THE FOUNDATION OF ERROR

Part IV: Do You Have Freewill?

What the modern believer must come to understand is the fact that the foundation of Christian doctrine that emerged out of the darkness of the Middle Ages was one of desperation.   They inherited the good -- Jesus -- from a corrupt church that was overrun by a legion of despots who used the political power of Christianity to live lavish lifestyles and maintain rule over the people.   For over a thousand years it had been unlawful for man to even read the Bible.   Why?   Because the scriptures are the sacred writings of a mystical sect of Jewish Gnostics -- writings whose very nature are intended to undermine secular establishments of institutionalized religion, and open the door to genuine spiritual religion.   Jewish Gnostics have no problem with the paradoxes of life and creation.   In fact, they understood that it is the contemplation of these paradoxes that develops the mind -- and by enlarging the mental facilities in conjunction with spiritual cleansing, begins to open man's innate spiritual centers which enables the disciple of the Light to draw closer to God.   Because the reformers of the Middle Ages were anti-Gnostics -- and they deplored the tenets of Mysticism and Spirituality -- their only means of keeping Jesus, and appear genuine by still retaining the necessary connection to the Bible, was to outlaw the use of reason.   The problem is that reason is the very soil within which Spirituality and Gnosticism flourish -- and Gnostic scriptures are totally incompatible with an anti-Gnostic church. 

In view of the fact that the masses of people they were dealing with were themselves of an irrational and superstitious mindset -- i.e., the worship of nature, religious relics and images, illogical methods of warding off evil and bad luck, burning witches, killing cats because they were devils, etc. -- the doctrine of unquestionable faith in an unknowable God was easy for the people to accept -- in fact, it was a natural outgrowth of their irrational and superstitious manner of thinking. 

Moreover, these mindless doctrines were very much the product of their time.   The people neither thought in the manner of Hebrew mystics -- a people who rejected the rule of man in order to remain faithful to God -- a people whose writings they seized and reinterpreted in accordance with their own manner of thinking.   Therefore, the people who emerged from the Dark Ages had been reared in a cultural environment where there was no such thing as freedom of thought or the exercise of the intellect.   The people were not sovereign -- royal families and monarchies were the norm.   Further, it was a very real fact of life that their leaders were often the most corrupt, degenerate and depraved examples of humanity that could be found.    

In the same way that the people accepted religious leaders that, in Luther's words, “…Antichrist himself, if he should come, could think of nothing to add to its wickedness”, and the greater number of secular leaders who were themselves ordained and embraced by the church were for the most part tyrannical despots, it was normal for the people not only to accept irrationality and depravity in their leaders, but these same people easily extended this concept of irrationality to a supreme power who would affirm and approve these degenerate men who ruled over every aspect of their lives.   Because the Church of the Roman Empire had plunged the western world into the Dark Ages, irrationality was the very core of their mindset and view of the world and its creator. 

There were of course those who opposed the tenets of the doctrine of Predestination -- claiming that it made no sense that man was responsible for his actions unless he possessed freewill -- but that meant that they put forth their doctrine in direct contradiction to the scriptures.   On what authority could they oppose the Divine Word when the Bible itself states that even in those instances where man is permitted the freedom to choose, that this freedom was bestowed upon this select group of people only because God ordained it -- and the supposed choice they arrived at was in fact predetermined by God for that individual.   Thus, the very presence of what could be called freewill, from a biblical perspective was in fact preordained by God.   How could they argue and oppose what the Bible clearly declares when it can be demonstrated that man's exercise and demonstration of freewill is nothing more than the illusion of freewill ordained by God for the express purpose of making men falsely imagine that they actually possessed the ability to make choices in their life apart from what the Hand of God has brought about? 

Regardless of what we choose to believe today, or what your clergy states, Calvin and Luther were not wrong in what they saw in the scriptures.   The Bible really does say that all things in this life are predestined -- and to ignore this fact -- as many modern churches have done -- is to close ones eyes to the written Word.    

To this great insight I would only add that from a modern day doctrinal perspective, there can be no resolution to the problem.   Regardless of the fact that any student of the bible can easily go through the scriptures and point out all the many places where it appears that man has freewill and choices, this fact does not negate the numerous citations of scripture where it states that everything is brought about by Divine Providence, and man only possesses the illusion of choice.   In fact, since the time of Augustine in the fourth century, the Christian world has been at an impasse with regard to the doctrines of predestination and freewill.   The greatest of Christian minds have struggled with the problem, and no amount of biblical research or theological perspective can resolve this great Christian dilemma -- until now.    

The majority of readers will predictably say that they don’t believe in predestination.   They believe that mankind has freewill, and that he is responsible for the choices he makes in life.   And I will agree with this assertion -- but herein lies the problem: What the modern Christian has done is parse the scriptures in the endeavor to cling to little pieces they agree with, while ignoring the most important part of the written word they must understand in order to embrace the Spiritual Gospel of Christ.    

With good reason a great many Christians today simply ignore the biblical doctrine of predestination, and believe more from an instinctual perspective than a scriptural one.   They know that God is real because they can feel His presence and power in their lives.   Innately they cling to the concept that “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (1 Jn 4:16 KJV).   They fundamentally believe that, in the same way that “The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him” (Prov 20:23 NIV), somehow there is an answer to the paradox of predestination and freewill that is not only just and right, but is rational and worthy of God's Wisdom and Ordination.    

