Statement of faith

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3. Provide a detailed, specific, doctrinal statement of faith (include, but not limited to, the Bible, God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, Sin, Salvation, and the Church).

The Bible

Mt 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

God seems to think that every stroke and dot of scripture is important enough to protect. The implication is that every dot and stroke has meaning. To get to this meaning, in every age some in the church have practiced an allegorical method of interpretation. To quote gotquestions.com: The problem with the allegorical method of interpretation is that it seeks to find an allegorical interpretation for every passage of Scripture, regardless of whether or not it is intended to be understood in that way. Interpreters who allegorize can be very creative, with no control based in the text itself. It becomes easy to read one’s own beliefs into the allegory and then think that they have scriptural support. [1]

The intent of scripture is easily discerned: Jesus said it all spoke of him [2] [3]. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs. To validate that it all speaks of Christ, it must do so using a hermeneutic which guarantees there is no free-for-all allegory. Jesus taught the apostles to read it that way, and they teach us in the New Testament.

It is incomprehensible that God would perfectly inspire the authors of his word to write the exact words that he desired, protect those words until the end of the age, and then leave the interpretation up to the fallible methods of Greek rhetorical invention, debate, logic, philosophy and myth. The doctrine of the unity of scripture implies that Jesus and the New Testament authors had a unity of faith cemented by a proper interpretation of scripture as guided by the Holy Spirit. What happened?

By the end of the first century, the church had done everything they were warned not to do;

They deified Mary and lost their first love [4]
They compromised with the flesh [5] [6]
They created a priesthood to lord over the laity [7].
It might be said they even welcomed the Judaisers, as they adopted Jewish ritual into their mass.

As factions arose in the church, unity of the faith was shredded over petty Greek debates [8] These debates remain, and there is no agreement on the interpretation of even the most simple parable [9]

The foundling Greek church had no desire to be Jewish, and was given a minimalist set the Jewish law [10]. Paul chose not to teach them the deep mysteries of the faith, but to know only Christ and him crucified [11].

By 400 A.D., Constantine in the east and Augustine in the west had removed anything that looked or smelled Hebrew. Augustine even advocated that the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, was more reliable than the original Hebrew text. The church had eliminated Hebrew so completely from the church that by the time Jerome (347-419AD) wanted to learn Hebrew, he had to go to disbelieving Jews to do so [12] [13]

Fortunately, the method of interpretation used by Jesus and the New Testament authors is preserved in the New Testament itself. Each gospel author captured the collective learning, and teaching of the apostles at intervals of ten to fifteen years. Mark captured the earliest syllabus where the story of Christ began with the preaching of John the Baptist. Matthew captured the results of more study and was able to push the beginning back to Abraham. Matthew was able to interpret the pictures of Christ in the history of Israel. Luke saw Christ in the history beginning with Adam. And John captured the pinnacle of understanding, concerning the 'mystery hidden from the beginning' which all spoke of Christ, and derived the doctrine of John 1:1-4 from the first three words of Genesis 1:1.

The hermeneutic used by the Jesus and the apostles interprets scripture in a repeatable, verifiable, self-correcting way, leaving nothing to the wild imaginations of well-intentioned preachers. It is such that a child can correct a master. Not only is the Bible inspired and protected by God, but it's interpretation is guided by the very Spirit which gave it, so that we may know, even before we believe, that God alone is God [14].

Though there are many good translations which suit their purposes, none do full justice to the Hebrew manuscripts. "Agape" is not just a Greek word for love, it is also a Hebrew word, and preference should be given to the Hebrew meaning rather than the Greek when translating. Agape shares a root with 'the combatants' and is a word describing the love one gives to his enemy with no expectation of return. This is the Love of God, that while we were still sinners; while we were enemies, Christ died for us.

The Trinity

Though the word 'Trinity' is never used in the Bible, it is hidden in the 'mystery from the beginning'.

