The Flesh

Does not time fly? It seems like yesterday when I held my little girls in my arms; both of them at the same time. It seems like just the other day I heard their little voices screaming in joy "daddy!" because I just got home. Oh how I miss those days.

Now when I get home, all I hear is the neighbor's dog barking....stupid dog barks all day; something must be wrong with him, maybe he is lonely. Loneliness will cause insanity in some people; and certain dogs were not made to be alone either.

It is not good that man should be alone, God said; and He knows why. We really don't need the devil to help us get in trouble or do what is wrong; we have ourselves. It is true; our flesh is corrupted, totally depraved.

Galatians 5:16 is one of my favorite verses in the bible; the reason why is because I see my inability to walk in the Spirit, so I have to rely on the Spirit to walk. That may sound like a contradiction but it's not.

The desires of the flesh are those of the mind and the urgings of the body; the craving for things that make me feel good; those that usually lead me into trouble. Walking in the Spirit is being led by the Spirit;but what does that mean?

Gal 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Everybody knows what adultery and fornication are, I hope; unfortunately this work of the flesh, this sin, is pervasive in the church. Uncleanness refers to the quality of thought and physical life, meaning impure thoughts and actions such as lust or coveting, it is closely related to the previous two works of the flesh, Jesus took these to the maximum extent of reality when He said that to lust after a woman, or a man, in our hearts is just like committing adultery, and fornication for that matter; God looks at the heart, and the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, Jer. 17:9. Most soap operas, or "comedias", are full of this stuff; the producers of these shows are making money exploiting these sins and shoving them down people's throats everyday, it is disgusting.

Lasciviousness refers to licentiousness and filthy desires and it is therefore closely related to uncleanness; idolatry refers to image worshiping, but it also could mean having a false idea of who God is and living life as if that idea was true, which in a sense is not only unclean but also adulterous.

Witchcraft refers to sorcery or magic but since the original word is pharmakeia, it also refers to the use of drugs and alcohol, or anything that causes a distortion in the perception of reality, physical or spiritual; even if it is for medicinal purposes, and even if you have your California Marijuana I.D. card, so I'm going to have to get rid of mine (that was a joke, of course; I'm not getting rid of it, seriously I don't have one.).

Hatred refers to hostility, strong opposition to something or someone; again, Jesus took this also to the extreme saying that if I hate someone is just like murdering that person; I have been guilty of this one many times, mainly in the freeways in San Diego; I also slaughter my neighbor's dogs in my mind everyday (of course, that is another joke, I don't actually kill them, just shoot them up with high doses of narcotics, something in the family of the benzodiazepines or opiates). I also have a problem with little, barely-running Nissan trucks loaded with eight guys on the freeway, B.C plates on it; doing sixty on the left lane and everybody is doing eighty; no sight of the CHP. My flesh screams. The same goes for those with both hands on a carne asada burrito instead of on the steering wheel; trying to talk on the cell phone at the same time, ok, I'll stop...

Variance refers to contention, strife, wrangling; unfortunately this is common in many marriages, and as in many relationships, it can easily be traced back to pride; here is James to illustrate: James 4:1-4 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Did you notice that? "Lusts that war in your members"; exactly what Paul said in Galatians 5:15-17 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

You cannot do the things that you would; sounds pretty conclusive to me; this was written to Christians, so it is evident that if the ones that are indwelt by the Holy Spirit are to struggle like this, even more so the one who is a total non-believer; viz. a pagan. In fact for the non-believer there is no such a struggle at all; without the Spirit of God a person is completely dead spiritually and follows (not only follows but also fulfills) the desires of the flesh and of the mind just as any other child of wrath and disobedience, Ephesians 2:3.

Anyway; next is emulations, it refers to envy, malice; the original word in Greek is zelos; that's where we get the Spanish for celos, which is jealousy; nasty stuff I say. Wrath is just that, wrath; it is also described as indignation, passionate hatred.

Strife is mainly faction, contention, intrigue. Sedition is disunion, division; being divisive. Heresy is basically anything at variance with whatever is orthodox, or accepted as true; for instance saying that man in his natural state is able to seek God; that should be considered heresy because the truth, the word of God, delineates that no one seeks God.

Envyings is considered ill willed, as detraction, it is the cause of many struggles and strife; we all know what murder is, as observed above, an emotional hating response to someone is the equivalent to murder; drunkenness refers mainly to a state of intoxication, whether cause by strong drink or any thing else that causes it; revelings refers to carousal, rioting, letting loose, as in foot loose and fancy free.

Now, what I notice is that most of these works of the flesh are really happening inside the man, someone can be lusting without even being noticed by anybody else; the same applies to jealousy, strife, seditions, etc; very interesting to me is the fact that the worst of these sins, or attitudes is murder but the mental equivalent is hatred. So it is not necessary to kill someone to be guilty of that particular sin.

Yeah, so what's my point? My point is that the works of the flesh are obvious, Paul says, they are evident in someone's life; if we talk about somebody who is a pagan, like I used to be; then there is no effort in working for the flesh; but if we talk about someone who now believes, like me; then it is a battle. I cannot do the things that I would.

The battle is with the flesh; the old man is still there wanting to come back to life; but I have crucified it, and now I am supposed to put on the new man; that is the bottom line, put on the new, kill the old and put it off. Easier to say than to do.

No matter what I do or say, the only picture of Christ that my kids will ever see is me walking in the Spirit; mostly when they are young. I want to save them the heart ache and the suffering I experienced in my disobedience to God during all my years as a child of disobedience and wrath; but God has a plan for them, and they have their "free will" to deal with too.

When I hear Paul say, "wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from this body of sin" and then thank God for Jesus, I understand that I can't but He can; I died He lives, He lives in me, I am free from sin and there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. I am not in the flesh but in the Spirit; when I understand that then I experience real freedom.

Some brothers out there will say to me that I should not say these things because then people will not want to try; my recommendation to them is to stop tripping; who in the world will not try when he knows the amazing grace of God? Foolish Galatians. Don't you see? I have been crucified with Christ and it's no longer I who lives but Christ lives in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me; that's Galatians 2:20 for the record, and it just came out of my fingers.

So yes, I miss my little girls; but I have Christ, and they have Him inside too. That's gain.

The narrow way...

"You are so narrow minded; you think that Jesus is the only way to heaven, all religions have a way to heaven; it is like a big wheel in which every spoke connects to the hub, the center, which is God". Has anyone ever told you that? "You are so narrow minded"? I heard it more than once.

What causes us, as Christians to believe that we hold the only possible way to go to heaven? Is it just something we believe because we think we are privileged? Is it because we go to church and read our bibles? Who said that Jesus is the only way to heaven?

