P. Douglas

All Things Require Intelligence For Them To Be Established

2010-10-16T13:22:00.001-07:00

Many people (including atheists) claim that there is no intelligence behind the construction of our universe. They suggest our universe came into being by chance. They of course cannot prove their claim – indicating that their claim is merely their belief. However, the principle that there is intelligence behind the establishment of all things, can be observed around us. This principle undermines the notion that things came into being without the direction of intelligence, and underscores the existence of God, and of scriptural accounts - indicating that there is in fact intelligence behind the establishment of all things.

Now in the sphere of operations of man, you cannot get a cup, battery, car, skyscraper, or space shuttle, without them being established by agents (man) with increasing amounts of intelligence. The same is true in the spheres of operations of animals and microorganisms. Now if we see this principle existent in various aspects of our world, it is reasonable to assume that the principle exists within all aspects of our world / universe – particularly in the absence of evidence suggesting otherwise. (E.g. if we see that 1 + 1 = 2 in various aspects of our world, and in the parts of our universe we are able to observe, it is reasonable to assume that 1 + 1 = 2 everywhere in our universe.)

If intelligence is required to establish all things, it follows that intelligences matching the description of God, established our universe – since only beings with the intelligence and power of God, could do such a thing. The above is extremely important, because it underscores the fundamental legitimacy of religious texts, that contend that our universe is ruled and run by myriad intelligences beyond our direct perception – just as there are countless microorganisms which interact with our bodies, we are directly unaware.

Therefore when people say it is irrational to believe in God and the claims of the Bible, you can point to the above and show that it is in fact rational to believe in God; and that these people’s contention that there is no God, is merely their belief, which does not hold up to reason.

The Cause and Effect of Faith

2009-11-04T17:56:00.001-08:00

Many people do not differentiate well between the cause and effect of having faith, and often confuse the two. Most of the time the Bible talks about faith, it refers to the effects of faith – not its cause. Faith has one cause (indicated in Mark 11:22-24), which produces a myriad of effects, which the Bible refers to as the fruits of the Spirit. Therefore it is only when a person has faith correctly (causal faith), that he is able to produce the fruits of the Spirit (faith effects).

Now a consequence of the confusion between the cause and effect of faith, is that people try to mimic the effects of faith in order to achieve righteousness. Therefore when God commands people to act righteously, the vast majority try to do so directly, and fail just like the Jews, who tried to mimic the commandments written down in the law of Moses, rather than perform causal faith, to produce its righteous effects. That is what the following scripture means:

Romans 9

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."
33 As it is written:
   "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble
      and a rock that makes them fall,
   and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

One other thing, a lot of people refer to the following scripture for instruction on having causal faith:

Hebrews 11

1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

They are wrong! The above is just one of many faith effects, and trying to mimic it (by performing the above action directly) will not produce other faith effects. The following scripture indicates as much:

Matthew 7

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Therefore directly believing in God and in the hopes of the saints, does not save anyone. What saves a person is causal faith, which produces the above and other faith effects.

The Holy Spirit Is Female

2009-11-03T22:33:00.001-08:00

The Catholic and Protestant Churches generally refer to the Holy Spirit as male. This bias is seen in one or more scriptures in the Bible, such as the following:

Hebrews 10

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16"This is the covenant I will make with them
      after that time, says the Lord.
   I will put my laws in their hearts,
      and I will write them on their minds."

In Hebrew however, spirit is interpreted as female. For example, the following scripture from on old gospel, The Gospel According to the Hebrews, indicates that the early Church regarded the Holy Spirit as female.

“here the Savior says: Even so did my mother, the Holy Spirit, take me by one of my hairs and carry me away on to the great mountain Tabor. ”

Also see here. It is documented that in the translation of Christian texts from Hebrew (where spirit is feminine) to Greek (where spirit is neuter), and then from Greek to Latin (where spirit is masculine), the Holy Spirit winded up being considered male.

In addition to above, the following non-biblical scriptures indicate that the Holy Spirit is in fact female:

The Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean

Chapter 9

14 Then let us study God, the One, the Three, the Seven.
15 Before the worlds were formed all things were One; just Spirit, Universal Breath.
16 And Spirit breathed, and that which was not manifest became the Fire and Thought of Heaven, the Father-God, the Mother-God.
17 And when the Fire and Thought of heaven in union breathed, their son, their only son, was born. This son is Love whom men have called the Christ.

On the Origin of the World

‘Israel - which is, "the man that sees God"; and another being, called Jesus Christ, who resembles the savior above in the eighth heaven, and who sits at his right upon a revered throne. And at his left, there sits the virgin of the holy spirit, upon a throne and glorifying him. And the seven virgins stand before her, [...] possessing thirty harps, and psalteries and trumpets, glorifying him. And all the armies of the angels glorify him, and they bless him.’

The Gospel of Philip

Some said, "Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit." They are in error. They do not know what they are saying. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman?

In addition to above, scriptures throughout the Bible indicate that the Holy Spirit is female. For example, look at the following scriptures:

Proverbs 8

1 Does not wisdom call out?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
2 On the heights along the way,
where the paths meet, she takes her stand;

3 beside the gates leading into the city,
at the entrances, she cries aloud:

4 "To you, O men, I call out;
I raise my voice to all mankind.

5 You who are simple, gain prudence;
you who are foolish, gain understanding.

6 Listen, for I have worthy things to say;
I open my lips to speak what is right.

7 My mouth speaks what is true,
for my lips detest wickedness.

8 All the words of my mouth are just;
none of them is crooked or perverse.

9 To the discerning all of them are right;
they are faultless to those who have knowledge.

10 Choose my instruction instead of silver,
knowledge rather than choice gold,

11 for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.

12 "I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;
I possess knowledge and discretion.

32 "Now then, my sons, listen to me;
blessed are those who keep my ways.

Matthew 5

44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

John 3

8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

1 Corinthians 2

12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.

The texts above indicate that someone who is a son of God, is a son of the Father as well as the Holy Spirit (Matthew 5:44-45, John 3:8). 1 Corinthians 2:12 indicates that the Holy Spirit gives us understanding. In Proverbs 8, the being who speaks as God, identifies herself as the mother of the sons of God, and indicates that she gives understanding to the sons of God. This means that it is the Holy Spirit who speaks as God in Proverbs 8, and it is She, along with the Father, who are the parents of the sons of God – consistent with the claims of the non-biblical scriptures referenced above.

In addition, throughout the Bible, children are considered being born of women – as indicated here. This suggests that John 3:8 (see above) alludes to the fact that the Holy Spirit is female.

All of the above therefore indicate that the Holy Spirit is female, and that the sons of God are born from male and female parents – not two male parents, as suggested by the Catholic and Protestant Churches.

Only A Relatively Few Will Suffer Eternal Punishment

2009-08-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

Orthodox / Protestant Christianity indicates that when someone dies and is not saved, that person suffers eternal damnation. However, a number of Biblical and non-Biblical scriptures indicate that that is simply not the case. E.g. the following scripture indicates that it is only those who have had legitimate faith, and rejected it, and those who blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, will suffer eternal punishment.

The Apocryphon of John

23 I said to the Savior, "Lord, will all the souls be delivered into the pure light"?

He replied, saying to me, "These are great things that have arisen in your thinking. For it is difficult to disclose these things to any others except those who are from the immovable generation. Those upon whom the Spirit of the Life will descend and (with whom) it will be powerfully present, they will be saved and will become perfect. And they will become worthy of the great realms. And they will be purified in that place from all evil and the concerns of wickedness. Then they will not take care for anything except the imperishability alone, attending to it from this point on without anger or envy or jealousy or desire or greed of anything at all. For they are not restrained by anything except the reality of the flesh alone, which they bear while fervently awaiting the time when they will be visited by those who will receive (them). For such as these are worthy of the imperishable eternal life and the calling, enduring everything, bearing everything so that they might complete the contest and inherit eternal life."

I said to him, "Lord, will the souls of those upon whom the power of the Spirit of Life descended but who did not do these works be e[xcluded]?"

He repli[ed, s]aying to me, "If [the] Spirit descends [up]on them, they will be saved in any case, and they will migrate. For the power will descend upon every human being—for without it, no one is able to stand upright. After they are born, then if the Spirit of Life increases and the power comes to strengthen that soul, it is not possible to lead it astray into the works of wickedness. But those upon whom the counterfeit spirit descends are drawn by it and they are led astray."

I said, "Lord, then when the souls of those leave their flesh, where will they got'

He laughed and said to me, "The soul in which the power will become stronger than the despicable spirit— for this one (the soul) is powerful and it flees from evil— it will be saved by the visitation of the Incorruptible and it will be admitted into the repose of the aeons.

I said, "Lord, then where will the souls be who do not know to whom their souls belong?"

He said to me, "In those, the despicable spirit has proliferated by leading them astray. He burdens the soul and draws it into works of wickedness, and he casts it down into forgetfulness. After it comes forth, they hand it over to the authorities who came into being through the Ruler. And they bind it in chains and cast it into prison. And they consort with it until it awakens from forgetfulness and receives knowledge. And in this way, it is perfected and saved."

I said, "Lord, how does the soul become smaller and return back into the nature of its mother or the human?"

Then he rejoiced when I asked this, and he said to me, "Truly you are blessed, for you have understood! That soul is made to follow another who has the Spirit of Life in it. It is saved by that (other) one. Then it is not cast into another flesh."

And I said, "Lord, what about those who understood and yet turned away? Where will their souls go?"

Then he said to me, "They will be admitted into that place where the angels of poverty go, the place where repentance does not occur. And they will guard them until that day when those who have blasphemed against the Spirit will be tortured. And they will be punished with an eternal punishment."

Therefore per the scripture above, the majority of mankind will actually be saved in the end.

Now many non-Biblical scriptures (e.g. Gnostic, and those from the Kabbalah) indicate that men and women are recycled through the world, through the process called reincarnation - after being judged, punished for a while, and then purified.

Pistis Sophia

Chapter 111

The State Of The Sinful Soul After Death

"Now, therefore, if the time of that man is completed, first cometh forth the destiny and leadeth the man unto death through the rulers and their bonds with which they are bound through the Fate. "And thereafter the retributive receivers come and lead that soul out of the body. And thereafter the. retributive receivers spend three days circling round with that soul in all the regions and dispatch it to all the æons of the world. And the counterfeiting spirit and the destiny follow that soul; and the power returneth to the Virgin of Light.

"And after three days the retributive receivers lead down that soul to the Amente of the chaos; and when they bring it down to the chaos, they hand it over to those who chastize. And the retributive receivers return unto their own regions according to the economy of the works of the rulers concerning the coming-forth of the souls.

"And the counterfeiting spirit becometh the receiver of the soul, being assigned unto it and transferring it according to the chastisement because of the sins which it hath made it commit, and is in great enmity to the soul.

"And when the soul hath finished the chastisements in the chaos according to the sins which it hath committed, the counterfeiting spirit leadeth it forth out of the chaos, being assigned unto it and transferring it to every region because of the sins which it hath committed; and it leadeth it forth on the way of the rulers of the midst. And when it reacheth them, [the rulers] question it on the mysteries of the destiny; and if it hath not found them, they question their destiny. And those rulers chastize that soul according to the sins of which it is guilty. I will tell you the type of their chastisements at the expansion of the universe.

How A Sinful Soul Is Brought Back To Birth

"When, therefore, the time of the chastisements of that soul in the judgments of the rulers of the midst shall be completed, the counterfeiting spirit leadeth the soul up out of all the regions of the rulers of the midst and bringeth it before the light of the sun according to the commandment of the First Man, Yew, and bringeth it before the judge, the Virgin of Light. And she proveth that soul and findeth that it is a sinning soul, and ceaseth her light-power into it for its standing-upright and because of the body and the community of sense,--the type of which I will tell you at the expansion of the universe. And the Virgin of Light sealeth that soul and handeth it over to one of her receivers and will have it cast into a body which is suitable to the sins which it hath committed.

"And amēn, I say unto you: They will not discharge that soul from the changes of the body until it hath yielded its last circuit according to its merit. Of all these then will I tell you their type and the type of the bodies into which it will be cast according to the sins of each soul. All this will I tell you when I shall have told you the expansion of the universe."

Therefore, per the above, most everyone who sins, will be: judged; temporarily punished; recycled into the world, and the process will be repeated many times for many people, until a final judgment. (Note: those who have legitimate faith, will escape the process.)

Now the question is, does the Bible actually back up the above scriptures? Consider the case of Elijah. Elijah was reincarnated in the form of John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11-14, Matthew 17:10-13). This proves that reincarnation is consistent with the teachings of the Bible. Also consider Jesus’ claim in Matthew 12:30-32 that the only sin that will not be forgiven mankind, is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Now if a person pays for his sins through punishments in Hell (similar to the way a prisoner pays his debts to society through incarceration), and the person’s sins are forgiven at the end of his sufferings, doesn’t this mean that unless the person blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, all his sins will be forgiven after the time he spends in Hell? Therefore while the Bible does not back up the above scriptures in detail, it does support the existence of the mechanism reincarnation, and it does allude to the fact that most people will not endure eternal punishments – referred to in the Bible as the second death (Revelation 2:11, Revelation 20:11-15).

Some people refer to the following scripture (and others) as evidence that reincarnation does not occur.

Hebrews 9

23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.
25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.
26 Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Let’s consider the above scripture. Those who offer the above scripture as evidence that reincarnation does not occur, do not understand what the scripture means. The above scripture means that it has been appointed for every perfect man to face this world (at least once), with all its tests, difficulties, etc., and finally mortal death (all as a sacrifice [Romans 8:36]), in order to be found worthy to be called the son of God. Christ, who is the first among perfect men, followed the same course, as was required of him. Some people might ask, why is the above interpretation of the preceding scripture correct where some others are not? Because the above interpretation is the most Biblically harmonious explanation there is. Contradicting explanations about the above (and other scriptures) all contradict scriptures throughout the Bible.

Orthodox Church Adds To And Excludes From The Word Of God, Then Accuses Others Of Being Guilty Of The Former

2009-01-31T22:28:00.001-08:00

As I indicated here, the Orthodox Church added it’s own words to God’s scriptures in such a way, as to exclude a huge swath of legitimate texts; then turned around and accused supporters of these legitimate texts, of heresy. I would like to expound on my point that the criteria that the Church used to determine the validity of texts, were inconsistent with the ways of God, and therefore illegitimately added to the word of God. Per this article, the following criteria were used by the second century Church, to determine the authenticity of religious texts:

A text / book must have been written by an apostle or based on his eyewitness testimony.
A text / book must possess merit and authority in its use.
A text / book must come to be accepted by the entire church, not just a single congregation or area.
A text / book must be approved by the decision of the larger church, not just a few advocates.

Now the first criterion suggests that only an apostle can provide instruction and insight into the ways of God – in written form. This is silly, for it would mean that no one since the early Church, has been qualified to lay down spiritual truths to texts. Further, it would mean that only the few apostles in the early (first century) Church had the authority to write down spiritual truths to texts. This directly contradicts the following scripture:

(Amplified Bible)

1 Corinthians 2

16 For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.

1 Corinthians 2:12 indicates that everyone who truly has the Holy Spirit, has been given realization and understanding about the mysteries of God. This would make everyone who has faith correctly, capable of having and setting down these insights to texts. 1 Corinthians 2:16 indicates everyone who has faith, has the same mind (spirit) Christ had, and therefore has the same intelligence and thinking as Him. This would mean that everyone who has faith can know and set down spiritual truths to text as scripture - just as Christ knew and spoke spiritual truths, which were set down to texts around his time here on earth.

Beyond what was stated above, given the fact that any man who has the spirit called truth united with him, can speak credibly about spiritual truths; it follows that anyone who is one with truth (via faith), can set down spiritual insights to texts, in the form of scriptures. The following scriptures back up my point:

(Amplified Bible)

John 14

17 The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you.

John 15

26 But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who comes (proceeds) from the Father, He [Himself] will testify regarding Me.

John 16

13 But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].

It is important to realize that unless a man is truly united with God, he is not united with the spirit called truth, and he is not competent to discuss the ways of God, and the truth about our world and creation. Therefore any attempt at discussion about the ways of God among faithless men, is worthless, and cannot be considered scripture. On the other hand, any man who is united with God is united with the spirit called truth; and any teachings, insights, discussions he has, can be regarded as inspired, and set down as scripture.

Regarding the second criterion, if a man truly has faith (particularly powerful faith), then his words when examined, will be found to be true, which will in turn give them merit and authority.

Regarding the third and fourth criteria, remember, the true Church is the body of people who have genuine faith – where their faith are attested to by their natural deeds. It is not merely the body of people who claim they have faith – and do not have naturally good deeds to show for it. Also, the acceptability of a text has more to do with the greatness of the author’s faith (reflected first and foremost in his actions, then in his other spiritual qualities [see 1 Corinthians 13]), than the text’s general acceptance among all who truly have faith. For example, after the conversion of Paul the Apostle in the Book of Acts in the Bible, many in the Church did not believe Paul at first. This however did not detract from the fact that Paul spoke with God’s authority at the time.

As can be seen above, the second century Church and beyond, provided flimsy criteria for the exclusion of texts that were truly inspired by God. Because the conditions they gave for the acceptance of texts do not stand up to scrutiny, and actually contradict Biblical scriptures, you see where they were man made inventions which illegitimately added to the word of God, in such a manner, as to exclude large amounts of legitimate (and also illegitimate) texts.

Criteria Which May Be Used To Legitimately Judge The Authenticity Of Claimed Godly Texts

2008-10-25T18:28:00.001-07:00

As I indicated here, the only essential criterion provided by God to make sound judgments about the godliness of texts, is that a person has faith correctly. Beyond that, under the guidance a person obtains from the proper pursuit of faith (Philippians 2:13), a person should look at the characteristics of a work, to see if is godly. That is what Christ meant when He said, “Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (See Matthew 7:20.)

Please look at the following scriptures:

2 Timothy 3

16 Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action),
17 So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Now if a text is inspired / God-breathed, it means that it is the work of God / the Holy Spirit. The following scriptures outline the characteristics of the works of the Spirit.

Galatians 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

1 Corinthians 13

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

(Amplified Bible)

1 Corinthians 2

7 But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God--[that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [to lift us into the glory of His presence].
8 None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed].
10 Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny].

The above indicates that the characteristics of the works of the Spirit are: great wisdom, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, truthfulness, self-control, ever protecting, ever trusting, ever hopefulness, ever perseverance, non-rudeness, non-envy, non-boastfulness, non-pridefulness, non-self-seeking, not easily angered. Therefore when you examine texts that purport to be of God, it is important that they exhibit the above characteristics of God / the Holy Spirit, before you determine them authentic. For example, when you look at the Gospel of Judas, you see where Jesus is portrayed as mean-spirited to his disciples. This is an important indicator that the document is false, since it is inconsistent with Christ’s depiction in the Bible and other texts.

Logical consistency (an aspect of wisdom) within a document, and among all other documents determined to be of God, is another important attribute which must be found in texts allegedly inspired by God.

Orthodox Church's Exclusion of Many Holy Texts, Amounted To Adding To And Subtracting From The Word of God

2008-10-06T05:40:00.000-07:00

The Orthodox Church likes to label many texts it disapproves of as heresy. However, the Orthodox Church comes to its conclusions by adding criteria to the means Christ gave to make judgments about the soundness of scriptures.

Please note the following scriptures:

(Amplified Bible)

1 Corinthians 2

12 Now we have not received the spirit [that belongs to] the world, but the [Holy] Spirit Who is from God, [given to us] that we might realize and comprehend and appreciate the gifts [of divine favor and blessing so freely and lavishly] bestowed on us by God.
13 And we are setting these truths forth in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the [Holy] Spirit, combining and interpreting spiritual truths with spiritual language [to those who possess the Holy Spirit].
14 But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.
15 But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him].
16 For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord so as to guide and instruct Him and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart.

