Son is the Word, but not just some kind of Word, but a
Word that breathes Love - this breathing is mutual with the Father. In
their mutual love ('breathing') emerges the Holy Spirit (The Mutual Love) – 'begetting'
and 'breathing' expresses here a process without beginning and end.
Let us once more summarize our thoughts on the Trinity (Triune God):
The Father is the 'Unbegotten One'; the Son is the 'Begotten One' and the Holy Spirit
is the 'Proceeded One' - proceeding from the Father and from the Son (a Patre Filioque). See Question 11.
To explain ourselves in still another way we will use an
other analogy: The One primordial (existing without beginning) God is
the Trinity: The different Persons found their causality* in an inherently
necessary interior relationship with each other: A mind knows itself because it conceives of its own existence, it also has to love its
self-conception. A lover needs a beloved and there is out of necessity a
love which flows between them but which is of course not identical with either
- therefore God, in order to be Himself, had to be a Trinity of Persons, since otherwise neither His Mind nor His Love could function. See also Question
13.
|
One Divine Substance - Three Persons |
*
Cause for Their existence.
As a logical deduction from the above we conclude that all the works of the
Trinity are a result of an interior process - the atonement, for instance, was
a result of an inner Trinity process (ad intra) -- Christians are admitted, through the Blood of Jesus, in the Holy Spirit to participate in the inner life
of the Trinity- the life of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We are sons/daughters and participants by adoption (see Galatians 4,4-5).
c. The Spirit of truth
Before He departed, Jesus promised His disciples the "the Spirit of
truth" (see John 14,16f.26; John 15,26f;16,13f; 1 John 4,6;5,6; 1
Corinthians 2,9-13;12,8).
d. Sanctified in the truth
See John 17,17-19;6,63;4,23.
2. Man searching for truth
According to its origin and ultimate aim there is only one truth. One of
the great problems of human existence is that, that the One Truth is scattered and
the fact that "we see in a mirror dimly" (1 Corinthians 13,12) makes
us and our search very difficult. To 'know the truth' is a life long process - we have to be guided constantly by the Holy Spirit.
a. The team
Christian search for the truth needs to happen in a team - that is within
the Body of Christ. The search for the truth is a joint adventure - the more we
live the Christian-for-each-other, the closer we will get to The Truth.
b. The dialogue
In a genuine dialogue the partners need to give as much as they receive.
They take care not to force their opinions on one an-other. If this condition
exists then the partners will not focus just on the words but will also look at
the person who gives meaning to the words.
The same words can have different meanings to different people under different circumstances - one will not encounter the truth unless one encounters the other respectfully.
We Christians know, that being willing to learn is scarcely possible without being open to the Holy Spirit AND to our fellow Christians - listening within the Body of Christ will bring us closer to The Truth. To listen is an art, a charismata (a gift of the Holy Spirit) - we have to 'learn' to listen not only to what one says but also we have to try to understand who our partner is.
As we walk with the Holy Spirit within the Body of Christ we will soon learn that all good things need their time - to know that there is a time to speak and there is a time to be silent is a sign of a wisdom coming from God (see Ecclesiastes 3,1-8). We know from the Holy Spirit that the greatest truth is love and therefore our basic decision for the truth must also be the basic decision for love (see 1 Corinthians 13,4f).
3. The recognition (knowledge) of truth
All educational endeavor has to convey to all Christians (young and not so young) the passion for creativity, justice, true freedom, truth and a very special desire for co-working and co-responsibility in the life of the Church of Christ.
'To be true' in earthly life -- we understand a continual process of cleansing, a process of turning to Jesus and to the leading men of the Church. Through them Jesus speaks to His People - He is turning His face to us (see Philippians 3,10.12; 1 Corinthians 13,12; John 8,31f).
Our knowledge of the truth develops through faithfulness in searching for the truth and in acting according to the recognized truth.
To be oneself (to be true) is necessary to love genuinely.
Only love opens up existence and truth - without love both will disappear (or will not come to be at all).
Truth gives its last answer through love.
4. Truthfulness and discretion by communicating the recognized truth
Our being of the image of God has to reveal itself in speaking, in silence and actions - it should be a reflection of the divine Word (see Matthew 5,37).
We need the gift of discernment (discretion) in order to communicate our knowledge of truth in a healing way. In this way confusions may be overcome, hypocrisy exposed and the truth will be experienced in love. We Christians see our association with the truth in the service of the building up of the Body of Christ - as our mission to become one with truth and love - only those who love will obtain the virtue of discretion.
Simple truthfulness is revealed to the "pure in heart" (Matthew 5,8). Only those will find the way to and advance in the Beatitudes who admit to themselves that they are still only on the way of purification and need to work on their aspirations.
The art of holding one's peace is a vital part of true communication. Only those who can hold their peace, can become gradually the communicator of the image of God. Silence is in a deep sense, a mystical communication - a primary source of the truth - before everything, was the Prime-silence. In silence is born the love of truth, the art of listening to others.
Woe to the liar
In the Bible truthfulness stands in one of the highest places (see Exodus 20,16; Leviticus 19,11; Deuteronomy 5,20; Matthew 5,37).
Contrary to the truth, which the Bible calls a lie, deception or darkness is nothing more than the fundamental decision for untruthfulness in being, in thinking, speaking and doing.
Lies out of weakness, without the intention to harm others - let us assume that this is a venial sin, as long as the overall direction of the person is in order. Compare Question 18.
One should usually not consider incorrect statements and the fantastic stories of children as lies - small children often cannot distinguish between the play of fantasy and the perception of reality. The educator's task is to help the child to learn to differentiate.
Often
when children are lying they do it out of fear or imitating the sins of grown ups. Education in truthfulness happens for all through
the example of the educator, through an atmosphere of trust and through rational,
wise corrections.
Towards pathological liars understanding not judgment is appropriate. One's attitude
towards them should be a healing one.
There are many reasons for keeping a truth, a piece of information, something
we know to ourselves - discretion and the observance of secrecy.*
The sense and aim of communicating the truth is mostly to aim at the acceptance
of it (see Matthew 7,6). A Christian will always be looking for the leading
(advice) of the Holy Spirit to trust in His guidance and to be led by love and
justice when he reveals or withholds (see Matthew 10,20).
*For instance:
A just protection of the reputation of some one - in the interest of justice
one may have to reveal the truth;
- Not revealing the truth in order to protect it from misuse;
- Not to misuse someone's trust, here again, in the interest of justice or to protect
the innocent one may have to reveal the truth;
- There
are circumstances when one has to reveal Christian truth, even if one knows
that it will not be accepted - for instance, to warn the sinner or unbeliever
of the consequences of his actions;
- The Father Confessor (the mentor) can under no circumstances reveal the content
of a (sacramental*) confession!
* We maintain that a person to person confession of sins is necessary and
Biblical. We cannot deal here with this subject (questions will be answered)
but we will quote some Biblical passages as a reference for further discussion
and consideration - see James 5,16; Matthew 16,19.
5. Truth and faithfulness to the Covenant
A
Biblical covenant is a contract between God and man, including the solemn
promises of God to man.
a. The God of faithfulness
See Exodus 34,4f; Isaiah 40,8; Hosea 2,19f; Luke 1,54f; 2 Timothy 1,11f; 1 Corinthians
1,8f; 2 Thessalonians 3,3f.
b. Human inconstancy and God's call to faithfulness
b.1. Misleading faithfulness
- Laziness, which is often found hidden in stability and faithfulness;
- Subservience - spiritless following;
- Fear of change;
- False concept of honor;
- Enslaving others.
b.2. The call to genuine faithfulness
Faithfulness is, in the deepest sense of the word, commitment
for life - it has the character of unconditional devotion.
Trusting faith in God is the foundation of all faithfulness!
The People of God revered God's faithfulness as a grace and a call for mutual faithfulness. The faithfulness to the Covenant, which strengthens inter-human relationships
is an indispensable condition for the praise of God - and this praise is a
constant new turning to mutual faithfulness:
Our loyalty and faithfulness to the Church, that is to the Body of Christ,
the People of God, the People called to unity, is necessary in the service
of witnessing (John 17,11.21f).
b.3. Creative faithfulness
Creative faithfulness fixes the eye on the aim, but keeps the eye open for the next step - for the best possible solution - the Christian will let himself be led by the Spirit. The Christian fundamental decision is always for the redeeming love. Creative freedom and faithfulness grant inner integrity - it is a unity, a unity in diversity.
b.4. Faithfulness and discipline
"God
is love" (1 John 4,8). This is the truth from which all human freedom
emerges and to which it is linked. 1. The
truth of Christ is revealed in love
2. The
Jews must repossess the ancient City of Jerusalem. Possible
sequence of events: 3.
Rebuilding the Church of Jesus the Christ. 4. The
"Ten `Members' Coalition. 5. The
antichrist. 6. The
ancient Temple must be rebuilt in its original place. 7.
Appearance and working of the Two Witnesses. 8. Rapture of the true Christians. 9. The
Jews who are waiting for the Messiah will be hidden. 10,
The Arab-Israeli war. 11.
Israel attacked by Magog. 12. "Asia"
enters the Middle East war. The Wailing Wall in
Jerusalem The
climax is the Return of Christ Jesus. A few
of the major prophecies relating to those events: (possible sequence of
events) ad 1 Israel
reborn "After
many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come
into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many
people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste: but
is brought forth out of many nations, and they shall dwell
there..." (Ezekiel 38,8). The "latter
years" is a phrase which in the Old Testament refers to the time of
Israel's final national restoration followed by the spiritual redemption. The
physical restoration (re-establishment) will take place at a time when the
Jewish people return from exile "out of many nations." Jesus
said: "From
the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts
forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; So also, when you see all these
things (see Matthew 24,1-51), you know that he is near, at the very
gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these
things take place" (Matthew 24,32-34). The Fig
Tree (Olive Tree) is a historic symbol of the Nation of Israel. When all
the given signs begin to multiply and increase it will be time for the leaves
to come on the 'fig tree.' After nearly two thousand years of exile, the Jewish
people once again became a nation. On May 14th 1948 the "Fig Tree" put
forth its first leaves. The
generation of which Jesus speaks is the generation of the rebirth of Israel (completed
by the repossession of Jerusalem), therefore we are living during the
signs of the time! ad
2 Jerusalem repossessed "And
it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations
that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and
upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and
they shall look upon me (Christ) whom thy have pierced, and they shall mourn
for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall
be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born" (Zechariah
12,9.10). During
the Six-day War in June 1967 the Israeli army marched to the Wailing Wall, the
last remnant of the Old Temple, returning to their holiest of holy place. We
are still waiting for the time (spiritual restoration) when the whole Jewish
nation will mourn for their First-born Son, whom they "pierced" and
will accept Him as their Messiah. ad 3 Rebuilding
the Church - the Church of the Remnant "After
('hereafter' or 'in that day') this I will return and rebuild the fallen tent of David; Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it and set it up again; that the remnant of men may seek the Lord
- all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called (all those marked with my name), says the Lord, who made this known so long ago" (Acts
15,16.17 see also Amos 9,11-12) "Hereafter":
This quotation originates from the Old Testament: Amos 9,11: "in that
day" means here: "at the time of the end" (e.g. Daniel
11,40; Ezekiel 38,8.10). The Apostles were living and thinking 'in the time of
the end' (see 1 Corinthians 15,50-53). See also Acts 2,16f: "in the
time(s) of the end..." This expression is applied for the time of the 'Early-Church'
as well as the time immediately before the Second Coming of Christ (see also
Joel 2,28f; Matthew 24,22f; Hebrew 1,2; 2 Timothy 3,1). God
established His Tent, His House, through David the King [1 Chronicles
17,10b-14]. This "House" [Ark or Tent or Tabernacle] became the symbol of the Covenant which Yahveh made with the entire
House of Israel [1 Kings 8,9]. "...I
declare to you that the Lord will build you a house ..." (1 Chronicles
17b) The
Covenant which the Lord made with the House of Israel was broken (2 Kings
17,15). God promised that He will restore this Covenant in a New Form ... (see
Jeremiah 31,31ff) In the
New Covenant the Ordinances, the Will of Yahweh will be written in the heart of
His New Covenant People (see Jeremiah 31,31-34). They will receive the Holy
Spirit (compare 2 Corinthians 3,3) and, as Covenant People, will follow the
Lord. The
New Covenant People broke God's Covenant, departed from His Will just as the
People of the First Covenant (see the chapter in this writing: 'What is ailing
the church?' Question 9). "I
will return ..." has two meanings - 1. The
fallen hut of David was restored once (at the time of Jesus) - it
will be restored again (present time - Church of the Remnant) and 2. The
underlining meaning of this text "after this" is made clear to
us (even if not to Peter) in Acts 2,17 "in the last days ..." The
'Age of the Church' – the 'Age of the New Covenant' is a preparation for the final
days, during which the Restored New Covenant will be in effect and
prepare God's People for the Rapture(1 Thessalonians 4,17). Acts 2,17.19-20
clearly shows that the hidden meaning of all these events refers ultimately to
the Return of Christ .. the Second Coming! "And
in the last days it shall be, God declares ...I will show wonders
in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath ... before the day of the
Lord comes, the great and manifest day ..." (Acts 17.19.20 see also Revelations) Therefore
the final restoration of the Hut of David is the Church of Philadelphia (see
Revelation 3,7ff and
see sub-web-page philadelphiachurchinfo). The
time will come when the churches will amalgamate to a United Church. This unification
will include other religions as well. Revelation calls this 'church' the great
whore or Babylon (see Revelation 18). Even before this amalgamation happens
(how much more after this) God will call His People out of this fallen structure,
called church. "Come
out, my people, away from her, so that you do not share in her crimes and have
the same plagues to bear" (Revelation 18,4) Those
who will come out must join ...the Body of Christ must continue to
exist until the Rapture, after which She will be taken up into the Presence of
the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4,16-17). This Church, which will prepare the Saints
for the Rapture is, The Church of Philadelphia (see Revelation 3,6-12). See
also the chapter in this writing: 'What is ailing the church?' (question #9) There
will be an other 'restoration,' that is, a rebuilding after the Return of Christ, the Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 19,11-16;20,4-6).