Jesus said He is the only way to heaven. John 14:6 Jesus *said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

This is indeed a very narrow way of thinking; good morality, good works, good karma, more good actions than bad actions, natural theology, will not save anyone; Hinduism, Buddhism, Mohammedanism, New Ageism, and all the isms that people come up with, will not save anyone; that is the crude reality and this reality means that a lot of people are going to hell based on their good works.

What's more, man is completely unable, he is completely powerless to know God by his own strength, the only thing he can do is exchange the truth of God for a lie; he suppresses the truth, instead of finding God the only thing he finds is his own perversion.

That is exactly the reason why to a natural man, to a regular dude, the Gospel is foolishness; because the wisdom of God is just foolishness to the wise. The message of the cross is a stumbling block for the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks; that means to everyone.

1Corinthians 1:23-31 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."

The gospel of Jesus Christ is exclusive; and yes we not only think we are privileged, we are. And what makes the Gospel exclusive? Read Paul above, God is the one who chooses whom He will bring into the household, very simple; God has chosen; and by His doing we are in Christ.

We didn't make this decision of making the way to God a narrow way; God did, and He didn't choose any other way except through Christ. So yes, we are narrow minded because it is a narrow way, there is a broader way but it only leads to destruction, the broad way of man's made religion, the isms all over the world and in the minds of Americans.

I watched a video in which Billy Graham, the great evangelist of the 20th century; is being interviewed by Robert Schuller; I think that is his name; and in response to one of his questions, Dr. Graham says that all over the world God is calling people out of every religion and every race to become Christians; this, he says, without the need for them to know about Jesus or the bible. As you can imagine, I didn't like that, and neither should you; how can anyone become a Christian without ever hearing the gospel? I'm sorry Billy, you are wrong on that one; what happened to Billy Graham? Is he out of his mind? Or was, because he already passed away.

A lot of people think that going to church or reading the bible will save them; they're in for a surprise, a shocking surprise; they think they are Christians because they call themselves Christians, but the fact is that none of those things make you a Christian.

What makes someone a Christian? Going to church? No. Reading your bible? No. Praying? No. Loving your wife and your children? No. Working hard? No. Doing good deeds? No. There is only one way to become a Christian, and it is not up to us to be one; God is the one who makes you a Christian, there is nothing you can do to become one.

It is surprising; striking, that even Christians do not know how they became a Christian. It is on the other side, sad. That is the main problem with today's church, people are in the dark in regards to this very issue, how does one become a child of God.

Ask anybody you know is a believer, and chances are that they will tell you something like "I asked Jesus to come into my heart"; or "I made a decision to come to God"; or maybe even "I believed that Jesus died for my sins"; while I am not denying that we need to believe, are these answers really accurate? I don't think so.

God initiated my salvation when He chose me before the foundation of the world, Eph. 1:4-5; He predestinated me to become just like His son, Rom 8:28-30; and when the time He planned came, He gave me life and caused me to be born of the Spirit, John 1:12-13. His call produced what He commanded, and I believed, Eph. 2:8-9.; 1Peter 2:9. See also John chapter 3, where Jesus explained to Nicodemus how one is born of the Spirit.

If I don't get the new birth right, I will not get anything else God says about salvation right, and the bible constantly talks about it. That is why people are confused, even when they know that salvation is by grace through faith, they still believe they had something to do with it; sometimes it's just the natural pride of man.

I have even been asked not to talk about it because it confuses people; sorry, I refuse to stop talking about it because people need to know they had nothing to do with their being born again; it bothers people; they think I'm preaching some strange doctrine, that is how deceived they are.

Anyway, the way is narrow and many are called but few are chosen, so there you go.

The waiting

I have problems; many of them. All people have them, problems and trials; the grinding of this fallen world against the desires of the mind; things don't go as we would like them to, things brake, health fails, we get fired or laid off, the mortgage payment, or rent, starts to get behind, the SDGE bill is past three months, cable is canceled, the TV sits there with a black screen, we miss the life of comfort.

God is in the heavens; He patiently waits for you to come to Him, really? I don't think so; He is very well involved in your being laid off and in your lack of cable service; He actually planned it that way, and He is not waiting for you; if He was He would wait for eternity. The fact is that for the true believer, we are already in Christ; God doesn't wait for us, we wait for Him. God is at work; all the time, He is not waiting for anyone and the less for me; He is always active in making me, transforming me into the image of His son.

If there was anybody who knew about waiting on the Lord, it was king David for sure. Some people think that David, Moses (Psalm 90), the sons of Korah and Asaph's (2Chronicles 29:30) psalms are just poems; think about that for a second, or for a minute; Jesus said that the psalms talked about Him, He referred to Psalms as prophecy: Luke 24:44 Now He said to them, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."

What about Peter; he said that the book of Psalms was scripture: Acts 4:25 who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, 'WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE, AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS?

David himself said that he was inspired by the Holy Spirit when he spoke: 2Samuel 23:2 "The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.

Whatever; there are some very ignorant people out there; they use their own opinion to preach against the grace of God; Jesus very well said: Matthew 15:7-9 "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 'BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'"

The worst thing is that these people are calling themselves "teachers"; they sustain that they are Christians; they are vain professors, puffed up by their fleshly mind, having their understanding darkened by their own pride. Their bibles surely look like this:



Imagine that; their worship is vain, it counts for nothing, vanity. What a horrible thing for God to say that of people; "your worship is vain"; ouch.

We wait; just like David, we wait and God makes us strong; He uses our waiting to glorify Himself, it is a glorious thing to be found waiting on Him, Luke 12:36 "Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks".

Psa 25:5 Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day. Psa 25:21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, For I wait for You. Psa 27:14 Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD. Psa 37:7 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

Psa 37:9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land. Psa 37:34 Wait for the LORD and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you will see it. Psa 39:7 "And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.

Psa 52:9 I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones. Psa 62:5 My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. Psa 69:3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God. Psa 69:6 May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel, Psa 104:27 They all wait for You To give them their food in due season.

Psa 119:43 And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances. Psa 119:74 May those who fear You see me and be glad, Because I wait for Your word. Psa 119:81 k Kaph. My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word. Psa 119:114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I wait for Your word. Psa 119:147 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words.

Psa 130:5 I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. Psa 147:11 The LORD favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His lovingkindness. Isa 8:17 And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him.

Isa 40:31 Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. Isa 49:23 "Kings will be your guardians, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you will know that I am the LORD; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.

Lam 3:25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. Hos 12:6 Therefore, return to your God, Observe kindness and justice, And wait for your God continually. Mic 7:7 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

So who is waiting; is it God waiting for you, or you waiting for God?

Get rid of the black Sharpie.

If you will

I said it before; I try to not be labeled anything except a relentlessly pragmatic predestinarian; or at best, "sinner"; but some people, I'm sure, will call me a Calvinist; I don't call myself one but it just so happens that I believe the bible teaches salvation by grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone; which is what Calvin believed, as well as Augustine, Luther, Zwingli, John Knox, Theodore Beza; Charles Spurgeon, George Whitefield; John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, B.B Warfield; Charles Hodge; etc, etc. The list goes on and on.

