Mephibesheth

I think this parable is primarily about the forgiveness we obtain from Christ. When we sin, we are guilty and in debt to God. If we confess our sin to Christ, He is faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness such that we no longer walk in sin or debt. If we insist on justifying ourselves in court, however, we reject forgiveness and purification and, consequently, walk in both sin and debt which we ourselves have not the value to cover. Christ forgave us all our sins because he loves us. He requires (and frees us to do) only one thing: love eachother.

1) Jesus is able to save us completely because He is completely sin free and ALL authority, including authority over the "uttermost" has been given to Him for the sake of His church, which is His body. 2) The essential function of a priest is to mediate peace between a man and God.

1) Faith that does not eventually change life has not life. For we were baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus so that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glorious power of the Father, we too may live a new (changed) life in submission and under guidance of the Holy Spirit. (Ro:6:2-4; Eph 1:13,14) 2) Faith without deeds may be alive for the newly born in Christ who, after being raised from the dead, need food (instruction) in order that they may be equipped for every good work (2Ti3:15-17)

1) Because we are in a relationship with Him. We dont claim salvation from the cross one day and bury it in the ground by forgetting it for the rest of our lives. Our Father is a shrewd investor when it comes to saving the souls of many. 2) I do four things most every day: a) I humble myself before his word; submit to every authority; c) watch Him orchestrate the events of my life and others; and d) pray and listen. 3) Observe and listen to the humblest children of God.

1) The poor and needy in our church community have in them the strength of faith and extremely valuable and necessary portions of the Lord's glorious inheritance. We who are not poor and needy are blessed to be able to support them financially so that we may share in their spiritual wealth. Failure to do so comes from judging with evil motives and will bring judgement upon ourselves from the Lord, which is very uncomfortable both spiritually and physically (see 1Cor 11:24-34; James 1:27;2:1-12) 2) Relative to non-believers who are poor, we should care for them as well. For Jesus miraculously fed those who were not interested in eating his words (John 6) and "the Lord causes the rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous alike."

A guarantor or surety is a legal entity responsible for the debt of another. Jesus is our Guarantor inso much as He has paid the debt we owed to the law such that we are free from the law's demands and are now free to serve Him.

1) I think the primary symptom of a saint who loses his saltiness is rebelliousness against all forms of authority, including parental, governmental, and church leadership. These saints also tend to become isolated and fragmented in their relationships. 2) Secular people notice that "de-saltified" Christians are unhappy people. 3) It is possible to be "re-salted" through submission (humility). The Lord always disciplines his children and if we endure the discipline and humble ourselves under His mighty hand and "submit to every authority instituted among men" and submit ourselves before his scriptural word, the peace of the Lord will be ours and we will partake of His loving kindness again. We must not, however, run from the Lord's discipline which is intened to save us from being condemned with the world.

1) If we take seriously the writer's exhortation to exercise both faith and patience for the long haul, what effect does that have on our Christian life? On our perspective? I think this exhortation should be encouraging because it should tell each one of us who have not fully realized our salvation that it may take a long time. This encourages belief in a Christian who after a great deal of time still struggles with some sin; it helps struggling Christians not to lose heart. The salvation we are talking about is salvation from sin. For Jesus was sent to save His people from their sins. Relative to our perspective, this verse should tell us that salvation from sin on earth is a process! 2) How can we resist the subtle temptation to think that our salvation depends upon our endurance rather than Christ's atonement and the grace of God? By reminding ourselves that our salvation was completed in 33 A.D. by Jesus and already exists in timeless eternity and that Jesus' work of grace secures our patient endurance on earth.

In the beatitudes, Jesus is describing the children of the Kindom of God (Heaven), who are those who believe in Him. Righteousness is Jesus, Who is God. Thus, everything that Jesus said and did is righteousness. The children of the Kingdom have Jesus, and therefore have righteousness. However, this beatitude describes a hunger for righteousness, indicating a lack of righteousness in them. In other words, the children recognize that they themselves are not yet fully righteous. The promise of this beatitude is that they will be. In other words, Jesus promises that we will walk as He did! Jesus told Peter after the resurrection and after Peter received the Holy Spirit that when Peter was younger, he went only where he wanted to go, but when he is older (more mature in Him) someone else would dress him and lead him where he would not go, indicating that Peter would lay down his own life for the children of the Kingdom (Jn21:18,19). In Peter's second epistle (1:3), Peter wrote that we "have been given everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge Him. Jesus said eternal life is knowing God. We received the Holy Spirit when we heard the Gospel of Jesus, which is the gospel of our salvation, and received eternal life. Thus, the Holy Spirit who is our Teacher is everything we need for Godliness such that we too will walk as Jesus did. That's a promise from He who said "let there be light!"

