Our Destiny - Sinning And Getting Saved

Following is a summary of what I was taught growing up in church…

When a child dies before reaching the age of accountability, that child goes to heaven.  However, if the child reaches the age of accountability he is lost and needs to be saved and it is the Church members Great Commission to save the lost.  The lost will be cast into hell upon death to be eternally punished and separated from God and that lost person's blood may be on the hands of a disobedient Church member who failed to tell them. To be saved the lost person must confess and repent of sin, and accept Jesus as his Savior by his own free will before he dies.  At that point the person becomes a new creature in Christ and will go immediately to heaven at death.  The church further emphasized that if a person is actually saved, he will want to join the Church, be baptized, observe the Lord's Supper, and fellowship primarily with others in the church, and of course, support the ministries of the church with a regular tithe of their income. 

I taught most of this for many years myself until I discovered from my personal study of the Bible over the past 20 years that none of the above is true. Obviously I am not invited to teach in churches anymore. 😃

For those who care, and it is perfectly fine if you don't, following is a brief SUMMARY of my thoughts about what the Bible actually teaches with regard to the history and future of mankind, backed up by some of the many Scriptures on point…

1. SIN of mankind: Eve sinned and Adam joined in that sin and God determined that they and all their progeny would die for their sin. So the dying process passed through to all mankind. Hard work to sustain ourselves was also the result of that original sin.  All are appointed to suffer and eventually die and return to the dust from which our bodies are made…

"...you shall surely die...because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you…By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return….Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind...” (Genesis 2:17; Genesis 3:17-19; Romans 5:12)

2. SALVATION of all mankind: It is God’s WILL and responsibility to save mankind from death, and reconcile all Creation to Himself. No one can prevent God’s WILL from being accomplished. God loves mankind and provided a Savior, His Son Jesus. God, through His Son, has shown us that He will give us eternal life after death. This abundant life will come only after the resurrection.  After the resurrection of all mankind, death, the grave, and sin will be abolished. God will then be All in all mankind and the whole Creation at peace with God.

“As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive...so that God may be All in all...God wills all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth...By grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God...the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord...through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (1 Corinthians 15:22, 28; 1 Timothy 2:4; Ephesians 2:8; Romans 6:23; Colossians 1:20)

God says plainly that He will save mankind and reconcile all Creation to Himself through His Son Jesus, and he will do so because of His Grace alone. Faith gives us the knowledge and hope of this...

"We have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand…God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us…we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him...While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life...Just as sin entered the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people…just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act (of Jesus) resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous…where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:22-28; Romans 5:1-20)

Since I am not holding my breath until asked to teach this truth in churches, I share my thoughts on Facebook.  A few years ago my daughter created a blog for me which can be accessed at jrwlakey.blogspot.com.  It is entitled Random Thoughts On The Really Good News and I post a link to that blog on my Facebook page from time to time. Thanks to those of you who are sleepy enough to read them. Nevertheless, I am not a fan of Facebook in general, or its founder, and I will most likely stop using it in the near future.  But you brave souls can still google my blogspot when you need something to put you to sleep. 😊💤

PS:  The Easter Bunny, Bambi and all pets are included in God's plan!

Be Perfect?

“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48)

“What is the great commandment of the law?...You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37)

The Greek word translated "commandment" is "entole" which focuses on the end result.  See below from Strong's concordance...

1785 entolḗ (a feminine noun derived from 1722 /en, "in," which intensifies 5056 /télos, "reach the end, consummation") – properly, "in the end," focusing on the end-result (objective) of a command.

So to me, Jesus is telling us that one day, when God is finished with us, we “shall be perfect”, and “shall love” God and our neighbors.

The doctrines of religious men reign in this present evil world. And these doctrines insist that God has made certain commandments with eternal consequences when we disobey. God, however, says no such thing.  God simply tells us what sinners are and what they WILL BE when He is finished with us - loving and perfect like He and Jesus.

So when will that be?