And once again I have been reminded of the doctrine of salvation by works; some call it "free-will-ism" some call it Arminianism; and yet all modern evangelicals call it "if you will-ism". If you have to make a commitment to come to Christ for your salvation; then it is not Him who saves you, but your commitment, isn't it?

I have heard, countless times, the preachers quoting Revelation 3:20 as a call to let God into your heart; "He is knocking" they say; "and you have to open the door so He can come in"; this verse has been completely taken out of context; first because this was not written to unbelievers; it was written for believers; and second these believers were lukewarm and He is calling them out of their lukewarmness unto repentance; His knocking speaks more of His coming and standing at the door, James 5:9, and His desire to have real fellowship with those who are lukewarm.

There is nothing in the context that points to any Gospel related admonitions; no mention of substitutionary atonement; no mention of Christ resurrection, of repentance, or of faith; the whole letter is addressed to compromising lukewarm Christians in compromising lukewarm churches; maybe just like the one you go to.

But regardless of the meaning, the modern evangelical uses this particular verse to make a point: YOU need to make a decision; you need to open the door; their point is that God in the person of Christ, is completely powerless to save you; it all depends on you. God has been reduced to a regular educated dude that is so polite that He will not do anything to brake your so called "freedom" (which is nothing but bondage to sin); He will politely knock on the door, and it is all up to you to be saved; He didn't actually purchase your redemption on the cross, just made it possible for you to become a child of God; nonsense.

This is our culture; self sufficiency; self determination; self help; self, self, self; and therefore self must save himself; self has to open the door; self has to make a decision; self has to be willing; self has to make a choice; self has to have goals; self has to have a list of do's and don'ts. God has done all He can do, now you must decide.

Because of semantics, I will probably be misinterpreted but that's OK; my only point is that God is sovereign, He reigns in the heavens and does whatever He pleases; and His grace is sovereign grace and can save whoever He chooses to save; He will make anyone willing if He wants to.

I just heard a pastor say that a section of the book of Hebrews was written to non-believing Jews; and then the same pastor laid a trip on his congregation about making a commitment to Christ; he basically called his people apostates, but no one said anything except amen and amen.

This is the kind of thing that is being said; you need to get more involved and make a commitment; it is all up to you; God is waiting patiently for you to get your act together so He can actually bless you; you need to position yourself in choosing the apple over the doughnut; because God is completely impotent over your backsliding. Is He?

At any rate; it is disgusting to hear how God is being robbed of His glory and His honor; and that is exactly what the doctrine of salvation by works does; listen to the prince of preachers:

"I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what is nowadays called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel . . . unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the Cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called." Charles H. Spurgeon.

And listen to what J.I. Packer says in the introduction to John Owen's "The Death of Death in the Death of Christ":

"Now the real nature of Calvinistic soteriology becomes plain. It is no artificial oddity, nor a product of overbold logic. Its central confession, that God saves sinners, that Christ redeemed us by his blood is the witness both of the Bible and of the believing heart.

The Calvinist is the Christian who confesses before men in his theology just what he believes in his heart before God when he prays. He thinks and speaks at all times of the sovereign grace of God in the way that every Christian does when he pleads for the souls of others, or when he obeys the impulse of worship which rises unbidden within him, prompting him to deny himself all praise and to give all the glory of his salvation to his Savior.

Calvinism is the natural theology written on the heart of the new man in Christ, whereas Arminianism is an intellectual sin of infirmity, natural only in the sense in which all such sins are natural, even to the regenerate. Calvinistic thinking is the Christian being himself on the intellectual level; Arminian thinking is the Christian failing to be himself through the weakness of the flesh.

Calvinism is what the Christian church has always held and taught when its mind has not been distracted by controversy and false traditions from attending to what Scripture actually says; that is the significance of the patristic testimonies to the teaching of the 'five points', which can be quoted in abundance. (Owen appends a few on redemption; a much larger collection may be seen in John Gill's The Cause of God and Truth.).

So that really it is most misleading to call this soteriology 'Calvinism' at all, for it is not a peculiarity of John Calvin and the divines of Dort, but a part of the revealed truth of God and the catholic Christian faith. 'Calvinism' is one of the 'odious names' by which down the centuries prejudice has been raised against it. But the thing itself is just the biblical gospel".

Have a nice day.

Serve the Lord...

Psa 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Each day that goes by fleeting through time; in fact every hour that disappears though this jelly, this fabric I call time; takes away my life with it; and deep in my soul I desire to rejoice with trembling, and to serve the Lord with fear.

All flesh is as grass; Isaiah said, but there is one thing constant: Isa 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. If this is so, how shall I not worship? How shall I become numb to God's mercy through the feelings of pain? How shall we all not worship the King?

When you hold your baby in your arms, if you have one, or two; do you not rejoice and tremble? When you see a humming bird float in the air; are you awed by the fear of God? When you sing on Sunday, do you not serve with fear? Do you not rejoice with trembling?

Somehow there is a false idea that I should not pursue pleasure, joy, when I worship my King; but where did that come from? My praise will never be complete if I don't experience joy with trembling; if I come to God seeking my own I will never be satisfied; but if I come to Him seeking Him for His sake, for His glory; He will make me rejoice; He will complete my joy in the fear of Him.

My rejoicing in Him is always a consequence of serving Him with fear; His joy will always complement my fear; this godly fear. So I will pursue joy and I will pursue Him; I can't find Him anywhere else but in His word, and in the fellowship with the Son.

I am not suggesting that we should come to God in a self-servient attitude in looking to get joy for joy's sake; but I am saying that we should come to God expecting our joy to be fulfilled for God's sake, for His glory; that changes everything.

The next time you hold your baby in your arms, or see a humming bird floating in mid air; or a butterfly adorning your backyard; or when you look at the blue sky completely naked from the clouds; the next time you sing a worship song on Sunday; the next time you kiss the love of your life or embrace your daughter; realize who God is, and rejoice with trembling; it is good for your soul and it serves the Lord with fear.

Eternal covenant

Heb 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

When I read "the blood of the everlasting covenant", or eternal covenant; I automatically think of the new covenant; which is everlasting and is mediated by the blood of Christ. Some people get grossed out by the mention of blood, but there is no other way to be cleansed of sin except through the blood of Jesus (1John 1:7).

That is what we celebrate when we take communion at church, isn't it? We are remembering the sacrifice of God made by Jesus Christ on the cross; by which He, the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, made atonement for our sins and cleansed us from all unrighteousness.

But, as I can see, it goes beyond atonement; His blood applies to me to work in me that which is pleasing in His sight by doing His will. The blood of the eternal covenant that cannot be annulled; it can never be broken because this is a one sided covenant; made by God for His glory. The glory of His grace.

