The Secret of Biblical Self-Improvement
The popularity of self-improvement, or self-help, books throughout the history of publishing is rather amazing. The reasons given for the wide acceptance of such books, historically, and especially in our day, are many, but they all boil down to man’s desire to improve his condition or situation, whether financially, socially, educationally, physically, psychologically, spiritually, or “all of the above.” Although the goals are improvement and the bettering of one’s circumstance, the primary method and motivation is by self and for self : how can I improve me ?
Since self is the fundamental focus of self-improvement, we need to give some serious thought to what it is. A gathering of definitions from contemporary dictionaries reveals self to be: the entire person; an individual’s typical character or behavior; an individual’s temporary behavior or character; a person in prime condition; the union of elements (as body, emotions, thoughts, and sensations) that constitute the individuality and identity of a person; personal interest or advantage. Simply stated, it’s you and me and all that makes up each of us as individuals. The definition of “self” becomes more confusing, however, when words are added to the front or back of it, such as one’s true self or self- realization . Moreover, the number of hyphenated “self” words are in the hundreds, from self-actualizing to self-worth, and each one adds its own meaning or nuance to “self.”
Two “self”-related adjectives convey the best and the worst condition of self. Selfless : concerned more with the needs and wishes of others than with one’s own: “an act of selfless devotion.” Its synonyms clarify its wonderful qualities: unselfish, altruistic, self-sacrificing, self-denying; considerate, compassionate, kind, noble, generous, magnanimous, ungrudging, charitable, benevolent: “Her love was manifest in selfless service.” Selfish , on the other hand, has no redeeming qualities: (of a person, action, or motive) lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly with one’s own personal profit or pleasure: “I entertained them for selfish reasons.” Synonyms include: egocentric, egotistic, egotistical, egomaniacal, self-centered, self-absorbed, self-obsessed, self-seeking, self-serving, wrapped up in oneself; inconsiderate, thoughtless, unthinking, uncaring, uncharitable; mean, miserly, grasping, greedy, mercenary, acquisitive, opportunistic; looking after number one: “He is just selfish by nature.”
Scripture uses the term “self” in a very straightforward way, i.e., the entire person, and most often as reflexive pronouns such as “himself” and “themselves.” So the “secret” of the biblical use of the term is not in its definition but in what the Word of God says about self and what it instructs us to do with it, which is in direct opposition to what the so-called wisdom of the world advocates.
According to our world, which has been heavily influenced by humanistic psychology (the contemporary breeding ground of all the selfist teachings), “self”—meaning the entirety of a human being—is innately good . Flaws or dysfunctions within a person’s life stem from sources of influences external to the person himself, e.g., his parents, or his physical, social, and educational environment, and so forth. The belief in inherent goodness is involved in all psychological counseling—and not as an option; it is foundational. The reason is obvious. If a person is not inherently good but has a fundamental defect in his nature that affects to some degree every aspect of his life, there is nothing a psychotherapist can do to alter the defect and its ultimate consequences. It’s like the proverbial attempt to change a leopard’s spots. One could dye the leopard’s skin or cover it in some fashion, but such superficial acts would do nothing to truly change the spots. The leopard’s genetics won’t allow it.
But if self is indeed innately good, then it’s simply a matter of a psychological counselor getting a client to recognize the goodness of his “self” and to psychotherapeutically remove all the things that are preventing the success of that belief. There are more than 500 different psychotherapies that have been conjured up to do just that. But many of them conflict with one another, and none of them proves or even makes a plausible case for man’s inherent goodness. Consequently, all of the methodologies only address a client’s problems as symptomatic issues, because they can do nothing to change the nature of humanity. However, what is impossible for man is possible with God!
The Bible declares unequivocally that the heart of man is not good :
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?; For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. (Jeremiah:17:9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?; Mark:7:21-23 [21] For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, [22] Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: [23] All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. )
Scripture tells us that “men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil” (John:3:19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.) and that “all have sinned…” (Romans:3:23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;). These verses, and many more, describe the fallen nature of humanity, and there is nothing that anyone can do to change it or improve it.