Not while we remain in this present evil age.  Here we sinners sin from time to time and are destined to die for our sin.  But after we have died for that sin (some once and others twice), in due time we are to be resurrected into a "new creation".  THEN we will be perfect and will Love God and our neighbor. God CHANGES us in that final resurrection to be like Jesus, all of us completed in the "spiritual" image of God. 

"The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body...The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual...And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man." (1 Corinthians 15:42-49)

Jesus died, was buried, and was resurrected as the first "spiritual" and "heavenly" man. He was the FIRST, but all mankind are destined to follow. THAT IS THE GOSPEL we are to share.

“Now I am making known to you, brethren, the GOSPEL which I preached to you….that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

Jesus died.  He paid the penalty for sin just like we sinners do when we die. In doing so he identified himself completely with us, "he became sin on our behalf".  He was not our  substitute, but joined the team to die with mankind in order to show us that God is at peace with us and plans to resurrect us to eternal life.

“…God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself not counting their sins against them…He made him who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, so that we might become (when we are resurrected) the righteousness of God...” (2 Corinthians 5:19-21)

It is a done deal, we cannot screw up the Gospel of God because it is not up to us!  

And so I hope you can see the problem with any religion which is works oriented.  All are based to some degree on works to get to heaven and find favor with God.  No matter how much one talks about God, Jesus, love, grace and mercy - if mankind's eternal destiny is based on people DOING something by their own free will rather than relying on what GOD HAS FREELY DONE AND WILL FREELY DO do for sinners, it is not the Gospel of God.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

For many years I have been saying this over and over, in different ways, but quite frankly I do not think anyone gives a hoot about the Gospel of God. They prefer the teaching and traditions of men handed down to them which condemns them, puts them in bondage, and sends most of them to hell to be tormented forever.  This is nothing new for Jesus encountered these hard headed and hearted traditions 2000 years ago which denied the Gospel of God…remember the Greek word for "gospel" means GOOD NEWS...

“Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Gospel of God…Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going (his death) "  (Mark 1:14; John 14:1-4)

But the Jewish religion leaders would not believe him, preferring their own traditional teaching.  So he said they needed to repent because of their vanity…

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel...in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men...making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down…” (Mark 1:15; 7:7, 13)

After Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven, he appeared to the Apostle Paul and sent him to both Jews and Gentiles to proclaim the "Gospel of God"…

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God…” (Romans 1:1)

He abandoned traditions of men but lamented to his friend Titus that those who continued to teach them among the body of Christ…

“...must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach…devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth…they profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works…“ (Titus 1:11, 14, 16)

And to the Galatians who had been turned away from the Gospel of God back to these "commandments of men" Paul said...

"You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith (believing the Gospel of God)? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Galatians 3:1-3)

Correctly Handle the Word of Truth

“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself. Keep reminding God’s people of these things… Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:11-15)

I appreciate those people who have concern about my thoughts and views, at least those who love me and may sincerely think I have fallen into error.  And of course I am referring to my view that all will eventually be saved and reconciled to God.  And that no one will be subjected to eternal conscious torment in the hell of Greek Mythology. 

Most of them have not tried to change my mind, but they do express their concerns to others from time to timed.  I UNDERSTAND and do not feel bad about them doing so. I just wish they would read the Scripture I quote and come to me and explain why it does not mean what it says.

What they do not understand I am sure is that I share my views because I know that they must one day give an account for what they believe about God. I am concerned about them as much as they are about me. My venue for sharing my thoughts is Facebook and www.jrwlakey.blogger.com because it is the only venues I have.

It is not that I have some egotistic need to be correct or listened to, but I really, really, really do not want them be “ashamed” before God in the day of accounting for teaching or endorsing error. Especially the particularly awful heresy of eternal conscious torment in hell. That error says that our God and Father plans to, or allows, the eternal conscious torture of billions of people. And it is accepted and taught without a firm biblical foundation.

I have shown, and continue to show, through my blog and Facebook postings, that those passages of Scripture seeming to imply “everlasting punishment” or reading “tormented day and night, forever and ever”, or mention the “lake of fire”, etc. are either figures of speech, poorly translated into English or can be explained within the context of the clear teaching of the gospel given to Paul concerning the eventual salvation and reconciliation of ALL.