Jer 31:31 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."
35 Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD of hosts is his name: 36 "If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever."
37 Thus says the LORD: "If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD."

"I will make a new covenant..."; "I will put My law within them..."; "I will write it on their hearts..."; "I will be their God..."; "I will forgive..."; "I will remember their sin no more". It is all the work of God; He reigns and He will not give His glory to another; that is what grace is about; His glory; boasting is excluded.

Matthew 26:28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Mark 14:24 And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.

Luke 22:20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

In both, Matthew and Mark, Jesus says His blood is "poured out for many", and in Luke says "for you"; why did He say "for many"? Why didn't He say for the "whole world", or "for all men"? Doesn't the use of the word "many" imply that is not intended for all? I'm just saying.

Well; He was actually fulfilling prophecy, right? Which prophecy? The one in Isaiah 53:11-12 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

The term "many" speaks of a limited number not of the totality or the whole of something; when I look at the original word in the Hebrew, that is exactly what it means:

H7227 rab By contraction from H7231; abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality): - (in) abound (-undance, -ant, -antly), captain, elder, enough, exceedingly, full, great (-ly, man, one), increase, long (enough, [time]), (do, have) many (-ifold, things, a time), ([ship-]) master, mighty, more, (too, very) much, multiply (-tude), officer, often [-times], plenteous, populous, prince, process [of time], suffice (-ient).
Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries

When I look at the equivalent in Matthew, Mark, and even in Romans 8:29, this is what I find:
G4183 πολύς, πολλός, polus, polos, pol-oos'
Including the forms from the alternate “pollos”; (singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) many; neuter (singular) as adverb largely; neuter (plural) as adverb or noun often, mostly, largely: - abundant, + altogether, common, + far (passed, spent), (+ be of a) great (age, deal, -ly, while), long, many, much, oft (-en [-times]), plenteous, sore, straitly. Compare G4118, G4119.

This word, "many"; or "pollos" is the same word Jesus uses in this verse: Matthew 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

In view of these verses, and because I know that I have faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning work, or redeeming work on the cross; I have to ask myself this question: what makes me, or what qualifies me as part of the "many"?

I know and believe that faith is a gift from God and that I am saved by grace, Ephesians 2:8-9 says so; I also know and believe that I have been justified by faith, Romans 5:1 says so; I know and believe that I am a child of God, John 1:12-13 says so; and I know and believe that God chose me to become a child of God even before He created anything, Ephesians 1:4-6 says so; would that be enough to qualify me into the "many"?

Jesus also said: Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen. Is my being chosen, as Paul says in Ephesians, qualify me as part of the "many"? I understand that many are called by the general call of the gospel; but those who are "effectually" called are justified: Romans 8:30, 2Timothy 1:9. And those who are justified, are justified by faith: Romans 5:1, but faith is a gift from God: Ephesians 2:8; so the way I see this is that God decides who is the "many"; and obviously the "many" are the chosen ones, 1Peter 1:9.

God made a covenant and He will keep His covenant; He ratified it with the blood of Jesus and nobody can undo it; His covenant will be enforced to its fullness one day; one day that is coming.

I'm tired, and my bed is calling me....

The Lord our God, The Almighty reigns...

Rev 19:6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.

I had a dream once; a beautiful dream; so awesome it was that I didn't want to wake up: I was standing in the midst of a great multitude of people, people of all races and colors, and from all tribes and tongues; I looked around me and there were millions upon millions of people all dressed in white robes; our faces shone like the sun and we were all singing.

It was as if I was looking at the ocean; but instead of water there were faces of men and women all around me; we all had these white robes with long sleeves; and we all were lifting our hands to our God; I didn't see God but I knew we were singing to Him. The song we were singing was an amazing song, I don't remember the words anymore, but I woke up singing this song. We were all crying in gratefulness; billions of people crying and singing to the Lord, the Almighty; and we knew He reigns.

All people around me with tears in their eyes, and everything shining as the sun in midday; the presence of God lit everything around us, the sky was pure white; and I looked and saw billions of human hands reaching up to the God who made us.

I woke up crying; singing the song. It was three o'clock in the morning.

I thank God that He let me dream about heaven, I assume it was heaven, and I thank God that He has redeemed me; that He took me out of the darkness and translated me into the Kingdom of His dear Son, Jesus Christ.

I thank God; I thank Jesus; that He gave His life to save me from the wrath of God; He allowed men; wicked men, to put Him on a cross; to nail His precious hands and feet to a plank of wood; I thank Him that He bled for me; He allowed torture, He took torture; He endured torture to save me. What is worse, He became sin for me (2Cor 5:21) ; He separated Himself from the Father to take my sentence of death, so that I could sing to Him a new song in heaven, dressed in the white robe of His righteousness: "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns", and never be apart from Him.

God is glorious; He is amazing, God is Holy, Holy, Holy; and He reigns. He is the supreme King of heaven and earth and nothing compares to Him; to Him belong all praise and honor; and worship, and exultation, and reverence, and glory, and adulation, and homage; He alone deserves all glory and honor; all service, and devotion, and awe, and respect; and He alone must be the sole object of our motives and love; all thoughts and intents of the heart must be centered in Him alone; for He reigns.

Jesus Christ is the only source of wisdom and strength; He is the only source of life, for He is life and He reigns over all created beings; He alone holds the future in His hands, and we know that all things work together for our good because we love Him, and He reigns.

His words alone are truth; and He sanctified us with His truth; all things were created by Him, and for Him, and through Him we all have life eternal. He alone holds the universe together, by the power of His word; all things in Him consist; and He reigns over all things; He reigns over all stars, and over all comets; and over all galaxies, and over all nebulae, and quasars, and black holes; He is in control of everything that moves and is; whether in outer space or in the atomic realm; He reigns over sub-atomic particles, and quarks, and neutrinos; He reigns absolutely.

Jesus, the eternal King, the Almighty God; reigns over all nature and natural laws; from gravity to electromagnetic fields; He is in absolute control of electrical currents in the sun and on the earth; He rules entropy; His majesty surpasses all understanding and men are as nothing before Him; indeed the nations are as a drop in a bucket, as the small dust of the scales; He reigns supremely over all.

The Almighty reigns over all the hearts of men, He reigns over the flow of blood that the heart pumps thousands of times in a lifetime; He reigns over all cells in the human body; over the air that our lungs breathe, He reigns over gastric acid, and He reigns over bone marrow; He reigns over all disease; and He reigns over all iniquity and over all injustice.

Our God is King, He reigns over history and the present; He controls the hearts of kings like streams of water, He turns them wherever He wants; our God is in the heavens and He does whatever He pleases; who can stay His hand? He reigns over all future actions of men and women; He reigns over all distress.