Christ's coming has been delayed because God is patient, which is an attribute of love. Both the earth and our minds are in a process of renewal. We are part of a courtship process preparing us for perfect unity. In the same way the events described in Jesus' Olivet discourse concerning Christ's return to earth must come to pass, these same events occur within the life of an individual believer. This is how the last generation will be able to recognize the imminence of His return. We have only a deposit of His Spirit, but that Deposit leads us into the truth about Jesus and conforms us to His image through submission and She is our engagement ring as well. The revelations She gives us about Jesus are preparatory for a more full union with Him. Christ is patient because He is loving and will not take us by force; instead He says "Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires" (Song of Songs, 3:6). When we say "Come, Lord Jesus" and "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" with the full cry of our heart, "He who is coming will come and not delay."

1. What is apostasy? I don't know for certain. I think it has something to do with adding the law of "you must not sin" or "you must do something" to grace which says "I cant do anything by myself, but Christ can and did" so often and for so long that they get mentally and permanently confused and think that they believe in the person of Christ when they are really only believing in the power of Christ they once had in the same way demons do without believing in his long-suffering love, patience and forgiveness such that repentance to Christ when they fall becomes impossible because they think admitting their sin is the same as calling Jesus a sinner (which is sick and twisted) and because they don't admit their sin, they do not receive forgiveness nor the purification which results from forgiveness. Or they take pride in the ability the Spirit's freedom gives to obey in such a lasting and perverting way that they pridefully think they no longer need Christ since fulfilling the law has become habit to them with such a great and powerful pride that they sever themselves from the vine and are unable to repent because they don't trust God to re-graft them into the vine, which only shows that their belief in His authority and willingness to forgive was inadequate in the first place. I don't know, but it feels like I have rode on the brink of this cliff. I think this is the reason it is so important for us to admit in our heart and to others our sin. For the record, I sinned terribly Saturday by disrespecting my own mother when she asked me to help her do something because I felt that "I must" do some good work I had already scheduled my day for (because I thought I must and could do this work to stay saved) and then I figured that it was sinful not to obey my mother so I thought I must and could do both good works and I did neither and I feel terrible because I know my failure to obey was a lack of belief in the efficacy of Christ's work and therefore my forgiveness in Him and a refusal to submit the matter to Christ my PERSONAL Savior and also because I know I came to that place through pride in my self - which is insanity! Please pray that Jesus keep me in belief in all that He is only and that He build a wall between me and legalism. When I read this and other warnings like it, I choke on them. They make me fearful and make me run back to milk, which I still need. I think that is the reason the writer gives this meat to children who still need milk but in their pride demand the meat. By giving the meat, the prideful children get a more sober view of themselves such that they are able to accept the milk they still need. 2. Jesus' point of the Parable of the Sower refers to the fact that the word is also the Holy Spirit. If a man's heart does not remain soft and humble, the Seed of the Spirit gets stunted in its growth and may also be lost. So, we must humble ourselves before the Lord and believe the Holy Spirit in us who testifies of Christ's great love for us. 3. The point of the parable of the tares and weeds is that Believers rarely sin because of their belief in Christ's forgiveness which frees them from fear and Legalists appear on the surface not to sin (though inwardly they fear condemnation and are in fact in bondage to fear) such that to outside observers they appear indistinguishable. The Lord, however, judges the heart and will make the identity of both plain to all because He will send a great trial upon the church such that only those in Christ's love will persevere.