  • An invisible aleph before bereshith, the first word of Genesis 1:1 declares not only that there were three before the beginning, but that the Father and Son are one.
  • The first two letters of Gen 1:1 are אב meaning 'Father', but since the aleph is invisible, 'from the beginning no man has seen the father.'. The Gematria of 'father' is three. The first two visible letters are בר meaning son; the Son makes the Father known.
  • John tells us that there are three in heaven who testify. He is explaining the metaphor meaning of the Hebrew letters in the word for heaven shamayim שמים. The two mems are the Father and the Son (and they are one); the shin is the Spirit. This is reinforced by God declaring that "the Spirit moved over the face of the waters. The shin is on the face of the mem-yod-mem, which spells waters.
  • John also explains the meaning of the letters in the word 'earth' and declares that Christ was the fullness of the Trinity on earth.
  • The gematria of 'heaven' and 'earth' is three for each.
  • The words 'heaven' and 'earth' are used in Genesis 1:1, and reveal the Trinity. John is simply pointing back to show us it is there.
  • In Genesis 1:2 The Spirit is mentioned, and the metaphor for Father and Son is mentioned in 'waters'. Jesus uses this same metaphor when saying that one with faith could move a mountain to the sea (waters).
  • There is undeniably only one God, but the nature of God is so foreign to us, that he makes himself known in three persons, not merely three illusions of persons. They have a different set of knowledge: Only the Father knows the day of Christ's coming. They have different wills: The Son had to make his will 'limp' in order to be obedient to the will of the Father; he did not want to die. The Spirit was grieved by having to put the Son through tribulation of judgement, and was comforted by the Son.
  • The metaphor of marriage is used to speak of the relationship of God with his people. The role of each person in that relationship is different. The Father arranged the marriage; the Son consummated it, and the Holy Spirit is like the best man announcing "The bridegroom cometh" and reporting how the man and his bride are fruitful and multiplying. These are expressed in thee portions of scripture: Genesis, the history of Israel, and the New Testament.

God the Father

Before creation, there was only God. When he chose to create the universe he had to find a place for it. There was no place outside of God for it, because there is no place outside of God. [15]. So he opened a void within himself and arranged the void to be what we think is a physical universe. But God is the real reality, and we are but a shadow within him.

He is like the river to the fish. We swim about, living our lives as we will, but he is silently and invisibly nudging us where he would have us be, to accomplish his purposes. In the same manner that fish cannot see water, we cannot see God.

The Father's is the preeminent will of God. All things are done according to his purposes. The primary attributes of the Father are not those of Greek invention, but those by which he chooses to be known: Holiness and love. He reveals himself in two 'channels' of communication. One channel expresses his holiness, the other his love. All the laws against mixing are warnings that we cannot understand them together until we see the cross.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the physical embodiment of the fullness of the Godhead. He is the Unbegotten Only Son as the second person of the Trinity. He is the Only Begotten Son, as the son of Mary. He is the Usurping second Son; the Second Adam, who received the inheritance in the prophetic pattern of Seth, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others.

The Hebrew word for 'said', 'word' and 'lamb' are the same (sans modern vowels).When God said "Let there be light..." He created Light by the Lamb; by the Word. When John the Baptist said "Behold the Lamb of God" some heard him say "Behold the Word of God".

Though the doctrine of kenosis is thought to be a heresy by many, there arguments are filled with misunderstandings of scripture. The metaphor of the kof and the nun make clear the nature of Christ. He is fully God and fully man by ontological nature. However, in order to be found qualified to be our high priest, and be tempted in every way that we are, without sinning, he could not use his divinity to resist sin. He chose not to be omnipresent; limiting himself to being in one place at one time. He chose not to use omnipotence; limiting himself to the strength of a child which grew to be the strength of a man. He chose to to use his omniscience; limiting himself to the knowledge of a child who was taught that he was the Son of God, by his parents, and then learned from scripture what that meant; including his death on the cross.

Using no divine advantage, he chose to die for us, in obedience to the will of the Father, that he discerned from scripture. In the same manner that Jesus saw the Father speak of the cross through the hidden mystery in the Old Testament, he saw the Father saying the same through circumstances in his daily life, with which he participated, to indicate his willingness to face the cross. The Father rewarded him with miracles to indicate his favor and to encourage him forward.

Though not wanting to die, his greater desire was to be totally devoted to the Father, represented by the burnt offering. His Gethsemane experience was one of putting off the flesh in order to be obedient by his spirit. This is prophesied by the 'limping side' hidden in the account of the formation of Eve, the bruised heel of the seed of the woman in Genesis, and the withered thigh of Jacob.