This Restored Hut of David will prepare entire humanity for the Heavenly
Jerusalem (see Revelation 21;22). There
are TWO RETURNS: The First Coming of Christ and then the Second Coming of Jesus
the Christ. The
concept of remnant: In the Old and New Testament it refers to the People
of God who did not abandoned the Covenant and in the above mentioned 'remnant
of men' those whom God, through His providence, called to follow Him. God
fore-knew who will accept His calling and these Gentiles were 'marked' with His
name. They received the chance to enter the Restored Hut of David. All
the remnant of the nations who bore His name will be seeking the Lord.
It is important to realize that the members of the Church of the Remnant are
former members of different Christian denominations - world
wide: They bore His Name and will be build in
to the re-erected Body of Christ - God always worked through (with) a rest,
that is, the remnant.. The
Church of Jesus the Christ will be rebuilt with its original Charismatic Offices
(Ephesians 4,11f).The Bride will be prepared for the Coming of the Bridegroom.
Peter's Office will lead the College of the Twelve Apostles from Jerusalem. The
separation between the Church of Christ and the "great whore" (see
Revelation 17-18) will take place. ad 4 Coalition
of the Ten Daniel's
dream of four great beasts: "The
first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings; and behold another beast, a
second, like a bear; after this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which
had upon the back of it four wings of fowl; the beast had also four heads; and
domination was given to it; After this I saw in the night vision, and behold a
fourth beasts, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly. It had great iron
teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet
of it. It was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten
horns" (Daniel 7,4-7). This
dream was explained to Daniel by an angel: "These
great beasts, which are four, are four 'kings,' which shall arise out of the
earth" (Daniel 7,17). In
Daniel 7,15-25 we find a description of the revival of ancient Rome just
prior to the Coming of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. Here we learn that a 'coalition'
will rise up from the ruins of the old Roman Empire. These will become a vast
industrial and economic power. For further information see the book, The
Witness of the Times (WT). ad
5 The antichrist "And
I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and this apparently deadly
wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped
the dragon which gave power unto the beast; and they worshipped the beast,
saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?" (Revelation
13,3-4) The
antichrist will recover from an apparently fatal wound. Satan, the dragon (see
Revelation 12,9) will fake the resurrection of the
dictator and after this 'miraculous' recovery from the seemingly fatal wound,
the whole world will follow him. Out of
the revived Roman Empire will suddenly arise a dynamic leader. He will be a
great world dictator, the antichrist himself. The dictator will make certain
decisions and give seemingly genuine answers which will elevate him in the eyes
of the masses to the point where they will accept him as a deity (see Daniel
7,24-25). ad 6 Rebuilding the Temple
"And
I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred
and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth" (Revelation 11,3). At His
Second Coming, the Messiah will come with power. Likewise the 'two preparers of
His way' will function with power. Prior to His Second Coming the Two Witnesses
will remind the world of the Second Coming of the Lord continually; punishing
the world for its wickedness (Revelation 11,6). ad
7 Appearance and working of the Two Witnesses See
Revelation 11 ad 8 Rapture
"Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all sleep (die), but we shall
be changed" (1 Corinthians 15, 51).
What is rapture? Rapture
means to change and at the same time, snatch away or take out. Some day, which only God knows, the Christ will
change and remove all those who profess Him, believe in Him, that is, the
members of His Church. These will be transported to a beautiful and glorious
place which we are presently unable to comprehend. The "Blessed Hope"
(rapture) for the true Christian is found in Titus 2,13-14. "Looking
for that blessed hope, and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour
Jesus Christ." "Behold
I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be
changed" [raptured] (1 Corinthians 15,51). We
must now consider some important facts before the secret (mystery) is revealed: a. In
1 Corinthians 15,50 we are told: "Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
neither doth corruption inherit in-corruption." Christians
cannot inherit the "Kingdom of God" (i.e. in heaven) in their earthly
form, that is, in flesh and blood; therefore, they must be changed (transformed). b. "We
shall not all sleep" (1 Thessalonians 4,13f). Christian death is referred
to as 'sleep'. Sleep does not mean here that one's soul, or one's consciousness
sleeps. The moment a true Christian dies, his soul goes to Christ (see
Philippians 1,21-23; 2 Corinthians 5,1-10). c. In
1 Corinthians 15,52 we learn some more about the mystery: "...in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet-call; for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we (who are still
alive) shall be changed." "At
the last trumpet" all true Christians will move in one moment to Christ. d. "But
I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep
(dead), that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in
Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the
Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not
prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and
the dead in Christ shall rise first (first resurrection): Then we which are
alive and remain shall be caught up (raptured) together with them in the
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore, comfort on another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4,13-18). Now we
shall summarize the mystery: The members of the true Church of Jesus the
Christ will be in a moment: We
NOW live, as the different signs are indicating, during the age when Christ's
Church will be REVEALED and the great responsibility of this Church is to
prepare the whole world (especially the true Christians) for Christ's
return. After
the Lord gives the signal, the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible and
the true Christians shall be transformed from mortal to immortal (see 1
Thessalonians 4,16-17; 1 Corinthians 15,51-54; Hosea 13,14). Then they shall
stand face to face with Jesus. ad
9 The believing Jews will be hidden "...and
the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in
which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days..." (Revelation
12,6 and v.14-16). The
Jews who are waiting for the Messiah will be hidden. ad
10 The Arab-Israeli war "And at the time of the end shall the king of the south (Egypt) push at him
(Israel): and the king ..." (Daniel 11,40.42-43; Ezekiel 30,4-5)). In
Daniel the time of the end is defined. This is the time when Jesus the Christ
will return. In this same chapter the "king of the south" is
identified as Egypt, the leader in a league of Arab nations. This "king of
the south" will attack the state of Israel. ad 11 Israel
attacked by Magog "...and
the Gog of the north (Magog) shall come against him
(Israel) like a whirlwind, with chariots (tanks?) and with horsemen (cavalry),
and with many ships" (Daniel 11,40b, see also Ezekiel 38,10-12.14-16). Chapter
38,8 of Ezekiel predicts the restoration of the Jewish people to their ancient
homeland. It states that after the Jews return from their world-wide dispersion,
there will arise a great power from their "uttermost north." This
nation will become their arch-enemy and will actually be involved in a direct
attack upon the Israeli nation. Magog will attack
through the Middle East and begin the conquest of the African continent.
However, it would appear from Daniel that while Magog is conquering the continent of Africa, reports from the East (Asian
mobilization) and the North (European mobilization) will greatly alarm him. Magog will withdraw (into Israel) in a fury to annihilate
and destroy many (see Daniel 11,44). The Magogian army will be destroyed. ad 12 'Asia' enters the Middle East war "And
the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the
water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be
prepared" (Revelation 16,12). Jesus will enter Jerusalem through
the Golden Gate (compare Matthew 21,1.4-10 and Zechariah 9,9). Mount Olives
is opposite the Golden Gate. At the hight of
this battle JESUS THE CHRIST will return and establish His Millennial Kingdom. The
Asians will profit from the chaotic conditions which exist in the Middle East
to march against the Roman dictator in a showdown for world control. Two hundred
million (see Revelation 9,16) Oriental Soldiers will march to the eastern banks
of the Euphrates. The western world under the Roman dictator will move its
armies into a Place in Israel (see Revelation 16,13.14.16)) to meet this
Oriental Dragon. See also Joel 3,9-14. ************************** 8. What is the relevance of
John's Revelation?/ I believe
that a short summary of the Secret Revelation will answer this question. The
Secret Revelation contains the prophetic account of the history of Christendom
and the Church from the beginning until the end. However the events of the last
days are of such decisive importance and such enormity that they encompass
almost the entire Revelation. The
Revelation begins with the seven epistles to the seven early congregations in
whom the church has its origin (see Revelation 2-3). The unusual and
extraordinary concrete nature of its content is very apparent; why should it be
any different in the other parts of the Secret Revelations? After
this introduction follows the history of the World over which the Will of God
prevails, 'in a book with seven seals' (see Revelation 6). The sixth seal announces
a separation and sealing (see Revelation 7) of the elect of Israel; it is in
the events of the 'last days' (see Revelation 6,12-17). This is the announcement
too that we must have made our decision before these events occur. We would
be mistaken to wait until the events which the seventh seal brings. No one
knows whether it will be possible to change our ways during the actual
occurrence of the catastrophe, "in the night when no one can work any more" (John 9,4). After
the time of the seventh seal has been made manifest, all theologising will sink
into insignificance before unconditional obedience to the Word of
God. Seven
seals, seven trumpets, seven vessels. The Secret Revelation consists of seven
seals which encompass all of history. The first six seals contain general 'pre-history' until our days; the seventh seal consists of the seven trumpets which
encompasses the entire history of the end. The first six of its trumpets
contains the introduction to the history of the end; the seventh trumpet on the
other hand consists of the seven bowl (vessels) which encompasses the entire fulfillment of the history of the end (-time): The first
six of its vials contain the introduction to the final act in the carrying out
of judgment upon the world and fallen humanity. The
first 'seal-judgment' was opened: The Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed (70
A.D) and the Jews lost their nation. They were dispersed all over the world. The
last 'seal-judgment' was opened: The Jews regained their homeland (1948) and
Jerusalem with the Temple-site (1967). See Question 7. The
'first-trumpet judgment' has already been sounded. We are living in the time
of the Trumpet-judgments. Sequence
of events: About seven
years before Christ's visible return, the following events will occur (a
possible sequence of events): - The
antichrist will appear (see Daniel 7,23-24); - The
Two Prophets (Witnesses) will start to prophesy (see Revelation 11,3-12); About three
and a half years before Christ's visible return: - The
Two Witnesses will be murdered (then the last trumpet will be sounded - see
Revelation 11,15); - The
rapture will take place (see also 1 Thessalonians 4,17); - The
antichrist will proclaim himself as god (see also 2 Thessalonians 2,4); - The
short period of peace will be over; wars will begin everywhere. At the
end of this period The Word of God will return to rule the earth for a
Thousand Years (Millennium)! See Revelation 19,11-16;20,4-6. See WT
- visions to this chapter. ************************** 9. What is ailing the church?/ A. In general There
will be a very powerful religious organization prior to the seven-years of
tribulation. This organization will aid the antichrist in subjecting the world
to his absolute authority. For a short time the dictator will be controlled by
this religious system (see Revelation 17,3). This
world religion is also referred to as "Babylon." True Christianity
is not a religion! Religion is a system whereby man strives to achieve
perfection, goodness and acceptance by God through his own effort. True
Christianity is God reaching out for man, for God states that it is impossible
for man to reach Him except through the one path which He provided; the
complete acceptance of Jesus Christ, His Son and this acceptance can be through
God's grace only (which perfectly unfolds only in His Church!). "No
one can come to me (to Jesus), unless the Father who sent me draws him" (John
6,44). The
Apostle John in Revelation 17 has a vision which forecasts what will happen in
the last seven years before the return of Jesus Christ (see also WT - the
relevant visions of the author). In this vision John is given an important prophecy,
the establishment of a one world religion which will bring religions
under one unity of great power. Using this system, satan will give the antichrist the authority and power to take over the world and
control it. "So
he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness and I saw a woman sit upon
a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy,
having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and
scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious
stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and
filthiness of her fornications. And upon her forehead was a name written,
mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abomination of the
earth" (Revelation 17,3-5). This
church which professes an allegiance to God is actually worshipping a false
system of religion. "And
I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the
blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her; I wondered with great
admiration. And the angel said unto me, 'Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will
tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns'" (Revelation 17,6-7). The
ten horns represent the revived Holy Roman Empire of the 'Ten-Nations' led by
the beast or world dictator (the antichrist). This woman, mystery-Babylon, is
riding on the back of the beast which indicates she will control the dictator. "The
seven heads are seven mountains (hills), on which the woman sitteth.