1) How can an intense desire for righteousness put you at odds with the world? When we walk according to the Spirit, we walk in Righteousness. When we do so in the presence of the world, or even wordly Christians, they see the wickedness in which they walk by comparison. Our righteousness brings forth condemnation in the hearts of the unbeliever and because they dont want to see their own condemnation, they sometimes act to remove us from their sight as an alternative to repentance. This persecution can be painful. However, if we perservere in obedience during this persecution even to the end of our earthly lives, we see from Christ's own persecution that many of our persecutors do repent. This is because some who are persecuting us are really testing the nature of our righteousness to see for themselves if it is worth repenting for! It is for these we perservere, and they are our great reward in heaven! 2) What sort of righteousness is Jesus talking about, do you think? Jesus is talking about His righteousness and we receive it when we are brought forth from death and become spiritually born. For Jesus commanded that everyone who raised from the dead be given something to eat (see Lazarus and the 12 yr old girl,etc). And what do God's heavenly children eat? They eat true heavenly bread and Jesus is the true heavenly bread and the bread of life (John 6). Jesus is also the Word (John 1) For this reason we eat his words which are the words of life. That is why Christians read their Bibles "from infancy" (2Ti) and, because even full grown adults must eat less they starve to death, through the remainder of their lives eternal. We read (eat) the Bible to see for ourselves that God approves of us (2Ti2:15). But first we must come out of the world (repent) and remove the dung of disbelievers (sin) of the world from our feet. For the Bible is written for believers and not disbelievers! Someone might say, but Jesus spoke harshly to the Pharisees, so the bible was written for disbelievers too. No! Jesus spoke to disbelievers harshly and it was recorded in the Bible for the benefit of believers, for it is written that "all scripture is God-breathed and profitable for....instruction.....so that THE MAN OF GOD may be fully equipped to do every good work." (2Ti 3:16) God is instructing us believers not to be hypocrites so that we can enjoy our salvation. And what do the Beatitudes say about us that shows us we have His approval? For starters, its says that the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to us! Would God give us His kingdom if He didn't approve of us? Heaven forbid! This scripture was God-breathed by the One who speaks things into existence out of nothing! So, we do have His kingdom. Let not the world tell us differently. And after eating the encouragement of the word which brings belief, Christians wash it down by drinking His blood (which is His life, for "the life (spiritual) of a thing is in it's blood", Leviticus), which is love that drives out every particle of fear. And after being filled with this wine (Spirit), Christians do what all drunks do - together they sing to each other psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (see Mark 14:22-26 Last Supper and Ephesians 5:19) In this way and in this order Christians assemble for holy communion until Jesus returns. 3) What promise are we given in this Beatitude? Jesus promises us that if we eat (accept) his words and drink his wine (Spirit), we will be filled. The word filled in the greek means "satisfied." The children of the Kingdom who have done and do this can testify that His righteousness truly is more satisfying than "Wonder Bread" and "Boones Farm Wine" - to the praise of His Glorious Grace!

ESSAYS TO MAKE THE SPIRITUALL POOR A LITTLE RICHER! 1. Why is it necessary to be aware of your spiritual poverty before you can become a Christian? I must respectfully disagree with the premise of the question, for all Christians are aware of their spiritual poverty. The awareness of a Christian's spiritual poverty is merely the reflection of the Christian's hunger for and dependence on more of Christ. This is so because anyone born of the Spirit is spiritual and therefore, "born anew," and belongs to Christ's kingdom and has eternal life. It matters not that they only have a little spirit, for a new spirit is by definition little and if it's life is eternal, it will never be more little than it is today! Jesus explained this fact to Nicodemus in John 3. The fact that we who are born of the Spirit have eternal life necessarily implies eternal growth. Thus, whether you received eternal life today or fifty years ago, you will never be as spiritually poor as you are today and you are happy because the Kingdom of God belongs to you every bit as much as it belongs to those who have more spiritual growth (belief) than you. Thus, all Christians are spiritually poor and all are happy because they know they are the King's and the King is theirs, because they are spiritual! Put more simply, it is true that Christians are spiritually poor, but at least they are spiritual! We have to remember that the gospel is good news in order to accurately read it. We need to be encouraged by this verse because it says that even if you only believe in Jesus a little - the whole Kingdom is open to you! Remember the man who said "I believe, help my unbelief?" He was saying "I only believe a little". In other words, "I am spiritually poor." And how did Jesus respond to the man who only believed a little? Not only did he cast the demon out, but he said the demon was never allowed to come back! (Mark 9:23-25) That means the kingdom belonged to him forever because the demon could never come back! That should make us want to sing His praises today and forevermore! 2. What kind of mourning is necessary for a person to become a Christian? People do not get in Christ by mourning their sins; people mourn their sins because they are in Christ. Mourning, or godly sorrow which leads to true repentance, is a gift granted by the Holy Spirit as part of their new spiritual life (see Acts 11:18) Thus, only those already born of the Spirit are able to truly mourn for the person(s) they sinned against because they no longer have a fear for self, since Christ removed the fear of death from them, and noone is able to boast about their repentance because it is a gift from God. I think people get confused about this fact because John the Baptist and Jesus both said "The kingdom of God is near! Repent and believe the good news" (Mark 1:15) The word "repent" in this verse is actually a different word from the word "repent" used in Acts 11:18, but the difference was lost by English translators. In Mark, repentance meant merely a change in mind about whether or not God would and did send a Messiah as promised to save people from their sins and whether or not Jesus was that Messiah. In Acts, "repent" meant a change in mind concerning the nature of sin, accompanied by deep moral compunction with a view toward restoring (justice) the persons sinned against. Thus, a man need not have perfect sorrow to be given life and in fact is not able to, he need only believe that Jesus died for His sins and was resurrected according to the scriptures. If he does this, then the Spirit of Christ who was raised from death gives the new believer a mourning repentence as a gift, so that he may be free from sin. 3.What kind of mourning is a common experience of Christians? The definition of a Christian's mourning can be seen in the preceeding answer to question 2. However, a wonderful description of a Christian's mourning can be seen in 2Cor 7, which includes a list of 7 attributes of godly sorrow (v.11), including: 1) earnestness; 2) eagerness; 3) indignation; 4)alarm; 5) longing; 6)concern; and 7) readiness to see justice done. This type of repentance is wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit of Christ (and not our own strength/works) and saves us from sinning. And remember, Jesus does not require perfect repentance to help you help those you sin against. "I mourn for those I hurt, help my callousness." What will Christ in you do? "Mark my words", He will pay the victim back (Philemon 18-19)