Only God can change self and make it better, but He doesn’t do it by man’s way. That’s the “secret” of biblical self-improvement, which is only secret in the sense that Christianity has lost sight of what the Scriptures clearly teach and what the church has practiced since the time of the apostles. That blindness began in earnest in the middle of the last century as psychological counseling made deep inroads to Christendom. By the 1970s some of the most influential names in the evangelical media were Christian psychologists, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists such as James Dobson, Frank Minirth, Paul Meier, Gary Collins, John Trent, and Gary Smalley, to name but a few. Books promoting “self” flooded the Christian marketplace, including Hide or Seek: How to Build Self-esteem in Your Child by psychologist Dr. James Dobson and Self-esteem: the New Reformation by Robert Schuller, whose book was sent out gratis to 250,000 evangelical pastors. Self-love and self-esteem became new doctrines that were taught by most of the popular evangelical pastors of the day.
What too few Christians realize is that the rise of the unbiblical teachings of self-love within the church in our day is a matter of prophecy being fulfilled. In 2 Timothy 3, the Apostle Paul warns Timothy about a “perilous” time when self-love will be foundational to sins that will wreak havoc among believers: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves … ” (vv. 1-2). Some might wonder why that is prophetic, when mankind has had a self-serving bias going clear back to the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Looking out for “number one,” Adam blamed the woman whom God had given him, and Eve blamed the serpent (i.e., Satan), who seduced her into disobeying God.
Self-love has created problems for humanity throughout the centuries, but it wasn’t until the last 100 years or so that the selfisms were promoted as the basic solutions to nearly all of mankind’s ills, especially our mental, emotional, and behavioral problems. Much of that began with the “looking within” and the self-analysis practiced by Freud and Jung, but ironically—and more specifically—it involved a chiding by anti-Christian Friedrich Nietzsche that Christians didn’t love themselves enough. That was picked up and promoted by psychologist and humanistic philosopher Eric Fromm, as Dave Hunt noted:
Fromm, an atheist, popularized the idea of self-love. He got it from Nietzsche. One of Fromm’s books was Ye Shall Be as Gods . He took the lie of the Serpent for its title. In his book, Man for Himself , he justified the idea that we all hate ourselves and need to learn to love ourselves by saying that Jesus taught it when He said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” (TBC, Q&A, 9/1986)
That distortion of the Scriptures was then accepted by increasing numbers of evangelical preachers and teachers who should have known better. First of all, it’s a simple error in math. The proponents of self-love have made loving one’s neighbor as oneself into a third commandment, whereas Matthew:22:37-40 [37] Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. [38] This is the first and great commandment. [39] And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. [40] On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. declares:
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
It’s two commandments, not three. Furthermore, as Dave points out, “…if we were deficient in self-love, Jesus wouldn’t have said to love your neighbor as you love yourself, because he said it to everybody and not to a certain class or category of people. So it’s a given—we must already love ourselves. And he couldn’t say ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ (Matthew:7:12Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.) if we all innately hated ourselves and wanted to do ourselves harm.” That error is further contradicted by Ephesians:5:29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:: “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church.”
Loving self before loving God and others is mankind’s natural bias, whether he or she is a committed Christian or not, and the consequence of that is associated with nearly all of the difficulties we experience in life. Paul’s words to Timothy give a litany of the after effects of loving self:
…covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy:3:2-7 [2] For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, [3] Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, [4] Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; [5] Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. [6] For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, [7] Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. )
So that’s the bad news. What, then, of the good news of how God can change our nature and improve self? It can happen only by turning to Him for the salvation that He alone has provided for all of mankind. That involves being reconciled to Him by admitting our sinfulness and accepting Christ’s full payment for our sins by faith alone. Nothing more is required to receive the gift of eternal life, other than trusting in Jesus for saving us from the infinite penalty that our sin deserves. That’s the gospel, and it’s the only way that humanity can be saved.