Can we simply ignore or embrace the paradoxes of the Bible?   This mindset of the modern believers presents a problem that in effect brings about their own spiritual demise.   The problem is that in the process of ignoring the paradoxes of the scriptures, and in not seeking to understand the spiritual meaning -- a meaning that reveals their inherent spiritual nature -- these well-meaning believers are negating the very purpose for which the Bible was created -- which is to provide man the knowledge that enables him to open the gate to the Kingdom and draw closer to God.   More importantly, though, is the fatal mindset that Christians have permitted themselves to become imbued with.   They preach to others -- they condemn others -- they judge others, and find fault with others -- they point to the scriptures to prove the validity of their doctrines -- and yet, they only use these scriptures in a superficial manner, resulting in the fact that they are incapable of knowing the Will of God with respect to any event that transpires.   The result is that they make themselves New Covenant apostates when they ignore their own Bibles -- Bibles which openly declare that the fault which they observe in their brothers and sisters, as well as all the other people they judge and condemn, has been brought about by the Hand of God.    

While in the time of Luther and the Middle-age Reformers it was easy to close ones eyes to many of the seemingly unfair realities of life, this becomes ever more difficult in modern times.   Medical science has now begun to entertain the reality that every sort of human depravity and what would be considered sinfulness has actually been brought about by genetic patterns in the life of the individual.   What many experts now conclude is that freewill to choose one’s path in life is largely an illusion.   Thus, modern science has once more confirmed the tenets of the Bible with respect to the predestination of the individual by a power that is beyond their conscious control.    

Perhaps no finer example of this emerging scientific viewpoint can eclipse the present-day struggle in the church than that of the plight of the homosexual as they endeavor to find acceptance among Christians.   The homosexual contends that because they were born homosexual, and God in fact created them to be predisposed to a same sex relationship, they should therefore be accepted as normal in the church. Regardless of what the scriptures say, Fundamentalist Christians refuse to accept the homosexual believer.   

In view of the fact that the Bible itself confirms that God preordains everything in life, the questions presented by the homosexual poses a very serious problem to the church.   If all men are sinners who are equally forgiven by the blood of Jesus -- and the homosexual has been predisposed by God into a life of same sex relationships -- and man is saved by faith over works -- then the position of the homosexual would appear to be reasonable when they claim that the promise of the New Covenant applies to them as much as to the heterosexual.   Moreover, if it is true that the homosexual has been predisposed to the lifestyle he is living by the preordination of God, isn’t it a greater sin when the heterosexual Christian judges and attempts to exclude the homosexual from full membership in the church?  

The problem is seen in the fact that the modern church does not have an answer to the scriptural dilemma that the question of freewill versus preordination presents to them.   In their anti-Gnostic perception of the Bible, they are therefore driven by fear -- a fear that does not permit them to question the irrationality of their beliefs or perception of God.   They are unable to answer the simple question that, if man's life and destiny is preordained, how can he be blamed or faulted for what God has brought about?   If there is fault, then, how can that fault be attributed solely to mankind -- the mere puppet of the Divine Will?   Moreover, they fail to acknowledge that if God wanted life on earth to be different than it is -- or has been -- then He has the power to change it.    

The only reasonable answer to the dilemma presented in the scriptures is that modern Christians do not know -- they know and acknowledge that they do not know -- and as a consequence, they believe that it is beyond man's ability to know.   In this respect, they condemn what they do not know!   They endorse what they do not know!   In not knowing the reasons why, they in essence know nothing!   They proclaim that only faith in Jesus can save you -- and yet, they do not possess the wherewithal to explain why God gives some men faith, and others are denied this gift.    

More importantly, from a scriptural perspective, they can never know anything, until they first come to the realization that they know absolutely nothing!   And when they oppose and are offended by this statement, isn't this the same exact message that was stated by the Apostle when he warned believers: “If any one imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know” (1 Cor 8:2 RSV)? 

  The Spiritual Limitations Of Holding Evil Beliefs About God: In the same way that they judge and condemn what they do not understand, the very answer to their dilemma is found in the people they condemned as heretics.   In those writings known as the Clementine Homilies, which were written by Clement, the disciple of the Apostle Peter, speaking of the power of Simon Magus to manipulate and deceive the minds of the Gentile believers, Peter states to Clement: “And with us, indeed, who have had handed down from our forefathers the worship of the God who made all things, and also the mystery of the books which are able to deceive, he will not prevail; but with those from amongst the Gentiles who have the polytheistic fancy bred in them, and who know not the falsehoods of the Scriptures, he will prevail much. And not only he; but if any other shall recount to those from among the Gentiles any vain, dreamlike, richly set out story against God, he will be believed, because from their childhood their minds are accustomed to take in things spoken against God. And few there shall be of them, as a few out of a multitude, who through ingenuousness shall not be willing so much as to hear an evil word against the God who made all things. And to these alone from amongst the Gentiles it shall be vouchsafed to be saved. Let not any one of you, therefore, altogether complain of Simon, or of any one else; for nothing happens unjustly, since even the falsehoods of Scripture are with good reason presented for a test”. 