Given the fact that someone receives the Spirit by having faith (Galatians 3:14), 1 Corinthians 2:15 indicates that having faith is the only essential criterion needed to make successful judgments about the soundness of scriptures. (No other scripture in the Bible provides additional essential criteria.) Therefore when the Orthodox Church uses additional essential criteria to include or exclude texts as being scripture (e.g. that a text must have been written by an apostle or be based on eyewitness testimony), it actually violates an extremely important command of God.

(Amplified Bible)

Deuteronomy 12

32 Whatever I command you, be watchful to do it; you shall not add to it or diminish it.

(Amplified Bible)

Proverbs 30

5 Every word of God is tried and purified; He is a shield to those who trust and take refuge in Him.
6 Add not to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar.

As I indicated here, the pursuit of God is a dangerous enterprise, for which the only security you have rests in the practice of having faith correctly. A person must see that he never wavers from this, and search for God’s truth in this world from this vantage point.

Therefore when the Orthodox (and also Protestant) churches point to the Bible and claim that it is the only word of God that exists, keep in mind that their claim is not supported by scripture, and worse, they seriously violate God’s law in order to come up with their statement.

(Please read here for further information.)

Science vs. Religion

2008-09-10T15:02:00.001-07:00

The following is a post I made in the comment section of a Zdnet article on 9/9/08. I thought it would be beneficial if I posted it on this blog.

"From what I've read, fear over the LHC has to do with [the] real or unreal likelihood of the inadvertent formation of a black hole. I don't see how that is a religious issue. As for religion and science: both seek after the truth about things. Their approaches are different, and in many cases, polluted with error. Science tries to determine the truth about things by (for the most part) directly observing physical phenomena. This process however is fundamentally flawed, in that it seems to assume that if man cannot for the most part directly perceive something, it does not exist, or it does not deserve consideration. We know that it is silly to say that if man cannot perceive something it does not exist, because that would mean that deaf men would be justified in dismissing claims by the hearing, that a world of sounds exist which they are unable to directly perceive. Further, a wealth of information man concludes to be true, he does via deduction - not direct observation. E.g., no one can see a black hole directly, but we can note circumstances which point to the existences of black holes. Now given the fact that man can only directly perceive about 2.5% of the electromagnetic spectrum, and a relatively small range of sound frequencies, this and other evidence points to the likelihood that man is, in the grand scheme of things, barely able to perceive things around him. In other words, man is comparatively blind.

Now, in as much as it is virtually hopeless for a society of completely physically blind men to discover and make accurate assessments of their environment, at a level comparable to a society of seeing men, it is utterly hopeless that men can discover the truth about the universe using science. This is why science essentially guesses at the way things are (through theories), and technically offers no guarantees that what it proposes is true. No one knows if Einstein's theory of relativity is true: everyone simply assumes it to be true, recognizing it is the best explanation of things we have about the physical world around us.

Now if it is virtually impossible for science to explain the world we live in with assurance, we are left with no other choice but to rely on explanations provided by beings who purport to have created the world. (Who better to explain how a house has been built, than the men who built it?) The question then arises, how do we distinguish fact from fiction? We look at natural laws. Not just natural physical laws: all types of natural laws. In our observations around us, we see that nothing gives rise to something substantially greater than itself. Things only progress in the opposite direction: i.e. creatures only give rise to things lesser than themselves. This completely undermines the theory of evolution (which incidentally is not supported by one shred of irrefutable evidence), and confirms many aspects of religion (e.g. Gnosticism, Cabbalism) which states that all things that exist are a series of emanations from a highest ultimate source, to the lowest source. Another important natural law is that an intelligent being is required to produce order, and the more sophisticated the order, the greater the required intelligence. (You cannot get a house to randomly construct itself. You need men in order to build it; and the more sophisticated the house, the more intelligent the men have to be.) This simple law further undermines evolution, and is consistent with explanations by religion that beings of great intellect created the things that exist. Further, religion indicates that all things that exist, are essentially a massive assembly [of] beings of various kinds. This is consistent with man's observations that all things have their bounds, are regulated, and have complex ordered associations and interactions. Therefore the idea that there are spirit beings that are responsible for clouds, who ensure that clouds behave certain ways within limits, are consistent with man's observation that clouds show ordering for which intelligent beings are required to establish and maintain. All of this suggest that all things that exist (time, jealousy, love, etc.) are beings who establish and maintain these things.

Natural law also shows us that perfection and truth lies only in those things that are good. This is how a person is able to critically distinguish the truth from a maze of fiction and deception that exist within this world. This is consistent with Jesus' claim, "By their fruits will you know them." Therefore the truth about all things lie only within people and things that are truly, fundamentally good. Christianity and related religions indicate that this goodness can only be achieved by having faith. Jesus in Mark 11:22-24 indicates that having faith is specifically the process of asking God for things, and believing that you will receive them. All of this can be confirmed by empirical observations, which in turn support the fact that no one can know the truth about things, save via the proper pursuit of religion.

Therefore as I said before, science can never explain our world with any guarantees of accuracy. All it can do is propose what our world is like. However, given the horrible weakness of our senses, any proposal we can come up with is virtually guaranteed to be terribly flawed. Man therefore has no choice but to rely on accounts by beings who created all things (whose existences are confirmed by natural law), and to distinguish their sayings from myth, via the goodness of the sources of various accounts.

True religion is not the ranting of irrational men. In fact it is the complete opposite. The problem is that religion is filled with wannabes who establish and follow flawed doctrines - all the time proclaiming to be men of God. A truly religious man (vs. a play actor) shows fundamental (not superficial) goodness, and bears out the Bible's claim that true goodness comes only by having faith, and that having faith is specifically the practice of asking God for things, while believing that you will receive them - Mark 11:22-24."

Biblical Support That God's Kingdom is Eternal, And The Material World Is Not

2008-06-29T22:22:00.001-07:00

One thing detractors of Gnostic texts contend or object to, is the notion that God's kingdom is separate from the material universe / world. The following scriptures indicate that God's kingdom is eternal:

Luke 16

9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Amplified Bible

Mark 8

35 For whoever wants to save his [ higher, spiritual, eternal] life, will lose it [the lower, natural, temporal life which is lived only on earth]; and whoever gives up his life [which is lived only on earth] for My sake and the Gospel's will save it [his higher, spiritual life in the eternal kingdom of God].
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life [ in the eternal kingdom of God]?

The following scriptures indicate that the material world is not eternal:

Amplified Bible

2 Peter 3

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will vanish (pass away) with a thunderous crash, and the [material] elements [of the universe] will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up.

11 Since all these things are thus in the process of being dissolved, what kind of person ought [each of] you to be [in the meanwhile] in consecrated and holy behavior and devout and godly qualities,

12 While you wait and earnestly long for (expect and hasten) the coming of the day of God by reason of which the flaming heavens will be dissolved, and the [material] elements [of the universe] will flare and melt with fire?

Now, if God's kingdom is eternal, this means that it will not be destroyed. However, since God destroys only wicked and deficient things, this means that God's kingdom is pure and perfect. Also, since God will destroy the material universe, this means that the material universe is wicked and impure. Therefore Gnostic texts' contention that there is a pleroma (pure region of God) and a material universe beyond it, that is polluted with wickedness, is actually supported by the Bible. Further, the Bible indicates that the material universe contains heavens that are different from the ones inhabited by God. This fact is stated in many Gnostic texts.

Biblical Support That The Material World Is Inherently Wicked

2008-03-15T16:31:00.001-07:00

Many Christians from the Orthodox and Protestant denominations, dismiss the contention of Gnostic scriptures, that our material world / universe, is inherently impure and wicked.

The following are examples of Gnostic scriptures which suggest that our material world / universe, is in fact, impure and wicked:

Pistis Sophia - Book Two

Chapter 100

"For this cause, therefore, herald to the whole race of men, saying: Cease not to seek day and night, until ye find the purifying mysteries; and say unto the race of men: Renounce the whole world and the whole matter therein. For he who buyeth and selleth in the world and he who eateth and drinketh of its matter and who liveth in all its cares and in all its associations, amasseth other additional matters to the rest of his matter, because this whole world and all therein and all its associations are material refuse [pl.], and they will make enquiry of every one concerning his purity.

Pistis Sophia - Book Three

Chapter 115

"Now, therefore, he who shall receive the mysteries of the baptisms, then the mystery of them becometh a great, exceedingly violent, wise fire and it burneth up the sins and entereth into the soul secretly and consumeth all the sins which the counterfeiting spirit hath made fast on to it. And when it hath finished purifying all the sins which the counterfeiting spirit hath made fast on to the soul, it entereth into the body secretly and pursueth all the pursuers secretly and separateth them off on the side of the portion of the body. For it pursueth the counterfeiting spirit and the destiny and separateth them off from the power and from the soul and putteth them on the side of the body, so that it separateth off the counterfeiting spirit and the destiny and the body into one portion; the soul and power on the other hand it separateth into another. The mystery of baptism on the contrary remaineth in the midst of the two, continually separating them from one another, so that it maketh them clean and purifieth them, in order that they may not be stained by matter."

The following scriptures taken from the Bible, actually confirm that matter /our material universe, is inherently impure and wicked, and that the Godhead lies in a truly pure region beyond it:

Amplified Bible

Hebrews 9

11 But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation,

Amplified Bible

2 Peter 3

Amplified Bible

Romans 8

19 For [even the whole] creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known [waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship].

20 For the creation (nature) was subjected to frailty (to futility, condemned to frustration), not because of some intentional fault on its part, but by the will of Him Who so subjected it--[yet] with the hope)

21 That nature (creation) itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption [and gain an entrance] into the glorious freedom of God's children.

Just to be clear: since God only destroys things that are impure and wicked, God's impending destruction of the material universe must mean that matter is impure and wicked. Further, Romans 8:21 indicates that all the material beings that make up the material creation who repent (not just man) will be saved. This is consistent with the following scripture:

Pistis Sophia - Book Two

Chapter 87

"It came to pass then, when Jesus had finished speaking these words, that Mary Magdalene started forward and said:

"My Lord, my indweller of light hath ears and I comprehend every word which thou sayest. Now, therefore, my Lord, on account of the word which thou hast spoken: 'All the souls of the race of men who shall receive the mysteries of the Light, will go into the Inheritance of the Light before all the rulers who will repent, and before those of the whole region of the Right and before the whole region of the Treasury of the Light,'--on account of this word, my Lord, thou hast said unto us aforetime: 'The first will be last and the last will be first,'--that is, the 'last' are the whole race of men which will enter into the Light-kingdom sooner than all those of the region of the Height, who are the first.' On this account, therefore, my Lord, hast thou said unto us: 'Who hath ears to hear, let him hear,'--that is thou desirest to know whether we comprehend every word which thou speakest. This, therefore, is the word, my Lord."

Gnostic scriptures contention therefore that that all matter is inherently deficient and wicked (along with other contentions), are supported by Biblical texts.

Even if Biblical scriptures had nothing to say about the inherent deficiency of our physical universe, empirical observations support this fact. All living things die, all living creatures are wicked (and can't help themselves), mankind generally does not know where he comes from, his purpose for being, or what lies in his future. Therefore Gnostic scriptures are accurate in what they say about our material universe.

Faith Vs. Reason

2007-12-07T13:17:00.001-08:00

There are many people who believe that faith and reason are opposed to one another. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it is genuine faith which begets sound reasoning. In as much as a man becomes perfect through faith, his reasoning (which is a part of him) becomes perfected through faith as well. This point is underscored by the following scriptures which indicate that those who have faith, have been given a perfect, divine mind:

Lost Scrolls of the Essene Brotherhood

"Gracious Love, Creator of Love! Reveal the best words Through thy divine mind living within us."

1 Corinthians 2

16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

It is important to note the nature of a man who has perfect reasoning. Remember, those who have faith both have a divine mind and a carnal mind which contend with one another. Therefore in addition to having core perfect reasoning, the perfect man deals with imperfections and doubts which relentlessly try to undermine his abilities. As the perfect man's faith grows, so does his mind, and hence his capacity to perceive and reason things. But these abilities are continually assailed by his carnal mind, and the perfect man must rely on his practice of having faith, to keep the influence of his carnal mind at bay.

The above is how great men of God, such as Paul the apostle, produced the scriptures. They became perfect men through their faith, and they acquired perfect understanding, which grew as they grew their faith.

There are a number of religious organizations throughout the centuries, who have advocated 'blind faith'. They told the people who pursued their religions, to listen and do as they said without question. But the following scripture warns us not to do so:

1 John 4

1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Therefore a person must use reason to evaluate someone and what he is saying.

A very important point is that everyone's reasoning is faulty until he has faith - which perfects his reasoning. Therefore the practice of having faith is extremely important, and it is what a person must rely on to ensure he has sound reasoning. Now someone might ask, if no one can reason correctly (more specifically about the important things in life), how can a person successfully come to the decision to have faith? The answer is the Spirit of God must produce that perfect reasoning in him - which jump starts the process of that person having faith. That is what the following scripture means:

John 6

44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Therefore do not put reasoning above the practice of having faith - since the former is dependent on the latter. Also, the carnal mind will do all it can, through faulty reasoning, to convince someone not to have faith. Therefore a person must always be vigilant that he puts the practice of having faith above all other things. When he does this, he will begin to increasingly see the truth about life, and reason correctly.

Now some might say that the above is disingenuous. Why should someone not put reason above having faith, and even question if he should have faith? In addition to what I said above, it is important to realize that it is perfectly fine for someone to question whether his faith is real, or a fantasy, or a deception. If when someone has faith, he does not see a unique, fundamental, growing goodness mysteriously emerge in himself that is constant in all situations, and he does not see other signs as predicted by the Bible (such as what he asks for in prayer coming to bear partially or in full, and also emergent general intelligence) then he has every right to doubt the authenticity of the process of having faith. However, the above is very different from someone (who has faith), constantly wondering whether he should have it. Someone constantly wondering whether he should have faith is extremely dangerous, since it provides a foothold for the person's carnal self to seduce him away from having it - which is the source of everything worthwhile to him. Therefore while it may be fine for a man to periodically check for signs that his faith is true (borne out largely by his fundamental goodness), he should unwaveringly continue to pursue his faith, as he sees this key piece of evidence (deep-seated goodness) inside him.

Therefore in a relationship with God, faith and reason are not opposed to one another. Faith is required to ensure the authenticity of reason - since faith perfects every spiritual aspect of a man (which can be verified through observation), including his reasoning. (On the other hand, reason is required to assure the authenticity of faith - by making sure that behavioral and other evidence support its actual existence.) Therefore place having faith above all other things in your life, as it is the only means to achieve perfection - including perfect reasoning.

What Is The Point Of Having Faith?

2007-12-02T10:05:00.001-08:00

Many people wonder why it is that a person cannot have faith the way Christ instructed in Mark 11:22-24, and actually move mountains immediately. The answer is, God allowed wickedness to arise in creation as a means of testing and perfecting many beings - mankind in particular. It was necessary for man to fall from his perfect, luminous form, to one where he is trapped in bodies which bind him to this lowly, wicked, material world (i.e. plane of existence).

Man's capacities to perceive things and to act righteously, have been greatly stifled by beings living within him called the carnal self. It is these beings which force him to perceive only the material world, and to be ignorant about where he came from, who he is, and what he should be doing with his life. These beings also sap away much of his power and other abilities. That is why Christ said the following:

Gospel of Thomas

85) Jesus said, "Adam came into being from a great power and a
great wealth, but he did not become worthy of you. For had he
been worthy, [he would] not [have experienced] death."

Mankind therefore has been placed under very hostile conditions, to overcome and grow. It is also important to realize, that mankind are God / creation seeds who have been thrown down into this material world to grow up into huge Gods and creations. This whole process has been made arduous in order to obtain the finest Gods in the Godhead. Therefore the point of having faith is not to move mountains, or heal the sick, or fly through the air per se: it is to overcome the circumstance men have been born into. Men are required to overcome their circumstances via a process in which each man's spiritual composition changes from one where his soul is overwhelmed and ruled by his carnal self, to one where where his soul: becomes purified and protected by the Holy Spirit; grows into an image of God; and is aided by a myriad of angels and other spiritual beings which make up what the Bible calls his inner man. (The above is also what it means to be born again.)

When a person has faith, he uses the inner man to contend with the carnal self which remains in his body, and also wickedness in this world. It is primarily the angels contained within the inner man that a soul relies on to overcome the world, and in so doing, attain greater and greater righteousness and knowledge. (Gnostics calls this knowledge gnosis, which are the mysteries of God.)

Therefore when someone has faith and grows it, he should not expect things will necessarily become easier and easier in this world. For even if a person increases his faith to the point where he has knowledge / gnosis to move mountains, much of his power could be sapped away, and he could become brutally pinned down, as part of the process of being purified by this world through suffering.

If anyone has faith, and sees that the things he prays for take a long time to come to bear, he should not be discouraged. He should look at his fundamental goodness, which bears evidence that the things he believes in are real, and be encouraged by it. Even if all creation was to crumble around a man, the man's fundamental goodness, which shows up reliably only when he has faith correctly, assures him that the things he believes in are real.

Therefore take heart while you have faith. Even though having faith is a long process which is difficult at times, and even though it may seem to take a long time to grow one's faith substantially, there is a whole lot of spiritual activity taking place around you while you are doing this, and the reward for sticking with is gigantic.

Distinguishing The Truly Righteous From The 'Religious'

2007-11-28T12:25:00.001-08:00

There are many, many people who act religiously, but are not righteous, and use their religious behavior to distract others. Religious behavior or superficial goodness, is not a reliable indicator that a person is truly righteous. The only reliable indicator that is available, is a person's fundamental behavior. Therefore when you see someone who acts religiously or seems very good in his surface behavior, ignore what you see, and just stare at the person's fundamental behavior. Remember, it is fundamental behavior which reliably tells the truth about a person, and it is fundamental behavior which you must depend on, to form a correct opinion about that person.

Refuting Atheism

2007-11-20T17:53:00.001-08:00

A small percentage of people in the U.S. (about 3% according to this study) believe that there is no God. Many of them consider themselves intellectuals, and arrive at their beliefs through what they consider sound reasoning. Someone may ask the question, is their reasoning really sound?

Let us consider science: the basis for many atheists' refutation of the existence of God. As I indicated here, science does nothing more than guess at the way things are. Science e.g. does not know for certain that Einstein's Theory of Relativity is accurate. It simply proposes that it is. Even Einstein didn't believe his theory was accurate, as he kept looking for a better one called the unified theory. As a result, science offers us no assurance about the way things are, and any scientifically crafted explanation about the truth of our universe is inherently unreliable.

Let us look at the Theory of Evolution. This theory proposes that there exists a law in the universe, which says that something can give rise to another thing substantially greater than itself. As I indicated here, no such law exists, and in fact, there is a law in the universe which says that the proposed law by evolution proponents is untrue. More specifically, there is a law in the universe which states that nothing can give rise to something substantially greater than itself. We see this law all around us. E.g. it is the potter / man who creates pots - not the other way around. It is is men who create viruses in laboratories - not the other way around. It is birds which create nests - not the other way around. The Theory of Evolution therefore completely contradicts the above law, and provides no definitive proof that the law is unsound.

There exists another law in the universe which says that there is intelligence behind all organization, and the greater the organization, the greater the underlying intelligence. We can see that this law is true by noting that whenever we e.g. see a nest in a tree, we conclude that a bird created it. And whenever we see something more sophisticated like a car or a Cathedral, we conclude that men created it. Why do we do this? Because no one has ever seen a well crafted nest being created by dust, or a cathedral being built by plants or entities less intelligent than man. The above is how we are able to deduce that the universe was created by a great intelligence - because the universe shows organization far greater than men are able to produce.

An important way we are able to conclude that God exists, is by comparing texts inspired by Him, with the things we see around us. In as much as people ascribe the greatest credibility to explanations most closely aligned with their observations, texts by God provide the best and most whole explanations about our existence. We are able to see sin and wickedness in the world as described in the scriptures. We see that men and the world are slaves to sin as indicated in John 8:34. We see that a person exhibits good fruit when he has faith correctly - something we do not see anywhere else. We see that there is an invisible intelligence behind everything in this world - which is consistent with scriptural explanations that all things are governed by spirits. (E.g. clouds behave with organization within their bounds, so do rain, rivers, seas, plants, animals, and men. )Further, the more a person has faith, the more he notices the consistency of the explanations of things given in scriptures, with the things he sees around him.