If there is a difference between Spirit-filled Believers and the attributes described in verses 4 and 5, it could only be in degrees of how often and how long has one tasted the goodness of the word and the powers of the coming age. This is true because all Spirit-filled believers have experienced the goodness of the word, which is the gospel. For Paul writes in Ephesians, "you too were included in Christ when you heard the GOSPEL of your salvation, having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, which is a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His glory." It should also be clear, then, that believers have tasted the powers of the age to come, for the Holy Spirit Herself has come from that age with power from God. The writer's point in forming this description for the reader is to cause the reader to identify himself with the description. For all of the scriptures are written for the profit of believers, and not apostates. I believe readers and writers in this forum should work diligently to understand the purpose of these warnings which are very threatening to believers in disobedience against the backdrop of the assurance that they are for our profit and within the context of the whole letter, remembering that God disciplines those He loves on this side of eternity and that He doesn't discipline us until we become fully obedient; while we are in disobedience, He is kind to us with the intention that we would repent and come under obedience. Remember, if we repent, we will be punished for our past disobedience by Him who loves us and has mercy and remembers that we are but dust. Therefore, these readings should cause us to repent and not fall utterly away, because we much prefer to be disciplined in love on this side of eternity than in wrath for eternity. Why does God discipline us? To help us not sin, which is what we want and why He sent His Son - to save us from our sin!

1) I see three parts to each Beatitude in this order: a) The condition of the children of the Kingdom of God which is happy, The character of the children of the Kingdom; and c) The reason for both the condition (happy) and the character. 2) The Beatitudes only appear to be paradoxical to the carnal mind that is not yet fully liberated from this world through knowledge of the true King, but it nevertheless pleases the carnal ears of the children of the Kingdom because it is the sound of spiritual life. To the fully obedient, however, the Beatitudes have not paradox but are straight truth and are music to their spiritual ears because it is the sound of carnal death. 3) There is a close relationship between the Fruits of the Spirit and the Characters of the Blessed. The 9 Christian characters illustrated by the 9 beatitudes are the products of the 9 Fruits of the Spirit! To see the parallel, however, you must view the Fruits of the Spirit in reverse order, for "the first shall be last and the last shall be first." What may be seen by those who have eyes to see is a ladder of steps that lead men to "Light," which is Godliness. This is our Christian Journey or "Pilgrim's Progress". This is "Jacobs Ladder". This is the path to salvation. For this reason, we should make every effort to live up to the step(s) we have already attained and strive to possess each succeeding step until we have won the race and arrested Him who arrested us. It is noteworthy as well, I think, that the human gene which has the code for our physical life is also shaped like a ladder. On this point, let him who has ears to hear and a degree in Genetics hear and be assured, once again, that all things were created through Jesus and without Jesus nothing was created that has been created.

1) Reminders are so important for Christians because they live among a world of people who talk and act opposite of the truth. This world can have a negative effect on our own belief and character. It is a horrible thing to start to believe the world's "truth," which is no truth at all. It causes disbelief, and disbelief corrupts Christian character which is our joy. In short, it causes sin, which is a miserable way to live. Not only that, the falsity which encourages us to sin also condemns us. What a horrible world! I hate it! If you succumb to its pressures because you want to be accepted by it, it tells you that you are naked and ugly for doing what it pressured you to do. It is a snake! 2) When I feel afraid, I read the Scriptures or remind myself of its promises. The scriptures assure me that I belong to Christ who is holy and who loves me and forgives me and accepts me and makes me holy. 3) I rarely get opportunities to remind others of God's promises, because I am on the bottom rung of the church ladder. I was an alcoholic and controlled fully by other sins for so long, I suspect people still see me that way. I think part of the reason they disregard my testemony is that so many addicts relapse. Perhaps they are waiting to see if I relapse before they consider Christ's efficacy. My hope and trust is that ALL of Christ's promises will be fully realized in my walk such that some might notice that Jesus really does give men forgiveness.