The Lord our God, the Almighty reigns; say it! Think it! Dream it! Scream it from the housetops! He reigns over all thoughts, and He reigns over all minds. Say it! The Lord our God, the Almighty reigns!

Hallelujah! For The Lord our God, the Almighty reigns....

The whole world

Rom 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Who are the "us all"? The us all means all of us; all those to whom Paul is writing to, including himself; namely the Christians at Rome, the called of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:6), called to be saints (Rom. 1:7); and you and me, the believers; that is whom he is writing the letter to. The "us all" is not every single person in the world; that's for sure.

At the beginning of the letter to the saints in Rome; Paul says that he thanks God through Jesus Christ for "you all"; that is the saints in Rome, but we can include our names there since Romans is divinely inspired and it is also directed to "us all" by implication, meaning the Christians.

The reason for his thanking God for them, is that their faith is spoken of throughout the whole world; does Paul mean the whole world as we understand it? Obviously not; he is referring to the known world at that time, in this case the Roman world, meaning the Jews and the Gentiles; it cannot be the whole world because America was not even on the map at that time, nor was Australia nor New Zealand, or Mexico.

The bible was written by men in their common language; and when they say "the whole world" it means the known world to them, which included the Jews and the gentiles; it is obvious that the Aztecs did not know anything about the faith of the Roman saints. The native people of the American continent, like the Mayan people, had no idea who Jesus was at that time, which was between the years 54 and 57 AD. In fact, we don't really know if there were any people in America at that time, really.

The same concept applies to the decree by Cesar Augustus that "all the world" should be registered, or taxed, depending on your translation; but the point is that "all the world" Luke is referring to, (Luke 2:1) is the Roman "world", not the whole world as we know it.

The fact is that there is no recorded history of a census decreed by Cesar Augustus in Mexican history; or U.S. history for that matter; and there is no evidence of any American native history records showing any registration at the time, which is about 6 to 10 AD.

There are other passages of scripture that make reference to "the world", or "all the world"; and they have to be taken in context for their correct interpretation. It is common in the bible to refer to the whole world, besides the known world, as "peoples, and tribes, and tongues" as in Revelation 5:9; my point is that when I read references to the "world", I have to look at the context, the writer, the place, etc, to correctly interpret what is being said; I think every body agrees with that. So I have to be careful in making assumptions.

Assumptions are dangerous, they can actually kill you: "I assume this gun is unloaded", those were his last words. Anyway...

Language is a trip; statements that are not really true are understood as true many times, even in today's English; for example the statement "everybody has a cell phone" is not true, but it is assumed as true; and it really means that cell phones are so common that everybody has one, or uses one.

In Mexico City people call the VW Bug the "belly button" because "everybody has one"; but that statement is not really true; it is like saying: "everybody has a flat screen TV", when in fact not all people have one. This also applies to personal communications, when we say "you always do that", well, not really; you don't "always" do that, but you are used to doing that, or you do it often; "you always wear jeans", not really, sometimes I don't wear anything, as when I take a shower or go to bed; you see my point?

There are times that we use universal statements that we believe are true, but they are technically false; for example, "everybody was born a sinner"; while we believe this to be true, and the bible teaches that it is in fact true; it is not really true because Jesus was not born a sinner, and Adam and Eve were not born sinners in that sense either.

Universal statements are those that apply to all subjects in a group; such as "all"; but if you think about it, a universal statement should only apply to the universe by coherency, like "all stars shine"; men are not everywhere in the universe except on the earth, so....ok, whatever.

The term world in the bible is used in various senses; that is an indisputable fact; and we cannot make assumptions that the meaning used in one verse or passage applies to all the rest; it just doesn't make sense. For example: Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Besides the obvious missionary command given here by our Lord, we need to understand that He is talking to the disciples, for one, and second we need to see the significance of the command.

Was Jesus expecting them to go into every country in the world and preach the gospel to every single person? Well, you might say yes He did, but hold on a second what world are we talking, or is He talking about?

First, of course He is talking about going to the whole wide world; the command is to preach the gospel to every creature; but did every disciple, apostle I should say, because Mark says in verse 14 that He appeared to the eleven; but anyway; did every single one of the eleven go into the whole wide world? We don't know for sure, but I doubt it; in fact Paul, who was not part of the eleven, is the one who traveled the most fulfilling this command, and his objective was to go to the gentile world, which is the Roman world. Was he disobedient when he turned to the gentiles after the Jews refused to listen to him any longer? I don't think so.

If Jesus indeed meant to go into every single part of the world to preach the gospel; what happened to the people in America? They didn't get the gospel until hundreds of years latter; or the Mayan people, and the Aztecs? What about the people in Japan? Obviously this was a commandment that the apostles could not do by themselves at that time.

His commandment still applies today; Christians are to preach the gospel to the whole world; but if Jesus command is to be taken literally and personally, then I know I am being disobedient, and so are you; what are you doing right now reading this blog? You should be talking to the negotiator at Priceline scheduling your next stop on your world wide trip to preach the gospel. Did you sell all your possessions yet?

When you read this:
Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Do you believe that He was talking to the apostles only, or He was including you? Did they really go to the "uttermost part of the earth"? If He included you also, when are you going to start?

What about John the baptist? John 1:6-7 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

Is "all men" everybody in the universe? In the earth? It is unreasonable to believe that John the baptist was supposed to preach the kingdom of God to every single person in the world; this because he was appointed to minister only to the children of Israel: John 1:31, Luke 1:80. It doesn't make sense at all to assume that he was talking about the Inca or Mayan people when he said "behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world".

If John the gospel writer meant every single person when he said: "1Jn 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness"; then he must also include himself and the recipients of his letter in that statement; but it is obvious that he didn't mean every single person by "the whole world"; the same way he didn't mean every single person when he said: "1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world".

I think I have made my point; I know some of you are not going to agree and that's fine because I know that "the whole world is being deceived".

Don't forget to pack your bags...

Let the Word do the talking....

1Peter 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire. 1Peter 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 1Pe 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. 1John 5:5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 1Peter 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 1Peter 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: James 1:2-3 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 1Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

1Peter 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. Philippians 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

1Peter 4:13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.

Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 1Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice evermore. 1Pe 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Eutychus' voyage...

That's Eutychus in the icy waters of tribulation and the turmoil of a lost horizon; he has exchanged the brutal force of the flesh for the gentle breeze of the Spirit. His cutlass is close, and is now sheathed but it remains in his heart, living and powerful and sharper than any Damascus blade, ready to pierce to the marrow and discern all the thoughts and intents.

This Viking vessel is not captained by my friend anymore, but by the Captain of our salvation; The Great Shepherd of the Sheep; Eutychus surrendered the post when he came back from the dead. The Captain has the ship drifting for now; as Eutychus explains, but he knows that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose; and the course has been set.

