What Does God Want From Us?

These verses are saying the same thing.

“I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.
Am 5:21‭-‬24 NKJV

Think about where Jesus talks about how few are saved, yet many TRY to enter but cannot.

Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
Lu 13:23‭-‬24 NKJV

These are the very ones who insist that they did things in His Name, yet He says He never knew them. The door is closed to them, and He does not open it.

When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’  then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’  But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.
Lu 13:25‭-‬28 NKJV

Here is another place it says the same thing as these other verses. Our effort and will is dirty menstrual rags to God, and all that we do according to our will is evil by nature and God hates these things. He desires the contrite and surrendered heart that glorifies Him as God. This is the proper humility of the creature before the Creator, and is the place where the confession of Jesus as Lord is true. This is when God regenerates a man according to Ezekiel and Jeremiah.

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it  is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is  within my heart.”
Ps 40:6‭-‬8 NKJV

Right With God

A person only "gets right with God" when they are born again. Remember that Jesus said none can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
Joh 3:3‭, ‬5‭-‬7 NKJV

That said, how is one "born again"?

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Eze 36:26‭-‬27 NKJV

The "works" of the New Covenant are to believe in Jesus and love the brethren.

And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
1Jo 3:23‭-‬24 NKJV

This is not something we "work" at, but is the fruit of who we are after regeneration.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who  are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Ga 5:22‭-‬24 NKJV

We know the difference between the FRUIT of the flesh and the FRUIT of the Spirit. The fruit of the flesh is just as evident too.

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Ga 5:19‭-‬21 NKJV

These fruit are simply the byproduct of the tree. Either a person has been born again, being saved, and bear such fruit, or they haven't.

Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Mt 7:17‭-‬20 NKJV

Why is There Law?

There are some simple things that people just seem to miss entirely. The most important of these is the PURPOSE of the Law. Why is there Law?

1. It was a tutor to keep us until faith came through the Holy Spirit.

But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to  bring  us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Ga 3:23‭-‬25 NKJV

2. It is to condemn ALL flesh as guilty before God, SHUTTING every mouth.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
Ro 3:19 NKJV

3. Law is NOT for the righteous, but the unrighteous and the like.

But we know that the law is  good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
1Ti 1:8‭-‬11 NKJV

The Law is a set of boundaries and parameters that are a preventive measure. Love is the fulfillment of the law, and is proactive. Where the law says "do not kill", we are laying down or lives. Where the law says "do not commit adultery", we are loving our wife as Jesus loves the church.

Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Ro 13:10 NKJV

Jesus nailed the ordinances of the Law to the cross, defeating ONCE AND FOR ALL the demonic powers.

... having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Col 2:14‭-‬15 NKJV

We, those of us born again by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, have been set free of the law that is for the unrighteous (that which you wish to be enslaved to). We are now under the law of liberty and love, by the grace of the Holy Spirit and under the new covenant.

But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in  it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Jas 1:25 NKJV

In that He says, “A new covenant ,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Heb 8:13 NKJV

Verbal Confession and Salvation

Isn't it true that if someone says Jesus is Lord that they are saved? First of all "Lord" must be defined.

lord
lôrd/
noun
1.
someone or something having power, authority, or influence; a master or ruler.
"lord of the sea"

So by definition a Lord is someone whose will cannot be thwarted. (THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY WHO SAY "LORD, LORD" THAT WILL BE CAST OUT BECAUSE THEY FAILED RO ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS LORDSHIP AS DEFINED.) If someone confesses Jesus as LORD, are they not saved?

that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Ro 10:9 NKJV

A verbal confession is made from the abundance of the heart.

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. FOR OUT OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART HIS MOUTH SPEAKS.
Lu 6:45 NKJV

Our hearts are desperately wicked from birth.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
Jer 17:9 NKJV

So, unless God changes a person's heart, the true confession cannot even be made. God must regenerate a man first, then the verbal declaration is the proof of the work of God.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Eze 36:26‭-‬27 NKJV

Kingdom Truths

John the Baptist is the greatest prophet ever born of a woman according to Jesus. Also, according to Jesus, he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John was.

“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
Mt 11:11 NKJV

So... who is "least in the Kingdom of God"? According to Jesus that is anyone who breaks the least of the commandments and teaches others to do so.