1) I have a tendency to avoid the richly dressed because their appearance suggests to me from several experiences with the rich that they present not themselves for relationship, but only their rich appearance for judgement. I have learned recently that I need to stop assuming evil of the rich, because there are some whom God has given richly so that they may have relationships with the poor by helping them. Nevertheless, relationships are intimate and richly rewarding only when both persons stand in equality relative to each other. This is what Christ has made possible, because His atoning work is super-sufficient for all; there are no persons in Christ who stood before the law with the ability to pay its debt and, therefore, there are no persons in Christ who were justified by Christ's blood more or less than anyone else in Christ. Christ has declared us all righteous. And he has called us all "light." Amazing. Jesus, through whom all things were created, calls us "light!" He is the same God who said "let their be light" - and there was. Therefore, if He said it, it must be true! Therefore, I dont care if I have fancy clothes or other stuff that wears out and gets old, because I have Light! Amen. 2) I am not sure if I am trying to make a good impression on anyone in the context of this question. I am trying to be who Jesus says that I am through belief, which I need more of. I am trying to be obedient to the truth of God's word about me, so that I realize its truth, and so that others will be made whole as well, instead of getting continually worse.

1) A person gains understanding of Jesus' words and in turn becomes mature (more and more like Him) by a process of training that involves two things in this order: 1) humility before Him; a surrender of ones own understanding to the One who knows all things. This requires a belief in the name (nature, charachter, identity) of Jesus Christ. A person must know that Jesus is God to submit to His teaching; and 2) by USING the understanding Jesus gives to those who believe in His nature as Christ through WORKS. This means DOING that which agrees with His word and agrees with you, if His word be in you (which it is if you have received it in humility). Thus, it is not step 1 (FAITH) alone, but also step 2 (WORKS), by which we are saved from sin. Although, anyone with true faith will necessarily work consistent with that true faith, because he who has true faith also has love (God) which produces the work. Here is an illustration. A person can understand from reading scripture that Christ has authority to forgive and that forgiveness is surrendering your right to take what is owed to you. If he understands these things but does not do them, he has not forgiveness in him, he only understands the accounting principles of forgiveness from afar. But, if he finds someone who owes him something, and says "I have decided not to claim what you owe me, go in peace," then he himself has (possesses) forgiveness for himself. For Christ taught clearly that if we ask according to His will, we have it. And he taught us to ask God for forgiveness when we forgive. Thus, one who forgives, has fogiveness. 2) A person grows in maturity as he uses what he understands by the power of Him who makes seeds grow. Jesus said, "take care to understand, for in the measure you use it, it will be given to you, AND EVEN MORE". This is a phenomenal economic principle of the Kingdom of God that is utterly different from the economy of this world. In this world, if we spend what we have, it is gone. In God's kingdom, if we spend what we have, we have even more than what we have!