Once a person puts his trust in Jesus for salvation, he becomes a new creature: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians:5:17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.). He has been purged from his old sins and is no longer under the bondage of sin (2 Peter:1:9But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.; John:8:31-32 [31] Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; [32] And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ). As a believer in Christ, he has been born again spiritually, is in communion with God, and is fully able to love and obey Him. This was impossible prior to becoming a new creature in Christ. He is a “new man,” a new self (Ephesians:4:24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.), someone who can now live his life according to God’s instructions in His Word.
The first instruction for a blessed and fruitful life is, however, that just as he could not save himself, neither can he do the things that will improve his life by himself . Biblical self-improvement is nothing like the world’s “self-improvement”; in fact, it’s the opposite. Although a believer’s new life in Christ has set him free from the bondage of sin, he still retains his old nature with its self-serving bias. That is a major battleground for every believer in Christ. Yet for all who have committed their lives to the Lord, He has provided through His Word and the enablement of the Holy Spirit all that they need to win the battle over their flesh and to do the things that please God. Contrary to the world’s loving, esteeming, glorifying, even deifying self, Scripture tells us to deny self—to submit oneself completely to God and the instructions of His Word:
And he [Jesus] said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke:9:23And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.)
Denying self is not the same as denying one’s existence. For the believer, it’s the recognition that although “self,” which was formerly in rebellion against God, continues to have autonomy (the capacity to make moral decisions for good or evil), it has now been enabled to choose and to live in righteousness in one’s desire to please the Lord.
Scripture abounds with verses exhorting us to put the Lord and others before ourselves. “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another” (Romans:12:10Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;); “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s [well-being]” (1 Corinthians:10:24Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.); “Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself” (Romans:15:2-3 [2] Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. [3] For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. ). Furthermore, the Word of God gives us instructions on how we can do those very things, in essence “biblically improving self.” Ironically, it involves a dying process.
We are to die to self—that is, to our autonomous will (also known as self-will)—not only by turning it over to the Lord and submitting to Him, but also by allowing Him to live His life through us:
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians:2:20I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.)
The issue of self is one of the most confused and distorted doctrines among Christians today, including those who profess that the Bible is their authority in all matters of faith and practice. That’s the primary reason why the troubles of non-Christians differ little statistically from those who profess to be Christians. The hope for this series is that we might clarify what the Bible says about self and how we can biblically improve it. There is no doubt that such an understanding and a carrying out of what the Scriptures teach will transform us and improve every aspect of our lives in Christ. TheBereanCall
Mr. Pullen:
While I don’t mean to be disrespectful in any way, I don’t think its appropriate when I question some of the things you say, to send an article from someone else. The man that wrote the article didn’t write the things you wrote. I honestly believe if the Holy Spirit has taught you the things you wrote and they are truth why cant you expound them and share your experiences and the things he has taught you. I believe there is a whole realm of difference between knowing the scriptures with a knowledgeable intelligence and knowing the one who penned the scriptures and is able to instruct us and teach us as we come to him. It seems very noticeable that in the scriptures below that these people who were the experts in the scriptures obviously didn’t have a clue to what they were saying or teaching per what Jesus said . Read
Mar 12:18 And there come unto him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection; and they asked him, saying,
Mar 12:19 Teacher, Moses wrote unto us, If a man’s brother die, and leave a wife behind him, and leave no child, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
Mar 12:20 There were seven brethren: and the first took a wife, and dying left no seed;
Mar 12:21 and the second took her, and died, leaving no seed behind him; and the third likewise:
Mar 12:22 and the seven left no seed. Last of all the woman also died.
Mar 12:23 In the resurrection whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.
Mar 12:24 Jesus said unto them, Is it not for this cause that ye err, that ye know not the scriptures, nor the power of God?
Mar 12:25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in heaven.
Mar 12:26 But as touching the dead, that they are raised; have ye not read in the book of Moses, in the place concerning the Bush, how God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?
Mar 12:27 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: ye do greatly err.
Joh 5:38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he sent, him ye believe not.
Joh 5:39 Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me;
Joh 5:40 and ye will not come to me, that ye may have life.
