Predestination - Freewill:

Truth and Error:  
There’s a lot of misconceptions that get people to the point of blaming God for all the evil that happens in the world. First of all, I John 1:5 says that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. When God’s Word says” no darkness” that should be enough but to emphasis the point “at all” is added. People getting killed is darkness; murder is darkness. Hebrews 2:14 says the devil has the power of death. So, why does God always get the blame.
 Well, people say, “If God is all powerful and all knowing how can He allow this to happen.” True, God is all powerful and all knowing. But, when God gave other beings freedom of will He limited His interaction with man. When he gave free will, the potential to make wrong decisions and do the wrong thing becomes available. Why freewill? Because, God wanted fellowship. God is love. His desire is not only to love but to have that love to experience and share with others. You can’t program someone to love. Love can only be had when an individual by his freedom of will decides to love. So, in order for Him to have fellowship with others, who could love Him in return, He had to give us freedom of will. Consequently, God has no hands with which to show His love but our hands.
 Also, people don’t realize that the devil is the god of this world. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them. Adam originally had God-given dominion of the world. But, in Luke 4:5 & 6 it says the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and said, “All this power will I give you, and the glory of them; for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.” Well, who delivered it to him It wasn’t God. God gave it to Adam. Adam delivered it to him. That’s how cataclysmic Adam’s sin was. Now, the devil has control of the powers that be in this world. Except for those who are saved - because it says we were bought back with a price. Bought back from who? The power of Satan and all his devil spirits. Jesus Christ paid the price and the devil has no more dominion over us.
 Another point, because of freedom of will God can do nothing unless His Word is believed. When an individual sees a promise in God’s Word and believes, God has to bring it to pass. He has to keep His Word. God will never deny His Word. But, without believing His hands are tied because of freedom of will. He can’t control you or possess you. You have to believe. Isaiah 55:17 says, “No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper.” Believe that and God will bring it to pass. Romans 8:31 says, “If God be for us who can be against us.” That’s where our believing has to be.
 God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. God wants the very best for us. The devil has the power of death and has dominion of the world. So, let’s take that dominion away by believing God’s Word and enabling God’s power to be evident in our lives.
 Never blame God! God is light and in Him is NO darkness AT ALL. None. Job lost all his children and his business in one day. After that, he had boils from head to toe for approximately 6 months. Yet, he never charged God foolishly. God is all good and the devil is all bad.  
God gets the blame when people die. They say God took them. Hebrews 2:14 says the devil has the power of death.  
When bad happens to a person. They say God is testing them. James 1:13 says God cannot be tempted neither does He tempt any man. To test someone is to tempt them to do evil. If He were testing people that would be darkness.  
People get sick and they say it's God's will. III John 2 says God wishes above all things that we be in health and prosper. Why did Jesus go around healing every one. I haven't seen one record where he made someone sick. If it was God's will to get sick then we ought to do God's will and do our best to get sick. Get's silly when you think about it logically.  
When people start thinking God is doing these things many times they turn away from God. Romans 2:4 says the goodness of God leads men to repentance. It's the devil that does these things and he's tricked people into blaming God for it. Stop letting the devil win and start seeing how good, loving and merciful our God really is. When you do this you will be like Job and never charge God foolishly. Your love for God will flourish!!!
 The decisions we make determine our successes and our failures. If we fail, it is our fault, not Gods.
 If the god of this world can get us to just accept defeat because we think it was meant to be, then he wins and we lose.
 Here is the Word of God! Take it or leave it, yet please choose wisely:  
Believing UNTO salvation! 
  Romans 10:9,10 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved [sōzō]. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  
Confessing with our mouths and believing in our hearts are decisions we make. Without believing and confessing as stipulated in Romans 10:9, we would not receive the gift of holy spirit, we would not be clothed with power from on high. 
The receiving of the gift of holy spirit is entirely conditional on us carrying out the instruction given in Romans 10:9. When we confess with our mouths Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we are saved (Greek sōzō), made whole, referring to once again being complete, being whole, with body, soul and spirit. Does God force us to believe? No. God never forces anyone to do anything. He gave us freedom of will and it is up to us whether we choose to believe God and his word or not.  
There are a number of important keys to the word's interpretation, and one of them is that a scripture must be in harmony with all the other scriptures relating to the same subject. If we have many clear verses on a subject and one apparently contradictory verse, do we ignore the many clear verses and focus solely on the unclear verse? Not if we are interested in an honest handling of the word of God, we don't. Here are a few scriptures that clearly teach that God is no respecter of persons.  
Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God.  
Ephesians 6:9 ...neither is there respect of persons with him.  
1 Timothy 2:3,4 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.  
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,  
Without labouring the point, God isn't fussy about whom he chooses.  
In short, predestination as it is understood today destroys people. It gives people excuses for their failures. Instead of taking responsibility for their failed marriages, businesses, families, health, and everything else in their lives, they come up with all sorts of excuses and blame it all on God. It was predestined and they had nothing to do with it. Folks are taught they have no control, that everything is meant to be. So they blame their failed marriages on God, they blame their failed businesses on God, they blame their failed health on God, because it was all meant to be. Put your noses into this dogshit of predestination and take a good sniff. It is a stinking lie. 
Sure, God will light our path so we can see where we are going, but we have control of our own lives and over which paths we walk. The decisions we make determine our successes and our failures. If we fail, it is our fault, not Gods. God never made a failure. When the devil attacks, he likes nothing more than to watch people lie down and die. That is why he weakens us with such lies. He doesn't like it when people stand up and fight back, it defeats his purposes. If he can get us to just accept defeat because we think it was meant to be, then he wins and we lose.  
This lie has the power to destroy entire races and civilisations. Your life is yours to live so be careful with what you think was meant to be. We all grow up in the devil's world and grow up exposed to his filthy language, but that's no excuse for your thoughts to be contrary to God's word. Put your televisions and newspapers and religious mythology aside, open your bibles again and put your hearts into the word.  
Romans 10:17 So then faith [believing] cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  
Be watchful, because predestination is the language of extinction.  
2 Peter 3:9 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. Aside from the new birth; freewill is the greatest thing that God has ever given! The adversary's ministry is to blind, first and foremost; then it is all downhill from there. That opens one up to many lies; the counterfeit, unto many sorrows and regrets. This is how the adversary cleverly tricked Adam and Eve. It all started with doubt after they ignorantly engage with the damned bird! By the way folk; spiritually dead, yet NOT brain dead, hopefully now!! Take it or leave it, yet please choose wisely: Ephesians 1:13 in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Predestination: 
 God knows ahead of time who is going to believe His Word. Therefore, God calls them according to His eternal purpose (to have a family). God knew ahead of time (foreknowledge) that you and I would believe. Consequently, God predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Predestination is a very misunderstood concept. God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!! God pre-arranged or predestinated that which HE was going to do as a result of our believing. God decided (according to HIS purpose) that HE WOULD GIVE US holy spirit making us His children. Predestination in the Word of God is God deciding ahead of time what He is going to do - not what we are going to do. Again, God does not pre-arrange what you and I are going to do!!!
 In the beginning, as we have stated, God decided to "allow" or "permit" the possibility of evil in order to make possible an unforced response of genuine goodness and love. If something contrary to His will happens, it is because God cannot at that moment stop it without going against His own nature. How could that be? We believe there are three very good reasons. First, because although He is the most powerful One in the war, His righteous nature requires Him to act justly toward His formidable foe, the Devil. Second, He cannot usurp anyone's personal freedom of will. Third, His justice requires Him to allow people to experience the consequences of disobedience.
 Lucifer has NO rights to God's word, hence he is trespassing in promoting his junk of counterfeit lies, using the script of God, to administer the darkness, masquerading as if to be light. We need to tell him to get your own fucking word, and promote, your own fucking word, therefore. Again, NO trespassing, sure!

Our Gathering Together unto Christ is Our ONLY Hope of Glory - NOT Death!