1) Jesus did not call on the heavenly host, although as one who was fully divine he had the right and authority to do so, because He was also fully man and was sent by God to save man and not condemn man. Jesus saved us by setting for us an example. As man, Jesus could not repay man and be obedient to God because God said "It is mine to avenge, I will repay." Of special significance is the fact that Jesus told His disciples and tells us today to follow Him in order to be where He went. Paul explains the spiritual implications of Christ's example and command to follow Jesus with this command: ".... I urge (extremely strong and emotional greek word) you, brothers, to present (willful gift) yourselves as a living (today) sacrifice, holy and pleasing (fragrant offering) to God, which is your reasonable (mindful, thought-out, informed) act of worship." Since this is a reasoned act, let us reason together. Now, why would anyone willingly go to an altar, the place where the sacrifices were made in the old testament, to die - apart from the fact that Jesus commanded us to follow Him? Because, Jesus did not merely say "Your sins are forgiven," He also said "go and sin no more." Do you not know that mere man is not capable of being sinless? And yet people in the gospel who had an encounter with Christ were thereafter told by Christ to "go and sin no more." Is not Christ telling these people who not only commited sin but were born from Adam into sin such that sin was the fabric of their being, that they are now able to be not sinners? Is Christ not saying to these people "I have saved you from your sin, just like it was always promised that I would come and do?" And if these people used to be sinners through and through and now are declared by Jesus (who cannot lie) to be not sinners at all, is it not true that they are no longer mere men? Is it not true that they are a new creation altogether? Is it not true that they are like Jesus? Is it not true that they are fully man and fully divine? Is it not true that in the same way the Father was in Jesus and Jesus was in the Father they also have Christ (who is God) in them and are in Christ? What happened to the person they used to be? Answer: Dead! But they are still on earth! Answer: death and resurrection, just like Jesus! When? Answer: When Christ was slain. But I thought Jesus said this to these people before he was slain? Answer: Jesus was slain "from the foundations of the world" Do you mean it happened in eternity? Answer: Yes! Do you mean they went to heaven and back? Answer: They went to heaven for sure and they are back here in the flesh now, but since then they seem to be in both places at the same time because now that they have been in eternity where time is finished, they don't feel like they fully belong here anymore and in fact consider part of themselves still there and, in fact, they go there and back every day and sometimes several times a day.Why do they keep going back? Two reasons: 1) they love it there because He is there, and 2) they need to stay in touch because everyone here is crazy and they don't want to be crazy like them again. Did they go to heaven in the Spirit or in the Flesh? They don't know, God knows! What do you mean they don't know? Well, they remember eternity where time is finished with their fleshly brain which is part of this time, but witnesses have told them they never saw their flesh leave, plus they remember things from an age that has not yet come, which the fleshly brain says is impossible. It is impossible, isnt it? Answer: nothing is impossible for God. They remember parts of it? Yes. What parts? They remember having their sinful mind removed. What is that like? Alarming, but only for a split second. Why is it alarming? Because it is their identity and for the second it takes for God to cut it out, their sinful mind alarms like a reflex until it is gone. Immediately and maybe even at the same time they remember being in Christ's mind which is the mind of God and is where their new identity is. Are you serious? Absolutely! God took their mind which they offered and gave them Christ's mind, or didn't you know that Christ was crucified at Golgatha which means the place of the skull. What was God's mind like? A few things stood out to them as being much different from their own mind. First, God does not remember their sins. He doesn't even remember that he forgot them. He is completely and utterly unaware of them. Second, God does not ask Himself any questions. I mean He asks Himself absolutely know questions about anything! Men are always asking themselves questions, but God is never asking Himself any questions. Finally, God has no fear. And when I say He has no fear, I mean He doesn't have anything that even remotely resembles a vestige of an offshoot of a lesser form of fear. What must that be like? It is perfect peace. It is perfect rest. The closest thing men have that can relate to it is drunkenness. But it is so much better than being drunk because it so much more fulfills the purpose for which men get drunk! And, He gives His mind freely to these people. What else happened in heaven to them? They heard things in heaven that are not lawful for men to say. Do some of them tell what they heard anyway? No, laws in heaven are not like laws on earth. They literally have no choice in the matter; they have not the ability to say it. How does that work? Simple, they don't remember what they heard. So how do they know they heard it? Because they know what they were told from what they can't help doing when they are here. In short, they were told all the things that they would suffer for Christ on earth, down to every last detail. They figure this out from the changed life they see themselves living after the experience. What do you mean "they see themselves living?" Well, they are not really living so much as