And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not
yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space" (Revelation
17,9-10). This
satanic religion has already controlled many empires in the past. The angel
speaks of seven kings, five of which are fallen: First:
Chaldean religious system of star-worship; Second:
Egypt with the pyramids, which also had an astrological significance. Third:
Babylon; Fourth:
The Median and Persian Empires; Fifth:
The Greek Empire; Sixth:
"Five fallen, one is" This kingdom which was present at the time John
wrote was Rome; Seventh:
"the other is not yet come." The revised Roman Empire of the future,
the 'Ten-Nations.' We are now living during the rebirth of mystery-Babylon with its astrology,
spiritualism, drugs and the supernatural. Recognize
religious heresy The
church which claims to belong to God but which worships false systems, is a
'whore' - prostituting its God-given purposes. We
must be on our guard when church leaders, priests, preachers and teachers begin
to question biblical truths, for example, the visible return of Jesus
the Christ; the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth; the virgin birth of Jesus; that
Jesus is the only way to the Father; that the Spirit came from the Father and the Son, etc.
-
remain in their church; -
should serve Jesus as far as possible; -
prepare themselves for the coming of the Apostles; -
spread the good news of their coming and - join
them as soon as they call! This
will be the time when the Holy Spirit will call to all members of all churches: "Come
out, my people, away from her (the apostate churches), so that you do not
share in her crimes and have the same plagues to bear" (Revelation 18,4). For
further information see lastdispensationchurchcom
- sub-website -- "The Age of the Church is Coming to an End
..." **************************
I will
divide this complex question into three parts: a.
Christian or Jew? b. Jew
or Arab The Two
Witnesses (Revelation 11, see also Zechariah 4,12-14) are coming from the
'Two People of God' (see Colossians 2,11) - united by Christ c.
Comparison between Israel and the Church There
are two kinds of blindness: Israel is
blind to her own calling as nation before God to be a light to the nations, a
special people, a Holy Nation. She is also blind to her Messiah, Yeshua, the Holy One of Israel! The
Churches (with some exceptions) are blind to Israel's calling also and claim Israel's
prophetic promises for themselves and ignore Israel's divinely ordained
destiny! True circumcision (Romans 2,29 but also see Romans 9-11). ad a.
As the question was related to me seems to indicate the belief that Christianity
replaced Judaism. Let me start by quoting Paul's letter to the Romans 11
- "Did
God rejected his people (the Jews)? (v.1) "Did
they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? By no means!" (v.11) "...some
of the branches have been broken off and you (Gentile Christians), though a
wild olive shoot, have been grafted in...and now sharing in the nourishing
sap of the olive root" (v.17) "You
do not support the root, but the root support you. You will say then, 'branches
were broken off so that I could be grafted in.' Granted. But they were broken
off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith" (v.18b-20a). "Israel
has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles* has
come in...then Israel will be saved**!" (v.25b-26a) --
that is after (at) the Return of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ! See also
remarks in philadelphiachurch.info web-site. "...for
God's gifts and call are irrevocable!" (v.29) **************** The so
called church of Laodicea (see Revelation 3,14-22) has two
distinct components: 1. The
first message of the Lord is to the "lukewarm" (v.16) church (es) turning into the great whore (Revelation 17;18); 2. The
second message is to individuals [who realized that they left behind - the
rapture has already taken place - and now willing to give their life to the Lord]:* *"Behold I
stand at the door (of your heart) and knock; if any one hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me. He who
conquers ..." (v.20.21) The message is not to the Church ... the Church will
be in heaven! ** "... all Israel will be saved" ..! (Romans 11,26), that is, at the
Coming of Yeshua! Until then see Romans 9,27. ******************** But
what about " For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor true circumcision
something external and physical. He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision
is a matter of the heart, spiritual and not literal" (Romans 2,28-29); "But
now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; for in Christ
Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were
baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile),
there is neither..." (Galatians 3,25-28); "For
we are the true circumcision, who worship God in Spirit and glory in Christ
Jesus..." (Philippians 3,3). The
Holy Spirit is talking here about faith - in which we stand as long as we have
faith ..! But we must not forget that "God's ... call is
irrevocable." We are planted into the Noble Olive Tree (Israel) and we are
and will remain guests there. Again, our remaining there is by faith and
faith alone ..! See also chapter 21 of this web-mail. In Christ we are all
equal but the privilege of the Jews remain ... the promises of God to them
remain ... See again Romans 9-11. Through baptism we are entering the Body of
Christ (1 Corinthians 12,13; Galatians 3,27-29) - Jew and Gentile become one
... a descendant of Abraham and a child of the Heavenly Father! When
we accept Yeshua as our Lord and Savior,
we are grafted into the Olive Tree of Israel (see Romans 11,17); we are adopted
by God the Father into His Family (see Galatians 4,5-6); we became a child of
promise (see Galatians 4,28) and a descendant of Abraham (see Romans 4,16) - in
other words we are a spiritual Jew. Thus, we are one of those lost sheep
of the House of Israel whom Yeshua came to redeem (see
Matthew 16,12-13). The
olive tree is an ancient symbol for Israel. Paul (= the Holy Spirit) teaches us
that God cut off the branches of the "olive tree" because of their
unbelief: After the Jews rejected the Messiah Jesus the Christ, God distanced Himself
from them for a season. In 70 A.D., as Jesus prophesied it (see Luke 19,41-44),
the Roman Legions destroyed Jerusalem and the Jews were dispersed. God
plans can not fail! After the Jews, as a nation,
failed Him, He continued with His planes of salvation with a Remnant. "God
did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture
says in the passage about Elijah - how he (Elijah) appealed to God against
Israel: 'Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am
the only one left, and they are trying to kill me.' And what was God's answer
to him? 'I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee
to Baal. So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by
grace...by grace and not bay works...'" (Romans 11,2-6) At the
time of Jesus a Remnant - the Apostles, other followers of Jesus and the
believers who gathered around the Apostles - were carrying the 'banner'
of salvation and so fulfilling God's plan of salvation. The
Gentiles were brought into this plane of salvation and the Church-universal was
born. At the beginning, Paul was God's chief instrument to bring the Good News
of Salvation to the Gentiles (Romans 11,13). There
are obvious parallels between the history of the Church and the history of
Israel: After
millenniums of God's dealing with Israel - it is a history of constant falling
away from God! - God 'had to resort' to a Remnant to fulfill His plans. After
millenniums of God's dealing with the church(es)
- it is a history of constant falling away from God! - God 'has to
resort' to a Remnant to fulfill His planes of
salvation -- the Church of the Remnant! How
did it all start? The
basic turning point of Israel's falling away was in 1 Samuel 8: "Then
the elders of Israel...came to Samuel...and said to him...'appoint us a king to
govern us like all the other nations...'" (v.4.5). "And
Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, 'Hearken to the voice
of the people...for thy have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from
being king over them...you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of
the king who shall reign over them'" (v.7.9). Israel's
history, from this point of view, was a constant striving to be like other
nations. This striving continues even today! As God
foretold, the kings led Israel away from God and ultimately caused its destruction. Why
did God's People want a human king instead of God's direct leading? God's
direct guidance of His People, using the Patriarch and then the Prophets as His
ambassadors, insured an infallible but an inconvenient leadership. God
and His ways are unpredictable for us! It is deeply in bedded into the fallen
human nature that we wish to walk by sight and not by faith! But walking with
God means to walk by faith (see 2 Corinthians 5,7)! Obedience..! The
basic turning point of the Church's falling away was already taking place during
the time of the Apostles. This is explained in details in the previous question,
relating to the church(es). One of
the 'follow-up' turning away was the rejection of the Jews. The church soon
taught that the Jews were eternally rejected and were replaced by the church.
With this the church cut herself off from its roots and the "nourishing
sap" of God (see Romans 11,17.18). Removing
the God-given foundation (see Ephesians 2,20) and His nourishments could have
resulted in nothing but the present chaos and a fallen church(es) headed to become the "whore" described in Revelation
17-18. Christians
generally live in a false security, believing that they are, as God's people,
saved and nothing can happen to them. The Jews, at the time of Jesus, believed
it too!! Christians! Listen to what Paul has to say to you: "Do
not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches,
he will not spare you either...you stand by faith!" Romans 11,20b.21. And "he
who endures to the end will be saved" ( Matthew 10,22). God's
direct guidance of His People, using the Apostles as His ambassadors, insured
an infallible but inconvenient leadership. The authority of an Apostle,
appointed directly by Christ is and must be unquestionable! "But
even if...an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we
(Paul) preached to you, let him be eternally condemned" (Galatians 1,8). There
is no theological or any other argument about the teaching of a directly
appointed Ambassador of Christ. His teaching is directly and infallibly inspired
by the Holy Spirit. There is space only for obedience! Very much contrary
to our fallen human nature. At the
Time of the End (in our time!) God is moving, among other things, in two basic
directions: 1.
Re-establishing, gathering His People Israel: "Now
learn a parable of the fig tree (Israel); as soon as its twigs
get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near..." (Matthew
24,32) Even
so...you know that he (Christ) is near, right at the door" (Matthew
24,33). In May
1948 the Fig Tree put forth its first leaves. The Fig Tree, the State of Israel
was reborn. HE, The Messiah is at the door, ready to re-enter human history.
See also question 7 and the WT. The
Remnant of the Jews (called Messianic Jews) are preparing for the return of the
Messiah, Jesus the Christ. 2. Re-establishing
the Church: "Hereafter
I will rebuild the fallen hut of David: from its ruins I will rebuild it
and set it up again, so that the Remnant of the people from all the rest
of the nations that bear my name may seek out the Lord" (Acts
15,16.17). The
rebuilding of the "hut of David" is in progress. God is already
preparing His Remnant and its leadership, the Apostles of the Church of the
Remnant. See the previous question and the Witness of the Times. The
Remnant of the church(es) are being prepared for the
return of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. All
true Christians must pray for the conversion of our Jewish brethren and the
establishment of the Church of the Remnant.
"Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and its baptized will be
saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16,15b-16), When
we are writing about baptism we mean here the Baptism in water and or
the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. In the
Original Church adults were baptized; they were baptized by immersion in (John
3,23) "a lot of water" (Mark 1,9b). In the
midst of the great persecution of the church baptism took place only after thorough
instruction in the faith. This became necessary because many baptised
Christians, who were not well founded in Christian teaching and well rooted in
Christian living, fell away from the faith. In
Baptism God forgives all our personal sins and the so called Original Sin, that
is, the sin which we were born in, being born into the 'family' of Adam
and Eve, our ancestors (see Genesis 3). The
Baptism of the Holy Spirit was received in the Ancient Church usually right
after the Baptism in water. This was done frequently by the laying on of hands
(see Acts 8,14-17). In the
bath of rebirth (Baptism in water) of the Holy Spirit and in the bath of
regeneration (Baptism in the Holy Spirit) of the Holy Spirit, man will 'die' with
Jesus and then will be integrated into the Church (the Mystical Body) of Jesus
the Christ and at the appointed time will be raptured or resurrected
with Jesus (see Romans 6,3f; Colossians 2,12; 1 Corinthians 12,13). Through
receiving these sacraments, the death and resurrection of Jesus is made
our own; it cleanses and separates us from sin (see Romans 6; 1 Corinthians
6,11; Ephesians 5,26-27; Acts 2,38; 1 Peter 3,21); it makes the baptized person
a child of the heavenly Father (Galatians 3,26-27); it makes him a member of
the Body of Christ, i.e. of His Church (1 Corinthians 12,13), and he will
receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12,4ff). According
to the teaching of Jesus, Baptisms are necessary for a person to
be saved (Mark 16,16 and John 3,5). Here
the following is to be observed: a. The
baptism of infants: "The
man who believes and is baptized will be saved" (Mark 16,16). According
to this word of the Lord, faith must precede Baptism. A child who is not
capable of deciding, does not usually have the necessary faith for
baptism. For that reason we assign those children of Christian parents for
blessing, baptizing them when they reach the 'age of knowledge.' How
did infant baptism come into church-practice? To
understand the under-laying reasons you must read Question 9B: - the
church falling away from the teachings of the Apostles; - the
church reverting into the Old Testament: In the Old Testament the infant was
circumcised and through this received into the fold of the People of God. We
must understand that we are not living in the Old Testament under the Law but
in the New Testament under Grace. We have already received a related
question in which we will explain in more detail this very frequent problem of
many Christians and Christian churches. See Questions 9 and 14. In
the New Testament we are not joining God's People through a race but through grace which is bound to faith! -
There is a frequent seemingly biblical argument in support of infant baptism: "...
when she was baptized and her household" (Acts 16,15): "household,"
as one argues included infants. Beside the point, that this is a pure
speculation, there is an other similar expression
excluding the above argument: "...
the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all his household"
(Acts 18,8): If
in this "household" there were any infants they certainly could not "believe." b.