There is therefore no intellectually sound basis for believing that there is no God. And there is a wealth of evidence around us that God is real, and that the texts He provides are true.

Having And Pursuing Great Faith - Part 2

2007-11-12T17:59:00.001-08:00

Throughout the text, The Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean Age, Jesus said repeatedly, "What I have done all men can do." (See e.g. The Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean Age 178:46.) This means that all men have the potential to do all the things Jesus did. This includes healing the sick, driving entities out of people, walking on water, and raising the dead. The problem is that the capacity to do these things are hidden in secrecy, and a person has to do a huge amount of praying (i.e. lots of praying over the course of several years) to discover them. (The person who discovers the secrets of God via prayer, becomes a nexus of spiritual activity, until he disappears, then the activity subsides.)

Jesus indicated in The Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean Age, chapter 40, that there is a 'Silence' that a person can go to, to gain love, power, and learn the secrets of God. A person can go to this 'Silence', by simply praying and believing he is there, and requesting the gifts he wants from God.

Apart from the above, the following scripture points to the fact that Jesus and his disciples used an extremely holy name of God, to accomplish the things they did. (Verses 15-19 provide an example of Jesus using God's sacred name.)

The Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean Age

Chapter 89

NOW, on the day before the Sabbath day, the twelve disciples who had received the call were met with one accord in Jesus' home.
2 And Jesus said to them, This is the day to consecrate yourselves unto the work of God; so let us pray.
3 Turn from the outer to the inner self; close all the doors of carnal self and wait.
4 The Holy Breath will fill this place, and you will be baptised in Holy Breath.
5 And then they prayed; alight more brilliant than the noonday sun filled all the room, and tongues of flame from every head rose high in air.
6 The atmosphere of Galilee was set astir; a sound like distant thunder rolled above Capernaum, and men heard songs, as though ten thousand angels joined in full accord.
7 And then the twelve disciples heard a voice, a still, small voice, and just one word was said, aword they dared not speak; it was the Sacred name of God.
8 And Jesus said to them, By this omnific Word you may control the elements, and all the powers of air.
9 And when within your souls you speak this Word, you have the keys of life and death; of things that are; of things that were; of things that are to be.
.
.
.
15 As Jesus spoke, a man obsessed came in; the evil spirits that obsessed the man were of the baser sort; they often threw their victim to the ground, or in the fire.
16 And when the spirits saw the Christine master in the synagogue they knew him, and they said,
17 You son of God, why are you here? would you destroy us by the Word before our time? we would have naught to do with you; let us alone.
18 But Jesus said to them, By the omnific Word I speak; Come out; torment this man no more; go to your place.
19 And then the unclean spirits threw the man upon the floor, and, with a fiendish cry, they went away.

Other scriptures show Jesus invoking angels who do profound things (e.g. Gospel of Bartholomew, Section 2), and Jesus' disciples beginning to say mysteries that have the capacity to destroy creation (Gospel of Bartholomew, Section 1, verse 22).

All of the above are possible to those who have faith correctly, and it is in fact what everyone should strive for. At the same time, these things are really, really hard to accomplish. This is the way God differentiates human beings from one another. He made having faith correctly something that only a few human beings want to do, and from the few who practice it, he made things very, very difficult for the ones who want to be first in the Godhead.

(You may read here, for the best and most effective way to have faith - that I'm aware of.)

A Person's Spiritual Composition

2007-11-04T12:39:00.001-08:00

Many people believe that a person is merely comprised of a soul. This is far from correct. A person is actually composed from a large array of spirits.

For every quality and concept that exists, there exists families of spirits which govern and regulate it. E.g. there are spirits called mind and love, which provide the means by which men think and love. Without these spirits, men cannot think and love. That is why there are boundaries to everything. Men think only a limited amount of thoughts, and love only a limited amount of ways, and all these things are regulated.

The following scripture indicates that mind is in fact a spirit.

Lost Scrolls of the Essene Brotherhood

"Gracious Love, Creator of Love! Reveal the best words Through thy divine mind living within us."

There is however not just one mind which occupies man. Those who have faith are given a divine mind as is indicated in the above scripture. However, there also exists a carnal or sinful mind occupying those who don't have faith - as well as those who do have faith.

The Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean Age

Chapter 126

8 Hear me, you men of Israel! Defilement is a creature of the heart. The carnal mind lays hold of thought, and makes a monstrous bride; this bride is sin; sin is a creature of the mind.

Therefore those who have faith each has a divine mind, along with a carnal mind which they contend with. Those who don't have faith, have only a carnal mind.

The following scriptures underscore the fact that spirits govern everything, and are responsible for the behavior seen in people.

Isaiah 11
1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
       from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
       the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
       the Spirit of counsel and of power,
       the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

Isaiah 61

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.

Jeremiah 51

1 This is what the LORD says: "See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai.

Hosea 4

12 of my people. They consult a wooden idol and are answered by a stick of wood. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God.

John 14

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever
17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

2 Corinthians 4

13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,

2 Timothy 1

7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Therefore every behavior and quality that is seen in man, is made possible by a corresponding spirit in man, who facilitates this behavior / quality seen in him. In as much as men laugh, cry, think, hate, love, and do a myriad of other things, there exists within their spiritual composition, many, many spirits who facilitate these things taking place. Further, those who have faith, have a myriad of godly spirits (which make up what the Bible calls the inner man) who facilitate godly behavior. Therefore a man is much more than his soul. A man is actually a platform for a myriad of spirits, who make possible his various capabilities.

God Is Many, But One

2007-10-29T08:42:00.001-07:00

Many people do not know what the scriptures mean when they say that there is one God (e.g. Romans 3:29-30). The scriptures do not mean that God is a single entity that cannot be broken down into sub-entities. But rather God is a massive assembly of exalted beings, that form a single, overall union.

The following scriptures point out that there are multiple Gods.

Deuteronomy 10

17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.

Daniel 11

36 "The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place.
37 He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the one desired by women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all.
38 Instead of them, he will honor a god of fortresses; a god unknown to his fathers he will honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and costly gifts.

The following scriptures point out that God's angels are also God.

Exodus 3

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
3 So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."
4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!"
And Moses said, "Here I am."
5 "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground."
6 Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Judges 13

17 Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the LORD, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?"
18 He replied, "Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding."
19 Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the LORD. And the LORD did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched:
20 As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground.
21 When the angel of the LORD did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the LORD.
22 "We are doomed to die!" he said to his wife. "We have seen God!"

Further, the following scripture points out that all men and women who have faith are gods / God.

John 10

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’?

The following scripture indicates that this number is huge.

2 Esdras

4 Ezra 2

42) I, Ezra, saw on Mount Zion a great multitude, which I could not number, and they all were praising the Lord with songs.
43) In their midst was a young man of great stature, taller than any of the others, and on the head of each of them he placed a crown, but he was more exalted than they. And I was held spellbound.
44) Then I asked an angel, "Who are these, my lord?"
45) He answered and said to me, "These are they who have put off mortal clothing and have put on the immortal, and they have confessed the name of God; now they are being crowned, and receive palms."
46) Then I said to the angel, "Who is that young man who places crowns on them and puts palms in their hands?"
47) He answered and said to me, "He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world." So I began to praise those who had stood valiantly for the name of the Lord.
48) Then the angel said to me, "Go, tell my people how great and many are the wonders of the Lord God which you have seen."

The above scriptures indicate that the number of Gods present is very large. Other scriptures indicate that this number is even more massive. E.g. the following scripture indicates that the Holy Spirit who dwells in those who have faith, are angels.

The Gospel Of Phillip

"As for the unclean spirits, there are males among them and there are females. The males are they which unite with the souls which inhabit a female form, but the females are they which are mingled with those in a male form, through one who was disobedient. And none shall be able to escape them, since they detain him if he does not receive a male power or a female power - the bridegroom and the bride.One receives them from the mirrored bridal chamber. When the wanton women see a male sitting alone, they leap down on him and play with him and defile him. So also the lecherous men, when they see a beautiful woman sitting alone, they persuade her and comple her, wishing to defile her. But if they see the man and his wife sitting beside one another, the female cannot come into the man, nor can the male come into a woman. So if the image and the angel are united with one another, neither can any venture to go into the man or the woman."

In the above scripture, the image is a person's soul (which is an image of the Father), and the angel is the Angel of the Holy Spirit, who is referred to (in the Bible) as the Holy Spirit living in someone. Now if angels of the Holy Spirit reside in all those who have faith; these angels are God; and the number of men and women who have faith is enormous, then you see that the number of Gods belonging to the Godhead is simply gigantic.

The above is not even a whole picture of the Godhead. There are many Gods, each having a large number of members - where each member is God. Therefore those who say that all of God (i.e. the entire Godhead) is a single entity is in error. God is a massive assembly of exalted beings, who form a harmonious union, and are hence one.

Why Science Cannot Tell Us About Who We Are, And Our Origins

2007-07-29T10:43:00.001-07:00

The use of science, in particular the Theory of Evolution, cannot be relied on to provide the correct explanations about who we are, and where we came from. You may ask, why is this? The answer is, science is all about guessing the way things are, and it produces models of its guesswork which we rely on in our lives. E.g. hypotheses, used in science, are guesses we make about phenomena, which we develop into theories based on observation and testing that we do. However, we do not know if ultimately our theories or models of the universe are correct: we just know that they are the best guesses we have.

Contrast the above to texts from God which we can see for ourselves are truthful. Now if all our observations about a society of individuals (the Godhead) show that they are truthful, is it unreasonable to believe their account of the universe, and their explanations about who we are, and why we are here?

The above is how we know that it is intellectually sound to believe texts from God, and intellectually unsound to rely on science for answers. Ultimately science cannot guarantee the truth, but we can rely on the truthfulness of God, to judge that His explanations of things are accurate.

Romans 2:12-16

2007-04-28T12:30:00.001-07:00

I would like to explain the following scripture, because there are some who don't quite understand it.

Romans 2

12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.
13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law,
15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)
16 This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

The law is spiritual (Romans 7:14). This means that there are spiritual beings associated with the law, who ensure people act according to it. But the law is also the way God wants people to act, which means that the spiritual beings associated with the law, ensure that people act according to the way God wants them to. That is what the following scriptures mean.

Romans 8

9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

Philippians 2

13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose

Therefore the law is simply the way God wants people to act, and its spiritual nature is indicative of the spirits who ensure and cause people to act that way.

The law also refers to a reflection of God's spiritual law in written form. It is important to note that the Bible uses the above 2 definitions for the law, and people should be careful about this when they read the Bible.

Romans 2:12 therefore points out that all who sin, or do not act in accordance with God's law, while not having possession of God's written law, will be punished without it. And those who sin while having God's written law, will be judged by it, and will be punished under it. Romans 2:13 goes on to note that it is not those who know about God's written law who will be declared righteous: rather it is those who obey it – via the spiritual beings who enter them and ensure that they do so, when they have faith.

Romans 2:14-16 indicates that when Gentiles or people who do not have the written law, by nature perform the law, they prove they are one with the spiritual law - meaning that they have God's lawful spirits within them who ensure that they act the way God wants them to. These individuals prove the above is so through their desires which are consistent with God's law, which their consciences bear witness to, while their thoughts accuse and defend them. (The latter part of the previous sentence will take place when they are judged by God.)

It is important to note that all of a righteous man's works (both good and bad) will be tested when he is judged. This is where his conscience and thoughts will bear witness to his happily following the law, but also to his performing deeds under the power of the flesh (Romans 7:25).

1 Corinthians 3

12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Therefore Romans 2:14-16 indicates that when people who do not have the written law, naturally perform the (spiritual) law; they prove they are one with the (spiritual) law. Also, at the time of their judgments, their consciences will bear witness of their desires to abide by God’s law, while their thoughts will accuse and defend them over their actions here on earth.

I hope the above helps clarify Romans 2:12-16. The passage is essentially about following the law spiritually (which can only be done by having faith correctly) vs. attempting to redeem oneself through the direct pursuit of the written law – which is impossible to do.

Resurrection: The Transformation Of Men Of Faith Into Mighty Gods

2007-03-17T13:19:00.001-07:00

For those who have faith, death is actually a remarkable event. At the time of death, a phenomenon called the 'essence of the resurrection of the dead', becomes enabled by the Holy Spirit. This essence transmutes the substance of a man's fleshy body, to a higher form, so that the man's body becomes like the substance of the bodies of beings found in higher planes of existence.

It is important to realize that the essence of a transmuted body cannot be quickened or made alive, until the body disintegrates at the time of death. When this happens, the will of the righteous man (which is in tune with the will of God on account of the life the man lived in faith) triggers the Holy Spirit to breathe on the pliant substance of the man's dead body, transforming it from carnal form, to divine form.

The above is based on The Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean Age 178:36-46, and is consistent with 1 Corinthians 15.

The above describes the mechanics of the resurrection process. The following describes the type of being, someone who has faith, becomes transformed into.

Pistis Sophia

Chapter 96
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"He then, who shall receive the one and only word of that mystery, which I have told you, if he cometh forth out of the body of the matters of the rulers, and if the retributive receivers come and free him from the body of matter of the rulers,--that is those [receivers] who free from the body all out-going souls,--when, therefore, the retributive receivers free the soul which hath received this one and only mystery of the Ineffable, which I have just told you, then will it straightway, if it be set free from the body of matter, become a great light-stream in the midst of those receivers, and the receivers will be exceedingly afraid of the light of that soul, and the receivers will be made powerless and fall down and desist altogether for fear of the great light which they have seen.

"And the soul which receiveth the mystery of the Ineffable, will soar into the height, being a great light-stream, and the receivers will not be able to seize it and will not know how the way is fashioned upon which it will go. For it becometh a great light-stream and soareth into the height, and no power is able to hold it down at all, nor will they be able to come nigh it at all.

"But it will pass through all the regions of the rulers and all the regions of the emanations of the Light, and it will not give answers in any region, nor giveth it any apologies, nor giveth it any tokens; neither will any power of the rulers nor any power of the emanations of the Light be able to come nigh that soul. But all the regions of the rulers and all the regions of the emanations of the Light,--every one singeth unto it praises in their regions, in fear of the light of the stream which envelopeth that soul, until it passeth through them all, and goeth to the region of the inheritance of the mystery which it hath received,--that is to the mystery of the One and Only, the Ineffable,--and until it becometh one with its Limbs. Amēn, I say unto you: It will be in all the regions in the time a man shooteth an arrow. "Now, therefore, amēn, I say unto you: Every man who will receive that mystery of the Ineffable and accomplish it in all its types and all its figures,--he is a man in the world, but he towereth above all angels and will tower still more above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all archangels and will tower still more above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all tyrants and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all lords and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all gods and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all light-givers and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all pure [ones] and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all triple-powers and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all forefathers and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all invisibles and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above the great invisible forefather and will raise himself above him.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all those of the Midst and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above the emanations of the Treasury of the Light and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above the Mixture and will raise himself entirely above it.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above the whole region of the Treasury and will raise himself entirely above it.

"He is a man in the world, but he will rule with me in my kingdom.

"He is a man in the world, but he is king in the Light.

"He is a man in the world, but he is not one of the world.

"And amēn, I say unto you: That man is I and I am that man.

"And at the dissolution of the world, that is when the universe will be raised up and when the numbering of the perfect souls will be raised up all together, and when I am king in the midst of the last Helper, being king over all the emanations of the Light and king over the seven Amēns and the five Trees and the three Amēns and the nine guards, and being king over the Child of the Child, that is the Twin-saviours, and being king over the twelve saviours and over the whole numbering of the perfect souls who shall receive the mysteries in the Light,--then will all men who shall receive the mysteries in the Ineffable, be fellow-kings with me and will sit on my right and on my left in my kingdom.

"And amēn, I say unto you: Those men are I, and I am they.

"On this account have I said unto you aforetime: 'Ye will sit on your thrones on my right and on my left in my kingdom and will rule with me.'

"On this account, therefore, I have not hesitated nor have I been ashamed to call you my brethren and my companions, because ye will be fellow-kings with me in my kingdom. This, therefore, I say unto you, knowing that I will give you the mystery of the Ineffable; that is: That mystery is I, and I am that mystery.

"Now, therefore, not only will ye reign with me, but all men who shall receive the mystery of the Ineffable, will be fellow-kings with me in my kingdom. And I am they, and they are I. But my throne will tower over them. [And] because ye will suffer sorrows in the world beyond all men, until ye herald forth all the words which I shall speak unto you, your thrones shall be joined to mine in my kingdom.

"On this account I have said unto you aforetime: 'Where I shall be, there will be also my twelve ministers.' But Mary Magdalene and John, the virgin, will tower over all my disciples and over all men who shall receive the mysteries in the Ineffable. And they will be on my right and on my left. And I am they, and they are I.

Therefore, really and truly, the death of someone who has faith, is in the grand scheme of things, a wondrous event. When someone has genuine faith for quite a while, he becomes convinced to take the above view of things.

The Upcoming End Of Times

2007-03-01T11:58:00.001-08:00

The following gives one of the clearest accounts of what will happen at the end of this age of mankind (i.e. around now) - and beyond.

The (Ethiopian) Book of Enoch

Chapter 93

93.8 And after this, in the sixth week, all those who live in it will be blinded. And the hearts of them all, lacking wisdom, will sink into impiety. And in it, a man will ascend, and at its end the House of Sovereignty will be burnt with fire. And in it the whole race of the chosen root will be scattered.

93.9 And after this, in the seventh week, an apostate generation will arise. And many will be its deeds - but all its deeds will be apostasy.

93.10 And at its end, the Chosen Righteous, from the Eternal Plant of Righteousness, will be chosen, to whom will be given sevenfold teaching, concerning his whole creation.

93.11 For is there any man who can hear the voice of the Holy One and not be disturbed? And who is there who can think his thoughts? And who is there who can look at all the works of Heaven?

93.12 And how should there be anyone who could understand the works of Heaven, and see a soul, or a spirit, and tell about it, or ascend and see all their ends and comprehend them, or make anything like them?

93.13 And is there any man who could know the length and breadth of the Earth? And to who has all its measurements been shown?

93.14 Or is there any man who could know the length of Heaven, and what is its height, and on what is it fixed, and how large is the number of stars, and where do all the lights rest?

The (Ethiopian) Book of Enoch

Chapter 91

91.6 And iniquity will again be complete on the Earth, and all the deeds of iniquity, and the deeds of wrong, and of wickedness, will prevail for a second time.”

91.7 And when iniquity, and sin, and blasphemy, and wrong, and all kinds of evil deeds increase, and when apostasy, wickedness, and uncleanness increase, a great punishment will come from Heaven upon all these. And the Holy Lord will come in anger, and in wrath, to execute judgment on the Earth.

91.8 In those days wrongdoing will be cut off at its roots, and the roots of iniquity, together with deceit, will be destroyed from under Heaven.

91.9 And all the idols of the nations will be given up, their towers will be burnt in fire, and they will remove them from the whole Earth. And they will be thrown down into the Judgment of Fire, and will be destroyed in anger, and in the severe judgment that is forever.

91.10 And the righteous will rise from sleep, and wisdom will rise, and will be given to them.

91.11 And after this the roots of iniquity will be cut off and the sword will destroy the sinners. The blasphemers will be cut off; in every place blasphemy will be destroyed by the sword.

91.12 And after this there will be another week; the eighth, that of righteousness, and a sword will be given to it so that the Righteous Judgment may be executed on those who do wrong, and the sinners will be handed over into the hands of the righteous.

91.13 And, at its end, they will acquire Houses because of their righteousness, and a House will be built for the Great King in Glory, forever.

91.14 And after this, in the ninth week, the Righteous Judgment will be revealed to the whole world. And all the deeds of the impious will vanish from the whole Earth. And the world will be written down for destruction and all men will look to the Path of Uprightness.