His trust increases as the fog gets dense; he knows the winds of change will blow it off, he knows nothing will separate him from the love of Christ, this love now flows through to the four maidens that warmly await him in the castle, and his mind is clear; his treasure is not in the Dragon shipyard anymore but in the Kingdom to which the Captain leads him.

Eutychus is a warrior expected in the heavenlies, his weapons are not from this world; he fights not against flesh and blood; and soon he will become a prince. Our High Priest and King has paid the price; redemption is near.

Sail on my friend...keep your sight on the Lighthouse.

Truth: a consuming fire

In my conversations with Eutychus the topic of double punishment frequently comes up; we beat it to the death using scripture as our weapon and faith and logic as our shield; we win the argument at all times. The truth always wins, the truth is like a fire that consumes everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

I definitely don't believe in double punishment for my sins; if Jesus died for every single person in the world in the same way, and in the same sense, no one should go to hell.

Let's suppose that I am given the gospel and I reject it; I continue to reject the grace of God for the rest of my life; then I finally die; the bible says in Hebrews (Heb. 9:27) that it is appointed for man to die once, and then the judgment; so I get judged and I get sent to hell for my sins; basically there is nothing wrong with me going to hell because that is what I deserve, so no injustice has been done to me.

But what happened to the death of Christ on the cross? Did He not pay for all my sin? Did He not take the wrath of God upon Himself to atone for my sins? Why am I being punished then? God would be unjust if that would happen; to punish Jesus for my sins, and then punish me for my sins again; I don't think that is how divine justice works; I just can't find anything in the bible that supports that kind of thinking or judgment.

If someone out there knows a scripture that supports double judgment/punishment, please let me know; I would love to read it and memorize it. Please.

What can I say, all I know is that Jesus died for the sheep, He said it Himself; I know the hang up is with scriptures that seem to point to universal redemption, such as John 3:16; and I agree in the sense that Jesus sacrifice was more than enough to save all mankind; in fact the sincere offer of salvation is made to the whole world by the preaching of the gospel; but the atonement was only effective for those who were chosen before the foundation of the world, namely His sheep, His church, His bride, His elect.

I talk about this all the time and I don't get tired of it; on the contrary, I think every single Christian should know this, it is all over the bible; but I know that that is not possible; and it is not possible because of personal pride. The reason I say that is because it is obvious that after many years of believing otherwise, it hurts to realize that I had been believing some other thing.

A lot of people get irritated by the fact that they think they are right when they are wrong; and you show them by overwhelming scriptural evidence and logic that their reasoning has been erroneous for ten or even twenty years. Of course we cannot blame ourselves for that, we have to relay the guilt to someone else; that is our nature, point the finger; the pastors would be a good place to start, blame it on the teachers; that will make us feel good. Why not if our attitude has always been that of "leave that for the teachers and pastors, let them figure it out".

Anyway I look at it, it does not make sense; so I surrender and claim ignorance; I am a sinful man; I am doomed to perdition and unless God does something to me and for me, I will never see life. I call that grace. Salvation is the gift of God; it is all His doing; all I ever did to fulfill my part was to sin; in fact I still do; I tend to go astray just a like a dumb sheep; but He is my Shepherd.

Jesus is the Good shepherd; John 10:10-11 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

John 10:15-16 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

What I see is what everybody else sees; Jesus died for His sheep; in fact He did not only have sheep in the Jewish fold but in other nations as well; that is what John says in Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation...

Out of every kindred, and tongue and people and nation; "out of" not just "every"; that means what it means; Jesus redeemed us to God by His blood but "us" is not every individual in the world; the "us" is the sheep; the Jewish fold and the children of God that were scattered abroad:

John 11:49-52 And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.
And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

Then we see Jesus rebuking the Pharisees: John 10:25-30 Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
I and my Father are one.

"You don't believe because you are not of My sheep"; basically Jesus is saying that they do not belong in the flock; they are goats. Jesus never said that He would die for the goats, only for the sheep; if any one is limiting the atonement it is He, Jesus, who is doing it; His words are explicit, He says it flat out.

John 8:39-45 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.
Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.
Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

I can't help it; I have to say it because that is what I see. Jesus even said it, some people think they will be saved and they won't: Mat 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

If Jesus died for everyone, why does He separate the sheep from the goats? Mat 25:31-34 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...(prepared for those chosen before the foundation of the world, Eph.1:3-5).

Do the research yourself; rightly divide the word of truth and show yourself approved. Those who say that believing this will cause you to stop preaching the gospel really don't know what they're saying; they are full of pride and arrogance; they must be right at all costs; but that will not matter anyway because they think that God must be rescued from the bad press He gets from His own word.

Next time we meet, we'll talk about the weather and about how to set goals in life; we will just pretend that we are supposed to be part of this world; we'll keep on going on pretending to be what we are not and spend the next hour talking about golf, cars and the iPhone, and about the latest Christian music CD.

In the meantime, Eutychus and I will continue to spread the fire of the truth; some people will burn with it, but we think it is better to burn now than later.

Our God is a consuming fire.

Where I'm at....

So,..I travel along in my viking ship. At the moment I have no direction. The sky is dark and clouded, I can't rely on the stars for direction, drifting. No land to see. Although my sword is sharp and at the ready, The lord thy God commands me to sheathe it, to release my sails, not to allow His breeze and wind to drive me. So, I wait upon the Lord and know that He is God. Am I aimless? yes, so it seems. But He is not aimless. I'm at the mercy of His strong hand,His will, His counsel, His decree for my future by His awesome wisdom and precepts. I submit to His desire, plan and decisions, my ship for now drifts as He sees fit. He has His course for me. So be it. What can I say then? Time on my hands as I wait. The Father of lights brings provision in the midst of the fog. I stay warm and fed.

The Lord speaks. Be still. Think of me, worship me and me only. Rest. Give me praise.
The Lord speaks. I love you my son, I have redeemed you for my good pleasure, I filled your mind and heart with my light....So you can love and worship me and know that I AM GOD, All things are mine, says the Lord. All things were created by me, and for me, says the Lord. I rule.

The Lord speaks again: By my Spirit I have justified you. By my Spirit we will fellowship, and have oneness, for this is the good pleasure of my will.....I have done this, therefore enter into my rest

The Lord is good.....

I could be wrong

For the children of God it takes humility, the kind of humility that we don't naturally have, to admit when we are wrong; but when we are wrong we must promptly admit it. Since we are still here and are not perfect; we will continue to be wrong at times, but we hope that as time passes by, our being wrong will be diminished as we gain wisdom, and as God works in us to will and to perform of His good pleasure.

Regardless of the times we are still wrong, it still takes humility to admit when we are wrong, like I said, it doesn't come naturally, it hurts the human side of our beings, it hurts our pride; and that is a good thing because pride is an ugly thing. Pride must die if we are to walk in real fellowship with our God and with each other. Sin must die before it starts to reign in our mortal bodies; we've got to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires so that we don't fulfill its lusts.