When infants die, where are they going?
children of believers are "holy" (see 1 Corinthians 7,12-14): The
children of a Christian marriage (even if just one of them is a Christian) who
are not baptized and die are sanctified through the Christian parent(s) and
will be accepted into God's presence. God will certainly not reject anyone
who is Holy! This state of 'holiness' lasts until the 'age of knowledge' after
which the child has to make his own decision and enter the state of "holiness". How
about children of non-Christians? I will emphasize here two things: 1. "What
business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?" (1 Corinthians
5,12) God is
merciful and we have to leave all those who are outside the Church in
His hands. He is the Judge! 2. The
humanistic view that all children under a certain age will be raptured has no
biblical base. See here also the above quotation (statement). **************************** 12. Should a Christian have a mentor?/ Dear
'Naomi'! Thank
you for your very personal email. This is the first email I have received with
an intimate approach. Thank you for your trust and openness. Talking to the
Lord about you, He advised me to call you, at the present time, (?) Naomi
(the pleasant one) - do you mind? I
perceive that you are a young woman having a very close walk with the
Lord. I am pleasantly surprised about your deep spiritual insights: Being
young - this says a lot about your committed spiritual life. You
asked a lot of questions. I believe by answering the question I chose will
answer most of the others - they are often closely related to each other. A few
basic statements: - In
the Church of the Remnant (see question 9C) every one will have a mentor. - In
the present situation in the church(es) there
are great spiritual dangers for everyone. Generally
speaking, the mentor is a person who is called by the Holy Spirit and approved
by the Church of Jesus the Christ for leading an other person on his/hers spiritual journey. The
attributes of a mentor: "...
blameless, the husband of one wife* and his (her) children are believers...
hospitable...master of himself...well founded in doctrine..." (Titus
1,6.8.9). See also 1 Timothy 3. * This
does not mean that Christian men can have more than one wife ... but - I will
mention here an important aspect of mentorship which is presently overlooked by
all the churches I know of: As a general rule, divorcees should not be in
a mentor's position, even if the divorce took place before they became Christians.
Every divorce hides a multitude of personal problems. They need healing which
often will take a life-time. These problems present spiritual and mental blind-spots which makes the person unsuited for regular and continual spiritual leadership.
That does not mean that these Christians have no gifts at all. The Holy Spirit
will equip every member of the Church with suitable gifts which they
must use within the Body of Christ, the Church. Most of the psychologists and
so called spiritual counsellors in the churches, whom I met, have grave
personal problems. Such people naturally gravitate towards such a position.
Subconsciously they are looking for the solutions to their own problems. They
should adhere to tasks which the Holy Spirit assigned to them and which are approved
by the Church and seek healing (here too, the Church of the Remnant
will have the authority to make the final judgment). It is
needless to say that in the Church of the Remnant, there
is no such a thing as a divorce: Basically between two Christians there can not be a divorce. This does not mean that
persons alreadydivorced are not welcomed into the Church. They
are! Christians whose partners left them should place their trust
in the Lord and submit to the discipline of the Church (see The Teaching of the
Church of Jesus the Christ and also 1 Corinthians 7,12-16). Those Christians
who, for what ever reasons, intend to separate from their partners have to take up this matter with the appropriate
church-authorities and follow their instructions. See Question 24/28. The
approval of the church: There is a very common heresy mostly practiced by some
protestant churches: They spiritualise the church (see question 7B)
and claim only their direct relationship and calling of the Holy
Spirit. Christians have a two dimensional accountability! A vertical and a horizontal one. The church is a God-appointed organization and there
should not be a discrepancy between the accountability to the Holy Spirit and
to the Holy Spirit guided Church. The Christians have responsibility toward
God (vertical) and the Church (horizontal) +. Reading question 7, it is obvious,
that at present, there is a grave problem. The God-given solution is again the
Church of the Remnant. The
Church of the Remnant will, through discernment, appoint only
such persons to be mentors who are called and equipped by the Holy Spirit to
this position. Correct discernment is possible only in the Church of the Remnant
- She has the fullness of the Holy Spirit. "To
each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is
given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance
of knowledge...to another gifts of healing..." (1 Corinthians 12,8.9). Because
of its complexity I will answer your question about the Holy Spirit and His
gifts separately. Here I will mention only that the mentor must have the equipping-gift
for his/her ministry of mentorship. It is
very important that the mentor will not overstep his/her boundaries of
equipment. The Christian must know the limits of his gift! I have often
seen this over-stepping of boundaries, which does a great deal of harm. Tasks
for which we are not called for have to be left to those members of the Body
who are equipped for it. The Lord called such people meddlers, those who do not
know their spiritual limits! Under
the present situation the best advice I can give you is to continue to walk
with the Lord and ask Him to develop in you the Fruits of the Spirit - see Galatians
5,22-23. I will deal with this also within the subject 'Holy Spirit.' However I
will mention a few points to consider: 1. Ask the Lord
for humility: Humility
IS one of the basic virtues without which no one can have a Christian spiritual
life. The hardest words Jesus ever spoke were to the Pharisees. Their
self-conceited - pride was blinding them to the spiritual message which Jesus
brought. Be aware that virtues can not be obtained by
reading books but only through practice. If you ask God to grant you this
virtue He will provide you with humiliating circumstances, experiences. We
human beings, in our fallen nature, abhor humiliation! I assure you that
you will make speedy spiritual progress by growing in humility. Spiritual pride
is the greatest curse of the so called spiritual people (I would rather
say, religious people!). It is almost incurable. Flee
from your self-made-plans. They are a spiritual trap. Seek
God's will for your life and He will guide you and bless you. Through your
own effort you may find some happiness but this will never be even close to the
primary, original (God-intended) happiness. As I
was praying about you, I perceived that God has a special plan for your life!
Seek him and you will find His purpose. God is calling you! 2. Follow
Him unconditionally! You
mentioned that you made a commitment to the Lord. You must be very serious
about it. If you wish to share it with me I will be glad to pray about it and
comment on it. In this context you asked me two important questions: a.
What happens if a Christian is unfaithful to his/her vows? The plans
of God can never fail. But we have to acknowledge that we have our free will and
can desert the plans the Lord has ordained for us. There are many biblical
examples for this (e.g. Saul, see 1 Samuel 9 [Saul's calling] and 13,1-14;28,16-19;
- the entire history of Israel and the church is a desertion of God). When a
nation fails God He fulfils His plans with a Remnant (see question 7).
The same thing happens if individuals fail Him. He always has a
substitute for them. Will
God punish the 'deserter'? The word 'punish' is incorrect. It is important
that we walk/live in God's will. If we walk according to our own will, ignoring
God's will, we will take ourselves out of the protecting 'umbrella' of God. In this situation God will not (cannot) protect us and the enemy will gain
access. b. What
is anointing? It is a deep spiritual matter. The Lord anoints prophets,
priests, princes and princesses (to become kings and queens), people for a special
service for Him. Through the anointing for service the Lord takes
'possession' of the anointed one. He/she is not his/her own any longer. The
anointing leaves an indissoluble mark on the soul of the anointed one. This
mark can never be removed. If the anointed person obeys his/her calling, this
mark will shine on his/her forehead for ever and will be his/her glory for all
eternity. If he/she does not obey, honor the
commitment ... God is the judge! 3."...bring
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2
Corinthians 10,5b): Naomi!
This is a life long process! If you just consider how
many useless and even un-Christian thoughts we have every day, you will
understand the importance of this teaching. This requires a lot of- and
continual self-discipline(ing) under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit. If you have any problem - never run! Have the
courage to face it! This is the only way to solve it! Again, the Holy
Spirit will help you. 4.Your relationships: We
human beings are by God's design social beings. We cannot live and develop in
total isolation. Other human beings have a great impact on our life. For this reason
we must carefully select our relationships. Truly Christian friends are
God's gifts:
13. Who is the Holy Spirit?/ The
Triune Deity - Three in One The
Old Testament (see Deuteronomy 6,4) and the New Testament (see Mark 13,32)
teach that there is only one God. Although we worship only one
God, we speak of Him in a three fold way, i.e. the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We are not speaking here of three
different 'gods,' nor of three manifestations of a fourth one. In this
different 'manner of being,' God IS and acts as an undivided whole. This will
always be an ultimately unsolvable mystery - that which no eye has
seen, nor ear heard and no human heart has ever perceived (see 1 Corinthians
2,9, see also Matthew
28,19). See
also some definitions in
Question1. God
the Father - our profession of faith begins with God, for God is the first and the last,
the beginning and the end of everything. God revealed Himself to His People
Israel by making His Name known to them. A name expresses a person's essence
and identity and the meaning of this person's life. His Name is: "I Am
Who I AM" = YHWH. The
divine Name "I Am" expresses - God's
faithfulness, despite of the faithlessness of man; the
supreme truth that God alone IS. God is the fullness of Being and of
every perfection, without origin and without end. "God
is love" (1 John 4,8.16) - God's very being is love. By sending His only Son
and the Spirit of Love in the fullness of time, God revealed His innermost secret:
God Himself is an eternal exchange of love, Father, Son and Holy Spirit and He
destined us to share in that exchange. If the Apostle (= Holy Spirit) writes in 2 Corinthians 5,19 that "God was
in Christ," then he meant the full Divinity of Christ, the Son in whom
"the fullness of deity resides in bodily form" (Colossians 2,9).
Already in the beginning Jesus was, as the Word of God; Yes, "God was the
Word" (John 1,1) and through this Eternal Word "are all things
created" (John 1,3). He is our Redeemer - the only Redeemer of the world! The
power of God operating in life is the Spirit of God.
This
is a question of great importance but also of such a magnitude that it is quite
difficult to do justice to it on a web-page. I will try to do my best to answer
it, but I rather consider this writing as an encouragement for further questions
and /or further research. A. The Bible It
is a collection of writings of the Old and New Testaments. It is a witness
to God's revelation. It gives us an insight into God's working in history. It
is also called the Holy Book, the Holy Scripture and the Holy Word. The Old
Testament encompasses 46 (!) Books; the New Testament 27 Books.