91.15 And, after this, in the tenth week, in the seventh part, there will be an Eternal Judgment that will be executed on the Watchers and the Great Eternal Heaven that will spring from the midst of the Angels.

91.16 And the First Heaven will vanish and pass away and a New Heaven will appear, and all the Powers of Heaven will shine forever, with sevenfold light.

91.17 And after this, there will be many weeks without number, forever, in goodness and in righteousness. And from then on sin will never again be mentioned.

91.18 And now I tell you, my children, and show you the paths of righteousness, and the paths of wrongdoing. And I will show you again so that you may know what is to come.

91.19 And now listen, my children, walk in the paths of righteousness and do not walk in the paths of wrongdoing, for all those who walk in the path of iniquity will be destroyed forever.

(Ethiopian) Book of Enoch 93.9 indicates that during the period identified as the 'sixth week', a man (Jesus) will arise, and at the end of that period, Israel’s temple will be destroyed, and the Jewish race will become scattered. The above scripture goes on to say that a great apostasy will occur during the 'seventh week', and at its end, all the elect will be chosen and will be told all the mysteries of creation.

The above is consistent with the following scripture:

(NASB)

2 Thessalonians 2

1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

[The apostasy in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is the same apostasy referred to in (Ethiopian) Book of Enoch 93:9.]

The above scriptures therefore indicate that after Jesus comes into the world and the early church gets formed, Israel will be destroyed, and there will be a long period (about 2,000 years) in which those in the church will turn away from their faith, and at the end of the period, the bulk of the elect will be chosen, and they will be shown the mysteries of creation. Also, the remarkable things described in (Ethiopian) Book of Enoch 93:11-14, will be accomplished by the elect.

(Ethiopian) Book of Enoch 91:6-11 expounds on what will occur in the 'seventh week'. Wickedness of all kinds will take place on earth and in the material world. But the beings behind all this wickedness will be stripped from the material world, and righteousness will be allowed to rule afterwards. This will be done via the sword or word of power - which is God's holy name.

Another important fact (which (Ethiopian) Book of Enoch 91:7 points out) is that among those who will be convinced to have faith at the end of the 'seventh week', will be a portion who will later forsake their faith. This is confirmed in The Ascension of Isaiah 4:9. Therefore the seventh week' will be a long period of apostasy; then a significant number of people will be saved at its end; but this number will shrink significantly due to testing; then the wrath of God will be seen, in large part, due to the injustice which will be done against the saints.

Per (Ethiopian) Book of Enoch 9:12, after the above period, another period (the 'eighth week') will occur, where the righteous will rule. This corresponds to the thousand year reign of Christ (Revelation 20:4). Within this period, mankind (who will not include the saints who will rule with Christ) will not be wicked by default, and righteous judgment will always be performed against those who turn out to be wicked.

In the 'ninth week', all wickedness will disappear. Then at the end of the 'tenth week', a great Eternal Judgment will occur, followed by the appearance of a new heaven. After this point, eternity will occur, and sin will no longer exist.

Those Who Have Faith Are Members Of The Only Begotten Son

2007-02-03T16:37:00.001-08:00

Texts in the Bible and elsewhere, point out the fact that those who have faith are members of the Father's only begotten son. This means along with Jesus, those who have faith form the only begotten son.

Please note the following.

1 Corinthians 12

12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.
13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.
19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?
20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!"
22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,
24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,
25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?
30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And now I will show you the most excellent way.

Ephesians 5

23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.

The scriptures above are important, because they point to the nature and composition of Christ. Now if Jesus (who is Christ) is the head of the Church, and the Church is the body of Christ, this means that Jesus, along with the entire Church, make up Christ - with Jesus forming the head. In other words, Christ is not a single entity: rather Christ is the multitude of beings composed from the Church, that form a certain union. Alternately stated: Christ is the collective of all the saints that form a special union, with Jesus at the head.

Please look also at the following scriptures.

John 3

16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

Galatians 3

26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus,
27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

If Jesus is God's one and only son, this means God has only one son. However, if all those who have faith are also God's sons, this can only mean that all those who have faith are members of God's one and only son - along with Jesus. Therefore God's one and only son is actually the entity formed from the union of the saints or Church - with each saint being a member of that entity.

The above is further confirmed by the following.

Pistis Sophia

Chapter 95

It came to pass then, when Jesus had heard Mary say these words and knew that the disciples had heard and had begun to let go, that he encouraged them and said unto them: "Grieve no more, my disciples, concerning the mystery of, the Ineffable, thinking that ye will not understand it. Amen, I say unto you: That mystery is yours, and every one's who will give ear unto you, so that they renounce this whole world and the whole matter therein and renounce all the evil thoughts therein and renounce all the cares of this æon.

"Now, therefore, I say unto you: For every one who will renounce the whole world and all therein and will submit himself to the godhead, that mystery is far easier than all the mysteries of the Light-kingdom and it is sooner to understand than them all and it is easier [?] than them all. He who reacheth unto the gnosis of that mystery, renounceth this whole world and all the cares therein.

"For this cause have I said to you aforetime: 'All ye who are heavy under your burden, come hither unto me, and I will quicken you. For my burden is easy and my yoke is soft.' Now, therefore, he who will receive that mystery, renounceth the whole world and the cares of all the matter therein. For this cause, therefore, my disciples, grieve not, thinking that ye will not understand that mystery. Amen, I say unto you: That mystery is far sooner to understand than all mysteries. And amen, I say unto you: That mystery is yours and every one's who will renounce the whole world and the whole matter therein.

"And the soul which receiveth the mystery of the Ineffable, will soar into the height, being a great light-stream, and the receivers will not be able to seize it and will not know how the way is fashioned upon which it will go. For it becometh a great light-stream and soareth into the height, and no power is able to hold it down at all, nor will they be able to come nigh it at all.

(NIV)

John 1

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(NASB)

John 1

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Pistis Sophia indicates that the mystery of the Ineffable belongs to all those who renounce the world with all its sins and cares (which everyone does through faith). Pistis Sophia goes on to say that each person who holds the mystery of the Ineffable, becomes one with the limbs of the One and Only. In other words, those who have faith become members of the One and Only. The NIV and NASB translations of John 1:14 taken together, show that the One and Only is God's only begotten son. Therefore all those who have faith become members of God's only son. (See here for more information on the Godhood of Man.)

Praying Persistently

2006-12-30T23:22:00.000-08:00

I explained in this post, the importance of praying for something up to the point of receiving it. I gave a Biblical foundation for what I wrote - which is consistent with the way things are in reality. I also indicated that if someone creates a 1 or more sentence prayer and repeats it, that person will find the prayer highly effective. I am happy to see that these facts are borne out in the following scripture.

The Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean Age

Chapter 137

8 And Jesus said, The answer to your prayer may not appear in fulness in a little time. 9 Be not discouraged; pray again and then again, for God will hear. 10 And then he spoke a parable; he said, A housewife was alone at night and, lo, some guests arrived, and they were hungry, having had no food for all the day. 11 The housewife had no bread, and so at midnight she went forth and called a friend and said, Loan me three loaves of bread, for guests have come, and I have naught for them to eat. 12 The friend replied, Why do you trouble me at midnight hour? My door is shut; my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise to give you bread; to-morrow you can be supplied. 13 The housewife asked again, and then again, and then because she pled, and would not be refused, the friend arose and gave her bread. 14 Behold, I say to you, Ask firmly and you shall receive; seek trustingly and you shall find; knock earnestly, the door will open up. 15 All things are yours, and when you ask, not as a begging man would ask, but as a child, you shall be satisfied.

In addition to the fact that the housewife asked her friend repeatedly for some bread in the above scripture, you would imagine the housewife after a while, simply repeating her request, e.g., as follows, "Please give me some bread? Please give me some bread? Please give me some bread? ...." This is exactly what someone does when he repeats a 1 or more sentence prayer for several minutes (or alternately several hours over the course of several days).

The above scripture therefore directly confirms the importance of praying for something persistently, up to the point of receiving it; and at least somewhat supports the practice of repeating a request in the form of a 1 or more sentence prayer.

The Endorsement Of Zorastrian Texts By Christian Texts

2006-12-10T05:12:00.000-08:00

The following are excerpts from Christian scriptures that endorse or support the spiritual authenticity of Zoroastrian texts. Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an ancient Iranian prophet who lived about 3,000 years ago. Much his writings can be found in archives called the Avesta.

The Aquarian Age Gospel of Jesus, the Christ of the Piscean Age

Chapter 10

ELIHU taught ...
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20 In course of time a lofty soul, whom men called Zarathustra, came in flesh. 21 He saw the causeless Spirit, high and lifted up; he saw the weakness of all man appointed gods. 22 He spoke and all of Persia heard; and when he said, One God, one people and one shrine, the altars of the idols fell, and Persia was redeemed. 23 But men must see their Gods with human eyes, and Zarathustra said, 24 The greatest of the Spirits standing near the throne is the Ahura Mazda, who manifests in brightness of the sun. 25 And all the people saw Ahura Mazda in the sun, and they fell down and worshipped him in temples of the sun. 26 And Persia is the magian land where live the priests who saw the star arise to mark the place where Mary's son was born, and were the first to greet him as the Prince of Peace. 27 The precepts and the laws of Zarathustra are preserved in the Avesta which you can read and make your own. 28 But you must know that words are naught till they are made alive; until the lessons they contain become a part of head and heart. 29 Now truth is one; but no one knows the truth until he is the truth. It is recorded in an ancient book. 30 Truth is the leavening power of God; it can transmute the all of life into itself; and when the all of life is truth, then man is truth.

Chapter 14

18 And so the Holy Ones have judged; when men have needed added light a master soul has come to earth to give the light. 19 Before the Vedic days the world had many sacred books to light the way; and when man needed greater light the Vedas, the Avesta and the books of Tao Great appeared to show the way to greater heights. 20 And in the proper place the Hebrew Bible, with its Law, its Prophets and its Psalms, appeared for man's enlightenment. 21 But years have passed and men have need of greater light. 22 And now the Day Star from on high begins to shine; and Jesus is the flesh-made messenger to show that light to men.

Chapter 16

THE home of Joseph was on Marmion Way in Nazareth; here Mary taught her son the lessons of Elihu and Salome. 2 And Jesus greatly loved the Vedic and the Avesta; but more than all he loved to read the Psalms of David and the pungent words of Solomon. 3 The Jewish books of prophecy were his delight; and when he reached his seventh year he needed not the books to read, for he had fixed in memory every word.

Chapter 39

3 And Jesus standing in the midst of all the people, said, My brothers, sisters, children of our Father-God: 4 Most blest are you among the sons of men today, because you have such just conceptions of the Holy One and man. 5 Your purity in worship and in life is pleasing unto God; and to your master, Zarathustra, praise is due.

Apocryphon of John

"This is the number of the angels: together they are 365. They all worked on it until, limb for limb, the natural and the material body was completed by them. Now there are other ones in charge over the remaining passions whom I did not mention to you. But if you wish to know them, it is written in the book of Zoroaster.

The End Of This Age Of Mankind

2006-11-05T15:22:00.000-08:00

There are a number of web sites that indicate that this current age of mankind is approximately 6,000 years old. (See here for an example.) Two non-biblical scriptures indicate that the conclusion of this current age of mankind will happen shortly as a result.

Epistle of Barnabas

Chapter 15

1 Furthermore it was written concerning the Sabbath in the ten words which he spake on Mount Sinai face to face to Moses. "Sanctify also the Sabbath of the Lord with pure hands and a pure heart."

2 And in another place he says, "If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I bestow my mercy upon them."

3 He speaks of the Sabbath at the beginning o fthe Creation, "And God made in six days the works of his hands and on the seventh day he made an end, and rested in it and sanctified it."

4 Notice, children, what is the meaning of "He made an end in six days"? He means this: that the Lord will make an end of everything in six thousand years, for a day with him means a thousand years. And he himself is my witness when he says, "Lo, the day of the Lord shall be as a thousand years." So then, children, in six days, that is in six thousand years, everything will be completed.

5 "And he rested on the seventh day." This means, when his Son comes he will destroy the time of the wicked one, and will judge the godless, and will change the sun and the moon and the stars, and then he will truly rest on the seventh day.

Gospel Of Bartholomew

GOSPEL (QUESTIONS) OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW

11 Jesus saith unto him: Hades said unto Beliar: As I perceive, a God cometh hither. [Slavonic and latin 2 continue: And the angels cried unto the powers, saying: Remove your gates, ye princes, remove the everlasting doors, for behold the King of glory cometh down.

12 Hades said: Who is the King of glory, that cometh down from heaven unto us?

13 And when I had descended five hundred steps, Hades was troubled, saying: I hear the breathing of the Most High, and I cannot endure it. (latin 2. He cometh with great fragrance and I cannot bear it.) 14 But the devil answered and said: Submit not thyself, O Hades, but be strong: for God himself hath not descended upon the earth. 15 But when I had descended yet five hundred steps, the angels and the powers cried out: Take hold, remove the doors, for behold the King of glory cometh down. And Hades said: O, woe unto me, for I hear the breath of God.]

Greek. 16-17 And Beliar said unto Hades: Look carefully who it is that , for it is Elias, or Enoch, or one of the prophets that this man seemeth to me to be. But Hades answered Death and said: Not yet are six thousand years accomplished. And whence are these, O Beliar; for the sum of the number is in mine hands.

[Slavonic. 16 And the devil said unto Hades: Why affrightest thou me, Hades? it is a prophet, and he hath made himself like unto God: this prophet will we take and bring him hither unto those that think to ascend into heaven. 17 And Hades said: Which of the prophets is it? Show me: Is it Enoch the scribe of righteousness? But God hath not suffered him to come down upon the earth before the end of the six thousand years. Sayest thou that it is Elias, the avenger? But before he cometh not down. What shall I do, whereas the destruction is of God: for surely our end is at hand? For I have the number (of the years) in mine hands.]

Finally, in the Apocryphon of John, Christ endorsed Zoroastrian texts:

"This is the number of the angels: together they are 365. They all worked on it until, limb for limb, the natural and the material body was completed by them. Now there are other ones in charge over the remaining passions whom I did not mention to you. But if you wish to know them, it is written in the book of Zoroaster.

Also see here.

The following is taken from this web page:

By taking the distance from the start of the Ascending Passageway to the third Girdle Stone (of Zoroaster), 863.80201733 P", and subtracting it from the distance of the third Overlay (of Zoroaster), 1863.80201733 P", you get 1000.000 P", or January 1st, 1000 B.C., the date for the birth of Zoroaster.

Zoroaster said, One thousand years after my birth you will see a star in the sky. Follow it and you will come to a manger, and there you will find me. We all know the Christmas story of the Magi (Zoroastrian priests) who followed the star and came to the manger and found the infant Jesus, bringing him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Zoroaster said he lived 3000 years before his birth, 109 and 3000 years after his birth the forces of light would win over the forces of darkness. Thus one may conclude that Zoroaster was the middle Manifestation of the Adamic cycle, coming 3000 years after the Advent of Adam in 4000 B.C., the start of the Adamic cycle.

Three thousand years after the birth of Zoroaster the Adamic cycle will be ended.

Now there is generally some dispute over the date of the birth of Zoroaster, but I'm inclined to accept the above as being accurate - since it and Zoroaster's claims are consistent with inspired texts. Also I'm convinced of the soundness of the information in the quotation immediately above, since the information is corroborated elsewhere.

Therefore the Epistle of Barnabas, the Gospel of Bartholomew, and Zoroaster, all concur that that our current age of mankind will end in a few years.

Superficial Vs. Deep Seated Goodness

2006-09-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

There are many people who believe that the goodness that comes from God is superficial - i.e. it is necessarily seen in a person's surface behavior. This however is absolutely not the case. The goodness that comes from God is deep seated, which means that you see it (reliably) in a person's fundamental behavior. This means that you see God's goodness in a person, through his major actions. Also, this goodness is always present - meaning that it does not come and go.

Realization of the above critically distinguishes someone who knows God from someone who doesn't: because people who do not really know God tend to look at superficial stuff about people, when making judgments about their godliness.

Remember, a good or bad person may appear superficially nice, but only a good / godly person is fundamentally nice. The following scripture bears out my point:

Matthew 7

3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.)
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15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

The scripture above (specifically Matthew 7:3) points out that someone who has faith correctly (i.e. someone who practices the means by which a person attains righteousness), will have superficial defects (sawdust in his eye), but his major actions will be sound. Verse 15 above further points out that people who don't have faith may appear superficially / outwardly good (sheep's clothing) - but are fundamentally / inwardly bad (ferocious wolves).

It is very important that a person recognize the above, including the fact that people who do not really know God, tend to worry about superficial goodness (Matthew 23:27), and tend to judge the godliness of others based on this criterion, which is wrong.

It Is Impossible To Have Faith Without The Motivation And Assistance Of The Holy Spirit

2006-08-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

As I indicated here, a person's motivation to have faith correctly can only be pure. In other words, it is impossible for someone to be impurely motivated to have faith. I would like to examine this important fact from another angle. Please note below:

Romans 3

9 What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.
10 As it is written:
"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."

The scripture above shows the normal human condition. Absolutely no one seeks after God correctly. People may seek after God through various endeavors and religions (including Christianity and Judaism), but because they don't do it correctly, their efforts do no count. It stands to reason therefore that the motivation to have faith correctly, and to actually carry it out, is only possible through the action of the Holy Spirit as indicated in the following scripture:

2 Corinthians 4

13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken."With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak,
14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.

Therefore, without the motivation and action of the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for us to have faith correctly. Someone might respond by saying that we must couple the action of the Holy Spirit motivating us to have faith, with our own pure desire to do so. However Romans 3:12 indicates no such pure desire exists within us, for us to use. Therefore we are left only with the motivation and action of the Holy Spirit enabling us to have faith, and us achieving righteousness through it. That is why the following scripture says what it says below:

Romans 4

13 It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Therefore it is only by the action of the Holy Spirit inspiring and causing us to have faith, that we are able to achieve righteousness – not by any righteous thing we might try also to do.

Motivations Behind Having Faith

2006-08-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

There are some who suggest that a person must have pure motivation behind having faith; and they mean by this, that a person must have faith consistent with the rules outlined in the law of Moses. As I indicated here, a person can in fact ask God for anything he wants (while believing that he will receive it), and this action is in and of itself righteous, and makes that person righteous.

It is important to realize that a person never brings righteousness to a relationship with God: a person only walks away with righteousness from a relationship with God. That is what Paul meant in the following scripture:

Philippians 3

9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

The above can more clearly be seen in the following:

Ephesians 2

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

The scripture above indicates that salvation never allows someone to be able to boast about righteousness produced by himself. Therefore if someone advocates that someone else take a position that allows him to be able to boast to people about his own righteousness (such as, "Look! I asked God to do something out of a pure heart!"), then that is a dead giveaway that the instructor actually teaches righteousness through works, or the law - rather than righteousness by faith.

The above underscores the fact that a person can ask God for anything he wants, or else be guilty of practicing righteousness through works, by asking only for things that the law of Moses seemingly suggests he should. (Please note however that when someone asks God for something, he must believe that he will receive it in order for his exercise of faith to be valid ( James 1:5-8.))

Now if a person can ask God for anything he wants while having faith correctly, and this action is only produced by the Holy Spirit (see here for more information), this means that a person's motivation behind having faith in the above manner can only be pure - since it is impossible for the Holy Spirit to impurely motivate someone to do anything, including having faith.

(Please realize that it is only when someone has faith incorrectly [i.e. not via the practice of asking God for things and believing he will receive them], that his motivation behind the act can be called into question, because the Holy Spirit does not inspire or produce that kind of behavior in anyone.)

You Can Ask God For Anything You Want When Having Faith

2006-08-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

Christ indicated several times that a person can ask God for whatever he wants - not just for certain things:

Mark 11

24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

John 11

22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."

Some suggest that Christ actually meant that a person can only come to God with righteous requests. What they mean by this is that a person can only ask God for things in line with the law of Moses. In other words, a person can only ask God for things outlined in the law of Moses, such as that God blesses his neighbors; but he really cannot just ask God for anything he wants, such as obtaining a new yacht.