What Peter is saying is that the Gentile mind is easily deceived and manipulated because they accept and believe evil things about God.   They believe that God ordains the slaughter of innocent children.   They believe that God holds all people accountable for the sin of Adam and Eve.   They believe that God ordains the most degenerate examples of humanity, while condemning the innocent to the “lake of fire” (Rev 20: 14-15).    

Moreover, Peter states regarding the scriptures: “…but with those from amongst the Gentiles who have the polytheistic fancy bred in them, and who know not the falsehoods of the Scriptures, he will prevail much”.   What, then, we should ask, are the falsehoods of the scriptures that Peter speaks of?   What Peter is stating regarding the nature of scripture is the same as was echoed twelve hundred years later by Moses Maimonedes, one of the most respected Jewish theologians, historian, and Talmudist, where he writes about the nature of scripture: “Every time that you find in our books a tale the reality of which seems impossible, a story which is repugnant to both reason and common sense, then be sure that the tale contains a profound allegory veiling a deeply mysterious truth; and the greater the absurdity of the letter, the deeper the wisdom of the spirit”. 

When Peter says that the Gentile believers are easily deceived by Simon Magus because in their polytheistic mindset -- i.e., that they quite readily embrace the “falsehoods of the scriptures”, and believe “an evil word against the God who made all things” -- perhaps the finest proof of the validity of these words is the Christian understanding of preordination and predestination.   What other excuse can be given when a people blindly believe that God for no reason ordains some men to glory, and for no reason ordains others to destruction.   Moreover, what can be said with respect to those who claim to believe in the revelation of the Bible, and yet choose to ignore this prevalent teaching of the scriptures -- in effect saying that they know more than the authors of the Bible -- when they promote the idea in opposition to the written word that man possesses freewill? 

From the perspective of the Hebrew mystics who authored our Bible, the first and foremost principle of truth is this: God, the Creator of the Universe and all things in it, is the most rational Being in existence.   The very idea that Christians will even entertain the notion that God indiscriminately bestows blessings upon one man, and deprives another, or that He raises up some for glory, while He raises up others for destruction, is simply absurd.   Moreover, the idea that God ordains the destruction of innocent men, women and children, as is believed by many Christians today, is simply not worthy of belief.   Further, Peter is correct in his assertion that the Gentile mind is incapable of looking beyond the biblical stories that Moses Maimonedes states are “repugnant to both reason and common sense”.    

What is being stated here by both Peter, the man who according to Christian tradition was appointed to be the rock of the church (Mt 16:18), and one of the foremost Jewish theologians, is that there are events in the scriptures that are not historically accurate, and there are evils attributed to God that are not true.   Yet we, a people who do not know either what, or why God predestines, or what choices man has in the Divine scope of reality, say that these men are in error.   Foolishly, in the folly of our judgment, we fail to recognize the fact that in our inability to understand the nature and conditions of life with respect to freewill and predestination, we are incapable of explaining the relationship of the most important aspects of our religious foundation. 

In the early Church there were men of great spiritual knowledge who understood the mysteries of God.  These men correctly grasped the reality that the wisdom of God is so far beyond the comprehension of carnal man.   These men and women of an elevated vision knew that the very idea that God moves in an irrational manner, and indiscriminately saves some, while condemning others to destruction, would be viewed as a doctrine of foolishness and ignorance.   The problem is that the church which calls itself Christian, either condemned or killed these wise men who knew the secret to the dilemma that plagues the believer today.   Thus, because of our inability to merge the two lines into One, we have in fact alienated ourselves from the very gospel message we claim to champion.  

Everything that God does, He does for a reason -- and this reason has only one purpose -- i.e., the perfection and return of His Prodigal Sons.   God is not unfair -- neither is God unjust -- He does not move indiscriminately -- there are no accidents -- neither are their victims who have not themselves invoked their own suffering.   Further, if we fail to understand the reasons why everything in life is the way it is, the fault is not with God -- but rather, is the product of our own blindness and inability to understand the laws that control this realm of existence. 

The answer to the all-confining dogmatic box that the institutionalized church has imprisoned themselves within, is readily found in the writings of the first people of the New Covenant -- the Essenes -- as well as the original followers of Christ known as the Nazirene/Ebionites -- as well as the writings of the early Gentile Christian Church who, unlike the church of the middle ages, were very Gnostic in their perception of Life and Creation.   Thus, all we have to do is look to the very people whom the Church of Rome condemned as heretics, and seek the answer to the dilemma from the Lord, and we will find true freedom in the illumination of the Light and the opening of the gate to the promised Kingdom. 

 Origen - A Window Into The Pre-Nicene Church: In the words of the third century Church Father Origen -- the man St. Gregory of Nyssa called “the prince of Christian learning in the Third Century”, the man condemned by the Emperor Justinian who held similar views regarding the soul of man as did Darwin: “We have frequently shown”, writes Origen, “by those declarations which we were able to produce from the holy Scriptures, that God, the Creator of all things, is good, and just, and all-powerful… But since those rational creatures themselves, as we have frequently shown, and will yet show in the proper place, were endowed with the power of free-will, this freedom of will incited each one either to progress by imitation of God, or reduced him to failure through negligence… Now God, who deemed it just to arrange His creatures according to their merit, brought down these different understandings into the harmony of one world, that He might adorn, as it were, one dwelling, in which there ought to be not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay (and some indeed to honor, and others to dishonor), with those different vessels, or souls, or understandings. And these are the causes… why that world presents the aspect of diversity, while Divine Providence continues to regulate each individual according to the variety of his movements, or of his feelings and purpose. On which account the Creator will neither appear to be unjust in distributing (for the causes already mentioned) to every one according to his merits; nor will the happiness or unhappiness of each one's birth, or whatever be the condition that falls to his lot, be deemed accidental; nor will different creators, or souls of different natures, be believed to exist” (De Principiis, Bk 2 Ch 9). 

