What is the human nature? Are we to believe that this nature is inherently sinful?

Surprisingly, the KJV Bible never describes the human nature as sinful. This adjective was added later in the newer Bible versions after those in error such as John Calvin invented theological positions that influenced the denominations who contributed to the more modern translations.

This is observing that the noun “nature” is never preceded by the adjective “sinful” and so must be discarded as an invention of men who read more into the text than what God intended for us to learn plainly.

Therefore, it is wise to not consider it sinful, but rather neither good nor evil naturally.

When Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were then actually able to do both good and evil as a result of the knowledge obtained.

Since then, mankind has perceived both good and evil when the mind is capable of containing the knowledge.

Mankind is designed upright and chooses disobedience, which is contrary to our own bodies and conscience.

– sin is not natural, but is instead unnatural

When we choose what is contrary, we choose lawlessness and so make ourselves sinners since sin is imputed when there is a law and we break it.

– later on, because Jesus fulfilled the law and so reconciled the world, sin is now no longer imputed to mankind during this time

– this is because he was made a curse for mankind even though he had not broken the law…therefore, he died a sinner’s death, which is contrary to the law and so made the law unjust

– as a result, he defeated death since he died wrongly accused and so naturally rose from the dead

– rising from the dead was far less about being a miracle and much more about turning the law upside down as wrongly condemning a perfect man

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Once we learn that nature is never described as sinful, it becomes alarming that many believe what’s unwritten and so lean more on tradition than truth.

When Paul wrote in Romans 5 that sin entered the world, he did not write that sin entered mankind, but later wrote that the prince of the power of the air blinds many into becoming children of disobedience and wrote in Ephesians 2 that we conversed in the lusts of our flesh and so were by nature the children of wrath rather than being born with a sinful nature – conversing comes first.

– choices are first made in conversations with ourselves, which make us disobedient

In 1 Corinthians 2:12, we learn that the world has a spirit. Sin entered into the world’s spirit, which is separate from mankind.

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It is imperative that we continue to address vocabulary and syntax, because wrong doctrines like the sinful nature are taught so frequently that many assume they’re true.

Many think Psalm 51:5 is concrete proof that the sinful nature is a reality.

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

• let’s take a look at what grammar and syntax reveal
  • The second clause begins with a conjunction followed by a prepositional phrase
  • “in sin” is followed by the past tense verb “did”
  • followed by the possessive pronoun “my” and the noun “mother”
  • Then, we encounter the action verb “conceive” and the pronoun “me”
    • We can see that the pronoun “me” is not descriptive of “in sin”, but that the “mother” is described “in sin”
    • A quick way to hear the sentence meaning is to replace “sin” with “love”
      • And we have “in love did my mother conceive me”
      • Clearly, the child was not in love when conceived, but the mother was.
    • Astonishingly, the first clause then gleams with new understanding since we can finally see that the mother shaped the child in her iniquity, not that God shaped the child in a sin nature.

Other interesting attempts at persuading people that the “sinful nature” is real have been tried, but all of them fail one by one since they all have their beginning in false preconception.

That’s how false doctrines arise…misinterpretation followed by more misinterpretation until an entire theory is invented and the whole bible seems to teach it.

Jesus never believed in a sinful nature…Paul never believed in a sinful nature…none of the disciples or other apostles knew anything of it….and so, we must dump it quickly into the garbage where it belongs.

 

 

 

Sometimes in life, we can find ourselves questioning why calamities like cancer and vehicular homicides take place. Why would God “let” these things happen.

Well, God actually isn’t the god of this world and so doesn’t “let” things happen as if He causes men to disobey or causes the god of this world to inflict pain and death.

Adam brought death to all men, which is the curse of returning to the dust, and sin entered into the world for the first time as a result of disobedience to the tiny law at that time, which was to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (See Romans 5:12, 20) about “entering”.

Since then, the law expanded to 613 commandments of which Jesus was obedient to and so fulfilled the law.

Horrible things happen because the first man Adam let sin enter into the world and Satan took control of the world…so much so that he has blinded the minds of them which believe not.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

*Now, some may read the old testament (which consists of Genesis through the first part of Acts since Jesus lived under the law) and declare that God worked with the Israelites to kill their enemies on the battlefield, which is true.

• First, we must look at the world that was once “under the law” and so realize that God was not dealing with the world under grace as we know it – nobody living today knows what it’s like to live under the law since it was before our time (which is our first observation that we can hardly point a finger at God because we have zero experience under the law)
• Grace and truth came “through” Jesus Christ.
• Under the law, the world was guilty before God and wasn’t yet reconciled to Him by the death of his Son.
• Under that system, men trembled in fear that they would provoke the wrath of God since they were uncovered, which is a separate philosophy from the man invented philosophy that states God was cruel for helping Israel destroy her enemies.
  • No, men were cruel and God acted under the law to levy verdicts on a world not reconciled.
  • Romans 5:18 reveals that all men were under judgment, which then led to condemnation
    • Thankfully, we are now under the free gift of grace rather than judgment – the judgment free zone is the reality today that didn’t begin in a gym
• This is why God has been verbally silent since that pivotal inflection when Jesus was cursed on a tree – we don’t hear of God helping people win on the battlefield today – we don’t hear of God doing anything whatsoever, because the entire world has been made reconciled and Jesus actually finished the work.