 The Father of Lies

Among other things, Jesus Christ came to expose Satan’s methods. Chief among these is the Devil’s consistent contradiction of God’s Word.

John 8:44 (KJV)
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

In John 10:10a (KJV), Jesus clearly revealed Satan’s intentions: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill and to destroy….” Satan’s ultimate goal is to promote death and destruction, as the Bible makes clear.

Hebrews 2:14
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.

The Devil holds the power of death, and one of his most effective aids in exercising this power is the lie that death is in reality the gateway to everlasting life and ultimate wisdom. He first told this lie early in Genesis.
Perhaps you recall that Satan’s first recorded utterance in Scripture was a challenge to the veracity of God’s Word. Satan said, “…Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1 – NIV). This deceptive misquote of God’s revealed Word led to his second utterance, “…Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4 – KJV), which was just the opposite of what God had said to Adam.

Genesis 2:16 and 17 (KJV)
(16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
(17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

God said, “thou shalt surely die.” Satan said, “…Ye shall not surely die.” Scripture makes clear who was telling the truth.

Romans 5:12 (KJV)
Wherefore, as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Death, both spiritual and physical, was the result of man’s believing Satan’s lie. The idea that there is really no such thing as death is still being promoted today, even within the Christian Church. Satan’s purpose has remained the same: to promote the idea that humans do not actually die, but go on living after their death whether they believe God’s Word or not. In this way, he obscures the light of the good news of Christ and his resurrection, one’s only hope of deliverance from death unto everlasting life.

 False Hope

The false doctrine that the dead are alive and already in heaven or hell is so well entrenched in the average Christian’s mind that he has probably never considered its harmful ramifications. Understanding that Satan is the “father” of this lie explains why the consequences of believing it are so serious. The first, and perhaps most serious, consequence of believing this doctrine is that it changes the Christian’s focus from the appearing of the Prince of Life, Jesus Christ, to the coming of one’s own death.

How sad it is to teach God’s people that the hope of a Christian is his own death, and how opposed to God’s perspective that death is an “enemy,” as 1 Corinthians 15:26 (KJV) clearly states: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” Biblically, death is a thief not a benefactor. Death takes away life; it does not give a greater life.
In attempting to preserve the traditions of historic, orthodox Christianity, such teaching that the “dead” are “alive” blatantly contradicts God’s Word and further entrenches the Christian Church in this error. Those who have mistakenly propounded this doctrine have apparently overlooked the many verses plainly stating that the focal point of a Christian’s hope is not his own death, but the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven. For example:

John 14:2 and 3 (KJV)
(2) In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
(3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

1 Thessalonians 2:19 (KJV)
For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?

1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17 (KJV)
(16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
(17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Titus 2:13 (KJV)
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

It is the occasion of Christ’s appearing from heaven that Christians should anticipate as the way of deliverance from the bondage and corruption of death. Jesus Christ is the only gateway to everlasting life and the only means by which believers will have access to God’s presence in Paradise. When Jesus Christ comes again, he will fashion new, glorious bodies for us (Phil. 3:21). Apart from having these new bodies, there is no hope of entrance into the presence of God. Near the end of his life, the Apostle Paul wrote the following about this occasion:

2 Timothy 4:8 (KJV)
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

Shifting the event that triggers our entrance into the presence of God from Christ’s appearing to our own death is nothing short of satanic subterfuge. In the minds of many, Satan has subtly changed the gateway to eternal life from Jesus Christ to death itself. Considering the past actions of God’s archenemy, this clever trick is totally consistent with his methods. The Christian’s hope is not death, but the appearing of Jesus Christ. When he appears, each Christian who is still alive will exchange his mortal body for a glorious immortal body, and each believer who has died will be raised to glorious and everlasting life.

 Who Needs Resurrection?
A second consequence of believing the doctrine that the dead are alive is one that has drastic implications for biblical integrity and harmony. Believing that all the dead are conscious in heaven or hell reduces the great truth of resurrection to virtual insignificance. Death must be true death if resurrection is to be meaningful. If death involves only the body, with the soul and / or consciousness living on, then resurrection has lost at least half its significance.
If all believers have gone into the presence of God at their deaths, the monumental importance of Jesus Christ’s resurrection is negated. If Abraham, David, Job, and others were already in heaven as disembodied souls or spirits, enjoying the presence of God in “eternity,” then our enemy, death, had already been vanquished before Christ’s resurrection and eternal life was available without Christ. In fact, if it were true, as many teach, that Enoch, Elijah, and Moses went to heaven bodily, then Jesus is not even the only human in heaven with a body. Such teaching contradicts the Word of God, confuses sincere Christians, and dilutes their joy of hope.

If a body is not required for life in the “hereafter,” then God is going to a lot of trouble for no apparent reason by “reuniting” everyone with his body. And the physical death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, serving only to allow the disembodied soul or spirit to be united with a body that it obviously can do without, seems to be of little significance.
The teaching that the soul lives on after death destroys the uniqueness of Christian doctrine, that is, that Jesus Christ’s bodily resurrection is prerequisite to anyone being given everlasting life. With so much biblical emphasis on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, any doctrine undermining it is highly suspect.

 That Sounds “Familiar”
A third consequence of believing the doctrine that souls live on after the body dies is that it plays into the hands of those who promote the practice of communicating with the dead. Today, many people, both Christian and non-Christian, attempt to communicate with the spirits of the dead, often in séances or via “channeling.” Such practices are similar to ancestor worship, historically a practice of most non-Christian religions. Pagans believe that the spirits of departed ancestors intervene in their lives, both for good and evil. Thus, as godlike beings, they must be worshiped and entreated. Superstition and fear of the unknown are always hallmarks of such false doctrine.
If there really are “departed souls” or “spirits” that are conscious and have knowledge of eternity or other matters of interest to those of us still earthbound, why not communicate with them? Because they are not there to answer. What will answer are evil spirits (fallen angels currently under Satan’s dominion) impersonating the dead. In the Old Testament, however, God expressly forbade communication with such “familiar spirits.” For example:

Leviticus 19:31 (KJV)
Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 20:6 (KJV)
And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

Deuteronomy 18:10 and 11 (KJV)
(10) There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.
(11) Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.

2 Kings 23:24 (KJV)
Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord.

They are called “familiar spirits” because these evil spirits are familiar with people who have died and can even reproduce their likenesses and personalities as if they were still alive in the realm of the “hereafter.” The judgment of God against Saul, Israel’s first king, which led to his death, was in part caused by his attempt to divine the LORD’s will through a familiar spirit impersonating Samuel (1 Sam. 28:7–9; 1 Chron. 10:13 and 14). It is appalling that the orthodox Christian position cites this record as evidence that the dead can appear and communicate to the living.
Sometimes a familiar spirit will appear to a person who is not actively seeking to contact the dead. Although such experiences are very convincing to those who see what appears to be a dead friend or relative, God’s Word exposes this counterfeit as another satanic attempt to convince people that the dead are actually still alive.
Scripture makes it plain that contacting the dead is a sin forbidden by God. Surely those supposedly living in heaven with God would not sin by initiating or participating in contact with the living.
There is nothing in the New Testament that changes God’s Old Testament prohibition against attempting to communicate with the dead. The reason for this is simple: The dead are unconscious in “gravedom” and cannot communicate with the living. If anything is communicated, it will be from evil spirits attempting to deceive people into accepting that the dead have not “surely died.”

Psalm 116 contains a verse that is often recited at funerals to teach that God is overjoyed because he has killed someone and now has another dead person in heaven with him.

Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

If God killed people and it was God's will for people to die, then why did Jesus Christ not go around killing people? Jesus Christ always did God's will, right? So if it was God's will for people to be sick and die, wouldn't Jesus Christ have carried out that will and gone around making people sick so they would die? If God wanted sick people and God wanted dead people, then who did Jesus Christ think he was going around healing them? Jesus Christ always did his Father's will, so healing people must be God's will. The teaching that God kills people and makes them sick is so unscriptural it is astounding that people can be so blind as to believe it. If God kills people and makes them sick, then why bring the devil into it? What is he doing if God does all the nasty things in life? Quite the contrary, it is the devil who kills people and makes them sick.