I like my blog; this is my forum to say whatever I want to say without addressing an specific individual. I am aware that there are people out there that are reading my thoughts, I greatly appreciate their time and politeness, and patience with me; I thank you whoever you are for reading and for the honor you give me when you read what I say, and I would also like to say that in my thinking I find that what I say might not be right or true; because what I say many times is just my opinion and it is subjective.

I am also aware of the fact that some people will not always agree with what I say here; and that is okay, I don't expect everybody who reads to agree with my opinions or my paradigms; the same way in which I don't always agree with the views of others; that's okay too, I hope.

It is even more okay if I would be shown to be wrong in something that I think is true; first because it would correct my error, and second because it would hurt my pride, which is an ugly thing and must die somehow.

There are issues in life in which I hold a very pragmatic view, for example abortion, I think it's murder and there is nothing you can say or do to make me change my point of view in this issue; then on the other side of the equation there are issues in which my view has become idealistic, for example spanking; you can change my mind if we are talking about my grand kids. I hope you know what I'm trying to say.

One of the issues in which my pragmatism is relentlessly evident is the Word of God; and please don't assume I am boasting in this, I am not; from the moment I open my eyes in the morning until I close them at night to pass out, I filter everything I see, think or sense through the lens of scripture, and as much as I would like to say that I don't like doing it, I can't.

If I was to assume a label, I would preferably choose one like this: "a relentlessly pragmatic predestinarian"; I mean, it just sounds cool to be labeled something like that, mostly because of the last word, but I really don't like labels applied to people, except maybe the one that says "sinner", and much less to myself, so I will refrain from assuming any, mostly because it might be the wrong label.

At the same time I can't help but to think that, when I read what I write, I must be labeled something; if it's not a relentlessly pragmatic predestinarian, then at least a sinner. Or maybe, friend.

Some of the things that this blog reflects are by nature futile; I know this because as in all cases, subjective points of view will always turn around self, at least in my case; but that indeed has never been my intention, unfortunately it must necessarily be so if I am to contend for the truth with my natural mind. In other words, what I perceive to be truth is always subjected to my paradigm of life, and it must be reflected in the way that I express myself.

The complete opposite also applies to the search for absolute truth; the search is never futile, and absolute truth is never understood through the natural mind; I need help. We all need help.

It is late and I must shut my eyes soon to pass out; but before I do that, I must also say that there is absolute truth; absolute truth is incomprehensible for the natural man; his mind is filled with darkness and it is too low, too dense, too dead, too relative to exercise any kind of spiritual discernment; absolute truth must be reached and digested through the spiritual mind. The problem is that the natural mind is antipodal, diametrically opposed to the spiritual.

That is the reason I started writing this post in the first place; on one side my natural mind is saying that I cannot possibly be correct in my praxis; and on the other side the spiritual mind is telling me that I cannot possibly be wrong.

I'm tired and I must shut...my eyes.

Jesus died for the sheep reprise.

Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.

Human life is possible because the body contains about five liters of blood that is constantly circulating through a huge network of veins and vessels; blood carries oxygen to the cells in every tissue and at the same time it carries waste to be discarded through the kidneys.

Blood is a fascinating liquid; God created it to be the carrier of life in a wide variety of animals; and God made it with the purpose of atoning for sin.

The blood of Jesus is the blood that makes atonement for our sins; Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; as gory as that can be to some people, it is the blood of Christ that cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus's blood was the offering that appeased the wrath of God for us; that is what propitiation does, it removes the wrath that is pending upon the sinner so that the grace of God can flow with no obstacles.

In order to completely understand what this sacrifice is; we need to look into the sacrificial system that God put in place to atone for the sins of the people before Christ came to die on the cross; Paul uses the word propitiation, "hilasterion" in Romans 3:25, which is also translated as "mercy seat" in Hebrews 9:5.

What is he talking about? He is referring to the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant; which had to be sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice by the priest, Lev. 16:14; the seat on the ark was basically the judgment seat turned into the mercy seat by the blood of the Lamb; the whole system of sacrifices for the people was instituted by God to point to the future redemption that would be brought about by Jesus Christ through His sacrifice, particularly through His blood; Hebrews 9:11-15.

The blood of Christ was perfect; He was the Lamb of God without blemish or spots or any such thing, which leads me to believe that He never got sick during His earthly life, but that is just my opinion; the point is that His blood was the only thing that could take away my sins and the penalty hanging over my head for such. His blood is the perfect sacrifice.

Going on with this propitiation; this hilasterion, this mercy seat; Christ has taken my place judicially on that cross, so that the wrath of God that was about to be poured out on me for my sins, would actually be poured out on Him on the cross. What this means is that my sins have been "propitiated"; His blood was sprinkled on the heavenly mercy seat once and for all time and my sins have been atoned for.

If my sins have been propitiated, they cannot be punished; period. The wrath of God has been appeased and I have been declared not guilty by the court; Jesus took the penalty of my sin and payed for it with His blood; that is what propitiation means.

Obviously; once my sins have been propitiated they cannot be brought back upon me; they have been cast as far as the east if from the west to be remembered no more, Psalm 103: 10-12, this actually fulfills God's new covenant, Jeremiah 33:31-34.

You probably know where I'm going with this but, anyway....

1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

That is the verse some people will probably use to try to support the argument that Jesus died for the whole world, meaning that He died for every single person in the world; but I don't think that is the way John wrote it.

Joh 11:51-52 And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation;
And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.

Did Jesus really die for the whole nation? Even for the pharisees? even for the ones of who He said: Mat 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Some people say yes, but I don't think so. John could have not possibly meant the whole world as in all people, it is obvious by what he says in John 11:51-52; in fact 1John 2:2 and John 11:52 are so close in meaning that is hard to escape the fact that he was not referring to all the people of the whole world.

John 10:14-16 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
Jesus is here talking about the other sheep of His fold, the ones scattered abroad, throughout the whole world.

Luke 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. Luke does not mean that people from the whole world should be taxed by the decree, Cesar Augustus did not mean the whole world when he gave the decree; they both meant the whole Roman world; it is obvious because people from the Aztec and the Mayan empires did not show up to be taxed; in fact nobody knew they existed yet.

John 7:4 For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.
Here Jesus's brothers are asking Him to show Himself to the Jewish world, not to everyone in the whole world.

John 12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. Here Jesus is talking about the sheep: John 10:15-16.

John 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. Here Jesus is NOT praying for the world but for those who have been given to Him by the Father, the sheep; why would Jesus not pray for the world if He died for the whole world?

I can keep going, but the point is that when we see the word world, it obviously has different meanings, and indeed its meaning in 1John 2:2 could not possibly mean everybody in the whole wide world. Like I said, Jesus sacrifice is enough, more than enough to pay for the sins of every single person in the world, but it is only effective for the ones chosen before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-4).