"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Mt 5:19 NKJV

What is the qualifier to be "in the Kingdom of Heaven"? According to Jesus that is being born again. One must be born of the flesh(water), AND be born AGAIN of the Spirit in order to be part of the Kingdom.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
Joh 3:3‭, ‬5‭-‬6 NKJV

This means that any person filled with the Holy Spirit is part of the Kingdom of God, and comes in the FULL AUTHORITY OF JESUS. This is to ALL who believe in Him.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."
Joh 14:12‭-‬14 NKJV

So how does God choose to use men in the Gospel of the Kingdom, the building of His Church? According to Jesus God does NOT give His Spirit by measure, and ALL who have the Spirit speak the words of God.

"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure."
Joh 3:34 NKJV

What do those words spoken by all of the believing ones do? They bring the elect to faith.

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Ro 10:17 NKJV

Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.
Ac 13:48 NKJV

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.
Ac 10:44 NKJV

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in  the  thing for which I sent it.
Isa 55:11 NKJV

Lordship Salvation

Am I missing something, or is this Lordship Salvation a useless argument over words? There has to be proof in the pudding. That is why God saves us at all.

But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God : “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord ,” says the Lord God , “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.  Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. Not for your sake do I do this, ” says the Lord God , “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”
Ezekiel 36:21‭-‬28‭, ‬31‭-‬32 NKJV

There are only two kinds of trees. Good and evil, the flesh and the Spirit, and both are evident by their fruit.

You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?  Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Matthew 7:16‭-‬20 NKJV

So what does that fruit look like?

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19‭-‬21 NKJV

Or...

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who  are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:22‭-‬24 NKJV

It is not that we make Jesus Lord, as He is already Lord of all, but we glorify Him as Lord. We glorify God as God, the ABSOLUTE SOVEREIGN WHO DOES ALL HIS WILL, and we glorify Him as such. This is the result of regeneration, and the night and day difference between wrath and peace.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Romans 1:18‭-‬21 NKJV

Worship or Abomination

The ONLY worship that God accepts is that which is done in spirit and truth, which is broken and contrite humility before the Creator, glorifying God as God. ALL other worship, church directives, temple ordinances, or sacrifices are an ABOMINATION before the Lord of which He will demand recompense. If we are not worshipping God His way it is not only not OK, but it is an abomination that we will be held accountable for.

Thus says the Lord : "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord . But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. "He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck; he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig's blood; he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol. These have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations; I also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring their fears upon them, because when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, they did not listen; but they did what was evil in my eyes and chose that in which I did not delight."
Isaiah 66:1-4 ESV

Marriage and Polygamy After Death

I have heard this verse used to support polygamy, but it actually destroys the idea. According to the law the brother would marry his deceased brother's wife SO THAT HIS FAMILY LINE MIGHT CONTINUE. That is the reason given here.

The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.' Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh."
Matthew 22:23-26 ESV

The first main point here is that the brother was DECEASED. The covenant is ended at death.

For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.
Romans 7:2 ESV

Any marriage between a married man or woman is adultery, period. Furthermore, any attempt to say that these things are void because of eternal marriage is plainly made erroneous by Jesus. The validation of the Sadducees' question was well founded if there were to be in marriage or family in Heaven. If the woman was married(sealed), to multiple men, whose wife would she be?

But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven."
Matthew 22:29-30 ESV

Jesus not only plainly tells them there is NO MARRIAGE in Heaven, but He tells them that they obviously don't understand the Scriptures or the power of God. No marriage in the afterlife, yet alone no polygamy.

The Reprobate and the Elect

The issue is not whether or not you KNOW that there is "ONLY ONE GOD IN ALL OF EXISTENCE", for such a fact CANNOT be denied.

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
James 2:19 NKJV

It is also an illusion that any man can "accept Jesus into their heart"or "make Jesus Lord of their life". Jesus IS LORD over EVERY life, WITHOUT exception. Is what does happen is that the regenerate person is changed, and he glorifies God as God. Herein is the line drawn between the elect and the reprobate, between salvation and abiding under God's wrath.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Romans 1:20-21 NKJV

What then does it look like to glorify God as God?!

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it  is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is  within my heart.”
Psalms 40:6-8 NKJV

This is the work of God alone as Jesus is manifest in our lives through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. This is what "the remission of sins" looks like.