One of the possibly startling things about God is that chance is a real phenomenon that he was kind enough to reveal to us in writing.

Recently within the last 200 years, men have begun to classify science as separate from belief in God and so it appears as though the only people believing in chance are those who follow the Darwinian mindset that morphed into evolutionary thought.

– science is an old discipline first recorded in the Bible in the first chapter of the book of Daniel

– those learned in science were considered worthy to stand before the king

The Bible contains the word “chance” 6 times.

Deut 22:6, Deut 23:10, 1 Sam 6:9, 2 Sam 1:6, Luke 10:31, 1 Cor 15:37

When we learn that chance plays a role in the circumstances of our lives, we learn to appreciate God more for what he’s accomplished and so finished instead of attribute even the unsavory aspects of life such as pain, heartache, etc. to his supposed will.

Because chance exists, we appreciate God in the present more since He sits knowing chance changes things.

Because chance exists, we more fully understand why the Holy Ghost seals believers.

Because chance exists, we learn to appreciate his spiritual blessings first and any physical fortunes second.

Because chance exists, we desire to obey the Holy Law so that we may plant good seeds to initiate the reward of a good harvest.

Because chance exists, we know that even those who practice righteousness are not guaranteed an easy or physically blessed life.

Because chance exists, we are wise to purchase insurance, hedge against potential losses, accumulate a savings, and invest for the future.

Because chance exists, not everything was meant to be.

Ultimately, because chance exists, we don’t lose faith when our circumstances become sour.

What is called science today is actually a religion since it attempts to teach the origin of mankind and the universe from the standpoint of faith without the scientific method of first observing, but that’s a topic for another post.

 

Should the Christian have faith with or without works?

That’s a classic question that has been debated for hundreds of years and continues to be a controversy for those who do not take a moment to step back and see the big picture.

What is the big picture?

It is that the Israelites should have had faith with works while we Christians should have faith without works – two people groups – two audiences – a different writer to each variety of human.

Israelites were never new creations, yet we Christians are because we are those living in due time, which is not the time of the past.

See Romans 5:6, 1 Corinthians 15:8, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 1:3

Moreover, Paul is our apostle since he was given the apostleship of the gentiles, which is any breed of human other than Jewish.

See Ephesians 3:1, Romans 11:13 (the apostle of the Gentiles) The grammatical article.

In conclusion, Paul wrote for us to have faith without works and James wrote to the twelve tribes of Israel that faith without works was dead for them.

See James 2:17 and Romans 3:28

One startling observation is that it’s impossible for a Christian to have faith and works for salvation because Jesus finished the crosswork necessary to save a soul.

This means we are justified by Faith and so have peace with God. (Romans 5:1)

 

 

The Bible writes about the heart quite often and one referenced with familiarity is Jeremiah 17:9, which states

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Contextually speaking, this verse follows a splendidly clear introduction to chapter 17 in which Jeremiah writes that

“the sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;”

The importance of syntax

What did Judah do to warrant such an accusation?

That is a topic for another post, but what we can learn from the account is that it was Judah’s heart that was desperately wicked and who can know it.

*What’s important to note here is that some read verse 9 completely out of context and classify the human heart as deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Looking at themselves and others within their congregation, they wonder inaccurately at the wickedness and deceitfulness of their hearts.

Well, we know better than to think our heart is deceitful and desperately wicked since this ushers in a new evil idea that “when we sin we are just following the course of our heart”, which is an excuse to continue sinning the same, more, and continually.

Furthermore, this line of thinking excludes the fact that we are new creations, not new versions of our old selves.

Judah had become corrupt since man is designed corruptible and never designed corrupted.

• always remember that the human heart is commanded to “love the Lord your God with all your heart” and do not be swayed by those who like to excuse their sin.

 

 

 

As we age, it behooves us to notice how experience is not always beneficial.

The imagination can be trickery if we lean too much on experience.

We can look at how Israel “walked in/after the imagination of their heart”.

Two example verses of this are Jeremiah 13:10 and Jeremiah 7:24.

• A non-biblical example of how experience is harmful is when considering that one experienced in relationships is more likely to create misguided imaginations about their current relationship as a result of their past experiences.