What Origen is stating is that, in the beginning, each soul was created equal and the same, and their place in life is not the result of an accident, or the indiscriminate manifestation of God's Will in the form of Divine Providence -- but rather, each soul's lot in life is the result of the exercise of their own freewill, and consequently is arranged “according to their merit”.   This merit is not the result of some unknown condition -- but rather, is imposed upon each individual in accordance with what they have accomplished in their previous lives. 

Origen then goes on to demonstrate this truth by using the very example which the Apostle Paul gave with regard to Esau and Jacob, and writes: “‘What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God?' And that he might furnish us with an opportunity of inquiring into these matters, and of ascertaining how these things do not happen without a reason, he answers himself, and says, 'God forbid.' For the same question, as it seems to me, which is raised concerning Jacob and Esau, may be raised regarding all celestial and terrestrial creatures, and even those of the lower world as well. And in like manner it seems to me, that as he there says, 'The children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil,' so it might also be said of all other things, 'When they were not yet' created, 'neither had yet done any good or evil, that the decree of God according to election may stand,' that (as certain think) some things on the one hand were created heavenly, some on the other earthly, and others, again, beneath the earth, 'not of works' (as they think), 'but of Him who calleth,' what shall we say then, if these things are so? 'Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.' As, therefore, when the Scriptures are carefully examined regarding Jacob and Esau, it is not found to be unrighteousness with God that it should be said, before they were born, or had done anything in this life, 'the elder shall serve the younger;' and as it is found not to be unrighteousness that even in the womb Jacob supplanted his brother, if we feel that he was worthily beloved by God, according to the deserts of his previous life, so as to deserve to be preferred before his brother”. 

God did not hate Esau and love Jacob for no reason!   To even believe such a preposterous concept of Divine Wisdom is to affirm Peter's assertion that the Gentiles believe these absurdities because “their minds are accustomed to take in things spoken against God".   Respecting the Divine Order of Creation, Origen then continues referring to the Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and goes on to explain: “For God must be believed to do and order all things and at all times according to His judgment. For the words which the apostle uses when he says, ‘In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor;' and those which he adds, saying, 'If a man purge himself, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master's use, unto every good work,' undoubtedly point out this, that he who shall purge himself when he is in this life, will be prepared for every good work in that which is to come; while he who does not purge himself will be, according to the amount of his impurity, a vessel unto dishonor, i.e., unworthy. It is therefore possible to understand that there have been also formerly rational vessels, whether purged or not, i.e., which either purged themselves or did not do so, and that consequently every vessel, according to the measure of its purity or impurity, received a place, or region, or condition by birth, or an office to discharge, in this world. All of which, down to the humblest, God providing for and distinguishing by the power of His wisdom, arranges all things by His controlling judgment, according to a most impartial retribution, so far as each one ought to be assisted or cared for in conformity with his deserts. In which certainly every principle of equity is shown, while the inequality of circumstances preserves the justice of a retribution according to merit. But the grounds of the merits in each individual case are only recognized truly and clearly by God Himself, along with His only-begotten Word, and His Wisdom, and the Holy Spirit”. 

Origen again demonstrates that our lot in life is the result of our own deserts, and writes: “For God the Creator makes a certain vessel unto honor, and other vessels to dishonor; but that vessel which has cleansed itself from all impurity He makes a vessel unto honor, while that which has stained itself with the filth of vice He makes a vessel unto dishonor. The conclusion from which, accordingly, is this, that the cause of each one's actions is a pre-existing one; and then every one, according to his deserts, is made by God either a vessel unto honor or dishonor. Therefore every individual vessel has furnished to its Creator out of itself the causes and occasions of its being formed by Him to be either a vessel unto honor or one unto dishonor. And if the assertion appear correct, as it certainly is, and in harmony with all piety, that it is due to previous causes that every vessel be prepared by God either to honor or to dishonor, it does not appear absurd that, in discussing remoter causes in the same order, and in the same method, we should come to the same conclusion respecting the nature of souls, and (believe) that this was the reason why Jacob was beloved before he was born into this world, and Esau hated, while he still was contained in the womb of his mother”. 

Everything that we know about Creation affirms to us the great reality that all things are controlled by natural laws.   Whether it be the movement of the heavenly bodies, the atmospheric and elemental currents of the world in which we dwell, right down to the atomic and genetic fabric and structure of life itself.   All of life is immersed in a sea of natural law that controls every aspect of creation.   The very prediction of the atomic bomb as theorized by Einstein, is proof that once man is able to envision the laws that control every aspect of Creation, he is able to successfully foresee the eventual results. 

The underlying principle of the scriptures that is confirmed by the people of the New Covenant -- whether Jewish or Gentile -- prior to the institutionalization of the church in the fourth century, is that our deeds and accomplishments in life remain with us -- and because of our interaction with the natural laws that control this world, it is our own deeds, caused by our own actions, that is returned to us in the future -- which future can be in our present life, or a future life when we again re-enter this world. 