Rules and Ordinances

Did you know that there is plain and clear Scripture where we are commanded to NOT observe rules and ordinances?! If your denomination or church says things like "You can't play cards. You can't dance. You have to get married in the temple. You can't drink caffeine. You have to worship on Saturday. You have to worship on Sunday. You have to... blah, blah, blah. You can't... blah, blah, blah." You might want to read this section of Scripture. Such things are man made religion, and have nothing to do with Christ.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.  Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.  If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Colossians 2:13‭-‬23 ESV

The Trinity in Scripture

I have heard the foolish explanation that the Hebrew word Elohim that Moses uses here in Genesis proves that there are multiple gods.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26 NKJV

You MUST use Scripture to interpret Scripture just as you MUST use math to interpret math. Google the substitution method for a prime example.

Listen. Moses wrote Genesis, and Deuteronomy. Either Moses what a man with serious dementia, or he was consistent in his theology and knowledge of God. Obviously the later must be true, else you might as well throw your Bible in the garbage. Since the later is true, we can safely use this verse to interpret Genesis 1:26.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord  is one!"
Deuteronomy 6:4 NKJV

Sola Scriptura is a MUST in order to abide in Truth. The Triune God is ABSOLUTELY in Scripture.

John 3:17

OK... What is John 3:17 saying?

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
John 3:17 NKJV

The entire world is currently under condemnation, for all have sinned. The purpose of the Law is to make ALL guilty and condemned before God so that NO FLESH may glory before Him.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Romans 3:19-20 NKJV

EVERY MOUTH has been stopped, and all are condemned to Hell. This is just, fair, and righteous for ALL have sinned.

When Jesus came to the earth in the form of a man He had come specifically to redeem His people, those the Father has loved from the foundation of the world. This redemption is COMPLETE, NOT potential. All that the Father will call to Jesus will believe, and they are saved from the condemnation.

Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Romans 8:30 NKJV

Wishing None to Perish

Who is He speaking of here in Peter? If it were all people, hell would be empty since God does all His pleasure.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, NOT WISHING THAT ANY SHOULD PERISH, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 ESV

Do you know who He is talking about? His sheep. His little ones.

What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?  And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.  So it is NOT THE WILL OF MY FATHER who is in heaven THAT ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES SHOULD PERISH.
Matthew 18:12-14 ESV

Who then are the "little ones"? Little children? No. It is those who are "like children", the believing ones.

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and BECOME LIKE CHILDREN, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself LIKE THIS CHILD is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,  but whoever causes one of THESE LITTLE ONES WHO BELIEVE IN ME to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."
Matthew 18:3-6 ESV

God will not lose a single one of His sheep, because He wills that none of them shall perish. Period

Blasphemy of Holy Spirit

You made me really think this morning. As I was praying over it these things came to mind.

We know that a person must be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of God, so this obviously has something directly related to the sin of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. This sin and not being born again are THE ONLY LIMITING FACTORS for eternal life and eternal damnation according to Jesus' own words, so they must be one and the same.

Is this why Jesus went to the elect that had died before His resurrection, so that they would be born again (made alive in the Spirit).

For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

I Peter 4:6 NKJV

Could this be the same the same reason that He appeared to those in prison, so that the sin of unbelief was solidified in their spirit?

by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

I Peter 3:19-20 NKJV

We know that the heart of stone is the heart of unbelief, and that when God changes out the heart of stone for the heart of flesh is the same time a person is filled with the Spirit (being born again). Does it not make since that the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is retaining the heart of stone (unbelief)?

Revelation of God

You are asking me to separate what God has given me, and to tell you how it makes things different. That is all I know. I was raised Wesleyan (arminian/pelagian), and in a Nazarene church. It wasn't until I was in jail in 2010 and on my way to prison that God brought me to the Truth.

I didn't have anyone to teach me how to believe, or what to believe. I had never even heard of the Doctrines of Grace or the 5 pillars. I had my Bible, and the Holy Spirit.

I threw myself at Jesus feet and I cried out to Him to just make me the man He made me to be. I asked Him to show me what He wanted me to see, and that I was willing to let go of anything and everything that was not of Him.

After spending 6-8 hours a day for 20 months in the Word and in prayer, God had firmly established Truths on my heart that no man will ever move me from. I have still never read any of John Calvin's works. In fact, the only two books I have read outside of the Bible is "Humility" by Andrew Murray and "Attributes of God" by A.W. Pink. I didn't take anything new from these books, but rather God used them to confirm everything He had just shown me over the previous 20 months.

Right before I got out of prison the Chaplin told me "You are a Calvinist, aren't you?" Well, my response was "What the heck is that?"

I just believed what the Bible says, and I was shocked to find out that so many who considered themselves genuine believers didn't believe the same way. Since I have been out I have learned the theological terms that summarize all the things God has solidified in my heart.