To just take the scriptures and with our intellect tell everyone what they supposedly say and mean and what they are to do and if they don’t then this is what will happen is from my perspective not of the spirit of Father. I have included some scriptures below for your review.
Joh 14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, while yet abiding with you.
Joh 14:26 But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you.
Heb_5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, And on their heart also will I write them: And I will be to them a God, And they shall be to me a people:
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his fellow-citizen, And every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For all shall know me, From the least to the greatest of them.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And their sins will I remember no more.
Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant he hath made the first old. But that which is becoming old and waxeth aged is nigh unto vanishing away.
The scriptures plainly teach that knowledge puffs up, Knowledge of the scriptures can puff us up along with many other things. Just because we have knowledge doesn’t mean we know. When we throw the scriptures at people and tell them all the things they should and shouldn’t do we put them under bondage to the letter or the modern Christian set of laws.
Rom_7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
2Co_3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Mr pullen there is a vast difference between the spirit and the letter. One brings death the other brings life, One brings the Father, Jesus and the Spirit and the one brings bondage, sin, frustration, and death. I hope you understand these things and aren’t just taking what you have read by other people and thinking you know. And because you feel you know that you now have the ability to teach others and instruct babes and young men in the things of the Spirit. It takes a walk in the Spirit which isn’t by what we know in the natural. It is entirely different.
I just want to say that I believe you have a sincerity for what you teach however be exhorted by the scripture .
1Co_2:14 But 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.
1Co_8:2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
Sincerity, enthusiasm and devotion is wonderful if its by the sprit of the Lord. If its by the flesh and by the natural man its worthless and only brings death and bondage.
Jas 3:17 But the wisdom from above is (constantly exists being) indeed first pure, thereafter peaceable (pertaining to peace), suitable (fair), compliant (easily persuaded), full of mercy and good fruits, non-separating (undiscriminating; unwavering; non-contending), unpretending.
Jas 3:18 And the fruit of fair and equitable dealing (justice and right relationship in accord with the Way pointed out; right-wisedness) is continuously being sown in peace by those habitually performing (making; doing) peace.
Mr Pullen I love you as a brother in Christ, even though I don’t know you personally. I appreciate your sincerity and enthusiasm, but that’s good for you but don’t be like those that tried to put the Galatians back under the constraints of the law and the flesh. We began in the spirit and must continue in and by the spirit. I can only tell you those things that the Father by his spirit has taught me in many life changing situations. He is so willing to lead us, love us and show us who he is. We must be willing to lay down those things that we have learned in Babylon and thru religion. Then we can receive the true things of the Spirit by Jesus Christ. It’s a walked out day by day relationship with the Father by the spirit and walking with the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Its not a dead letter if I study hard enough and work hard enough and have more devotion kind of walk. Our relationship with the Father is real, living life and heart changing, and a million more things that are more real than we believe. Please don’t be robbed or rob others by the traditions of men and religion, the laws of Christendom and the ways of Babylon.
I hope and pray that you hear the spirit of my letter. It is one of love of the Father for you. It is one that desires for you to run to Jesus so he can show you who he is, you will be wowed and blown away more than you can imagine. And I just don’t mean what you know of him today there is so much more he desires to show us of himself.
I hope my words have been gentle and loving.I know they have been straightforward and to the point. I do say these things because I do love you and even more the Father loves you and desires to show you so much more. I hope I have not offended you I do love you and am concerned for you as a brother in Christ.
In Christ,
Rick
Rick,
What is the real problem going on? Seriously. I never said or even inferred it was incorrect to question one another. Where do you come up with the ideas you come up with to regard to what it is taking place on “A Crooked Path?”
You write this; “While I don’t mean to be disrespectful in any way, I don’t think its appropriate when I question some of the things you say, to send an article from someone else. The man that wrote the article didn’t write the things you wrote. I honestly believe if the Holy Spirit has taught you the things you wrote and they are truth why cant you expound them and share your experiences and the things he has taught you. I believe there is a whole realm of difference between knowing the scriptures with a knowledgeable intelligence and knowing the one who penned the scriptures and is able to instruct us and teach us as we come to him.”