Please note the scriptures below:

Romans 3

28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

Ephesians 2

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Romans 3:28 indicates that the law of Moses does not come into the equation when having faith, and receiving justification from it. Therefore a person is not required to ask God for things consistent with things outlined in the law. This means that a person can in fact ask God for anything he wants - just like what Christ said. Further, Ephesians 2:8-9 indicates that a person is saved through faith and not by any work of righteousness, lest he becomes able to boast. Now if a person was obligated to ask God for things in line with the law of Moses (or some other set of rules of righteousness), he would be able to boast of making righteous requests under his own strength - rather than as a result of his faith (which shows up naturally in his actions). Therefore we see that it is misleading to say that a person is constrained in what he can ask God for, when he has faith.

It is important to realize that the act or practice of asking God for things, and believing that you will receive them (i.e. having faith - Mark 11:22-24) is it self a righteous act, since this can only be produced by the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4

In other words, it is impossible for a person to ask God for anything he wants at all (while believing he will receive it), without the Holy Spirit producing this action in him. Therefore it is impossible for someone to have faith in an unrighteous manner - if he does so consistent with Christ's instructions on how it should be done.

Do not let anyone suggest to you that you must do anything under the law of Moses - including having faith. You can in fact ask God for anything at all that you want (while believing that you will receive it), and you should constantly do so, since this is what produces righteousness in you, and the more you do so, the more righteous you will become.

No Creature Can Create Another Substantially Better Than Itself

2006-08-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

One of the reasons we know that the theory of evolution is incorrect, is that it suggests that creatures can ultimately create other creatures substantially greater than themselves. This principle however appears only in evolution and related theories: they are not seen in things around us. Therefore in as much as we don't see e.g. viruses creating plants, animals, or humans (but rather humans creating viruses), we shouldn't expect the claims made by the theory of evolution about microscopic organisms e.g. ultimately creating humans, to be possible.

Wickedness: Imperfection That Arises Due To Separation From God

2006-08-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

Please note the following:

Mark 10

17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.

The scripture above is very important, because it points out that wickedness is a phenomenon that arises in a being, when it is separated from God. (More specifically, the Father.) Therefore, wickedness / evil is a disease that afflicts those who are severed from the Father, or have no dependency on Him. (Someone is dependent on the Father, through the process of having fiath correctly). The above is why mankind and the material world are wicked: because by default, the beings that make up both do not have faith. The above is also why the natures of Lucifer and the angels who followed him out of the realm of the Father, became wicked: because by these beings declaring their independence from the Father, they became cut off from their source of goodness, and became wriddled with the wickedness disease.

The war that mankind fights with the material world and its rulers, is the process of detoxifying himself (and others around him) from the wickedness of the material world, in all its forms. This includes exhibiting good deeds, obtaining the mysteries of God and His creation, and trying to reach and even exceed the state Christ was in, when He was here on earth. (All of this can only be accomplished through the process of having faith correctly.) Therefore have faith correctly and accomplish your main purpose for being here, so that you will receive your reward from your heavenly Father, which includes creatorship, and kingship over the new creation.

Overview Of The Godhead

2006-07-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

The following is an excerpt from a response I posted on 123 Christian Forums. I thought there might be some people out there who might find what I wrote interesting.

"Let me clarify a few things. God refers to the name of the Godhead, which includes not just 3 individuals, but rather countless esteemed beings – including men and angels. Each of these beings bears the common titles, Lord and God. It is important to realize that the Father is the first man, the Holy Spirit is His consort and belongs to the order of man, and Christ is their first son – hence His title, Son of Man. All men and women who have faith correctly have the same spiritual composition of Christ, and are hence sons of the Father and the Holy Spirit like Christ – though they all come after Christ in rank. Now the Godhead consists of many orders or types of Gods – which includes many highly esteemed angels. In addition to this, many angels that attend to the Father, Holy Spirit, and Christ, are identified as being one and the same as them. This means that there are angels of the Holy Spirit who are called the Holy Spirit, by virtue of the fact they attend to and actually constitute the being, the Holy Spirit. One class of these angels is called the Holy Ones, who are divine beings of Light. It is these angels (who are Gods) who reside in all men and women who have faith correctly. When Christ said make your light shine, He meant make the qualities of these angels of light, be seen in you – which can only take place by having faith correctly.

I could go on and on. E.g. there are triple-powered beings that are part of the Godhead, as well as a being called Pistis Sophia, who sought after God, fell into error by creating our material universe without her consort, but was redeemed by the Father because of her faith. Now it was important for Pistis to have erred, so that she could be tested, and on passing the test, receive far greater glorification than she had originally. That is the fate of everyone who seeks his or her fullness of being (i.e. full potential) in the Father – they must sink into error, be tested, and then be elevated. That is also the reason seeds of God (mankind) were planted in this material universe – so that they may be tested and elevated to be highest order of God - after the Father and the Holy Spirit.

The Father therefore found it necessary to allow the material universe with all its deficiencies to arise, and to have war break out in heaven in which the God Lucifer, broke away from the Godhead, and sought to establish himself above the Father, and the Godhead. (Lucifer’s rebellion was precipitated by his refusal to worship man, which the Father placed above him.) This lead to Lucifer and his angels leading the wicked forces of this material universe, to war with man. They all hate mankind bitterly, and is the reason mankind is ignorant about who he is, and now sins profusely. Also, Lucifer and his forces are to be ultimately defeated by man, bringing an end to the material universe and their existences.

Regarding Daniel 10, remember there are many, many Gods in the Godhead, with different ranks, power, and authority. The Father is the God of all Gods in the God hierarchy, and He is unique in being omniscient, and omnipotent, and does not need anything from anyone – rather He is the ultimate source of everything. He knows everything before it happens, and nothing happens (not even a leaf falling, or a sub atomic particle vibrating) without His approval – and this is just a fraction of His abilities that He has seen fit to show His creation. All other Gods in the Godhead do have limits, and practice petitioning the Father ultimately for things – that is what God considers having faith (it is the act of asking God for things and believing you will receive them – Mark 11:22-24).

Therefore when Daniel in Daniel 10 saw a God from the Godhead (who was above him) in a vision, you should not be surprised that the God was constrained and needed help from Michael – the same principle applies to all those who have faith who are Gods (John 10:34), who rely on help from the Holy Spirit and God’s other angels to get things done."

(Please note that you view can some of my discussions on the above forums here.)

How Much Time Should Someone Spend Having Faith?

2006-06-07T02:56:00.000-07:00

Remember having faith is the specific practice of asking God for things, and believing that you will receive them. A question someone might ask is, “How long should I practice having faith?” The answer is for as long as you feel comfortable doing so – but ensure that you at least exceed the minimum level required by God. (Please read the second to last paragraph in this post about repeating a sentence in prayer to ensure that you meet the minimum level of having faith required by God.)

So what is the minimum level of having faith? It is hard to say, but I believe if someone has faith about 20 minutes a day for at least 5 days a week, he should be okay. If praying for 20 minutes straight seems a bit long, that person can always split the time into 2 or more praying sessions or occasions of 10 minutes or less each. That person should just try to ensure that all his or her prayer times add up to about 20 minutes every day.

The above are not hard and fast rules, but rather an important framework that ensures someone has faith at a minimum level that is acceptable to God. It is highly recommended though that everyone go beyond the minimum level, and pray considerably longer everyday – maybe at least 1 hour a day.

Remember to be as relaxed and comfortable as possible when you pray, to ensure you can pray for longer periods of time. Also, the act of having faith feeds the practice – meaning the more you have faith, the longer you will be inclined to do so in the future. Further, a person has the option of directly praying for the inclination to pray for longer periods of time.

All in all, a person should aspire to reach the point at which he prays several hours a day. That will make the person become very, very favorable to God, and it will allow him (or her) to exhibit the qualities of God with ever increasing intensity. As a practical matter, this is how the many individuals highly regarded by God in the scriptures reached their statuses: through huge amounts of praying.

When you actually do large amounts of praying, you will see that what I said above is true - as you will look in amazement at how your fundamental goodness grows, and remains firm and constant throughout all situations (even as the goodness of others around you falter). Also, when you do a large amount of praying, ideas will pop into your head at a fair level of frequency, and you will increasingly understand the ways of God and how this world works.

The following scriptures back up what I said:

(KJV)

Luke 18

1 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

(KJV)

Luke 21

36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

(KJV)

Ephesians 6

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Essene Gospel of Peace

"Renew yourselves and fast. For I tell you truly, that Satan and his plagues may only be cast out by -fasting and by prayer. Go by yourself and fast alone, and show your fasting to no man. The living God shall see it and great shall be your reward. And fast till Beelzebub and all his evils depart from you, and all the angels of our Earthly Mother come and serve you. For I tell you truly, except you fast, you shall never be freed from the power of Satan and from all diseases that come from Satan. Fast and pray fervently, seeking the power of the living God for your healing. While you fast, eschew the Sons of Men and seek our Earthly Mother's angels, for he that seeks shall find.
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And when you come before the face of God, the devils of Satan bear witness against you with your deed, and God sees your sins written in the book of your body and of your spirit and is sad in his heart. But if you repent of your sins, and by fasting and prayer you seek the angels of God, then each day that you continue to fast and to pray, God's angels blot out one year of your evil deeds from the book of your body and your spirit.
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And Jesus departed, saying: "I will come again to all who persist in prayer and fasting tAl the seventh day. Peace be with you.

The Godship And Impending Glorification Of Man

2006-04-09T01:33:00.000-07:00

In this post, I provided links to other posts that showed, largely from the Bible, that those who have faith are God, and are to receive their glorification when they die. Hidden scriptures such as Pistis Sophia, back this fact up and provide expanded information.

Pistis Sophia

Chapter 85
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It came to pass then, when Mary had heard the Saviour say these words, that she rejoiced in exceedingly great joy and exulted, and said: "My Lord, will then the men of the world who have received the mysteries of the Light, be superior to the emanations of the Treasury in thy kingdom? For I have heard thee say: If I lead you into the region of those who have received the mysteries of the Light, then will the region of the [emanations of the] Light-land count for you as a speck of dust because of the great distance in which it is distant from it, and because of the great light in which it is,'--that is the Light-land is the Treasury, the region of the emanations,--will therefore then, my Lord, the men who have received the mysteries, be superior to the Light-land and superior to those [emanations] in the kingdom of the Light?"
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Chapter 86
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"In a word, all the souls of men who shall receive the mysteries of the Light, will precede all the rulers who have repented, and they will precede all those of the region of the Midst and those of the whole region of the Right, and they will precede those of the whole region of the Treasury of the Light. In a word, they will precede all those of the region [of the Treasury], and they will precede all those of the regions of the first Commandment, and they will pass into the interior of them all and go into the Inheritance of the Light up to the region of their mystery; and every one abideth in the region up to which he hath received mysteries. And those of the region of the Midst and of the Right and those of the whole region of the Treasury, every one abideth in the region of the order into which he hath been set from the beginning on, until the universe shall be raised up. And every one of them accomplisheth his economy to which he hath been set, in respect of the ingathering of the souls who have received the mysteries, in respect of this economy, so that they may seal all the souls who will receive the mysteries and who will pass through their interior towards the Inheritance of the Light.

"Now, therefore, Mary, this is the word concerning which thou dost question me with precision and certainty. For the rest now then, who hath ears to hear, let him hear."

Chapter 87

"It came to pass then, when Jesus had finished speaking these words, that Mary Magdalene started forward and said:

"My Lord, my indweller of light hath ears and I comprehend every word which thou sayest. Now, therefore, my Lord, on account of the word which thou hast spoken: 'All the souls of the race of men who shall receive the mysteries of the Light, will go into the Inheritance of the Light before all the rulers who will repent, and before those of the whole region of the Right and before the whole region of the Treasury of the Light,'--on account of this word, my Lord, thou hast said unto us aforetime: 'The first will be last and the last will be first,'--that is, the 'last' are the whole race of men which will enter into the Light-kingdom sooner than all those of the region of the Height, who are the first.' On this account, therefore, my Lord, hast thou said unto us: 'Who hath ears to hear, let him hear,'--that is thou desirest to know whether we comprehend every word which thou speakest. This, therefore, is the word, my Lord."

It came to pass then, when Mary had finished saying these words, that the Saviour was greatly astonished at the definitions of the words which she spake, for she had become pure spirit utterly. Jesus answered again and said unto her: "Well said, spiritual and pure Mary. This is the solution of the word."

In other words, all those who have faith will rule over all beings in creation - including the most exalted now in heaven. This fact is seen once more in the following scripture:

Pistis Sophia

Chapter 96
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"And he who will receive the one and only word of that mystery which I shall now say unto you, and all its types and all its figures, and the manner of accomplishing its mystery,--for ye are perfect and all-perfect and ye will accomplish the whole gnosis of that mystery with its whole economy, for unto you all mysteries are entrusted,--hearken, therefore, now, that I may tell you that mystery, which is [ . . .?].

"He then, who shall receive the one and only word of that mystery, which I have told you, if he cometh forth out of the body of the matters of the rulers, and if the retributive receivers come and free him from the body of matter of the rulers,--that is those [receivers] who free from the body all out-going souls,--when, therefore, the retributive receivers free the soul which hath received this one and only mystery of the Ineffable, which I have just told you, then will it straightway, if it be set free from the body of matter, become a great light-stream in the midst of those receivers, and the receivers will be exceedingly afraid of the light of that soul, and the receivers will be made powerless and fall down and desist altogether for fear of the great light which they have seen.

"And the soul which receiveth the mystery of the Ineffable, will soar into the height, being a great light-stream, and the receivers will not be able to seize it and will not know how the way is fashioned upon which it will go. For it becometh a great light-stream and soareth into the height, and no power is able to hold it down at all, nor will they be able to come nigh it at all.

"But it will pass through all the regions of the rulers and all the regions of the emanations of the Light, and it will not give answers in any region, nor giveth it any apologies, nor giveth it any tokens; neither will any power of the rulers nor any power of the emanations of the Light be able to come nigh that soul. But all the regions of the rulers and all the regions of the emanations of the Light,--every one singeth unto it praises in their regions, in fear of the light of the stream which envelopeth that soul, until it passeth through them all, and goeth to the region of the inheritance of the mystery which it hath received,--that is to the mystery of the One and Only, the Ineffable,--and until it becometh one with its Limbs. Amēn, I say unto you: It will be in all the regions in the time a man shooteth an arrow. "Now, therefore, amēn, I say unto you: Every man who will receive that mystery of the Ineffable and accomplish it in all its types and all its figures,--he is a man in the world, but he towereth above all angels and will tower still more above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all archangels and will tower still more above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all tyrants and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all lords and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all gods and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all light-givers and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all pure [ones] and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all triple-powers and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all forefathers and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all invisibles and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above the great invisible forefather and will raise himself above him.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all those of the Midst and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above the emanations of the Treasury of the Light and will raise himself above them all.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above the Mixture and will raise himself entirely above it.

"He is a man in the world, but he towereth above the whole region of the Treasury and will raise himself entirely above it.

"He is a man in the world, but he will rule with me in my kingdom.

"He is a man in the world, but he is king in the Light.

"He is a man in the world, but he is not one of the world.

"And amēn, I say unto you: That man is I and I am that man.

"And at the dissolution of the world, that is when the universe will be raised up and when the numbering of the perfect souls will be raised up all together, and when I am king in the midst of the last Helper, being king over all the emanations of the Light and king over the seven Amēns and the five Trees and the three Amēns and the nine guards, and being king over the Child of the Child, that is the Twin-saviours, and being king over the twelve saviours and over the whole numbering of the perfect souls who shall receive the mysteries in the Light,--then will all men who shall receive the mysteries in the Ineffable, be fellow-kings with me and will sit on my right and on my left in my kingdom.

"And amēn, I say unto you: Those men are I, and I am they.

"On this account have I said unto you aforetime: 'Ye will sit on your thrones on my right and on my left in my kingdom and will rule with me.'

"On this account, therefore, I have not hesitated nor have I been ashamed to call you my brethren and my companions, because ye will be fellow-kings with me in my kingdom. This, therefore, I say unto you, knowing that I will give you the mystery of the Ineffable; that is: That mystery is I, and I am that mystery.

"Now, therefore, not only will ye reign with me, but all men who shall receive the mystery of the Ineffable, will be fellow-kings with me in my kingdom. And I am they, and they are I. But my throne will tower over them. [And] because ye will suffer sorrows in the world beyond all men, until ye herald forth all the words which I shall speak unto you, your thrones shall be joined to mine in my kingdom.

"On this account I have said unto you aforetime: 'Where I shall be, there will be also my twelve ministers.' But Mary Magdalene and John, the virgin, will tower over all my disciples and over all men who shall receive the mysteries in the Ineffable. And they will be on my right and on my left. And I am they, and they are I.

"And they will be like unto you in all things save that your thrones will tower over theirs, and my throne will tower over yours.

"And all men who will find the word of the Ineffable,--amēn, I say unto you: The men who shall know that word, will know the gnosis of all these words which I have spoken unto you, both those of the depth and those of the height, those of the length and those of the breadth; in a word, they will know the gnosis of all these words which I have spoken unto you and which I have not yet spoken unto you, which I will speak unto you, region by region and order by order, at the expansion of the universe.

"And amēn, I say unto you: They will know in what manner the world is established, and they will know in what type all those of the height are established, and they will know out of what ground the universe hath arisen."

Mankind therefore is actually the highest order of God, who has been placed in this material universe as seeds of God. We were allowed to be lowered, disgraced, and exist in a state and world of poverty and distractions, wherein spirits who hate us surruptitiously defile us, and lead us away from the truth about things. Those who have faith correctly, and overcome all the odds they are faced (on account of all the godly qualities that arise in them and the assistance they receive - because of their faith), will be exalted above all other beings, and will merge with the great beings from the pure regions of heaven, to become massive Gods, after Christ, and in His image.

Consider the following scripture:

2 Corinthians 3

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

The passage above means that if we were to peel back our faces, and had the capacity to see, we would see our invisible souls merged with the divine angels in us (who are identified as the Holy Spirit living in us), transforming us to resemble Christ. It is these divine angels who are the light streams, referred to in the second Pistis Sophia passage above, who protect us, and cause us to be reverred by all other beings in creation.

Examples of how we shall appear, are given in the following scriptures:

The Vision of Paul the Apostle

20. And when I had entered the interior of the gate of Paradise,7 there came out to meet me an old man whose countenance shone as the sun; and when he had embraced me he said: Hail, Paul, beloved of God. And he kissed me with a cheerful countenance. He wept, and I said to him: Brother, why dost thou weep? And again sighing and lamenting he said: We are hurt by men, and they vex us greatly; for many are the good things which the Lord has prepared, and great is his promise, but many do not perceive them. And I asked the angel, and said: Sir, who is this? And he said to me: This is Enoch, the scribe of righteousness.
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46. While I was yet looking upon the tree, I saw a virgin coming from afar and two hundred angels before her saying hymns, and I asked and said: Sir, who is she who comes in so great glory? And he said to me: This is Mary the Virgin, the Mother of the Lord. And coming near she saluted me and said: Hail, Paul! well-beloved of God and angels and men. For all the saints prayed my Son Jesus who is my Lord that thou mightest come hither in the body that they might see thee before thou goest out of the world.
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47. When she had thus spoken, I saw three coming from afar, very beautiful in the likeness of Christ, and their forms were shining, and their angels, and I asked: Sir, who are these? And he said to me: Dost thou not know those? And I said: No, Sir. And he answered: These are the fathers of the people, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And coming near they saluted me, and said: Hail, Paul, well-beloved of God and men; blessed is he who suffers violence for the Lord's sake.
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It is important to realize who we are and why we are here. Every man and woman is a seed of God who has been placed in a perilous situation. If we do not have faith correctly and merge or combine with our divine angels (who are angels of the Holy Spirit, and hence are identified as the Holy Spirit and our Lights), we will die like unfertilized eggs, and won't become the gods we are supposed to be. However if we do have faith and merge with the Holy Spirit, we will be born again into the highest Gods who have an inheritance of rulership over all creation. (See here for more information on the Godhood of Man.)