My faith allows me to diligently be at rest, to speak with confidence, and to trust in God like never before. When I speak the Word of God, I KNOW that it will accomplish EXACTLY what He pleases REGARDLESS of how the one hearing may "feel" about it.

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in  the  thing for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11 NKJV

How Does God Purify a Man for Service?

This is not done through a series of  cleansing, touching by another person, laying on of hands, or baptism. Don't let someone deceive you by telling you that there is a bunch of things you must do. Those are erroneous commandments of men.

Let's see what God does when purifying a man for service. It is God who equips.

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
II Corinthians 1:21-22 NKJV

For Jeremiah God put His Words in his mouth.

Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant.” Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”
Jeremiah 1:9-11 NKJV

Just like for Jeremiah it is the touching of the lips that is done to Isaiah also, which we just saw in Jeremiah is the putting of the Word into His mouth.

So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with  it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
Isaiah 6:5-8 NKJV

Jesus reiterates this as truth when He is speaking to His disciples.

"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you."
John 15:3 NKJV

Children of God

I hear the phrase "we are all children of God" often. This sounds good, but it fails as truth when tested against the Word.

All souls are God's is a true statement.

“Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die."
Ezekiel 18:4 NKJV

Not all souls are children of God. Only those who come to Christ, (not by the will of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but BY GOD), are given the right to BECOME children of God. It is the BECOMING that indicates leaving one state, namely NOT being children of God, and entering a new state, namely being a child of God.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12-13 NKJV

Don't just say stuff because it sounds good or it is what you have always been told. Test EVERYTHING against the Word, then speak the Truth (the Word).

A.W. Pink on Election

"Election is the taking of one and leaving of another, and implies freedom on the part of the elector to choose or refuse. Hence the choosing of one does no injury to the other which is not chosen. If I select one out of a hundred men to a position of honor and profit, I do no injury to the ninety and nine not elected. If I take two from a score of ragged and hungry children, and adopt them as my son and daughter, feed and clothe, house and educate them, I do them an immense benefit; but while disbursing my bounty as I choose and making two happy, I do no injury to the eighteen who are left. True, they remain ragged, ill-fed, and uneducated, yet they are in no worse condition for my having shown favor to their late companions—they only continue precisely in the situation in which they were.

Again; if among ten convicts justly sentenced to death, the king of England was pleased to choose five to be the recipients of his sovereign mercy, pardoned and released them, they would owe their very lives to his royal favor; nevertheless, by extending kindness to them, no injury is done to the other five: they are left to suffer the righteous penalty of the law, due to them for their transgressions. They only suffer what they would have suffered if the king's mercy had not been extended toward their fellows. Who, then, can fail to see that it would be a misuse of terms, a grievous slander of the king, to charge him with injustice, because he was pleased to exercise his royal prerogative and evidence his favor in this discriminating manner.

Our Savior definitely expressed this idea of election (Matthew 24:40-41)....Divine election, then, is a choice to favor from among those who have no claims upon God. It therefore does no injustice to them that are passed by, for they only continue as and where they were, and as and where they would have been if none had been taken from among them.

In the exercise of His electing grace God has mercy upon whom He will have mercy, and in the bestowment of His favor He does what He wills with His own."

~ Arthur Pink, "The Doctrine of Election"

Those Who Fall Away

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
John 15:2 NKJV

And this:

Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Matthew 7:22-23 NKJV

This is similar to this:

the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
Luke 12:46 NKJV

And this one:

the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of,  and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 24:50-51 NKJV

And better expounded here:

Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their  bodies  were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
I Corinthians 10:1-2, 4-6, 11 NKJV

These verse MUST be used when interpreting these other verses so that they can be properly reconciled.

For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jude 1:4 NKJV

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they  went  out  that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us. BUT YOU have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
I John 2:19-20 NKJV

This is why we are commanded to search out our salvation with fear and trembling. There are many who think they are somewhere they aren't.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Philippians 2:12-13 NKJV

Thought by Thought

Know this man of God! Not only does Satan desire to kill you and is after your family, but he wants to destroy your testimony. The tendency to sin is already in our flesh, and he awaits the opportunity to exploit those desires.

We are at war, and the battle is intensely fought moment by moment, thought by thought. If we fail to take each thought captive, we run the risk of being caught up in sin. This is where the measurable fruit of the flesh is made manifest, and your testimony is tarnished and compromised. (I will not say ruined, for God always turns bad into good for His elect.)