The person who is in touch with their soul and spiritual natures knew instinctively that this carnal and barbaric perception of God, which has been portrayed by the church, is defective.   In fact, many Atheists and non-believes reject God because of the outlandish image which the church promotes.   Innately, they knew that the Supreme Creator of the Universe could not be the irrational God portrayed by the Christian Church.   Though they did not always comprehend the reason why, they knew that life as we know it is the result of a Supreme Intelligence at work, and every event in the life of all people are brought about for a purpose.   Those who possessed the desire to search for the Truth, were always rewarded -- and what they learned was that every event in life is caused by a pre-existent reason -- and these events which are brought about by the Laws which control all of Creation, are in fact based upon our own deeds and actions.    

Heed the words of the Apostle when he warned: “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Gal 6:7 NIV).   If a soul, then, enters this world as a “vessel of wrath prepared for destruction” (Rom 9:22), that soul is responsible for their lot in life that was brought about by virtue of his own pre-existent deeds and actions.   If a soul enters this life as a “vessel for honor” (Rom 9:21 NKJ), this good that has been inherited is the result of that soul’s efforts to “cleanse himself” from the defilements of this world, in order that “he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Tim 2:21 NKJ). 

That our deeds and the desires of our heart -- whether good, bad or indifferent -- remain with us as we interact with the Laws of Creation that God invoked when this realm came into existence, is the understanding that we must possess in order for us to even begin to comprehend the biblical doctrine of predestination -- and ultimately the Bible and Life itself.   That the reformers of the Middle Ages did not possess this understanding, and they were unable to explain the great void that existed in their thinking and understanding, resulted in their reactionary position condemning the very use of the mind and the exercise of reason among Christians.   Politically, they had no other choice.   How were they to maintain their position of authority among the body of believers, when they were unable to explain the to the people the reason that God moves in the manner that He does.   They could not!    

If we ask the question as to why the Middle-age Reformers were forced by the void in their perception of the Word to take an anti-Gnostic view of the Gospel, and condemn the very use of reason among Christians?   Their error was the result of their own Darwinist mindset that was in direct opposition to the spiritual mindset that was the foundation of the teachings of the New Covenant.   Moreover, our only fault today is that we have failed to re-evaluate the doctrines we have inherited from previous generations of Christians in light of the new-found knowledge that God has placed in our hands -- and the fact that we have not sufficiently cleansed ourselves in order to learn through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. 

There is no reason to believe the doctrines of men with regard to the Mysteries of God.   In like manner, there is no reason to believe a word that I write.   The promise of the New Covenant is that when we begin to open our eyes and perception to these truths of a spiritual nature -- truths that were possessed by the early church and thrown away when Christianity became institutionalized in the fourth century -- we will be able to begin to embrace the Mysteries of God that Jesus taught to his disciples.  With regard to the events of this life: Only when we begin to realize that we are immersed in a sea of natural law -- that by virtue of this law we come into this life in accordance with our own past deeds -- can we even begin to bring together the two lines within the body of the scripture which the Rev. Charles Spurgeon wrote about: “The system of truth revealed in the Scriptures is not simply one straight line, but two; and no man will ever get a right view of the gospel until he knows how to look at the two lines at once… That God predestines, and yet that man is responsible, are two facts that few can see clearly.  They are believed to be inconsistent and contradictory, but they are not.  The fault is in our weak judgment.  Two truths cannot be contradictory to each other.  If, then, I find taught in one part of the Bible that everything is fore-ordained, that is true; and if I find, in another Scripture, that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true; and it is only my folly that leads me to imagine that these two truths can ever contradict each other” (Charles H. Spurgeon, Autobiography Vol. 1: The Early Years. pp. 173, 174). 

What I have demonstrated beyond a doubt is the existence of numerous voids and black holes in our understanding about the most essential elements of our religion -- elements that each of us should desire to examine and learn more about with respect to what we believe.   One of the great promises of the scriptures is this: “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32 NKJ).   The Bible does not say that you will believe the truth -- have faith in the truth -- belong to a church that professes to know the truth -- and neither does it say you will be appraised of the truth.   In fact, the promise of the scriptures is so profoundly personal, that the word “know”, in this verse, has the same meaning as that where Adam “knew” Eve, and had sexual intercourse.   The word “know”, as used in this promise, is not theoretical, philosophical or doctrinal -- but rather, experiential -- to the degree that the promise to the disciple is that they will become intimately conjoined with the truth and God's Divine Plan for mankind.   Moreover, in the same way that when Adam knew Eve a child was conceived -- when the genuine Christian opens his heart and mind to the Lord to the degree that he/she becomes a holy and consecrated abode for the Light, then it is the Child of Truth that is conceived within the disciple.   The knowledge that Jesus spoke of then, was the result of the disciple’s intercourse with God.   This is the essence of the Hebrew Gnosticism that we now know is the true foundation of the genuine Christian faith. 

The message that is conveyed in the scriptures is that the disciples of the Christ will not only hear the truth -- but rather, see the truth, taste the truth, and be totally immersed in the truth, as a fish is in the water.   The disciples of Christ will understand the natural laws that control this realm, and they will understand that each person's lot in life is the result of their own deeds and desires of the heart materialized by virtue of the laws that manifest ones own past in their present life.    