What Does It Mean To Be Born Again?

2006-03-22T16:42:00.000-08:00

Please note the following scripture:

John 3

1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.
2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
4 "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

The above scripture is explained partly by the following scripture:

Pistis Sophia

Chapter 115

"Now, therefore, he who shall receive the mysteries of the baptisms, then the mystery of them becometh a great, exceedingly violent, wise fire and it burneth up the sins and entereth into the soul secretly and consumeth all the sins which the counterfeiting spirit hath made fast on to it. And when it hath finished purifying all the sins which the counterfeiting spirit hath made fast on to the soul, it entereth into the body secretly and pursueth all the pursuers secretly and separateth them off on the side of the portion of the body. For it pursueth the counterfeiting spirit and the destiny and separateth them off from the power and from the soul and putteth them on the side of the body, so that it separateth off the counterfeiting spirit and the destiny and the body into one portion; the soul and power on the other hand it separateth into another. The mystery of baptism on the contrary remaineth in the midst of the two, continually separating them from one another, so that it maketh them clean and purifieth them, in order that they may not be stained by matter."

Now the identity of the mystery of the baptism is provided in The Apocryphon of James:

"Do you dare to spare the flesh, you for whom the spirit is an encircling wall?"

Therefore the spirit or Holy Spirit, is the mystery of the baptism who both purifies and encircles your soul, and accompanying spirit. Therefore when someone is born again / of the spirit, he is assigned the Holy Spirit who: purifies him through the process called "the mystery of the baptism"; lives in him (2 Timothy 1:14); and protects him.

In addition to above, please note that when someone is born, he is automatically born of the flesh. When this happens, his soul becomes a platform for an array of evil spirits, headed by a main counterfeiting spirit:

Pistis Sophia

Chapter 111

When then the Saviour had said this, he continued again in the discourse and said unto Mary: "Now, therefore, hearken, Mary, concerning the word on which thou hast questioned me: Who constraineth the man until he sinneth? Now, therefore, hearken: "Is the babe born, the power is feeble in it, and the soul is feeble in it, and also the counterfeiting spirit is feeble in it; in a word, the three together are feeble, without any one of them sensing anything, whether good or evil, because of the load of forgetfulness which is very heavy. Moreover the body also is feeble. And the babe eateth of the delights of the world of the rulers; and the power draweth into itself from the portion of the power which is in the delights; and the soul draweth into itself from the portion of the soul which is in the delights; and the counterfeiting spirit draweth into itself from the portion of the evil which is in the delights and in its lusts. And on the other hand the body draweth into itself the matter which senseth not, which is in the delights. The destiny on the contrary taketh nothing from the delights, because it is not mingled with them, but it departeth again in the condition in which it cometh into the world.

"And little by little the power and the soul and the counterfeiting spirit grow, and every one of them senseth according to its nature: the power senseth to seek after the light of the height; the soul on the other hand senseth to seek after the region of righteousness which is mixed, which is the region of the commixture; the counterfeiting spirit on the other hand seeketh after all evils and lusts and all sins; the body on the contrary senseth nothing unless it taketh up force out of the matter.

"And straightway the three develop sense, every one according to its nature. And the retributive receivers assign the servitors to follow them and be witnesses of all the sins which they commit, with a view to the manner and method how they will chastize them in the judgments.

"And after this the counterfeiting spirit contriveth and senseth all sins and the evil which the rulers of the great Fate have commanded for the soul, and it maketh them for the soul.

"And the inner power stirreth the soul to seek after the region of the Light and the whole god-head; and the counterfeiting spirit leadeth away the soul and compelleth it continually to do all its lawless deeds, all its mischiefs and all its sin, and is persistently allotted to the soul and is hostile to it, and making it do all this evil and all these sins.

"And it goadeth on the retributive servitors, so that they are witnesses in all the sins which it will make it do. Moreover also if it will rest in the night {or} by day, it stirreth it in dreams or in lusts of the world, and maketh it to lust after all the things of the world. In a word, it driveth {?} it into all the things which the rulers have commanded for it and it is hostile to the soul, making it do what pleaseth it not.

(Please note that the above is consistent with what I wrote here.) Further:

Gospel of Philip

"As for the unclean spirits, there are males among them and there are females. The males are they which unite with the souls which inhabit a female form, but the females are they which are mingled with those in a male form, through one who was disobedient. And none shall be able to escape them, since they detain him if he does not receive a male power or a female power - the bridegroom and the bride.One receives them from the mirrored bridal chamber. When the wanton women see a male sitting alone, they leap down on him and play with him and defile him. So also the lecherous men, when they see a beautiful woman sitting alone, they persuade her and comple her, wishing to defile her. But if they see the man and his wife sitting beside one another, the female cannot come into the man, nor can the male come into a woman. So if the image and the angel are united with one another, neither can any venture to go into the man or the woman."

(Please note that the image above is your soul, and the angel is the divine angel of the Holy Spirit - who is identified in the Bible as the Holy Spirit who lives in you.) Further:

Pistis Sophia

Chapter 140

"He continued in the discourse and said: "The second order is called Ariouth the Æthiopian, a female ruler, who is entirely black, under whom stand fourteen other [arch]demons which rule over a multitude of other demons. And it is those demons which stand under Ariouth the Æthiopian, that enter into strife-seekers until they stir up wars and murders arise, and they harden their heart and seduce it to wrath in order that murders may arise.

"And the souls which this authority will carry off in ravishment, pass one-hundred-and-thirteen years in her regions, while she tormenteth them through her dark smoke and her wicked fire, so that they come nigh unto destruction.

Counter to what is described above, when someone is born of the Spirit, he becomes a platform for an array of godly spirits who live in him and protect him:

Gospel of Philip

"The human being has intercourse with the human being. The horse has intercourse with the horse, the ass with the ass. Members of a race usually have associated with those of like race. So spirit mingles with spirit, and thought consorts with thought, and light shares with light. If you are born a human being, it is the human being which will love you.If you become a spirit, it is the spirit which will be joined to you. If you become thought, it is thought which will mingle with you. If you become light, it is light which will share with you. If you become one of those who belong above,it is those who belong above who will rest in you. If you become horse or ass or bull or dog or sheep or another of the animals which are outside and below, then neither human bein nor spirit nor thought nor light will be able to love you. Neither those who belong above nor those who belong within will be able to rest in you, and you have no part in them. He who is a slave against his will, will be able to become free."

Therefore being born again means that instead of your soul (which is a seed of God) remaining a platform for evil spirits who relentlessly defile you and force you to sin (resulting in the death of your soul), your soul becomes purified and protected by the Holy Spirit, and becomes a platform for godly spirits who cause you (and specifically your soul) to grow up as a baby or child god, bearing godly fruits. (See here for related information.)

Hidden Scriptures

2006-03-17T20:00:00.000-08:00

There are a number of works on the web that have been inspired by God, which did not make it into the Bible. I will be compiling them in an adjunct blog, and discussing them in this blog.

Contrary to what many believe, the Bible does not offer a safe haven for knowledge of the truth, per se. Safe haven only exists in the practice of having faith correctly. (I.e. in the practice of asking God for things and believing that you will receive them - Mark 11:22-24.) That is what is meant by the following scripture:

Romans 9

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."
33 As it is written:
"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall,
and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

In other words, it is impossible to know the truth about things (including what the scriptures in the Bible are actually saying) without having faith correctly.

Note also the following scripture:

1 Corinthians 2

6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
7 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"
10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment:
16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

Given the fact that someone receives the Spirit by having faith (Galatians 3:14), the above scripture indicates that those who have faith are given understanding of the scriptures and the ways of God, by virtue of the Spirit they receive. Further, (verse 15) it is the prerogative of all those who have faith to make judgments about all things - including works that claim or suggest that they are inspired by God.

With this in mind, I will be delving into many genuine scriptures surfacing on the web, and I will be shedding light on them, as well as the meaning of many scriptures in the Bible. All of this is legitimate to do, since all Christians have the prerogative to make judgments about all works that claim or suggest that they are of God, and comment and expound on them. Further, what offers safety in the knowledge of God is a person’s faith – not the Bible. Therefore if a person has strong faith and becomes convinced that a range of works are genuinely inspired by God, then this body of works become seen as being true, by virtue of that person’s faith – which lets him identify and appreciate them.

All of this will be a something of a dangerous enterprise, since I will be wading through some materials that are true, and some materials that are false, to determine the truth about all things. In a sense it hardly matters that I will be venturing outside the Bible, since the Bible is just as lethal as everything else in this world - without having faith correctly. Also, remember Jeremiah 31:33-34 indicates that God promised that with the Church, He would put His law in its members' minds, and write it in their hearts - meaning that by virtue of their faith, Christians would realize the ways of God from the things around them, and desire to pursue them. It would no longer be necessary for God to place His words or the law in clearly delineated books.

The fact of the matter is that God's truth is everywhere: even in the filthiest of things. It just takes a lot of faith to see it and pull it together.

So why am I doing this? Because that is the reason we are here: to have faith and overcome insurmountable odds, by taking on the qualities of God - made possible through His holy angels, who have been assigned to us. Among the things we are to overcome, is our ignorance of why we are here on earth, and the vast, excellent mysteries of God.

The Way You Know Matters Of Christ And God Are True

2006-03-13T17:45:00.000-08:00

Someone might ask, “How do you know that the things Christ talked about are true? Why isn’t science, or any of the other religions unharmonious to Christianity, or the many inconsistent philosophies out there, alternately true?” When someone has faith the way prescribed by Christ in Mark 11:22-24, strange things start happening to that person in subtle ways – consistent with things written in the Bible. (It really is amazing!) Among the unusual things that start happening to that person, is his fundamental behavior starts improving in a natural fashion – and this emergent goodness, can be seen to be constant in all situations in his life.

Now consider a good / just society, and also a lawless society. Which one is more likely to be in line with, and to speak the truth about things? The good / just society. Now when someone has faith correctly, he exhibits a constant goodness that cannot not found anywhere else (i.e. through the pursuit of science, incompatible religions, incompatible philosophies, etc.). This means that that person is uniquely aligned with the truth. Therefore having faith the way prescribed by Christ in Mark 11:22-24 causes a constant goodness to arise in someone, attesting to the fact that the path that person has taken, is true. Also, when someone has faith the way prescribed by Christ, he notices that things around him are as described by Christ in the Bible and other texts.

Therefore the way you know matters of Christ are true, are: 1) due to the fact when you have faith the way Christ said you should, unique, emergent, fundamental good arises in you, which attests that you aligned with the truth; and 2) you get to see for yourself, that the things Christ talked about in the Bible and other texts, are true.

Transforming Into The Image Of God Via Faith (Vs. Works)

2006-02-12T18:24:00.000-08:00

A crucial thing that distinguishes someone who has genuine faith, from someone who does not, is the recognition that the only way someone can achieve righteousness and every other godly quality, is by having faith correctly. There are many who say that someone is saved and made righteous by faith (consistent with Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 3:28), yet they instruct others to do works of righteousness (such as being kind to others, asserting control of their lives, etc.) directly. This is plain wrong (Galatians 5:4), and is also impossible to do (Romans 7:18, 22-23). Everything has to be done via having faith (Mark 11:22-24). Everything. In other words, a person must depend on the practice of having faith to produce righteousness and every other godly quality he seeks after. There is no other way. That is why Paul wrote the following:

Romans 1

17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

Therefore have faith a lot to produce righteousness, intelligence, perceptiveness, increased capacity to accomplish things via faith, etc. That is what a relationship with God is centered around. Ultimately, the only thing that matters to God, is that you do this.

Proof That Having Faith Causes Good Works To Naturally Appear In Someone

2006-01-24T16:17:00.000-08:00

The following shows that having faith causes someone to act righteously in a natural manner.

Please note the scripture below:

Romans 9

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."
33 As it is written:
"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall,
and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;

Paul indicated that Gentiles who were saved did not directly pursue righteousness, but attained it anyway. Now the question is, doesn’t righteousness include righteous behavior? Therefore if the Gentiles in the above scripture did not directly pursue righteousness, but acted righteously anyway, doesn’t that mean they acted righteously in a natural fashion?

Please also look at the following scriptures:

Galatians 5

4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

Romans 2

13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

In Galatians 5:4, Paul warned the Galatians that if they directly pursued righteousness after having faith, they would lose their salvation. Paul however said in Romans 2:13 that it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. The only way these two scriptures can exist and not contradict one another, is that when someone has faith correctly, and does not directly pursue righteousness, this leads to righteous behavior appearing in that person in a natural fashion. This fact is borne out in the following scripture:

Romans 3

21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

The righteousness by faith from God that does not involve the direct pursuit of righteousness, is testified or outlined in the law. In other words, when someone has faith, even though he does not directly pursue righteousness, he behaves in a righteous manner consistent with the law.

2 Peter 1:3-4 indicates that those who have faith have been given God's divine nature. It is because of this divine nature residing inside of us, that we are able to do good works in a natural manner.

Acting righteously in a natural manner, includes acting righteously unconsciously, and acting righteously consciously – but in a natural (vs. forced) fashion.

Feelings And Impulses

2006-01-24T06:24:00.000-08:00

Please note the following scriptures:

Galatians 3

14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Romans 8

5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.
8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

Romans 7

25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Galatians 5

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

Galatians 3:14 indicates that a person receives the Holy Spirit via having faith. Romans 8:9 indicates that a person is controlled by the Holy Spirit, if the Holy Spirit lives in him. If someone is controlled by the Spirit, he lives in accordance with the Spirit. This means, per Romans 8:5, that that person’s mind is set on what the Spirit desires. This point is confirmed in Romans 7:25 – which indicates further that that person’s mind is constrained to think in accordance with God’s law. Now if the mind of someone who has faith is constrained to think in accordance with what the Spirit wants, it follows that every evil thought, passion, doubt, etc., technically does not come from him. All these evil things rather come from his sinful nature (Galatians 5:24). This is very important, because it means that a person need not worry when he has evil thoughts, or impulses, or doubts, as he has faith and lives his life: since all these things are not parts of him – but rather are parts of his sinful nature. Remember, the best guard against a person's sinful nature, is the person ensuring that he practices having faith sufficiently – which will cause the Holy Spirit to keep his sinful nature at bay, and increasingly trample it (Romans 8:13).

Further Proof That Those Who Have Faith Are To Become Fully God

2005-12-29T16:06:00.000-08:00

Please note the following scriptures:

Romans 9

1 I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit—
2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race,
4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.
5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
6 It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."
8 In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.

Romans 4

16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
17 As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

The above scriptures indicate that the nation of Israel was bestowed great gifts from God: including the adoption as God’s sons, and being given divine (or God-type) glory. This means that the people of Israel were given the gift of being God. However, the true Israel is not really the physical nation Israel, but rather all those who have faith – who are Abraham’s offspring. It follows therefore that all those who have faith have been given the gift of being God. (See here for more information on the Godhood of Man.)

Post Category: Godship

2005-12-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

The following contains a list of posts that fall under the category, “Godship”.

Further Proof That Those Who Have Faith Are To Become Fully God

Proof That John 10:31-36 Means That Someone Who Has Faith Is a 'god'

Proof That Those Who have Faith Are To Become Fully God

Resurrection: The Transformation Of Men Of Faith Into Mighty Gods

The Duality and Kingdom of God

The Godship And Impending Glorification Of Man

Those Who Have Faith Are Members Of The Only Begotten Son

Why We Are Here? What is The Meaning of Life?

Post Category: Having Faith

2005-12-26T19:43:00.000-08:00

The following contains a list of posts that fall under the category, “Having Faith”.

Post Categories

2005-12-26T19:32:00.000-08:00

The following contains a list of all the categories of posts contained in this blog.

Having Faith

Godship

Complete List of Blog Posts

2005-12-26T18:41:00.000-08:00

The following contains a complete list of all (non-listing) posts made to this blog. The posts are listed in alphabetical order.

Post Listings

2005-12-26T18:14:00.000-08:00

The following provide listings of the posts made to this blog.

Complete List

Post Categories

Bearing Fruit

2005-12-26T13:18:00.000-08:00

The following scriptures indicate that real faith must result in someone’s behavior bearing fruit (i.e. improving over time [2 Corinthians 3:18]), in a natural manner:

(NASB)

James 2

17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

John 15

2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

Romans 9

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;

It is important to realize how these fruits of (faith / the Spirit) appear in a person. Please note the following scriptures:

Galatians 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

1 Corinthians 13

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The fruits of the Spirit are actually fundamental qualities (listed in the scriptures above) - and not high-level actions highly regarded by society (e.g. a person appearing to act responsibly) - found in a person's major actions. Therefore it is not the person who works two jobs for his family, and does a lot of volunteer work who necessarily bears fruit, rather it is the person who: is not proud; does not harm others; is kind; is good; and shows the above qualities in a natural and enduring manner.

Another important point (alluded to in Matthew 7:15), is the fact that a person’s fruits are centered at his core - not on his surface. This means that someone who has faith may appear imperfect on the surface, though at his core (seen in his major actions), he is perfect.

The most reliable indicator therefore of a person's faith, is his core behavior: which is constantly good. As a consequence, it is important that you look beneath the surface of a person's behavior, to determine if he truly bears fruit.

Christian Discussions

2005-12-19T07:37:00.000-08:00

I take part in a number of Christian discussions over the web. These discussions give you an opportunity to see how the things that I write about hold up under debate.

I did most of my discussions on 123 Christian Forums. My username at this web site was ‘PDoug’. You can see a list of my posts to the web site here.
This is a discussion I had on a Catholic web site from 2/06/05 to 2/08/05. You can identify my posts from my email address: patmore_douglas@hotmail.com.
I had a discussion on Zdnet, starting 6/17/05, about general Christianity. The discussion started here. My posts have been made under the username: P. Douglas.
I had a discussion on Zdnet on 8/29/06 about how several principles of the universe undermined evolution and related thinking, and how these principles supported things written in the Bible and other inspired texts. The discussion started here.
I essentially continued the above discussion on another Zdnet blog post on 9/1/06. The discussion continued here

I will continue adding to this post, links to other discussions, as I have them in the future.

Post Last Updated: 9/16/2006

Having And Pursuing Great Faith

2005-12-17T17:07:00.000-08:00

It is important to realize that the point of us being here on earth, is to see who will have faith, and pursue it the most (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). The prize for this, is the opportunity to become the highest ranking beings in the union of God, after Christ (1 Corinthians 3:21-22).

Please read here for practical steps on how you can have faith. The following builds on the above referenced steps, giving you the capacity to increase your faith appreciably, and have faith very effectively. (Remember, having faith is saying what you want and believing you will receive it, or asking God for what you want and believing you will receive it – Mark 11:22-24.)

1) Make repeating one or more sentences containing your request to God, the cornerstone of your praying. E.g. if you want great intelligence, repeat for a number of minutes, the sentence, “Father, give me great intelligence.” Try to pray in the above fashion every time you pray privately. If you feel comfortable doing this with other people, by all means do so. Note also, the faster you repeat your prayer sentences within a given time (e.g. a half hour), the more effective your prayer will be.

If you want, you can actually write out your prayer sentence or sentences on a piece of paper, and read them as your prayer to God. God will understand what you are doing.

2) Visualize the end result of what you want while you are praying. If it seems difficult for you to do this, draw a picture of the end result you want, and look at the picture while you are praying. E.g. if you are sick and you would like to become well again, picture yourself healthy, and repeat for a number of minutes, the following sentence in prayer, “Father, please end my sickness.” (This step is extremely, extremely effective at making what you pray for come true.)

3) Pray using a powerful name of God. This is extremely important. There are many names of God ranging from extremely weak to extremely powerful. The more powerful the name of God you use in your prayers, the more effective your prayers will be. Provided you practice having faith at a reasonable level, you can literally throw mountains into oceans by using a suitably powerful name of God. The catch is, the more powerful the name of God, the more guarded it is in secret, and the more praying you will have to do, in order to obtain it.