But most importantly, I want my children and grandchildren to hear and meditate on my views should they want, and read the Scripture backing up my views. Then they can make an informed decision whether what they hear in Church is true or not. I encourage them to compare what they hear in Church with what Paul taught in the Scripture like the "Berean Jews" did before they decide whether Christian traditions of men are valid...

“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11)

Sons of Gehenna

“You will listen and listen, yet never understand; and you will look and look, yet never perceive ... you go round the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and whenever it may happen -- you make him a son of gehenna twofold more than yourselves” (Matthew 13:14; 23:15 YLT)

Jesus was talking to the most prominent religious leaders of his day. They just could not overcome their own traditions, even when the very image of God was standing in front of them. All their efforts in building up their religious institution was not making any difference for God or the lives of people. God would later inspire Paul to write Timothy and make sure he knew what he was to teach…

“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) 

You can pastor a church, become a missionary, pray without ceasing, study the bible with every waking hour, author a bestselling Christian book and build a new church on every block in every city of the world… but if you do not believe and teach what God says above...all your works may just become fuel for the fire…

“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 3:11-15)

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love." (Galatians 5:1-6)

All of us are addicted to something. And those who have overcome an addiction to medication, drugs, or alcohol are some of my heroes. They would not realize or know, but what I saw in their struggle and victory has helped me with my own addiction.  Are you ready for this?  My addiction to church. I guess you could call me a recovering "churchaholic".  I am not making light of addiction or trying to be funny.

Sometime after moving back to Sayre in 1977 I became addicted to church. I am not talking about my relationship with God or Jesus, my place in the Body of Christ, or my love for the Bible.  I am talking about organized, programmed involvement in a local church. It was some 20 or 25 years later that I realized what had happened to me. By that time I was a deacon and a Sunday school teacher and a lay preacher.  I taught Sunday night and Monday morning Bible studies, sang in the choir, and did part time preaching. And for five years I had served on the national board of trustees of the largest evangelical mission organization in the world.

I worked my normal job five days a week and then spent Saturday preparing for Sunday.  On Sunday (at the height of my addiction), I would teach Sunday School, rush to a local church in the area to preach in their Sunday morning service, conduct a nursing home service Sunday afternoon, return to teach my church evening bible study group, and then rush again to a nearby church to preach their evening service.  I would get up on Monday morning and lead another bible study, and I would return to church on Wednesday night for choir practice or whatever my church wanted me to do. Many times I used my vacation time at work to go to some church camp, retreat, or mission trip somewhere in the US or abroad.  I will NOT be rewarded for that time - just forgiven.

I was high on this ritual.  I felt good and fulfilled only when I was participating in these church related activities.  I was hopelessly addicted!

And then my Father God intervened - lovingly, graciously, and mercifully. I was preparing for some activity at my computer. In the search engine, I typed the word "hell," and from that time forward God began the five year process of delivering me from my addiction to church and the false doctrine I had assumed was the truth.

He eventually set me free from religious ritual.  Free to live life every day producing genuine fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, etc.  And free to have a new and real appreciation for my loving and gracious heavenly Father, and for His Son Jesus, and their Word.

Most importantly, I now have time for my wife, my kids, and my grandkids.  And golf.  For the first time, I am sharing the true Gospel - the really good news of the GRACE of God! Not in temples made by hands.  But on Facebook and a blog on the world wide web of all places. Manmade doctrines had kept me addicted to church programs and rituals. God knew that for me, the GOOD NEWS could only be found by first becoming addicted to the ritual found in the “law."  It was necessary in order to find the JOY of "grace and truth."  This good news is simple. It is really all you need to know and share.

God loves you.

He is not mad at you.

You are and will be saved.

Thank Jesus.

Tell people about it!

When God gave me the faith to believe that simple good news, He opened up the floodgates of the water of abundant life.  And along the way I have discovered His wonderful and detailed plan, found only in the Bible.  It details how God eventually wins the love and adoration of all His creation.  And He becomes ALL in ALL, not just the few addicted to church.