The pattern of religion that was preached by Paul is indicative of that condition when the disciples of Christ are released from their own past sins and inequity through the grace they inherit as children of The Way.   They understand that man is not saved by dead works and rituals, but through the grace that has been given to them by virtue of their spiritual cleansing from the defilements of this world.   It is from the perspective of this total immersion and cleansing that the Disciple John wrote: “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God” (1 Jn 3:8-9).    

Yes, it is true that all have sinned -- but the genuine Christian no longer sins -- as seen in the Apostle of faiths own words: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? …knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin… Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” (Rom 6:1-16 NKJ). 

Because we no longer possess the same spiritual vision and mindset which was the foundation upon which the Apostle Paul wrote his epistles, we cannot even conceive of man's true potential as the prodigal sons of our Eternal Father.   It is therefore beyond our ability to even envision the concept expressed by Paul that the followers of Christ are expected to live a holy life that is free from the constraints of sin.   It is true when the Apostle writes: “As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:10;23 NIV) -- but as the prodigal sons of our Heavenly Father, we have been forced into lives of toiling and trials by God Himself -- i.e., “For God has consigned all men to disobedience…” (Rom 11:1-32 RSV) -- because “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son” (Rev 21:7 NIV).   From a biblical perspective, once a disciple of the Lord has been cleansed and made whole, they are to “sin no more” (John 5:14; 8:11) -- and, “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him” (1 Jn 3:6 NKJ). 

The believers at Corinth of whom Paul said they had been taught  “all utterance and all knowledge” concerning the “testimony of Christ”, had not yet received the great profound truths of the Spirit (1 Cor 1:5-6 NKJ), as seen in the words of the Apostle: “I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal” (1 Cor 3:2-3 NKJ).   Paul even went as far as explaining to the believers at Corinth that the “natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14 KJV), and informs them that they are too “carnal, and walk as men” (1 Cor 3:3 KJV) -- and though they have been baptized, and had received the Good News of the Gospel of Christ, and possessed all the knowledge of the testimony of Christ, because they were yet carnal, they could not comprehend the true Mysteries and Revelations of God.  

Again to frame the problem in the exact message which the scriptures reveal to the people of the simple faith -- i.e., those who have received “all utterance and all knowledge” concerning the (historical) “testimony of Christ” -- are not yet able to understand the paradoxes of the Bible, because not being spiritual, they are not yet intimate with God's Enlightening Spirit.   It is of paramount importance for us to recognize the exact message that Paul very clearly stated with respect to the fact that what he wrote in his epistles was not the higher knowledge that could only be imparted to the spiritually mature -- but rather, the milk of the gospel that was intended for the edification of the Gentile converts who were too carnal to perceive the Mysteries of God through their own indwelling spiritual nature.   What Paul very plainly writes is that it is only the disciple -- he who is intimate and totally immersed in the life of the Lord -- who can understand the Divine Plan for mankind.   It was for this reason that the Gentile followers of Paul were historically known as Gnostic Christians -- i.e., those who possessed the Knowledge derived directly from Spiritual Sources. 

One of the paramount warnings of Jesus was that a genuine follower cannot be divided between an allegiance to this world, and attempt to become a disciple of the Light.   Why would he say this?   Why can’t we just believe -- live a good life -- and inherit the promise of the scriptures?   Why?   It is not a matter of being taught.   In order to comprehend spiritual truths and man’s spiritual reality, it is absolutely necessary to develop those parts of our mind that relate to our soul and spiritual natures.   The mysteries, then, belong only to those who are themselves spiritual.   This great truth is confirmed in the words of Jesus to his disciples: “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding” (Mark 4:11-12 NIV). 

Jesus spoke in parables because the mysteries and secrets of God cannot be preached and taught in the manner that we do today -- but rather, must be revealed “precept upon precept; line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isa 28:10 KJV) -- as the disciple is transformed from a carnal believer, into a disciple in search of the Kingdom, and eventually into a true Child of God.   The prodigal son cannot return to his father philosophically!   He must raise himself us, leave the far country behind him, and commence to walk in The Way which leads him on his journey home to the Kingdom from which he originally emerged.   Yet, we must never forget that it is necessary to return in steps.   In the same way that we cannot take a child of tender years and enroll him in graduate studies, it is impossible to convey to the natural mind of carnal man the Mysteries of God that can only be perceived by the mature spiritual mind of the prodigal son who has returned home to the Kingdom from which he originated. 

Having become manifest in this life through the process of physical birth, in order to inherit the promise of the scriptures whereby we enter into Life, we must complete the process by embracing and bringing about the next stages of soul and spiritual birth.   Our soul which is that part of us which has developed as the result of all of our experiences since the dawn of time as we understand it, is the essence of our mental self.   Understanding this, the Hebrew and Gentile Gnostics placed great importance on the acquisition of knowledge -- experiential knowledge gained through direct contact with our indwelling soul and spiritual natures -- because the next stage of (soul) birth is that of Mind.   Thus, where the original teachings of The Way provided a means for physical man to transcend the three-dimensional limitations of this world in the endeavor to embrace the Anointing (Christ/Messiah) of the Light -- which Light reveals the Knowledge of all aspects of Creation to the mind of the disciple -- but the essence and purpose of New Covenant teachings became lost when Christianity was converted to the religion of Pagan Rome.    

