Obstacles on the Way to God- #12

12. There is only one spirit that influences people's decisions, and that is God's Spirit.

Examples from Scripture that refute this notion:

• "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them." (Lev 20:27).
• "So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it; And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse." (1Ch 10:13-14).
• "And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him." (Mar 1:23-26).
• "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph 6:11-12).
• "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (1Jn 4:1).

Obviously, there is more than one spirit at work, and even God Himself sometimes sends evil spirits upon the people (Jdg 9:23; 1Sa 16:14; 1Ki 22:21-23). Therefore, John's advice should be taken very seriously - "try", that is to say, "test" the spirits, whether they are in accordance with God's Law-Word, or not. There is only on way to test the spirits, and that is, to test them against scripture, and scripture alone.

Technorati Tags: God's Law, Holy Spirit, familiar spirits, deception, Christian faith, Jesus, Paul, Joshuah's House

Obstacles on the Way to God- #11

11. Church attendance equals, or at least is a prerequisite to, salvation.

The idea of weekly church attendance as a commandment cannot be found in the bible. As one of the 10 Commandments, keeping the Sabbath holy is certainly required of a believer, and the main feature of the Sabbath is rest, that no work should be done by anyone (Exo 20:8-11; Deu 5:12-15), along with study, for which Jews went to the temple, where the law was read. Keep in mind that back then, the individual households did no have a copy of the law, but that the people gathered to hear it being read to them instead (Exo 24:7 and 2Ki 23:2/2Ch 34:30). For the same purpose, to teach and to study, Jesus and the Jews of His time went to the temple (Mar 1:21, 29; 3:1; Luk 4:16, 44; 13:10, just as a few examples).

The Israelites kept the Sabbath and the Feasts, as God commanded them, and these included a "holy convocation", in the case of the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the first and last day, for example (Exo 12:15-17), which is, basically, a public gathering for study and offering of sacrifices.

But first and foremost, the Sabbath was a day of rest from work, for the whole household, animals included, and for the aliens that lived within the gates.

Christians nowadays, however, have not only chosen to call the first day of the week their "holy" day instead of the last, but have also largely done away with the Sabbath commandment of rest, and substituted it with the "commandment" of weekly church attendance, after which they are free to do whatever they please. Oftentimes, this includes going out for dinner, shopping, or indulging in some other kind of amusement or recreation that more often than not requires other people to work, waiters and waitresses, shop attendants, ticket seller in amusement parks, and the like. God, on the other hand, commanded us not to do what pleases us, but what pleases Him (Isa 58:13).

In short, church attendance does not meet the requirements of the Sabbath commandment, which makes it a tradition of men. These, especially if they contradicted God's Law, Jesus condemned as being wrong (Mar 7:6-8).


Technorati Tags: God's Law, Sabbath, deception, Christian faith, Church attendance, Joshuah's House

Obstacles on the Way to God- #10

10. The bible doesn't need to be taken as a whole, not all of Scripture is relevant or profitable anymore.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (2Ti 3:16-17).

That says it all.


Technorati Tags: God's Law, Tota Scriptura, deception, Christian faith, Joshuah's House

Obstacles on the Way to God- #9

9. There will be no Judgment when Jesus returns.

Examples from Scripture that refute this notion:

• "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." (Dan 12:1-2)
• "The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Mat 13:41-43)
• "So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Mat 13:49-50)
• "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." (Rev 20:12)

There is not denying the fact that there will be Judgment on the Last Day, and everyone will be held accountable for what he and she did with his and her life, and the laws we will be judged by will be God's Law ("iniquity" can also be translated as "lawlessness"), His "book of life".


Technorati Tags: God's Word, Judgment Day, deception, Christian faith, Jesus, end times prophecy, Daniel, Joshuah's House

Obstacles on the Way to God- #8

8. God is not sovereign - people can act against His will and plan.

Examples from Scripture that refute this notion:

• The bible gives us many examples of people who had (or will have) no choice but to act as God wanted them or will want them to, among them Pharaoh in Exo 3-13, and Gog in Eze 38 and 39. In the same way, Judas was given up by God to Satan and thereby to a terrible fate (Joh 13:27, Mar 14:21), that is, to deliver Jesus to the authorities, so that God's pure sacrifice might be made to redeem those that fear God from the wages of sin.
• God claims over and over again to be "God Almighty" - in the KJV we find this in 57 verses, both Old Testament and New Testament. To deny that God is sovereign means to claim that God lies.