Christ is living in them. This is how they watch out for Him since He left - they see what He does in their lives with the will they gave Him. Do these people go and sin not? Eventually, after they have gone there enough times and figure out from the scriptures that they are not crazy. Why eventually? Because they don't seem to remember what happens in heaven very well and everybody else tells them it didn't happen and they start to doubt it until they go to the cross again and exchange their will for His. Plus, there are some things concerning sin that are confusing to them for awhile because they come to learn that some of the things they were told by other people to be sins, are not really sins and some of the things they were always told were not sins, are. These people are lead into sin for lack of knowledge like everyone else and for weakness of faith, but they don't burn inwardly to sin more because they soon learn and are reminded again that their identitiry is in Christ's mind where their is no sin, which is like being bit by a snake and not being harmed. These people are physically weak like everyone else made of flesh, but they don't feel weak because they are possessed of God, which is like running great distances and and not being weary. These are some of the reasons these people are always reading the Bible. They read the Bible by themselves and with eachother for two reasons. First, to find out for sure what is right and what is wrong so that they don't sin. They do this because they know the Bible was written by He who has Christ's mind and they know they have had their sinful nature cut out so that they can stop doing what is wrong and start doing what is right which is what they want because they love Jesus for accepting them when they were His enemies and want to please Him. Secondly, they do this to remind themselves what happened and who they (Christ) are for sure, which is like having the dung from walking in the world washed off your feet from people who had the same thing happen to them. People like Paul, who had an unusually strong memory and understanding of their heavenly experience compared to other men. His parents sent him to study under the best Bible scholar in the world at the time even though he was only twelve or thirteen and was an unusually strong man physically as well. Parent's didn't give up strong young men in those days easily because they were worth so much money to them in the fields. How do I know He was strong? Because Paul went into strangers homes and dragged them out of their homes and either killed them or put them in prison. How do I know his mind was so strong? Because, the greatest scholars in the world only accept pupils worthy of their teaching. Paul remembers things most people lose in their subconscious and need brought to the surface. Paul knew the the old testament bible inside and out and he was quickly able to be encouraged that what he remembered experiencing really happened and He could understand the meanings of these experiences as well because the Bible's words are as living and active everyday as Jesus is. Even after their belief is made full and encouraged by the word, these people still sometimes sin until their love becomes made full. Where does the love come from? From God, just like the rest of it. As they grow in knowledge, they puff up with pride in their fleshly mind and they pray to God in heaven to help them love others with a fullness greater than the knowledge they receive so that their knowledge is useful to those for whom it was cultivated. For whom was it cultivated? Their brothers and sisters, which is where their inheritance is. Their inheritance? Yes, God gives them an inheritance called "the promised land." This inheritance is literally in their brothers and sisters which is why they give everything they have to their family. That is when the promise if fully realized. That is why they gather like they do. And when God sends His heavenly host, they will be all that remains! And they will always remain! So, do these people regret deciding to die? No. They are the happiest people in this world! These people have the mind of Christ, so they know that God has forgiven them. Plus, since they have already died, they can't be offended because you cant offend a dead man. Plus, there God keeps them content, even when they have no more than food and clothes, because their only desires are to do the good things that God empowers them to do. Cany you imagine such a deal? That means these people desire what they already have in the near future! Every man should make such an informed decision! Every man should lose his life in order to gain the life described herein! Now, if these people are made holy by surrendering their will to God as Jesus did in Gethsemane, are their sins not forgiven as well? For which is easier for Jesus to say, "your sins are forgiven" or "go and sin no more." But, so that you may know that you are forgiven also, present yourself a living sacrifice at the place of the skull and exchange your will for His will. For, both men who are made holy and He who makes men holy are of the same family - and Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 2) The heavenly host destroy the wicked and the 1st and 2nd heavens and the earth. Incidently, during the time of Christ, the Greeks used a numerical system called the "Attic." It was a system of letters with very limited potential for expressing large numbers. The system, until later revised with the Egyptians a few centuries later, could only quantify up to 9,999. Every number after that was classified under the number "M," which the original English scholars translated as 10,000, which stands for "myriades," from which we get the word "myriad," which means a large indefinite number too great to count. That's alot of Angels under Christ's command!