Acts 10:38
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

So how do we explain Psalm 116:15? There is nothing to explain. If something is precious, it is valuable, it is costly. A rare diamond is precious because it is extremely costly. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, means costly in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. It costs God when his people die. Our deaths cost him dearly.

There is no good side to the god of this world. At one time Lucifer was full of beauty and wisdom, and was perfect in all his ways, but that has all changed. He has no mercy. He has no compassion. Deceiving folks into believing that God is doing all the nasty things to them when it is the devil himself doing them keeps him hidden and happy. One can readily see why God had the book of Job written first so we would know it was the devil doing all the nasty stuff in life. If we do not know this and believe God makes us sick and kills us, our spiritual integrity is at great risk. The lie that the dead are not dead is pivotal to the god of this world's deceptions. Without this lie, his power to steal, kill, and destroy is greatly diminished.

Another scripture misused in this regards is the translation of Enoch.

Hebrews 11:5
By faith [believing] Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Without getting into a lengthy debate, very simply, this verse does not say Enoch did not die, it says he never saw death. Had God meant Enoch did not die, the verse would read: By faith Enoch was translated that he should not die. The word see in the Greek, is eidon, which means to look at with actual perception with one's eyes. Enoch never saw death, he never saw anyone die. However, he himself died. How do I know? The word says so a few verses later.

Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith [including Enoch], not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

There are a few other scriptures used to teach that the dead are alive and there is a place called purgatory, such as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. A parable is a story, a fiction, a make believe fable to illustrate a point, that's all. There never was any dead rich man in real life living in some burning hell begging for some dude called Lazarus to come quench his thirst. They were merely fictional characters in a parable, a story Jesus Christ made up. Does that require any further explanation? Look, just because Captain Kirk visited some alien world and met Klingons does not mean that Klingons exist. They are make believe, fictional characters that live in a make believe world. Parables were merely stories Jesus Christ made up to illustrate a specific truth. You cannot make a literal doctrine out of a fiction. Well, the vatican does so it can defraud grieving families and take their money.

Regarding spiritualism, if the bible is right, and it is, then the dead people mediums and spiritualists call up in their séances and meetings are not what they purport to be. In real life, folks do actually hear voices of dead people at these séances, and they recognise these voices, so what's the answer?

Jane Fletcher has lost her husband and she is grieving. She is missing him terribly. Someone tells her he's really alive and she could talk to him at a spiritualist's meeting, at a séance. Along she goes and she hears his voice and he tells her things, little secret things it would be impossible for anyone else to know. She rejoices because in her heart she knows her husband is alive and enjoying the afterlife. It brings her comfort and hope for the future. Or so the spiritualists would have us believe. If the dead are dead, who or what was this woman talking to, and how did it know the little intimate secrets she and her husband shared?

The discerning of spirits field is without doubt the largest field of human understanding imaginable. The devil spirit kingdom is breathtakingly immense and diverse, stunningly powerful and unbelievably deceptive. To have any chance of understanding the spiritual depth to life we must take the word of God as our standard for truth and work everything else from that premise. The dead are dead, it is that simple. Whoever or whatever it was that talked to Jane Fletcher, it was not her husband. So what was it?

Devil spirits have jobs to do and the bible teaches us much about it. Some devil spirits work well in politics and power. Some are good at depressing and oppressing folks, driving them to despair and suicide. Others are adept at working in religious circles, deceiving those who seek to know the truth, deafening their ears so they neglect the word, blinding them and leading them into ditches.

Another job spirits have is to watch people. The bible refers to these particular devil spirits as familiar spirits. Their job is to watch people, to become familiar with them. They watch people all their lives from the moment they are born until the moment they die. Then they move onto another person. They do this century after century, building vast archives of knowledge about people. They become familiar with people, which is why they are called in the bible familiar spirits. Incidentally, these are the same devil spirits behind the lie of reincarnation.

Jane Fletcher goes to the spiritualist meeting. The medium asks a few questions. The devil spirits possessing the medium get information. They then find the spirit that is familiar with her dead husband and it is summoned. Jane has a chat with this devil spirit, which is quite capable of impersonating her dead husband's voice through the medium, and it tells her all the little secrets they shared. These spirits can mimic the actual voices of dead people while they speak out through the mediums they possess. It is a puerile trick, but it is effective.

The record of Saul and the witch of Endor is another scriptural record used to teach that the dead are alive. However, the bible doesn't teach that the dead are alive, it teaches that the dead are dead. So who was Saul talking to at that séance with the witch of Endor? The bible doesn't say it was Samuel, the bible says that Saul perceived it to be Samuel.

1 Samuel 28:7,12-14 Then said Saul unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and enquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor.

And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

It wasn't Samuel because Samuel was dead, it was a devil spirit impersonating him. Unlike David, Saul obviously didn't get up early to study his bible every morning or he would have known this. Consequently he had a head full of spiritualistic horseshit which led to his death.

The whole realm of witchcraft and spiritualism is built upon the lie that the dead are not dead, that they are alive. But why? Why would devil spirits go to such lengths? Whatever their motives are, it is to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Was this lie effective against Eve? Oh yes, do not underestimate its power.

To further illustrate, two young women once explained how they went to a spiritualist meeting in the Philippines. Over 70 people attended this meeting. The medium's particular emphasis that day was faith healing. Everyone was there to get healing. However, the medium refused to minister to these two women. Everyone else was ministered to and they were all healed. The two women left, without being healed. Later, they learned about spiritualism from the biblical perspective. Out of curiosity, they tracked down every person who had been ministered to at that meeting in the Philippines and were stunned to discover that every single one of them was dead, just like Saul. This is a true story. Little children, keep yourselves from idols, keep yourselves from tarot cards, fortune tellers, hypnosis, magic, horoscopes, psychics, witches and all the rest of the devil's horseshit for it will take your life.

Witchcraft is a spiritual trap, a snare, a baited hook dangled to take your life. The bible has to be our only standard for truth if we are to live powerful, abundant lives. Once we are redeemed from the power of the god of this world, he no longer has jurisdiction over us. We can learn to walk in power and deliver people from his deceptions and cruelty.

1 John 4:4
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Just as with the trinity, the teaching that the dead are alive entrenches vatican doctrine, as well as all other religions, clearly within the realms of paganism and witchcraft. Their doctrine is unscriptural, their beliefs pagan. The jesuits may cloak themselves in religious robes and claim they know what is best for the world, but in truth, they serve their god Lucifer. Rather than bringing us peace on earth, they are destroying it on behalf of their god. The end justifies the means only when it is the god of this world issuing the orders. So the next time you hear the pope praying for world peace, smile warmly as you realise that what he is really praying for is your extermination.

If this all seems a little overpowering, remember that light dispels darkness. Switch on a light and there is no darkness. Darkness cannot exist in light. It is that easy to dispel darkness. How you turn on spiritual light in your life begins with opening your bible and reading. Or is television or something else more important to you? Whether you live in darkness or whether you live in light is a choice you make.

Death: Friend or Foe?