So then... Do you brutally fight to die to the flesh and lay down your will? How do you win this battle that is raging and so crucial. I tell you this... You CANNOT win. ONLY through the surrender of the will to Jesus in faith does God then guard you and empower you to win. Your part is to trust, and resist the devil. It is God's part to fight. Stand firm in faith, and let God be God.

Why Do We Cast Our Crowns?

Let me share these facts with you. When God saves us and fills us with His Spirit, setting us free from sin, it is Him in us that is causing the remission of sins as He causes us to walk according to His commands (sanctification).

I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Ezekiel 36:27 NKJV

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
Ephesians 1:11 NKJV

for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Philippians 2:13 NKJV

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which  was with me.
I Corinthians 15:10 NKJV

For this reason we will cast our crowns at His feet. When we sin, that is our doing, but when we do good that is of God.

the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
Revelation 4:10 NKJV

Blood of Jesus Insufficient?

Joseph Smith and Brigham Young both taught that there are sins not covered by Jesus' blood, and that the sinner must atone for these sins with their own blood. This sins include murder, adultery the second time, and denial of the Holy Spirit.

"It is true that the blood of the Son of God was shed for sins through the fall and those committed by men, yet men can commit sins which it can never remit. As it was in ancient days, so it is in our day; and though the principles are taught publicly from this stand, still the people do not understand them; yet the law is precisely the same. There are sins that can be atoned for by an offering upon an altar, as in ancient days; and there are sins that the blood of a lamb, of a calf, or of turtle doves, cannot remit, but they must be atoned for by the blood of the man. That is the reason why men talk to you as they do from this stand; they understand the doctrine and throw out a few words about it. You have been taught that doctrine, but you do not understand it."
- Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 4:53.

See also: Bruce R. McConkie (ed.), Doctrines of Salvation, 1955, Vol. 1, pp. 135-156.

http://jod.mrm.org/4/51

Did More For the Church

According to LDS doctrine Jesus is a babbling failure. He was unable to deliver on His Word.

"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16:18-19 NKJV

After speaking such words to Peter not only did His church fail in Jerusalem and the surrounding areas, but Jesus also came to the Americas to start a church the failed miserably also. What a flop! Poor Jesus couldn't do what Joseph Smith could.

"God is in the still small voice. In all these affidavits, indictments, it is all of the devil--all corruption. Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on the top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet."

- Joseph Smith in History of the Church, Vol. 6, pp. 408-409.

From Heaven

John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven."
John 3:27 NKJV

David understood this.

But the king said, “What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? So let him curse, because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David.’ Who then shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’ ”
II Samuel 16:10 NKJV

Does the word "nothing" really mean "nothing"? I would say that indeed, a man can receive NOTHING unless it is given to him from God.

O Lord , I know the way of man is not in himself; It  is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
Jeremiah 10:23 NKJV

Knowing these things should bring us to our knees before God, praying "Lord have mercy on me..."

Systematic Theology

Let us stick to the Word, for Scripture CANNOT be broken.

"—and Scripture cannot be broken— "
John 10:35 ESV

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
Matthew 24:35 ESV

As Scripture CANNOT be broken, we can now see what the Bible says about the will of God.

But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.
Psalms 115:3 NKJV

Whatever the Lord pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places.
Psalms 135:6 NKJV

Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’
Isaiah 46:10 NKJV

"For the Lord of hosts has purposed, And who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, And who will turn it back?”
Isaiah 14:27 NKJV

All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, “What have You done?”
Daniel 4:35 NKJV

“I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of  Yours can be withheld from You.
Job 42:2 NKJV

In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
Ephesians 1:11 NKJV

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, The plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord , The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.
Psalms 33:10-12 NKJV

KNOWING that God does ALL HE PLEASES, Jesus further drives this point home in John.

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
John 6:37, 39-40 NKJV

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:44 NKJV

And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
John 6:65 NKJV

And in Luke...

"All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. ”
Luke 10:22 NKJV

None of this should be any surprise as all Scripture agrees so far that God does as He pleases.

God addresses His love for Jacob, and contrasts it to His HATE for Esau in Malachi.

“I have loved you,” says the Lord . “Yet you say, ‘In what way have You loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” Says the Lord . “Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness.”
Malachi 1:2-3 NKJV

This part of Scripture is SO important that Paul brings it up again in Romans, the systematic layout of salvation. When Paul does this, he also includes THE REASON God loved Jacob but hated Esau. It was so that "the purpose of God according to election might stand".