1Timothy 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. And who are those who believe? Revelation 5:9-10 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

I wrote a post in which I extensively analyze this verse (1Tim. 4:10) and the meaning of the word "especially"; you can read it here; or search for a post called "Jesus died for the sheep" back in March of this year; I'm repeating a lot of what I wrote here; I just realized that, but it's ok, it is edifying to me and it is also fun.

Even then, if the sins of every single person in the whole world have been propitiated, then it makes no sense at all that there are people who are dying without Christ and are going to hell; if I make a statement and say that Jesus died for every single individual, and that He actually paid for their sins, making atonement for them, propitiating their sins; I would also have to add that every single person who has been covered by such statement, and by such atonement and propitiation must be heir of eternal life; but we know that that is not the case. That statement is basically a lie because of scriptures like Revelation 14:9-11.

Jesus said that He came to be a ransom for "many": Mark 10:45; John says the same thing about Him in Revelation 5:9; and in fact Jesus says that His blood is the blood of the new covenant which is poured out for "many", Matthew 26:48. Many means many, not all nor everyone.

The death; the horrible, suffering and atoning death of Jesus was prophesied by Isaiah about seven hundred and forty years before the crucifixion:

Isa 53:10-12 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

And even the prophet Isaiah predicted that Jesus would die for "many" and not for all people; God has predestined some to life, and this is evident from many scriptures, how can anyone not see it?

The apostle Peter was aware of this: Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Dr. Luke was aware of this: Act 2:46-47 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Acts 13:48 says: "as many as were appointed to eternal life believed"; this Dr. Luke writing; he could have stopped at the previous verse but what happens? The Holy Spirit leads him to write verse 48 to make it evident.

Some people will not believe no matter how many times they hear the gospel; no one can deny that; in fact I personally know people who have died in their sins after making a mockery of my walk with Christ and mainly of Jesus; I told them the gospel, I was the best example I could be, they heard the gospel many other times by many other people, and they still laughed it to scorn; what happened? Was God impotent before their unbelief? Were they more powerful than God Himself?

People think that God's hands are tied and that it is impossible to save somebody because of their unbelief; as if God was depending on our actions and responses to fill us with His Spirit; that is a caricature of God Almighty; and it is not only an affront to His sovereignty and omnipotence but it is also offensive to me.

John 6:35-39 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

You probably heard these verses quoted in evangelistic messages; "He won't cast you out" they say, and it is true He won't; but what they are saying is that you should come to Jesus "just as you are" as if you were able to come just as you are; and how is it that you are?: You are dead in trespasses and sins; your mind is an enemy of God and you love to sin and to be in darkness, so how can you come to Him as you are?

Evangelists can manipulate your emotions all the day long but that won't make you a sheep; emotional responses to the gospel of Christ will not make you a believer; there is only one way to become a sheep and that is if the Father chose you before the foundation of the world and predestinated you to become a child through adoption by Jesus Christ to Himself.

John 6:43-45 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

I know that people are going to read what I'm saying here and no one will say anything; that is either because everyone agrees with me, or because no one has the willingness to reason from the scriptures; I can almost hear it: this guy is whacked out, he is on a trip; that's bull....; that's heresy; etc, etc.

Just for the sake of argument let me say it straight out: Jesus did not die for everyone in the same way; God does not love everybody in the same way; Jesus's atoning sacrifice is enough to pay for the sins of the whole world but it is only effective to pay for the sins of His sheep, of His church, period. "Those He called He justified".

Entiendes?

No Ifs

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

The covenant of God with the house of Israel and the house of Judah; does this mean that we are left out because we are gentiles? Not at all: Rom 4:11 And he (Abraham) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also.

So we have become the sons of Abraham through the faith that God gave us; and so the new covenant of grace has been made effective for all those who believe; that is all those who have been born from above; born again by the Spirit.

God says, I will put my law in their hearts; I will forgive their iniquity, I will remember their sin no more; it is all His work, from beginning to end, it is all because of grace.

Rom 11:5-7 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded

Amazing stuff. Grace is not works; that means no actions in all realms; no thoughts, no words, no deeds; none of that is required to obtain grace or else it would not be grace at all, but works. You have been saved by grace through faith, says Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9; and so we find ourselves completely justified by faith; for free.

What is confusing to some people is that grace appears to them as if they needed to do something to obtain it; their reasoning is that there must be something they have to do in order to be elected as the recipients of this amazing grace; this is manly due to the self-sufficient culture that we have been raised in.

In a fallen world that spins around a system of punishment and rewards; man finds grace completely opposed to his inbred self-sufficiency. "If you want a good job, you need a degree"; "if you have goals, you will accomplish them"; "if you want the toys you have to have the good job"; "if you want to retire, you must have a plan"; etc.

It is true though; it is true in this world that there is always a cause for everything; degrees will open some doors of opportunity, education is valuable; retirement will be here someday if we have savings, it is true; but that very same system of truths in this world does not apply to the kingdom of God; that is what I'm saying; that is what the Word is saying: you do not obtain grace as a result of something you have done, or will do. In the same sense, God does not give grace based on anything we do or will do; and His election as to whom will be adopted into His family does not depend on His foreknowledge of anything in us.

The new covenant is not dependent on the actions of man; when God says "I will write my law in their hearts", there are no "ifs"; there are no qualifying clauses in His contract; this is a one sided covenant; a covenant of grace. That is the reason why Paul mentions Abraham's righteousness being imputed unto him before circumcision; his status was not dependent on anything he did; in fact the faith he had was give to him by God, so he could have nothing to boast about.

God elected His children before the foundation of the world; before He created the sun and the moon and the billions of stars in the universe; He chose us in Him that we should be holy and without blame; Ephesians 1:4; and He did this according to the pleasure of His will.

When Paul says in Ephesians one that it (election) was so to the praise of the glory of His grace; that is what he means; He chose us because He wanted to, because the counsel of His will purposed it that way; and He did before He created anything because of His glorious grace; so that there could be nothing done by us that would qualify His choice.

That we should be holy and without blame before Him, that He would write His law in our hearts and we would become His people forgiving our iniquities and remembering our sin no more; that we should be to the praise of His glorious grace.

When we say that He foreknew that we would believe and that He predestined us based on that; we make His grace null because His decision was based on something we would do in the future; and that is not what grace is, and that is not what the bible says.

Deu 7:6-10 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

Again, this is amazing; and it is amazing because His electing love leaves everyone who hates Him responsible for their own sin; and on the other side justifies those who believe in Him by His grace. He keeps His covenant with them that love Him.

More amazing that that is that He is the one who puts His love in us so that we can love Him back; 1John 3:1; Romans 5:5. It is all His love, all His grace, all His glory.

By grace alone, in Christ alone.