A fourth consequence of believing the doctrine of immediate entrance into heaven at death, and the corollary teaching that death is God’s will, is that it may subtly undermine a Christian’s will to live by causing him to accept death as a “friend.” But God’s Word is clear:

1 Corinthians 15:26 (KJV)
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

If a person is persuaded that death is a “friend” that will introduce him to the glories of eternity, he may adopt a cavalier attitude toward his own death. Satan can then wield the power of death more easily, manipulating the untimely death of his victims by fatal disease, murder, suicide, or accident.
Why should a Christian aggressively cling to life on earth and endeavor to live it to the fullest when a much brighter and higher existence awaits him with God “on the other side”? Does this teaching motivate a Christian to behave in a manner that will cause him to prolong, preserve, and enjoy his earthly existence and service to God? To the contrary, one’s belief in an immediate afterlife might even cause him to hasten his own death. In fact, history contains a great many records of Christians who have committed suicide so that they could “be with Jesus.” Tragically, they have often taken others with them to the grave by murdering them first.
One effect of this false doctrine may possibly be seen in the context of a serious illness. It is generally understood that an individual with a strong will to live is more likely to survive a life-threatening illness. How ironic that Christian believers who have access to God’s miraculous, supernatural power for deliverance often negate it by a truncated will to live based on their misunderstanding of the true nature of death. Unbelievers who think that this life is all there is can too often muster more of the innate and God-given instinct for survival than does a child of God. Does it glorify God that His people should have less desire than unbelievers to live as long as they can on earth? Does this help win the lost and persuade them of the benefits of following the way of Jesus Christ?
In the same vein, many Christians are very fatalistic about the moment of their deaths. Perhaps to deal with the fear of death, they assume the Lord already has the day picked. When their “number is up,” they will die regardless of their behavior, thoughts, or even prayers. They think that God alone determines the day of their death when He is ready.
There is, however, no biblical justification for the idea that the day of one’s death is “set in stone.” Rather, the Bible is replete with examples of men and women shortening or prolonging their lives by the way they lived—for example, Saul (1 Chron. 10:13) and Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:1–6).
Although believing that God determines the day of one’s death may seem comforting to a misguided believer in, say, an airplane bouncing through turbulence, it actually may work against him. In a critical situation, intense prayer and supplication would be much more beneficial than passively waiting to see what God’s will is. It is obvious that our own choices go a long way toward determining what kind of life we live and for how long. Thinking fatalistically, one is probably less likely to do those things that make for a long and healthy life.
If it were true that it is God who determines one’s appointed time to die, then death would be a friend and God would be its cause. Neither is true. God’s will for man is a long, healthy, and prosperous life as a testimony to His love and goodness (Prov. 4:10, 9:11; Eph. 6:3). Jesus said that he always did the Father’s will (John 4:34, 5:30, 6:38, 17:4), and he healed all who came to him in faith (Matt. 4:23, 8:16, 9:35; Luke 9:11).

Of course, most Christians who teach that God kills His people seldom say it that way. They usually say, of a Christian who has died, that God “called him home.” What an incredible euphemism! Think about it. “Home.” What visions the word carries with it: a hot meal, a warm bed, a loving family. But what are people really saying about a saint who has died when they sweetly say that God “called him home”? They’re saying that God, Who is love, light, and goodness, ran him down with a bus, ate out his insides with cancer, or had him beaten to death in an alley. Repulsive? Yes, death is just that.

The Word of God clearly states that God is “good” (Mark 10:18) and that death is an “enemy” to His people (1 Cor. 15:26). God tells us also that it is the Devil who holds the power of death (Heb. 2:14) and that the Devil was a “murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).
It should be noted here that although death is of the Devil, this does not mean that a Christian who dies is “bad” or “out of fellowship” or “possessed.” Because of the fall of Adam, physical death is the inevitable end of life for each person unless he is still alive when Christ again appears.
If the Church fails to change its wholly untenable biblical position that the “dead” are actually “alive,” it will unwittingly continue to play into the hands of spiritualists, adherents of Eastern mysticism, and the proponents of the rapidly growing New Age movement, who deny both the significance of Christ’s resurrection and the unique opportunity for everlasting life through faith in his name. It will also continue to offer people a weak and false hope based on paganism rather than the comforting and satisfying truth of God’s Word.

How Will Believers Be Present With The Lord?

The Church and Israel are two distinct groups with whom God has a divine plan. The church is a mystery, unrevealed in the Old Testament. This present mystery age intervenes within the program of God for Israel because of Israel’s rejection of the Messiah at His first advent. This mystery program must be completed before God can resume His program with Israel and bring it to completion. These considerations all arise from the literal method of interpretation. Other rapture views deny or weaken the dispensational distinction by placing the Church in the Tribulation which is otherwise noted as “the time of Jacob’s trouble [the Tribulation].”
I Thessalonians Paul’s first epistle to the Thessalonians has much to say about the issue at hand. The most popular passage, of course, is found in I Thessalonians 4:13-18. The event described here includes a return of Christ in the air (not to the earth as the Second Coming is described in Zechariah 14:1-5 and Revelation 19:11-21), a resurrection of the dead in Christ, a rapture of living believers, and a reunion with those who have died in Christ. Paul penned these verses in order to clarify a misunderstanding that the Thessalonians embraced concerning the relationship between the resurrection and the saints who were asleep in Christ to the rapture. The question is this: Does the death of a believer before the Lord comes cause him to lose all hope of sharing in the glorious reign of Christ? Paul’s answer is a reassuring affirmation that the living at the time of the rapture have no advantage over those believers who have died. Those who sleep will be raised to reign with those who remain. Both groups will share in the kingdom. If Paul and the Thessalonians were speaking of a rapture at the end of the Tribulation, it seems illogical that they would sorrow over believers who were fortunate enough to die and miss the horrible judgments that await these last years.