"Made perfect" refers to the completion of Christ's suffering and, therefore, His work. This is an inspiring verse to me because it guarantees that if we remain obedient, if we perservere (not sin) through ALL sufferings, then we are guranteed to complete all the good works for which we were re-created and which were prepared in advance for us to do; we are guaranteed to be declared perfect and to hear the words "well done My good and faithful servant." We will hear these declarations as we look into the face of The Majestic Glory and live. This is what the Spirit of Christ is preparing for us now the way a mother or bridesmaid prepares a bride for her wedding. Oh my.

The "sense" in which Jesus learned obedience was the physical sense. Jesus was fully flesh. He therefore learned by physical suffering as a human the meaningfulness of obedience to God during intense physical suffering. It should be noted that this sword cuts both ways; Jesus also learned what intense physical suffering really means to those who are obedient to God. Thus, we learn what obedience really means when we suffer and we learn what suffering really means when we are obedient. It should be concluded we will know full suffering when we are fully obedient and we will know full obedience when we know full suffering. These matters are necessarily included in our salvation and the day for both is today. The reader should remember that scripture also reads that God made Jesus happier than all men and that God Himself is "The Most Blessed God." Therefore, we should not conclude that obedience and suffering negate happiness, but are rather an important part of it.

James makes a persons speech and actions the test for belief in Jesus rather than quiet devotion because James knows from his Brother that it is out of the abundance of the heart that a person speaks and acts and James understands that it is only those who love Jesus that obey His command of Holy Communion. He is still addressing the difference between hearing the word and doing the word. God said if you "delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart." The word "delight" means "soft" and it refers to the state of one's heart relative to Jesus. A humble heart is a soft heart and James exhorts us to "accept" Jesus's word planted in our hearts because it has the power to save us. A person cannot "accept" words unless he chooses to accept them. In this way, Jesus' words are like food. We don't just eat anything because we know that whatever we eat becomes a part of us and some things are not good to eat; some things are poisonous and will make our bodies sick or dead. So how do we decide what to eat? We eat what our parents taught us to eat; when our parents put food in front of us as children, we ate the food without question because we trusted that our parents would not give us something harmful to eat because we knew that they loved us (I am using an example of a healthy functional family, of course, and am sorry for my brothers who grew up in an abusive home and pray that they can relate to this relationship through other relational experiences). And besides our trust in our parents, we saw them eat the same things and since we loved them (because they loved us first) we wanted to be like them. A trusting heart is a soft heart; a trusting heart says plant your truth deep inside my soft soil and change this field from barren waste to a garden flowing with the same fruit you eat because I want to be just like you because I love you. Jesus said "if you love me, you WILL obey me." That's a promise! And James is aware of this promise and is anxious to see the fruit that the promise holds in persons he knows believe and will produce such fruit (I say this because James refers to the reader as "brothers" and he can only do this to persons he knows, from his mature experience in Christ, are born of the Spirit). James knows, therefore, that God's children will speak with the same wisdom and truth as Jesus and will bear the burdens of their weaker brothers and sisters just as Jesus did - indeed this was the sacremental command of holy communion which Jesus gave at the last supper until He returns. Jesus said "eat (accept) this bread, which is my body (church - brothers/sisters) which I have given you." So-called church leaders have debated for centuries about whether or not the bread actually becomes Jesus' body when we partake of holy communion. Oh my God! Jesus is teaching us to accept one another as Christ accepted us and when we do this we speak to one another in ways that build eachother up according to each persons need and we share the material things that we gather from the abundance of the grace given to each one of us in Christ Jesus so that our poorer brother and sisters who have gathered too little do not have too little because we love them. This is the religion that God admires and respects because God admires and respects Himself!. People who wonder whether or not the communion bread actually becomes Christ's body in some miraculous way at sunday communion without helping the community are like a person who comes to perceive that food has been placed in front of them and seek to describe its shape and color and size and texture and smell thinking that they have accomplished something by identifying these traits of the food, and then are too stupid to know that they are suppose to eat it! They are like King Herod who was forever learning but never acknowledging (accepting, eating, receiving) the truth.

1) I don't know the mechanics by which sin enslaves (for me that is like asking how the wind blows), but I know from experience that it does. Sin does not satisy the desire to sin; in fact the sinful act creates a greater desire to sin without satisfy the original desire. It is a wicked and costly pursuit. 2) The only way out of this cycle is by trusting in Jesus. I found my way out when I considered that Jesus told the adulterous woman to go and sin no more. Because I trusted Him, I understood that He had the willingness and power to make it so - and He did! He did this by cutting out my sinful desire and replacing it with good desires that He is always available to satisfy because my desire is for Him. 3) The ability to love the sinner and hate the sin comes as a provision of God's grace in His Son Jesus who showed us His love for us by dying for us while we were still His enemies. He pours His love for both us and His enemies into our hearts through His Spirit and we give our enemies the love that He freely gave us. 4) The best way to steer clear of a quick judgemental attitude toward those who sin is to remember always that we too needed and received forgiveness and to remember that only God is qualified as Judge.

1) We should approach the thrown of grace boldly and with confidence because our confidence is in the sufficiency of Jesus's completed work and present personality to reconcile us to God as His own beloved children. The strength or weakness of the boldness and confidence with which we approach God is a direct reflection of our trust in Jesus and all that He has done and is in the sight of God and also of our trust in who God is. For Jesus said He reconciled us to God, and God said Jesus reconciled us to God, and it is not possible for either to lie (we know that it is not possible for Them to lie because lying is a tool for stealing and God cannot steal anything because everything belongs to Him). Someone might say "I know they said that, but we are so unworthy." Yes, it is true that we are unworthy, but Jesus is not! Therefore, let us be reconciled to God and henceforth to live a life worthy of the praise He deserves for reconciling us to Himself! 2) The promises included in this verse are: a) the ability to approach God's throne; the ability to receive; c) merciful treatment from our Father who is The Majestic Glory; d) good and perfect gifts from the Father of heavenly lights; and e) timely help. 3) The question should probably read "On what basis is God able to offer us unrestrained mercy and grace for our sins while still retaining His "CONSISTENCY" as judge. I make this point to remind myself that "justice" is whatever God says it is. Relative to God's consistency, or truth character, God said "the wage of sin is death". Justice for our sins was repayed to God's full satisfaction at Golgatha where Jesus, who was not in debt to God, nevertheless submitted to death in our place - to the praise of His glory!