Technorati Tags: God's Law, Sovereign Lord, Pharaoh, Gog, Judas, deception, Christian faith, Jesus, Joshuah's House

Obstacles on the Way to God- #7

7. The bible is to be understood mainly culturally.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (2Ti 3:16-17).

If the bible is to be understood mainly culturally, Paul's statement is a lie.

Technorati Tags: God's Word, bible, deception, Christian faith, doctrine, instruction, righteousness, Paul, Joshuah's House

Obstacles on the Way to God- #6

6. There is such a thing as progressive revelation - God allowed people to sin for a while in the Old Testament times.

Examples from Scripture that refute this notion:

• "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." (Heb 13:8)

• God punished His people for transgressions, over and over again, since He is true to His covenant and upholds His Law. The whole Old Testament is full of such accounts. Our suggestion would be to read the five books of Moses, and the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah as examples, to get an idea of God's righteousness.

Technorati Tags: God's Law, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Christian faith, Jesus, Paul, Joshuah's House

Obstacles on the Way to God - #5

5. God is a humanist and appoints the same rights and duties to men and women.

Examples from Scripture that refute this notion:

• God's Law does not value an individual person's life as the highest value, but puts God first. If someone violates God's Law and defiles himself, the people and the land, capital punishment is necessary to wash the sin away (see the following chapters for numerous examples: Exo 21, Lev 20, Lev 24, Num 35, Deu 13, Deu 17). In Deuteronomy, the phrase "thou shalt put the evil away from among you" clarifies the concept behind capital punishment: It is a means of loving your neighbor by not allowing anyone evil to dwell among the brethren to hurt them, lead them astray or defile them (Deu 17:7, 19:19, 21:21, 22:21, 22:24, 24:7). If God was a humanist, the worst thing that could happen would be the death of a person. But God's Law ranks higher than an individual life, so a grave violation of the Law that endangers all the brethren is to be paid for by the death of the transgressor (and sometimes also his household).
• Genesis shows the different roles of men and women in the dominion covenant (Gen 1:28). Eve is called Adam's help meet (Gen 2:18), not his equal. The curses that follow the fall in Gen 3 make their respective roles more difficult: Eve is going to bear her children in pain, and Adam is going to work the soil with more difficulties. Besides, the curses clarify that it is not Eve who should "run the show", but that it is Adam's responsibility to lead his house (Gen 3:16-17).
• Paul and Peter both stress the different roles of husband and wife, men and women, several times (1Cor 11:3-16 and 14:33-35; Eph 5:22-33; Col 3:18-24; 1Ti 2:9-15; Titus 2:1-8; Heb 11:8-12; 1Pe 3:1-7). To write off these roles (as well as God's judgments about what is abominable to Him and defiles us) as cultural, means to deny that the triune God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8), and that all Scripture is profitable for instruction (2Ti 3:16).

Technorati Tags: God's Law, Moses, humanism, Christian faith, Jesus, Paul, Dominion covenant, hep meet, curses, Joshuah's House

Obstacles on the Way to God - #4

4. There is going to be a pre-trib rapture.

Examples from Scripture that refute this notion:

• Jesus prepares His disciples for the tribulations they will have to go through before He comes back: Mat 24 and 25 (the parable of the sheep and goats refers to unbelievers who help the brethren in tribulations as being saved for the love they show to God's people), Mar 13, Luk 21.
• Mat 24:40-41 does not speak about pre-trib rapture because those "taken" in the times of Noah were the ones that died in the flood, whereas the ones that were "left" were Noah and his family.
• 1Th 4:17 does not support a pre-trib rapture teaching because those that are "caught up together" are those that are still alive when the Son of Man comes, but He does not come back until AFTER the tribulations (Mat 24:29-30), and he that endures until the end will be saved (Mat 24:13).

Technorati Tags: God's Word, pre-trib, rapture, deception, Christian faith, Jesus, Paul, the times of Noah, Joshuah's House

Obstacles on the Way to God

3. Jesus' death on the cross reversed the Fall and changed man's sinful nature back to its original pre-fall state.

Examples from Scripture that refute this notion:

• Christ Himself warns His disciples against false prophets who will come and try to deceive even the elect (Mat 7:15; 24:11,24; Mar 13:22). This would have been unnecessary had men's fallen nature been rectified by Christ's death on the cross.
• The warnings of the apostles we read about AFTER Christ's death and resurrection should have been unnecessary too. But we read instead that people are as wicked as they have always been, and that "false teachers" and "false prophets" have come into the world. (Rom Chapters 1 and 2, 2Pe 2:1; 1Joh 4:1).

Technorati Tags: God's Word, deception, Christian faith, Jesus, man's sinful nature, false prophets, Joshuah's House