Paul anticipated, “to be absent from the body and present with the Lord.”? 2Cor 5:8. Does this say that to be absent from the body is to be immediately with the Lord? No. The time between death and the out-resurrection will seem, to those who die, to pass in an instant. For this reason Paul could covet death knowing that from his perspective the next thing He would know is being with Christ. In the context Paul speaks of three states: 1. Clothed in the body 2. Unclothed 3. Clothed with our Heavenly body. Paul did not want to be “unclothed” (dead) but clothed in the Heavenly body. When will we be clothed in our immortal body? Paul taught “that this mortal will “PUT ON (be clothed with) immortality” when the dead rise at the Second Coming (1Cor 51-55). How do the dead in Christ get to be present with the Lord? By the out-resurrection (1Thess 16-17). Indeed, the Apostle Paul was anticipating the return of Christ in his lifetime, as do we now. Now:
The rapture, which is pre-trib, is not technically a resurrection, for all, in the group, born again believers, are not dead, as some remain alive, therefore the word of God refers to this as an out-resurrection, as only some are resurrected, of that group! no rapture/gathering together mentioned in O.T./ Gospels/ Revelation, sure:
THE GENEVA BIBLE AND SIX PRIOR BIBLES BEFORE KING JAMES USED THE WORD " A DEPARTING" OR "DEPARTURE" INSTEAD OF A "FALLING AWAY" IN 2 THESSALONIANS 2:3.
Greek - "he apostasia" means THE Departure - from the circumference of a circle, directed outward, away from the circle.
NOTE "A DEPARTING"COMES FIRST, "AND THAT THAT MAN OF SIN WILL BE DISCLOSED". DON'T FORGET IT ALSO SAYS “NOW YOU KNOW WHAT WITH HOLDITH" AND "HE WHO LETS SHALL LET TILL HE BE TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY." WHAT OR WHO DO YOU BELIEVE WILL BE TAKEN OUT OF THE WAY? IT MAKES ALSO MAKES NO SENSE THAT PAUL WOULD TELL A VERY NEW AND SMALL CHURCH IN THESSALONIA, THAT A SIGN OF BEGINNING OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION WOULD BE A FALLING AWAY FROM THE CHURCH WHEN THEY DIDN'T EVEN HAVE MANY CHRISTIANS THERE TO FALL AWAY. ALSO HE WAS REFERRING TO SOMETHING HE HAD TOLD THEM ABOUT BEFORE. WHAT HAD HE PREVIOUSLY TOLD THEM? 1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 1Th 4:18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words. IT SOUNDS MORE LIKE HE TOLD THEM ABOUT “A DEPARTING OR DEPARTURE” THEN A FALLING AWAY. AS A MATTER OF FACT PAUL DID NOT DESCRIBE “A GREAT FALLING AWAY” AT ALL AND ACTUALLY SAID IN 1TIMOTHY 4:1 THAT ONLY “SOME SHALL DEPART FROM THE FAITH” 1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; SO ALTHOUGH HE BELIEVED EVEN THEN, THE TIMES WERE EVIL, HE DID NOT EXPECT A GREAT FALLING AWAY OF BELIEVERS BUT THAT THE EVIL WOULD GET WORSE. 2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. AND TO THE CORINTHIANS PAUL SAID THIS: 1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
OTHER TRANSLATIONS THAT USED DEPARTING OR DEPARTURE. The first seven English translations of apostasia all rendered the noun as either " departure" or " departing." They are: the Wycliffe Bible (1384); Tyndale Bible (1526); Coverdale Bible (1535); Cranmer Bible (1539); Breeches Bible (1576); Beza Bible (1583); Geneva Bible (1608).
Bible study to bless the saints of the "Body of Christ".
Be sure to look at all of the verses in this study.
The Body of Christ will not go through Israel’s tribulation. To begin with, Israel and the Body of Christ are not the same. Neither are God’s plans for them. God’s plan for Israel concerns Christ returning to earth in a spectacular event called the Revelation – to inaugurate His Kingdom in Jerusalem (Matt. 24-25; Rev. 19-20. This plan was “spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21; see Luke 1:70). God’s plan for the Body of Christ is completely different. It concerns our heavenly inheritance, not an earthly kingdom. Jesus revealed this program to Paul only as a mystery “kept secret since the world began” (Rom. 16:25; see Eph. 3:3-9). In that it began as a mystery, it will likewise disappear in a mystery called the Rapture; an any moment event whereby Jesus returns for us in the air (1 Thess. 4:16-17), snatches us from earth, and takes us back to Heaven with Him as He promised (John 14:2-3) – when “the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Rom. 11:25). Then comes “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7; see Dan. 12:1; Zeph. 1:15) – aka tribulation. The tribulation - as it is most commonly known (Moses: Deut. 4:30; Jesus: Matt. 24:21, 29; John: Rev. 7:14) - is part of God’s earthly program for Israel. It is also called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1; Zeph. 1:15), Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Dan. 9:26-27), and “the hour of temptation” (Rev. 3:10. It has no bearing on the mystery Body of Christ, which will be gone before it begins. From the beginning it was prophesied to Israel (Deut. 4:30), and thus is primarily for Israel (Jer. 30-31; Dan. 12:1, Zeph. 1:15; Matt. 24:21, 29). Its purpose is to punish sin and sinners (Jer. 30-31; Zeph. 1; Joel; Rev. 6-19), and prepare earth and Israel for the Revelation of the Messiah and the Jewish (Millennial) Kingdom promised to David in perpetuity through Covenant (2 Sam. 7:8-16), and sealed with an oath (Psa. 89:3-4, 20-37; see Luke 1:31-33). While the prophets revealed the tribulation as a horrific but integral component in the Day of the Lord (Isa. 2:12, etc ), it was Daniel’s prophecy where its duration was revealed as the final week of seven years in his seventy week prophecy for Israel (Dan. 9:24-27; see Rev. 11:2-3; 12:14). To wit, while we can easily find Israel and the anti-Semitic Gentile nations on earth during “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1; Zeph. 1:15), the heavenly Body of Christ - which has been promised deliverance from this divine punishment (1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9; 2 Thess. 2:5-7;) - is conspicuously absent (Rev. 2-19). There isn’t a prophecy or a single verse anywhere in the Bible conclusively identifying the Body of Christ on earth during Israel’s tribulation without pulling from context and redefining the words “saints” and “elect” - which in Daniel, the Olivet Discourse, and Revelation specifically refer to Israel. In lieu of these factors and others we are convinced that the Body of Christ will not go through Israel’s tribulation!
 We know that death still has a sting, that the corruptible has not yet put on incorruption and that the mortal has not yet put on immortality.  But we also know that our enemy death will be destroyed and that the dead in Christ shall rise and we who are alive shall be changed and that we will meet  our lord in the air and forever be with him.  What a glorious day that will be!

Death; Life; Resurrection & Rapture(our gathering together unto him).

The Dead Will Get Up at the Rapture or 
One of the Resurrections

When a person dies, he goes to Sheol (the grave; the state of death) and returns to dust. Therefore, the Bible rightly directs our attention to the Rapture or resurrection, which is when people will be raised to life.

Job 19:25–27 (ESV)
(25) For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
(26) And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,
(27) whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

Job was excited about seeing God when he was in his new body, which would happen at the resurrection. He never spoke of being with God when he died.

Ezekiel 37:12–14 (ESV)
(12) Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.
(13) And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.
(14) And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

Speaking of those Old Testament Jews who believed, these verses are loaded with truth. Chief among that truth is that the people would know the Lord was God when He opened their graves and raised them up. If people’s “immortal souls” went to heaven when they died, that would be the time they knew the Lord was God, not much later when their bodies were raised.

Matthew 22:23–32 (ESV)
(23) The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question,
(24) saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’
(25) Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother.
(26) So too the second and third, down to the seventh.
(27) After them all, the woman died.
(28) In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”
(29) But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
(30) For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
(31) And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:
(32) ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

This powerful section of Scripture is also recorded in Mark 12:18–27 and Luke 20:27–38. The Sadducees did not believe in any form of life after death. They rightly understood Jesus’ message that the dead would get up “in the resurrection” so they asked whose wife the woman would be at that time. If Jesus believed that after a person died his soul lived on, this was the perfect place to say that one’s soul or spirit did not marry in heaven. Instead, because he knew dead people are dead until the resurrection, he said “in the resurrection” people will not marry.

Luke 14:14 (ESV)
and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

If people went right to heaven or “hell” when they died, they would be repaid for their actions immediately after death. We are repaid after we rise from the dead, which is what Jesus taught.

John 11:21-26 (ESV)
(21) Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
(22) But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
(23) Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
(24) Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
(25) Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
(26) and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Even if Martha believed her brother was alive in a good place but still wanted him to be with her, she would have said she wanted him back from heaven. Instead, she clearly indicated she believed her brother was dead and would only live again “in the resurrection.”
The Bible has many accounts of people being raised from the dead. At no time did Elisha, Jesus, Peter, or Paul pray to God before raising the person to see if they would be willing to leave heaven and return to this fallen world where they would only have to die again someday. Furthermore, if the people who had died were in heaven, it certainly seems that they would have had something to say about what heaven was like when they returned. Even if they promised God they would not talk about heaven, it seems that someone would have asked them about it.

John 14:3 (ESV)
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

Jesus told his disciples they would be with him when he came again not when they died.

Acts 4:1 and 2 (ESV)
(1) And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,
(2) greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

The Apostles were not teaching that people went to be with Jesus when they died. If they had been, that is what the religious leaders would have been upset about. Instead, the Apostles were teaching the resurrection from the dead. Other verses confirm that the Apostles taught the resurrection (Acts 17:18 and 32, 24:15).

1 Corinthians 15:42, 51b and 52 (ESV)
(42) So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.
(51b) …We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
(52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

It is very important to note that every believer is “raised imperishable” at the same time: “the last trumpet.” We do not have an imperishable immortal soul that lives with Jesus after we die. We become “imperishable” only when we are raised from the dead.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–17 (ESV)
(13) But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
(14) For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
(15) For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
(16) For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
(17) Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

If Paul wanted Christians not to grieve and knew that when people died their soul or spirit went to be with God, he would have said so here in order to help comfort people. Instead, he tells us that all the dead in Christ will rise at the Rapture when the Lord comes and comforts us by letting us know that even when a person dies he will rise again.

Titus 2:13 (ESV)
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

Our hope is the coming of the Lord because that is when the dead are raised and can be with Jesus.

Revelation 20:4 and 5 (ESV)
(4) Then I saw…the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus…. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
(5) The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.