I am very clear, or intend to be. I don’t know where or why such confusion exists between what is posted on “A Crooked Path” and how you read and interpret it.
First, I have many different categories on the website “A Crooked Path.”
There is the column I write, called “Ken’s Column.”
There is a category called “Contemplations” and that is where things other people write are posted, along with other spiritual writings.
There is a category called “Last Days News” in which news items I think are of value are reprinted for people coming to the website to read.
There are many categories – “Poems” which are original faith based poems I compose incorporating Scripture, “Hymns” which are postings of varied old time Christian hymns which are being lost in these times, and on and on with other categories.
I had every intention on adding the two articles by T.A. McMahon because if you have any familiarity with “A Crooked Path” at all you’d then be aware of other articles since the creation of this website over 3 years ago by T.A. McMahon on “A Crooked Path.” It wasn’t a plot Rick. It wasn’t done because of you or in response to you. That never entered my mind. Perhaps you should examine yourself and examine “A Crooked Path” a bit more. Get over yourself Rick.
I examine myself and fall short daily. It is why I am on my knees before God daily and in His Word daily.
There are almost 900 different postings on this website “A Crooked Path.” I’ve had this site up and running since around March of 2011.
I work on this website. I am its operator, owner, administrator, editor, sometimes writer, and person paying the bills to keep it online.
Working on the website, adding material, is what I do. I did not post the two articles by T.A. McMahon of The Berean Call in response to anything you wrote. It isn’t all about you, Rick.
I posted those two articles by T.A. McMahon to add content to “A Crooked Path” I thought was important for readers and subscribers and anyone who happened to come upon the website to read. Because they contain timely truths and information for the times we live in.
What is the real problem Rick?
On one hand you send me Scriptures where the Lord is admonishing and instructing the Sadducees about them being errant in their knowledge of the Scriptures and not discerning the Word of God clearly and wisely, and denying the power of God, and then you turn around and send me your words, your interpretation of knowledge of the Scriptures can lead one to being puffed up. While nowhere in God’s Word does it ever say one can know His Word too much or spend too much time in learning His Word or in discerning His Word or in preaching His Word to others. The Scriptures teach that WORLDLY KNOWLEDGE can puff someone up, or if they deem themselves to be holy and above people, as the Sadducees and Pharisees did using the law that can puff up a person. I am not a Sadducee or Pharisee Rick. It is clear you have not really read much of what I have personally written on “A Crooked Path” Rick, for if you had you would know more of my view. How I do not think worldly knowledge is something special, how I do not think of myself as a godly, or holy, or righteous man. I do not go around in my heart or mind telling myself or anyone “Oh, I’m a godly person you know, I’m a righteous Christian, I’m al set, I know so much.”
It is clear you come here to cause dissention without really having a basis or foundation on what “A Crooked Path” really is and why it is I do what I am led to do.
Why do you come to “A Crooked Path” Rick? Because you know so much better and must set me straight? Because you can misinterpret and misunderstand that which you read and use things out of context and admonish me thinking yourself so much better and right?
Context and discernment and SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE, SPIRITUAL WISDOM, SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING can never be too much for any person to acquire. It is what we should be doing each day – to pursue God and grow closer to Him. And how is this accomplished Rick? By study of His Word. To study to show oneself an approved worker unto the Lord our God, Rick.
I do not know if you have ever taken the time to notice, but on the home page of “A Crooked Path” I have this quote near the top of the right hand side sidebar;
“It shall greatly help ye to understand the Scriptures if thou mark not only what is spoken or written, but of whom and to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances, considering what goeth before and what followeth after. ” ― Miles Coverdale
Context and discernment the increase of spiritual knowledge and spiritual wisdom can never be too much. We are to strive towards the throne of God and nourish our spiritual beings, our spiritual lives. That is more important than anything on this earth in this temporal life.
