(03/01/2017) Faith Just an Excuse?

 Today, formal and informal use of the word “faith” as well as mature Christian belief are considered.  The definition and meaning of “faith” for those who are born again emerges from divine existence as immortal, the operations and active presence of divinity on the earth, and the ongoing fulfillment of sacred proclamations, promises, prophecies, and revealed eternal purposes.  Salvation is a work by  divinity that uses the operations of faith that has been bestowed and provided because of grace, divine love, and sovereign prerogative.  At first, a sinner apprehends salvation as a condition through deposits of Spirit from GOD that are only an earnest or installment of what is to be their full divine endowment.  Thus, salvation may appear to be incomplete, lacking full authority, and partial.  In the Advent (some say, Rapture, the harvest, the resurrection, the Second Coming) salvation will be confirmed as complete, eternal, and as having been in full operation.  The fighter at “Yahoo! Answers (India)” using the ID “?” (Level 2 with 605 points, a member since May 13, 2016) posted the following:

Faith is just an exuse to do bad things; True or False?

For example, I heard some Christians say "It's perfectly reasonable for God to allow the stabbing of innocent babies with swords because they get to go to heaven when they die." I even had read it in a Study Bible.

THE GOLDEN ARROW:  Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,  By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;  And having an high priest over the house of God;  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:  and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.  For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,  But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.  (Hebrews 10:  19-27, King James Version, KJV)

THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  Sharing The Correct Message (01/30/2017); Salvation By Faith Alone? (01/19/2017); Are All Religions Acceptable? (01/11/2017); How To Get Faith? (10/10/2016); Simple and Mature Faith (09/05/2016); Christ Coming Soon? (10/16/2015); The Soon Return of Jesus? (01/05/2015)

“?”, do not be deceived, faith is not bestowed by GOD as a tool for excusing error, escaping divine judgment, self-justification, or self-promotion.  Nowadays, the word “faith” often is used to describe various formal and informal systems of belief intended to explain such features of life experience as causes, judgments of right and wrong, origins, purposes, and suffering.  For many mature Christian believers “faith” is one of various spirit substances within the full makeup of GOD, and, therefore, is inseparable from holiness, hope, joy, longsuffering, lovingkindness, righteousness, wisdom, and wrath against sin.  With this in view, it should make sense that Christian faith pertains to everlasting existence and eternal life more than to condemnation of GOD by created beings and living creatures, their outrage against the condition of existing as finite and dependent upon frameworks of time and space as well as to human resentment for the short duration and severity of life challenges.  Divine faith is active as the origin and source for a full range of inward, sacred life experiences that include conviction, desire, emotion, expectation, forbearance, forgiveness, rebirth, and sanctification.  Rather than a focus upon error and sin, faith centers on the possibilities for blessing and the quality of life granted to sinners when they become part of the “new creation” by GOD through Jesus Christ.  Consider again the following:

(1.)  Galatians 2:  20, King James Version (KJV):  20 I am crucified with Christ:  nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:  and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

(2.)  Hebrews 11:  1-3, KJV:  1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.  3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

(3.)  1st Peter 1:  3-9, KJV:  3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,  5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:  7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:  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:  9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

There is far more to be said, correctly applied, and spiritually apprehended.  (For example, (4.)  1st Thessalonians 5:  7-10, KJV:  7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.  8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.  9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,  10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.

THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC

(07/26/2016) No Excuses For Judgment

Today, points are shared on judgment against divinity, divine judgment against all the earth, and the required extermination of children along with their parents.  The Creator does not apologize or make excuses for divine judgment.  GOD is not indebted or obligated to those over whom he is sovereign; however, divinity acknowledges multiple intimate relationships to fulfill oaths, proclamations, promises, and prophecies.  The Father continues to have absolute choice and preeminence in relationship with the created as a matter of grace, ownership, lawful right, and divine prerogative.  That the sacred processes for life established by the Creator also demand utter destruction and irrevocable judgment is baffling and upsetting for many of us.  However, we know the operations of sin exist as an undetectable influence upon awareness and self-will within created beings and living creatures.  Sin is no living thing; contains no divine spirit matter; has no authority, tangible form, or power to alter and manipulate divine will; and has not been put forth by divinity.  Even so, sin has direction, effect, and presence.  While the divine tool of death ends sin by removing the sinner, the consequences and damage from sin may continue indefinitely.  Responses from GOD to the extremes of sin therefore include annihilation, atonement, covenant agreement, forbearance, forgiveness, healing, sacred law, repentance, sanctification, the death of Jesus upon the cross, the Savior’s resurrection, and the imparted, indwelling Spirit of GOD.  One of the fighters at “Yahoo! Answers” using the ID “Anonymous” (profile information not shared) posted the following:

Most people would agree that the drowning of toddlers is evil, so why do they make excuses for when god did it with a global flood?