The very word Christ or Messiah indicates one whose mind has been Anointed by the Light.   When Paul wrote to the Hebrews: “But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings…” (Heb 10:32 NKJ), the word illumination is totally inconsistent with terms such as faith and belief which is the focal point of Christianity today, and indicates the enlightenment and anointing/illumination of the mind.   This process of illumination of mind through the Anointing of the Light, is perhaps best portrayed by the Apostle Paul when he speaks of the mission which he was ordained to perform, as seen in the words: “…to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18 NKJ).    

The first element of the equation is for the believer to “…open their eyes”.   The second is for the believer to “…turn from darkness to light”.   This is accomplished through the act of genuine worship, which is the Imitation of Christ in every aspect of the disciple’s life.   This total consecration and embracing of the Light, brings about a release “…from the power of Satan to God”.   And as the disciple begins to live their life as a citizen of the Heavenly Kingdom, only then are they able to “…receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith…” in the Lord.   Thus, the religion of Martin Luther and the Protestant Middle-age Reformers was an anti-Gnostic church which being fundamentally quasi-Darwinist in its self-imposed three-dimensional limitations of expression, attempted to make the literal and historical interpretation of the scriptures as the focal point of the new religion, and thereby severed itself from the spiritual realm which Jesus called the Kingdom that each of us must return to in order to enter into Life.   Where Martin Luther condemned the use of the mind, the essence of New Covenant thought embraced the development of mind through the illumination of the Anointed Mind of the disciple. 

The whole of the New Testament is a continual theme where the disciple is taught the Sacred Secrets and Mysteries of God from the One True Source of all Knowledge -- the indwelling Light which is called the Son of God.   As the disciple moves closer to the Light, they begin to see and comprehend all things with respect to the workings, pattern and purpose of Creation.   Through the illumination of the mind, the disciple learns how all things came into existence -- why the events that are presently taking place are manifest -- and how the past and present will bring about the future in accordance with God’s Divine Plan that envelopes every aspect of Creation.   Thus, the very term Christian, which denotes one who has received the Anointing of the Light, has nothing to do with a people who call themselves by that name and continue to dwell in darkness under the power of the god of this world.   Because the religion of Martin Luther in effect severed the congregation from the illumination of the indwelling Light, and instead focused the mind of the believer on the historical personage of Jesus, the new church became a body of wannabe Christians -- rather than Genuine Spiritual Christians.    Being severed from the spiritual essence of New Covenant thought, they therefore worshiped in temples made with hands, rather than the One True Spiritual Temple that must be accessed as the disciple enters through the “strait gate” along the narrow path that leads to Life. 

Martin Luther, who championed the gospel of Paul by rejecting the testimony of the disciples of Jesus, undermined the whole essence of what Paul taught when he ignored the words of the Apostle when he wrote: “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer” (2 Cor 5:16 NKJ).   That the true Christian must transcend the flesh, and become a spiritual being, is further seen in the words of Paul when he wrote: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit… He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom 8:1-8 NKJ). 

From a modern perspective, Christians today cannot even begin the process of the next stage of birth and spiritual transformation, because they do not possess the knowledge necessary to comprehend the Divine Plan of Creation.   In clinging to faith in the historical personage of Jesus, and in failing to prepare themselves physically and mentally to permit the entrance of the Light into their life, they alienate themselves from the Living Word that is attempting to enlighten and illumine their understanding.   In their failure to look beyond the flesh, they neither perceive the pre-existent conditions that have brought about the events of life, or the results that these events are intended to manifest -- and not knowing or understanding the basic premises of life itself, they become entangled in their own judgment of events which they very clearly do not possess the ability to comprehend.   The result is that they violate the Royal Law of God -- a Law that the Bible continually warns the believer not to ignore -- and they make themselves apostates to the New Covenant when they judge what they do not understand.   Ultimately, in their parochial viewpoints, judgments and condemnations of things they do not possess the wherewithal to comprehend, in their blindness they in fact judge God.   Thus, it is impossible for Christians today to move beyond the “elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity” (Heb 6:1 NIV), because in their judgment of God and the events of life that they do not understand, they become entangled in the very Laws that keep mankind from comprehending the Divine Will.   Moreover, it is impossible for them to know the truth, until they are first able to understand God's plan for mankind. 

In order for you to mature and perfect your walk with the Lord, it is absolutely imperative that you possess the knowledge of the sacred truths that Jesus taught his faithful disciples -- truths that are referred to as being revealed only to those who were with Jesus “in the house”.   In view of the fact that it has already been demonstrated that your own physical body is the house which the scriptures speak of, then you must first embrace the milk, and then the meat of the Gospel in order to learn directly from the Lord. 

The Bible is neither a chronicle of history, or a declaration of what to believe -- but rather, it is a handbook that directs the prodigal sons on their return trip home.   In order to begin the journey, you must recognize that neither the church of this world, science, nor the philosophy of men, can provide you with the answers to the many paradoxes of life that can only be overcome by expanding one's vision and understanding of life and ones own self.   If the church, science, or philosophy assists you in opening the door to the Kingdom within you -- then it is beneficial.   If the church, science, or philosophy focuses your attention of the things created, instead of the Source of Creation, then it is not good -- and this is the message of Paul in the first chapter to the Epistle to the Romans.    