These verses separate the people who come to life in the first resurrection from those who do not. The souls of the righteous, meaning righteous people, come to life after the Battle of Armageddon (Rev. 19:11–21) and reign with Christ.

Revelation 20:11–13 (ESV)
(11) Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. (12) And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
(13) And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades [the grave] gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

These verses depict the Resurrection of the Unjust (Acts 24:15 – ESV), also called the Resurrection of Judgment (John 5:29 – ESV), and the Judgment that follows immediately afterward. At this future time, all the unjust people will get up and be judged. The souls of the wicked are not judged and thrown into Gehenna when the person dies.

Acts 2:29–32 and 34 (ESV)
(29) “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
(30) Being therefore a prophet…
(31) he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
(32) This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.
(34) For David did not ascend into the heavens…

If David was in heaven, Peter should have said so. Instead, Peter said just the opposite, that David “…did not ascend into the heavens….” His point was not that Jesus was in heaven with a body and David was in heaven without one. His point was that David was dead and Jesus was not.

It is PAID for, so - Get Over It!

Get Over it!

Jesus Christ took care of everything we've ever done wrong in the past, and most folks are okay with that once they realise just how much it cost God and how much it cost Jesus Christ to accomplish it. However, folks often struggle to comprehend that Jesus Christ not only paid for the sins we've done in the past, but he also fully paid for all the sins we've not even committed yet.

Colossians 2:13,14 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Jesus Christ died for us, and we are righteous because of what he did, not because of anything we've ever done or ever will do. We didn't earn the gift of holy spirit, it was something God wanted us to have and it was his good pleasure to give it. The price he paid was his only son.

This was all done by God's mercy and grace, because he loved us and it was his good pleasure to do it for us. Does it follow then that he did it so he could beat us up all the time and make us sick? That garbage is certainly spouted from pulpits all over the world, but it is not the truth. God may not go to church or hang out in any religion, but devil spirits surely do.

We are righteous and we are justified, there is nothing of which we are guilty. God took all my sins, placed them on Jesus Christ, and he took them to the grave with him. He died in my place. If all my sins were put on Jesus Christ and died with him, are they any longer on me? No, they are not, and that's why I have the righteousness of God.

Romans 3:22Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

At the moment we are born again, everything stacked against us, all the sins we've ever done are washed away. God didn't just take those old sins of ours and lock them away in a closet, or brush them under the carpet out of view, they just no longer exist. All of our sins literally died with Jesus Christ and they are gone forever. That is why God isn't looking for fault so he can punish us. This is illustrated succinctly in Psalm 103.

Psalm 103:8-10 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Listen to how kind the language is here. The point is, God isn't mad at us. Verse 10 has an amazing figure of speech in it - it contains two sentences that say exactly the same thing in two different ways. God said the same thing twice to emphasise and to establish the point that he does not deal with us after our sins nor reward us according to our iniquities. So he can't be watching us with a critical eye so he can whack us over the head then, can he?

The god who looks for any reason to whack us is better known as the devil, the god of this world, Lucifer, and it is he who controls all world religion. A temple is a place where men go to worship. If God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands, who then are folks worshipping when they go to church if it isn't God? Any religion, church, organisation, or ministry that is controlled by central governing bodies of men is a temple made with hands, it is a broken cistern constructed by men. Psalm 103 continues.

Psalm 103:11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear [respect, reverence] him.

How high is the heaven above the earth? How high is the universe? Have you ever tried to fathom the depth of the universe? The distances involved are so staggering they are beyond human comprehension. That's how great God's mercy is to us. It is staggering, beyond human comprehension. Mercy is the withholding of merited judgement. In other words, we deserved punishment but God withheld it. God does not want to beat us up for our sins. His mercy is staggering, beyond human comprehension.

Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Interesting that this verse says east and west and not north and south. If you go far enough north and cross the pole, you will start going south. If you continue south and cross the other pole, you will start going north again. Unlike north and south, east and west never meet. It is a physical impossibility for east and west to meet. You are either going east or you are going west. If you are going east, you are travelling away from west. If you stop and go west, you are now heading away from east. There is infinity between them. That is how far we have been removed from all the sin, all the mistakes and bad things we've ever done. You see, it isn't that God simply hides his eyes from our sins and pretends not to see them, they really do not exist anymore. Jesus Christ was the price it cost to get rid of them for us. We have been freed from sin and the power of death. Yes, that even includes you if you're a jesuit and you read this class and get born again. God's mercy is staggering.

To clarify and illuminate this point, let's examine how God dealt with sin in the old testament. One way of dealing with sin back then was with animal sacrifices. The animals were sacrificed and their blood made atonement for Israel's sin. Before we go any further, however, let's make it clear that animal sacrifice was not God's idea, it was man's idea.

Jeremiah 7:22For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:

See, God commanded nothing regarding killing animals as sacrifices. It wasn't in his heart, it wasn't something he wanted. He spoke nothing about sacrificing animals. The next verse tells us what God wanted.

Jeremiah 7:23But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

Rather than animal sacrifices, God wanted his people to simply live in fellowship with him and enjoy a good life.

Jeremiah 7:24But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

You see, rather than obey God, the Israelites wanted animal sacrifices, just like all the devil worshipping heathen around them. They wanted to stick knives in animals and spurt blood everywhere, just like the pagans and druids they lived among. They wanted to be like everyone else. God therefore had no choice but to put up with their garbage, and because they insisted on killing animals he was forced to give them a few guidelines on how best to go about it. Listen to Samuel's words when he confronted Saul.

1 Samuel 15:22And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Solomon put animal sacrifice into its proper context in Proverbs.

Proverbs 21:2,3Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.

To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

The point is, sacrificing animals was not God's idea. Sacrificing animals was merely a symbolic gesture as he endured man's stubborn, evil ways. Talk about patience, grace, and mercy?

You can see this same human demand for bullshit when Israel demanded Samuel find them a king. They wanted a king like all the other nations, so they bitched to Samuel about not having one and told him to sort it out. Samuel was not amused, and neither was God. The Jones syndrome goes back a long way.

1 Samuel 8:4-9,22Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

Was it God's idea to give them a king? No, it wasn't. Whose idea was it? It was man's idea. God warned them about the nature of their king, but they refused to listen and demanded God give them a king. So God gave them one.

Was it God's idea to have animal sacrifices in the old testament? No, it wasn't. Whose idea was it? It was man's idea. Man wanted to stick knives in animals to ease his guilt, and demanded God accept these sacrifices. That's why animal sacrifices became a way of life in the old testament. It wasn't because God wanted it, but because people wanted it. God then later used these sacrifices as illustrations to teach us about the Lord Jesus Christ, who was sacrificed to redeem us from death.

Hebrews 9:11,12 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building;

Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Our redemption wasn't bought by the blood of animals. It was Jesus Christ's own blood that paid the price. He died in our place and it was his death that paid for the sin problem for all mankind. The root problem has now been dealt with. There is no longer a sin problem. It's dealt with. We are righteous now, we have the righteousness of God.

Hebrews 9:13,14 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

In the old testament, animals dealt with Israel's sin problem, but it was only symbolic, a stop gap measure that only temporarily put a lid on the garbage bin. What Hebrews is saying is, that if a few scabby animal sacrifices can symbolically deal with sin, what about the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ? How much greater a sacrifice was he compared to an animal? How much better a job did he do?

Hebrews 9:25 Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;

In the old testament they had to sacrifice animals every year. They sinned, they sacrificed animals, they were clean again, they sinned, they sacrificed animals, they were clean again - it went on and on and on. The point is, sacrificing animals was not a permanent solution to the sin problem. However, Jesus Christ was. See the difference here? Jesus Christ didn't keep offering himself periodically as a sacrifice, over and over and over again, he did it once, and that obtained eternal redemption for us.

Hebrews 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

His sacrifice took care of the sin problem once and for all.