(for the  children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, THAT THE PURPOSE OF GOD ACCORDING TO ELECTION MIGHT STAND, not of works but of Him who calls), As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”
Romans 9:11, 13 NKJV

This is done from the foundation of the world. God has EVERY RIGHT TO DO AS HE PLEASES, and since we are ALL sinners He has a just cause to hate us all. He doesn't owe ANY of us love. EVERYTHING God does is for His glory. Some He has chosen to hate as vessels of wrath, and some He has chosen to love as vessels of mercy.

What shall we say then? Is  there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it  is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it , “Why have you made me like this?” Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
Romans 9:14-21 NKJV

God has EVERY RIGHT TO DO AS HE PLEASES.

What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Romans 9:22-24 NKJV

If you argue against any of this, your argument is with God.

Fun Facts 5

Fun facts...

The Bible teaches that God has ALWAYS been God, and that God will ALWAYS be God.

Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.  Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.
Isaiah 44:6, 8 KJV

That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord , and there is none else.
Isaiah 45:6 KJV

LDS doctrine teaches that God was NOT always God, but that He was a man and became God.

Fun Facts 4

Fun facts...

The Bible teaches that God is spirit, and cannot be seen by man. The Bible teaches that God FILLS Heaven and earth, and is omnipresent.

LDS doctrine teaches that the Father has a physical body, limiting Him in presence obviously, and that He lives on a planet.

Fun Facts 3

Fun facts...

Truth does not change. 2+2 will ALWAYS be four.

The Bible has changed only in structure when the protestant Bible was canonized, but there have been NO CHANGES in the individual books of the Bible.

The Book of Mormon has endured over 3000 changes since it was written, and it is taught that the Bible is unreliable!!

Do the math for yourself.

Fun Facts 2

Fun facts...

When Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon he translated into King James Version language, which was NOT spoken as a general language at the time. A genuine translation would be from an ancient text into the language of the current day, but this did not happen.

Fun Facts 1

Fun facts...

The Bible teaches that Jesus has ALWAYS been God, and will ALWAYS be God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
John 1:1-2 NKJV

Jesus Christ is  the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Hebrews 13:8 NKJV

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and  coming in the likeness of men.
Philippians 2:5-7 NKJV

The Book of Mormon teaches that Jesus was conceived as a spirit baby, giving Him a beginning, that He then became a human "through normal means of conception", and that He then became a god.

These two are mutually exclusive, and cannot both be true.

John 3:16

If this verse means every person to ever live, Paul and John don't agree.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16 NKJV

Shouldn't Paul have said "as Jesus loves the world" instead?

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
Ephesians 5:25 NKJV

The Isaiah Scroll

In the book of Nephi, from the Book of Mormon, there is a prophecy about the corruption of Scripture that would happen after the apostles die. This prophecy would place the alleged corruption after 70 AD. (It is this prophecy which allows them to close their eyes to Biblical reference that contradicts LDS doctrine since they can claim the Bible is corrupt.)

In Joseph Smith's original translation he made changes to the book of Isaiah. (Isaiah 42:19-23 being an example.) He added text about "the Lord's servant" that would come (which was him of course) , and he could do this because he convinced people that the Bible was corrupt.

In 1947 the Isaiah Scroll was found, and it contains all 66 chapters. The Scroll is dated to 300-100 BC, which was BEFORE the prophecy of corruption by Nephi. Guess what isn't in it?

Let me riddle you this my friends...

If his translation was of God, why are there obvious errors?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah_scroll

The book of Isaiah is jam packed full of amazing Scripture where God declares Himself thee ONLY God, of which He knows NO other. Today's translation of Isaiah says the same thing the Isaiah Scrolls do from 300-100 BC.

Rest and Peace

Saints...

Jesus, Himself, is our peace. Not a sparrow falls from the sky apart from the will of God, and every day of your life was written in the Book before there was even day one of your life. Trust Him FULLY, and praise His Name as you walk through the things God ordained for you from the foundation of the world. We KNOW that ALL things are working together for our good from birth because we believe the Word of God. Loved with an everlasting love...

We worry about our job, our bills, our trip we have planned, and all these other things. Come now Saint and rest in the Lord your God. You have the job you have because God has placed you there, and you will be there as long as He has determined. Your trip will happen if God wills it, and it will not if He has determined you shouldn't go. Let God be God, and you rest in His SOVEREIGN love. Amen, and amen.