The Bible is not simply a collection of religious or general human truths, but it
is a composition of the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit supernaturally guided the writers, ensuring the complete accuracy
of all that was written (see 2 Peter 1,21). "All
Scripture is inspired by God ..." (2 Timothy 3,16). Inspired = theopneustos (Greek), meaning literally
God-breathed - "All Scripture is God-breathed..." The
Scripture is the product of the creative, out-breathing of God and is therefore
perfect and able to equip us for every good work, The
Bible is inspired in all its various parts: "Man
shall not live from bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of
the mouth of God" (Matthew 4,4) God's
inspiration is verbal, plenary and autographs: Verbal: inspiration
extends to the very words of Scripture, not merely the ideas or concepts. Autographs: the original
writings: A translation is only as good as it is faithful to the original text. Plenary: the Scripture
is fully inspired, not just certain parts! Biblical
inspiration extends to the precise words of Scripture as given in the
original writings. Biblical
inspiration extends to the very letters of Scripture in the original
writings (see Matthew 5,18) The
Bible is fully inspired in its words in all its books in the original writings
(see Exodus 24,4.7;34,27; Jeremiah 1,9; Matthew 24,35; Revelation 19,9, etc.) The
inspired word of God cannot err - "Thy Word is truth" (John 17,17b; 10,35,
also 1 Corinthians 14,37) Biblical
prophecy: The prophecies of the Bible are literally fulfilled. B. The Old
Testament It
is a Story of Salvation. It shows the development of humanity from God's
perspective; its fall and its preparation for its redemption. The greatest part
of the Old Testament deals with the history of Israel, i.e. with the people who
were chosen by God to prepare the way of the Redeemer. The Old Testament is a
message for the not yet redeemed People of God. C. The New
Testament With
the appearance of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the Old Testament is fulfilled
and the New Testament begins. The New Testament is a message for the Redeemed,
i.e. it is the Good News, a teaching of salvation. In this Testament we
find everything we need to be saved. It could be summarized as follows:
Believe in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, and follow Him; let yourself be
baptised (in water and in the Spirit - John 3,5) and preserve in the
faith until the end (see Matthew 10,22b). D. Comparing some
aspects of the Old and the New Testaments In the
Old Testament the People of God were (are) under the Law. The Law was a "guardian"
(Galatians 4,2.4) preparing the people of the Old Testament for the Coming of
the Messiah - the New Testament. Old
Testament: "Now
the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country... I will make you a great nation
and ... all the people of the earth will be blessed through you'" (Genesis
12,1.2.3). The
Abrahamic Covenant is the Covenant of Decision. God decided to save
mankind. The promise of the Covenant, the Messiah, was prophesied to Moses: "I
will raise up for them (God's People) a prophet (Jesus) like you (Moses) from
among their brethren (the Jews); and will put my (God) words in his mouth, and
he shall speak to them all that I command him..." - " him you shall heed!" (Deuteronomy 18,18.15b) God
further prepared His chosen People Israel by giving them a "taskmaster"
(see Galatians 3,24), the Law: We are talking about the Mosaic Covenant, the Covenant
of Preparation (see Exodus 20,1-17). New
Testament: "...this
is my blood of the new covenant..." (Matthew 26,28) The New
Covenant is the most essential covenant, because God performs what He had
decided on, the salvation of mankind! This is the Covenant of Performance! "But
when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, to redeem those who were
under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are
sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Dear
Father!'" (Galatians 4,4-6) The
prophecies of the Old Testament, relating to the First Coming of Christ, have
been fulfilled. The
Jews disowned the Messiah therefore God proceeded with His Remnant (see question
9) and the Gentiles are brought into the Covenant - the world wide Church of
Christ was born. In
the Old Testament: "And
you shall hang the veil from the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in
thither within the veil; and the veil shall separate for you the holy place
from the most holy ..." (Exodus 26,33) "Tell
Aaron (the High Priest)... not to come at all times into the holy place within
the veil... but thus shall Aaron come into the holy place with a young bull for
a sin offering..." (Leviticus 16,2.3ff) The
High Priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year to bring sacrifices for the
atonement of the sins of the people. In the
New Testament: "And
Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold the
curtain of the temple was torn in two... (Matthew 27,50.51).
The
Christian receives these eschatological virtues as a gift of the Holy Spirit -
his contribution is a faithful life in obedience to the Spirit of the Redeemer,
Whose return we expect. 6.
Still born fundamental intentions Narrow-minded
care for ones own salvation - a dead end a. The
conversion from sin into searching for ultimate fullness of life cannot mean
neglect of legitimate self-interest. The inborn longing for joy (peace) and
salvation can help our progress in the love of God and neighbor. Conversion
will follow a gradual process whereby man, at first, will love God for
his own sake; but if the conversion was a genuine one, he will have the
urge - guided by the Spirit - to grow more and more in love and obedience
toward God and toward his neighbor. As he
slowly starts to taste how good the Lord is, he will continue to move to the
second stage, that is, to love God also for His sake. The
third step is to love God solely for His sake - this is a stage where man can
grow into infinity, that is, this growth can never end on earth - nobody will
become perfect in this earthly existence. The
Christian educator has to know of the dynamic of this development. It is
important to know that growth in the love of God must have a parallel growth in
the love of man - one is not genuine without the other. This subject is
continuing in Question 18 - ' A satanic misunderstanding of the fundamental
option.' b. A
gradual or sudden loss or gain of God's friendship Painting by Sarai - Sin began in Paradise
1.
Conscience and imitation of Christ a. To
know each other and to be free for each other Conscience
is a very special form of knowledge and knowing - it is a knowing in the
innermost sanctuary, where man can encounter God as He really is. This
knowledge is given only to those who are 'actively' listening - that is,
accepting and doing what is heard. Our
deepest being is an echo of the Word, in which we are created, a call of the
Master, who invites us to be free in Him and so find ourselves. Our conscience
is alive through the Word, which called us into existence and qualified us by
the Holy Spirit to partake in His truth, light and love. The healthy conscience
of a Christian has the Word-answer structure - a creative two way street
consisting of receipt and answer. We Christians see this in the light of the
Incarnated Word. In the
depths of our being we experience that we can be ourselves only when we are
disposed to answer the One who called us by name. The sensibility of our
conscience grows in the light of our divine Master, who teaches us not only
from the outside (Bible, Church) but also within, through the Holy Spirit. The
efficacy of our conscience will depend on the ever deepening listening to the
whispering voice of the Lord. Our
conscience has also another dimension - the dimension of a listening-together - the members of the Body cannot listen just by themselves - it is much
more a corporal-listening. This active listening takes place in a mutual
giving-one-self in love - in a mutuality of knowledge and conscience. In a
certain sense of the word, this is the Church - a mutual searching,
listening, walking together, loving one another and following the Master. In
the Church, God calls us individually to Himself but also
together. Those
who are listening alone are in great danger, a great spiritual danger. Not one
of us alone is immune to error - Christ wants every member to be built into the
discipline of the Church in which the opportunity to be heard and also a to
hear go hand-in-hand. b.
Conscience in Holy Scripture Old
Testament - 'the heart of man' is animated by the Spirit of God - here is where
man experiences an inner urge to seek God's will and fulfill it (see Isaiah 6,9f;29,13;51,7; Ezekiel 36,26). For
the Semites the heart is the seat of thought, emotion, feeling but also of
moral judgment. The 'leb' (heart) encompasses all
dimensions of human existence. The term 'leb'
indicates the entire human being. In it the actual person is to be found (see
Judges 16,15.17f; 1 Samuel 9,19). As man
makes his decisions in 'leb,' we can use this word also
for conscience (see Job 27,6; 2 Samuel 24,10; Jeremiah 17,1). An
important connection of the Old and New Testament concept of conscience is to
be found in Romans 2,14-15 -- the word 'heart' and the Greek concept of
conscience explain each other (see also Romans 2,16; Tit 1,15f; Hebrews
9,14;13,18; 2 Timothy 1,3). 2. A
Biblical reflection a. The
comprehensive view of conscience The
dynamic of our conscience* has to be seen as 'an answer by our entire
person to a benefit or hurt (right or wrong; kindness or rejection)' - we are,
in our depths, extremely sensitive toward anything or anyone who
endangers or furthers our wholeness and integrity. *Conscience
is a mental faculty that prompts us to do right and by which right and wrong
are distinguished, esp. with regard to our own behavior or motives – but also of others. In our
entirety we are created in God's image and nothing endangers this image more
than the disintegration of the our inner life. The
power of Recognition, the Will and of the Emotions are not
'beside-each-other,' rather they constitute a unity in the depth of our being -
they form an image of the divine mutual penetration of each-other – the Trinity
(Triune God). See below and Question 13. To the
image of God... God
the Father Who is the well of love and all life (He is life Himself), the Word
Who expresses received love and the Holy Spirit, Who is the mutual love of the
Father and the Son - are dynamically in-each-other and for-each-other, three
Persons in one nature. This mutual penetration of each-other (perichorese), this characteristically Trinitarian unity is
the archetype for our uninjured inner unity (never perfect in our fallen
condition). This is the deep-well of our conscience, from which it draws -- the
dwelling place (inner sanctuary) of the Holy Trinity. The
Christian who has the urge in his conscience for inner wholeness has the real
sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit - Who by working in him will gradually renew
him and his environment - family, church-community and more. The
above described unity, better to say striving for unity, makes the tragedy of
sin even clearer. Sin splits not only our will but the entire person.
The entire person is threatened - self-will (willfulness)
is in a deadly struggle against the entire human being craving for truth, goodness,
purity and inner unity. The inner self protests against the splitting up
and disintegration and struggles against an egoism running after an idol.* *Placing
anyone (even oneself) or anything above God. The
laws of God are written upon our hearts - we can discover their beauty and
integrating power mostly within the community of believers. See Jeremiah
31,31-33. Jesus brought the law to perfection (see Matthew 7,12). The
concern for the correct judgment of conscience must have high priority The
creative expression of conscience and its dynamic towards good and truth
depends on a range of conditions: 1. The
health and integrity of conscience -- striving for inner unity and openness
(see treatise below); 2. The
firmness and clarity of the fundamental option (see Question 15/18); 3. The
fundamental attitude e.g. thankfulness, hope, alertness, readiness, inner peace
as an expression of becoming united with the Supreme Love; 4.
Mutual respect, that is, respecting the conscience of fellow members of the
Body; 5. An
environment which invites creative freedom and faithfulness; 6.
Actual faithfulness and creative freedom in searching for the truth, the good
and the readiness to act accordingly. b.
Wholeness and the erring conscience It
often happens that the conscience errs because of entrenched ignorance. This
cannot be maintained if man exerts himself enough to search for the good and
the truth. It can
also gradually become blind to the truth and accustomed to sin if one lives
knowingly in sin. With
regard to objective truth and value-scales the human conscience is not
infallible. An error of the conscience-judgment is possible without a sense of
personal guilt. In such a situation, because man did strive, according to his
best knowledge and conscience, for the truth and good, he is not guilty of sin
- "for whatever does not proceed from faith (conscience) is sin," Romans
14,23; this implies that the 'honestly' erring conscience (subjectively) cannot
cause man to sin. This conscience is subject to correction - here is one of the
important roles of the community of the saints, the Church. We do
not wish to give the impression that the erring conscience is usually guiltless
- man is obliged to strive to educate his conscience, be diligent in searching
for the truth, not postpone his conversion, correct his past erring/sinful
views, etc. The
man who is constantly in the process of conversion, has opened his heart
for the inner voice of the Spirit and the Church. He is willing to correct and
be corrected, in God's eyes he lives a pleasing life. A sign of the
integrity of the conscious-decision is inner peace and a growing sensitivity to
new possibilities to do what love and justice demand. c. The
confused conscience Man
facing a decision whereby it seems that there is no other way to act and do
good without sinning: a. The
decision has to be postponed (if it is possible) in order to consult others; b.
When it is impossible to postpone the decision, there are two options - do not
act at all or if action is unavoidable do what seems to be the 'lesser offence.' Moral-education
must help to develop the power of distinction by not just showing what is good
and what is bad, but also showing the value-scale within the good. 3. A
view of the stages of development of conscience
Sin
can only be fully understood in the light of God-given freedom. For this reason
this question will be organically connected (interwoven) with the Question
concerning 'inner freedom'. I. The
God-given freedom... a. The
gift and burden of freedom We
understand freedom as a gift and as a task - a God-given task and gift. As such
it enriches but also obligates - it is not indifferent and not an equi-distance between good and evil: It is a freedom for
the good! b.
Christ, the free gift of the Father The
ultimate freedom of Jesus on the cross The
commission of Jesus from His Father was to reveal the length and breadth, the
height and depth of His love. Jesus did this through communicating - teaching,
caring, loving - at a time and amongst a people in the grip of the spirit of
rebellion. In this spirit He was delivered to be crucified. As man played
the 'last trump-card' of his rebel-freedom, he has given (unintentionally) the
drama of crucifixion the highest meaning, that is, the ultimate revelation of
the love of God. This became the uttermost possibility of man to entrust
himself into the loving hands of the Father and to give-him-self for his fellow
man. In His last prayer on the cross, offering His prayer for His persecutors,
Jesus revealed the culminating-point of creative and faithful freedom (see
Luke 23,34). On the
cross, Jesus reveals Himself as freedom incarnate - He sacrificed His life as a
gift to the Father, as a token of freedom. Through the death of Jesus human
life receives its highest meaning - the highest worship of God, that is to
sacrifice one-self to God and for one's fellow man. The
resurrection of Christ is the attestation and revelation of the freedom of
Christ and a sign of our liberation. Those who take part in the life of Jesus
and give themselves as an offering will also participate in His
triumph, the triumph of the ultimate freedom. c.