Hebrews 9:27,28 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

His sacrifice took care of the sin problem because he was a perfect sacrifice. That's why we are righteous now. Not because of our own works but because of what was done on our behalf. The blood of animals was just a temporary measure, a symbolic gesture God was forced to endure because man demanded it.

Now that Jesus Christ has dealt with the sin problem permanently, there is no more need for sacrifices, animal or otherwise. The problem has been dealt with.

Hebrews 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

The law and the sacrifices could not make people perfect. They just couldn't. They simply could not take care of the sin and death problem that Adam and Eve's disobedience introduced.

Hebrews 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

If old testament sacrifices of animals made people perfect, wouldn't they then have stopped sacrificing animals because it was no longer required? See the logic here? But animal sacrifices didn't make people perfect, which is why they kept sacrificing more animals to alleviate their guilt.

Hebrews 10:3,4 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

It just was not possible to deal with the sin problem by sacrificing animals. It was a man who caused the problem in the first place and it would take a man to solve it. Someone had to pay the price for Adam's disobedience, and that someone was Jesus Christ. However, in contrast to the death of animals, Jesus Christ's death did a perfect job.

Hebrews 10:12,14-17 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

Whereof the Holy Ghost [pneuma hagion - holy spirit] also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

God will remember our iniquities no more because they no longer exist. That's why when God forgives, he forgets and never brings it up again. There is nothing to remember because there is nothing there. It's as far away as the east is from the west.

Hebrews 10:18 Now where remission [aphesis] of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Remission and forgiveness are from compound words meaning simply to send away. Aphesis is from apōtheomai, apo, away from, and ōtheō or ōthō, to shove. So apōtheomai means to push off, figuratively to reject: to cast away, to put away from, to thrust away from. This is the background of aphesis and another closely related word which is also translated forgiveness at times, aphiēmi. Now that sin has been sent away, dismissed, thrust away, there is no more need for animal or human sacrifices because there is no longer a sin problem. We are righteous because of the sacrifice that was made on our behalf by Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

The holiest refers to the inner sanctuary of the temple, the holy of holies as it was called. That was where God dwelt, where he lived among his people before the day of Pentecost. God no longer dwells, he no longer lives, he no longer resides in temples made with hands, or any place of worship which is constructed, governed and controlled by men. Since the day of Pentecost we now have direct access to God through the gift of holy spirit. We can go directly to God anytime we wish and request an audience. Not only that, but he will grant us that audience every time. Our father has time for his children.

Hebrews 10:20-22 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 [pistis - believing], having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

The sin problem no longer exists. We are sanctified, set apart because we are redeemed, because we are justified, and because we are righteous. God has forgiven us and there is nothing of which we are guilty. We are holy and without blame before him in love.

Okay, so how come my mind doesn't always agree with that? How come my mind continually reminds me of all the terrible things I've done? How come my heart seems to enjoy condemning me and making me feel guilty? This is the guts of the whole thing - it's called the renewed mind. We have to train our minds to think what the word says, and that's damned hard work at times. We have to decide between our feelings or what the word says. It's a choice we make to believe one way or the other.

Accepting forgiveness when we don't deserve it seems to be difficult for earthlings. God understands this and so did Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus Christ once told a story to help us understand forgiveness. It's wrongly known as the parable of the prodigal son. The point of the parable isn't the attitude of the son, but the forgiveness of his father.

Luke 15:1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.

Jesus Christ did not have a problem with people. He was quite happy teaching the word to publicans and sinners, so God must have been quite happy with that too as Jesus Christ always did his Father's will. Unfortunately, the religious church leaders didn't approve of this. Much the same today isn't it? Why aren't the jesuits out lovingly preaching their gospel to publicans and sinners instead of continually coming up with new ways to exterminate them? Well, I guess you know the answer to that by now.

Luke 15:2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.

Oh, how awful. Jesus was eating with bad people. Notice these religious pricks didn't take this up with Jesus either, but muttered behind his back.

Luke 15:3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,

Remember, Jesus had been accused of eating with sinners as if it were a crime, so the people he was eating with would have been hurt by these unjust and cruel words from the mouths of the jesuits of that day. Those people were there to hear God's word, and the devil used those religious creatures to try to prevent the word from being taught. Jesus Christ had to deal with this, so this parable although spoken to the scribes and Pharisees was not for their benefit, but for the people with him. He told this story to illustrate that God didn't have a problem forgiving people, regardless of their past. He told this story to counteract the cruel words of the religious leaders who did not want God's people to hear the truth. You will not find God in temples made with hands.

Luke 15:11,12 And he said, A certain man had two sons:

And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.

The son asked for his share of the inheritance which was legally and rightfully his. The parable also says that the father divided unto them his living. In other words, he gave both his sons their inheritance.

Luke 15:13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

Most of us know what riotous living is. I wasted quite a few years of my life in riotous living, so this parable computes for me.

Luke 15:14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

His money ran out, as it does when you live riotously. If you've never been hungry, this probably won't hit your heart as poignantly as someone who has been in great need. Unless people come back to God's word again, they're going to find out what great need is pretty soon.

Luke 15:15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

The worst job in the world to an Israelite was feeding pigs. Swineherds were not paid, and they had to eat the swill fed to the pigs to keep themselves alive. This son's situation had changed somewhat.

Luke 15:16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

Makes you wonder where all his friends went, doesn't it? Where were all the friends who helped him drink away his inheritance? Where were all his mates now that he was eating swill with the pigs? Probably going to church every week, listening to the scribes and pharisees spout their bullshit about sinners, or going to secret masonic meetings to discuss how best to package pig swill and put it on supermarket shelves to make more money. I'm not cynical, this is how the world works, this is what is going on.

Luke 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

The pig swill wasn't even sufficient to keep him alive.

Luke 15:18,19 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

So he made the decision to go home. Not sure what he might have expected, but he had nowhere else to go except to face death.

Luke 15:20-22 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

Signet rings were used to stamp wax seals. The ring meant he could buy stuff and use the signet ring like we use a credit card. Did his father tell him to fuck off? No, God isn't mad at us for what we've done in the past, that's the point of this parable. God's mercy is staggering.

Luke 15:23,24 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

When we are born again and receive the gift of holy spirit, our past life is dealt with. Everything we've done wrong is gone - we have a clean sheet, a fresh start in life because we receive the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ paid the price so we could have the righteousness of God. God does not have a problem with anyone's past, regardless of what they've done.

Okay, we've pretty much established that we are righteous when we receive the gift of holy spirit, but what about all the sins we do after that point? Sure, I've been forgiven for my past, I'm born again, I have the righteousness of God, so I go out and get drunk. What now? Understanding this difference is to understand the difference between our standing and our state.

Our standing in the household of God is one of a son or daughter, as children, and that never fluctuates. We have eternal life. Always remember, you cannot corrupt the gift of holy spirit. You can sure mess up your life in the body and soul category, but you can't corrupt the gift of holy spirit. It is eternal life, and even if you get drunk, that spirit is still incorruptible, you still have the righteousness of God. That's why we must renew our minds. What use is it having the righteousness of God if we're out getting drunk all the time? Unless we renew our minds and live the word, we won't ever be able to enjoy the benefits of the gift of holy spirit because the renewed mind is the key to power. However, regardless of whether or not we renew our minds, we still have the righteousness of God, we still have the gift of holy spirit, we are still God's children.

Our state, however, is dependent on enjoying fellowship with God. Although we are his children, it doesn't necessarily follow that we are going to walk by the spirit and enjoy his company. Jesus Christ redeemed us, yes, and when we confess Jesus as lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, from that moment on we have eternal life. But what if we don't renew our minds? What if we just continue living riotously? What if we ignore the bible and keep our minds in the world's television? Will your life benefit from the promises in God's word? No, your life will not change at all because you will still be grunting in the world's pig swill. Why? It's not God's fault. It's up to you to renew your mind and turn on the power. God made the gift of holy spirit available, and he gave us his word to teach us how to manifest it. Now it's up to us to learn that word, renew our minds and use it to turn on the spiritual power. That's what makes the difference in life. It isn't religious ceremony or ritual, it isn't going to church every week, it isn't about how much money you give to charities, it isn't about how wide your inane smiles are, it's about turning on the power.