THE GOLDEN ARROW:  Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.  Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.  (1st Samuel 15:  1-3, King James Version, KJV)

THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  Hell and The Cross? (04/10/2016); Damnation And The Cross? (03/06/2016); Lessons From The Flood (01/21/2016); How Can Christians Believe? (08/12/2014); The Sin of Pride? (08/13/2014); Jericho Justified? (07/02/2013); Theoretical Forgiveness? (07/03/2013); An Attack on Creation? (12/08/2012); The Focus of Judgment? (12/09/2012)

“Anonymous”, our Creator is also a GOD of Judgment.  The destruction of toddlers in divine judgment relates to the life conditions they inherit from their parents (like ethnicity, economic and social class) before they are at the age of accountability, not exclusively to their individual attitudes, behavior and conduct measured using an adult scale.  Most mature Christian believers would agree (1) that eternal, immortal, and incorruptible divinity may not be legitimately judged and condemned by created beings and living creatures using finite human standards; (2) without divine revelation, the sacred operations and eternal purposes of GOD who is spirit remain invisible, unheard of, and unseen to the living upon the earth; (3) human feelings (that come and go), secular knowledge, and sentiment are neither high enough or pure enough as a standard for measuring the godliness of divine judgment; and (4) where the provisions of GOD for judgment are not accepted and received (e.g., atonement, forgiveness, mercy, penance, resurrection, the second death), the righteousness of Deity can not be known.  Only those who answer a divine process of permanent change come to correctly apprehend anything about the Flood from a divine point of view, so to speak.  The position of a “sinner” is the same as the one every believer once occupied before their rebirth:  Sin that opposes the continued existence of divine law, the Creator, and the Creation, yet dominates awareness and self-will in the living.  Through the operations of sin mankind despises divinity, and becomes inseparable from things carnal, material, and social.  The flesh emerges as deceitful, self-destructive, unpredictable, and untrustworthy.  Consider again how some of this is stated within the holy writings:

(1.)  Isaiah 55:  7-9, King James Version (KJV):  7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:  and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.  8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.  9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

(2.)  Romans 1:  18, KJV:  18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;  19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.  20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:  21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

(3.)  Ezekiel 18:  19-23, KJV:  19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.  20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son:   the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.  21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.  22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him:  in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.  23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD:  and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

There is far more to be said, carefully examined, and spiritually understood.  (For example, (4.)  2nd Peter 3:  9-14, KJV:  9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.  11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,  12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?  13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.  14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.

THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC

(07/24/2015) To Err is Human?

Offering confession and prayer for error and sin, and excusing without correcting human imperfection are in view, today.  Many who claim to be Christians make no genuine contribution to the work of ministry as mature believers, because they continue with a quiet conviction that sin is natural and necessary to humanity.  Without realizing it, such believers are seeking their salvation from finite tools of the world such as communication technology, history, intellect, money, philosophy, and science.  Doctrine, sacred knowledge, and spiritual practices are thought of as somehow artificial, contrived, or external (the young say, fake), and having no power to eliminate sin.  The writer at “Yahoo! Answers” using the ID “William” (Level 4 with 4,694 points, a member since May 08, 2014) posted the following:


Will God forgive u when u pray to him confessing your sins?

I know people will make mistakes in life. We are all human.


THE GOLDEN ARROW:  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.  (Ephesians 1:  3-12, KJV)


THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  Recounting Past Sins? (03/04/2015); Saved by a Prayer? (10/31/2014); Is Prayer an Act of Faith? (11/01/2014); Forgiveness Through GOD? (02/02/2014); Obliged to Disregard? (02/03/2014); Confessing Only to GOD? (04/08/2013); Evidence of the Unseen Spirit? (04/09/2013)


“William”, for Christian believers, atonement, confession, forgiveness, prayer, and repentance come into view as the expression of grace, and special operations provided by divinity to maintain existence, and continue the revelation of Deity (i.e., making GOD correctly known and understood).  Mankind has been created with the capacity to display an animal, human, or divine nature.  Sin is a non-material, non-spirit influence that opposes the continued existence of divine law, the law giver, and divine order generated by law. Sin first appeared among the angels in heaven, and was later spread to the earth among mankind.  Because sin may dominate awareness and self-will within created beings and living creatures without appearing to be contrary, conflicting, or opposite to their inborn/inbred nature, sin continues indefinitely in spite of such finite tools as knowledge, intellect, philosophy, science, and technology.  Please consider the following Scripture points:

(1.)  Psalm 130:  3-5, King James Version (KJV):  3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O LORD, who shall stand?  4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.  5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

(2.)  Numbers 15:  25-26, KJV:  25 And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance:  and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the LORD, and their sin offering before the LORD, for their ignorance:  26 And it shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance.

(3.)  Daniel 9:  8-10, KJV:  8 O LORD, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee.  9 To the LORD our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him;  10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

(4.)  1st Kings 8:  44-49, KJV:  44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:  45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.  46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;  47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;  48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:  49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,

There is far more that could be said, and that must be correctly understood and spiritually taken into account.  (For example (5.)  Acts 5:  30-32, KJV:  30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.  31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.  32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.

THE BLACK PHOENIX 
Washington, DC