Focusing in on the Israelites, we find that they walked in their imaginations and would not listen. Imagining and not listening are linked together and we often observe this first in children while ignoring it exhibited in adults since adults are prone to seek justification for their actions based on their experience, which is their defense against scrutiny that is weak and not wise.

Let us remember that walking in imagination while leaning on experience closes the ears and produces disobedience.

 

 

 

 

Faith is a central theme of the Bible and we often first believe the gospel that saves today then begin to ask where this faith came from in the first place.

The classic unlearned question is, “Does faith come from God or man?”

This is an unlearned question because the Bible is actually quite clear where Faith comes from.

There are two kinds of Faith that men are able to have, which is not often spoken or written about.

Initial faith in which someone first trusts and believes comes by hearing, not God.

This at first is strange to accept, but is the means by which God uses foolishness to preach whatever gospel is currently used for saving.

Hearing implies that men preach the gospel to others and this gospel is special enough to prick the hearts of men who often like to live in their own individuality and justification for their behavior/thinking.

The second Faith comes as a gift of the Holy Ghost that is given to those already in possession of the initial faith.

See Romans 10:17 and 1 Corinthians 12:9

*What is the bottom-line?

Those who get caught up thinking it’s a God versus man battle do not actually read grammar or syntax and likely are among the sovereignty of God illusion movement, which means these are deriving meaning to further their preconception when the actual words don’t support this invented battle.

God doesn’t choose who gets faith initially and so serve as unjust, but rather gives faith to some of those already saved as an extra gift of strength.

 

Sometimes we find ourselves in the presence of those who have been among those called Christians for a number of years and who have also been on a mindset of puffing themselves up among their peers while behaving condescendingly toward others.

• This does not happen overnight, but is a result of leaning on experience more than wisdom.

When this occurs, there is a verse we can keep in mind to help us understand the heart of those in focus.

When experience becomes more important than wisdom, we find many long-time members of groups commending themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, which is a natural tendency we should take note of and flee from if we catch a glimpse of this error clouding our judgment.

Interestingly, Paul writes in 2 Cor 10:10 that his letters were weighty and powerful, yet his bodily presence was weak and his speech contemptible, which is telling.

Here is the verse that pinpoints the error and the resulting conclusion that those who do this are not wise.

2 Corinthians 10:12

For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

It’s popular to think that people don’t know God’s will for their lives and that it must be sought after over the years commingling itself with increased age and maturity.

Those aged who pride themselves in their self effort in gaining maturity through experience often confuse their experiences with that of God’s will that is easily known.

Sometimes, pastors and teachers will tell others that God revealed his mysterious will in divine intervention and so stun the crowd with bizarre and seemingly supernatural revealing of His will for their individual lives such as a miraculous free hotdog when a wallet is lost or a miraculous acceptance letter from a university or a new job that lined up perfectly (in all these supposed interventions it’s best to remain aware that obeying the Holy Law involves planting seeds that yield a harvest and that God’s will is spiritual for us and was once also physical for Israelites).

The little drama and at first boring truth is that God’s will for each of us has been written already and we should first read His words instead of wish for a light from heaven or supernatural feather to float by as circumstantial evidence that appears separate from the word of God.

There is no lifelong journey to discover God’s will apart from studying his words and many tell themselves that the unknown outcome is in God’s hands…so, they take blind steps toward their own agenda while remaining ignorant of God’s will.

God’s will was once mysterious, but has been made known. (Ephesians 1:9)

God’s will is in Jesus Christ and people being in him. (Colossians 1:27-28)

When we trust the gospel that saves today, we have already done half of God’s will.

The other half is coming to the knowledge of the truth, which is the actual lifelong process. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Part of coming to the knowledge of the truth is to give thanks in everything. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

 

 

It’s popular to think of the “ancient of days” as meaning “existing before time”, yet these are not equal.

• Unequal equations that confuse are improper since math is an ordered science.

In the future, the trees bear fruit every month on either side of the river. And before there was a day on earth, the light was randomly called Day and the darkness was called Night. (at first appearing to be random)

So, an ancient of days is an ancient of light that always has been in a measurable time.

• this is called mathematical substitution, sometimes seen as an appositive in English, and a definition in grammar
• part of time as we know it is matter and energy, which is a scientific singularity found in the beginning (has God always moved or was hovering his first?)
• an equals sign, two commas, or an “is” statement
• we can go a step further and think about having the ability to see in the light and that light has components that are unseen to the naked eye
• why were they naked in the garden? That’s a good question.

We can actually let the word define itself and when we do we find hidden secrets, but men jump to conclusions out of impatience and desiring to invent their own theology.

*A crucial appositive is “redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins”.

*A mathematical substitution and appositive identification is found in “rightly dividing the word of truth” juxtaposed with “after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation”.

*We know that to be a Christian is to be highly educated by default, yet this has been lost in some as fear grips the minds of too many…afraid of science, math, English, etc.

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