The Bible doesn’t say to believe in yourself …
But to die to self.
Jesus never said to forgive yourself …
But to forgive others and then ask God to forgive you.
The Gospel isn’t about affirming you …
But about repenting and surrendering to Christ’s rule.
Only then will you find yourself, your freedom and your validation …
As defined by Him.
Says who?
God or you?
Outside God’s plenary authority of Scripture as His written word …
There no definitive way to say.
Faith is trust …
And thus the antithesis of doubt.
Reformed Theology says it’s impossible to reject God’s grace when offered …
Based on the philosophic concept that doing so would involve human autonomy against God’s sovereignty.
The flaw is that Reformed Theology does not see that there is a third option, which runs throughout Scripture.
The choice isn’t Calvinism = a Sovereign God …
While Arminianism = Human autonomy.
Rather, Biblical doctrine shows a God who is so sovereign …
He can offer grace to those who have no choice in and of themselves, while also granting them the choice to reject that grace.
Denying God’s sovereign right to delegate that choice is, at it’s core, a denial of His sovereignty.
We are bound by the limits of our fallen nature, which makes us “dead in our trespasses and sin”.
We are not sick, but dead.
Free will, therefore, is a myth apart from God’s grace giving us the option to choose life.
A dead man has no choice otherwise.
There is no human autonomy to choose anything apart from what God has chosen to delegate and enable.
He allowed Adam to choose sin. He now, through the Cross, enables us to choose life.
That’s what makes grace so amazing.
The irony of hard core “Calvinism” is that it diminishes God’s sovereignty …
By claiming He can’t delegate to others the option to reject Him.
Can a God who is so limited truly be considered to have absolute sovereignty?
This is the inherent contradiction in their systematic reformed theology.
They have great insight on many things, but can not reconcile their philosophic concept of God’s “sovereignty” …
With His right to delegate, as He chooses, the option to reject His sovereignty.
They are thus trapped in a fundamental internal contradiction …
Of defining God as so sovereign, He can’t actually be sovereign.
There are four verses in the New Testament which admonish Christians to sing together when we gather …
And the ONLY reason given is to encourage one another.
The idea of worship in the church as a way to experience, encounter or invoke God’s presence is not found in the New Testament.
Rather, it is from the Old Testament idea of the temple, where you went to encounter God.
In contrast, under the New Covenant, we have become God’s temple because He now dwells in us.
Thus, we sing to express God’s presence already in us, not to bring His presence to us.
And we are to do it congregationally for the purpose of encouraging one another …
Not as a staged performance to manipulate intense reactions which we then call “God”.
Most of what we call “worship” today …
Is so contrived and manipulative as to be an affront to God.
Most are so unwilling to submit their concept of “worship” to what the New Testament actually says is worship …
That they don’t even care.
Because He loves us, God offers grace without merit …
But also requires repentance in return.
Anything less on either point …
Emasculates the Gospel.
“Christian” existentialists get all wrong:
We don’t believe because we perceive …
But perceive because we believe.
The former is all about us …
As we start with ourselves only to remain trapped in ourselves.
The latter is all about Him …
Who gives faith to believe to those who repent of ourselves so we can become more than ourselves.
God’s raw, unmitigated written Word bears stark witness against those promoting existentialism, relativism, “progressive” liberalism …
Or any other competing post-modern “ism” of our day.
Which is why they all hate both the totality of Scripture …
And the God of Scripture.
Did you know that the English word “church” does not come from the New Testament …
But derives from an old German word “Circe”, denoting gatherings of those engaged in occult practices related to pagan gods …
From which our word “circus” also comes …
Which may explain why “church” today looks nothing like the New Testament concept of “ekklesia” – which is mistranslated “church”.
Maybe it’s time to take a second look at Scripture through the lens of the actual words actually used …
And what they actually meant when selected by the Holy Spirit to become the New Testament …
Rather than using our contrary, post-New Testament words and meanings.
“Christian” nihilists who promote cultural shame and national distain in the name of Christ …
Know not Christ.
True disciples can speak truth to power …
While still giving honor where honor is due.
In the Trinity, God is perfectly one and complete in and of Himself.
But unlike Islam or other “Oneness” heresies, His complete internal unity also includes internal diversity.
Because of His intrinsic diversity, He can internally relate, love and speak …
And thus do so externally as well.
Which explains the main difference between the true God of the Bible …
And the detached, uncaring and mute “God” of Islam.
Don’t be deceived by cries of “unity” by those who reject God’s plenary authority of Scripture …
And then have the hubris to expect fellowship around a Jesus of their own creation and perception.
There are those who manage the variables.
They talk about process.
Then there are those who change the variables.
They talk about results.
There’s the hard Gospel of Godly repentance and Kingdom surrender.
Then there’s the easy “Gospel” of individual decision and optional lifestyle …
Especially among “churches” that preach cheap grace and easy believism.
Where are the men of God these days, who preach hard truth under the conviction of the Holy Spirit?
May God deliver us from the easy “Gospel” of false hope and deceptive charm …
As we proclaim true salvation and redemption once again.
What if you actually studied the New Testament and the original, actual meanings of the words it contains?
What if you studied it a second time and then a third time?
And, after all that, what if you discovered that what you call “worship” …
Isn’t?
What if …
You don’t reconcile with those who use and abuse others.
You stop them.
End of story.
Only if there’s true confession and repentance …
Can another story begin.
Jesus is our Lord who loves us …
Not our lover.
Unfortunately, the words and mood of too many songs that pass for “worship” these days …
Seem to confuse this vital difference.
Don’t confuse what seems good for you …
With God’s best for you.
The love of God is the culmination of wisdom …
But the fear of God is its beginning.
God’s into plumblines …
Not pendulums.
“Assembly” is probably the closest English word to “ekklesia”, which is commonly mistranslated as “church” in our English Bibles.
But even “assembly” falls short.
When the NT was written, “ekklesia” almost always – in the common usage of the day – referred to a participatory assembly of local citizens appointed as the governing authority, under Rome, in a city or region.
In Israel during Jesus’ time on Earth, the local ekklesia under Roman rule was the Sanhedrin.
Each city or provence had their own local ekklesia, which oversaw local affairs under Roman authority through local citizens selected by the emperor.
The internal function of each ekklesia, in their own locale, was democratic – with full participation and say by each member – just like a State assembly or town council today.
The idea of Christ building His ekklesia, therefore, was subversive to Roman ears, but fully in line with His further teachings on His Kingdom.
Unfortunately, “church” today has little to do – either as to form or function – with what “ekklesia” actually meant when the New Testament was written.
To really understand the Bible, we need to learn what it actually said when written, based on the meaning and context of the words used, rather than reading back into those words our conflicting post-New Testament meanings.
Some believe God is so sovereign …
He can’t delegate the choice to reject Him.
Which means they deny His sovereignty …
To protect His sovereignty.