His death was real, and is represented in scripture as two deaths: one of the flesh and one of the Spirit. Though there was only one death, the imagery is that both the Son of Man died, and the Son of God died (as 'roles'). He was literally resurrected in the flesh. However his nature as the Son of Man; the one who had emptied himself, was not resurrected. In resurrection he took up his former glory as the Son of God, using and enjoying all of the divine attributes to which he had formerly closed his eyes. 'Closing his eyes' is used to illustrate that we do not go blind when we choose to close our eyes. Neither had Jesus given up any part of the divinity that he simply chose not to use prior to the cross. He was physically resurrected, but not to his prior state of 'emptiness' or kenosis' but in his full divine right.

Jesus fulfilled all four offices of revelation, being the Word incarnate. He was THE prophet, teaching the doctrine of the cross. He was THE judge, reproving us and removing all our excuses for sin by being tempted without sin. He became THE priest in resurrection correcting the failures due to our sin; making things right. And he was THE king, not only having discipline of his own flesh, but teaching us to discipline ours as well. He was portrayed as a sickly priest before the cross, unable to perform his priestly duties until the resurrection.

The primary purpose of the cross was not our salvation, though we love to be the center of attention. The primary purpose of the cross was for the Son to make the invisible Father known, by perfectly reconciling Holiness and Grace. Salvation without knowing God is no salvation at all.

The Holy Spirit

No allegory is sufficient to explain God, but the Bible does suggest one for the Trinity and the particular position of the Holy Ghost.

Ge 1:2 ...And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

We know that the Father and the Son are one and that no one can see the Father; we only see the Son. This is like a Chess board and we are like Bishops. The Father is like the light squares, and the Son is like the dark squares. We are like a bishop on a dark square. We can only see the dark squares. There is no way for that bishop to ever land on a light square. We can only see the Son. The Holy Spirit is like the line between the light squares and the dark squares.

When we pray, our prayers get intercepted by the Spirit and relayed to the Father. He moves or hovers between the waters. Like the diagonal vav ו between the yods י in the aleph א he is is connector between the heavens and the earth.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ which now lives within us. For this reason we can boldly approach the throne of God, and Christ is our intercessor.

The Catholic church is divided over a silly argument whether the Spirit emanates, or is sent out by the Father, or by the Father and the Son. Though not a doctrine of sufficient import to negate the love of true brethren, it is easily resolved in the first verse of Jonah.

Jon 1:1 ¶ Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, The Word of the Lord is the Son. Jonah means 'dove', a symbol of the Spirit. And the Son said "Go." The Spirit was sent out by the Father AND the Son. Jonah contains a hidden teaching about the role of the Holy Spirit in the salvation of men.

Sin

The law suggests two kinds of sin; that of the flesh, and that of the will. Eve chose to follow her instinct; it looked good, it smells good... rather than the word of God. We share the instinctive nature with animals, but we are more than animals. By instinct, we choose good and evil for ourselves, giving no thought to it at all as we usurp God's position. God alone declares good and evil.

The results of Eve's sin, are reminders that we are not animals. We wear clothing while animals remain naked. We observe a Sabbath to remind us that God is God of time. The Hebrews would say a prayer while touching a Mezzuzah on the door post while entering and exiting, to be reminded that God is the God of space. We say a prayer at mealtime to remind us not to eat instinctively like animals; and marriage to not procreate like animals.

But by acting instinctively, and thereby behaving as if we were God, we become his enemies; not acknowledging that He is God nor giving him thanks. We choose things for our own benefit and as we do, we send out ripples of pain, suffering and death. Sometimes our own ripples hit us, and we know the cause. Sometimes our ripples hit someone else, and they may or may not know the cause. Sometimes our ripples join someone else's ripples , and the person they hit has no idea where they came from.

For this reason, our works are as filthy rags. We may choose to feed the poor believing it to be a good thing, where someone else feeds the poor because God says it is a good thing. Our work is not acceptable to God because WE chose it while pretending to be God. It didn't matter what God says about it, and it is only a coincidence that he thinks it is a good work too. It is the pretending to be God that makes us an enemy of God and our works worthless.

Instinctive sin can become rebellious sin when we become aware of it and choose to continue in it. Though we cannot get rid of instinctive sin, since by it's nature w are not aware of it, we can get rid of rebellious sin, since once we are aware, we have the means to resist.

