Imperfect People Need Mercy, Grace And Prayer

There have now been 44 different men elected to be President, all of them imperfect. God intended that citizens pray for them and God demands that from us after this election.  God does not sanction the protests and violence...those doing so are just immature, selfish, imperfect people out of control and their childish tantrums will not change anything. However, prayer might... 

"First of all, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered on behalf of all men, for kings and all those in authority, so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all goodness and dignity.  This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior..." (1 Timothy 2:1-3)

It is hard for me not to get mad at imperfect people out of control, however I have to remind myself that we are all imperfect.  And being imperfect people, our views about life are imperfect.  That is never more obvious than in politics and among religious people.  

But God is in control if the Bible is true, and I am thankful He has not left our salvation up to the imperfect doctrines of imperfect people. He will deliver us all, eventually, by His grace and mercy...

"...it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved...justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...it does not depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy...for God has consigned all men to disobedience, so that He may have mercy on them all...it is by grace you have been saved" (Acts 15:11; Romans 3:24; 9:16; 11:33; Ephesians 2:5)

Building on a sure Foundation

“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.” (1 Corinthians 3:10-15)

This was written almost 2000 years ago by the Apostle Paul. Several years ago I decided to learn from Paul’s letters exactly what he, the wise master builder, had laid upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. Then compare it to the doctrines of Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant. The result was surprising and disappointing and I had to “renew my mind” and rid it of much false doctrine which the church had built upon Jesus Christ. In my opinion there are five such doctrines, two of which are the worst of the “wood, hay and stubble” that need to be deleted from the mind in the renewal process. For in my view they will bring the most “loss” of “reward” in “the Day” when the truth of what we believed are “revealed with fire”. 

1.  Eternal conscious torment in hell

2.  Self-determination (free will) with regard to the salvation of mankind. 

The above are doctrines of men which have been built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. Jesus, nor Paul the “wise master builder”, taught any such doctrines. These institutions of men which have built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ with this "wood, hay and stubble" will be consumed in the flame in my opinion. 

The "rock" and “sure foundation” of our faith is obvious…

"Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; whoever believes will not act hastily…He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved…Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead…He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builder, but which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." (Isaiah 28:16; Psalm 62:6; Acts 4:10-12)

So is Jesus your savior or is your free will choice your savior?

Will the rock of your salvation assign those who do not join your institution to eternal conscious torment, or will he save ALL sinners?

Are you going to build upon this ROCK with the "wood, hay and stubble" of men, or with precious "gold, silver and costly stones" of God and exalt the Savior of all mankind?

“It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…God our Savior wills ALL men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth… there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for All, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle, I am telling the truth, I am not lying, as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth...it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of ALL men, especially of believers. Prescribe and TEACH THESE THINGS.” (1 Timothy 1:15, 2:3-7; 4:9-11) 


I have renewed my mind and placed the destiny of all those I love in the hands of the ROCK, the "sure foundation" and "Savior of ALL mankind" - and it has set me free!

“If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free…be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will…" (John 8:31-32; Romans 12:2)

“And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life (nephesh-soul) “. (Genesis 1:30)

“Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (nephesh-soul)” (Genesis 2:7)

The Hebrew word for “soul” is “nephesh”. If you are familiar with Strong’s Concordance and want to look up how it is translated into English in the KJV it is Strong’s number 5315.

What is the Soul?

The “soul” is the seat of sensation. It should not be confused with the “spirit” (Hebrew “ruach”) but it seems to me most Christian teachers do not know the difference, mixing up the two and causing a doctrinal mess. There are different Hebrew and Greek words for both "soul" and "spirit" but even the translators do not always distinguish them.

What is a "soul" then...biblically speaking? It is the result of the union of a BODY with SPIRIT from God. When these two unite the result is “a living being" (SOUL), whether man or animal.

So what happens to the “soul” when a person or animal dies? Well think about it. The body returns to the "dust from the ground" from which it was "formed" and the "breath of life" (spirit) returns to God who gave it.

“Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)

And both the Hebrew word “sheol” and its Greek equivalent “hades” mean the same thing…imperceptible or unseen…not some mythical torture chamber called hell. At death all “souls” go to "sheol/hades" and becomes imperceptible, or unseen. There is no perception or sensation in "sheol/hades". These Hebrew and the Greek words have, unfortunately for truth seekers, been mistranslated “hell” by the KJV of the Bible and many other versions. And the meaning is then distorted and defined by Greek Mythology.

This is not rocket science folks, just a matter of believing God rather than men and trying to sort out the truth from the commentaries of lazy teachers we who prefer to teach as "doctrines the precepts of men".  They prefer these precepts to the accurately translated Word of God. And Jesus, the very Word of God in the flesh says to these religious experts...

"In vain do they worship me, teaching as DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN. Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men...You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition" (Mark 7:7-8)

AMEN TO THAT!

In Luke Chapter 18 Jesus told the sinners and publicans whom the religious crowd despised that they “ought always to pray, and not to faint…” and that God would “avenge them speedily”. But then lamented with regard to the religious folks “Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”

Then Jesus spoke a parable to the religious leaders who thought that “they were righteous, and despised others” as follows:

“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess…And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner…”

Jesus declared “I tell you, this man (the sinner) went down to his house justified rather than the other (the religious guy)…”

Jesus was disgusted with the lack of understanding and faith that he found among the Jewish religious teachers. They had developed their own religious doctrine and Jesus said about that doctrine...

“IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN” (Matthew 15:9). 

They just refused to believe God, preferring their own teachings.

2000 years later I wonder if Jesus finds “faith on the earth”, or are sinners and publicans still being excluded from the good news of their salvation by Christian institutions who are again trusting “themselves that they were righteous, and despised others” who have not joined the club, or who do not follow their particular “creed” or “statement of faith”.

Is God really Omniscient, Omnipresent and Omnipotent? Is God’s love and mercy infinite? Is God sovereign over ALL?

Both Muslims and Christians express that He is but their “theology” does not always fit their expressed faith.

From my vantage point it is because most Christians and Muslims depend solely on their religious leaders to tell them what the Bible or Koran says.

Tell me honestly, is your doctrinal views based on your personal reading and meditating on the Bible…or on what someone has told you about the Bible. Depending on how you answer that you will know whether you are trusting in the “word of men” or in “the Word of God”.

Don’t misunderstand me, it is OK and common to trust the opinions of those whom you respect and trust. The problem is that sometimes even those good, sincere, well-meaning people…are wrong! When they are, how are they going to know? They themselves might not even know because they are just passing down what someone they trusted told them...for centuries.

When you can't find Scripture to back up what they say, they should be told by someone who cares about them...but do not expect a big "Thanks".

Jesus told the Jewish religious leaders - "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” (John 9:41)