From slavery to freedom in Christ 1.
From theft of freedom to the gift of true freedom - see Question ' What is
inner freedom and how can I obtain it?' With
his freedom, which man received for the good, he sins against his Creator, he misuses his freedom. The sinning man takes his freedom upon
himself to oppose God. The deepest root of sin is the theft of freedom, the
refusal of thankfulness. Freedom
is in chains because of this theft. The transition from that chained freedom to
true liberty is conversion from self-glorification to conformity
with the loving will of God. The
Christian knows the limits of his freedom. The more thankfully we
receive this freedom from the Father, the more we participate in the freedom of
the resurrected Christ - the reality of the forming of Christian freedom is in
the here and now, anything standing in the way of this process is
irreconcilable with our resurrection-belief. 2.
Freed from the slavery of the law, free for the law of the Spirit Our
passionate concern is liberation from the slavery of the law - it is a
liberation which does not make the Christian lawless, rather sees our home in the
Spirit-law, which grants us life and freedom in Jesus the Christ, see Romans
8,2; 1 Corinthians 9,21. We are
not enemies of the law, but we know that we cannot have an idolatrous
relationship with it - the cult of the law and tradition makes one blind to
the, in Jesus Christ, approaching Kingdom of God. For
almost 2000 years "false brethren secretly infiltrated" the Church.
They are a continual threat to our freedom, which we have in Christ Jesus -
they brought the Church into "bondage", Galatians 2,4. They managed
to frustrate the effort of the Spirit by giving pre-eminence to the law and traditions.
All churches are guilty of this - one perhaps more then the other! It is eminently important to free us (to be freed by the Spirit)
from this bondage and see everything as an undeserved gift of the Father - and
this in the light of Jesus Christ. Christ
is not the Servant of the law. He is Lord over the Sabbath and over the entire
Mosaic law and tradition. The
history of the Church is a 'living' example of the enslaving of God's people, to the
frustrating of the work of the Spirit by returning to Old Testament legalism
and structure. The reason for the worshiping of law and tradition is to be
found in the unwillingness of man to be entirely dependent
on the Lord of the Church and to be led by His Spirit. See also
question 8a. The Church of the Remnant is the way for the Spirit
to free His people! The
ethics of the Sermon on the Mount with its aim-commands (Matthew 5,17-48) is
not simply an intensification of the old law, but rather the completion of
the Covenant of Love. We must regain the freedom of the Children of God
- otherwise we will suffer the same fate as the contemporaries of Jesus, who,
blinded by the worship of the law and tradition, could not see the suffering of
their brother, Luke 10,25f, and ultimately they could not see the New, the Savior - they were left behind and still live in
darkness... Churches be aware! History will repeat itself! See the book:
'The Witness of the Times.' The
Old Testament is a Covenant of Bondage made in the blood of animals (see
Hebrew 9). The New Testament is a Covenant entered into by the Blood of Jesus -
it is the Covenant of Freedom in the Holy Spirit, through whom the love
of God is poured into our hearts (see Romans 5). 3.
Free from enmity, free for the Kingdom of Love The
illness of sinning man has deep roots. He sees in God a threat to his
self-glory. He is constantly looking after his own 'freedom' and so
he is in conflict with his fellow man. The slavery of the law and of
lawlessness have their common roots in selfishness. Liberation through
Christ allows us to experience the entire creation and ourselves as a gift
of God - in this we experience that we are gifts for-each-other and that we
can give our-selves in love to-each-other. So we find the right order in our
lives and the right relationship, the relationship God intended us to have: "All
are yours; and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's" (1 Corinthians 3,22f). In this p r o c e s s we will gradually obtain
our liberty - we will be partakers in the freedom of Christ, the liberty to
pour out ourselves for others in love. The
believer, who is led (let himself be led) by the Spirit, understands that the
laws of God are binding man to make him free. As the
believer learns to see the commandments and ordinances of God with a view to
his life in Christ, so will he discover the emanations of The Liberating Law - "love
one another, even as I have loved you" (John 13,34). According to this,
Christian freedom in its essence is not loyalty to laws (important as they may
be), but rather faithfulness to Christ and in Christ to oneself and to one's neighbor. We see in the ordinances of God a releasing wisdom
- free to serve Him and each-other. In the
slavery of sin we see a hindrance to genuine love; it is an enemy of true love,
because it denies love - 1. the love of God and 2. the love of the neighbor as one-self (observe the all-important
sequence). 4.
Free from fear, free for trust Jesus
did not promise to preserve us from all sufferings and failure. But if we are
faithful, so will He also be faithful and will free us from all forms of fear,
which lead us into selfishness and into alienation. The
fearless openness of Christ is rooted in trust in the Father. This trusting
relationship with God was the basis of His relationship with man. As we enter
into this trust-relationship with Christ, we will be liberated not only to
trust God but also to a trusting relationship with our fellow man - the
re- l a t i o n s h i p of trust (as the concept indicates) is a two way street: It
flows from God to us and from us back to God, better to say, from us to our
fellow man and through them back to God. In the giving and receiving of trust
we have to encounter each other so that it may flow to and from each other
(through God) in order to liberate us from slavish fears. 5.
Free from power and free for the service of salvation The
power of riches - the rich man (Mark 10,17f) is called to fellowship and at the
same time to liberation from his enslavement to his riches. Because he still
lives under the Old Law, he cannot perceive that the all
embracing Law of Charity demands the use of temporal goods in the
service of the neighbor, and so he remains enslaved.
While he has all the material advantages, his fellow man, the People of God,
are hungry. He boasts that he observed all! the commandments of God, while he
is on a war footing with The Commandment "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22,39). In the
lust for power - which is a common and a very dangerous source of evil, that
is, to rule over others, we need to see that we have not yet opened ourselves
to the liberating, saving love of Christ. We do not yet accept the equality of
ALL men as a likeness of God. 6.
Free from strings of death, free for genuine life Life,
which reveals itself in the death and resurrection of Jesus, is freedom from
death in many ways - He transformed death into life, for Himself and for
us, who believe. Death has now for us a new meaning. As we decide for Christ
and in Him for a liberating meaningful death, we decide for our resurrection -
the unbeliever has to decide for a meaningless death. The
Christian who, out of God's hands accepts death as a gate to total union with
Him, reaches the peak of his freedom - he imitates Christ, who accepted death
out of the Father's hands to save us. This freedom transformed death into
resurrection and eternal glory, see Philippians 2,8f. Who is
therefore liberated from the fear of death is free for genuine life, a
life with the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit - a life which will flow
into resurrection, into eternal glory and not eternal death. d. We
believe in the Holy Spirit A
truly creative freedom has to be based as well on Christ as well as on the Holy
Spirit. Only through the Holy Spirit can we be "born again," John
3,3f, to a new life in Christ, to a life of sons and daughters of the Father.
Sanctification through the Spirit is a call to a freedom and faithfulness,
which is reserved only for the Children of God. The freedom of Jesus, His life,
His suffering, His sacrifice on the cross was the work of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the personification of liberty and the Liberator - He is filled with
the Holy Spirit: "The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3,17). 1. The
freedom of the children of God The
freedom of the Son is an expression of His being with the Father (see
John 10,30) - the infinite being-free for love in the partaking of the freedom
of the Father's "breath" the Holy Spirit (Spiritus).
From unity with the Father flows the freedom of the Son, who gives Himself and so returns to the Father - the full circle. "He
(the Father) destined us in love to be his children through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will; to the praise of the glory of his grace,
which he has freely given us in the One (Jesus) he loves" (Ephesians
1,5f). We are accepted into the eternal circle, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
- we become adoptive Children through Jesus in the Holy Spirit - we are
partakers of the freedom of the eternal God! Christian
life is an overflow of freedom and love to the glory of God. Our response is
the Eucharist = thanksgiving (Last Supper), in which, united with the
glorified and self-sacrificing Christ, we offer our selves up to God - we have
fellowship = communion with Him and with each-other -- the other
members of the Body. "All
things are permissible for me" (1 Corinthians 6,12) - this is the freedom
of those who are in Christ. "We
know that in everything God works for good with those who love him" (Romans
8,28) - the freedom in love! 2.
Freedom in the Holy Spirit and readiness for mission (sending). The
spiritual man does not belong to himself in a selfish way, but rather he gains
his true self in the service of the Kingdom of God. He learns from Christ,
glorifies God in love in all the creative ways love can find (see 1 Corinthians
6,20). The
law of the Spirit liberates us from slavery of sin-solidarity into a life in
Christ, that we may serve each-other free in a new order which the Apostle
calls a "law of faith" and to an existence denoted as "not under
the law, but under grace" (Romans 6,14b, see 2 Corinthians 3,6b.17). This
all belongs to the inner constitution of freedom, which comes via the
Spirit from Christ. The favored place
for the working of the Holy Spirit is in the community of the Saints,
who are free for-each-other and are free together for the sending - to be the light of the world and salt of the earth, see Matthew
5,13f. Led by the Spirit, they are constantly finding creative new ways to help
others - and in this way they are a blessing for all whom they encounter. II. The
Church of Christ as embodiment of creative freedom and faithfulness When
we say Church, we need to look first at our selves, whether
we fulfill our commitments in forming the
Spirit-freedom in the Church - do not ask what the Church can give you, but
rather what you can contribute to the life of the Church of Jesus the Christ. It
belongs to the central calling of the Church to be the Community of the Saved,
that is, the freed man who has made the commitment to assist in the
liberation of others and partakes in the converting of the earth to Christianity.
We expect the Church to gather such men/women, so that she is the salt of the
earth - constantly pointing the way to true freedom in Christ and preparing
fallen creation for the return of the Christ, the Bringer of
ultimate freedom! The
Church is the embodied sacrament of freedom, an example not just of the
saints but also of those yet to be liberated from their chains - the slavery of
sin, obsession, idolatry, spiritual self-mutilation. III. The
fundamental decision The
question newly phrased Everything,
the individual decisions, the quality of freedom, etc. depends on The
fundamental decision - we emphasize the lasting value of the decision for
the final aim. Here we see man in his total dependence on God as he is
challenged to be faithful to his final aim. God
the Creator and Redeemer calls us into being - we can answer only as one who is
being called by Him - our entire life, decisions and attitude will depend on
our answer. This
decision process is vitally shared by the environment - it is of immeasurable
value for the development of everyone (especially of children and young people)
if they can grow up, develop in a community where man's fundamental decision
for God becomes a growing reality. A perverted environment can do
irreparable damage to spirit, soul and body. The
fundamental decision takes place at the 'first conversion,' it is a fundamental
change of direction and a fundamental adjustment to God and His will - this is
followed by the 'second conversion' which is nothing more than a continual
adjusting and direction-correction, a progressive consolidation of our
fundamental decision and an unfolding of fundamental-attitudes. 1.
Encounter with the ultimate freedom and the knowledge of good in the depths of
the soul Human
freedom is partaking in the freedom of God. God's freedom is light and truth -
an infinite freedom of love for Love. The self-knowledge of the
Father in His essential-likeness is the Word 'breathes' Love -
the Holy Spirit. The second Person of the Trinity, the Word (see John 1),
is not just any kind of word, but really existing word; the Word partaking in
the 'breathing' of Love - the mutual relationship (love) of the Father
and the Son is the Holy Spirit. Man will be partaker (tapping into) in this
eternal divine process of giving and receiving as soon as he makes his
fundamental decision to become an alter-Christ, that
is, live the true freedom God intended him to have - this freedom is a loving knowledge
of the received good, stretching out for greater love - not just to receive but
also to give...love becomes true love by giving it away. See Question 13. The
received good is Love, received from God - "who loved us first" (1
John 4,19). The 'received' love is a love continually given - we can receive it
in a degree of being healed - inner healing, healing in the depth of
one's soul is essential. A consequent walk with God will allow Him to give more
healing love and in return we are gradually healed. This 'circular'
process can be interrupted only by our leaving the 'circle' - leaving the
freedom God has given us. This
freedom is partial, because we are not whole - we have to continue to encounter
God's freedom and continue to discover the good/deep with-in-us, "The
kingdom of God is in you" (Luke 17,21) - it is a process. 2. The
heart of man The
'heart' of man is the centre of man, the meeting-place for love which builds
bridges in human relationships and where man co-operates with the love of God.