One thing a lot of people do not realize, is that the original names of God that were used in Old Testament texts in the Bible, were replaced by weaker names to minimize the possibility or consequence of people taking God's name in vain. These original names of God in Old Testament texts are fairly powerful - and significantly more powerful than the weak, generic name 'God'. (They are however not nearly as powerful as the name of God used by Jesus and his disciples.) As a consequence, when you use the original names of God in your prayers, they make your prayers significantly more effective.

Notwithstanding the above, the name ‘Father’ is the most powerful name of God I’ve been able to find. This is reasonable, considering the Father is the highest God there is, and is the source of all things. Therefore it is not unreasonable to expect, that even the Father’s ordinary name, is more powerful compared to some of the secret names of other Gods in the godhead. Therefore if you were for example to repeat the following sentence (over and over) in prayer, you would find it to be very effective: "My sickness is gone, in the name of The Father."

When you combine all the steps above, you will find yourself praying fairly powerful prayers. E.g. you can visualize (or stare at a picture / drawing of) what you want, and repeat the following prayer sentence until you obtain what you are looking for: "I have the job I want, in the name of in the name of the Father."

Abiding by the above steps a whole lot (e.g. several hours a day) will increase your faith and other spiritual qualities appreciably, and will result in you having qualities that approach - and even exceed - those of the prophets, apostles, and others in the bible. The catch is that you have to do this over a considerable period of time (praying several hours a day for a number of months or years), to see it happen – i.e. the showing up specifically of apostle level qualities. (Also see here.)

A person doesn’t have to pray several hours a day consistent with the instructions above, to gain increased effectiveness in his praying. Someone can do well praying for maybe twenty minutes a day. Remember however, the longer you pray, the more effective your prayers overall will be.

Step 1) is very important for not only being able to pray effective prayers, but to also ensure that your level of having faith does not fall below the minimum level God finds satisfactory. E.g. if you pray around 20 minutes a day asking God for a number of things (in a non-repetitive manner), and also praise God directly a lot during these times, your practice of having faith, can actually lie at a level that is below what God considers satisfactory. However if you pray for the same amount of time, strictly “asking and believing” for things in a repetitive manner, and don’t actually praise God directly for certain things during your prayers, your level of having faith will actually be satisfactory to God. (See here for why praising God directly, can undermine your having faith.)

I’m not against praising God, and I believe you should praise God if you feel inclined to do so. It is however important to realize that praising God is not the same as having faith, and you should not consider the time that you spend praising God, time invested in having faith. These two times are very different. Therefore considering the fact that we are saved and made righteous by (specifically) having faith (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:28), you should ensure that you first spend sufficient time having faith, then spend time praising God - if you feel so inclined.

The process of praying ever more effectively is ongoing. It never stops. It is a phenomenon in which someone keeps pushing the limits of what he can do via faith, and God via His Holy Spirit showing him more and more (through thoughts and other means), how he can accomplish it. I therefore expect the above steps to be revised a number of times, as I try to attain great faith myself. This blog post will be updated several times, to reflect the new information I come by. (I will place a note at the bottom of the post, when the post gets updated.)

Post Last Updated: 09/06/2010

Exceeding The Minimum Required Level For Having Faith

2005-12-17T05:31:00.000-08:00

As I indicated here, per Christ in Mark 11:22-24, having faith is saying what you want and believing it will happen, or asking God for things, and believing that you will receive them. You can have faith that lies within several ranges of effort, that has a bearing on how God sees you. Please note the diagram below:

Maximum Satisfactory Faith Level / Great Righteousness

Minimum Satisfactory Faith Level

Minimum Unrighteousness Level

Maximum Unrighteousness Level / Great Wickedness

The maximum satisfactory level for having faith, marks the maximum, most effective faith you can have. At this level of having faith, you do a lot of ‘saying and believing’ or ‘asking and believing’ type praying, as effectively, and as long as possible (Ephesians 6:18). This can include several hours of praying (consistent with Mark 11:22-24) a day. Below this, you can have faith satisfactorily in decreasing amounts, down to the minimum satisfactory level for having faith. This means that you can have faith within these two limits, and God will be happy with you. When you go beneath the minimum satisfactory level for having faith however, you enter a danger zone where God becomes uncomfortable with the level of faith you have. The following scriptures describe what can happen if you are in this danger zone - specifically between the minimum satisfactory level for having faith, and the minimum unrighteousness level:

1 Corinthians 11

17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.
18 In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval.
20 When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat,
21 for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk.
22 Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not!
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.
34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.

1 Corinthians 3

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds.
11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw,
13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Revelation 2

1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:
2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.
3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

In the first scripture, the Corinthians' behavior bore evidence that their faith was weakening (1 Corinthians 11:18, 20-22). This means that they were not having faith at the level they should have been. The consequence of this was that they were being judged by God through the receipt of sicknesses and even death from Him (1 Corinthians 11:29-30). Paul went on to say that despite God's judgments, the Corinthians would ultimately be saved (1 Corinthians 11:31-32).

Paul wrote something similar in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. Paul effectively noted that if anyone starts having faith at a level acceptable to God, but that person becomes distracted with pursuits of the world, and does not keep up his level of faith satisfactorily, then he will not receive any rewards, but he will be saved.

In Revelation 2:1-7, Christ noted some behavior in the Church that were acceptable to Him. This indicates that the Church had some level of faith. But Christ also expressed anger with them, indicating that their level of faith was overall unsatisfactory, and that He would punish them if they did not raise their level back up. (Note: Christ would have punished them by taking away their eternal reward, because there was the possibility if they did not take action, their faith could have slipped below the minimum unrighteousness level - which would have made them apostate.)

If a person's faith decreases so that it lies below the minimum unrighteousness level, that person's faith becomes too weak to save him, and God then regards that person as forsaking his faith. This is a very bad state for someone to be in, because God becomes most angry at the person who once had faith, then turns his back on it.

Between the minimum and maximum unrighteousness levels, are people who don't have faith, and are increasingly unrighteous. These people unforturnately will not be saved.

As the above indicates, it is very important to ensure that your level of faith lies between the maximum and minimum satisfactory levels, to be assured you have a sound relationship with God. As a practical matter, you can tell that this is the case, by looking at your fundamental behavior, to see if it improves over time. Also it is best to try and have faith as much as possible, as the the primary reason we are here on earth is to see who will have faith, and who will have it the most.

(Please use this link to see how you can have faith and gain results. Please use this link for practical steps on how you can have faith.)

The More You Have Faith, The More You Increase Your Righteousness

2005-10-31T18:13:00.000-08:00

Please note the following scriptures:

Mathew 17

14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying,
15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
16 "I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him."
17 And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me."
18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?"
20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
21 ["But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."]

James 5

16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

The first scripture indicates that the way someone is able to do powerful things via faith, is by praying and fasting for the ability to do so. (Please note that praying and fasting essentially means doing a lot of highly focused praying.) Further, a person praying for something (while believing he will receive it – which is required in order for someone to receive what he prays for [James 1:5-8]) is what defines ‘having faith’ (Mark 11:22-24). Therefore having faith a lot to obtain the power to do powerful things, is what gives a person the power to do powerful things.

The second scripture indicates that a righteous man is able to do powerful things via faith. It follows therefore that having faith a lot over obtaining great power, actually makes someone become very righteous.

As a practical matter, the more a person has faith in general, the more righteous that person becomes. However when someone seeks after God’s greatest gifts (e.g. great power, intelligence, foresight) his righteousness increases all the more, because it is to the most righteous, God gives his greatest gifts.

Praising God Is Not the Same As Having Faith

2005-10-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

It is important to realize that having faith is specifically the act of someone: saying what he wants and believing that it will happen, or asking God for what he wants, and believing he will receive it (Mark 11:22-24). Praising God, and the other things people do while praying, is not the same as having faith. As a consequence, the more things a person does other than 'saying and believing' or 'asking and believing' while praying, the less effective that person's prayers will be. Further, because a person's righteousness increases with the amount of faith he has, the less time a person spends actually 'saying and believing' or 'asking and believing' while praying, the less righteous that person will become. Praising God does not cause a person's prayers to become more effective, or a person to become more righteous, rather, praising God bears witness to the fact that a person has significant faith. That is what the following scriptures mean:

Psalm 40

3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

(NKJV)

John 15

7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

All of the above have a very important implication: if you spend a significant portion of your praying, praising God, instead of having faith, you run the risk of performing the work of (righteousness of) praising God, instead of having faith a lot, which is what produces all the godly qualities seen in you. Even worse than this: praising God directly at the cost of having faith a lot, can cause you to sink into - or even below - the threshold level of having faith, required for your relationship with God to be sound. (This means you could actually slide away from salvation because of it.) Therefore when you pray, please ensure you do a whole lot of 'saying and believing' or 'asking and believing'. If you have a strong inclination to praise God, then do so by all means. However, do not let anything cut into the valuable time you have allotted to having faith. Praising God directly is not having faith, and does not save you. Rather, praising God bears witness of your salvation, which is made possible by your having faith to begin with (Ephesians 2:8-9).

One other thing, John 15:7-8 indicates the main way a person glorifies / praises God. When a person has faith, his behavior becomes godly, and this more than anything is what glorifies God. It is the same with any man who has a good son and a bad son. It is the son who conducts himself according to the wishes of his father, who really glorifies his father: not the son who verbally says nice things to his father, but acts against his wishes.

Why It Is Impossible To (Directly) Follow the Law

2005-05-30T09:06:00.000-07:00

As I indicated here, a person is in fact justified by faith and not by any deed of righteousness he may do. There is a practical reason for this: because it is impossible to follow the law directly in a successful manner (Romans 9:30-33). Note also the following scripture:

Romans 7

18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
.
.
.
22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
23 but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

The scripture above indicates that though someone who has faith may want to do good deeds directly, it is impossible for him to do so, because his sinful nature prevents this from happening. The question then arises, "How does someone go about doing good deeds?" The answer is, by having faith. When someone has faith, that person receives the Holy Spirit (Galatians 3:14), and the Holy Spirit destroys the deeds that person is compelled to do because of his sinful nature:

Romans 8

13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

Someone may next ask, how does all of this work? When someone has faith, that person winds up being controlled by the Spirit (Romans 8:9). However, the person is also controlled by his sinful nature at the same time (Romans 7:24-25). A conflict actually arises between the (Holy) Spirit and the person's sinful nature (Galatians 5:17), with the Spirit increasingly destroying or eliminating the deeds caused by that person's sinful nature, as that person continues to have faith (Romans 8:13, 2 Corinthians 3:18). A very important point of all of this, is that a person cannot do good deeds or the deeds attributed to the Spirit directly. A person has to be compelled or forced by the Spirit into doing good deeds - given the fact that a person becomes a slave of God's law when he has the Spirit in him:

Romans 7

24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
25 Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Therefore a person really has only two choices. He can decline to have faith, and be entirely controlled by his sinful nature - which compels or forces him to act sinfully. Or a person can have faith, and have the Spirit enter him, who increasingly compels or forces him to act righteously. A person never has direct, ultimate control over his actions (though it may seem that way at times). A person only has the choice of having faith and having the Spirit control him, or not having faith and having his sinful nature control him. (In the first case, the person behaves increasingly righteously in a natural way. In the second case, the person behaves unrighteously in a natural way.)

The above is why it is impossible for someone to achieve righteousness by directly pursuing it / the law, and why the only way a person can achieve righteousness is by having faith.

Justification by Faith

2005-05-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

I believe it is important to clarify that a person is in fact saved and justified by faith, and not by works of righteousness, as indicated in the following scriptures:

Ephesians 2

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Romans 3

28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

Romans 4

1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?
2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.
3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

In addition, the following scripture indicates that if someone attempts to achieve justification by works of righteousness (the law), that person will forfeit his salvation:

Galatians 5

4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

The question then arises, what about the following scripture?

(NIV)

James 2

17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

(NASB)

James 2

17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

In spite of the impression many people get from the NIV version of the above scripture, the NASB (also the RSV) versions of the scripture indicate more clearly, that it is not that if someone does not perform works of righteousness along with having faith, then that person's faith is dead: but rather if a person's faith does not produce or cause righteous behavior to be seen in him, then that person's faith is dead.

James 2:17 is harmonious with the following scriptures.

Philippians 3

8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

Romans 9

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."
33 As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

The 2 scriptures immediately above, indicate that real faith causes righteous behavior to be seen in a person - even when that person does not (directly) pursue it. Therefore it can be seen from the scriptures immediately above (along with James 2:17), that we are saved by a faith, that causes righteous behavior to be seen in us - even though we do not directly pursue righteousness.

There are those who say that even though we should not directly pursue the law, we should directly pursue righteousness none-the-less, in order to achieve it. However, isn't righteousness outlined in the law (e.g. "... love your neighbor as yourself ..." [Leviticus 19:18])? And if we directly pursue righteousness, we directly pursue the law? Therefore it is impossible to directly pursue righteousness without pursuing the law.

Even if someone was to say that we should achieve righteousness by following Christ's commandments directly, but not the law, we would still run into the problem of directly pursuing the law (if we followed that person's advice), because one of Christ's commandments is that we love each other (John 15:17) - which is outlined in the law (Leviticus 19:18). Further, Christ commanded in Matthew 5:17-20 that we teach others the law, as well as uphold the law. Therefore it is impossible to follow Christ’s commandments by directly pursuing them but not the law, because to do so, we must also directly pursue the law.

It is important to point out that the issue is not whether we should follow or uphold the law: the issue is how we are supposed to go about doing so. We are not to directly follow the law: but rather we are supposed to indirectly follow the law by having faith. The fact that real faith causes someone to achieve righteousness (James 2:17, Philippians 3:9, Romans 9:30), and the fact that only those who obey the law will be declared righteous (Romans 2:13), means that having faith causes someone to obey or act consistently with the law - and this is the only legitimate means by which someone can follow the law. That is what the following scripture (and Galatians 2:15-16) mean:

Romans 3

21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

The scripture above indicates that the righteousness that is produced by faith, which does not come from directly following the law, is the same righteousness that is outlined in the law, and which the prophets spoke about.

(Please read here, why it is impossible for someone to achieve righteousness by doing good deeds directly / following the law.)

Therefore a person can really only achieve righteousness by faith, and should never attempt to do so directly.

Why We Are Here? What is The Meaning of Life?

2005-05-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

All of this world has been constructed, in order to determine who among men and women will to become God (in a vastly elevated state in the new creation [Matthew 13:43; (Volume) 2 Esdras, 4 Esdras 7:97, 55(125); Book of Enoch 104:2-3, 108:11-15]). Why the obfuscation of this primary goal for humanity? It is part of the test. It all started when Adam, the first human (who originally belonged to the Godhead and was God [Gospel Of Bartholomew 4:52-55]), broke God's single law that he not eat fruit from a certain tree (Genesis 3:6-24). This caused the penalty of confusion and death to result for everyone who came after him (Romans 5:12-14).

Adam's error, though it plunged mankind into a precipitous situation, where many people will actually wind up being condemned, provided an opportunity for God to test mankind. Those who manage to have faith correctly, and successfully endure odds, will be rewarded by coming into a state of being far, far richer than the state in which Adam was originally created (Gospel of Thomas verse 85). Therefore though it is not readily apparent, we are all eligible for being restored from our current state to being God, and do become gods/God (John 10:34) when we have faith. When a person has faith, that person will begin to see for himself/herself that this is true. (See here for more information on the Godhood of Man.)

Practical Steps on How To Have Faith

2005-01-30T06:44:00.000-08:00

Having faith is the one thing a person must do to be saved (Ephesians 2:8-9) and remain righteous before God (Romans 3:28, Romans 4:1-8). As a consequence, it is important that you counter distractions and discouragements, and ensure that you perform this critical exercise regularly.

The following contains information on how you can have faith effectively, so that you may, among other things, counter discouragements you may have while trying to pursue it. (Remember, per Christ in Mark 11:22-24, having faith is the practice of: saying what you want and believing that it will happen, or asking God for what you want, and believing you will receive it.)

1) Do not worry about anything you may have done wrong, and God not listening to your request because of it. It is the act of having faith which causes God to consider you blameless (Romans 3:28), not any confession you may do. Confession is just a formality.

2) Be comfortable and relaxed while you are praying. Ultimately the only thing God cares about is that you pray by saying what you want and believing it will happen, or asking Him for what you want believing you will receive it. How ever you pray beyond this is incidental.

3) Say the words of your request using your lips either quietly or loudly, while believing what you say or ask for will come to bear. (If you are in a situation where this is not easy to do, or you would just plain rather not do so: you can alternately pray in your mind.)

4) If it seems difficult for you to believe that you will receive what you ask for, do not worry about it. Just do the best you can.

5) If it seems as if you cannot believe that you will receive what you ask for, do not worry about it. Continue praying. Per Mark 11:23, what matters is that you believe in your heart - not so much in your mind. This means that what matters is that you want to believe you will receive what you ask for. (Even if it seems as if you don't want to believe that you will receive what you ask for, or that you don't even want what you asking for, continue praying. Your overall behavior of asking, particularly in a persistent manner [see next step below], bears evidence of your true belief and want.)

6) Persist at asking God for what you want until you receive it. This may take several minutes or hours of praying, over the course of several days.

Please note: different things require different amounts of faith to see them realized. (This is suggested in Matthew 17:19-21 where Christ said to His disciples that their faith was too small for them to do the things they wanted to do, and they needed to increase their faith by doing a lot of praying.) Therefore to obtain something via faith that is relatively small, you may need to do only a fairly small amount of praying to generate the amount of faith needed to obtain it. However, as you pray for bigger things that require larger amounts of faith to see them realized, you may have to pray longer and longer, to generate the necessary faith needed to acquire them.

7) It is highly recommended that you pray by repeating one or more sentences containing your requests, and that you make this fundamental to your praying. This will make your prayers many, many more times effective, and will help ensure that you meet the minimum threshold for having faith, necessary to keep your relationship with God sound. E.g. you can repeat for several minutes in a prayer, the sentence, "Father, please let me find a new job." You can do this for several days until the thing you ask for comes to bear.

8) Please read here for how you can further maximize the effectiveness of your prayers.

9) While praying / having faith, do not rationalize whether you should have it. Just have it. Rationalizing whether you should have faith while having it, provides a foothold for doubt undermining your effort.

10) Please read here for very important information regarding praising God, or doing things other than saying what you want and believing that it will happen, or asking God for what you want, and believing you will receive it, while practicing having faith.

(This link provides information that forms the basis of some of the recommendations above.)

The above instructions provide a sound foundation for you to pray / have faith effectively. Remember, having faith is paramount to a Christian's life, and is the genesis of everything godly in him/her, including: righteousness (Romans 3:28); wisdom (Galatians 3:14, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, James 1:5-8); power (Mark 11:22-24, Mathew 17:19-21); and direction (Philippians 2:13). Therefore have faith, or pray as much as you are comfortable!

The Duality and Kingdom of God

2005-01-23T05:31:00.000-08:00

The following scriptures indicate the duality nature of God:

John 17

20 My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Isaiah 9

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Gospel of Thomas

(I08) Jesus said: He who shall drink from my mouth shall become like me; I myself will become he, and the hidden thing shall be revealed to him.

Romans 3

29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,
30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

From the above scriptures, it can be seen that God is a type of duality. When you for example point to the Father, you not only point to Him, you point to everyone in Him at the same time. Therefore the Father is Himself an individual, but also everyone in Him at the same time - and both modes of being are inseparable. That is why when the Father (or any other God) says that besides Him there is no other God (e.g. Deuteronomy 4:35, 1 Kings 8:60, Isaiah 44:8), He is able to do so without suggesting other members of the God union be excluded. If the Father is Himself, as well as all those who are in Him at the same time, then when the Father says that besides Him there is no other God, He is by necessity talking about Himself, as well all those who are in Him. This double mode identity of God is seen particularly in Isaiah 9:6, where Christ is identified as Himself, as well as the (Wonderful) Counselor (who is the Holy Spirit - John 14:26) and the Everlasting Father. God's double mode identity is seen once more in the Gospel of Thomas verse 108, in which Christ says He will become anyone who has faith.