Jesus has told us to go and sin no more; no longer choosing to sin, though he may sin instinctively. But when made aware of the instinctive sin, he quickly repents and conquers it. Holiness is being separate; purposing in your heart to serve God in all your ways. This is available to all.

Fasting is an exercise in recognizing the sinfulness of sin. You attempt to control the flesh, but you always give in. We cry with Paul, "Who can save me from this body of sin [and death]".

The fallen world

The world did not fall and God did not lose control of his creation to a devil when Adam fell. We live in a perfect world by God's estimation, but we live in the isolation ward of crazy people who think they are God.

He said that he would give us what we want and permit us to wallow in the consequences. [16] We wish to be gods. The consequences are pain, suffering and death. And this is good! We have two schoolmasters to bring us back to God. The law leads our mind and spirit to Christ, since there is shadow in the law which speaks of the 'good things coming' [17]. Suffering is the schoolmaster that leads the flesh to repentance. In the midst of suffering, no one ever said, "This is the way it should be." They cry out that their suffering is wrong, and that it should not be that way. In doing so, they acknowledge that there is way it should be, and it is not their way; they have no control. Suffering forces us to acknowledge that we are not gods.

This is God' purpose for suffering in this world. When we suffer and we have acknowledged God as God, as we continue to suffer (for in this world there will be tribulation), we glorify him and give him thanks in the midst of it that he is in control, leading the world back to himself. If we were to demand that we not suffer, we would be demanding that God get rid of all suffering. That he would end the world prematurely, before every last soul came to Christ that will. The souls under the altar crying out for vengeance in Revelation are not Christian saints! The Christian saint is willing to suffer a bit longer so that Christ may receive his full harvest. The Christian saint prays for God's mercy on his enemies. The Christian saint is willing to die so that one not assured of salvation may live for another opportunity to bow to Christ.

If Christ sets up and tears down kings, isn't the government upon his shoulders now? There is no devil to stand in his way. There is no need for a future time when the government will be placed upon his shoulders. The need isn't for Christ to clean up the world, but to let the consequences of sin drive men to their knees in submission to him. He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords and God of Gods. This is his world.

Salvation

Salvation is of the Lord. Discussions of who is saved and who is lost are inappropriate since we do not know the state of a person in God's eyes. No one I have ever met who asked "What about the person in deepest darkest Africa, who has never heard?" has cared about the person in deepest darkest Africa or they would be on their way to tell them about Christ. Such arguments are excuses to not believe and be saved.

Mt 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. It is clear that the condition of lostness is something that happened in the past or present. It is not a condition to be determined at some future time. He did not say that he came to save those who would be lost in the future if he had not saved them now. He is saving them from their present lost condition. [18] He calls them the lost sheep of Israel. [19] At the time of Christ, the world was already condemned [20].

The church

The Greek word for church is ekklesia which means 'called out'. The church is made up of those who are called out of the world, not those who are called into a building. This means that there may be people in the building who are not really the church. We don't fret it. Where would you rather have them be, than learning the word of God. There is one mechanism to remove people from the church and it is to be used only for the one who is teaching others to sin either by their words or by their unrepentant grievous and public sin.

References

  1. https://www.gotquestions.org/allegorical-interpretation.html
  2. Joh 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
  3. Lu 24:27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
  4. Re 2:4 Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
  5. Re 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
  6. Re 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
  7. Re 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
  8. 1Ti 1:4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: [so do].
  9. http://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/85594
  10. Ac 21:25 As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written [and] concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from [things] offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.
  11. 1Co 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
  12. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jerome-x00b0
  13. "Jerome rocked the boat in which the early church had been comfortably settled for two hundred years. He upset Christian tradition by arguing for the priority of the Hebrew Old Testament over the supposedly inspired Greek Septuagint. "Jerome and the Jews: Innovative Supersessionism", William L. Krewson. https://www.amazon.com/Jerome-Jews-Supersessionism-William-Krewson/dp/1498218229
  14. Isa 43:10 Ye [are] my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I [am] he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
  15. 1Ki 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
  16. Ro 1:18ff
  17. Heb 10.:1
  18. Mt 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
  19. Mt 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
  20. Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.