Now let's take this a step further. Let's assume we are renewing our minds, that we are learning God's word, and that we are doing our best to live it. Guess what, you're still going to mess up from time to time. You're still going to make mistakes on a regular basis. When our children grow up, are they perfect? No, of course not - every parent knows that - but do parents expect their children to be perfect? Hardly. Well, God is a parent, and just like any parent, he knows his children are going to break his word from time to time. That's just life. Jesus Christ was perfect, that's why he was the perfect sacrifice, that's why he was able to redeem us, but we're not perfect. We're perfect spiritually, yes, but we still have an old man to contend with that we must put off. This is a process, not a one time event. Just as parents love their children despite all their mistakes, so God loves his children, despite all their mistakes.

Psalm 103:8,10,13 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

This word pity as used in the King James is one of those words that means something different today than it did in 1611 when it was written. Fathers today don't pity their children, they care for them and love them, understanding their frailties. That's what the word pity meant when it was written all those centuries ago. A similar fact is relevant with the word fear. In 1611, the word fear in this context meant awe, reverence and respect.

Forgiveness has always been available. Even Adam and Eve were forgiven and went on to live productive lives, albeit without that spirit that had been created within them. Forgiveness has always been available, and the word must be understood in that light. It doesn't matter to God where a person has been, or what they've done in the past, he's only interested in where they are now and where they want to be tomorrow. Religious people, like those pharisees and scribes, are cold and hard, self seeking and self righteous, turning people away from the truth. They are vipers and scorpions, whited sepulchres full of dead men's bones. Do not expect to find God in temples made with hands filled with those creatures.

Eternal life is a free gift, but continuing in fellowship with God after that point is dependant on our walk. That's what determines our state. Our standing is as children, and that will never change, but our state fluctuates. Regardless of our state, we will always still have the righteousness of God.

The key to power is the renewed mind. If I don't know I'm righteous, and I mess up, feel guilty and run out and get drunk, I'm going to suffer consequences because I'm missing the mark. I'm still righteous, but I won't enjoy the benefits of that righteousness, and my fellowship with God will suffer dramatically. However, if instead of running out to get drunk when I mess up, I go to God's word, read about my sonship rights, read about how Jesus Christ paid for that mistake I just made, and decide to renew my mind and get over it and move on in life, now I'm starting to get somewhere spiritually. That's why the renewed mind is the key to power. It isn't about being faultless, it's about keeping God's word in our minds despite our old man nature. It isn't about how few times we fall down, it's about how quickly we get up again after we fall. A faithful man isn't someone who only falls down once a year but stays down for weeks in condemnation, it's someone who falls down many times every week but who jumps right back up again and carries on knowing he has the righteousness of God. We put the old man off by renewing our minds, and put on the new man by turning on the power in the gift of holy spirit.

Psalm 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

Sonship is our standing as children of God, but fellowship is our state, our personal relationship with him. We can be children of God, but not be in fellowship with him. That doesn't mean God doesn't love us, it means we're out swilling it with the pigs. To get back in fellowship, we have to decide to leave the world's troughs and return to God. The devil doesn't want that though, which is why he uses masons to dress up his pig swill in such attractive packaging. The masons get lots of money out of it while the rest of us suffer.

2 Corinthians 4:4In 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.

1 John 2:15-17Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

1 John 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

Revelation 12:9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Although we're perfect spiritually, God doesn't expect us to be perfect physically. He knows our human capabilities and shortcomings. What parent doesn't understand that their children are not perfect? We're all human. God knows that and he made provision for it.

1 John 1:3,4That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

What is the context here? What is this section of scripture talking about? Fellowship! What God is revealing here by revelation is how we can enjoy fellowship with him, and with his son Jesus Christ, that our joy may be full. This isn't talking about getting born again, it's talking about fellowship after we're born again. This isn't dealing with our standing as sons of God, it's dealing with our state.

1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

God is light and in him is no darkness at all. None. Not a bit. Not even a little shadow. He's just light. Have you ever seen darkness inside light? Darkness can't exist where there is light.

1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

If we're out swilling it with pigs, it's our own fault. That son wasn't forced into a life of riotous living, and nor are we. We have the freedom of will to choose which life we're going to live, the way of life or the way of death. Regardless of which life we choose, we are still righteous if we are born again, but what about our standing, what about our fellowship, what about the quality of our lives?

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

When we walk according to the word, we're in fellowship with God, and that's where the beauty and richness in life resides.

1 John 1:8,9 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This section of scripture isn't talking about getting born again, being made whole, receiving eternal life, this is talking about fellowship. The context is fellowship. Confessing sins is not how you get born again, it's how to get back into fellowship after you've been born again. See the difference? You can't have fellowship with God if you're not born again and don't have the gift of holy spirit. You have to have spirit before you can have fellowship. How can a child have fellowship with a parent if they've not yet been born? So, we get born again, we receive the spirit, we become children of God and then we can begin to develop our fellowship with our father.

This verse says we need to confess our sins, but remember this is not talking about getting born again. This is so important to recognise. If you are forty years old when you are born again, how the heck are you going to remember all the sins you've ever done in your life? That's impossible. But I can sure remember the one I did this morning. When we are born again, all our past sins are taken care of, so this confession of sins isn't about being born again, it's about maintaining fellowship. This isn't talking about our sonship, it's talking about our state, our fellowship.

Forgiveness, or remission of sin is what we receive when we are born again, when we receive the gift of holy spirit. That takes care of every single thing we've done in the past. At the time of the new birth, we receive the righteousness of God and that will never change. However, although we are righteous and have eternal life, our fellowship with God may be less than satisfactory. We are sons, but we can sure still live riotously and swill it with the pigs down on animal farm. Every time we come back to God, he is willing and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We return to God by leaving the world's pig swill and renewing our minds.

It's not difficult to figure this out. For example, let's say our mind, or some religious dickhead, or even one of our friends or family brings up something from the past we'd rather forget. Okay, we have some work to do. Either we listen to the world and what it thinks of us, or we listen to the word and believe what God thinks of us. This is all part of the renewed mind.

Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The renewed mind is the key to this whole thing. The renewed mind is the key to power. It is the key to unlocking all the spiritual power resident within us. We have to retrain our minds to think a new way.

God says we're his children, while our minds, our friends and our families may tell us otherwise. So we have to train our minds until we think of ourselves as the word says. We are God's children. That's the truth, but sometimes we won't feel like it. Does it matter what we feel like? No, the word is truth, not what we feel like. If we think less of ourselves than what the word says, we replace those thoughts with the word. We memorise scriptures like Ephesians 1:3 and 4, and we replace our old man thoughts with what God thinks. That's renewing the mind.

Ephesians 1:3,4 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:

I am righteous. Jesus Christ redeemed me, and I received remission of sins. I have the righteousness of God and I don't give a damn what anyone thinks of me to the contrary, not my family, not my friends, not anyone. When it comes to the word I don't have any friends unless they are helping me to think and live the word's way. God has declared me not guilty, and that's why I have peace with God.

Romans 5:1Therefore being justified by faith [pistis - believing], we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

See, God isn't mad at us. We have peace with God. He's not upset with us, he's not pissed off with all the garbage in our past. Our garbage was paid for and dumped as far away from us as the east is from the west. We have been declared not guilty, and now we have peace with God. He isn't mad at us for anything, and will never be mad at us for anything in the future. When we make mistakes, we simply recognise the error (confess our sins), rectify the problem so it doesn't happen again, and move on in perfect fellowship with our father, God, who is always faithful and just to forgive us.

So, to sum up, get over it!

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