Kingdom Ready Blog

Introduction

The first five books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy – are collectively known as the Torah. The Hebrew word “Torah” is usually translated as “Law”; but other valid translations are “Teaching” and “Instruction”.

Some of the information in the Torah deals with the rules and regulations that God gave to Moses – i.e., the so-called “Mosaic law”. According to the traditional Jewish interpretation of the Torah, there are a total of 613 rules and regulations, in the entire body of the Mosaic law.

Introduction

One item that the New Testament brings up, many times, is that knowledge about God and Jesus is necessary for salvation. In other words, in order for people to be granted eternal life, they need to understand about God and His Son. Here are some examples of this:

John 17:1-3 (ESV):

¹When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, ²since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

I think the title says it all. The world as we know it is battling with hopelessness. Everything in our society these days has become uncertain. Nothing is guaranteed. Hence many are living in fear and misery. All they see is a pitiful life with no end in sight. Sometimes they wish death would take them and be rid of this little existence. How about when this begins to creep into the church? Today, I want to speak on the subject of hope and its importance in our life. Hope is an integral part of Christianity and each of us must learn about it and live it out.

“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.”

Introduction

One of the most important topics – if not the most important topic – which is debated in Christian circles is the topic of “soteriology”. That topic discusses the subject of salvation - that is, the exact process by which a person is granted eternal life.

As with most other theological topics, there are many different beliefs about how, exactly, a person can be saved. However, from my experience, there are three primary belief systems about that subject – and those three beliefs will be discussed in this post.

The “Evangelical” Doctrine

In the last two article I wrote I talked about feeling the emotion, pain, and feelings of other. Also how the root of this stemmed from Jesus and his ministry. I would like to relate more as to what kind of affect Jesus should have on us especially with his departure from Earth. Yet Jesus still has an ever growing connection to mankind. It seems that the question is always, are God and Jesus present, or is it because we just allow them to exist simply in our minds? Are they physically present? How real is the presents of Yahweh (GOD) and the roll and presences of Yahushua (Messiah) Jesus our Lord and Savior? I ask is the weight that we put on knowledge sacrificing our actual spirituality? Is the weight that is put on analyzing the scripture, with our own minds drowning or at least quenching the spirit with in us? The verses below present an interesting view. Is the Love of God present in our lives, which includes our Love for God, and our belief in His son(Or Faith In), our belief in who he was and what was his mission was will directly affects our purpose and mission in life, and most important our status to the coming Kingdom.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one
another John 13:34 & 35(NASB)

The words of Jesus are very explicit in John chapter 13 so we must ask ourselves some big questions.
1) How did Jesus Love?
2) Did Jesus show his Love to his followers?
3) Did he restrict his Love simply to his follows?
4) When we see the Cross do we see LOVE?

Introduction

One of the doctrines that almost all mainstream Protestant denominations share is the doctrine of “eternal security”. According to that doctrine, all that a person needs to do, in order to be granted everlasting life, is as follows:

Make a single “statement of faith” in Jesus.

In other words, as soon as a person confesses that Jesus is our lord, and believes that God raised Jesus from the dead, then that person is guaranteed to be saved – no matter what he does after that time!

Introduction

One of the more interesting passages in Paul’s letters occurs in Romans chapter 1; specifically, in verses 18 through 32. Here is that entire passage:

Romans 1:18-32 (ESV):

¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ¹⁹For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. ²⁰For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. ²¹For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools, ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

I often tease my husband by calling him, “Farmer Tony.”  He grew up farming with his dad, and loved it.  He no longer farms, but let’s just say he takes gardening to a new level.  His soil preparation is intense and when he is finally ready, he plants the seed.  Almost always, the seed comes up and brings forth a produce that our family can enjoy.  Other times, a certain seed will be old or conditions will be too wet and rainy, so that the seed fails to even break forth from the soil.