The philosophy of Darwin conveys to us that man had his genesis in the slime of the earth.   While it is true that man’s physical body is comprised of the elements of the earth, his soul and spirit is not of this world.   In view of this fact the Essenes and earliest of Christians viewed the physical body as a prison from which the soul and spirit of man must overcome the limitations of.   This perception of the physical body is especially taken note of by the first century Jewish historian Josephus who writes of the doctrines of the Essenes: “For their doctrine is this, that bodies are corruptible, and that the matter they are made of is not permanent; but that the souls are immortal, and continue for ever: and that they come out of the most subtile air, and are united to their bodies as to prisons, into which they are drawn by a certain natural enticement; but when they are set free from the bonds of flesh, they then, as released from a long bondage, rejoice and mount upward…”. 

  Embryonic Triangulation: In order to comprehend the higher reality which is revealed in the scriptures, we must begin to understand that man is born from the essence of two worlds -- i.e., the body that is his vessel in this realm is very much of the earth; but his mind which is an embryonic image of his pre-existent soul, is a reflective expression of its source that originates in spiritual realms.   If, then, you desire to increase your conscious awareness of your true self, you must begin to open your mind to the reality that, like the prodigal son, you originated from another world -- that you are positioned in your present station of life in accordance with your own past accomplishments -- which past has triangulated in the present with your future -- whereby your past is presently working in conjunction with the direction you are moving to bring about the process of your arrival at your eventual destiny -- which destiny is the return of the prodigal son to the Kingdom of his Father.    

In bringing your past and future together into the moment of the present time, you must become consciously aware that you are the person you are today, because of the Hand of God acting upon your mind and being to bring about your maturity and destiny in accordance with your soul’s own past actions and accomplishments?   While the Apostle’s words are true when he wrote: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…” (Rom 3:23 KJV), it is also true that the old world of sin passes away for those who have been born in Christ: “…knowing this, that our old self was crucified… that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin” (Rom 6:6-7 NAS). 

This total transformation of the carnal self is perhaps best captured in the words of Paul where he wrote: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col 3:5-10 NIV).   The key, then, to putting away the old self who was of the flesh, is seen in the words of Paul when he states that we must be “…renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator”  -- which is our indwelling spiritual nature that is not of this world.    

We make progress when we take what God gives us, and make the most of the opportunity.   What this means is that you are predestined to your present station in life because of your own past -- and the exercise of your freewill is the determining factor with regard to your future.   Simply put, if you have used your freewill in the past to bring you into the jungles and ghettos of life, why do you attempt to place the blame on anyone other than yourself?   

What the Bible states with regard to predestination is that as you progress from life to life in the journey of the soul, you will reap exactly what you have sown in your own past.   That the church while under the control of Pagan Rome had thrown away the keys of knowledge, and no longer understood the process by which the soul of man is perfected, is not a fault which can be attributed to God.   That the Lord's Anointed -- His Christ/Messiah -- has come and demonstrated with his own life the manner in which we must live in order to change our direction in our quest to return to the Kingdom -- and that we instead remain attached to this realm and refuse to follow in his footsteps -- is not the fault of our Heavenly Father.   That this process of perfection will continue -- indefinitely -- until we do follow the pattern of return, is a reality that we must come to terms with. 

There are no accidents -- and you have been predestined into the life you are living based upon your past in conjunction with the requirements that must be met in order to embrace your future destiny.   It is therefore paramount to ask the question: What are you presently accomplishing with your gift of life?   If you are a religious person and go to church, then you must ask yourself the question: If it is the Hand of God that has brought you into the church, does it mean anything that you are not there on your own accord, but of God's direct influence?   If you are a non-believer, and like many modern non-believers today, you see yourself as being enlightened, and you feel that you are intellectually superior to the believer because you are able to recognize the many flaws in church doctrine -- unless you recognize that it is the Hand of God that has enabled you to see these flaws, your limited knowledge is meaningless.   The question that you must ask yourself is this: Does it mean anything that you possess this insight to see either the merits or the fallacies of modern religious doctrine, only because God wanted you to see certain facts more clearly than the other person?   Moreover, in our very limited understanding of Creation, doesn’t each person’s individual perception also contain a germ of truth? 

In the parable in the twenty second chapter of Matthew where the king invites those called to the wedding feast of his son, and those invited do not come because of the cares of this world, and others are instead invited, what we must understand is that all roads in life lead to the Kingdom -- whether in the church or out -- but the Hand of God can only bring us so far before the journey becomes a mutual endeavor where the Lord directs and we must follow. 

If you will accept that the scriptures are correct, and the Hand and Will of God impacts every aspect of your life -- regardless of the fact of whether you are a believer, a non-believer, or even a confirmed Atheist -- what is important to each of us is to begin to understand to what degree you are responsible for the result of your choices?   That God desires you to see and experience life from a certain perspective -- as the scriptures affirm -- is responsible for your present station in life.   Now that you have arrived at the starting point of your journey, we must then pose the next question: Do you know what is expected of you?

GoTo Part Five

To contact the author: Allan_Cronshaw@nazirene.org