A heart which is closed to receiving love is sick - full of hate,
anxieties, rejections - cannot experience the freedom God intended it to
have. God is
not satisfied with external performances. Our actions have to originate from
the depths, from our 'heart,' where God dwells (if He is received), where the fundamental
decision is made - made for God and the good - from this 'place' comes decisive
direction for our individual decisions: "My son, give me your heart" (Proverbs
23,26). The 'heart' has to develop a spiritual-feeling for the right and
pure intention - this can be developed only in a heart which made a
fundamental decision for God and lives in this decision. God's
greatest sorrow is the "hardened heart" of His people (Mark 6,52;
John 12,39f; Isaiah 6,9f;29,13). "Put
on Christ" (Galatians 3,27, see also Romans 13,14), is nothing else but to
receive Christ in faith - to receive Him as a saving truth, a giving one self to Him and so live in Him. The
false fundamental option of pride and arrogance is the beginning of decay,
inner emptiness and the gradual estrangement of all spiritual powers - the eyes
of the humble are cast down in the knowledge of their true worth; the eyes of
the proud are lifted high in self exaltation - "whoever exalts himself
will be abased, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matthew
23,12). Those who elevate themselves on the throne of their hearts debase God,
whose rightful place they take. "Be
filled with the Holy Spirit," Jesus called (Luke 10,21; Matthew 11,25f). The
memory of the proud is full of hurts - he cannot make a clean sweep...the good
cannot shine into his darkness The
proud cannot know thankfulness, because he cannot acknowledge...the good of
others The
proud cannot experience healing, because he cannot forgive ...
the cure - "be filled with the Holy Spirit" Humility
is not just an attitude of sinners, it is much more for Christians, a
co-execution of the attitude of the Son of man. Thankful humility is the
fundamental option of Christ, who has come to free us from pride and arrogance.
A true Christian fundamental option without this dimension is impossible. 3. A
satanic misunderstanding of the fundamental option A
great danger to the healthy development of the fundamental option is to confuse
the Christian option with a social or a humanistic one. That is, the
Christian option is an unswerving, striving for a constant deepening
relationship with God - the social option is, often enough under the guise
of Christianity a striving for inner and outer security. The humanistic option
reverses the two great commandments (Matthew 22,37-39) - the second becomes the
first and often enough, the first commandment does not exist at all. 4. The
choice of a falsely understood loyalty and freedom The
supposedly good fundamental options, mentioned above, are nothing but a search
for self-satisfaction* and inevitably will lead to idolatry** - one blocks the
flow of grace. *
Searching for security apart from God leads to a self-searching without end -
no one can find lasting peace, no one can find one's-true-self apart from God. The
humanist who puts his neighbor before God does not
see that his deepest motive is a selfish one. He is looking for
self-satisfaction: How self satisfying it is to
help... True
Christian help is a help for God's sake! Every
Christian is a humanist but not all humanists are Christians. **
Anything or anyone elevated above God is an idol! whatever holy name (person or
thing) the intention may have. 5.
Mortal sin and grievous sin (after the fundamental option - before that,
man lives in permanent condition of mortal sin) The perverted
option, an option against God and the good always occurs under the
appearance of good, but it leads to slavery, lies and self-deception - such an
option leads into a grievous sin. The fundamental
option against God which is always a direct rebellion against Him leads the
sinner into idolatry. We will call this mortal sin. It is mortal because
the spirit of man dies and it leads to eternal death if there is no change in
the fundamental option! Not
every sin is a mortal sin, that is, a direct fundamental option against God. Venial sins can have different degrees, like a sickness it can increase in gravity
to the point of death. See Question 18. In the
final analysis, every sin is a turning away from God - only in different
degrees. A turning away damages (depending on the degree - destroys) the
existing fundamental option for the good. Every sin is a serious matter! -
venial sins can gradually undermine the fundamental option. They will all be
the more dangerous, the more they lead into general descent and decay. The most
consequential venial sin is the putting off of conversion and the lack
of readiness to repent. After a performed fundamental option against God
a total conversion is necessary, which is much more difficult than to change
one's ways before this happens. We can
compare the condition of one in a venial sin to a sick person who constantly
postpones his surgery! IV.
Some basic definitions In the
Hebrew language, we find different expressions for sin, or sinning, which we
may translate in the following way: Rebellion, human error, deviation. These
concepts show a conduct, an attitude in human life; a deviation from the aim of
man set by God; a rebellion against God; a culpable disobedience or a human
error. In the
account of the original sin, see Genesis 3, we may come to see the essence
of sin. Without any doubt, the first sin of man was more than disobedience. The child-like relationship with God was replaced by an arbitrary knowledge
of good and evil. In the fall of man the self revolts and reaches out to a freedom which is alleged to be withheld from him. Man
turns away from God and turns to the forbidden fruit and by this act elevates
his ego to the throne. This
Fall of man (original sin, first sin) is a crucial event after the Creation. Through this
mankind was lost to Paradise (i.e. the perfect harmony with God, himself and
his environment) and communion with God. Here a fundamental-decision was
made which affected the whole human race, see Romans 5,12f. Every individual
sin has its origin and model here. In this blameworthy condition man lives as
his own prisoner; he cannot overcome sin, rather he is subjected to it (see
John 8,34). The
consequences of the Fall of man are hereditary in our soul, spirit and
body. Instead of harmony with God and with ourselves, a gap comes into being between
God and we are divided within ourselves as well. The consequences of sin are
shown by James in his letter, 4,1-3. Sin
is never a private matter, not even when nobody knows about it. It always
has consequences for the entire environment; it has a social character. Through
my own sin I create a sinful environment. We are
separated from God not only because of our own guilt but also as a result of
the guilt of other men who lived before us. Through
the preaching of Jesus, the sinfulness of man is made more evident (see
Luke 5,8), because Jesus proclaims the supremacy of God, see Mark 1,15. God
stretches out His hands through Jesus and wants to bring the lost man home (see
Luke 5,10;7,37f;19,1f). Jesus overcomes sin in the name of God (see Matthew
9,2). He is authorized to do this because He bears the sins of the world (see
John 1,29; 1 John 1,7; 2,2). Because of this He gives us freedom (see
John 8,34.36). Through His works Jesus divides the human race because He calls
them to a decision (see John 15,22-24;9,41). Whoever remains in his sins and
rejects Jesus will perish; whoever confess his sins and accepts Jesus will receive
forgiveness (see John 8,24; 1 John 1,9). The
transgression of God's Commands is objectively always a sin. Subjectively it is only a sin when one transgresses it (them) knowingly and willingly. We
cannot deal here with the problem of a falsely educated conscience (misled
conscience) and false knowledge: We recommend competent and regular Spirit-filled
spiritual guidance. The Church of the Remnant will provide it. Confession
of sin:
Jesus gave His disciples the authority to forgive sins (see John 20,23). The
confession of sin to God and to man, i.e. to an authorized
spiritual advisor of the Church of Jesus the Christ is one of the
conditions for the forgiveness of sins. The Bible recommends the confession of
sins to our spiritual mentor (see James 5,16) - by doing so, we are also
learning the essential virtue of humility! Confession is an acknowledgment
of our sins to God and to a brother (e.g. to our mentor). The forgiving of sins
is in the name of Jesus (Acts 10,43) - Jesus is the one who will forgive
our sins. Repentance "I am
sorry" (see 2 Corinthians 7,9-10). Without repentance there is no
forgiveness of sins. And without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation! V.. Conversion in the light of the fundamental option new life 1.
What is conversion? a.
Total change and justification The
change from a fundamental option for evil to the good is a very important and
creative act, which is, in a very special way, a gift of God and requires a
high degree of thankful response. Theologically we call this turning to God justification (see Question 23 - 'Epilogue,' 'Some thoughts on the theology on grace').
It comes about through the magnetism of divine love and through the power of
grace of the Holy Spirit; He touches man in his very centre (heart) through
which man experiences a unique freedom - he encounters God! The 'total' change
is a gradual process, prepared by the same God who will grant grace
for the last decisive step - the cooperation of our free will is
anticipated. The
starting point for changing can be (for instance) a fear of punishment
(imperfect motive) - however, only when man allows God, in His great love, to
draw him, can the great change begin. It takes place in the great moment of
justification, which coincides with the fundamental option for the good. The
man who is still in the phase of imperfect motivation, receives, even before he
made his fundamental option, grace to believe in good and to begin to trust
God. The slavish fear of punishment will gradually turn into a 'holy fear,'
the fear that he might insult God, the beloved Father. b. The continual conversion We
will differentiate between the First justification and the justifications which
follow. The first is part of the fundamental option. The continual conversion
of man is a continuous process - during which the fundamental option is
strengthened and it penetrates all our capabilities, yes, our entire life. It is
impossible to expect that a man who made his First step in turning to God,
becomes immediately an integrated personality - this step follows a long and
hard battle against one's own ego. The fundamental option proves to be
genuine in the growing awareness that further growing, cleansing and greater
integration is necessary. The
Spirit of God will accept us where we are - taking into consideration our
entire life (history), our wounds, scars, perverted tendencies, restraints and
also our inner rich experiences. The initial fundamental option will slowly be translated into corresponding attitudes and deeds - progress happens in a way of compromise, however so that there is an openness for further growth. This compromise is
entirely different from the conscious false compromise of those who are not
striving for the transfiguration of their lives. c.
Becoming conscious of the state of grace It is
absolutely necessary to say Yes to continual conversion - within this
process the soul will become more and more aware of his deepening relationship
with his Creator and Savior. The knowledge that the
Bride is constantly seeking the Bridegroom and the striving of the Bridegroom
to please the Bride will result in a growing confidence in one's state of grace
- that is, in the growing knowledge of being saved. This maturing process
should last till our last breath. We
should never judge the state of grace of others - it is God who judges- we do
not! "Judge not, that you be not judged" ( Matthew 7,1). The one
who is permitted to make such judgments and is capable of doing so is the
Church - the College of the Apostles. See 'the Key-authority' Matthew 16,19 and
also Matthew 18,18. Creative
freedom and faithfulness in Christ happens through a continual process of
conversion. 2. Let
us speak of sin a. The
good news of conversion and the evil of sin The
Holy Scriptures show us that the negative reality of sin is not and cannot be
the last word of Christian Theology - the history of Original Sin receives its
meaning from the promise of redemption. Sin has its place only in the entirety of the Good News of reconciliation and conversion. Sin is a great
evil and injustice, an outcry of ingratitude because it is a rejection of the
grace of reconciliation and conversion. But sin is no final destiny, because
conversion is possible. God
the Father has revealed in Jesus Christ His saving justice through a love which
does not owe us. The
essence of sin as lawlessness can only be understood in view of the New Law,
which is grace and love (see Romans 8,2; 1 Corinthians 9,21; Ephesians 2,1-5). In sin
man loses his true self to his selfish ego and to the powers which
enslave him. God, through His gift of the grace of conversion liberates man
to find his true self - to faith, hope and love into the Community of
Believers. Man
was and is called to salvation and into the Covenant of Salvation Compare
Genesis 3,15;9.8f;17,1f. As Christians
we know that we are, through the Blood of the Covenant, redeemed and we
acknowledge Christ as the Covenant and the Law. For this reason sin is
an assault on Christ, the Saving Covenant. b.
Temptation The
freedom which God gave us is not for doing evil but good. In our fallen state
the possibility to misuse our freedom is given. Temptation
is something entirely different from the possibility to sin. The temptation of
our free will comes from I. our
own evil inclinations, which are derived from past individual sins and
collective sinfulness; II.
the evil one (see 1 Thessalonians 3,5); Matthew 4,3 and his followers). The
decisive answer of the Christian to different temptations is not a flight into
the desert but a single-minded commitment, in union with the Saints, to
build up the Body of Christ and work* on his own and on the salvation of
others; to work for the decontamination of this "evil generation" (Mark
8,38) and to prepare for the Return of the Christ. *
'Work' is a cooperation with grace. c. The
penalty of sin ------> prophetic painting by Sarai In His
saving justice and mercy He calls the sinner to return home (see Romans 2,4f).