I have come to the conclusion you are a mixer. A dissenter. You like to stir the pot and cause dissention and, in truth, while you admonish me and tell me I am not living in the Spirit of God you exalt yourself and the place you have arrived at being superior.
I know the Father’s love through His Creation, His Word, His promises, His sending Himself in His only begotten Son to this wretched and sinful earth as a man to live and die and conquer death, to atone for our sins, to be the Sacrificial Lamb offering the only path and way to salvation through repentance and forgiveness of sin, I know the Father’s love in Jesus Christ the Lord. I receive life through the living Word of God Rick. Not through any man or woman or thing on this earth.
If you have such a problem with “A Crooked Path” and it troubles your spirit and soul so much, and I am a Sadducee to you, or whatever you perceive me being in your almost non-existent knowledge of me and what I really am and what I really think and believe because you have never really taken the time to discover (perhaps you ought to visit the “Poems” category if you come back to “A Crooked Path” some time and spend some time there, or find someone that has a copy of “Wilderness: A Crooked Path To The Promised Land” and read the introduction and the poems in that book to have a clearer and better understanding) than I think it best for your spiritual health and well-being if this is such an offensive and incorrect place you do not disturb your spirit or worsen yourself by coming here. I would not want to be part and parcel in any way, shape, or form for your being misled and part of something you think is alien to God the Father and Jesus the Christ and Lord.
I read and take the whole complete Word of God Rick. Not just the warm fuzzy parts. Not just the parts which people like to constantly return to because they can’t abide the whole Word. Read Revelation 19 Rick. That’s the real love story. Jesus Christ, after being so patient, so giving – dying on the cross and being beaten and spat upon and mocked and mistreated by all and abandoned by all still took on all the sin of everyone who had ever lived or would live out of His love for us, to offer us a way to salvation and eternal life. And in Revelation 19 He returns. Not as the gentle man of the Gospels, but as the Judge which destroys the people and nations of this world who either refused to believe upon Him and His Word and His Father and the Holy Spirit, or were part of the great apostasy and falling away following false teachers and false doctrine.
I don’t have itching ears Rick. Do you?
I don’t abide and follow fables and only want to hear about “love, love, love, all you need is love” as if people turn the Word of God into some pop rock ‘n roll song from the 1960’s because they can’t deepen their knowledge or discernment and they misuse Scripture.
Can we disagree?
Certainly.
But if we disagree that God is the only living God, and is the Father of all, and the Father of the living Jesus the Christ and Lord, who lived on earth as a man, who’s words in the Holy Bible are without error and are inerrant and true, and we can agree on the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, which is a living individual yet the Spirit of Christ the Lord, because while each individual parts of the Godhead they all are One. Of one mind, of one Spirit. And if we agree the entire Holy Bible is inerrant and is almost all prophecy and yet almost all very clear and easy to understand if one is in the Spirit of the Lord and has the indwelling of the living Holy Spirit, and we can agree all people – everyone – was a sinner and is a sinner. Even those who have come to be renewed of mind and spirit are still sinners they are just now redeemed in the blood of the Lamb providing they do not backslide and abandon the faith and follow false teachers and false doctrine, and we believe we are in the end times, and we are to study the entire Word of God to become approved workmen and workwomen in the sight of God…? Then we shouldn’t have too many problems between us am I not right?
Do you come here to cause trouble? Or to pursue God and add something of value to this place? Can you honestly in your heart profess what you’re bringing here is adding value or are you mainly just telling me how lost and wrong I am and how I am not living with the Spirit of God in me and all I am doing is racking up Biblical knowledge without any context or spiritual value to it?
You don’t have to answer that. Except in your heart if you desire.
Thank you. Now if I post an article, a column, a news piece please know it is not because of you and this website does not rise and fall because of you and what is posted here is not in response to you – unless I pointedly and directly reference it is, and if so I will do that. Make it clear it is in response to you. Otherwise? Please discern wisely.
Sincerely, in the faith of the living and one true God and His Son, the living Jesus the Christ and Saviour who we ought to live to make Lord of our lives as we seek Him diligently, purely, completely, daily,
Ken