Generally when the scriptures say that there is one God, they mean that there is one union of individuals who are each God, where when you point to one individual in the union, you by necessity point to all the other individuals in the union at the same time. (Alternately stated, when the scriptures say that there is one God, they mean that there is one union of individuals who are each God, such that each individual in the union is not only himself, but also everyone else in the union at the same time.) Anyone outside of this union is not God. An important implication of all of this, in particular John 17:20-23, is the fact that those who have faith are members of the God union, and are hence God. Therefore someone who has faith, is not only himself, but also everyone else in the union at the same time, including God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is consistent with John 10:31-36 which indicates that those who have faith are gods, and 2 Peter 1:3-4 which indicates that those who have faith are partakers of God's divine nature. (Note: if someone who has faith is a god, but there is only one God, that person has to be God [i.e. be an individual God himself, as well as belong to the union of God].)

All of the above suggest that the kingdom of God is not just God's kingdom, but a kingdom filled with Gods. This is important because it allows you to see more clearly, the prize you will receive when you have faith correctly, and keep on having it no matter what. Salvation is not just an opportunity to live forever, it is an opportunity to become God! (See here for more information on the Godhood of Man.)

Proof That John 10:31-36 Means That Someone Who Has Faith Is a 'god'

2005-01-18T01:48:00.000-08:00

Note the following scriptures:

Psalm 82

1 God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the "gods":
2 "How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?
3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 "They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 "I said, 'You are "gods"; you are all sons of the Most High.'
7 But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler."
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.

John 10

31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him,
32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”
33 “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’?
35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came–and the Scripture cannot be broken–
36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God's Son’?

Christ was referring to Psalm 82, when He said what He said in John 10:34-35. There are those who suggest that God was in Psalm 82, calling only the judges of Israel gods. In light of this, please look at the following scriptures:

Romans 2

28 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.
29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.

Romans 4

16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
17 As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

1 Corinthians 6

1 If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints?
2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?
3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church!
Christ.

1 Corinthians 3

18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness"
20 and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."
21 So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours,
22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,
23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

Romans 2:28-29 indicates that someone is (in a spiritual sense) a Jew, if he is one inwardly. Romans 4:16-17 indicates that this takes place when that person has faith. 1 Corinthians 6:1-4 indicates that all those who have faith (who are spiritually Jews and hence make up the spiritual Israel) have an inheritance of judgeship. 1 Corinthians 3:21-22 goes a step further by indicating that not only do those who have faith now own all things in the present, they also now own all things in the future - which include their judgeships. (This means, at least to some extent, all those who have faith are now in possession of the judgeships they will inherit in the future.)

Therefore if we are to concede that Psalm 82 only refers to the judges of Israel, we would see that the scripture is none-the-less applicable to all those who have faith. (How exactly? Because all those who have faith make up the spiritual Israel; have an inheritance of judgeship; and also now own their inheritance of judgeship – meaning that they are already judges [at least to some extent].)

In addition, Christ in John 10:34-35, indicated that Psalm 82 was in fact referring to all those who have faith. How exactly? Because Christ effectively said in John 10:34-36, "Why do you say I blaspheme when it is written in your law, 'I have said you are gods’? If God called to whom the word of God came, 'gods', how much more God is the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world?'' The fact of the matter is that Christ could not have reasonably said in the scripture that at the very least He was a god, if Psalm 82 was only applicable to the righteous judges officially established by (the physical nation) Israel: because Christ Himself was not such a judge. Therefore when Christ said in John 10:35, "If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came ...", He must have been referring to all righteous people who made up Israel - which Romans 2:28-29 and Romans 4:16-17 indicate spiritually include all those who have faith.

Finally, the following scripture provides added confirmation that when God called the righteous individuals in Israel gods in Psalm 82, He meant all those who have faith.

2 Corinthians 1

19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes."
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

The above scripture indicates that all of God’s promises (which include those who make up [the spiritual] Israel being gods) apply to everyone. The only variation of God’s promises are in degrees and expression. E.g. everyone who has faith has an inheritance of kingship and priesthood – some will just have higher rankings than others in these areas. Some who have faith are predominantly teachers, while others who have faith are predominantly prophets: but despite all of this, everyone who has faith has the potential to display any gift he pleases.

One last thing, there are some who say that the title god, given by God to those He was addressing, had nothing to do with righteousness. However, doesn't Psalm 82:6-7 say that because of the Jews’ (or descendants’ of Abraham) unrighteousness, God would let them die like mere men, instead of holding them up as gods and His sons? Further, isn’t someone considered righteous because of his faith (Romans 3:28, Romans 4:1-8, Hebrews 11:6)? Doesn’t it follow therefore that if the Jews remained righteous (by continuing to have faith), God would have still considered them to be gods and His sons? Therefore it is seen for a person to be considered to be a god by God, that person must be righteous (by having faith - Romans 3:28). (See here for more information on the Godhood of Man.)

Proof That Those Who have Faith Are To Become Fully God

2005-01-16T16:36:00.000-08:00

The following scripture shows up a very important fact: those who have faith are to fully enter the ranks of God in the new creation.

Book of Enoch 90

28 And I stood up to see till they folded up that old house; and carried off all the pillars, and all the beams and ornaments of the house were at the same time folded up with it, and they carried 29 it off and laid it in a place in the south of the land. And I saw till the Lord of the sheep brought a new house greater and loftier than that first, and set it up in the place of the first which had beer folded up: all its pillars were new, and its ornaments were new and larger than those of the first, the old one which He had taken away, and all the sheep were within it. 30 And I saw all the sheep which had been left, and all the beasts on the earth, and all the birds of the heaven, falling down and doing homage to those sheep and making petition to and obeying 31 them in every thing.

In as much as God only tolerates those who wear the title God being worshipped (this includes: The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost), from the above scripture, it is seen that those who have faith will actually become (fully) God - in light of the fact that God will allow others to worship them. (The scripture above corresponds to Revelation 21:1-2, 22-27.)

Note also the following reasoning:

John 10

31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”33 “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came–and the Scripture cannot be broken– 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God's Son’?

The scripture above indicates that someone who has faith is a god. You may look at this fact any number of ways. However, whichever way you look at it: a god has to be God, since there is only one God (Romans 3:29-30, 1 Timothy 2:5).

In the scripture above, Christ was effectively saying to the Jews, “Why do you say that I blaspheme when the scripture itself says that those who have faith are God? How much more God is the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world?” The above interpretation is the only one that makes sense. If Christ did not consider a god to be God (albeit of a lower rank in the Godhead), why did He bring up the point of those having faith being a god, when replying to the charge of claiming to be God? If being a god is not the same as God, how is it germane for Christ to bring up the point that someone who has faith is a god, while defending Himself from the charge of claiming to be God?

Please note the following scriptures:

Isaiah 9

6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

John 17

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Christ is called the Father in Isaiah 9:6 because The Father is in Christ and The Father and Christ are one. It follows that because God is in us and we are one with God, we may be called God.

Please note the following scripture:

2 Peter 1

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

If someone who has faith participates in or partakes of (NASB translation) God’s divine nature, doesn’t that mean he behaves and have qualities like God? But what does the following scripture say?

Isaiah 25

18 To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to?
.
.
.
25 "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One. 26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

Only God has God’s own qualities. It follows therefore if someone who has faith has God’s qualities, that person has to be God.

Please note the following scripture:

1 John 5

18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.

The scripture indicates that those who have faith are born of God. Does it not follow (as is confirmed in the scripture below) that just like a creature born of an owl is an owl, someone who is born of God is God?

Gospel of Philip

"A horse sires a horse, a man begets man, a god brings forth a god."

In fact, 1 John 5:18 indicates that we are born of God the same way Christ is born of God; and Romans 8:29 shows that we were predestined to be like Christ, who is to be the firstborn among many brothers.

The fact that someone who is born of God is actually God, is confirmed by the following scripture:

(RSV)

1 John 3

9 No one born of God commits sin; for God's nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God.

Similar to what was shown in the section above, if someone who is born of God has God’s nature in him, that person behaves and haves qualities like God. Given the fact that only God has God's own qualities (Isaiah 25:18, 25-26), it follows that someone who is born of God (who has God's own qualities in him) has to be God.

Do you realize that the kingdom of God is not so much God’s kingdom, as it is the kingdom whose members are God?

I could go on and on, but I believe you see that there is ample proof that those who have faith really are God, and are destined to become fully God, and share in Christ’s glory (John 17:22) in the new creation. (See here for more information on the Godhood of Man.)

Further Proof That Having Faith Correctly Is Given in Mark 11:22-24

2005-01-16T16:31:00.000-08:00

In this blog entry, I showed how having faith (outlined by Christ in Mark 11:22-24) is: saying what you want, and believing it will happen, or asking God for what you want, and believing you will receive it. The following provides further proof, that having faith correctly is as indicated above.

The people in the scripture below were surprised to learn they were not saved. This was because they did not have faith in a way God considered valid.

Matthew 7

15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?
17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

First, the people in the scripture above, directly believed and trusted that God would save them. (Why else did they call Him, 'Lord, Lord' as if they knew Him?) This indicates that directly believing and trusting God or in His salvation does not save anyone. (Remember also, Jews who do not have real faith do the same thing. They do directly believe and trust God, and that he will save them; and they also pray to God like Christians.) Second, the scripture above indicates that only those who bear good fruit are truly righteous, and suggests that they are the ones God will recognize as His in the end. In light of this fact, note that the following scripture indicates that it is when someone has faith consistent with Christ's instruction in Mark 11:22-24 (i.e. ask God for things [while believing he will receive them]), that he bears good fruit, and as a result, becomes righteous (resulting in him being seen by God as His in the end):

(NKJV)

John 15

7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

The Bible appears to talk about various ways someone can be saved. Please note the following scriptures:

Ephesians 2

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Hebrews 11

6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Romans 3

28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.

Romans 2

13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

Matthew 2

541 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Mark 1

14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."

Romans 10

9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

John 3

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
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36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him.”

Acts 2

21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Acts 16

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved–you and your household.”

Mark 16

16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

The question is, can we abide by any one of the scriptures above, and ignore the others? The problem is that all of the scriptures above suggest that if we don't do what each of them says, we will not be saved. E.g. Romans 2:13 indicates that only those who obey the law are righteous, and Matthew 25:46 indicates that only the righteous will be saved. Therefore these two scriptures indicate that we must obey the law to be saved. Similarly, Ephesians 2:8-9, Hebrews 11:6, and Romans 3:28 imply that if we don't have faith, we will not be saved. Also the rest of the scriptures imply that we must believe in Christ (John 3:16), and we must believe in the Gospel (Mark 1:14-15), and we must confess Christ and believe God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9), etc. in order to be saved. We therefore have no choice but do what all of these scriptures say we must do, in order to be saved! This means that if we try to directly believe in God, but do not obey His law, we will not be saved! This also means that if we obey God's law, but do not have faith, we will not be saved! (Remember, Hebrews 11:6 indicates it is impossible to please God without having faith.)

As it turns out, there is one single action we can do, that squares us away with the requirements stipulated by all of the scriptures above (and all other scriptures in the Bible). This action is having faith per Christ's instructions in Mark 11:22-24. When we have faith per Christ's instructions in Mark 11:22-24: we meet the requirements stipulated by Christ in Mark 11:22-24 on how we should have faith; we have faith in a manner consistent with Hebrews 11:1; we believe in the gospel; we confess and believe in Christ and that God raised Him from the dead; we become righteous (which means we follow God's commandments and the law - Romans 9:30); we bear fruit (John 15:7-8); we call unto God; etc.

So again, we come back to the fact that to have faith correctly, we must follow Christ's instruction on how to do so in Mark 11:22-24. Also we see that it is only when we do have faith correctly, that we meet the requirements of all scriptures, which indicate the path to salvation.

(You may use this link to find out how you can have faith and gain results.)

How To Have Faith and Gain Results

2005-01-16T16:21:00.000-08:00

Christ outlined what steps constitute having faith in the following scripture:

Mark 11

22 Have faith in God," Jesus answered.
23 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

To have faith, someone must say what he wants and believe that he will receive it, or ask God for what he wants and believe that he will receive it. In response to this fact, someone might ask the question, "How can I practically make (having) faith work for me?"

The following scripture indicates that different things require different amounts of faith to see them realized. While the disciples had faith large enough to perform certain miracles (which Christ gave to them in Matthew 10), it was not enough to drive the demon out of the boy. Christ then indicated to them, that for them to do what they wanted, and other great things using faith, they needed to increase their faith by doing a lot of praying.

Matthew 17

14 When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, falling on his knees before Him and saying,
15 "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and is very ill; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water.
16 "I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him."
17 And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me."
18 And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?"
20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
21 ["But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."]

Another important point about having faith, and deriving results from it, is that a person needs to persist at having faith until he receives what he asks for. This is supported by Matthew 15:21-28, where a Canaanite woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter, and kept on asking Christ until He finally granted her her wish - proclaiming that she had great faith. The following scripture also supports this fact:

Genesis 32

24 Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
25 When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
26 Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
27 So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob."
28 He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed."
29 Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved."

Also see here.

Yet another important point about having faith, is someone asking God for the things he wants in a straightforward manner.

Matthew 6

6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Also, notice when Christ had faith in the following scripture, He simply said what He wanted and believed that it would happen - the same as the instructions He gave in Mark 11:23:

Mark 11

12 On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry.
13 Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
14 He said to it, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again!" And His disciples were listening.

The final point about having faith has to do with increasing it or doing great things with it. For someone to significantly increase his faith, he may pray in the manner outlined here – which includes a lot of praying. This is consistent with Matthew 17:19-21 and other scriptures, in which Christ effectively said that if you pray a lot, you can increase your faith and do great things with it.

Taking into consideration all of the above, when someone has faith, it is important that he does the following:

1) He must say what he wants and believe he will receive it, or ask God for what he wants and believe he will receive it (consistent with Christ's instructions in Mark 11:22-24 on how to have faith.)

2) He should pray in a straightforward manner (Matthew 6:6-8), and he must persist at it (Matthew 15:21-28, Genesis 32:24-32) until God grants him what he wants. (Actually the more someone prays over a matter, the more faith that person generates over the matter, until that person’s faith is enough to 'pay' for the thing he is asking God for. This is consistent with Matthew 17:21 and Revelation 3:18.)

Note: in general, someone may have to do a great, great deal of praying to see his request come true if it is very large. Note also, in many cases, when someone prays for something, that person will actually see what he is praying for come true more and more, gradually. (This often happens for example, when someone has a cold, and he prays for it to get better. It is an amazing thing to see!)

One important thing someone may also consider while praying / having faith - and it is highly recommended that that person do this, and make it a cornerstone of his praying: is repeating one or more sentences containing a request. (Note: when someone has faith by repeating one or more sentences containing his request, it makes his prayers many, many more times effective, and also helps ensure that he meets the minimum threshold for having faith, required to keep his relationship with God sound.) Therefore if someone would like to pray for something, that person may repeat one or more sentences specifying the thing or things he would like. For example, if someone were to repeat the sentence, "I will get a new job." (or alternately, "Father, let me get a new job.") for several minutes as a prayer, that person will find it to be extremely, extremely effective, as a means of obtaining what he wants.

Please read here for very important information regarding praising God, or someone doing things other than saying what he wants and believing that it will happen, or asking God for what he wants, and believing he will receive it, while practicing having faith.

Please read here for how you can further maximize the effectiveness of your prayers.

The above provides a very important foundation for being able to tangibly accomplish things by (having) faith. Remember, having faith effectively, is all about asking God for things while believing that you will receive them (Mark 11:22, 24), up to the point where you actually receive them. If you don't generate enough faith to 'pay' for the things you want, you unfortunately won't actually see them. That is why it is important to persist while praying for something (Matthew 17:21). You should note however, that there will be times when God will put you in situations that exceed your ordinary capacity to get out of them via faith - even after considerably long periods of praying. In those situations, you should still persist at praying in an attempt to get yourself out of them - until God eventually shows you a way out (if what you are praying for is extremely important to you). Remember, a relationship with God is all about having faith (Galatians 3:11). So no matter what happens, remember to always have faith - even if it does not seem you will be able to generate enough faith to obtain the things you want the most. (This is what God means when He says you should always be faithful [Revelation 2:10].)

Finally, when you practice having faith (the more you do it, the better, as far as you and God are concerned) you will notice strange side effects. People will start saying that you are nice, and you will scratch your head wondering why. As far as you are concerned, you are just acting normally. This is what Romans 9:30 means when it indicates that (having) faith leads to righteousness being seen in you. (You may use this link to see practical steps you may take, while having faith correctly.)

Having Faith Correctly

2005-01-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

Given the fact that we are saved and kept righteous by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:28, Romans 4:1-8), it is paramount that we have faith correctly.

The following scripture indicates that having faith leads to righteous behavior being seen in a person - all on its own:

Romans 9

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone."
33 As it is written:"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumbleand a rock that makes them fall,and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

The following scriptures indicate that unless a person’s faith leads to righteous behavior being seen in that person, then that person's faith is dead:

(NASB)

James 2

17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.

John 15

2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

Someone might therefore ask, how does a person have genuine faith, which in fact leads to righteous behavior being seen in that person? Please note the following.

Christ gave instructions on how someone should have faith, in the following scripture:

Mark 11

12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry.
13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.
14 In response Jesus said to it, "Let no one eat fruit from you ever again." And His disciples heard it.
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20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
21 "And Peter, remembering, said to Him, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away."
22 Have faith in God," Jesus answered.
23 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

More plainly, a person is supposed to have faith by saying what he wants and believing he will receive it, or asking God for what he wants and believing that he will receive it.

Christ does several things in the above scripture, including providing instructions for having faith via two methods. In verse 24, Christ just provides one method for having faith. In verse 23, Christ uses an example to illustrate another way someone can have faith, and to point out the great things someone can accomplish if that person manages to control his doubt and believing, while having faith. Finally Christ indicates the means by which He was able to make the fig tree wither: Christ said what He wanted, and believed it would happen.

The following scriptures back up Mark 11:22-24 as being God's instructions on how a person should have faith:

(NKJV)

John 15

7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

(NIV)

James 1

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

Romans 9

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;

John 15:7-8 indicates that asking God for things results in someone bearing the fruit of righteousness. James 1:5-8 (also Matthew 21:22) indicate that when someone asks God for something, that person must believe that he will receive it, in order to receive it. And Romans 9:30 indicates that (having) faith uniquely produces righteousness in a person. Therefore since asking God for things while believing that he will receive them causes someone to bear the fruit of righteousness, and (having) faith is what leads to righteousness being seen in a person; it follows that asking God for things while believing that he will receive them is actually having faith - the same as Christ's instructions on how someone should do so in Mark 11:22-24. Therefore when someone has faith using the methods described by Christ in Mark 11:22-24, that person bears the fruits of the Holy Spirit - attesting to the authenticity of that person's faith.

In addition, the following scripture supports Mark 11:22-24 as being God's instructions on how we should have faith:

Matthew 9

27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"
28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" "Yes, Lord," they replied.
29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you";

In the scripture above, two blind men asked God for help, then believed that God would relieve them of their distress. God then acknowledged what they did was having faith, then granted them what they asked for.

Matthew 15:21-28 and Matthew 8:5-13 also give accounts of a woman and centurion respectively, who asked God for help, and believed that they would receive it. God in the scriptures acknowledged what they did as (having) great faith.

In addition to Christ in Mark 11: 12-14, 20-24 indicating the means by which He caused the fig tree to wither was by having faith (saying what He wanted and believing it would happen), the following scriptures provide other examples of God saying what He wanted and believing that it would happen, and these being identified as (having) faith.

Hebrews 11

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Genesis 1

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."
7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so.

The above scriptures (Mark 11:22-24 in particular) therefore indicate that having faith is: saying what you want and believing you will receive it, or asking God for what you want and believing you will receive it. It is the above actions and only the above actions which constitute having faith, and it is my testimony that these actions actually cause your behavior to fundamentally improve - indicating further that the above exercises make up having real faith. (You may look here for further evidence that having faith correctly is outlined by Christ in Mark 11:22-24. You may use this link to find out how you can have faith and gain results.)