The sinner is cruel to himself if he refuses the
grace of conversion. He gradually destroys his own freedom for the good. He sins against himself (he punishes himself),
against his salvation and his wholeness and loses his identity (see John 8,34). 3. Sin
and sins In the
Holy Scripture sin is power, is estrangement, is the twisting of the human
heart, is a negative fundamental decision. a. A
sin-catalogue See
Deuteronomy 27,15-26; 1 Corinthians 6,9-10; Galatians 5,18-21. b. The
different types of sins -
Revealed truths - denial of the truths; ************************ 19. What is occult?/ Introduction The wages of occult is slavery -
painted by Sarai means
hidden, secret, concealed (things of transcendental nature). This concept became
the collective name for all supernatural things and powers which are available
to man through satanic forces. * Let
us examine this from the New Testament points of view: Those who follow God and
live in His presence will receive His protection. Those who follow their own
way (there are only two ways we can follow: God's or satan's)
will place themselves outside His protecting 'umbrella' and will be satanically
attacked. Satan will have a free hand to do what he pleases with them – he will
torment his subjects. To stop this we have to repent and by doing so, return to
follow God's will. *See
Question 13 - the condition for "Receiving the Holy Spirit." ***************************** 20. Can you teach me how to pray?/
- Obedience - transgression of (just) laws;
- The virtue of worshiping God - the denial of thanking and worshiping – idolatry.
c.
Sins of neglect
The neglect of the good which one could of have done does as much harm to the Kingdom
of God and the spiritual growth of man as doing evil -- Christian morality is
much more than just fulfilling specifically prescribed duties!
e. Sins of the heart
The pleasure in imagining evil (for instance, revenge on someone);
The desire for sinful action(s);
The intention to sin.
4.Sin-concept in the Bible
Compare:
We are all sinners - 1 John 1,8-10 -- we all fail, James 3,2;
The Decalogue - Exodus 20,1f; The Two Great Commandments - Matthew 22,37f;
The heart - Mark 7,21f;
The hardening of hearts, rejecting God and turning against the Holy Spirit - Matthew
12,31f; Mark 3,28f; Luke 12,10; 1 John 5,16f; Hebrew 6,4f;
Incestuous sin, etc. - 1 Corinthians 5,1.
Necessity of brotherly correction (see Galatians 6,1f; 1 John 5,16).
The borders are fluid between mortal and venial sins (see description above).
4.
The incarnate Good News of conversion
Christ, the Son of God, the Son of man is the Living Gospel, the all embracing Sacrament of conversion, the Liberator from
sins, the Well of new freedom. He is the Prophet, who not only exposes our sins
of alienation but also offers us a home in His truth and His peace. He is the
Covenant and the Mediator of the Covenant, the Incarnate Saving Wholeness, who
alone can make us free from the harmful fragmented state of sin. To His message
of conversion belongs the promise of the Holy Spirit, Who will renew our hearts
and prepare, through the Converted, a New Earth.
Christian conversion means to turn to Jesus, have faith in Him, give one's life
to Him in trust and love.
Conversion is an unconditional Yes to the Truth, which He is and teaches and to
the Kingdom to which He calls us.
Fundamentally we can distinguish four different spirits:
1.
The Spirit of God ( the Holy Spirit) - see Question 13
2. The angelic spirits
3. The spirit of man
4.The evil spirits
Pursuing this subject we will have to deal exclusively with the spirit of evil.
The leader of the evil spirits is satan, known as
Lucifer (= Morning Star) or dragon, or old serpent. In order to designate his
being he will also be called the "evil one." Satan is, in an absolute
sense, the enemy of God, His Kingdom and man. As the "prince of the
world" (John 12,31) satan is the great opponent of
the Messiah.
The fallen Lucifer, who wanted to be greater than God, induced other angels to fall
also. These fallen angels are called "evil spirits" or demons in the
Bible (Luke 7,21; Mark 9,38; see Isaiah 14,12-15). Through his activities as a tempter,
the devil and his followers try to separate man from God (Genesis 3; Matthew 4;
Luke 4).
The Holy Bible testifies to the real and personal existence of the devil and
his angels. It is a dreadful fact that there are beings, created by God, who
are fallen and who are evil in their innermost beings.
The devil, as we have already said, is a "fallen angel who sinned" (2
Peter 2,4; Jude 6; John 8,44). He is a created spirit and as such he is free
from the restraint of gravity and matter. The devil is a person - he
talks to Jesus as such (Matthew 4; Luke 4); he is mighty (Matthew 4, Luke 4);
he has all the attributes of a person - he has a will, feelings, intelligence,
etc.
The activities of the devil will be bound during "the Thousand Years
Kingdom of Christ" (Revelation 20,1-3). The final banishing of these
spirits will take place afterwards (Revelations 20,7-10), i.e. after this
Kingdom of Christ (= Millennium).
The devil rules with the evil spirits (demons) in the atmosphere (Ephesians 2,2;6,12;
1 Corinthians 8,5). The activities and involvement of the lost souls are not
quite clear.
The
working of the devil will be increased towards the end of world history. His control
will be mostly visible during the reign of the antichrist. Satan who imitates
God (his sin being that he wanted to be like God), will do so increasingly at
the End of the Time:
- "The great whore" (Revelation 17) is nothing other than the
imitation of the Church of Jesus the Christ;
- "The false prophet" (Revelation 19,20) is nothing other than the
imitation of John the Baptist (Luke 3) and the Two Witnesses (Revelation 11);
- "The antichrist" is nothing other than the imitation of our Lord
Jesus the Christ: Jesus was tempted but He withstood the temptation (Matthew 4;
Luke 4); the antichrist will accept the offer of satan (Revelation 13). Jesus rose from the dead (Matthew 28); satan will fake the resurrection of the antichrist (Revelation 13,3). Jesus redeemed
the world (1 Timothy 2,6); the antichrist will promise freedom and security on
earth. Jesus is "the Lamb of God " (John 1,29); we read about the
beast: "it had two horns l i k e a lamb" (Revelation
13,11b). He would even mislead the saints, i.e. the Children of God, if he
could.
Occult
Satan is the 'great miracle performer.' He performs his undertakings in secret,
in darkness, in the occult. That is the reason why we Christians have to do our
works in the light and everything that is hidden we have to bring to light.
Satan is the 'great monkey.' He can not create
anything new: He tries to imitate everything that God does. The Divine Gifts (1
Corinthians 12) such as prophecy, the gifts of healing, etc. have e.g. also
their satanic counterparts. In saying this, we are already in the realm of
occult practices, from which we can mention only a few: Fortune-telling
(predicting the future) in its different forms; 'nature-healers'; astrology;
oscillation; black- and white magic; sorcery; spiritism (to get in touch with the dead through a medium) in its different forms.
In addition to what we said above, it is vital to avoid any organizations which
are 'secret' or whose roots are in pagan occult practices. e.g. Freemasonry.
It is important to examine the teachings, manipulative practices, ethical behavior, hidden and religious teachings of religious
groups. Christianity is not a religion (see Question 9).
See additionally: Leviticus 19,31;20,6.27; Hosea 4,12; 1 Chronicles 10,13; Exodus
34,5-7.12-17; 1 Samuel 15,23; Hosea 4,12; Galatians 5,20f; Revelation 21,8,
etc.
Man
can live within the reach of God or within the reach of satan.
In this way he may get his direction from God or from satan.
If somebody makes use of satan's services, i.e.
commits idolatry, he draws God's punishment* on himself (Leviticus
19,4;26,1;19,31;20,6.27; 2 Chronicles 18,21; 1 Chronicles 10,13; Hosea 4,12;
Nahum 3,1-5; 1 Samuel 15,23) and will be demonically subjugated. It is
important to know that he who relies on God, will be led by God; but he who makes
use of satan's services (knowingly or unknowingly)
will be afflicted by his poison whether he knows it or not, he will have his
destiny determined by satan. Many people refuse to
serve God because they are afraid to lose their 'freedom'. However they become
slaves of demons.
Subjugated
Man is created in God's image, in a three-fold manner, he is Trinitarian (triune).
He is composed of body, soul and spirit. God creates the soul of man immediately
at the time of conception; it is an immortal 'substance.' It is a 'higher life
principle,' which makes our body live, unfold and sustains all life processes.
Within the entirety of the person, the soul is understood as life itself.
In biblical vernacular the human soul and spirit are separate from each other. The
human spirit is the coordinating and guiding power in man. It binds together man's
body and soul into a living unity.
If God wishes to get in touch with man, He will do this through His Spirit, which
then gets in touch with our spirit. The Spirit of God "gives witness to our
spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8,16).
If we give our life to God, we are inviting His Spirit to unite with our
spirit. The more we follow God the deeper will be the unity between His Spirit
and our spirit. We would like to mention here that one of the essential
attributes of the divine working is that God respects our free will, i.e. He does
not force, He recommends. His quiet and tender voice can be perceived only
if man turns to the loving God a n d to His Son Jesus and renounces
the evil spirit.
When an evil spirit finds access to a man and unites itself with the spirit of man,
we speak of subjugation (satanically, demonically burdened). If we turn away
from God, as already mentioned, the evil spirit finds its way into our souls.
The deeper we get involved with the evil one, the deeper will be the unity
between this spirit (spirits) and our spirit. This subjugation can be intensified
till it becomes possession. The characteristic of any demonic spirit is its compulsion.
For this reason, with an increase of the subjugation, freedom will
progressively vanish. By possession (the highest degree of subjugation) all the
thoughts, feelings and desires of man will be occupied by the evil spirit(s).
The goal of possession by the evil spirit is to eliminate the communion of man
with God and to cause him to do evil. The evil spirit receives his name
according to his working in man: E.g. if he induces him to speak (do, live)
lies, we call him a false or lying spirit (1 Kings 22,22); if he lures him to
unclean deeds, he will be called an unclean spirit (Matthew 10,1; Mark 1,23;
Acts 8,7), etc. Those spirits are constantly tormenting their victims in that
they force them to deeds which are very often distasteful even for the
oppressed (often) making them ill in body and soul. For a few examples of
bodily/mental illnesses caused by evil spirits see Luke 13,11; Matthew 9,32; Mark
9,25; Matthew 12,22.
Reasons
for demonic subjugation:
One's own sins, sins of our fellow men and ancestors. Liberation from these
evil spirits is possible only through the victory of Christ on the cross. The
subjugated person must repent, must renounce satan and give his life to Jesus.* Jesus liberated the possessed (Matthew 4,24;
Acts 10,38) and gave His Apostles authority to do the same (Matthew 10,1; Acts
5,16). This authority is for everyone who received such service in the Church
of Jesus the Christ from the Holy Spirit and through the authorization
of the Church. Those who are demonically oppressed need deliverance ministry to be released from the grip of satan.
It is very difficult to understand but nevertheless true that a man can have God's
Spirit and at the same time evil spirit(s). Not only the history of single individuals
but the whole of church history testifies to this fact. In order to avoid this,
one should be liberated from subjugation before one receives the Holy Spirit.
The liberated Christian should live continually in the presence of God and put on
the "armor of God" (Ephesians 6,11-18). The
believer should repent again and again and purify himself through confession of
his sins (James 5,16; Acts 3,19; John 20,23). The liberation of man (from evil
spirits) will not happen directly through Jesus or the Holy Spirit but
through the authorized servant of the Church of the Christ. Christ gave
His Church (Apostles) the authority for this service and this will be practiced in His Name through the authorized servant of His Church (Matthew
10,1).
The
confession of sin is very important. We have to confess our sins to God but also to our spiritual leader. For such position (function) the mentor needs the
authorization of the Church of Jesus the Christ. Jesus gave His disciples
the authority to forgive sins (John 20,23). We will mention two important facts
which also make confession before the brother/sister so essential (James 5,16):
1.Every Christian should have a spiritual advisor (as does the advisor
himself): God does lead man directly, but most of the time through our brothers
and sisters;
2.Humility is a very important virtue. It is important to exercise it. The confession
of sin is a very important and effective act of humility.
Walk in the light of Christ
The New Testament is full of statements showing us that we have to live in the Light
and have to bring to Light everything in our lives. See Matthew 6,22; Luke 11,34f;
John 3,21;11,9f, etc.
As a contrast to this, the Bible shows that satan operates in darkness, in secret.
It is important to realize that we cannot live in both realms. No one should mislead
you, anyone whose life (or any part of it) is not in the Light is not serving
God. You cannot serve two masters (see Matthew 6,24).
How does satan work?
One of the most frequent and effective ways satan operates is in confusion. He very seldom comes out openly with a lie, he hides
it. He mixes lies with truth - the truth will be used as a facade, which hides
the lie. People will see the apparent good and will swallow the lie. Even if we
participate unknowingly, the hidden lie will limit us in our spiritual growth,
hinder us in our walk with Christ - He will never lead you in a path of
half-truth. Walk in the Light!
Dear friend in Christ! The entire Christian life is a prayer! Here I can offer you
only some suggestions. I would advise you to turn to a spiritually mature Christian, who would lead you into a meaningful prayer-life. The Church of the Remnant
will provide her members with spiritually grown-up mentors.
What is prayer?
